Umu = #009999
Farooq =
Umuthi'johari was wandering the beach, the cool early morning sand finding its way in between her furry toes, causing them to itch as if she was being bit by fire ants, only not as painful. She sat back on her hind legs and tried to shake her paws out, but the sand was moist and clung to her fur with a honorable zeal one only found in combat or while taking down a kill. The adolescent lioness's nose scrunched at the sand's defiance as she trotted towards the water's edge to wash the sand off, only to be disappointed by the fact her actions were causing more sand to stick to her.
"Com'on sand, let go of me. You can't have me for breakfast," Umu said, a small whine mixed into her voice as she tried to wash all the sand off of her. For all she knew the sand could very well eat her. She's seen many innocent looking features eat lions whole, on occasion spitting them back up.
It was a funny sight to see, the lioness attempting to wash the sand off of her. She wasn't generally a tidy person, on occasion allowing her appearance to become very unkempt, but she was not as finicky as this either. As she did battle with the sand between her toes she noticed a starfish casually scurrying by, stopping her actions to watch it float along the shoreline.
Farooq had rolled out of his den early in the morning. He wanted some me time before going to work. It wasn't that he didn't like the cubs, or that he even had a hard job to start. Pretty much all he had to do in a day was lay around with the little dudes and dudettes and tell stories and play in the sand. And of course, keep them outta the ocean. Little tykes were already itchin' to catch some gnarly waves, but oh-ho-hoooo no, they were just too small yet.
But that didn't mean Farooq couldn't go catc ha wave or two. In fact, that was the whole reason he'd gone out early. The water was calmer at dawn, smaller waves, which wasn't cool, but it was some of the only time he could get to relax alone when he didn't have the day off. He yawned and trotted out to the water's edge and beyond with no hesitation. Sure, he was already sandy from sleeping in the gritty stuff at night--he tracked it inot his den and was too lazy to clean it out--and sure now he'd be wet all day and have tangly curly fur...but that was just part of the life, bro!
He submerged himself and broke the surface a few feet further from shore. Aww yeah, he was a fish outta water on the land. The sea and he were like, one, man! He paddled around a while before finally snagging a little wave. He'd floated a ways down the beach from where he started, and when the wave finally pushed him to shore, he came nose-to-toes with...well, some toes. "Yooo man, nice claws! Heh, you out to catch a wave too?" He shook of and looked up at the toes' face. "Woah! Dude's a chick!"
Umu hadn't noticed Farooq arrive down some ways at the shoreline. The starfish in which she had been following became her focal point for the time being and every little move it made interested Umuthi. She was about the nose the little starfish to see if it'd cling to her face like she had seen its brethren cling to the rocks, when in rolled a large form full of fur. It didn't take long for her to identify the individual as a male lion, after all he had a large amount of fur around his head, denoting he was an adult of some age. As he complimented Umu on the condition of her claws, which she kept sharpened at all times out of Rogue Lander habit, she gave off a small giggle.
"No, I just came out t-," She began, being interrupted by the male's realization that she was in fact a lady. This realization made Umu break out into laughter, wondering whether or not he had ever seen a female before, or if perhaps she looked rather masculine; either way she wasn't bothered by it. She gave Farooq a smile and poked his nose, "Yes. I'm a girl~."
As Umu was about to introduce herself, something her father had taught her was the proper and respectful thing to do when addressing someone you didn't know, she quickly remembered the starfish she had been following after, and looked down, not seeing it. Her hair went on end, thinking that perhaps the male before her had accidentally landed on it and began to shove him out of the way.
"The starfish!" She squeaked, looking around for it, "Where'd it go?!"
He laughed when she bumped his nose and gave her a playful nudge back. Happy and fun was just how Farooq was, and he'd put people off before for being buddy-buddy with more serious folk. At least this chick seemed to get it! There was sun and sand and surf, so just go with the flow! That's what he always did and hey! It worked out right?
"Oof!" He rolled out of her way and looked around. "Starfish? You mean one of those little clingy bros? I don't see it...maybe it swam away, dudette! Those things are kinda wacky, all skittish and junk. Unless they're like, stuck to a rock or somethin'. Then they just like to hang around! Haha! Get it?" He clambered to his feet and shook again. Why'd he still feel like he had big clumps of sand on him?
"Don't look like I mangled anything on the ride in...Hm!" He nosed at the sand where he'd been laying. There wasn't any sign of the starfish. He shook once more. "Man! Sand's sticky today, am I right? It's like, to-..." He took one look back over his shoulder at his rump and dissolved into laughter. "Hahahaha! Y-yo dudette! I think I found your little star-bro!" Turns out it hadn't been sand clinging to his bum at all.
As Umu looked around for the little starfish she nodded to Farooq's words. Starfish were exactly as the male had been describing them, at least from what she had observed from her short time within the pride. They were one of her favorite sea dwelling friends, and she would feel so crushed if one of them had been harmed in her presence, especially if she couldn't help it. She was a Mwani after all, it was her job to heal the hurt.
"I don't see it," She said as Farooq shook himself off, getting Umu wet and causing her to do the same out of reflex, probably showering the male in the sand he had been attempting to get out of his coat. Umu looked visibly upset at the fact she couldn't find the little starfish friend, only to hear Farooq laugh heartily at something and address her, informing her that he found her little friend.
"Huh?" Umu's ears perked up as Farooq looked behind him and she got up to circle him, inspecting to see where the starfish had landed. When she noticed where the little starfish had attached itself, she couldn't help but laugh. It had stuck itself onto the male's butt. If Farooq hadn't have noticed it, Umu would have probably thought the starfish was merely a marking on his coat, as in her time in the Rogue Lands she had seen plenty of lions, cheetahs and leopards with stars someplace on their body. In fact she had also seen a hyena, bright and yellow with a huge white star on her bum.
"I think he's trying to come along for the ride," Umu laughed, poking the starfish lightly with a paw to try and coax it from Farooq's backside. It probably would have looked so odd if any of the other pride members had wandered their way over while she was prying the starfish from the male, but hey. Life was full of silly looking moments like these and even if they may not approve of the scenario she wasn't going to let it bother her all too much.
"Ok, stay still," Umu said, an authoritative tone she usually only reserved for when treating someone's wounds leaking slightly into her voice. She noticed it creeping into the way she spoke more and more recently, and it was a little daunting. She wasn't used to being authoritative, but her new role in her new pride forced her to do so, especially with the young ones since they squirmed the most if they were in need of a healing. It didn't take long for Umu to coax the starfish off Farooq and place it back into the water, a smile shining on her dirt colored muzzle, "There we go!"
"I'm Umu, by the way," She said to Farooq, offering him a nudge as her formal greeting to him, "I'm a healer for the pride."
Farooq had been fine with the idea of having his new star-guy buddy tag along for the day. The cubs would probably get a kick out of it, and it'd give him an excuse to splash in the water every so often. The lady seemed eager to set it free though, and hey! Who was he to whine if some sweet babe wanted to touch his rump, huh? Nooo way man. He could dig it.
He held perfectly still as she freed him from teh starfish and plopped it in the water. He chuckled as it wiggled its arms, seeming to wonder where its fuzzy rock perch had gone to. "Little bro seems confused! Maybe next time he'll find a real rock to cling on, huh? Go on now little dude, go catch some surf!" He nudged it gently with a paw, trying to guide it back to the water.
"Umu, huh? Sweeeet. I'm Farooq. Uh, a pomithi. Spend all day watchin' the little dudes and dudettes. They all just wanna play and go swim but y'know, big momma ocean sometimes don't notice us litle guys when we come to play. A bit too rough for em. So I guess I really spend all day runnin' after the tykes!"
"Thanks for helpin' me with the star-bro, by the way. You seem pretty good with your paws! No wonder the big kahunas got you here as a healer. You any good with bruises? Sometimes the waves can just wreck a dude, y'know?"
Umu smiled as Farooq nudged the little starfish on its way and told her about his position in the pride. He was a Pomithi, a nanny. The thought of a male being a nanny made Umu light up quite a bit. To be a nanny you had to be sweet and fun, and love kids. It reminded her of her father, the big cuddly giant he just so happened to be, and made her paw at the ground a little in her excitement, "The little ones must love you! Especially the itty bitties. You're so big, you must be like a climbing tree to them."
Although Umu was technically an adolescent, she acted like a cub quite often, loving to play and explore when she wasn't needed to soothe a boo-boo or work seriously on helping a gash heal correctly. She would have to visit Farooq some time as he was watching the kids. It may not technically be her job to be a nanny, but who could say no to a little extra help making sure the little ones were exhausted by the end of the day.
"I'm sure they do," Umu said, looking out at the ocean, it still be a little intimidating to her, "I saw the ocean for the first time when I came to this pride. It still amazes me how big it is. I could swim forever in it."
She looked back to Farooq and quirked a head, "Don't the little ones have someplace nearby they can swim? Like a little stream or something? You could teach them!"
As he mentioned healing bruises, Umu nodded her head energetically, another smile spreading across her muzzle. She was such a bright and happy soul, perky a can be, "Oh yes! I learned that quickly. Daddy taught me how to make the bruises heal quicker, since I happened to get a lot of them."
"Chyeah dudette, they just looove scramblin' all over good ol' uncle Farooq. I think they would have liked to meet the star-bro, but they might hurt him without meaning too. They're always full of energy, right? I wonder if the star-bro's got baby star-bros around...huh. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a baby one! Gotta be some out there somewhere though. I mean, they don't just pop up from nothin'!"
"Sometimes me and the others take the little dudes to a tide pool. Like a feildtrip, yeah? They love it, but sometimes there's gnarly stuff in the water. Like stingin' bros or sea urchins. Those are nooooo good for them, and hard for even big guys like us to get rid of. Break their little hearts though, so we usually try to check the pools before we take 'em. There's enough satly water in the sea without addin' their lil' tears, am I right?" He chuckled and watched Umu's face go from happy to happier to happiest. She sure was a cheerful chick, wasn't she?
"We do try to teach 'em, just because to be adults they gotta go in the sea. If we didn't teach them then they might get hurt if a pounder came ragin' in while they were out there! Sometimes you can just tell though, the ones that'll be fine in the water and the ones that'll go in long enough to become adults and then stay far far away after that."
"If you heal bruises that'd be sweet! I don't get time to go out and swim as much now, but lots of the younger dudes and I'll still catch some waves now and then. Funny how water's just water, but it can thrash you up if it wants to, huh?""
"What's a 'sea urchin'?" Umu asked, her ears dipping down shyly at the fact she didn't know. She tries her best to be knowledgeable, like her mother, but on occasion she misses things due to her short attention span. She may have already seen one, but she'll never know unless she asked him what it was, eve - To Be Continued
