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 Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:07 pm
For the first few days, anticipation and sadness had taken its toll on her. She wanted to find her brother, but they had made a pact. And she would not turn back on it now. So she had gone ahead with their plan to return to the Arba'Sehemu, and make a new life there. Without her brother, she felt like a stranger inside her own fur. She was used to his playful jabs, his nudges and his sudden bouts of playful roughhousing. It was lonely, those first few days.
But they had bled into others, many, many others, and finally it had come to fruition. She passed between the border of the Rogue lands and the Arba'Sehemu pridelands, and kept on running. Past cheetahs, and lions, barely taking notice of their fur as she ran. It wasn't long before she began to slow, realizing (hoping) where she was was the right place. The Fire Nation.
Was she home?
Mwale treaded forward lightly, ears flattening against her head. It was quiet; where was the great throngs of powerful lions her aunt had told her of? She kept her golden eyes open for someone who would tell her where she was. Perhaps she wasn't in the Fire Nation at all, but had wandered haphazardly into a totally wrong pride.
Panic rose in her. If this was the wrong pride, and it was hostile, she could be in danger. She turned suddenly and began to run backwards, but succeeded only in running head-first into some poor lion who had gotten into her way.
She stumbled backwards with a yelp, tumbling back onto her rump, and blinked dazedly. "I'm sorry--" She said distractedly, shaking her head to clear it. "Is..."
As her vision cleared, she focused more on the poor lion she'd stumbled into.
"Is this the Fire Nation?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:00 pm
Nafsi-kataa made her way through the lands of the Fire Nation. It really was recovering. She frowned and sighed. She had her work cut out for her, gathering more able bodies and training those that remained from the war. Well...re-training. They needed to learn the difference between retaining honor and being cruel.
She stumbled a bit as someone ran right into her, caught off guard. What the heck?! She recovered quickly, frowning. And then raised a brow at the lioness who had run into her. Huh...She looked like she could be a native. The large lioness nodded.
"This is. What was your rush, child?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:05 pm
As her hopes and dreams were confirmed, Mwale's worried expression melted away, and was quickly replaced with a wide, excited grin. "It is?" She asked, jumping back. Her fur bristled in excitement. She was home. And she would, certainly, be sad that the Fire Nation was only at a fraction of the glory her Aunt had told her it would be, but that wasn't the point.
Because she was home.
"There isn't one." She babbled without thinking. "Not anymore. Because I'm home." An unbrindled laugh bubbled forth, and she looked down suddenly, sheepish. "I'm sorry. I know this must sound... weird. Insane, even." She looked back up at her, her golden eyes gleaming happily. "I've been running for days, trying to find the Fire Nation. And I just stumbled here by chance, and I was worried that-- that I was wrong, maybe, that this wasn't-- but it is!" She lit up a little more.
"I am Mzaliwaale'mwale. My parents were warriors for the Fire Lord." She knew they perished, of course, and liked to think of them, but she couldn't miss what she hadn't really known.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:41 pm
"Ah!" So....the girl was one of those who had fled the war. It was...oddly nice to see there had been some members of her new home that had been smart enough to flee during their rulers' insanity. She smiled slightly. "It doesn't sound insane, child. It sounds like your parents were very smart." She sighed, drooping a bit.
"I'm afraid that you may find it nothing like your parents' stories. The war has reduced the numbers of the Fire Nation greatly." She looked to the girl again. "Welcome, however. I am Nafsi-kataa, the current General for the Fire Nation."
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:46 pm
Her ears flattened a little. "They died, in the fight." She said quietly, tail dropping. "It was my aunt who shepherded me and my brother out." She smiled wider. "But only until the war was over. She didn't want us... following in their footsteps, so to speak." While being a warrior would have been a great honor, dying for the Fire Lord... she wasn't certain she could do it. Not for something that seemed so foolish. "She told me of the great Fire Nation, but..." She trailed off.
"The war has taken it's toll." She agreed, looking down. She perked up a little, and smiled. "It is an honor to meet you, General Nafsi-kataa." She bowed her head a little, straightening up. "I have to admit, I wasn't certain what I was coming home to." The worst fear she had was coming home to a smoldering crater of some sort, with no family and no Fire Nation to serve. "But I am happy, being home. Than I have been in weeks. And I am eager to help where I am needed." She smiled at her.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:30 am
Nafsi bowed her head in respect. "I am sorry for your loss. And thankful to your aunt, for choosing to take you away until it was safe to return." She raised her head once more. "I wasn't sure what I would find, either, when I arrived here. I'd heard rumors and tales...but something left is better than nothing. Easier to rebuild."
The girl's words were comforting ones...it was always best when others were willing to help where needed. "You'll need to talk with the Avatar, unless you feel like becoming a warrior. I'm afraid my skills lie more in fighting and those things related to battle and protection. But the Avatar...despite his young age, he's got a lot of wisdom up in his head, and a good idea of who is needed where to properly rebuild."
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:09 pm
Mwale nodded in agreement to her comment; it'd be easier to rebuild without so much opposition from the idiots who had started the war in the first place. She felt a great deal of hope that the Fire Lord would not take after his father, remembering the tales her Aunt had told her of the Fire Lord who started the attack on the other clans. Her attention snapped back into place at the mention of the Avatar, her golden eyes widening a fraction.
"The Avatar has returned?" Her aunt had told her the legend, of course. But as far as she had known, the Avatar had not been there in the beginning of the war. She was immediately curious of the wandering Air nomad Avatar, if that was in fact the Avatar she spoke of. "I'll have to seek him out, soon. Unfortunately I lack my brother's prowess as a warrior." She smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm the... intellectual daughter, I suppose." She snorted quietly. She wished, sometimes, that she had her brother's innate ability to fight and win. She could defend herself, surely, and while compared to others she might be a far sight more skilled, it was a necessity of growing up in the rogue lands.
She was by no means her brother, and definitely not her Father, the great man who had died for Honor.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:34 pm
Nafsi nodded. "He has, indeed. It was he who saw the potential to be more than just a mere Warrior in me, and knew that I would be as dedicated to rebuilding the Fire Nation as the new Fire Lord himself." She'd done her best not to disappoint Aang. Especially with the Fire Lord absent, at present.
"There is nothing wrong with being an intellectual, child." She smirked. "After all, what is brawn without brains to temper it?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:14 pm
Her grin grew as she spoke of the Avatar; she was happy that he had returned, and excited to meet the air nomad herself. She nodded a little, curious about the mysterious figure she'd heard of in her youth. "He was right in seeing potential, I think." She said, nodding. The lioness gave off a sense of leadership even Mwale could see. "Is the Fire Lord here, now?" Oh, she'd love to see the new Fire Lord, to assess him herself...
"My brother without me to guide him." She allowed herself a small laugh. "I don't mind being an intellectual; it's only... My aunt says I take after her more than my parents. It'd be nice to have some part of them besides this." She said, lifting the paw enclosed by a metal bracelet with the Fire Nation emblem. "My brother seems to've gained all their physical endurance and strength; I'm merely the mind."
She shook her head. "But I digress." She smiled a little. "Would you... I mean, I don't want to impose, but I haven't been here in so many years... Getting a tour of the Fire Nation, at least to the dens, would help me infinitely."
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:53 am
The large lioness shook her head. "No, I'm afraid the Fire Lord is currently absent. He is searching for new blood and old blood that retreated into the rogue lands, like your family." She smiled slightly. "But I am sure he will return soon enough, though."
Nafsi nodded, understanding what the girl was talking about. "Perhaps you will find you have another quality of theirs. Perhaps their loyalty. Or their bravery. Something of their good hearts should live on in you." She looked back towards the main area of the lands. "But yes...I'll give you a tour of the important places you should know. And most definitely the dens. You're likely exhausted."
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:08 pm
Mwale nodded as the General explained where their leader was, her mind sparking with thought. He was certainly brave to venture into the rogue lands looking for blood, but it was quite a large territory to go through on one's own. She hoped for his safety, concern creeping into her thoughts at what might happen if the Fire Lord never returned.
At the mention of dens, Mwale perked up a little, and nodded with a sheepish air about her. "I have travelled a long distance to come home." She said by way of explanation, golden eyes gleaming with amusement. "The thought of returning here gave me the energy to move ever onward, but now that I'm here..." Her exhaustion was catching up with her quickly; her paws ached with the effort to stand and the idea of touring the Fire Nation made them throb all the more. Nonetheless, she wanted to see her Nation. She wanted to know where everything was, who every lion was.
It would take more than a tour to teach her that, but she had all the time to learn now that she was where she belonged.
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