|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:36 am
 It had been a long day for Peya Tse'a; not that much of importance was going on, it was just one of those days that got him down. So instead of going down and mingling with everyone like he should have done, he perched above his pridemates in the canopy, and listened to what was going on.
Sometimes the job got to him; duty said that no matter how close he was to another lion, if they harbored a dangerous secret or could cause trouble in the pride, he had to report them to the leaders and possibly do something about it. He had been raised to this by his father, and his father by his grandfather. It was the way their bloodline worked. But it ended up being a lonely life, surrounded by an entire pride of lions.
He saw one of the priests walking near him, and called out a greeting.
"I see you, Txuratan."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:47 am
 Txuratan turned his head toward the sound of a familiar voice, a smile already spreading across his face, even before his pale-eyed gaze fell on Peya Tse'a. He had always liked the lion, even though their different occupations kept them separate quite often. Txur spent much of his time among the priests and priestesses, or even helping the cub minders to teach their charges about Eywa and the history of the Iknimaya. Peya Tse'a always seemed to be elsewhere.
"I see you, Peya Tse'a," he replied, adjusting his gait and direction so that he would draw up beneath the lion with the starry coat. "And I do wonder what you're doing up there, when all the fun is to be had down here."
Well, in truth there wasn't a lot that was fun going on in the pride at the moment, though Eywa's arrival had certainly set a fox among the hens, as it were. How different, Txur often wondered, would it have been if he had grown up with Eywa dwelling amongst the Iknimaya as many of the older generations had done? His calling probably still would have been to the priesthood. He enjoyed that work and lacked the requisite skills to be a hunter or warrior.
"Or perhaps I'm mistaken. Shall I join you up there?" Like all the Iknimaya, Txur was an expert tree climber and would have no difficulty in doing so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:58 pm
"Please do." Peya moved around on the thick branch so there would be room for priest, and looked back down to the ground.
"There's been so much hubbub of late, my ears buzz with listening to it all. It's much quieter up here, up above."
Peya peered down at the milling lions again.
"It seems like when things change, they change so quickly. Newcomers are arriving in ever greater numbers, and Eywa resurfaces, and the entire pride is a-bubble with talk, talk, talk of change. What do you think of it all, Txur?"
Like most of the Iknimaya, Txur was known to Peya, but also like most of them, he was not close to the lion. But from what he did know, Txur was pretty level headed, and very stable - the kind of lion the Whisperman could call a friend without fear.
So, yes, Peya had not chosen to speak to Txur just because he walked by- but that's not how the Whispermen worked. He had picked Txur as a hopeful friend for himself because of what he knew of him.
"Myself, I would just as soon have stability."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 4:34 pm
With a much-practiced leap Txur launched himself from the ground and into the air so that he would finish his jump with his claws hooked into the wood of the tree. From there it took only a few pulls and pushes with his forelegs and hind legs, respectively, to get him onto the branch where Peya had made room for him. Climbing into trees every night to sleep could make it a matter of course for any lion, and Txur had been doing it his entire life.
"It is that," Txur agreed as he settled into a comfortable crouch. "Not that I find myself surrounded with a great deal of noise. There aren't too many cubs for me to instruct, and my other duties as a priest don't bring me into contact with the louder portions of the pride's population."
He thought for a few moments about all the changes the pride had seen since he'd come here. "I think Eywa looks out for us, and that all which has happened and all that will happen must be according to her will. I don't see any of the changes as particularly damaging, and I cannot disapprove of the pride's acceptance of new members, being one myself."
His gaze turned toward the people passing below. "They're good people, really. I met one of them, Clermeilli-Pie, the other day. She brought two of her cubs with her, but left some of them with their father. I think she regrets having done so, but she wants the best for the cubs that are still in her care and is having them brought up in the pride's ways."
"Do you not approve of the changes?" Txur wasn't about to be offended if Peya said he didn't. Not everyone did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 5:15 pm
"It is not that I disapprove of the changes. Everything must change. Trees grow. Seasons pass, the rains come and grow. People come and go. It is the way things are. I just feel that life is simpler when there is less upheaval."
He smiled at Tzur. "I am afraid I tend to find myself in the center of all the noise, where ever it happens to be. Just the other day I met Clermeilli- Pie near the edge of the jungle, and we met another newcomer. It is more that I don't understand why suddenly newcomers are seeking us out in such numbers. For so long there was just the People, and now it seems that lions are flocking to us."
He stopped to consider.
"I understand why they stay, once they come. We have a beautiful forest. We have a peaceful life. I guess I am concerned about what is going on that pushes other lions to us."
Peya paused for a moment to have a good scratch, and turned back to Txur, examining him intently through yellow eyes.
"What brought you to the People, Txuratan?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:03 am
There was nothing to argue with in Peya's remark, and even if there had been it was unlikely Txur would have chosen to argue. He didn't enjoy conflict. He'd been a typically moody adolescent, but that was the extent of his confrontational behavior, and it had not been a long period in his life.
"Of course it's simpler," Txur agreed. "But is it as interesting?"
Peya's next words answered that question well enough. For someone who often found himself in the center of all the noise it was probably plenty interesting. More interesting, perhaps, than a person might wish it to be. Txur could understand that. Turmoil and strife were hardly enjoyable, and even minor upheaval could be disconcerting. Txur's life felt out of balance whenever his father decided to leave the pride, and that was such a little thing, comparatively.
"I haven't an answer for that," Txur said. "Perhaps it is Eywa's return which causes people who have felt her lack to gravitate to where she now walks the earth?" It was as plausible a theory as any other, really. "You don't think it's something more sinister, do you?"
Txur wasn't uncomfortable under Peya's yellow-eyed regard. He wasn't a self-conscious lion by nature, and had nothing to be ashamed of, as far as he was concerned. If there was something a person wanted to know from him, he would tell it to them, providing he was able to do so without betraying another lion's confidence. He just grinned.
"My father did," he answered. "And the rest of my siblings. Remember? Or did you mean why have I stayed and never thought of venturing outside of the pride?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:48 pm
"I mean why did you decide to stay here, and be one of the People, after living on the outside. Some of the newcomers seem sad, or they are running from something and that is why they stay. Some of them seem to stay just because we do not drive them off. And some of them . . .I do not know why they stay. But I have never been an outsider, I have always been one of the People. I do not know what it is to be an outsider."
It seemed the question of being an outsider vs. being one of the People had been bothering Peya for some time. It was an issue for him, especially when trying to handle his duties fairly.
"I hope it is just Eywa's return that is bringing changes, but I do not know. Sometimes being in the center of all the talk means you don't know as much as you should."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:12 am
Txur rolled his shoulders in something resembling a shrug. For him, there had never seemed to be any other option. He loved the pride and the People. It was his home. But it was very difficult to articulate why, exactly, he felt that way. He'd tried before on several occasions and failed miserably, ending up sounding like a tongue-tied moron.
"I have no memories of living outside the pride. My father brought us all here when were very young, practically as soon as we were able to survive without our mother nursing us. I really don't remember anything of the journey or our arrival. I can't even remember my mother."
That last fact would always be a source of disappointment for Txur, but he was not so curious that he would leave his pride to go in search of her. He firmly believed that his mother had loved him, and known herself to be an inadequate care-giver, and so had done what was best for him and his siblings by letting them go with their father. He didn't feel he needed to know any more about her than that, since he could not remember her and did not want to have false memories of her generated by random snippets of information.
"At first, if I remember correctly, we were novelties more than anything else. There weren't a great many cubs in the pride at the time, and we were from beyond the borders. If we were treated differently, I have no memories of it. I suspect most of everyone's attention was taken up by Pietr and Petra, though. Theirs was the more controversial adoption, after all."
Txur smiled easily at Peya. "I think Eywa's return is part of it. I also think that there may be more people in general moving around in the lands beyond, and so some of them find themselves here. I also think it's been long enough that people who fled feel it might be safe to come back and see if there's anything left to return home to."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 8:14 pm
Lions who fled upset Peya - his family had never fled, except for one Aunt who was never mentioned again. It was not in his line's nature to forgive a betrayal like that. He was unsure of how to treat those who left, and returned; a healed wound could still trouble you.
"I am sorry you don't remember your mother. It must have been hard on you." Peya's own mother was dead, for several seasons. But she had been old, and Peya had had his time with her.
"I am glad lions like yourself have found a home here, whatever you left behind. Lions like you strengthen the pride, Txuratan."
There were other things Peya wanted to ask Txur; what he thought of the King and his brother, what he thought of Eywa, if he noticed any trouble brewing amid the newcomers, but it would not be right to ask - besides, he was the Whisper Man, he should know.
Instead, he turned to lighter topics - common pride gossip. "I heard there will be cubs born soon. It is always nice to have more babies in the pride."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:40 pm
"It wasn't. Not really. I was also sorry that I did not know her, and I still am, but I don't think that my life was made any more or less difficult by my ignorance."
One problem with Txuratan, some might say, was that he was actually too laid-back and difficult to upset. It wasn't exactly as if he didn't care about anything. Far from it. He cared deeply for his family and for the larger family of his pride. He would have died for them. However, in situations which were not life or death, Txur could see them as such and did not see any reason to become overly excited or distressed by them. Particularly when he couldn't do anything to change them.
"Thank you, Peya. It means a lot to me to hear you say that, since your family has been here for so long. I hope my family will become a long line like yours has done."
The gossip about new cubs was news to Txur, and his eyes widened in surprise upon hearing it. "Is that so? Who's going to be a mother?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:43 am
Peya looked around a bit slyly before answering, as if checking to see if anyone was listening in to the conversation. It was okay if it was overheard, he'd like what he was about to say to get around.
"We-el, I don't know for sure, but rumor is that some of the higher-ups might be trying to have a litter soon. I'm hoping it's true, a litter always brings the pride together."
Cubs made the pride think about the future, and want to smooth over differences. When there were cubs around, lions would think about what they did. After all, they had new responsibilities now. Things to consider. And royal cubs meant everyone had to watch out for them.
Cubs would settle things down.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:35 am
Txur appreciated Peya's actions as though he were a storyteller trying to build suspense before a dramatic reveal, and waited with politely curbed enthusiasm for the other lion to reach his point. He'd always loved having stories told to him, particularly ones about the pride and how it came to be the way it was, or about the people in the pride and how they came to be the way they are. It had only been recently that he'd begun to appreciate gossip, however, as a sort of story about people and they way they might be.
Once Peya made his dramatic revelation, Txur instantly began working on figuring out which of the higher-ups were in a position to try having a litter soon. He knew for a fact it wasn't Petra, even though the possibility existed in his mind and made him worry despite his best efforts not to. She didn't have a mate, and she wouldn't have cubs before she had a mate, even. At least, if she did, it wouldn't be an occurrence for a traditionalist to be pleased about. Someone else, then.
"Eytucan and Zelt'zin?" he guessed. That would be wonderful! Zelt'zin had overseen much of his training as a priest when he first expressed an interest in the profession and he still associated most of that time with her in his head. He had a soft spot for the pride's sometimes childish spiritual leader. "I hope it's true."
Even as he spoke the words, Txur wondered what that would mean for Pietr. Supposedly one of the cubs born into this litter would be his mate, chosen for that reason alone. It might be hard on the white lion to wed someone so much younger than he, though he would have the opportunity for her to grow up with him, he guessed. Still, Txur didn't envy him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:36 pm
Peya nodded. "That's the rumor. And the sooner the better, I think."
Peya stood and stretched against the tree. "It is good for the pride for things to be settled. Including the succession."
He moved back and forth in the small space a single tree limb allowed him to. The sooner the cubs arrived - if they were indeed arriving - the better it would be, as far as he was concerned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:16 am
"I agree," Txur said. "About both."
Of course, he was thinking of it more from Pietr's point of view. If he had to be mated to Zelt'zin and Eytucan's daughter, it would be far less awkward if, perhaps, their daughter would be born soon. Already Pietr was fully an adult, older than Txur. He would have to wait a long time for his future bride to grow up. Txur didn't know if he could do it, personally.
"But I should probably be going. I'd meant to spend some of today with my family, and given how they're spread out...everywhere, it'll take me some time to find them all."
He dropped down from the branch, landing with thoughtless ease. Then he turned around and looked up at Peya. "It was really good talking with you. I hope to do so again soon."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
