He felt a bit like a cub, being confined to the temples by the smaller lioness. Of course, Ngoma hadn't yet learned the ways of the pride, so why would she let him out? Her reasoning was to keep him from making a fool of himself. He couldn't rightfully blame her, he just didn't like it much. There was too much for someone his age to learn, and all those symbols... He let out a puff, watching some dust blow away. The pride really needed somebody to clean the place up...
Oh, he was an ornery one, that was for sure. As soon as their injuries were healed, while Ramla had gone off to do her rounds, Ngoma had been left to learn with the cubs. And he was a headache from the start. He didn't want to learn anything! How was he supposed to join a pride and not LEARN? As she padded back to her own little home amid the ruins, she contemplated just leaving him to flounder and get eaten by the vultures. Then she spotted him just... Waiting there. Oh, well, she'd hav to keep trying, wouldn't she? Padding up, she dropped in front of him the small animal she'd killed. "Here, eat."
Ngoma was startled out of his thoughts by the sudden dead animal in front of him. He poked it with a paw for a moment, wondering just what it was, before tearing into the meat. It was rather tasty. Licking his maw when he'd finished, he watched her. "I've had to listen to the pride's history for weeks now... And forced to stay in YOUR den. Why? What have I got that makes you want to keep me around?"
She looked at him, from sitting at the entrance staring out at nothing. "Well, for one, you entertain me." She flicked her tail. "For another... Call it loneliness... It doesn't help that Athrun hangs around the pride..." She saw his confused look. "Athrun is the God of Loneliness. I guess his influence is strong on me... I thought I had a mate for a while... He proved to be.. Hm... What's the right word...? Not right for me, you could say..." She tilted her head. "You got some problem with gods hanging around here?"
"Well, no, it's just that... I was raised on the belief of Finar-si. She WAS the patron goddess of the Motoujamii..." He flicked a rock with a claw. "Then, I was told, the last king's son, Kidondo, took a slave as a mate, and when he was kicked out... He came back with a bunch of rogues and overthrew the established pride. It split in two... I was born to the half full of traditions of old, down to slavery. On the other side.. They'd abandoned even Finar-si."
Ramla gave him a curious look. "Why'd you leave? Tired of the fighting there?" She could see it in his eyes, it hurt to think about such a past. "Me, I've always lived here... I was raised by my father and his partner..." She saw a confused look pass over the white lion's face. "My father likes other males." The confusion turned to disgust. "If you don't like it, I can just remove that look from your face. Or you can suck it up and just grit your teeth and bear with it. Me... I prefer the opposite gender." She shrugged. "Some like the same, some like the opposite, as it were. They're the family that raised me, though, and I wouldn't change it for the world. As to my mother... She did a bit of self-sacrifice to give them children. I put two and two together one day and went to her about it... I don't hate her for it, it was a good thing she did."
Ngoma still made a face. "Two males...?" It left a bad taste in his mouth. "Must be a pretty accepting pride of that... I hope none of my kids do that..." He paused. "If I had any." He then stretched his paws out. "As for why I left? Yeah, kinda got tired of the fighting... And Kenna, the lioness that we'd looked to as queen of our pride, gave up the fight and most merged back into the pride. I refused and left. I'd rather be one of the biggest lions around a pride of smaller lions than go crawling back to Kidondo with my tail between my legs like a Mistweaver." When he saw the confused look, he shrugged. "They were a pride we were told as cubs about. A weak lot, we'd been told they were... I have no idea if they even ever existed at this point."
She let out a light huff. "I see." She settled down next to him, stretching out. "You do realize... You could have voiced your desire to stay in either your own den, or somebody else' den... Why do you choose to stay here in mine?" If he wanted to know why she wanted him around, he might as well fuss up as to why he stuck around. After all... She wasn't forcing him to stay.
"Maybe I'm attracted to powerful girls..." He raised an eyebrow, smiling a bit at her shocked expression. "How do you think it feels for a guy my size... To get my a** handed to me by a girl YOUR size? I'm more than three times your size, and you beat me into submission." He lifted a paw, watching a desert beetle crawl along. "To say the least, I've been very impressed... And you can look on the bright side... It's not all looks for me." The beetle crawled up his leg, then his shoulder to his back.
The rust-colored lioness stared at the male for a few minutes, comprehending his words. After a moment, she shifted and frowned a little. "So that's why you're not complaining..." She went silent again, quiet in thought. After several more minutes, her tail flicked. "I won't be easily won, you know. You can't just... Woo me with flowers or something." She gave him a look, her gray eyes like stones. "If you want me, you need to make it well worth my while."
His ears flicked back into his mane a bit. "Okay..." The beetle finally decided it'd had enough of being on the lion, popping its shell open and flying off. Ngoma watched it fly away, giving it a bored look. "If not flowers, then what? Kills? An enemy to interrogate?" He looked over at her, green eyes flashing a bit. "Gimme a clue here to go by."
In the distance, Ramla heard a squawking. "Bring me a vulture..." She noticed his bewildered look. "Weren't you paying attention during lessons? Vultures drove our pride away generations ago, and then had to be driven away themselves before we could reclaim our pride's lands. Since I was a cub, I've dreamed of holding one down, making it MINE, make it obey ME." Her tail lashed. "Bring me a vulture, and we'll talk."
Ngoma nodded, then rose to his paws. "I accept the challenge." Without another word, the male padded from the den. It didn't occur to him to worry about Ramla chasing him down and forcing him back to the temples. Not that she actually did that. He had work to do, though, and it was finding a vulture.
The lioness chuckled, then rolled onto her back. Oh, he'd be at that for a good, long while... And it would be funny to watch him try to catch a bird, when he couldn't even catch her.
