He felt proud of himself. Well, somewhat. Ngoma had, instead of actually catching one and possibly wasting effort, MADE a vulture. He'd returned to the den to find Ramla gone, and now waited for her. Using one claw, he played with a rock, humming a bit to himself. He picked it up after a while, tossing it into the air and batting it with the back of his paw to keep it going. "Tale as old as time... Song as old as rhyme..."
Ramla had gone out to do a bit of patrolling. She figured it would be a while before Ngoma turned up with a bird, after all. So she was surprised when she returned to the den and found Ngoma already there. And singing... Her ears twitched as she listened, then went up to him. "Know something that sounds less cheesy than that?" She wasn't much for singing, herself, but it didn't mean she didn't enjoy listening to it.
Letting out a startled sound, Ngoma eyed Ramla, pupils little claw pricks for a moment. Then he relaxed, pupils dilating back out to their normal size. "I dunno, lemme think about that one..." He scratched his chin, before pausing and pointing. "Gotcha a vulture, by the way! Over there!" He just hoped she didn't claw him for it. In the mean time, he ran over various songs in his head, murmuring a no at the thought of each one.
Curious, the lioness went over to investigate the vulture. It wasn't moving... Then she realized... It wasn't REAL! She was so caught up in the shock, she could only stare at the strange... Thing. The body under the feathers was a chunk of driftwood, while the neck was formerly a stick. The head was actually the skull of a vulture, so there were points there. She wasn't sure what the feathers were stuck on there with, but it was golden and... It was honey. He'd stuck them on with honey. Finally, she looked over at Ngoma. "You brought me a fake vulture..."
A red-orange eyebrow went up. "You never said the vulture had to be either alive or even REAL." He sat up, grinning a bit at her. "If I recall... Your exact words were..." He paused, clearing his throat and placing a paw on his mane over his chest. "'If you want me, bring me a vulture.' There was NOTHING in that about it being either alive or real." He felt proud of himself. He'd found a loophole, and used it. With the help of a vulture, of course, but he'd still found and used a loophole.
She stared at him for a bit, then sighed, letting a smile cross her maw. "Okay, you win... You're right, I didn't specify..." Then she went up to him, poking him with a paw. "Now, you owe me a song. Or part of one. Something GOOD." When he looked at her skeptically, her ears went back. "It's unrelated to the vulture, Ngoma, it's just a song." She had to admit, he didn't seem the type to... Well... Sing. "And remember, nothing cheesy!"
"Right, right..." A non-cheesy song... That was pretty hard. He couldn't even think of a good one. What even compelled him to WANT to sing, anyway? His ear flicked, as he tapped some unknown tune with his claws, laying down. Lost in thought, he forgot Ramla was even there, as his mind wandered away from even actually thinking of the song. "In this farewell... There's no blood.. There's no alibi... 'Cause I've drawn regret... From the truth... Of a thousand lies... So let mercy cooome... And wash away.... What I've done..." Okay, it wasn't so much SINGING, as... Murmuring.
His mind had to be somewhere else... Ramla listened, before padding over and laying next to him. When he became aware of her, she smiled a bit. "You make that up on your own or something? It sounds pretty nice..." She then headbutted his shoulder a bit, rumbling. "Don't stop just because you know I'm here, okay?" She wanted to hear more, she had to admit. Maybe not too much more singing after this, though. They were warriors, after all, and they didn't sing.
He chuckled. "Fine, fine..." Diverting his eyes to the desert, he watched the shadows start to grow as the sun marched west. "Put to rest, what you thought of me... As I clean this slate, with the hands... Of uncertainty..." He closed his eyes, wondering if Finar-si was ashamed of him. "So let mercy come... And wash away, what I've done..." He paused, ears flicking, before he looked at Ramla. "You're not getting anymore out of me."
She let out a huff, giving him a sour look. "And why not?" Now that he was denying it, she almost wanted him to KEEP singing. Okay, yes, she wanted him to sing a bit more. If he didn't sing again, though... How did she sound singing? What would she even sing? Ngoma seemed to have some sort of song in his heart, but did she? "What if I want you to sing more?"
He prodded her with a paw. "You gotta do something for me in return." As he thought about it, he noticed her skeptical look. "Well, it's only FAIR. You got me to sing, now I want something in return!" After a moment, he grinned. "And I know just what it is! YOU gotta sing for ME!" He gently jabbed her shoulder with a paw. "Unless you're too chicken to try! Just a little bit of song..." He had a feeling that was just the prod she needed to come up with SOMETHING. After all, he had.
Ramla stared at Ngoma incredulously, mouth wide open with shock. "Me, SING?!" She still didn't even know what she WOULD sing! She wracked her brain, trying to think of something. Then she stopped, one ear flicking, before she slowly turned a glare at Ngoma. He was LAUGHING! "Oh, you think this is FUNNY?!" She got up, then tackled him, effectively pinning him. "You think you can just show up in this pride's lands, and get out of my range of anger with singing?!"
"What's life without a LITTLE fun?" He then pushed her off, standing. "You don't even know how to think of a song, do you?" He reached over, ruffling the hair tuft on her head. "Come on, close your eyes." He waited, then used his paw to force her eyes closed. "Ignore all the training you did, and just breathe. Let go of everything, and clear your mind. Is it cleared?" He leaned over, checking. Yeah, she was relaxing. "Let it come to you, don't FORCE it."
"This is stupid..."
"No it's not. All work and no play turns into a boring day, Ramla..." He smiled, even if her eyes were closed. "Now come on, find that song..."
She frowned, but relaxed, sitting down to let the song come to her. "Now it seems to me, that you know just what to say... Words are only words..." She pushed his paw away, finally tired of it covering her face. "Can you show me something nice? Can you swear me that you'll always be this way? Show me how you feel, more than ever..."
Ngoma smiled, nodding his head. "There you go, you found it..." He stepped back, a grin on his face. "Is there more to it? I wanna hear as much as you can!" After all, he'd let out what he felt was quite a bit of song. She owed him this much.
She eyed him, having opened her eyes. "I don't feel like singing any more, and I don't think I will. You said a little bit, and that was a little bit." She pushed him with a paw. "Now come on, there's more important things to worry about than singing. Like patrolling. You're coming with me for a round now." Without much more word, she turned and left the den, swatting his nose with her tail.
The white lion let out a sigh, smiling. Okay, he had to admit it... He was smitten. He had been for a while, and he could see that look in her eyes. It was just getting her to admit it... Or was he seeing things? He didn't deny, he could have just been seeing things. Then again, she DID tell him to bring her a vulture if he wanted her... A sharp roar yanked him out of his thoughts and he took off after Ramla, intent on impressing her.
