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 Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:03 pm
Seide had passed by the refugee camp, briefly - taking the moment to have short, casual conversation with a few of those who spoke the common tongue - before she had continued to the dunes facing west.
Seide had settled down on one of these ridges, eyes squinting into the low, yellow sun. The sand before her was fast, rolling, and abutted by hardened formations of rock. Tracks were easy to discern, shadows darkening their indents, as was the slowly moving form of white.
Veru would no doubt be tired, coming home from a day of tracking. Perhaps he would be quieter.
Seide waited until he was just beneath the dune, before calling out, "I asked where you were assigned," as if that explained her being there.
"I have a surprise for you," she added a few minutes later as his form came closer, though she did not rise or walk down the dune to greet him.
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:24 pm
To say Veru was tired was an understatement. After a day chasing down mirages and wayward rogues, Veru was half ready to bury himself in the sand and call it a lifetime.
A fact that was somewhat at odds with how he was generally perceived by the pride. And this was no simple misunderstanding either- he routinely encouraged the idea that he was something of a slacker. Or at the very least, the kind of person who did what was required and not much else. It seemed he was less phobic of actually doing the work then admitting he might actually do that work well. Once it became real, it became serious, and not something he could brush off easily. Veru didn't like things he couldn't brush off easily with a smile and a clever line.
Seide was becoming one of these things. But she had not yet chased away his smiles. It seemed no matter how tired the white lion got, his general eccentricies remained unscathed. "My dear Seide!" he said. "You didn't have to come meet me after my daring trials out in the wastes! Although there were quite a many. Did you know there are rogues who have taken to wearing birds on their heads? Whole birds, just like that."
Wait, maybe it was too soon.
"Something for me?" He blinked his bright eyes, and curiously leaned forward. As he did, he felt a strain in his back. Which didn't bode well for his most ideal scenario of where this was leading. But Veru was ever the trooper and did his best not to wince. "What sort of surprise?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:38 pm
At 'my dear' Seide almost let out a verbal groan. Instead, her teeth remained firmly clenched together and her eyes remained on Veru's blabbering mouth. Thankfully, his curiosity won out.
"It's a surprise," she repeated. One foot moved out to support the rest of her body as the large Corporal heaved herself onto all four feet. "It wouldn't be a surprise," she shook her body down, "if I told you." The very edges of her mouth twitched and the tips of her eyebrows rose millimeters.
"Can you handle a walk to the General Dens?" Her mouth and brows returned to a neutral state. Would Veru get the wrong idea from this? He'd be disappointed. He would get over it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:52 pm
"Well, I can't argue with such cunning logic as that!" Veru said with a grin, all too clearly misreading whatever diabolical surprise Seide had in store for him. But, he misread a lot of things. Particularly when women were involved, and especially when Seide was involved. She'd been of mixed temperments lately, which had given him the idea that she was either going slowly mad, or was interested in him. Both scenarios seemed worth investigating to their fullest.
He did seem a little scuffed that he looked as bad to not manage a trip to the dens. At least enough to wrinkle his nose. "Of course I can manage! I'm quite fit, you know." Several of his muscles were degenerating into a kind of new agony. "Although...I can't imagine what sort of surprise might be hiding there!"
"With all the dens and lions and things," he rambled. He had the vague notion that the den-sites were great for a plethora of things, one of which being the ideal place to murder ones enemies. He laughed ineffectually. "So how was your... day?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:19 pm
As Veru got closer, a steady sense of awkwardness began to drift in. Behind her, Seide's tail flicked once. Agitation.
"You'll never guess." The tone seemed to be inviting him to try by mere factor of factual seriousness. Stretching out, one ear on all of Veru's words, Moto'Seide cracked the bones in her shoulders. Then, she fell into step beside him. She had not begun close, but the distance between them seemed to consistently close every time, regardless of how straight a line Seide was walking.
She made Veru walk just to the left of the ridge she herself was traversing.
"I tried to take a day off," she began. The lioness looked over and her eyes scanned down Veru's face. A long inward breath accompanied the words, "My apprentice is growing up." Though she had never intended to take on an apprentice, she found that she'd grown to love watching a Firekin gain experience and flourish under her teaching. And Elda had taught her many things, as well.
"Tell me about yours." The red lioness' feet began to tingle and she broke into a jog, eyes on the hollowed rock faces that had begun to grow around them.
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:40 pm
The white lion kept in stride, following the backbone of the ridge they crossed. "You took a day off?" He asked in genuine surprise. Maybe she was going mad after all! It certainly didn't sound like workaholic Seide. But the idea of it seemed sound. "You should be proud then! That's worth celebrating, isn't it? She'll be graduating before you know it."
But as to her second question, he felt a bit at loss of words. Technically he didn't have an apprentice. "Well...I wouldn't say that's one particular blessing I've been saddled with yet," he admitted. "I apprentice a few of the hurias, but none of them are what you'd call 'my' apprentices." The hurias that passed through took several weeks education in learning the desert and tracking. Skills which he did his best to impart [along with his own brand of Veru wisdom], but he'd never actually had the chance to watch a lion form on its own. To get them as rough little cubs and then see the final result. By the time most huria were of graduating age, they were already leaving the pride.
"Not that I mind, don't get me wrong," he continued. "I like the look on huria faces, describing the world they can't even comprehend yet."
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:36 am
Hearing the word 'huria' always brought forth thoughts and memories of her sisters and brothers who were now wandering those same sands, or perhaps the plains beyond.
She thought hard, for a moment, on the idea of young An, face contorted as she tracked the world beyond. Though, her sister had likely taken the task on with inspirational energy. Just like she had, when they tracked the strange beast through the sandy tunnels and caverns in their youth.
Seide was too busy with these other thoughts to be surprised that no hurias had died under Veru's care. That, or she was beginning to think Veru was a competent individual.
"It sounds as though you already have your mouth full." A great deal of huria were being born, likely a result of the rogue blood being intermixed. But the Firekin still continued to grow and expand.
The lioness made a sharp left, heading up what had once been an isolated pathway and was now worn deep with all the feet that had traversed it. It took them through a narrow fissure in the rocks, out to the top of the general dens.
Another left, and they were following a narrow trail on the edge of a precipice, looking to the open sands in the north. A small stack of rocks, looking vaguely like a bird, greeted them.
"Mom," Seide called out. "Dad. I'm here for a visit." She moved further in, eyes readjusting to the change of light.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:08 pm
Sometimes it felt far more than a mouthful. While Veru had some very childlike tendencies himself, dealing with kids was not something he was used to. He tended to treat kids as small adults, only to be surprised when they were not. They didn't always tolerate joking or his special brand of self depreciation- and he'd left a few teary eyed after a misplaced comment.
"They do well enough," he mused. Huria were stronger than a lot of the pride gave them credit for. Unlike the young soldiers, who trained for a war in some nondescript future, the huria trained for a life they knew was coming. A clear goal could do wonders to a person's sense of motivation.
As they approached the rise of rocks, Veru got the sensation that something was up. This wasn't the direction to where Seide usually stayed- and as far as he'd been told, almost all the habitable spaces up here had been taken since before the war had even started. Unless there was some secret, secluded location for which illicit activities were conducted. But what were the chances of him not knowing about that?
"Hey, it looks like a bird." Veru mused, with just a little bit of dread in his voice. Lately birds seemed to be becoming a bit of a bad omen...
Did she say parents?
---
By the time Seide had called out to shadowy resting place, a white blur was already moving towards her. Kaanga was not one to waste time on greetings. "Seide!" she exclaimed happily, her face stretching into the wide, awkward grin that was uniquely her. "Visiting us? Not trouble, she hopes!"
It seemed to be a question she already knew the answer to. Or at least, the possibility of alarm had not yet reached that smile. She gave a curious look to Veru [who was giving an equally curious look back], and it widened all the more. Seide had always been Kaanga's responsible child. Whether she knew it or not, Kaanga had made something of an effort to not snoop too directly into her life.
Something which was easier said than done for Kaanga, who snooped sometimes without even the desire to do so! But, compared to say, Vutha... the princess made at least a passing effort not to meddle in Seide's life.
When not given the opportunity, anyways. Appearing at her door was all but an invitation. "Very curious! Mpaji, Seide has friends, you see!" Kaanga said delightedly, as though this might have been the subject of some debate between them.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:47 am
One of those rare smiles pulled over the Corporal's face. "No trouble, mom," she answered. She nudged her mother's neck with her forehead, her ears flicking towards the back where there was the sound of feet scraping on earth.
Her pale father, covered in dust from the nap he'd been taking, padded to the front to greet them. There was a deep, booming chuckle in the back of his throat, as he glanced at his daughter, and then towards Veru.
"Friends?" he asked, his eyes moving to Kaanga's pleased smile. "She must be slacking at work." It was good natured humour, and Upendo'Mpaji passed a wink for Veru.
To her fathers credit, Seide pulled in a puff of humoured air.
"Veru, this is my mother, Kaanga. You've probably heard of her. And, this is my father, Upendo'Mpaji." A big, strong breath later, and she managed to add, "Parents, this is Veru."
And then she ran out of words. The corporal bit her tongue. Mpaji raised both brows and caught Kaanga's eye.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:30 am
The lack of trouble was a welcome relief to Kaanga's mind. She returned her daughter's gentle greeting, thrumming happily to herself. If there were no problems, then surely there were only good things! In troubling times, Kaanga practically sustained herself on such moments. "Then this is good! Seide has friends, and there is no trouble," she glanced over her shoulder towards her mate. "If anyone has earned a little bit of slacking, its surely Seide."
"And she's certainly making good use of it! She might even be planning to take up sleeping and eating," Veru said in mock dramatics. It seemed the initial shock had worn off, and now he was stepping into the usual flow. The awkwardness of the situation was either accepted, or outright ignored. "Although its far too early to tell."
Veru was the sort of lion that either got along very well with people, or burned his bridges fast. Kaanga suspiciously narrowed her eyes, and scuttled over to the strange fellow as though she could learn more about him simply by being overly close. And who knows, maybe she could! "She remembers this one, always sick. You are better now!"
Veru coughed. "Mostly, thank you."
She squinted her eye, leaning even closer. To his credit, Veru almost returned the bizarre gesture. Then, she turned back to Mpaji with a smile. "I like this one."
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 8:58 pm
"Yes," Mpaji agreed. His soft eyes sterned for only a moment as he looked to his daughter. "She should come home more, I think."
"I visit every few weeks," the young lionesses retorted, the corners of her mouth still perking. Her tail swished and hit Veru in the shoulder as though daring him to continue with his tease. "He is well enough to talk the pride off its ears." As with all things Seide said, it was serious and dry, but without anger.
An awkward itching had begun to creep its way up her skin. A heavy sigh escaped her mouth, and she shifted on her feet with all the composure of an excited child.
"Kaanga and I were about to take our evening walk before dinner. You should both join us."
The corporal was quiet, turning her head to look at Veru. The smile had vanished and the hardset jaw was back, but the corporal's brow was raised by the slightest of amounts.
"Would you like to join them?"
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