[FIN] Hi There! (Machholz & Lailah K'chol)

[mouselet]

Lailah was wandering around the borderlands, hoping to catch sight of a rogue lion. A certain roge lion. The adolescent's mother was pregnant again, by some random rogue lion who was no member of the pride. Lailah had privately determined that the father of the soon-to-be cubs was probably the same male who had fathered her and her siblings. In her mind, she'd built up a story of how this mysterious lion was her mother's secret beloved mate and he couldn't join the pride because he was in a relationship with this jealous lioness who wouldn't let him go, but he managed to sneak off to the Mwezi'Johari borderlands and be with Aysu, who was his True Love, but he still had to go back to that awful woman every time.

So she was going to use her own and her siblings' appearance to try and find him. Well, to find him before she had to go back home for dinner at least.

So far, the adolescent wasn't having much luck. She hadn't even seen one rogue lion, let alone her father.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Machholz stretched out at the boarders of her brother's pride. She had known he was here for some time but had hesitated joining. She wanted to find adventure, to have some sort ... something before she settled into a pride, however... She never got that. She never once got what she wanted. It didn't matter to her, honestly. At one point, Mach probably did care, but she was at the point in her life she wanted to just... Machholz didn't even know what she wanted to do anymore. She just wanted to see her brother and have somewhere safe for once.

Looking around, she managed to spot a white female nearby and arched a brow. She wasn't quite an adult yet, it looked like. "Hello there," her voice rang out, strong and clear. Machholz was a stubby lioness, but because she was fat, but because she was muscular. Like her brother.  

[mouselet]

The white lioness was startled to hear a voice calling out to her and, heart racing, she looked around quickly. Well...how in the world had she missed THAT lion before? The stranger was dark and purple and black and starry. Actually, the lioness reminded Lailah of Nyota, the Head Guard. Sort of. Kind of. More femaley.

Then she belated realized that the other lioness had been talking to her. Whoops, she should respond to that!

"Ah...hi!" the younger lion called back. "Who are you?" It was, after all, a logical question to be asking in this place.  

[Bronze Coffee]

A smile broke onto her face when the younger lioness was startled and she couldn't help but laugh as she finally calmed down. Stepping closer, she sat down when she was a foot away and shrugged. "Machholz. Nyota's sister. One of them. I think I might have a few more siblings here, but I can't be sure. We didn't all come at the same time, you know." She smirked and shrugged a little, curling her tail around her paws as she sat, poised and pretty. At least, if this lioness was a male, that's what he would think.

"You're a guard? I didn't know they started them off this young. I should probably talk to him about that. You should at least be in training, not an actual guard. You should be shadowing one of the day guards.." She clicked her tongue in disappointment and sighed.  

[mouselet]

Oh wait...she actually was related to Nyota? That was...that was amazing! It gave Lailah hope that she could find her own father by hanging around out here. After all, how likely was it that the Head Guard's sister would just be coming by?

The younger lioness did understand what Maccholz meant though, with siblings not all being born at the same time. After all, her mother was having more cubs and they'd certainly be siblings of hers! Just much much younger.

"Baba'nyota, the Head Guard? You do look a lot like him!" Lailah replied. But she laughed at the older lioness' assumption. "No no, I'm not going to be a Guard, I'm the Apprentice Shaman! I was just out here..."

She probably shouldn't mention what she was hoping to find out here. She didn't know how this stranger would react. Worse, she didn't know how Aysu would react if she found out.  

[Bronze Coffee]

"Baba'nyota, yes. We're littermates, actually. I wandered off while he joined. I wanted to try to find some kind of adventure out there. Not so much fun by yourself, I think." She smirked and laughed a little bit more before listening to the younger one again.

"Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations on that, dear. I hear it's a very impressive role, Shaman. You were just walking? Helps clear the head," she gave the girl a wink and then laughed. "What's your name? I told you mine and it's only polite, isn't it?" Chuckling a little more she decided to stretch out, sighing heavily. She really wanted to see her brother, get a den and sleep, but she could spare a few more moments talking to someone in the pride. They could give her the information she didn't quite know yet.  

[mouselet]

Lailah laughed with the older lioness at what sounded like a set of wonderful adventures that...maybe hadn't quite measured up to what the purple lioness had expected when she was Lailah's age. Then she gasped in horror.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! My name's Lailah K'chol and my mother is Aysu and my grandfather is Kivuli Mwezi and my great-grandfather is Mwezi'mtoto," this all came out so fast the white lioness almost garbled the entire listing.

"And yeah, I like walking around, seeing the pride. Stellaluna, she's the Shaman, says I should meet people from every class and every job, so I can help them better when I'm older!" the adolescent replied cheerfully.  

[Bronze Coffee]

She had a very pretty name. "I don't think I've heard of any of these, but that's alright. I'll have to look them up once I find my brother. Do you know where he is, bu any chance?" She asked, tilting her head with a little grin. Then she mentioned the Shaman's name and it made her pause.

"Stellaluna? What a fitting name. Tell me, what does a Shaman do? Are they the healers of the pride? I only know a pawful of information. I'd like to get to know the pride a bit better before I settle into it." Machholz just beamed at the younger female, black eyes watching her movements.  

[mouselet]

"Sorry, no," Lailah answered. "He could be anywhere - on patrol, talking to the King and Queen, sleeping in his den...I don't know at all." Mostly because she'd never actually met the big one-eyed lion, she'd just seen him and knew who he was.

"Well, the Shaman's the most important lioness after the Queen. She leads the pride in worship and she initiates all the former rogues. So you'll get to meet her!" the adolescent paused and considered that. It seemed that if this was the case, she might as well shorten things up.

"Say, why don't I take you to her? You'll also have to meet the King and Queen, of course, but it's almost time for my lessons anyway!" she explained to Machholz. It would kill two birds with one stone, keep her out of her mother's way and generally work out well for everyone involved.

She could come back here and continue her search another day.  

[Bronze Coffee]

Well, she'd track her brother down easily enough. He was easy enough to spot, with one eye and stars on his pelt. Grinning a little more, she listened again and nodded. Oh, she was the ritual leader! This young girl had made the explanation so easy to understand. Grinning a little more, she nodded and laughed.

"Please. That would be so much help. You're going to be good at your job, Lailah. I look forward to seeing you become a full Shaman one day," with that, she followed the lioness into the pride.

An interesting and fateful meeting, indeed.