[ORP] Pain and Conflict - Kiuma and Tanaka arrive

[Whimsical Blue]

Kiuma practically bounced as she trotted along. The journey had gone quickly for her, and she could only wonder at the difference. With Uumi, she'd been forced to slow to match his speed, and their stops had been frequent. Travel went so much faster when you could push yourself, and stop only when you needed it. Young muscles burned pleasantly with exertion, and the lioness felt more alive than ever before. Now this was travel!

Bright eyes slid to her companion as he spoke after a long period of companionable silence. Round ears perked as those eyes swept their surrondings, noting the change from the grassy, rolling terrain of the southlands. "Are you sure? Have you been here before, Tanaka? I only heard that there was a lot of water, thus the name. This place doesn't seem as.... watery as I would have thought."

The ground was hard packed beneith her cream-tipped paws, the grass a less vibrant green that spoke of a long time without rain. Sure, there was a smell of water to the air, but that was most likely because of the waterfall she could hear, even from where she stood.  

[Whimsical Blue]

With a smirk, Kiuma took off for the waterfall she could hear close by, her tail a streamer behind her. She'd never seen a waterfall before... though she knew what it was since there was one in the Pridelands. Laughter was bright on the air as her paws slapped the dirt in a four beat rythmn of joy. Something new to see in a place she'd never been!

Skidding around a tree, she leapped a fallen log propped on a mossy rock, sailing over it as though it were no trouble at all. Even tired from traveling, she found the energy to revel in her freedom, giving free reign to her slightest whims. "Come on, Tanaka! Last one there is a smelly warthog!"  

[Whimsical Blue]

Kiuma laughed as she saw him faceplant into the pool beneith the waterfall. Gathering herself, she sprang into the air in a shallow arch that took her out over the pool. Water fountained in all directions, flooding the shore line and emerged Tanaka as a red form disappeared beneith it. With a gasp, the adolescent broke the surface to spray yet more water in all directions as she floundered towards the shore.

"Sweet Circle, that's cold! Why didn't you warn me, you big fluff ball!" Kiuma groused, more bark than bite. Muscles gathered and released as she pulled herself from the water. Red fur lay plastered down, slimming her a good deal till she started to shake. This certainly seemed a time for flying water as droplets caught the light and watered the grass the lioness stood on. Her chest heaved, both from her running and the shock of the cold water as she flopped down in the sun on the shore line. Completely ignoring the fact that she had arrived second, the lioness began to groom her sopping coat, starting with her paws.  

[Thalion]

Nearby a small cub's jaw dropped, spilling the mouthful of water he had managed to lap up back into the water where it had been drawn from, a pair of eyes widened on the sight. A lion with...wings? He quickly lifted his head, snapping his maw shut and took a slow step back, looking between the two lions. He had heard of invadors before... his pap was horribly afraid that one would come soon- one that had mauled his aunt. But- he'd have mentioned wings...

"....uhh...... h...hi.... please don't take me 'way, I just got here." He shook a bit, but tried to keep himself looking as large as a cub could.  

[wooga Paes]

Again, the cub Kimaji was chasing mice, and not managing to catch them. Of course, though, she'd got quite a tad better, and now had an easier time following all their sudden turns. Especially now in the dence forested area of the land, she had so many things she needed to dodge. Actually, it wasen't too hard to find her tangled up in a few vines, she actually had a few pieces tangled around her ankles and waste, streching over to her chest. This slowed her down, but it was better then stopping to take them off. The cub was moving in the opposite direction that the river moved, so she'd eventually end up at the waterfall.

Even if she didn't notice.

When 'hunting' Kimaji didn't seem to ntice how far she was straying from home, she only payed attention to be near the water, that was how she'd find her way back if she were to be lost. But after a while, she could hear some odd sound, the cub was still to acknowledge a waterfall, so this was compleetly new to her. It grew louder and louder, and then... The mouse dodged back through the forest, just in time for Kimaji to notice two forms(Kisulisuli being too small for her to notice while running, or her eyes paying more attention on what jumped out more. xD), and one.. Looked like Uumikaji! Of course, she didn't have time to acknowledge that this was a female, before, afraid she woulden't have time to stop, leaping into the water.

The cub disaphered under the surface for a while, though. She'd never gone deep in the water, and being close to the waterfall, the current was a tad stronger than she was used to. It had pushed her more to the middle of the water, where she coulden't lay feet. Not used to the water pushing her down, it would take a while before she submerged, breaking the waters surface once more with her paws slapping the water around her. So this was how the leaves were pushed? Afraid to submerge again, thinking the water would suck her back, she attempts paddling towards the land again.

Of course, she dosen't manage to reach it compleetly, only get close enough for her claws to dig into the dirt and keep her from being carried away. Gasping, she realizes this red lioness, isn't Uumikaji. But.. How? She looked almost the same! Maybe sparing a little bit of black but.. The red! She had the red! "You look like Uumikaji. " She whispers to herself, amazed by the resemblance. She was actually a few meters away, sense the current had pushed her downwards quite a tad, but they were still in sight. And, she was close enough to see a cub, wich she haden't noticed while running. From her poition, she coulden't see the odd thing about thelion, a torn up wing.

(( Couldn't resist. ;^; *flail* ))  

[Whimsical Blue]

Kiuma growled and flicked her tail at Tanaka, a grin on her face. Then the cub caught her eye and her whole manner changed. Eyes sparkling, she rose up to sit, curling her tail around her paws. Licking her maw in a show of pleasure, she yawned. "Maybe we should steal him away, Tanaka..." She teased. "He'd make a fun little toy before he gave out." Her chuckle showed she was only joking, at least in part. She'd never really hurt a cub.

Then a splash caught her attention and the sleek red head turned towards the water to see yet another cub in the river, clinging to the shore for dear life. "Hey! Are you ok over there?"  

[Naita]

Cool blue eyes echoed the call of waters slowly evaporating from the once deliciously verdant jungle lands, a mind so tumbling and confused as a waterfall behind their progress.
Arumoa moved over the soft earth of his homelands, yet that sheer pleasure of knowing himself in the place of his birth had become tainted. Memories long suppressed reared themselves, memories of his father and his ways, of that lion his youngest sibling had never known. It saddened him to think they, he and his two siblings, had never made peace with their own kin.

His sister, meanwhile, moved with a mind unblemished, merely soaking in the sights of anything new, anything to catch her eye. She was a young adult, but in truth had a mind so fluttering she may have been a child.
"Aru!" she called, slightly ahead of the male, "I hear something!"
Eagerly she drank in the scents of strangers, the sounds of bodies and of voices, before streaking ahead without a thought, eager to meet these new friends to be made.

The elder of the pair, meanwhile, sighed at these impetuous ways. He followed her with eyes, his ears and eyes alert for any signs that these were not friendly others.  

[Thalion]

The cub puffed out his chest as much as the small cavity would allow, frowning and throwing his shoulders back. That's how the big lions looked like when they were brave. He coudl be brave just like his papa, or his uncles even. Yeah, he could be just like them. "You won't take me 'way. I can beat you! I'm bein' trained to fight."

If that didn't kill the appearence he was after, the pathetic squeeking attempt at a roar would have though his fur did bristle a little. "I'm Kisuliuli! Son of Enki." That should do it- his father's name should be enough to send them running if that roar didn't.... at least in his mind.  

[Allure]

The thudding echoed loudly within Athiri's ears, with each vigerous leap forward, her heart continued it's rapid beating pace. She could have sworn that the entire lands shook with the thunderous thumps, the feelings were swollen deeply within her throat and chest. Pure adrenaline rushed through those veins as she continued, not looking back as she had done so many times before. Even if her eyesight was suddenly taken from her, she would know that Akamu would be close by her side. Perhaps it was the presence of the newly acquired trinket that lay laced tightly around her neck. Each symbol of emotion was hovering just perfectly near her heart, or at least where she assumed that the essence of all feeling emitted from. The two had been searching for quite some time now - searching for the land that they had heard of that was so peaceful. A land completely opposite from where Akamu's family grew up, the Mistweaver lands. A land where they could find some sort of peace, and at least temporarily escape the chaos that ensued in the surrounding lands.


"Finally," she whispered in a harsh panting voice to herself. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled the deep moist scent that she could only interpret to be their destination. "We are here."  

[Thalion]

"It's not cute!" He protested, pounding a paw on the ground, "It's vicious. It means I'm a dangerous thing and you shouldn't make fun of me..." he looked to his paws, kind of making patterns in the dirt. He wanted to be scary like his dad, no one would make fun of him then... or smart like his mama.

The cub sat himself down and glanced to the other cub. He hadn't seen her before. Maybe he had more siblings that he didn't know about. "...another one?"