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 Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:21 pm
Ardhi'Kama was just beginning to get used to life in this peculiar and wonderful thing called a pride. His job as a hunter wasn't really that different from what he did in the rogue lands, but it was different to have someone else to bring food back to. Tonight, however, he wasn't working - instead, he was lounging in a nice soft patch of grass. It prickled his toes just right and the happy lion found himself rolling onto his back to savor the sensation of his chosen resting place.
"Ohhhh, that's nice, that's really nice," he purred, then sat up and shook himself.Where was he, again? Was he still on the pride's lands? He didn't think he could have accidentally gone past any guards, but it was so easy to get turned around when there were actually limits to things and to places! Hm. It was rather quiet out here.... maybe he should see if he could find someone to talk to? If he could, maybe then he could figure out where he was!
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:33 pm
 With the kids all grown up and living in their own dens, Uchanjaa was rotated back to nighttime Guard duty. Not that this kept him from having a life, but he still spent most of his time out of the den whenever Kibi was on-duty as the Nurse Priestess. It was far too empty in there when he was by himself, especially after the mixed joys of having kids.
It had gone by so fast! And now his kids were adults, some of them even mated...though no grandchildren yet, and Uchanjaa wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
An unknown voice interrupted his reverie and the brown lion headed towards it out of curiosity and found...another brown lion.
"Good evening," he offered, after a few moments spent staring in mild confusion.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:59 pm
"Oh, hello," Ardhi said, standing up and stretching. "Was this your grass patch? I'm kind of new here so I got lost, and this seemed like a nice place to relax..." He blinked his big pink eyes, curiously taking in the other male's appearance. Hey, he was brown too! How interesting! "My name's Ardhi - Ardhi'Kama. Who are you?" He didn't recognize the other lion, but he was probably from here in the pride.... that was, if he was actually still in the pride's lands.
"Speaking of my being lost.... where am I? I'm still in the pride's lands, right?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:04 pm
"I'm Uchanjaa and I was heading out, being on Guard duty right now," he replied. The older lion thought about responding to the comment about the patch of grass and decided it was not worth talking about. Ardhi might look like an adult, but Uchanjaa was willing to guess the other male's age was around his own children's.
"This area's known as the borderlands. It's still part of the pride, but it's further out from the center and much less populated," the Guard answered.
"If you're lost, the main pride is back that way." He gestured with his tail for emphasis.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:19 pm
"I see, I see," Ardhi said, smiling good-naturedly at the guard. "That way, huh? Okay, I can remember that." This male was older than him, he realized as he looked a little more closely. Older and a guard, so.... that meant he was higher class, right? Which was... probably supposed to be a bigger deal than he felt it was. Meh. Who cared about that right now, there were better things to focus on.
"Nice to meet you, Guard Uchanjaa; I'm a hunter - well, all I could be is hunter, apparently that's what my class means? Not that I mind, I like hunting. It's fun, it's productive, it's doing something for the pride - oh wait should I be bothering you if you're on duty?" The brown-and-mint lion babbled for a moment, pacing a little as the words spilled out of his mouth.
"Sorry, sorry, I should have thought of that; I haven't been here that long so I forget, I - should I let you be on your way? Or - or - no, wait, I'm sorry, I should just stop talking now huh?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:25 pm
Uchanjaa stood and listened while the younger lion rambled on. Yes, this young male must be at best, the same age as his own children. He had much of the same mannerisms and attitudes. Including the ability to talk incessantly.
"Slow down," the brown lion said at last, when Ardhi took the time to stop and breathe. "It won't make much of a difference if I spend a few minutes here, helping you out. These are peaceful lands." He chose not to touch on the issue of class. It didn't matter much in the long run as far as politeness between people went, and the pride had only just dealt with a...class-based problem.
Plus, Uchanjaa was still bemused to think of himself as being in the high class. He'd been born to the middle, with his sister and had been content with that.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:40 pm
Following the older lion's command, Ardhi slowed down his pace of talking. In fact, he stopped long enough to properly listen to his elder. Nodding eagerly, he smiled at the Uchanjaa and tried to settle down a little. "I know," he said eagerly, "That - that it's peaceful here, I mean. I like it a lot. It's a lot less lonely than the rogue lands were... and less violent, too. It's... safe, and it's - well, it's home now so I guess I'd better like it here, huh?"
It wouldn't be very good if he ended up hating the Mwezi'Johari after joining, nope, that wouldn't be good at all. In fact, it might even be considered downright terrible.
Yup. It was definitely a good thing that he liked it here.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 9:37 am
"It's always preferred that you enjoy the place you've chosen to live, yes," Uchanjaa agreed with a smile. Considering that this youngster was, by his speech, a former rogue, the fact that he had chosen to join the Mwezi'Johari carried a fair bit of weight. The Guard, on the other hand, had been born to this pride before he, his family and friends had gotten separated from the main body when the pride migrated to this location. So he had some experience of what it was to live as a rogue, but was still Mwezi, bone and blood.
It was almost a miracle, the fact that Ardhi was now quiet, waiting for him to reply instead of just rambling on. If only his own children had been so inclined to listen to him!
"I've always thought this pride to be the best home there is," he confided to the younger lion.
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:08 pm
"The best?" Ardhi echoed, a smile stretching across his face as he regarded the older lion. He had originally come to these lands because it sounded interesting, because it seemed safe and that there would be company for him, some way he could have friends and be just a little less lonely. (And maybe meet a nice ladyfriend, too... hey, it could happen!), but he hadn't thought that he'd managed to pick the best home in existence!
"Wow..." The younger male said, excitement and awe creeping into his tone. "I'm living in the best home there is...? I am, aren't I?" This was so - so - wow! Never once did the thought cross his mind that this could simply be the opinion of the other male, or that he had no real perspective on life outside of the pride... no, Ardhi was content to be shocked and enthralled by the idea that he had somehow stumbled upon the best home in the world.
This was just so amazing!
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:44 am
Uchanjaa was a bit taken aback by Ardhi's reaction to his simple statement of an opinion. He'd toyed with the idea of explaining to the former rogue about his past, but now he wasn't so certain. The younger lion certainly seemed to be one who could take a sentence and blow it out of all proportion. Did he hold no opinions of his own? Was he just that enthusiastic? Uchanjaa had no way of knowing.
"It is but one way to view the Mwez'Johari," the Guard said at last. "But you seem quite new here still...perhaps a bit more exploring? Within the pride's heart, that is," the lion added, gesturing helpfully again.
He was not going out to the border with this boy in tow. It just wasn't going to happen.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:15 pm
"More exploring might be good, yeah," Ardhi said, nodding a little. He probably should check out the rest of the pride, do a little more exploring and learning about his new home. If this really was a great place to live - and it did seem to be, especially after this lion said so. But he was enjoying this conversation, and didn't really want to see it end, either... What to do?
... Wait. The older fellow was going out to work, wasn't he? Ack he was probably keeping him away from his job right now, oh no!
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:42 pm
It wasn't that being "late" was something lions worried about too much, not when they measured time by the broad movements of sun, moon and stars. It was more that Uchanjaa had a feeling that having Ardhi tagging along, spouting questions and random observations, would be counter-productive to his duties as a Guard.
"Go on, there's a whole pride waiting for you," the older lion encouraged Ardhi.
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:41 pm
Time was a confusing thing, that Ardhi had literally no concept of; but he was somewhat aware that the other lion was supposed to be working, probably now. Standing here talking to him could mean that - that there were invaders just over the border who would get through because of his interference!
Clearly the only way that he could make up for this was to hightail it out of there as fast as he could. And so, tossing a "Bye!" over his shoulder, Ardhi did just that.
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