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 Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:27 pm
MPAPUROThe yellow-furred juvenile was sitting on a grassy knoll, looking out over the Pridelands. She wasn't much interested in playing around today. She'd tried - honest! - but every time she just came back to this same little hill and sat down. The girl even tried napping in the sun, but something always happened just as she was about to wake up - a fly perching on her ear, an ant crawling up her leg, the sun peeking through the clouds at just the wrong angle...it was simply awful. People really had no idea how hard it was to be a cub!
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:36 pm
The lack in her life had been slowly growing to a heavy weight within her heart. She had prayed, she had offered sacrifices, but no signs were given to her from the gods or goddesses. She had taken to being more solitary of late, for the wifely talk only saddened her more. When would her mate show himself? When would he come to sweep her off her paws? She daydreamed often about it, when she was off by herself. Today was yet another instance of that. She was wandering the fields, picking autumn flowers to later braid into something for her head, or her neck. The flowers were small, with long stems, in muted purples and deep reds. Her eyes were dreamy, flowers carried in her mouth, as she drifted by a low hill whereupon a youngster perched.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:40 pm
There was a lioness coming near now. Mpapuro didn't recognize the older lion as an individual, but she would bet her dinner that the lioness was related to her in some roundabout fashion. The dark-furred adult had the same build that countless generations of Pridelanders possessed, distinguishable from rogues. Mpapuro herself had it.
Oh and there were flowers in the lioness' mouth. That made an image that caused the juvenile to giggle aloud.
"You look like a big cub, carrying flowers like that!" she informed the adult.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:48 pm
She broke out of her reverie to smile up at the young female. She gently set the flowers at her feet and sat, facing her companion. "Only cubs carry flowers, hmm?" she asked softly, her voice low but sweet. "Here, if you help me find more, I can make us both flower crowns." She tipped her head slightly to the side, mentally trying to pick out whose cub this was, and what relation she could be to herself. "My name is Taanisi. What is yours, sweetheart?" Her voice was still soft, but carried a great deal of friendliness and good nature in it.
She liked youngsters. Granted, the rambunctious ones that most would call brats weren't her favorite sort, but she was tolerant of their antics, and thus often was favored by those she knew, regardless of their temperament. She didn't think she'd befriended this one before, but there was no time like the present. However, deep inside, regret and wistful longing created a hollow ache in her heart. Was she simply destined to never have her own cubs? Somehow, always playing with the cubs of others didn't seem quite enough as a future anymore.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:52 pm
Mpapuro considered this offer. Find flowers, get crown. On the one hand, look like an oversized cub as she carried them to Taanisi. On the other hand, flower crown! That was hardly a fair choice.
"Okay!" the girl agreed. "My name's Mpapuro," she informed the older lioness, getting up and beginning to search for especially pretty flowers.
"I guess not only cubs can carry flowers," she admitted, "but it still looks a bit weird when older lions do it. Shouldn't you have cubs of your own to find them for you?" the juvenile asked innocently. She might only have one brother, but a lot of other lions had a lot more kids.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:58 pm
And there it was, out of the mouth of one so young. Shouldn't she have cubs of her own? An expression of pain crossed her face and bowed her shoulders, though the lioness merely let it go with a light sigh. "No, I am afraid I do not have any cubs to help me," she answered honestly and forthrightly. "Not yet, anyway." She left the pile of flowers where they lay and began to circle the hill Mpapuro had been sitting on, stopping to snap off a few more blooms as she came across them, then carry them back to the pile. Soon they would have enough.
"Perhaps someday," she added finally, gazing down at the haphazard tumble of blooms. "I've certainly always wanted cubs, and a mate." Wasn't that every girl's dream as she grew up? Well, perhaps not every girl's, but it certainly seemed a very common hope. "What about you? Do you want cubs when you grow up?" She peered across the distance between them to smile warmly in encouragement, whether for a positive answer or one indicating other dreams. There was no right answer, just a way to get to know this youngster.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:02 pm
Mpapuro felt awful as Taanisi's shoulders slumped and the smile left her face. She hadn't meant to do that! And the adult was being so nice, offering to make her a flower crown too, she didn't want to be that mean!
"I'm too young to worry about that stuff," Mpapuro brushed off the other lioness' questions as she focused on how sad she'd made her. There had to be a way to fix it, there was something right out of reach...
...and then it all snapped into place so suddenly that the juvenile laughed.
"Well of course you don't! Your mate isn't in this pride!" she told the older lion flatly.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:08 pm
Taanisi had begin to weave the flower stems together carefully, her pawpads deftly twining them and tucking them, waiting expectantly to hear what this particular youngster dreamed of doing or being. She didn't try to speculate or guess... somehow that seemed like assumption, and no cub wanted to be told what they'd be. Their ideas, while sometimes far-fetched, were just as valid and substantial to them as any adult's.
It didn't much surprise her to hear Mpapuro dismiss the idea of cubs or a mate, and she smiled down at the arc of flowers forming in her paws as the juve paused to express her own ideas. Thus was Taanisi completely unprepared for the words that came next. So shocked was she, the flowers fell from her grip and hit the ground, coming loose again into a jumbled pile. She looked at the little female in shock, eyes wide. "W-whyever would you think that?" she stammered. Her mind was whirling madly... did this mean there was a male for her? Could he really be somewhere out there, waiting for her? The very idea sent the fur along her spine into a soft ridge.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:12 pm
The juvenile frowned as Taanisi dropped her flowers and stared at her. Had she done something wrong now? She'd only said the truth, just like she'd seen it! How could hse be in trouble for the truth? It was supposed to be that you got in trouble when you lied, and were rewarded for telling the truth.
"Well, I could see him. With you. But it wasn't anywhere in the Pridelands. Or near them," the yellow lioness tried to explain.
"You looked really happy," Mpapuro added softly.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:26 pm
Her breath caught in her throat. She... saw him? And her? Taanisi had heard of such things, and knew that such a gift was from the gods. And now... finally, after all her devotion and supplication, they had answered her! With a delighted whoop that was one of the loudest noises the quiet lioness had ever made, she bounded over the pile of forgotten flowers and swept the youngster up in her paws, hugging the little seer with unfettered joy. "You did? Really and truly?" The words were breathless and completely lacking in doubt.
"Oh Mpapuro!" She set the juve on her paws again. "This is such wonderful news! Thank you!" Her voice was soft again, but her eyes were shining, so that she nearly glowed from within. "Oh, this means so much! I will have to tell my mother.... and try to prepare for the trip... but oh, I don't know if I can do this." Her glow was dimmed a little, but lingered as a look of resolve spread across her face. "No, I will do my best." She nuzzled the cub. "Thank you. This is a great gift you have given me, by sharing your gift. You are blessed by the gods, little one. Stay worthy of it!" With that, Taanisi turned and bounded away, her promise of a flower crown forgotten in her overwhelming excitement.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:29 pm
Mpapuro was a little overwhelmed by the older lioness' sudden enthusiasm. But she couldn't help smiling back at the excited adult. She made simply answers "Yes really!" and "Oh how wonderful!" and things like that, but she could tell Taanisi wasn't really listening. It was so exciting to see how happy the older lioness was.
It made the juvenile think that perhaps, when she saw things like that, she should just tell people about them, instead of keeping silent for fear of upsetting them.
"Goodbye!" she called out as the dark lioness hurried off. "Safe journey!" Then Mpapuro got up and went to her own family. She had a feeling she wasn't going to find herself wandering back to that hill today.
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