[PRP] Now what?

[wooga Paes]

It had been perhaps a week since their homelands had gone up in flames. A terrible time to grow up, if there ever was one. She had been nearly ready to leave for her pilgrimage when it all went down, and by all means, a few days later she would have been out.

Sure enough, now Ani was 'out', but for entirely different reasons!

After rescuing those who needed help, and giving them all time to organize their thoughts, their Queen was leading them off to different lands. Ani had been, up til now, preoccupied with mourning the swamp, and trying to help out or at least not get in the way. But an idle thought slipped her by as they walked along, and made her furrow her brows. What of the pilgrimage? Perhaps the Queen had spoken about it and she hadn't been paying attention.

She noticed a few others who seemed to be of age walking along, and decided to pull up to one of them, slipping through the crowd as well as she could while trying to still look sort of solemn. "Hey, hey you."  

[mouselet]

Nagua was getting tired of walking. He didn't like being out of the swamps much - everything was so dry out here - but he had to admit that they couldn't just go back to the burned out ruin that had been their home. But did they have to do so much walking? Couldn't they just stop somewhere and stay there?

It would certainly be easier.

So it was with relief that he turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, hoping that it would at least alleviate some of his boredom. The yellow lioness making the noise looked to be about his age, even though he didn't know her. She was somewhat familiar though, so he'd definitely seen her around before.

"What?" Nagua asked, vaguely curious but mostly just responding for form.  

[wooga Paes]

Good! she had his attention!

Ani didn't want to be scolded for lack of sentimentality right now, even though it was unlikely such a thing would happen. Everyone needed to distract themselves. But anyways, she still wouldn't risk it, so Ani made sure she didn't look too excited or anything as she took up pace beside the teal male.

"I was wondering, and I'm sure you are too," She began, because Ani couldn't think of a very subtle way to breach the subject anyways. "What's gonna happen with our pilgrimage?"

mouselet

mom decided on movie, so I gotta go ;; I'll be back later tonight!

 

[mouselet]

He hadn't been wondering. In fact, Nagua had been assiduously avoiding thinking about his upcoming Pilgrimage as much as possible. This was scary enough, being outside the swamps with the whole of the pride. But going even further all by himself?

That was terrifying.

"I don't know," the boy answered. "Maybe this journey will count towards it?" he offered hopefully. After all, the point of a pilgrimage was to travel, and here they were, traveling! Seeing new places! Far beyond the swamp!

Okay, so maybe he was having a hard time convincing himself. But he was trying at least!  

[wooga Paes]

mouselet

She sniffed, and mulled over his suggestion. "Maybe..." It made a little sense, just a little, but... "No, that doesn't really feel right, does it?" She furrowed her brows and pondered. It was supposed to be a journey of self discovery and... stuff! Away from home! How could it possibly work when, in a way, home was walking with them? Her parents were probably very literally only a few lions away.

Ani had always been sort of excited for her pilgrimage, the only thing that might make it seem less appealing now was that she'd have to leave her family, and not know they were happy and safe in the swamp.

But she would need to go on it, right? Or else she'd never be complete, neither she or the others! "I think... maybe she," the she, of course, being their Queen. "Maybe she's just delaying it. I wonder if that would be a problem..." She wasn't sure why, but maybe delaying their name quest could be disastrous!  

[mouselet]

Nagua frowned. He wasn't really sure he wanted to go any further from home...yes there were family and friends all around them right now, but it wasn't home. But nothing had made sense at all since the fire.

"I don't know," he replied, pawing at the ground beneath them. Hard ground. Unyielding. No water in it, unlike the swamps. No mud to play in. They had to remember to drink, at least, that's what his mom had said. It was all so different.

"It makes me really nervous," the boy admitted at last.  

[wooga Paes]

She frowned, and tought a bit and then nodded. "Me too." If that wasn't obvious. She glanced down at her paws as they walked and for a little while Ani was quiet. All this change made her uneasy, even though she had never been a particularly frightful or troubled girl.

"It's gonna be okay, though. Everything will be figured out!" She grinned, if a bit forcefully. "La'u Khara'i won't fail us." She could trust their Queen to lead them somewhere safe, while the swamp recovered! who knows, maybe sometime things would grow there again, and they could go home.  

[mouselet]

The boy had to think about that. He knew that the Queen wouldn't lead them astray - she was the Queen after all, and that meant she had to know what she was doing, leading them all on this seemingly endless march from their home to...somewhere.

"I know she won't fail us," he replied slowly, "but what about the land? What if it fails us?" Yellow eyes grew wide as he began to consider the full implications of the land inexplicably choosing to continue this trend of failure for them. "The Queen can't make the land stay good and green after all...what if she leads us somewhere and then we have to leave again?"

Now Nagua was starting to work himself up into a panic. But try as he might, he couldn't seem to calm down.  

[wooga Paes]

What a horrifying thought! That the very land would continue to turn against them? "No, I don't think so." She said, stubbornly believing that would be silly and way too... well, it just couldn't happen, that's what.

But Ani was forced to consider his fear and briefly made it her own. "And if we have to leave again so be it. We're tough. There are birds that fly far and wide and never stop! We'd just had to make the whole world our land." She said with resolve, though it might be a bold proclamation. Lions couldn't fly, and could only walk so far. "But it won't come to that."  

[mouselet]

Nagua considered her response. He wasn't sure how "tough" the Jini-msemi were or weren't, but she was probably right about the birds. And making the whole world their land...well...there were a lot more Pilgrims sent out than adults who returned with new names. In fact, it seemed like every adult who'd been born in the pride had at least one sibling that had never returned from their name quest.

Many still lived, that he knew, in other places and prides. But not with the Jini-msemi. And now those scattered lions, along with those who had left on name quests before the fire, had no idea what had become of the Swampies. They'd return, if they came back at all, to an empty and burned-out swamp.

"I guess you're right," he said at last. "It just makes me worry."  

[wooga Paes]

"Of course I am." She said with more confidence than she felt, because despite her words Ani still had doubts about the future of her pride. She shook her head slightly as if that would rid herself of them, then furrowed her brows. Okay. She needed to listen to others to make herself feel better. Or maybe she could help others feel better!

Starting with her parents!

... ah, wherever they were. She had lost sight of them in the crowd. "I need to go find my folks, Iwant to talk to them..." She trailed off and blinked. "Hey! I forgot. What's your name? I'm Ani." Might as well get that covered before hurrying off!  

[mouselet]

Girls always did seem to think they were right. It was something the teal lion had learned over and over again, being raised by his mother along with three sisters. Well, he had brothers too, but the sisters just kind of overwhelmed him sometimes.

"Nagua," he answered, bemused as she suddenly seemed eager to get away from him. He, on the other hand, was perfectly happy being within the pride and nowhere near his family. It got old after a while! Not to mention his mom or sisters were sure to find something wrong, no matter what it was.  

[wooga Paes]

She nodded with a grin. Nagua! She'd remember that, even if it became worthless after his pilgrimage. Which they certainly would do! Eventually.

"It was nice talking to you. Made me feel better, thanks!" Even if she had been, perhaps, the more optimistic of the two. Perhaps that was why, in a weird twisty way. Like somehow others being worried made Ani feel like she needed to rise to the occasion, or something.

She headbutted him quickly, friendly, before moving through the crowd. "See you later!"