A few days had passed since Fireheart had spoken with Riddle Mouth and Muhali about the events that had transpired. The King was still in his den healing, but each day he grew stronger and more restless to be out and about once more. Even still, his own pride held him within his den, as if the pride members didn't know what was wrong. Riddle Mouth never remained in one place for long, so the more he kept to his den, the more worry would start to seep into the minds of those in the pride. Fireheart kept them at bay, though, giving them reassuring words and distracting them from their worries with promises of a ball that would hopefully be underway soon. Despite her Queenly duties needing tending to, she had to slip away from time to time to be alone. She did love her pride dearly, as if family, but even she needed a break from her children and mate at times. Slipping away through the forest, she stopped to drink at a small pool of water not far from the border. She had been on patrol the past few days until more Patrons had been rounded up for the task. She couldn't keep her eyes to the horizon every day, after all, not when she had a pride to take care of. Still, she trusted her own gaze over others, and once she had her fill of water, she stuck her nose through the bushes to peer out into the rouge lands. Nothing much, a tree here and there, and a shadow-
She frowned a bit and lowered herself closer to the ground. That shadow was moving in ways shadows shouldn't. Perhaps it wasn't a shadow at all, but a silhouette. The wind was blowing the wrong way to get a good sniff, so all she could do was wait.
She'd been stalking this pride for a while. Not really stalking, more like... observing. Nisrine was called here by something she didn't understand. She knew nothing about what happened on the inside, not yet, but she really wanted to figure out what was taking place inside this pride near the ocean. The salty air wasn't good for her fur, caused it to curl, but she could deal with that. There was an energy about this pride that made it feel like home. She hadn't felt at home in a good, long while.The pink lioness took a few hesitant steps towards the pride after jumping down from a fallen tree she was using as a vantage point, her headdress causing musical jingling with every step she took, threatening to sway into her eyes. It never did, though.
However she heard someone shuffling, or.. she thought she did. It could have been the wind, but none the less, it made her pause out in the open, ears flattening back, blue eyes staring out at the pride and wondering if she'd made a wrong move already. With her luck, she had. Nisrine had not had the best luck lately. Chased by cheetahs, angry hyenas who wanted her head dress as their new crown? Insane creatures, hyenas were. Still, someone was out there. A guard? Maybe a friendly guard? Steeling her nerves, the pink one spoke out. "Hello?"
Fireheart watched as the lioness - brightly colored, she noted with dismay - stopped a few paces away from where the brown earth of the savanna met the shrubs and greenery of their forest. She didn't seem to be hostile, and when she called out, Fireheart knew there was nothing to be done but to return her cry.
"Hello," she said back, even though she didn't rise to meet her gaze. "You're dangerously close to trespassing on pridal grounds. We don't take kindly to aggressive or mischievous rouges here. State your business, if you please." It was best to be formal at a time like this. There were others that liked to be wordy and confuse new comers with their fancy language, but for her it was never wise to beat around the bush.
"Oh. Aaah..." She blinked when she got a reply and then the explanation that followed. She watched as the fiery maned lioness let herself be known and then bit down on the inside of her cheek. She was neither of those things! "I felt... a pull to this place. I was wondering if you'd welcome another in the pride? I'm Nisrine and I'm wary from wandering the roguelands.." It wasn't like she was good at explaining herself, but that as basically the gist of things. How else was she supposed to explain herself?
Swallowing a little, the pink lioness tried to make herself seem as nonthreatening as possible. She really wasn't going to cause any problems, especially if this one would be able to bring her into the pride to someone who'd let her stay. To have a place called home, a place to start a potential family, that's all she really wanted.
A pull. Fireheart snorted quietly, narrowing her eyes just a bit. The wind changed, allowing her to catch the female's scent. It seemed she hadn't been around anyone for quite a while, as no other scents mingled with her own. Flicking her tail back and forth, she moved from her hiding place to walk towards Nisrine. Pausing a few paces from her, Fireheart spoke again.
"If you don't mean to cause trouble, you are welcome here," she said evenly. "There are many that will help you find your niche. We are the Kizingo'Zaa, gypsies, and you will be one also if you do decide to stay here. Your current name shouldn't be given to those not known well to you," she added, trying to let her gruff tone disappear.
"We take gypsy names here. Mine is Fireheart," she added, by way of introducing herself. "And your true name will remain safe with me."
No, she hadn't been around any lately. Not in a great while. She had spent her nights alone in dens that hadn't been used in a long while from the maintenance she'd done on them. That's what she gathered, anyway. Being alone was hard, especially when she was a social creature, and not just because she was a lion. Nisrine liked to tell stories, jokes, just be around others, make them laugh and make them smile. That's what she really liked.
"I won't cause trouble." Gypsies. That was an interesting term she hadn't heard before. Her tail flicked in curiosity, and then her ears flicked at the odd naming custom. Ah, how would she find her name? At least, that kind of name. "I see... Ah. Fireheart." She nodded, trying to commit that name to memory. It wasn't like she was forgetful, but she may be bad with names, especially when she was as flustered as she was.
"So.. What name would I go by here? Do... I get to pick or does someone else get to pick?"
Fireheart shook her head. "Everyone picks their own name. Generally it has something to do with a physical characteristic, something you enjoy doing, a trait you have, a nickname you've had since you were a cub...it could be many things, but it is yours to decide."
She left out the bit about muses, since she wasn't ready to admit that the pride was somewhat back to the way it had been before she was born. She hoped not many of the pride members visited that cave. If she found any of her children were...well. She wouldn't be very happy.
"It's not something you need to decide right now, but if you meet others and you haven't picked one yet, I'd simply tell them you're still working on a gypsy name. They will understand," she said with a nod. "Only those you trust are to be given your true name."
Okay so she would have to pick her own name. Her tail flicked again and her ears perked up, feeling better. She could tell them she was working on it. Nisirine sighed and visibly started to relax. At least relax enough to give this one a wide smile and nodded yet again, her haunches lowering to sit down.
"I'll remember that. To only give... the trusted my name. Ah, why is ..that? I mean, why the need for other names?" Hopefully she wasn't asking too many questions.
Fireheart wasn't used to this many questions. Usually newcomers would be thankful for the welcome and move on in and she could return to her patrol, and later they'd come to find out they'd been welcomed by the queen herself. The title didn't mean much here, though, not like in some prides. She was the voice of the pride, yes, and it was her job to see that everyone was happy and well, but there was no bowing or reverence, just a bit of respect.
"We rely on our gypsy names heavily because your true name is who you are," she said simply. "If someone you do not trust or an enemy comes to know who you are, you can no longer surprise them, trick them, get away from them. We're generally more apt to deceive and flee than stand and fight, and we have a reputation for being slippery devils, but we hold those names with pride. Your true name...well. It holds a power over you. And you don't want someone to dislike to have that power, do you?"
Questions were good in her opinion. If you don't ask questions, you'll never understand things, and in a pride, there was a lot to understand. Still, her ears lowered as she waited for the answer, starting to feel uncomfortable. Maybe that would be the last question she asked. It seemed Fireheart didn't usually deal with lions asking her this many questions. She cleared her throat and then listened with ears perked at the explanation.
"No, I suppose not. That's... very smart. Ah, so I suppose this is where I go wander the pride and meet the others? Integrate myself, as it were." She nodded a little more and got to all four of her paws once more before stretching herself out. "It was nice meeting you, Fireheart. Thank you for answering the questions I had! ...I already feel like.. I'm honestly home here. Like I should have been here my whole life. I hope to see more of you around." Nisrine was considering Fireheart her first friend here, however wrong that might be.
The queen watched Nisrine stand and, as she thanked her, gave her a small smile by way of welcome. She knew once she found others inside that she'd be greeted with open paws and warm stories and laughter, and keeping her here would probably just put her on edge.
"We're home to anyone without one," she said, bowing her head just a bit. "I do hope you find fast friends here. We're one big family, and hopefully you'll come to find that soon. If you need assistance in any way, just ask someone to find me, I'm always around."
"I'll do that," she said with a bow of her head. She figured that was the custom here, since Fireheart did it a lot. Well, not a lot, but she'd done it! With that, the bright lioness took a few hesitant steps until she was inside the pride and then wandered past the queen, unknowing of who she really was. Her chest felt lighter with every step and she knew this was going to be a perfect fit for her.
