[PRP] Where the Flowers Grow (Ifunci x Sturm)

[Kaliforneum]

The rain had taken a temporary break, dark clouds giving way to bright blue sky and puffy white remnants of the previous storms. Like the weather, the pride itself was much the same. The past few weeks had been filled with death, violence, and fear. They had finally come to terms with the loss of Gakere and Surtak. Through turmoil, Andhaka had been elected as the new Umholi. After a series of attacks from rogues, they had gained another Umholi, Bangizwe, and thus the great migration of the pride continued. Though they had suffered, the pride had seen through the storm.
But they had not been without their casualties. Many were injured. Umoya had lost a leg to a snake bite. Ifunci himself had been nearly crippled with a broken leg from one of the attacking rogues. Which was why, instead of following slowly behind the rest of the pride, the Ahluke was taking a break. Though he could now put some weight on his injured limb, it was still difficult to walk. The barest pressure on his toes sent a jolt of pain up his leg, and so Ifunci was still largely hobbling about on his three good legs when he wasn't leaning on someone else for support.
And that was probably the worst part of this situation. Ifunci had sworn his loyalty to the Abaholi in order to help hunt and raise the pride's cubs. But now he was stuck limping around, a burden. In the season where prey was most plentiful, Ifunci was useless. His face and body still bore the scars from his vicious attack, reminding him of his plight every time he looked in a puddle at his reflection. A reminder of his weakness.
The male sighed heavily at his own dark thoughts, rubbing his face into the scent of the wildflowers he laid in. The rain had cause several beds of brightly coloured flowers to pop up here and there around the savannah, and the Ahluke did love flowers, a thing of beauty in a desolate wasteland of bones.

 

[SilverLutz]

Sturm sniffed the air as he walked, the smell of rain mixing with the dirt and fresh foliage making him smile. His name meant storm, his mother had told him, thanks to the color of his mane and the cloud like markings on his back. Storms were good things on the savanna, even if they were a bit loud and scary. They brought life to places that needed it desperately and smiles to the faces of the weary and worn. Sturm was much in the same. He was a bit loud at times and when he was angry he could get scary, but for the most part he enjoyed making everyone around him happy.

He had split from his mother and siblings a few moons ago now and, as much as he loved them, was glad to be out on his own. He wanted to find his own way in life, bringing joy to those around him, and he hoped he'd find what he was looking for soon. He'd been alone for so long it was starting to bother him a bit. Sturm was a very social lion that needed the company of others to thrive, after all. You couldn't make grass smile, or trees.

Finally his nose picked up something other than flora and he turned in the direction it was coming from. It was another young male by the smell, although it was surprisingly fragrant. Once Sturm caught sight of the brown male he realized why: he was laying in a bed of flowers!

"Oh, that smells lovely," he said, trotting up to the edge of the patch Ifunci was laying in. "Good way to freshen up after a rain storm, right? I don't know why wet animals smell so bad but wet grass and stuff smells so good! One of the wonders of the world, I suppose. Hi, I'm Sturm by the way," he added after his little babbled greeting. Like mother, like son.

Kaliforneum

 

[Kaliforneum]

Ifunci froze, blue eyes wide and fearful as a rogue male suddenly appeared near his patch of flowers. The Ahluke's leg was broken. If this stranger attacked, Ifunci was done for. He'd probably be done for even if he wasn't crippled, as had been made fairly obvious during the attack a few weeks ago.
The male didn't move, his muscles so tense that he was shaking slightly. Ifunci waited for Sturm to come launching at him, a black and blue blur of teeth and claws, but instead the male kept talking. And talking. And he liked flowers? Ifunci glanced around him. Was this some sort of trap? Was Sturm a diversion for other rogues to slip by and attack from behind? But there were no other sounds besides the faint buzz of the herds off in the distance, no other smells than wet sand and fresh flowers.
Ifunci relaxed slightly, bringing his injured leg in closer to his chest. He didn't want to advertise just how injured he was in case Sturm's friendly demeanor suddenly changed.
"I, uh, I'm Ifunci. I...like your mane." Compliment for a compliment, right? And Ifunci did like it. It was so bright and blue, like some of the flowers in flowerbed, or the pale morning sky. Ifunci was used to browns and blacks and the occasional angry red. One of the reasons he liked flowers was because of their strange and different colours. It was intriguing to see a male with such a mane colour.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Sturm tilted his head a bit as the other male reacted very strangely. He pulled his paw to his chest as if it was hurt and stared at him like he was going to pounce. Had he been able to read his mind, Sturm would have laughed at the thought of attacking the other male. He could barely catch dinner for himself, let alone fight another lion!

When he was given the other male's name Sturm grinned again. "Ifunci, huh? I like that. It's got 'fun' in it." The added compliment did make him laugh and he gave his head a little toss. "Thanks! My mom said I got it from my grandpa."

He decided to sit to appear less intimidating to the other male. While Ifunci was a bit taller than he was, Sturm definitely had him in weight. From a distance he might have mistaken Ifunci for a lioness since his mane was so bright. Up close it was obvious he was male, but he was so slender and delicate it was almost strange.

"So, smells like other lions around here," he said hopefully. "Are you a part of a pride? I'm trying to find one to join. I was born in the rogue lands and just recently left my mother and siblings and being alone is awful. So. Trying to find a home! And if you are part of a pride, can I join? It's gotta be great if you've literally got 'fun' in your name, right?" he asked, snickering at his own joke and snorting just a bit. He whipped a paw up to cover his muzzle, pink eyes wide with surprise.

"Oh. Man I sounded like a warthog. Did you hear that?!"

Kaliforneum

Ahhhh the babs are both adults now ;w;!

 

[Kaliforneum]

The male laughed at Sturm's words. He was so energetic and bubbly! Loads better than some of the surly old lionesses that Ifunci was often around. Not that he didn't respect them. It was just...they weren't the most entertaining.
Ifunci's smile dulled a little though, when he thought about this male joining the pride. Of course Sturm could ask, but there were rules. And after the attack that had just occurred, Ifunci was worried about how the two Umholi would react to Ifunci bringing in a strange male. But they did need more hunters and watchful eyes, now that is was migration season, and cub season was right around the corner. The pride could always use more paws around cub season.
"Um, yeah! It's fun. We do a lot of hunting. And one of my jobs is to help with cubs, so that's fun, I guess, if you like that. I like playing games with them." And telling stories. Ifunci tended to be more on the modest side, but he liked to think he had the most entertaining voices for the cubs.
"But..." Ifunci felt his injured leg twitch as the memories of his attack were brought up to the front of his mind once more. "There are rules about males, and a bunch of them just attacked, so we're all a little on edge." The Ahluke shrugged uncomfortably. He liked this Sturm already. Ifunci thought it would be nice to have him in the pride. He just didn't know how the rest of the pride would react.

SilverLutz

DAW. THEY ARE GOING TO BE THE PRIDE'S CUTEST COUPLE.
Somebody better have some cubs so they can babysit, damnit!

 

[SilverLutz]

"Cubs?" Sturm said, his pink eyes growing wide as he grinned. "Oh man, I love cubs! They're so cute." He hadn't really had the chance to play with any since he had grown up a bit, but the idea of cubs always made him grin in a dopey way. He wasn't sure he wanted to have cubs himself, because they were a lot of work and woke up at dumb hours of the day, but to play with them and watch them...and then give them back....that would be the life!

The change in Ifunci's mood made him perk up a bit, the smile leaving his face. Males had attacked them? That was lame! He snorted softly and stood, only to bow in front of Ifunci, his claws digging into the dirt, tail bobbing behind him.

"That's so dumb! Why would they attack your pride? I'll join and fight 'em off! Rah!"

He pounced at a butterfly that happened to float by but completely missed and it fluttered off as if nothing had happened. Sturm looked up sheepishly at Ifunci, peering from behind his blue bangs.

"Ah...pretend that didn't happen. But seriously, what are the rules? I can sit cubs, too! We could be the dynamic duo of cub sitters. Protect them and teach them cool things and stuff!"

Kaliforneum

Hopefully Han will have some babbins soon! Trying to get her last RP done so she and Jasiri can get into the breeding thread. LITTLE SIBLINGS FOR IFUNCI DAWWWW

 

[Kaliforneum]

He laughed out loud at Sturm's display. Surely the Abaholi wouldn't turn away such a good-natured male such as this? Ifunci coudl vouch for him too. It wasn't like he had any real standing in the pride, but if Njalo could bring in a new Umholi and get an Umama to support him on her word alone, surely Ifunci's word could vouch for a new Ahluke.
"They attacked because we didn't really have any protection at the time. But we do now! New leaders." Which the pride was still getting used to. "But, um, the rules! Uh, well you gotta make sure you follow the guys in charge. Right now there are three. And there are female leaders as well! I'll introduce you to everybody." Wow, now that Ifunci was really thinking about it, he couldn't believe just how much there was to explain to an outsider. It was almost daunting. "Um, I guess the main thing is to pull your weight. Oh! And you're not allowed to um...fraternize with the females. That's a big no." The Ahluke stressed the word fraternize, hoping Sturm caught his meaning. Ifunci would never really have a problem with it, considering that he didn't really look at the pride's females that way. He wondered if that would be an issue for Sturm, however, seeing as it seemed he like cubs so much.
"Yeah, cub-sitting is what we do! And hunting, but, eh, I'm not going to be able to hunt for a little while though." The male shrugged, trying to pass himself off as nonchalant. He did like this new male though. He cheered Ifunci up, making him feel more like himself.

SilverLutz

OMG SIBLINGS. LIL IFU BROTHERS AND SISTERS. HE WILL CUDDLE THEM FOREVER.

 

[SilverLutz]

Ooh...new leaders. That was exciting! At least, Sturm figured it was exciting. He paid attention to what Ifunci said and had to snicker at his heavy emphasis on 'fraternizing' with the females. He shrugged, not too bothered by it. He wasn't really old enough to have cubs himself yet, but the thought of having some of his own really didn't appeal to him. He much rather enjoyed the idea of being able to hand the cubs back at the end of the day rather than be around them all the time.

"I can pull my weight. I've been a rogue my whole life, I know how to get things done," he said with a confident tone and a sly grin, wiggling his brows a bit at the other male. "I'll impress these new leaders of yours with my awesome strength and prowess at making cubs tired and happy! They're gonna be like 'Sturm, where have you been all our lives?' and I'm gonna be like 'Out in the rogue lands learning some skills so I could come here and make your lives so much better than they already are!'. That's how it'll go down."

At the mention of not being able to hunt, Sturm's grin fell a bit. He glanced at the paw Ifunci kept favoring and finally decided to ask. "You got hurt or something? Oh man! Did those rogues attack you?!" That would explain all the fresh wounds on him.

Kaliforneum

 

[Kaliforneum]

Ifunci giggled again. He couldn't remember when last he laughed this much. Everything out of Sturm's mouth was hilarious. The young male almost couldn't believe that a rogue acted this way. "That or they'll be begging you to leave them alone." Ifunci teased. He hoped they wouldn't actually beg Sturm to leave. He couldn't remember the last time a male was this nice to him. Bangizwe seemed nice enough, and Andhaka was...well he wasn't necessarily mean, but neither of them treated him like this.

He male flexed his injured paw a little, ignoring the small twinge of pain. "I, um, yes, they did. We were out hunting and two of them burst out and attacked me. He got a hold of my leg and...." Ifunci trailed off, the memory nearly as painful as the injury itself. It was embarrassing, how badly the rogue had injured him and how little Ifunci had done in driving them off. "If it wasn't for everyone else, I probably wouldn't have made it. I'm not the best fighter." The male admitted. "Oh, but I did blind one of them! It was a lucky hit." That, at least, he could be proud of.
"They say my leg will heal with time though. I don't know what I'd do if I could never hunt again."

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Sturm frowned a little at the thought of rouges attacking this poor guy. He hoped he wasn't coming off as dangerous or anything like that. He'd never been told he seemed like a threat even though he could hold his own in a fight. His personality didn't lend itself to destruction and mayhem, thankfully.

"Well...I'll go ask these leader guys if I can join and then I can fight off any other rogues that come while you get better," he said with a nod. "And maybe I can teach you some cool moves so if you get stuck you can try to get out without getting hurt! They're really cool," he added, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Like. Super secret awesome moves that will stun your attacker just because they're so awesome."

He gave Ifunci a grin and another laugh before pouncing forward, circling the brown male before heading off, following the smells that would lead him to the center of the pride. "Come with me!" he added. "I don't wanna be seen as a threat so if I'm with you hopefully no one will attack me.'

Kaliforneum

I've got a half sibling of Ifunci's now that we can RP with if you wanna do another with them as adults >W> But I think this one is just about done.