[ORP] Inclement Weather (Over)

[Meepfur]

INTRODUCTION

The world is full of strange things these days: intense, unseasonable storms; inexplicable lights even in calm skies; unearthly sounds with no perceivable source.  All topics ripe for gossip and speculation...and concern, for some.  But life has continued on.  The three Abaholi are quite settled in, there are fresh Inselele to be admired (or antagonized), and it's time for the pride to migrate south, away from their red-pelted neighbors.

...or that's the plan, anyway.  The pride has been on the move for several days, proceeding as usual in no great hurry as they follow the wildebeest and zebra herds.  Mornings are a slow start, with so many needing to be rousted before everyone can get moving, especially as they tend to scatter and spread out during the night.  This morning, things are particularly slow, after a bountiful hunt the day before.  They've been under a steady, rumbling rain since halfway through the night, which may have put a damper on some moods, but temperamental weather has become commonplace in the last few weeks.

It's odd, but...that's weather for you, right?  

[Meepfur]

IC Information

• As stated above, the pride has begun its southern migration, travelling away from the Outpost. They have been wet more often than not, which is very odd considering that they're supposed to be in the midst of the dry season!
  
  
• Inselele Sayilmaz and Budek were each defeated, one right after the other, by Pahana and Giruvegan respectively.

OOC Information

• There is no specific posting order, however, to keep it from being to unwieldy/overwhelming, this ORP is limited to two characters per owner (excluding Abaholi). You can assume that your other characters are present, just in the background.
  
  
• This is open for all members of the pride. No passersby.
  
  
• There may be danger in this ORP.
  
  
• One post = one ticket, but you cannot win more than one prize.

Prize

Busisa, Watii (obedient in Swahili)
Joined a month prior to this ORP's events, otherwise blank.

 

[Meepfur]

Rain, rain, and more rain.

Maybe it should have been reassuring to have a dry season that wasn't dry, after the drought that had wracked the lands for so many long months before his arrival, but it was unsettling. No one, not even the oldest among them, could remember such an anomaly. Combined with the strange lights that now and then streaked across the sky, whispers that some had heard strange things, and reports from Aenda of unusual occurences elsewhere, there was cause for concern.

It was a shadow in Umkhombo's mind, but there was nothing to be done for any of it but watch and wait. The dark Umholi, like most everyone else, was soaked to the bone, his thick mane heavy with the weight of the water. He didn't even bother to shake, knowing it would be a futile effort.

Returning from an early morning of pacing the farthest perimeters of where the pride rested, he navigated his way respectfully past individuals in various stages of wakefulness. At least the previous day's hunt had gone well, and everyone had slept on full stomachs, even if it didn't quite make up for being rained on all night.  

[Meepfur]

This weather was completely absurd. She would take it over another drought any day, but it was still miserable in its own right, and Uheshe was tired of it, especially after another night of sleeping in it. Heavy rain did not make for a good night's rest. At this rate, this was going to be a long migration, full of grumpy Abazingeli and muddy cubs.

The palomino lioness glowered out at the morning scene, ears flat to keep the rain out. She'd been up for awhile, having found it difficult to sleep, and was eager to get moving. In the meantime, she glanced from form to form, gaze lingering in particular on their newest Inselelo. She'd not been at all taken with Budek or Sayilmaz, and the other new one was white, this one...had some rather odd markings, but his mane was decent.

Eh. She'd think about it. Maybe, maybe not.  

[SilverLutz]

Faust shook himself just a bit as he padded between lionesses, checking to make sure everyone was getting up. Umkhombo had gone off to ensure their mobile perimeter was secure and he had tasked himself with helping to rouse those that were still sleeping to ensure that once the other Umholi returned they'd be ready to go. There were just a few stragglers now but they were all in the direction they'd be heading, so they'd be easy to pick up along the way.

He spotted the dark male return from his rounds and turned to head towards him, mane dripping water down onto his face. His normal grey coat was nearly black from how soaked he was and when he reached the other lion they almost appeared to be the same shade.

"All set?" he asked, his voice low, barely heard over the rain hitting the ground. As nice as it was to have some rain this time of the year he knew that flash floods were a real danger if they were anywhere near a river. That and the other strange phenomena going on the past few weeks had his fur on end.

Meepfur

Ukufana for one was glad that the rains were here. The dry season had always been her least favorite thanks to her albino status, as she would roast under the unforgiving rays of the sun if she didn't wear her zebra pelt for protection. Had they remained in place she would have been able to shed the pelt for a while and enjoyed the rain on her back, but since they were moving once again she had the striped skin draped over her back, shoulders, neck and head so it wouldn't be left behind. Her mother had suffered the same condition and had worn pelts to protect her from the sun, but Ukufana was finding that it was doing a pretty good job of keeping her top side dry.

While she had been off doing Cinga-type things the pride had gone through a few Inselelo changes and she was pleased to see one of the new ones not far from where she had roused herself. He had a very strange pattern on his coat but she didn't let that deter her from approaching him.

"Nice weather, eh?" she said with a grin from under her 'hood'. "Haven't seen this much rain ever. It's great!"

Safaia

 

[Bronze Coffee]

The weather was so weird lately that Afsar often watched the clouds. They grew heavier and darker with rain, seemingly by the hour, and then they completely burst open one day and hadn't stopped since. At least not really. There were breaks here and there, but she constantly felt soaking wet down to her bones, and the orange female wasn't all that pleased about it.

There was almost a glower on her face as she gave herself a giant shake to try to dislodge some of the extra weight.

"Wasn't meant for this much wet."

To top it all over, she was mainly walking alone. Budek was one of the few she'd talked to constantly and now he was gone. Bah, she really needed to get out there more and just talk to someone... introduce herself. Like she was when she was a cub.

Dwa was getting a bit worried with all this rain around. His mother was elderly and there were still cubs around. He prayed to the gods nothing happened on their southern journey.

The male walked near the back and outside of the group, keeping an eye on the cubs and those who may be struggling to keep up in the mud they had to walk through. He stayed silent, but there was almost always a smile on his face to reassure the little ones. They didn't need to know how concerned he was getting.

Yes they rested, but no one but a fish should be this wet for this long.  

[Chisato Mikami]

Ayana
Ithambo'hlabathi | Busisa

‘Rain, rain, and more rain,' Ayana thought to herself as she lifted a muddy paw and shook it a little. This rain as getting on her nerves. She was caked in mud and felt like she had gained fifty pounds of weight on her body for her coat being soaked.

She looked over and noticed that a few of the females and a couple of males were walking around. Ayana probably should go see what was up, but she wasn’t really the socializing type. She always stuck to herself. The new male, however, did have some rather unusual markings on his pelt. It made him look… different.

She sat where she was, however. She didn’t see a reason to be with the others. It wasn’t like she knew any of them and none of them really knew her.





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[MangoMeow]

Melo, meanwhile, was one of those completely unperturbed by the rain. Maybe it was the lack of care for having wet, muddy fur, or maybe it was the excitement from migrating - after all, this was her first migration with her pride.

And what a strange migration this was. She was fairly certain that strange lights and unnatural weather were not a part of it, but oh well. It made things interesting, she thought with a grin.

At the moment, Melokuhle was trotting gleefully through the mud, sending it splashing around haphazardly. It was a miracle that she hadn't covered anyone in it.... yet. She was too entertained to care regardless. Besides, they needed to be getting up anyway; it was time to go.  

[Meepfur]

Umkhombo dipped his head in response to his fellow Umholi, tail shedding drops of water as he flicked it back and forth. "All set.  Once everyone collects themselves, we'll head out." It would be one thing to leave an adult behind, as they'd be able to catch up without issue - and maybe they'd learn to pay more attention! - but they didn't need any youngsters lost. "Although how anyone could oversleep in weather like this, I have no idea."

He glanced over the many rain-drenched forms, taking particular note of his sister, who seemed to be glaring at one of the new Inselele.  He wasn't the least bit surprised: Uheshe, he was sure, liked being difficult.  He was also sure she got it from their grandmother.

SilverLutz

Uheshe continued to stare at Giruvegan - what sort of a name was that, anyway? - for far longer than was polite, and was not the least bit concerned about whether he noticed or not.  He was just one odd marking after the other, entirely too busy!  He had splotches, he had spots - rather ugly ones, in her opinion - he had wings, and what was going on with those feet of his?  They, and his muzzle, were a very unfortunate shade of yellow.

But his mane was alright.  She couldn't say yet whether that outweighed the oddity of the rest of him, and altogether found it quite irritating.  Was it so much to ask for even one suitable Inselelo?

Safaia

Aenda almost never spent any significant amount of time amongst the pride, and Nobuthongo was no exception.  The last time he'd been in the Bonelands proper had been just after his father and Andhaka had been overthrown, and for barely more than a day.  He'd come back several months ago, but only to the border and only to a give a brief, uneventful report to Umkhombo before venturing off again.  Over the last few weeks, however, the world had suddenly gotten very eventful indeed: freak weather, mysterious lights and sounds - disembodied voices, even! - and that lake!

He'd gotten too close and had fallen in, and been sick to death for two days.  Once he'd recovered enough to travel, he and Iyezi had made a beeline for their homeland to make their report and see what the state of things was here.  He'd caught up with the migrating body the day before yesterday, but rather than leave right away, had lingered (with permission, of course).  He was still feeling rather under the weather, and though he usually had no objections to his relatively solitary lifestyle, it was good to be near family again.  While he took his time rising and stretching, Iyezi was already in the air, sweeping south to see what lay ahead of them.  

[SilverLutz]

Faust snorted softly in agreement. He had grown up in the desert so anything more than a few showers here and there was exceptional. The 'rainy season' they had here had blown his mind and now these storms in the dry season were setting his teeth on edge just a bit. He loved water as much as the next lion, it gave them life and strength, but he was starting to feel like there was such a thing as too much water.

"Mm. Hopefully everyone is roused," he agreed, scanning the area as well. As far as he could see the mothers and their cubs were gathered which was all they really needed. They'd be moving out shortly he was sure once they were satisfied that enough members of the pride were gathered.

"It will be slow going," he added, lifting a paw from the mushy mud, a strange suctioning sound accompanying it. While adults might have no trouble moving through the mud, the younger lions would surely find a deep spot to get stuck in.

Meepfur

Ukufana let out a little laugh at the Inselelo's comment. He seemed to be among the majority in thinking the rain was a nuisance at this point and she couldn't fault him for that, but deep inside she was rolling around in glee at the prospect of cloudy skies for their trip.

"Me neither. It's great," she added with another grin. "I think I was out and about when you won your way into the pride, I'd recognize a face like that if I'd met you before. I'm Ukufana," she said, offering her name.

As if on cue, a large silver bird dropped from the skies, perching perfectly on her back. The vulture shook himself, feathers fluffing up as he struggled to dry off a bit from the rain. It was all in vain, though, for as soon as his feathers settled against his body they became dripping wet once more.

"And this is Khapha," Ukufana supplied, nodding back to her companion. At the sound of his name the bird hopped around, facing the lions with his head held high despite the pouring rain.

"Hullo," he said, his voice gravely.

Safaia

 

[oo Ded]

Ahlaq was not a superstitious lion. He had met a few in his time, lions that spoke prayers to unseen forces in times of need or practically bent over backwards as to not cause offence to some temperamental god. But Ahlaq was a lion of practicality and, in that vein, superstition to be more burden than benefit.

Though sands and sky be damned, this weather could make you wonder. All that, combined with the lights in the sky and the claims that some were hearing voices?

The sandy lion shook out his unpleasantly damp mane and looked the group over. His eyes lingered on Umkhombo and Faust where they stood not far away. As Umkhombo had gone to the perimeter and Faust had gone to gather sleeping lions, the tawny male had roamed around those gathered trying to make a mental list of anyone that might be missing.

"Slow going, but it should go," Ahlaq mused as he moved closer to the Abaholi, "given that some rain is all the temperamental skies will give us." The lion snorted, narrowing his eyes at the sky as if he could find answers there.

--


Migration was the nature of things around here. It had been on more than one occasion now that the Imbiza had mused upon the fact that, had it not been for the familial nature of her lioness pridemates, she would have never lasted in the world as a three-legged lioness, let alone one that migrated throughout the seasons.

Part of her felt like she shouldn't keep thinking of such grim possibilities, but it was just the way things went around here. Regardless of any disability, living out here was hard. Thoughts on survival couldn't just be something left to linger in the back of the mind.

Emeka stretched. She had been early to gather with the moving group as, though she had gotten quite used to moving around, she wasn't the speediest thing out here. And, to be honest, she had gathered early to enjoy the feeling of rain on her pelt. She noted that some out here had disapproving looks, but Emeka quite liked it. Hell, it was a lot better than a drought.

"How are you feeling?" The healer said as she approached the Enda. She hadn't really conversed with many—they seemed to be very in and out. Emeka would be happy to take advantage of the opportunity to chat with someone that had been around the lands outside their migration routes. And besides, he had seemed to be feeling a bit under the weather (no pun intended).

Meepfur

SilverLutz