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 Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:38 pm
Uzulu trudged quickly along, his feet scrambling over rocks with grace an agility. His ears were pinned to his head, but a grin spread over his face. It was clear he was at least contented with his new pet, even if he despised the company. He'd jerk his head back on occasion to look back at that forlorn figure, face in a scowl, but never slowing the pace.
"Hurry up slave!" It came out with a growl, and he kicked a loose rock down from the precipice he climbed. It skirted down the face, bouncing joyfully and hit the golden colored slave squarely on the nose.
Upendo'Mpaji couldn't blame him. Most of The Blood horribly despised any slave that merely rivaled them in size, let alone being bigger. It didn't help that he vanished into the sand. He'd been chased about several times for allegedly 'leaving', when he'd only been sitting right there.
Never the less, he was tired, and it showed in his heavily sweating body. His head was low, and his breathing hard, tongue lolling out with the heat of the sands. The master seemed to be faring much better. He was clearly muscled, far sleeker, and the muscles in his arms made Upen envious.
Another shout sounded from above, "Heat got the best of you, eh, pebble?" Apparently Uzulu thought Mpaji a rock, and a small one at that. What a wonderful oximoron. "You move those feet, and perhaps I'll let you get a drink of water at the top?" There was a chuckle, and then the Firekin doubled the pace, making Upen plead with his lungs to give him more air.
After what seemed like ages, they reached the water source, and Mpaji began slurping up the delicious liquid.
"Did I say you could drink yet?" Uzulu chided, his face glaring down at the golden slave. Mpaji shook his head, but kept drinking, it seemed to be enough for Uzulu. "Make it quick, Kaanga may very well have vanished at this rate."
Again, their pace quickened, but this time it was downhill, towards a cave it seemed. Upen himself wouldn't have been able to pick it out from the rocks, but clearly the two members of The Blood had. He forced back a groan, if Uzulu was like this, how horrific would be the voice of the female he lived with?
"Kaanga?" Uzulu called up ahead, his voice seeming suddenly lighter. Mpaji furrowed his brow in disgust. Just like Keeni, and when he was beginning to like this Firekin, too.
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:18 pm
Vanishing was one thing certainly not on Kaanga’s mind. When Uzulu had asked her to wait up in his den while he was off doing things, she had taken this as a fantastic chance to show him just what a good homemaker she could be. She was a princess- but, that didn’t mean she didn’t mind doing things on her own. Haphazardly, maybe. But she had managed it on her own. While Uzulu was out bartering for a slave of his own, Kaanga went about collecting rocks and dry grasses.
The grass made her mouth sticky and dry, but she was glad to have finished before his return. Across the floor of the den she’d scattered the dusty grass and desert plant, and attempted to arrange rocks in a fashion she thought was rather clever. Now, she sat with her red back towards the opening of the den, and observed it carefully like an artist looking at a canvas.
But underneath all the strange concoctions of her mind- Kaanga was still worrying. She worked now mostly to keep her mind off other things. Much like Kidondo- she too was beginning to have visions. But unknowing of his plans they seemed to be bizarre. She didn’t like how they perverted her settled existence. Things would be alright. They always were.
Her ears perked when Uzulu called her name, and as if nothing serious had ever crossed her mind, she jumped up with a cub-like excitement and ran towards the ledge. “Uzulu!” She called eagerly, and slid to a stop once he- and another fellow, were in sight. She’d seen the slave before; although she knew little if anything about him. Was he looking for No?
“Oh!” She peeped. “Hello! Uzulu...?” She questioned, hoping alongside him to rub against him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:59 pm
Uzulu wasn't sure if he would go along with housekeeping. He'd never been partial to outside 'things' in his home, but for Kaanga, he would no doubt put up with it. Never the less, as he had not yet reached the entrance to the cave, or up high enough to see it for that matter, he could have no comment as of yet.
He grinned as he heard her call back, giving a warning glare towards the yellow, who fell in step behind him. He couldn't have the slave making any mistakes, and certainly not running away at this point. He'd seemed trained well enough, but anything could prove dangerous.
"Kaanga," he said, nuzzling her back (though lightly), and stepping to the side. "I have brought you a gift."
He seemed pleased with it, as his brows became a little less furrowed, and his tail stopped its agitated flicking. The golden slave stepped forwards in compliance, as though presending himself to the Firekin.
"Lady," he said, gracing a bow. This apparently gained him points with Uzulu.
"He is your slave, now, Kaanga. To do with what you will." Uzulu chattered on. It was surely the most words he had spoken in ages.
With Uzulu safely behind him, Upendo'Mpaji felt it safe enough to give Kaanga a grin and a wink. It would be invisible to the male Firekin, for Mpaji had his head dipped, but Kaanga would surely be able to see it, and make of it what she would. Upendo always did have a strength in bringing out the worst in The Blood.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:43 am
“A gift?” Kaanga eagerly creened, and did a winding twist around him to see what it was. He wasn’t holding anything...she bounced once and sat down, pulling one of her paws to her chest in a perfected waiting pose. Uzulu moved to the side- and in doing so, the golden lion stepped forward and bowed in front of her. Her yellow eyes fluttered in interest as he did, but she hadn’t yet connected all the dots.
It was only when Uzulu explained what was going on that she lit up. A slave- for her? She was still hesitant on slaves, but after seeing how close No and Kidondo seemed to be...surely it wasn’t that bad? Maybe some slaves liked being slaves. She remembered Ashki though, her old friend- although she had not yet made any mention of her meetings with him to Uzulu. “For me?” She peeped.
Uzulu turned around, and she caught the other male’s wink. Her face broke into a silly smile, and she giggled.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 12:40 pm
Uzulu laughed. "Of course, Kaanga, I see no other." He gave the slave a very dark stare as he heard Kaanga giggle, but he couldn't see anything ill about the situation.
This golden one was proving a little more sneaky than he had previously thought. No matter, no slave could ever outwit a member of The Blood.
"As far as I know, he can hunt, talk, and . . . raise children," or so Motomilia had informed him. "Not that there will be any, but if ever the need comes through, the slave can keep a watchful eye if things turn and we must go." Or, he thought to himself, if we decided to go on that adventure I promised you.
The gold, just in front, was having trouble holding in his own smile. Laughter was contagious. And even though he didn't consider her a true Firekin, like Uzulu and Kwana seemed to be, her nature was wholly loveable and he didn't think he would mind serving under her, either.
And oh, he could talk, a bit too out of turn. He could hunt, rabbits, maybe, if they didn't bit him, and he could most certainly play with the small cubs, but there were not any. He suppressed another laugh, this was so far fetched an adventure, why had he ever agreed to come?
"What would the Lady have me do?" Upen asked curtly, sliding back to his feet and raising his head. It hurt to have it low all the time. He gave a nervous glance towards Uzulu, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. Upendo made sure to keep his ears back, on not look to hard, this was going to take some practice.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:29 pm
Kaanga giggled again, and shook her head. She hadn’t meant it quite like that- of course she was the only one around! With a bounce, she looked to Uzulu, and then back to Mpaji, and back to Uzulu once again. “R-really? No one has ever given Kaanga a gift before!” She ushered happily, and pressed her pink paws together. And...he could take care of children? The idea of it sent a bubble of pleasure through her heart. She wanted children! She truly did. Did that mean Uzulu wanted them too? Or maybe she was just reading too far into the obvious bold headlines. With a smile she looked back to Mpaji, and swayed her tail.
“Oh...I would be glad to have him.” She hushed. But the next thing Uzulu said troubled her somewhat. It brought back the worried feelings, and she swallowed them back down before they became noticeable on her face. “I...I am sure nothing will...” Her head shook. “My brother knows what to do. I know he will be able to fix things, and father will fix them too.” She hushed, but so quickly lost the moment as to make it apparent that she did not wish to think of ever needing to leave. She was Kaanga! Everyone left, while Kaanga stayed. She would always remain. Wouldn’t she?
“Oh...you don’t have to-“ She started, before reconsidering. She didn’t like ordering people around- but perhaps it would be rude to refuse to ‘try out’ her gift? She wouldn’t want that at all! “Oh, oh- I know.” Kaanga suddenly spoke, and took a few hops backwards. “Uzulu, you have to wait here though. I was cleaning, and...” She realize she didn’t know his name. “He- can help me finish!” She corrected.
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:08 pm
Uzulu was a bit surpised that Kaanga had never received a gift. Why, as a young cub, they would take gifts to the royal family all the time. Mostly in hope of gaining some favor. Perhaps what Kindono said was true afterall? Was that really a Firekin they wanted to lose?
Mpaji meanwhile could have been rolling his eyes with disgust. Oh sure, she was sweet, she wasn't going to beat him, but it was sickly sweet. She talked a far too much, and referring to herself in the third person was enough to make him die. The golden male furrowed his brow as she spoke. Somehow, he didn't think Kimeti and Kindono were going to be on very good terms in the near future. Something made him want to tell her this, but he couldn't discern why. Perhaps, through all her annoying ways, she made you trust her. How could something that stupid keep a secret anyways?
It was The Blood's turn to frown. He was a bit nervous to let the slave stay in the company of Kaanga, for she was too soft a heart and would let him flee to the sands if he gave her a proper excuse. Still, she seemed very excited about being helped with whatever she had been doing, so he let the issue slide for the time.
The slave hadn't even waited for an order, with a broad grin on his face he'd hurried over to Kaanga's side, anxious to help with whatever it was - if only to get away from Uzulu's scowls. He didn't think he'd have to hear Kaanga jabber much, as she'd be making him run errands. This could work out afterall.
"Just set me on a task, miss," he muttered with practiced ease.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:34 pm
Kaanga smiled softly and nodded her head. “Okay! You just wait here, Uzulu.” She implored again, before motioning for Mpaji to follow. The excitement of it all was really too much. Uzulu giving her a gift! This new fellow- surely he would be a good friend. She had seen him before- that must have meant he was loyal. What had Uzulu done to get him away from his prior mistress, her aunt? She would have to do more then this to repay him! After all- this had been a surprise she’d already planned to do sometime! That surely invalidated it as a return gift.
But what exactly could she do? Maybe she could speak to father...
As soon as they were out of sight behind the boulders that lead down to the den, Kaanga whipped around and started walking backwards, her large body swaying once as she did. She might have been a strange firekin- but there was no doubting her heritage in terms of size. “Okay, okay, okay-“ She babbled and grinned. “I’m cleaning, you see?”
By now, they were at the den- which, although there was quite a bit of evidence supporting the time she had spent on it, did not look quite as clean as she had been intending. In fact, it looked sort of like wind had suddenly attacked the den, cascading it with strange desert plants and the occasional interestingly shaped rock. “What to do, what to-“ She hushed, walking in circles around the room.
“Okay, okay. You sit here.” She pointed towards the center of the room. “Sit, sit. Okay! You just tell me what you think. I’ll move stuff around, you tell me where to put it, okay?” Her tail swayed. This slave was a man like Uzulu- surely he knew what he’d like. “You don’t need to do anything. I’ll make it look right, but I don’t know what it’s supposed to look like. I want this to be important though.” She whipped around and picked up a rock that looked vaguely like a cone. “It looks like a bird! If you turn your head like this. Yes, right? Okay- where should I put it?”
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:25 pm
Uzulu surely hadn't been expecting a gift in return, he just felt like dropping big obvious hints to Kaanga that she would never get. Like the fact he wanted cubs. With a heavy sigh he slumped down onto his side on the rockface, pretending to preoccupy himself with cleaning his fur, while pricking his ears to try and overhear what Kaanga was doing.
Mpaji was quickly led away by the babbling, and enlightening, Kaanga. He seemed wholly confused by the situation, unable to decipher what exactly was going on. Kaanga seemed to say whatever was on her mind, and every lion well knew that the brain was a complex thing, capable of holding many thoughts at once. Consequently, it seemed, Upendo'Mpaji had to finish whatever Kaanga had been thinking in his own mind.
He nodded at her, showing he understood she was cleaning, though somehow, he couldn't quite see it.
Wasn't cleaning getting rid of the things from the desert that clattered the house and home?
He followed her along, jerking to a stop every time she made a fuss about one thing or another. At last she seemed to have a task for him, and shooed him into the center of the room, where he promptly seated himself, gazing about at the 'decor'. Mpaji didn't think even Kaanga knew exactly what she wanted.
"Over there, just outside the cave, so it looks like its watching out over us," he told her, smoothly. "People will pass by and see we have the messengers of the sky keeping gaze." It felt strange to be telling a Firekin what he thought, and actually being asked for it. He'd tell them, alright, but it certainly wasn't an opinion they' asked for.
"And those plants? Put them at the base, here, and there, so you can have a sort of bed outline. Fit for a King and Queen?" he suggested, cocking an eyebrow at her.
He dared asking her a question. "Why are you doing this anyway?" It looked perfect enough to him bare.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:10 pm
“Okay!” Kaanga replied ecstatically, and began to shuffle more things about the room. She started by following his advice about the bird rock- and placed it outside the den rather then inside. From there, she went inside and began to mechanically follow his orders- not considering for a second that they might have been wrong or second guessing them. “Here! Okay, I’ll move it there...”
In between moving items, he asked her other questions. “Oh, no- I’m no king or queen.” She giggled, and pushed stuff around. “Daddy is the king. And I guess Kidondo too,” She smiled, and picked up a few sparse pebbles.
“...doing?” She paused, and for a moment looked a bit concerned. “I’m...well...trying to make Uzulu happy...”
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:03 pm
Mpaji watched her with worried eyes, how she moved things with such practiced grace - as if the whole world would come toppling down if she didn't get it done in time. All the while talking about this and that, as though he needed commentary. Then again, he was often commentating himself, and it felt good to have someone else talking instead of himself - even if it was inside his head.
Mpaji's ears went flat. This was a royal cubbin, and the malice quickly filled his heart. Daughter of the b*****d Kimeti who kicked dearest Kwana from her rightful throne. His heart ached to think of it, but yet, he couldn't stay mad at Kaanga for long. Her nature made him feel guilt. Could she really change who sired her?
The guilt was even worse when she seemed concerned, it was as though he had done it, and he could feel the wripping in his gut. "I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean any offe-"
He was cut off by the shouts of a rather aggravated Uzulu. "Kaanga! Are you quite finished with your dallying yet?"
Mpaji frowned. So harsh!
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:51 am
The sound of Uzulu’s shouting made Kaanga nervous. She smiled sheepishly and gently waved her paw, hoping her efforts to please him were not unintentionally backfiring. “Um-“ The seeress sputtered. “One moment! I’m almost done!” Her head shifted about as she did, trying to remember the last thing Mpaji had told her to do.
“I don’t want to make him angry.” She hushed in a nervous voice. “What do you think is the think that most needs changing now?” The white lioness rose onto her back legs and sat, pressing her too pink padded paws together in a peculiarly sage expression. “Oh, I hope he’ll like it and won’t be mad...”
The sound of Uzulu again bowed her head, and her yellow eyes bounced about looking for what needed to be changed.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:29 pm
Outside Uzulu sighed, turned a circle, and repositioned himself on the rock. He buried his paws in his head while he waited, unsure of what was taking so long, and why on earth the slave had to be there when he wasn't.
Mpaji rose, looked it over, and walked around the perimeter of the home, stopping at the entrance to look back inside. The golden lion cocked his head to the side, and bit his tongue, but he could think of nothing else.
"I don't think so," he comforted her, but didn't dare look towards her eyes, that could lead to actually caring for the bugger. He could not come to like any member of Kimeti's brood, he said it over and over in his mind until it became a pattern. It didn't matter how innocent they were.
"In fact, he'll like it," he finally decided for her, moving to the very back of the cave and settling down. He wondered what was so important about living arangements anwyay. He couldn't see anything.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:38 pm
“Oh! You do?” Kaanga uttered excitedly, and for a moment, quieted as she reflected on the state of the room. She was glad he did. Surely he knew what Uzulu would want. The idea of him being a slave did not really cast a shadow of doubt on her mind; for someone as strange as Kaanga often found herself being the odd one out, between slaves and firekin alike. Would Uzulu like this? This wasn’t just an act of being kind on Kaanga’s part. She wanted to show him she could be a good mate. She was a princess, but she’d do whatever it took to show she had no need of being waited on. Of course...she hadn’t the scarcest idea if Uzulu was even interested in even looking for one.
“I think... I think it is good too.” The white lioness resolved. “Thank-you very much...” She flushed somewhat and looked away. “I’m sorry...I don’t know your name? I’m Kaanga.”
She waited for his response a moment- before calling for Uzulu to come in.
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:24 am
Upendo'Mpaji set his ears partially back on his head, trying not to look so outgoing. It was hard with his size, so he shrunk back to the corner a little. Praise was something he liked from Moto, but from anyone and everyone else, it felt awkward and out of place.
He didn't even have the heart to say 'You're Welcome,' but then again, that was expected of a slave - to be welcome to do something.
"Upendo'Mpaji," he paused. "It means love giver in Swahili." He was rather proud of this fact, seeing as he'd picked up the name himself from the human kind, or rather, they had given it to him. Swahili, he'd learned was a mix between African Traditional languages and Arabic. It was certainly an interesting mix.
He flinched when she called Uzulu in, the peaceful moments had grown so relaxing he had almost felt at ease. The presence of the red lion certainly wasn't something he desired.
----
Uzulu pricked his ears, and quickly rose to his feet, grumbling to himself just loud enough that Kaanga wouldn't be able to hear, and made his way towards the entrance to the home.
At first glance, he didn't notice, for his head was down, but when he rose it to give Kaanga a warm smile, the sight before him struck him dumb.
He blinked a few times, but gave no other hints of being alive. A large lump had begun to form in his throat, Kaanga had certainly made a large . . . well there really wasn't a word for it. Logic in his mind told him she'd done all this for him, and the sign was a little bit too clear.
For the first time in his life he felt a little awkward, and turned away to try and hide his shame.
- -
Mpaji knew what that would lead to, and sprang into action, for Uzulu appeared to have not liked it, he certainly hadn't said anything. The yellow lion quickly rushed over to Kaanga's side, and tried to explain what to do in a hurried manner - he was liable to get a beating for it, but with what he'd seen so far of Kaanga, she was too innocent not to take a chance for her sake.
"Large baas, he's just overwhelmed. He's never had a fine lady, you see?"
But he was cut short by the entrance of Uzulu, who was still a little flustered. He nodded once to Kaanga.
"Thank You," he said, and made his way to the middle of the room, and placed himself there, giving Mpaji a sharp glare. The yellow quickly shrunk to the corner of the room.
"It's very pretty," he told Kaanga, and motioned for her to join him.
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