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 Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:20 pm
"So why is it birdy, that you don't fly no more?" The little white ball of fluff asked the lifeless bird as it lay shrivelled on the ground. The poor creature was naked having not yet grown it's feathers and it's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of skin.
The poor baby bird had fallen from its nest and to its death and Yen Ha had watched it happen. Now he sat beside it, peering down intently as if expecting it to get back up.
"Wake up. Wake up." He whispered, reaching out to nudge it with a gentle paw. He was a tiny one with a frail looking frame, but he was not sickly, just slender and his mind was one of the sharpest of them all. "Fine then, don't wake up. Just stay sleeping."
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:16 pm
Safuma was busy batting at a glittering pebble not too far away. The pebble was tossed from one paw to the other as her scarlet eyes glimmered in endearing concentration, mouth slightly agape with her excitement as she watched its movement. Each tumble caused various beams of sunlight to lash across its surface so that it shimmered and gleamed.
She faintly heard someone talking and her ears swivelled toward the sound. Tail flicking idly at the interruption, atlast she pulled herself to her feet and approached the voice at an easy gait. When the vision of the white cub met her eyes, she blinked a few times before her gaze dropped to the baby bird at his paws. "Why's it not flying away?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:06 am
Kiasiadia had decided to spend the day exploring the Pridelands, now that she was bigger and had more freedom to wander. She had crept through the tall grass, stalked a mouse, chased a butterfly, even swam in the watering hole, and now she was tired. The juve had just barely made it to the smooth boulder she was perched atop, and now she lied there, gazing out over her home.
Her blue eyes fell upon the cubs in the distance and she tilted her head, wondering what they were looking at. The bird wasn't visible from such a distance. For a few moments she pondered over joining them, but instead decided to wait for a few minutes and rest a little bit more.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:43 am
He looked up in mild surprise at the sudden voice beside him, his eyes meeting the colour of gold. His heart gave a small thump and he turned his head away again, returning his gaze to the bird. He had been told that the colour gold was the true Pridelander, but what did that make him?
Did that mean that this cub was superior than him because of her pelt? Or did it not really matter if his fur was as bland as they came. His fur truly made him thankful for his green, smoky eyes, the blots of colour on an otherwise boring and drab pelt.
"It's sleeping." He replied finally. "But it won't wake up. I always wake up when someone nudges me, so why doesn't the birdy?" He tipped his head back to the female and wrinkled his nose.
"Excuse me." And he chose his words carefully, "Why were you born beautiful and me so dull?" It wasn't that he cared about what he looked like, because deep down he knew it was inner beauty that counted, yet...he couldn't help but wonder why one cub came out one way and another in a different manner. The concept of genes was definately far superior to his mind.
He didn't notice the other youngster nearby...yet.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:13 am
She frowned, her brow furrowing as she looked down at the little bird with a sense of sadness. Something was wrong, she had seen a dead creature before but only when she had been the one to kill it. The carcasses of kills she had seen were ripped to shreds and hardly resembled the creatures they had once been. But this little flying creature looked as if it had merely fallen asleep far from it's nest, she wrinkled her nose and inhaled sharply. It smelled of death, but she said nothing. The trickle of scent was so faint, it could be coming from another place. Far away. "Maybe it's just really sleepy."
Her scarlet eyes darted to the little white male when he asked for pardon, confused at what he was excusing himself for until he spoke again. A blush rose to her cheeks as she glanced away briefly, trying to understand his question. She found her own coat beautiful somedays, and normal the rest. All her family had the same earth tones, and the rainbow of colours of the other lions made her jealous. Kialio with his bright blue, or Intombi with his pink were such a phenomenom to her, she coveted them.
Blinking slowly, her eyes caught the sight of the other young lion cub some distance away. She too was beautiful with a striking coat of different colours. Sighing, she turned her gaze back to the cub that had spoke to her, "Thank you, but I'm not beautiful. I look like dry grass." She offered a soft smile, "I like your coat. It's all white. Like a cloud."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:19 am
Seeming to forget the 'sleeping' bird for a moment, the cub turned fully to face the female. She was what could be described as 'modest' yet the way she said 'dried grass' made him crinkle his nose. Then he shook his head and got to his little legs, peering at her with a curiousness that glittered in his eyes.
"No. Dried grass looks lifeless. Your fur is...is like sunshine on water. My mother says that gold fur is the colour of a true Pridelander, which means you belong here. You are special." Again his heart gave a funny twitch. If this was true then he certainly didn't belong here. So where could he go?
"Where do the cloud-fur lions go to live?" He asked, "and what about the other strange coloured cubs here? Do they all come from distant lands too? Will we one day have to return to them?" Then realising his questions were probably going to be misunderstood he gave a small huff and decided to introduce himself;
"I'm Yen Ha." He spoke proudly. "What's your name?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:05 pm
It didn't take long at all for Kiasi to grow bored with her vantage point, wanting instead to go down and join the conversation. So, she nimbly lept from the rock and padded towards the two cubs, just in time to hear Yen Ha's words.
She hesitated to say anything, since she was already interrupting, but it was a part of the sweet girl's nature to try and reassure others. So, she shuffled her paws shyly and said, "Like me? My mama and daddy both came from other places. Daddy never talks about his old home, but Mama came from the graveyard. Her fur..." Kiasi paused, looking over the male for a moment, "looks kind of like yours! Except, it's more silver than white, I think. But you know what she told me? She says that even if she wasn't born here, she was always meant to be here."
Flicking her tail, she sat down, offering them both a soft smile. "I hope you don't mind me coming over here. My name is Kiasiadia! But... I go by Kiasi."
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:16 am
Some part of Safuma was quite glad for Kiasi's arrival. She hadn't an answer for Yen Ha's questions, having thought that all the cubs belonged here simply because they were here. She'd never seen the Pridelands as something exclusive, half the time she didn't even want to be here. At Kiasi's appearance, however, she grew more bold and smiled, nodding, "You don't have to have a gold coat to be here. Not all the gold coats even stay, they don't feel at home here. Besides, it'd be boring with just a buncha gold coats around." She thought fondly of Kialio, but continued on.
Looking at the two of them, she smiled broadly and dipped her head, "I'm Safuma, you can call me whatever. Safu, Saffers...people call me different things." She looked back at the bird briefly, brow furrowing when she noted it was still sleeping.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:20 am
The entrance of the elder female took Yen Ha a little by surprise but he tipped his head between the two girls, both of them looked so different and all of them together made quite an extraudinary trio indeed.
His head turned towards the newcomer and he listened to her intently, his large teal eyes widening as he absorbed this new information. "How do you know where you're meant to be though?" He asked eagerly. Somehow, even though he was this small, he felt he didn't truly belong here.
"And what if you feel you don't belong? How do you go about finding where that is?" All the crowds and the heat of the pridelands didn't sit well with this cub. He wanted peace and quiet so he could learn without disturbance. Maybe one day his paws would lead him out there into the big, wide world.
"Not at all." He continued. "You both have nice names, Kiasiadia and Safuma." He smiled and twitched his tufted tail. "Do they have a meaning? My mother tells me that my name means, smoke floating above a river, she named me the moment my eyes opened." He replied proudly.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:28 pm
Kiasi looked to Safuma, smiling at her. "Yeah! I don't think it matters what you look like, I think it matters how you feel. If you love the Pridelands, or even if you're just comfortable here... then you belong here." She tilted her head slightly as the princess introduced herself. "Safu? Are you one of the queen's daughters?"
It wasn't intended as a rude question, really - the juvenile simply noticed the similarities in appearance. Truthfully, she didn't know all of the royalty, since the royal cubs were so numerous. "It's nice to meet you! I always like making new friends."
Grinning, she turned to the pale coated male. "And you too, Yen Ha. That's a cool name... kinda different. A meaning?" She paused. "Well, Daddy told me that Kiasiadia means 'little gift'. I think that's kind of silly though, since I'm a lion, not a gift!"
As for his question, she took a moment to mull over it. Of course she didn't know the answer from her personal experience, so she drew from the stories her mother had told her. "Mama said that when she was my age, she wandered a lot, trying to see all the lands that she could. When she found the Pridelands, it just felt right. She said she felt a connection here, a fondness that she couldn't really explain. She kept looking, just in case this wasn't supposed to be her home, but no place seemed as right as the Pridelands did. So she stayed."
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:29 am
She blushed lightly when it was brought to light that she was one of the queen's daughters, but she supposed that she couldn't help it anyway. Smiling, she nodded, "Yeah." That was really all that needed to be said and she glanced away towards Yen Ha as he spoke. Her scarlet eyes narrowed slightly as she considered his questions. How would you know? "I guess it's something you just... know, Yen Ha. The place makes you happy, you don't feel like moving anymore. It's not always the same place, it can change." She shrugged, looking to Kiasi again. She nodded in agreement when the other cub spoke of her mother.
What had her name meant? Oh, she remembered. It didn't mean much tangibly, but it meant much emotionally. "My name means 'in honor of Mufasa', my grandda." She nodded, but stopped abruptly. She felt as if her head was going to fall off with all the nodding she was doing.
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:38 am
Yen Ha blinked and turned to face the pair, his beautifully, cool eyes extremely inquisitive. They both held a wisdom in them that he had not even considered. "You're talking about instincts, yes?" He nodded. "My mother and father are always telling me to follow my instincts. They are what help us survive, you know." He puckered his whiskers and turned to gaze at the golden female in wonder.
"Daughter of the...Queen?" At this he seemed suddenly to grow shy and distant. How did one treat a lioness who was in a superior rank? Was he supposed to bow? Call them something other than their real name?
He side-stepped nervously and peered at the darker pelted female. She didn't seem to be treating Safuma any differently but...was that correct?
"Does that mean you'll be a Queen when you grow up?" He asked finally. Tipping his ears towards them he decided that he liked the meanings of their names very much. To him a name was very important.
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 11:31 am
Her eyes widened, "They help us survive?" She smiled, thinking about this statement until the male cub spoke again. Her ears pressed back as Yen Ha looked at her. She knew that look, she knew he was considering how she should be treated. She hoped he would chose to continue on as normal, she disliked being treated differently. When he questioned her, she shook her head, "I was supposed to be..." Her words were slow coming, still coming to grips with her own fate, "But Sarakiva and Akida were named joint heirs instead..." It was obvious the subject made her uncomfortable, and she shrugged slowly, "So I'm just a regular princess. I get to do whatever I want when I grow up."
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:07 pm
(Sorry about the delay in replying @_@)
Kiasi didn't change her demeanor at all, knowing that it could make others uncomfortable to be treated differently. "Wow, cool," she said with a smile. "My mama is a princess, too, but she doesn't talk about it much. She said she's not the heir, but her daddy is king of the graveyard!"
The juve and her mother were both unaware that Duhushi, Kiasi's uncle, had taken over as king.
"So... what does that make me? I think I'm just a normal lion, but it's kind of cool that my mama is a princess. And you're a princess, too! You should meet her sometime!"
Her grin faded as Safuma grew uncomfortable replying to Yen Ha, so she decided to change the subject back to belonging places. "I think I'm going to stay here," she said thoughtfully. "When I grow up, I mean. But I want to explore the world first, and then come back and live here." It seemed awfully boring, staying in one place her whole life.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 12:03 am
"Supposed to be?" He mirrored her words with obvious confusion. If she was supposed to be a Queen then why on earth wasn't she? Had her parents randomely selected a couple of cubs to be the heir? Automatically he frowned and though his understanding of Pride politics was small he did have the understanding that the eldest was the heir, no question asked.
He had no idea that his father, once, had been a prince and probably never would. As far as he was concerned he was nothing but common muck.
"Atleast you get to do anything you want. It would be a bore to be forced to stay here out of responsibility. I would have hated that." He ruffled his fur and smiled suddenly. "I think journeys would be good and when it gets tiring, to come back home would be nice." Yes, the more he thought abotu Kiasi's isea the more he liked it. "But isn't it dangerous out there? I mean...even for an adult lion travelling by his or herself?" And he was by no means showing a build of a fighter in his later life.
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