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 Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:42 am
 Isithunzi twitched mildly in her sleep, mostly her paws, tapping out a unique rhythm on invisible drums. In her mind, though, she was surrounded by drums, drums everywhere with lions pounding out a beat. So loud were they that even in her sleep she could feel her insides rumble with the drums... how she missed that life.
She woke suddenly with a smile when the drums abruptly stopped. "Another dream of those lands..." She whispered to herself quietly. Her birth pride was mostly destroyed by a plague. Though she knew exactly where the lands were... the lifestyle was lost. She'd never seen another member of that pride since the survivors fled from the plague-striken lands.
The moon shone bright on this night, and there was barely a cloud in the sky. Isi had slept near the edge of a cliff, not too tall, really, but it was a good 6-foot verticle drop. She sat at the edge and stared towards the lands, where she used to live so long ago... "I have never forgotten the beat," she said quietly to herself as she tapped out a rhythm quietly into the night with her claw.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:53 am
Sen was getting restless. Thoughts concerning pride matters consumed her mind as well, though they were on a different trail than those of the lioness she was about to run into.
She traveled now with her brother and a Goddess, and the later had given her permission to 'restore' a pride. One that had also been killed off, but at the hands of an opposing Goddess, not a plauge. The catch, of course, was those damn four words she'd come to hate: ' Not until you're older.'
How much older did she have to be?! Jeesh!
It was an aimless stride that led her to the cliff, which she glared at, as if disgusted it would dare exist there to keep her from going any farther. The lioness she noticed next, and merely stared up at her.
What would someone be doing up there?
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:01 pm
Isithunzi's gleeful tapping stopped when she heard a sound, with a slight scent on the wind. She flicked an ear back before turning her bright pink eyes to the smaller white lioness. She stood out in the dark with that pelt of hers, but Isi's thoughts were immediately on what one so young was doing out here alone.
"Hello there," she said to the younger lioness. "I haven't seen you before, my name's Isithunzi" she added, wondering if maybe she'd seen a parent or sibling and the lioness would recognize the name. She didn't like the idea of a juvenile being out alone at night. (It had terrified Isi herself when she was that age.)
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:06 pm
"There are like a bajillion lions out here," Sen pointed out. It was no culture shock. The Pridelands had epic in size, too. It was just that, admittedly, she hadn't expected there to be as many in the 'Rogue Lands'. She'd mused over the fact there might even be more than back home.
--Back there, she corrected herself. The Pridelands was no home for her!
"Nice to meet ya, though. I'm Sen. What are you doing up there?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:20 pm
"I fell asleep over there," she nodded her head towards a tree not far off, "but I couldn't stay asleep. Besides," Isi glanced back over her shoulder, "There's a gorgeous view from that cliff's edge. So where do you live, Sen?" Isi asked, getting to what was bugging her. "Isn't it a tad late to be meandering around so much?" She asked, her tone was one of genuine curiousity, not in any way accusitory as she her claws tapping out a quiet rhythm by habit. She'd been obsessed with the rhythms of the old pride when she lived there, now that it was gone she treasured the lost rhythms even more, probably being the only one with memories of the pride.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:30 pm
A 'gorgeous' view, was it? If that was true, she had to see it, too! Sen extended her unimpresive claws (she was still young, as her traveling partner never failed to remind her, so give her a break, willa ya?), and jumped onto the rock, meekly clawing her way up.
"Insomnia isn't healthy," she said as she did so. At the questions, she was thrown off and slid back down the rock. This frustrated but didn't defeat her. She quickly started her climb again. "Well...I..."
Focusing and talking at the same time was hard.
She paused in her scaling of the mountain side to answer, "I don't live anywhere. Not yet."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:42 pm
Isi chuckled. "It's not like I meant to wake up," she said cheerily, happy to have some company. "I don't live anywhere either, not for now, anyway," the rogue said, turning her eyes skyward before extending a paw to the younger lion to help her up. "Do you have any ideas for where you're going to go?" She asked, wondering if maybe the lioness had any good ideas.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:51 pm
Sen was too expressive. It wasn't possible for her to hide her feelings. That grin on her face said without saying: I'm so glad you asked! And she was, because Sen loved talking about herself, and the favorite topic in that category was her new plans for the future.
"Well..." Pause for breath. Up, up, up! "I'm going to..." Just a liiiiittle farther. "...be starting a pride soon." Victory! The former Pridelander held her head high as she reached her destination. "When I'm older." She settled beside the older lioness and stared at the supposedly wonderful view.
...Huh. It was pretty cool.
Her tail flicked. "And what about you?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:01 pm
Isi smiled as the juve made her way up the cliff face, eagerly talking about her plans. Starting a pride, now there's an amibition I never thought of... Especially not at that age, Isi thought to herself.
"That's really cool, I hope you can make it work!" She said honestly. "Don't lose sight of it, there's my advice." She nodded with a smile. "I never dreamt of such grand ambitions at your age, but I suppose this is around the time when they form, isn't it? As for me..." She heaved a sigh, "I'm afraid I'm not really sure what my plans are." She said simply.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:23 pm
The junvenile was absolutely beaming. Finally! Someone who saw what she was really worth. "Thanks!" Sen answered, just as honest, and decided then and there she lacked this lioness. Which was a big deal, since Sen's lack of social tact tended to make her many enemies and few friends. Not a good place to be for someone playing to revive a pride, but she hadn't realized that just yet.
"You don't know?" she echoed with a hint of sadness. That was lame. Not knowing what you wanted to do? She could never live such an aimless life! "You can come with us!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:32 pm
"Ah, but that's not really entirely true. You see, I was born into a pride, but they dispersed when I was very young due to a plague." She said. This young lioness was the only one she'd told this story to- ever. "Everyone I knew died in the plague... I'm sure that out there somewhere there's a survivor that taps out the same beat. That's why I never stray far from my homelands," she said, jerking her head to the north, where her lands lay. "If ever the pride re-forms, by some act of the gods, I want to be there for it." She said. "But it's so... uncertain. Who knows if another still draws breath?" She asked, more to herself than to Sen.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:54 pm
Sen listened intently. It was rare she spared someone so much of her attention. Plague? What was a plague? It didn't matter. That was ridiculous. "You're being silly," she said simply, as if the subject was simply. It was. To her. "If they're all gone, you'll just waste away staying here."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:59 pm
Isi looked down at Sen. "I'd die to be part of that pride... Just even for one day. I couldn't honestly pledge my loyalties elsewhere. Besides, I've got a feeling deep in my heart that there's someone out there. The least I can do is wait for one more moon, I've been gone from the area for a while, maybe someone's come back in that time." She said. "If too long passes, though, Sen, I'll seek you out." She said honestly. The lioness, though young now, had the charisma needed in a leader; such was Isi's opinion.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:12 pm
"You'd die?" Sen gawked at her. She didn't mean it insultingly, she was just in awe. Die? She would die? The white lioness was awe-struck because she couldn't imagine being willing to die for anything. Was there anything? ...No. This lioness was just weird.
Just the same, Sen still liked her, even if she didn't understand her. "If you're going to stay here, I'll come and find you," she offered instead. "Once I get things started. If you're still alone, you can come with me then."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:22 pm
"Perhaps someday you'll understand. Everyone, at some point in time, comes across something they'd be willing to die for. For some it's family, others, their Pride, others glory. Everyone has something they'd sacrifice everything for at some point." She listened to Sen's idea. "That sounds like a great idea," Isi said. Sen was right; she was sitting and rotting; if that pride never came to be she would have wasted so much of her life for nothing. She wasn't, though, ready to give up on it just yet. She smiled at the younger lioness; she would make a strong queen someday.
"Even if my pride comes to be," she said, "I'd definitely be willing to come visit from time to time, if you'd welcome me," Isi said. "As much as I'd like to be tied down, I've gotten this habit of wandering, I don't think I'd be able to stay put for the rest of my life. I've gotta be movin,'" she told Sen with a wink.
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