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Post by Amari <3 on Dec 16, 2020 3:51:58 GMT
Once again she found herself out alone in a thunderstorm, as time continued to pass on by her resentment only seemed to grow. She couldn't stand being home anymore, nor could she stand being near most of her extended family. Amari just couldn't keep pretending she was okay with what had happened. The bitterness had seeped into her heart, which honestly seemed to be a family trait. Her father had been a rather bitter King and it would seem she was following in his paw prints. She hadn't even bothered to fight with anymore this evening, instead she had just left after the pride had eaten. She had managed to get her fill of some juicy zebra before she departed. Roaming the vast expanse of the Pride Lands had become one of her favorite past times. What else was there to do? She wasn't old enough to participate in the hunt, and her lessons only happened every other day. Other then that she had a lot of free time to just do nothing.
Amari's ears flickered as she walked, the rain becoming heavier with each passing moment. In a sub-conscious way she followed a familiar trail. One that lead her into the abandoned elephant graveyard. The hyena clan had left this place, now it was mostly vacant other then the occasional vulture. She enjoyed the quiet this place provided, a sense of peace almost. It didn't take very long for her to find the familiar den that had belonged to Yolandi. She hadn't seen the young lioness in some time and honestly she hoped she was okay. In the mean time she had decided to take over her little shelter and make it her own.
She had spent countless afternoons layering the floor with grass, moss, and various foliage. Amari had found flowers and herbs as well, to make it smell better inside the massive skull. It was nice. On her way inside the small lair she rubbed against the edge of the skull, marking it as hers. This time she had managed to get inside before the rain cut loose yet again. The sky seemed to roar and the ground shook as the storm rolled in.
Finding a dark corner, she lay herself down on the moss and grass. It was comfortable, and a contented sigh escaped her as she laid her head onto her front paws. Amari was content to spend her night here alone in the rain if that would bring her some amount of peace.
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Post by semperferus on Dec 18, 2020 6:25:30 GMT
Ma’at had sensed the impending storm blowing in as the sky began darkening by the time the meal that had fed the pride had begun to grow cod. It actually improved her mood for the evening at the prospect of rain. It happened far less often in the desert she had grown up in, even in the wet season there was only enough rain to replenish the scattered watering holes. Instead of heading back to Pride Rock with the others, she decided to walk off the full feeling in her belly and took to a path through the grasses just as the water began to pelt from the sky.
Her fur grew more damp by the minute, but she didn’t care. The feeling was a welcome cooled touch after the long day of hot sun before it had been covered by the growing clouds. Herds of prey animals bounded flightily in the distance, no doubt the roll of distant thunder making them more edgy than usual. Not to mention the sight of a lion on the prowl through the dim evening light. They couldn’t be certain whether or not she had eaten yet, and they were wise to be nervous. It was only their nature.
A very distinct shape caught her attention several yards ahead of her. The silhouette of a young lioness slunk through the grasses, her silver pelt giving off a sense of familiarity. Ma’at knew she was called Amari, but she couldn’t say she had spoken many words to her since she arrived. At least, more than necessary. She was still finding her footing amongst the other members of the pride, especially the lionesses who seemed the most unsettled after the events that transpired prior to her arrival.
Had this one been one of the adults, she may have kept her nose down and minded her own business, keeping to her own path. However, Amari was still a juvenile and based on the direction she was heading, she was going towards the edge of the borders. And the younger female looked determined, wherever she was headed.
Feeling concerned, perhaps even responsible in case something were to happen to her, Ma’at decided to alter her course and follow Amari’s trail before the rain got too thick to see her and covered her scent.
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It became quite obvious when she had stepped beyond the Pridelands. The ground was no longer blanketed in the grass, and the surrounding area was so still with no sense of inhabitation. Through the haze of the rain, she could see large mounds and curved structures littering the landscape. As lightning flashed, their appearances became more clear with their vacant eye cavities and worn textures of bleached bone. It wasn’t enough to make her uneasy, but it did put her on guard.
She had heard of this place when others in the pride would talk about the previous king, Simba’s uncle, and the hyenas he had employed when he took over. The Elephant Graveyard, it was fittingly called. Why would Amari travel to such a place, on a stormy night no less? Ma’at had briefly lost sight of her when the wind began to make the rain blow right into her face.
‘Which way could she have gone?’ She thought to herself, looking among the looming skeletons for any type of caverns or overhangs that could be used as a den or shelter.
After a moment of hesitation and studying her surroundings, she spotted some tracks in the muddy soil that led to the colossal skull of what was probably a massive bull elephant at one point. Creeping closer with a cautious twitch to her tail, she scented Amari’s mark on the edge of the skull as she approached and peered inside. Not wanting to startle her, she did her best to be heard over the sound of the rumbling thunder without shouting too loudly when she called out, “Amari? Are you in there?”
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Post by Nyongeza on Dec 19, 2020 16:18:31 GMT
Nya hated the rain. She hated to be wet in general, after a certain male in her past made a big fuss about it, about rolling in mud and swimming in the river. The memory always made her shudder and it stopped her mid-step, flooding her mind and body with a kind of cold and untouchable pain. She closed her blue eyes against it and shook her head from side to side, clearing her mind again and allowing her to focus on her task. She had missed the pride meal, she still felt like something of an outsider. Where most Pridelanders were friendly and socially active, Nya was more reserved. She liked to be around a few friends, animals that she'd trust with her life, but usually crowds of more than three or four were a huge turn off for her so, she skipped the night's meal, instead waiting for the cover of night to wash over them so that she could hunt for herself. She was just used to doing things like that and, having a bit of a pig's head to her decisions, she had a hard time letting go of her past life as a rogue. It wasn't a bad life, it was just... different. She simply was not used to sharing her food with thirty other lions.
The rain had started suddenly, as was usual in Africa, the hiss of water striking dried earth could be heard for minutes before the rain actually reached you, and, desperate to stay dry, the lone lioness had rushed her hunt a bit. Even in a good mood, she was a lousy hunter, let alone when in a rush. However, her determination and stubbornness won out and she ended up carrying the leg of a wildebeest back toward Pridelander territory. Though she was hungry, the leg wasn't for her. So as she passed through the local lands, she was stopped suddenly when she noticed the muddy prints in one of the more familiar paths. It lead to the Elephant Graveyard- a small but haunting place, she did not like to go there, it always seemed like the wind was whispering to you, calling your name, haunting your dreams, teasing and sinister. But, always determined to get what she wanted, the young lioness had no trouble turning onto the freshly used path to find the real owner of the wildebeest leg in her mouth.
Following Amari's trail was always something special to Nya, though she'd never admit it. She always looked down as she did it, placing her paws beside the soft slightly rain washed prints of the other female. As usual, Nya's paws were huge by comparison and part of that observation always made her brow furrow. Her size was scary and intimidating, many females turned tail and ran, worried that if they irritated the blonde lioness, she'd lash out on them and use one swipe of her muscular foreleg, she'd take another lioness' head clear off of her shoulders. But, though she liked to fight, Nya was rarely challenged in her pursuits, and some part of her was okay with that, it often made getting things easier for her. But it also kept others at a distance so she walked alone, following the faint shadow of another lioness, desperate for some companionship but also repulsed by it, terrified of it. She didn't have time for cuddles and pillow talk.
Did she?
Nya never got the opportunity to answer that question. She followed the trail through the grass into the bare dirt and bones of the graveyard. Though the looming piles of bone looked unsteady and the deep stench of death that was lifted into the air by the falling rain, Nya pressed on, her ears low and her eyes cautiously looking around, trying to figure out where her lion of interest might be hiding. That was when she heard the white lioness' name being called and immediately, the wandering hunter made a b-line to the noise, thinking the worst almost automatically. She picked up the pace into a trot and, sure enough, as she rounded the corner from the back of a large skull to the front that she was confronted by the scene.
Another lioness was there, poking her head into an opening in the front of the skull, between the two massive tusks that curled from the dirt and stood high into the sky. Immediately, Nya went into protective mode, her teeth tightening around the meat in her mouth. She slowed her approach from a desperate trot to a cautious walk, tilting her head curiously, watching the strange figure uneasily. She dropped the meat to the ground suddenly, letting it simply fall into the dust with a thump that was more felt than heard. She never stopped pinning the strange lioness with a biting glare, sharper than a dagger's edge. Her muzzle tensed until she was almost snarling.
"Yeah, kitten..." She said loudly, eying the stranger more than she was worrying about Amari's condition in the slightly chilled air, though she was clearly addressing the maneless lioness who was still unseen in her little den. Nya cleared her throat a bit. "... you in there? Want to tell me what's going on?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2020 3:07:15 GMT
Back at the graveyard. It was another wet day as the red pelted lioness was walking through the graveyard. she didn't really like coming her but a faint scent of her sister had gone through here and she wondered what Amari was up too. Sometimes coming to the graveyard meant being alone and having some quality time. Away from those prying eyes and that was fine with her. The grass faded away and nothing but bones filled the area. It was amazing to see this place and also a bit spooky. Many stories had been told about this place, like Scar their father frequented it and plotted with the hyenas. Something that would be very dangerous in the long run. Yet Iniko put on a brave face, she wanted to act tough and show that she meant well on her way here. She wasn't going to let any hyenas scare her, that was for sure.
"Amari? Where did you go?" Iniko asked.
As the rain started to fall heavier she lost the trail of her sister but she could see things like muddy paw prints amongst the bear wet ground glad to see that she still had some form of tracking with her. So the lioness continued on following the paw prints. Soon it wasn't long before she saw not one lioness but three of them but they were all asking the same thing as they wondered what Amari was up too. She felt the safest around Amari and the only one she could trust. She had wondered that about Sarafina her mother, but she seemed to let the teenagers do what they want and slowly fade into the shadows. Yes, Iniko loved Sarafina, that was mutual feelings towards her. Yet, she felt like she wasn't welcomed into the pride because who she was related too. Iniko had been stripped from her princess title once Scar was killed. And here she was staring at the mud and dirt. She felt like dirt. Yet she held the tears back. She didn't want to look weak at all.
She saw two other lionesses there as she moved passed them to get to her sister. "Amari is everything alright? You were in the graveyard again?" She asked looking over at the strangers with her blue eyes not sure if she could trust them or not so she stayed by her sister's side.
"There are more important things to worry about." She muttered under her breath as she heard the two lions name calling each other and then rolled her eyes. At least Iniko wouldn't have argued with her sister. They shared a bond that seemed to go back for awhile now. Iniko wouldn't stray far from her sister and back up Amari if need be. Iniko didn't care if they ignored her words and kept at it. She felt like her thoughts were towards the thunderstorm and towards her sister. If she had heard herself arguing surely Sarafina would've dealt a punishment for the both of them. Mother would know what to do they were at least genuinely concerned for her sister, so she gave them credit for that,
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Post by Amari <3 on Dec 20, 2020 3:57:38 GMT
She wasn't exactly sure when sleep had claimed her, but it was a deep slumber. Her mind flickered through memories, most of them were good and heart warming. It was the only legit place she could remember her father without anyone giving their opinion on the matter. Every so often a paw would twitch slightly or her ears would move as she dreamed. The storm raged around her endlessly, the rain washing away more and more of the dirt from the graveyard. Turning into a thick mud, erasing all of the scents and replacing it all with the sweet smell of water. The air took on a sudden chill it seemed almost unnatural, how often she had hoped her father would visit her. Give her a sign that he was near and that everything would be okay. The irony of this ghostly visitor is that she was deep asleep and did not notice anything.
The specter walked soundlessly, barely even touching the ground as his form roamed. There was to be no peace for one such as he, he had committed a sin that most would never be forgiven for. He had murdered his own family, his brother even. The stars and spirits had damned him to walk until he had some sort of epiphany and sought forgiveness for his deeds. Taka had no such desire to seek forgiveness and so he remained a ghost. He roamed the Pride Lands at his will and no one was able to stop him from whatever he desired to do. This evening he had been silently roaming the elephant graveyard, remembering all the plans that had transpired here when he was alive. Now it was a empty shell of what it once was, devoid of life.
It would seem that the hyena clan had left this place since the battle on Pride Rock. It was strange to see the place so empty. Though he was quickly drawn to the only living creature in the massive graveyard. Taka moved unseen from living eyes, appearing before the massive skull within mere moments of noticing the life form. His dead eyes fell onto the sleeping form of his daughter Amari. She was here all by herself and in a storm no less? Where was her mother? He noticed no other signs of life at the moment, so that made him wonder why the young lioness was here all alone.
He watched her silently as she shivered and twitched on her bed of grass. Taka grimaced slightly as he stood in the storm not feeling the rain falling all around him. He heard someone approaching and made a rather irratioal decision on his part. Entering the den he quickly rushed over his daughter, bringing a cold breeze with him. The coldness woke the young female rathe quickly, she snorted and raised her head. Shaking the sleep from her own green eyes, and for a moment he swore she was staring right at him as he stood at the back of the small den.
Amari shook her head slightly as she tried to make the sleep leave her, but for some reason her eyes kept drawing back towards the far wall of her home. She could swear she could smell her father.. but perhaps it was her imagination. One more shake of the head and she was somewhat awake. A unknown voice startled her, and her hackles puffed up in defense. Those long deadly claws leaking out of her paws. "Amari? Are you in there?" It was a strangers voice. Had someone followed her from the Pride Lands? She had been so careful to leave no trace. Yet..
"Yes I am. Who is asking?" Her own voice rumbled out sounding deeper then usual due to her agitation. Slowly, the pale lioness got to her feet and peeked her head out into the blistering storm. Her eyes fell first on the figure of the other pale lioness, the one with the mane. She remembered her mother mentioning she was a shaman. Hm. She assumed the other meant no harm and so she relaxed and put on a slight smirk. Though another's presence announced itself. Her friend Nya and honestly she was grateful to see her. Amari didn't trust many, and this was not a different occasion. "Yeah, kitten.." Her heart did a tiny little flip flop at her pet name, and her smile seemed more genuine.
"... you in there? Want to tell me what's going on?" Nya's voice sounded genuinely concerned as well as slightly annoyed probably by the unknown lioness. Before she could reply to either of them her twin sister burst into the den, also seeming to be alarmed by her disappearance. Amari felt guilty for making her sister worry, and she nudged into Iniko for a moment. Letting her know she appreciated the comfort she gave. "I'm just here, I like being here. I don't like being in a crowded den surrounded by strangers and enemies.." She stated softly with a slight roll of her shoulders.
She saw most of the pride as enemies anymore, and why would she lay down with them? It was foolish. Sure her mom cared about her but not on the same level as her precious Nala and Mheetu. She had been unwanted due to who her father was... and those thoughts never really left her. "I prefer it here in the quiet, I feel like I am closer to our father here. It's not like anyone really comes looking for either of us. This is the first time someone had noticed me leaving.."
Amari looked at the maned lioness wondering what her story was."You two should come out of the storm, there is plenty of room in here for everyone." She offered Nya a smile and stepped away from the entrance letting them come in if they so desired. |
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Post by semperferus on Dec 20, 2020 4:50:24 GMT
The sound of heavy paw steps against the mud had alerted her to the presence of other lions behind her before they appeared. The first was another lioness, around Amari's age but large, even coming up to her own height despite being taller than most of her pride mates. She recognized her from around the pride but if there was anyone who spent more time on the fringe of the group than herself it was this one, always coming off as somewhat hostile in her posture and now was no different. It didn’t really surprise her that she looked at her with little sense of familiarity, and the tense sneer to her muzzle wasn’t particularly friendly.
Ma’at stood her ground, the pale tip of her tail flicking. While she was learning to become a shaman, she had been a highly ranked warrior in what she considered her past life. She didn’t want a fight, but she wouldn’t find herself being intimidated either and knew she could hold her own. They were both here for the same reason, concern for a member of their pride and there was no use in bringing out claws. But before she could say a single word to dissolve the tension, another had joined them, rushing past them also to Amari's aid and she found herself being scrutinized by two pairs of piercing blue eyes.
Luckily, the lioness they were all here for emerged and thankfully Amari appeared to be unharmed, at least physically. There was no mistaking a definite unease to her tone, perhaps even sadness that gave away emotional distress that had obviously drawn her to this gloomy landscape of death and despair. She mentioned her father, and she knew by way of the chatter among the other lionesses that she was born from the reign of the previous king. The reddish lioness beside her had to be her sister, Iniko, who was also being trained as a shaman, though they rarely crossed paths.
It was a large pride that inhabited this land and being new to the group she was somewhat of an outlier, having not gone through the events that transpired before her arrival. Many of the others had been welcoming, while others weren’t sure they could trust her considering she hadn’t endured their hardships with them. Or perhaps they just didn’t know where she stood on the matter of politics.
The whole situation was conspicuously delicate and she tried her best to remain neutral when conversing with the others, not knowing exactly which opinions were shared amongst them.
Either way, she could tell that in this particular bunch, she was the outsider. Amari was at least compassionate enough to not want to leave her out in the rain, but Ma’at hesitated as she eyed the other. Her voice was steady when she replied, “Thank you, I appreciate the offer, Amari… I didn’t mean to intrude on your privacy, but I saw you leaving and didn’t think you should be out here alone in the storm…” Settling towards the very edge of the opening to the den to give the other two space closest to the pale lioness, glancing at them both, “But it appears you are already well looked after by those who care about you.”
Letting the water drip from her blonde mane, she listened to the thunder roaring over their heads. “I don't mind the rain, but at this point it would probably be safest if we all waited for this to run its course before thinking about heading back. Which could be morning by the look of things...”
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Post by Nyongeza on Dec 22, 2020 0:56:25 GMT
Though startled by the sudden introduction of a fourth lioness, Nya kept her tough composure, watching through narrowed eyes as Iniko- Amari's sister- burst onto the scene. The large lioness had not really had the time or energy or even really the care or consideration to formally meet and introduce herself to the young red shaman, but they had crossed paths before, several times in fact. She was often with Amari, the two being very close, something Nya could not relate to. She knew her brothers, well... at least she knew of her three littermates, there was another 20 or 30 males out there who were siblings that she knew nothing about. But even though she spent a lot of time with them- training and playing, learning to hunt and to swim and just... everything, they maintained a sort of distance and disdain for each other than Amari and her sister seemed to lack, probably because Nya was the only female in her family. Plus, she was way bigger than any of her siblings so, as they got older, she became less and less fun to play with, she was too rough and her spineless brothers always complained. So to some degree, the blue eyed lioness was jealous, watching coldly as Iniko slipped into the den without any resistance. Amari welcomed her warmly.
But she didn't voice this unease she felt being part of such a big group of strangers or the lack of familiarity she had toward the sisters' close bond. Instead, she merely side-eyed the white lioness, noticing her mane immediately. Most lions probably judged the poor female for it, they probably whispered things behind her back and she was probably self-conscious about it, Nya could only guess. Everyone in the pride was more scared of her than teasing or judgmental. Some part of her felt sorry for her for that, the rest of her was honestly jealous. Nya often dreamed of growing a mane, of appearing more male than female. She wanted that, the power and the authority that came from such a unique beast. Plus she wouldn't look so strange. As a maneless female, she was gigantic and it was weird for her gender. But if she could come off as male... it wouldn't be so odd, in fact she'd probably be rewarded for such a thing, honored and respected, a star in the pride instead of an outcast.
Though she tried to leave her thoughts in her mind, Nya's sneer remained and, after a short and silent pause, she picked up her wildebeest leg and followed the others into the small den, having to duck her head to fit in the space. She dropped the meat at Amari's feet near the entrance.
"Just wanted to make sure you had some dinner." She said, now a reasonable distance from the silver and white lioness. The power and the roughness conveyed in her posture faulted a bit, Nya bowing her head respectfully and kind of sheepishly avoiding eye contact, hoping the other female would appreciate the unnecessary gift. Nya was always bringing her stuff, considering the other teenager a good friend, but she knew somewhere deep down that there was more to the two of them than she allowed herself to express. Her sneer fell away and she looked sheepishly at the ground, watching her paws as she shifted her weight from side to side. "You know I'm not a fan of those big Pride dinners..."
She paused, looking around the small space, trying to find someplace to put herself, eventually choosing to lay down against the back wall, where she took a moment to bunch up some moss to make for a really soft little nest that she curled into. Still, she looked around, a little mystified. Having only been part of the pride for a short period of time, Nya had never seen or even really heard of the Elephant Graveyard.
"I'm surprised that this skull is so big that all of us can fit in here... How did you all know about this place?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2020 15:42:11 GMT
Iniko at first didn't feel like that Amari looked alright, she gave her a one over on her sister. Her blue eyes looking at her from head to toe making sure there were no scratches or cuts on her. Iniko could've easily tended to her sister's wounds if she needed it. But she finally looked satisfied that her sister would be alright as she nodded. "I believe you sister." She said giving Amari another soft nuzzle to try and comfort her if she needed it. Iniko looked a little bit more relaxed now as she saw the other two lionesses, she had seen Nya at least a handful of times from their encounters in the Pride Lands. But she knew not of who this maned lioness was. Still, she nodded towards them also as Amari was being kind to them and so perhaps, she could do the same.
"I only noticed your scent I lost it because of the rain but the muddy footprints gave it away. I'm glad you're alright is all." Iniko explained as she had no idea that her sister had wanted to be alone. "But you're fine if you want to walk away like that... I don't blame you." Iniko admitted knowing the crowd back at home felt like something unbearable towards Iniko. They were ignored. Forgotten. They had no title or no authority. Iniko was just an apprentice. Iniko was about to say something else but her fur bristled as another blast of thunder and lightning filled the air. Her ears stiffened and so did her body as the noised filled out her ears. As a cub, the sound would've terrified her and it made her heart pound in her chest a bit. But she'd never admit she was afraid.
Iniko moved over as she let the other two lionesses come in, as she too was surprised the large elphant skull could fit all four of them. Well, Iniko wasn't fully grown yet she was still a teenager. So it made a little bit of sense. "We heard about this place from Dad... Scar when he came here and frequented it after trying to gain an alliance from the hyenas. They knew what they were doing. We have been here before at least once. There is peace and quiet here. Even if it is among the dead." Iniko said never wanting to come across a hyena after that as she knew that they were just pure enemies of the lions. Especially after what they did to Scar and they ate him.
The red lioness' eyes were curious about the other two lions. Who were they? That was kind of them to be so considerate of the two lions, especially of her sister. It was true Iniko had a hard time understanding her emotions, some called her unsympathetic or un empathetic. Whatever it was, Iniko knew that it would come in time. she tried to be the hardened lioness, something their father would be proud of. Or perhaps it came when she was going to be forgotten and ignored. Iniko had to learn to be independent rather fast, and she was grateful for that part of her personality. She tucked her tail in and wrapped it around her paws. Though she decided to ask the other lions, "So what are you doing here? Besides checking on my sister and wanting dinner?" She asked hoping it wasn't an awkward position at all.
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Post by Amari <3 on Dec 22, 2020 19:55:25 GMT
For most of her life, she had never witnessed rain as heavy as this. During her own cub hood they would often get the threat of severe weather but for some reason it never actually occurred. More often then not the clouds would drift on by or just disappear all together. On a very rare occasion they would hear thunder and lightning but never did rain actually flow out of the clouds. She remembered those few times, hiding in the den with their mother listening to the wind and thunder. Amari also remembered how the lionesses around her had preyed for rain, how so many had cried out to the sky. Hoping for relief from the on going drought that had plagued the land since her father had taken the throne. The first time she had experienced a down pour was the very day Simba had taken back his birth right.
Amari remembered his roar filling the night sky, and how the thunder seemed to roar right along with him. Ever since that night the rain had become a common occurrence. She was always in awe of it. Even now that she was approaching adult hood, she was always in awe of the storm. This evening was no different, and she watched as the water poured down around them. She noticed absently that both of the lionesses had joined her and Iniko. She was glad they had decided to do the smart thing. Honestly, she was comfortable here in her little hideaway. "It's okay, you didn't know what I was doing. I can understand being concerned, I mean who likes to hang out in a graveyard of all things?" She told Ma'at jokingly.
Indeed it was weird for any young lion to be interested in being in a place like this. She came here because it was one of the memories she had of her dad. He had also frequented the graveyard when he was alive. He had been here all the time when the hyena clan lived here. He had made friends here, made plans here, and ultimately started the path to his own death here in this graveyard. She was trying to grasp at those memories, for they were all she had left of her father. Her green eyes silently followed Nya as she moved back to the back wall of the den. Her large body somehow finding a way to get comfortable, which she was happy with.
Glancing over her shoulder at her friend, she wiggled back just slightly so her tail could playfully bump the much larger feline on the side and paws. Trying to get her friend to lighten up a bit and relax. Amari knew that Nya had some sort of social anxiety and hated being around a lot of lions. It was something she had in common with her. So she continued to lightly smack in the hopes of making her smile or something. Anything really. Amari's ear twitched as she heard her friends question.
Before she could respond she listened to Iniko's answer. "I come here because it is quiet and I can find some sort of peace here. It may be weird to some but this graveyard is better suited for me then a crowded pride den. Also most will not come here looking for me, due to the fact that they believe it's haunted by my father. Let alone all the supposed spirits of the various dead animals that rot here.." Amari spoke to all three of them, trying to explain why she was so weird. Most of the adults found it odd that she visited here, and she had to become sneakier as time went on.
Her mother Sarafina had already forbid them from going here, saying that no one wanted to remember their father. That he was better off forgotten. That sort of attitude was why Amari continued to come here as often as she did. How could they expect her to be normal when they wouldn't let her be sad first? It was hard to be expected not to grieve for her father, and to grieve for the loss of her former life. She had rank before, now she was literally a nobody in a giant pride.
She also felt sad for her brothers and sisters, and Zira. It was hard to pretend that none of that even mattered anymore. Sighing softly, she leaned into her twin sister. Laying her head across Iniko's back so she could actually look around the small den and see the other two felines that occupied it at the moment. It would seem Ma'ats words rang true, it seemed the rain had no intention of letting up until morning. If anything she was glad to have an excuse to stay away for a night.
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Post by semperferus on Dec 22, 2020 21:29:13 GMT
Hearing Nya’s question, Ma’at gazed out at the haunting lands outside their morbid shelter. Having been preoccupied with tracking down Amari through the rain during her first pass, this was the first real look she was able to give it. The sheets of rain concealed much of the distant view, but she could still make out the clusters of bones and steep outcroppings of rock bordering it. Despite the fact that it was currently being drenched, it gave off a sense of barren and dry earth, the smudges of the dust clinging to the skeletons. “I’ve never been to this place before… When I first came to this territory I wandered down from the Northern Sands… And even the desert didn’t seem so full of desolation.”
She glanced at Amari to affirm her comment, “I had wondered why a young lioness would be headed to such a place… It didn’t seem safe.” She wasn’t so sure she was wrong either. Yet somehow it brought the silver female comfort, or at least the memories associated with it appeared to. Her ears twitched with intrigue when she mentioned her father and how his spirit may be tied here, or at least the superstitions that suggested so. Among the majority of the pride she had found that many cursed the former ruler. She wasn’t ignorant to those who missed his presence, but she had never had the opportunity to be around them in such isolation that they may speak freely of him.
Having not been born here, she had no previous loyalties to any of the Prideland kings, aside from Simba who currently ruled.. And with that, she also found a lack of animosity. All she could tell was that at least two of the lionesses in her current company were hurting. “For what it’s worth… I don’t know what kind of king your father was. I never met him. But that doesn’t mean you should be denied your right to grieve his passing." She kneaded the rain softened earth under her paws with the points of her claws, lost in thought as she spoke. "Whatever actions he committed in life, his heart will be weighed as he continues to the next place, and such judgement is not ours to deliver. And certainly any sins of your father should not be inherited by you. I hope the other lions in the pride don't treat you with intentional cruelty, despite what their feelings may have been for him."
Ma'at was certain that the other lions who held such contempt for Scar had never gone through a transition of power that was not clean and full of ceremony. Truthfully, they had no idea how good they had it for however long they possessed such a simplified concept of monarchy. For clans outside this prosperous land, other lions did not have it so full of formality and decorum. Likewise, the members of the pride cursing Simba for his transition into his own power and slaying Scar were just as sheltered. Based on what she had learned thus far from others, he had taken his power in fair combat and his status went without question without factoring in ideals they held such regard as birthright and heirs. She had not been raised to know any other way, and thinking as many of her current pride members did in terms of their customs was challenging for her at times.
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Post by Nyongeza on Dec 23, 2020 3:11:22 GMT
Nya's dark eye patches winked as she blinked her blue eyes dumbly, aware that the red lioness answered her question but something about it, about talking with an essential stranger, just misregistered in her mind, so she blinked, trying to pay more attention to the words and less attention on the fact that she and Amari had to share their time with these other interlopers. She had really been hoping for a chance to spend more personal time with the silver lioness, and was both bummed and made somewhat anxious by their presence. But she also knew it would be ludicrously rude to make everyone else leave, so she tried her best to look normal and not give away her anxiety. Fortunately, Amari was well aware of the larger lion's discomfort even despite her attempts to hide it. It took Nya a minute to notice that the fur tickling her side was not her own, and though at first she looked down at the black tip on that graceful tail as though she had no idea who it belonged to, but after a moment her preoccupation with her anxiety faltered and she did level Amari with a tilt of her head and a smarmy sort of smile that revealed some of her teeth in the darkness of the skull. A normal lion might've been unnerved, but Nya simply smiled like that, a shit-eating sort of flavor to almost all of her expressions, but Amari never seemed bothered, so she expressed more often when with her.
The tail play was just enough to allow the gigantic lioness a moment of reprieve and she looked back at Iniko as she finished explaining and Amari jumped in to clarify. Nya tilted her head immediately, a little baffled.
"Wait... Haunted?" She started, trying not to sound too critical. "By your dad? So like... his ghost is just supposed to be walking around out here?"
The scruffy lioness shook her head as she tried to process that train of thought. She of course never knew her father. She was sure that she had one out there somewhere, but who it was and how many of her siblings were from him, she'd had a huge family as a cub, she had no idea. She'd been curious sometimes, wondering if she'd ever just come across him one day, but other than that, she had no desire to ever see her dad alive, let alone as a spirit. That brought up so many questions that her mind, she did not know where to begin. The maned lioness had a more... acceptable sort of response, talking about emotions and relevant things like that. But Nya was an emotionally constipated pile of garbage so her thoughts were far from being as reasonable. She blinked again.
"Weird... Was he... you know, evil or anything? Why would he not be in the sky with the other Great Kings? I mean, that's a strange thing to think about your own father I guess... but don't ghosts stick around because of unfinished business? I mean, if the legends are true anyway..."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2020 3:34:48 GMT
Iniko gladly welcomed the comfort towards her sister as she licked her forehead gently the calming sensation was something that she did as an infant. The grooming was only for a select few as far as she was concerned, Amari was the one she trusted to do it with. But with two other eyes watching her, Iniko quickly stopped realizing they might get upset with her or annoyed in fact. She already sensed a bit of awkwardness around the room especially Iniko felt the eyes of the two other lioness's that were there. She felt anxiety from one. And from her ownself there was nervousness from Iniko in her own heart and emotions. "You mean you saw Dad?" Iniko asked looking a bit shocked or surprised. She had a million questions to ask Amari but she knew she would overwhelm her at the same time by asking them. "What did dad want?" She asked summing it up to one word.
Iniko to be honest, felt a little hurt by that why didn't Scar come to his second daughter? Did he care? Did Iniko feel like an orphan since her mother wasn't looking after her anymore and Scar was dead. None of them got to see the side that saw the good in Scar. He cared for some of his children that he left behind. Then that awful day when Simba came and terrorized the place and took it back. Suppose Simba had the right to challenge Scar but killing him in such a way was so unruly that it didn't make any sense. The hyenas had done it.
Iniko frowned remembering the past she and her sister had been a year or so when that happened. "Dad may have caused problems for some lions... But there was some good in him too we saw it. He took care of his family and loved ones. Some may have called him power hungry or even angry towards others. But to be honest I think he was kind it just got very overshadowed by other emotions." Iniko admitted. After all the seven deadly sins were known and one of them was greed. "We were all treated pretty fairly." Iniko admitted.
Iniko looked at her paws when the maned lioness and nodded about what she said about birthright. Ma'at had been right along about that. "Yes... But I feel like we were tossed aside by our mother... Neglected." She said with a sigh. "But we aren't even really allowed to speak his name back in the Pride Lands. Like we are tainted along with him." She admitted. The taste of that word was something that she didn't like. She felt a bit of anger in her heart as she thought about it. Not directed at the two lionesses Nya or Ma'at but by her own pride. The very ones where they were treated like dirt. "Shamans tend to have some high spiritual connection towards seeing ancestors and I shouldn't be that surprised at all that Amari or one of us saw Dad. It was only a matter of time." Iniko summed up as it simply had to be that. But she couldn't help and wonder, would Dad or Scar make himself known in the future? Or tell them where to go? Iniko felt very lost. She knew that this Pride Wasn't welcoming towards them. She felt so abandoned.
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Post by Amari <3 on Dec 23, 2020 4:18:56 GMT
Her ears flickered as she listened to Ma'at. Honestly it felt nice to actually have someone see what she had been saying all along. They weren't allowed to really be sad or show any emotions regarding the former King. Instead it was expected that they just ignore it and move on. It was one of those moral things that just lit a fire under her ass. Heaving a sigh the pale lioness shook her head a bit. "We are not even supposed to say his name out loud while at Pride Rock or around the other Pride members. They all just want it to be a bad dream and pretend it never happened. Now that our cousin as returned literally out of no where and became King." Amari didn't really know how she felt about her cousin, he hadn't really spent any time getting to know any of the family members.
Instead he spent all of his time frolicking with Nala and his weird guardians. That warthog and meerkat that had royal status.. She had lost all of her status and had literaly watched prey animals become members of the royal family. It was disgusting. "Which is all well and good. The circle of life and all that comes with it.. I get it. However I am not okay with the fact that we had never held a funeral for my father. He was a King and should have been sent off as such. Instead he was left to be eaten by hyena and nothing more was done about it. I bet if you would go to the south side of Pride Rock you'd find his blood smear." She hissed out, her teeth bared for a moment, before she swallowed her anger back down.
Nya's question came nevt and she laughed softly. "Yes. Everyone just assumes that this place is haunted because he frequented it in life. It is a story that they now tell the cubs to keep the away from the graveyard. They made him into some sort of boogeyman. I'm not really sure if he is actually haunting anything.. I've never actually seen him but I've felt some weird things a few times." Amari glanced at her friend before turning to look back at the den entrance. The graveyard seemed to be getting darker by the second. Night was falling and the storm was far from letting up.
Next came the idea of him being evil. Amari had wondered this herself, she knew her father had done horrible things. But was he evil? "I don't think he was evil I think he was misunderstood. He often gave all of his cubs lessons on life and how the world worked. He often talked of the world outside of the Pride Lands. How most pride's don't have the same laws or customs that we had. That it was alright if one killed the reigning King and then took over in his place. Those actions in the world were not looked down upon and life had continued on regardless." Amari hated talking about all of this but it needed done so maybe things could change.
"My father loved my sister and myself. We were princesses and could have been rulers of this land someday. Our baby brother Kovu was picked to be his chosen heir and we were a tight family. It was hard to lose all of that.." Amari felt her throat close up as those emotions bubbled to the surface. She dug her claws into the damp earth and tilted her head up to try and force those tears to stop. It was hard for her to just be normal. |
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Post by semperferus on Dec 23, 2020 6:25:53 GMT
Ma’at listened quietly for a time, allowing them to have the opportunity to let out their anger and anguish that they had been stifled from showing within the borders of their home. It was difficult to tell which had upset them more - the way they were treated, or the way their father had been treated in the event of his passing. When they had finished, she responded calmly, “You are fortunate to have been raised in a pride where females are able to hold such titles, to be considered 'princesses'... 'queens'. But that is only a rank. Rank only gives you the power to tell others what they can and cannot do… Status however… Status is respect, and respect is something you give to yourself, not what someone else can give to you. Only you can prove to them what it is that you deserve, through your actions. When you take the time to earn it, then it is far more worthwhile than something that is handed to you when you’re a mewling cub still suckling at your mother, expecting others to follow your word when you have yet proved nothing to them.”
On the topic of the teachings their father had offered them, she was surprised that what he had shared with his cubs was sound advice. Living inside the bubble of the Pridelands offered a narrow scope of the realities of the world.
“In the clan I was born in, our rituals and laws were quite different than they are here, so indeed your father was right when he told you that.” Her ears flattened into her mane, hesitant to share parts of her own past with the other lionesses. Yet they had been open with her, so it was only fair that she shared some of her own scars with them. Ma’at’s voice was low and somber as she recounted what she had been raised to know. “We were taught that while your soul is in your body, your body belongs to the clan. It fights for the clan, it gives new life to the clan, and if necessary it dies for the clan… If a respected individual passed, they were gutted so that their organs may give strength to their clan as one last show of sacrifice…Except for the heart. They need that for their judgement…”
Prey wasn't always as plentiful in her birthplace as it was here, and while she was sure the custom was born from a necessity for survival, that didn't mean she favored it. This was only one of the many reasons she had for finding a way to escape her old home. While as cub she had not initially been alarmed by the display of cannibalism, it was easily one of the first customs that she grew a literal distaste for as she grew older and began to form her own consciousness of what felt right or wrong.
Feeling the need to divert away from that particular subject, she carried on with the parts of the death rituals she grew up with that didn’t fully repulse her. “Afterwards, the remains are left for the vultures and jackals. Vultures are a symbol of royal protection, as well as rebirth, and the jackals are the shadows of Death. When they scavenge on the bodies of the dead, they take pieces of them back with them to their masters so they may hopefully reach the end of their journey. After the soul is freed from the body, it is its own entity and may do as it pleases until their heart has been judged. If the one who died were to not be honored by the clan… the executed, the deserters, rivals from other clans… they are brought to the water and given to the crocodiles, whom we respected and feared as they ruled the water as we ruled the land… so the disgraced ones may be dragged down where their soul would be drowned so they may never again rise to the surface.”
She was sure she would currently fall into the latter category with her former clan, which is why she had travelled so far to begin with. Dying in the desert would have offered her a better chance of a fair judgement in the afterlife than anything her former clan would have done to her for farcical crimes they made up for her.
Shaking her head, she sighed heavily. “What I’m trying to get at, I suppose, is that if your father’s spirit does still walk the earth, he may find his way. Perhaps his fate is yet undecided if, as you say, he had some good in him despite what bad he may have done.”
Ma’at wouldn’t say it outside her own thoughts, but she saw little difference in how their father had killed his own brother and how Simba had killed his uncle. One allowed wildebeest to finish the job, the other hyenas. The only difference was who was hurt in the end. No matter how one looked at it, the ending result was loss and slowly coming to terms with the reality of their loved one’s killer taking control of their futures. The pride members all had more in common then they realized.
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Post by Nyongeza on Dec 28, 2020 17:45:30 GMT
Listening to everyone sort of explain in turn, Nya nearly leaped from her position against the back wall, army crawling on her belly a bit to be closer to Amari. She did this a lot, especially in the den in Pride Rock, she always wanted to be near the silver lioness, she was kind of her only friend in the world, the only lion she had any connection with in this strange new land. So when her eyes glistened in the fading light, suddenly shining like jewels, as though her tears were stars against a black backdrop of her pupils, Nya sprang into action. If someone ever dared to come at Amari sideways, Nya knew exactly what she would do and how, physical threats were her expertise. But emotions were a puzzle that the huge lioness had not yet figured out, since everyone's emotions had different effects depending on the who, what, where and why of everything. So, though she did not know what exactly to do to keep Amari from hurting from something so... intangible, Nya still gave it her best shot, crawling over to her friend until the silver lioness was almost sandwiched between her and Iniko. She tilted her head again, looking at Amari with very soft eyes, showing a level of empathy that she had probably never shown anyone before.
"I think she's right." Nya started softly, resting a paw over one of Amari's supportively, her other paw tucked delicately under her chest, disappearing beneath her thick winter coat. "I for one think you are not born a princess, you earn the title, you earn that respect and that adoration. And you, kitten, have definitely earned it. You're a kind soul despite what others say about your father. It's not right to be judged like that."
She paused, eyes scanning the room, nodding to the maned lioness in agreement.
"My birth pride also had lots of weird rules and traditions, though I will spare you all the details..." She kind of trailed off as her mind brought up all of the memories of incest and of deformed cubs that died way too early in their lives, while also remembering the cubs that did survive but were somehow twisted on the inside. Sometimes she wondered how such observations described her. Though Nya did not know if she was a child of incest, in fact she probably was not as her so called "father" was not part of the pride. But it still made her cringe a little, remembering all sorts of disgusting things between the males of the pride, and because she was the only female. It was a rough string of thoughts and she paused to let them pass before opening her mouth again.
"I didn't fit in much either, was no princess, that's for sure. Even though I was pretty much the only female besides my mother. You'd think that would've made me important but no."
She paused again, sneering at the long buried memories of being traded to another pride like she was a slab of meat. She tried not to think about it, to think about her own father's death, the disrespect that she experienced from that, it was eerily similar to what Amari and her sister were explaining. Nya was shocked to notice that she too could relate.
"My dad also died unceremoniously. There were no tears for him, no time to mourn, hell we never even found his body. It sucks, it does. Even without the political power and the fancy titles, losing a parent is like losing a part of yourself... But it's not everything. You have to remember your own power, your own strength and resolve. You don't need Daddy to be an absolute boss in life, you do not get that from his spirit out there..."
She trailed off, eying the storm outside as rain continued to fall and fog began to roll in. But it was a brief moment of thought that Nya did not elaborate on. Instead, she unfolded her paw and pressed her toes to Amari's chest gently, feeling the smaller lioness' heart beating against her pawpads.
"You get it from his spirit in here."
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