[PRP] Returning Home [Isi/Vinya/Nsu] - FIN

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Aaah, what a day!

Nsundu rose with a grin on her face, still feeling the excitement of the previous night. She had found a member of her old pride! Well, it was only hers by blood, since she hadn't been born there. Even so, to be kin with another lioness was strangely pleasing. Isithunzi was a very nice companion, knowledgeable and very easy to get along with. Plus she referred to her as royal blood. Come on, who can resist a lioness who strokes your ego?

She began humming absently to herself as she beat a short rhythm on the ground. It was her mothers with a little twist, which always made her smile. Paws beating softly against the ground, Nsundu continued the little dance, waiting for Isi to rise. They did, after all, have to go and pick up Vinya.  

[Light Atago]

The grey lioness stretched after a good night's sleep; it had been a while since she'd gotten such. She felt a little sick to her stomach, to be honest, but nothing a little determination couldn't get around. She rose to her feet and stretched out, seeing that Nsundu was already up and about. Not far away she could hear a gentle beat in the air; ah yes, it was starting.

Today, she remembered, the pair were going to find some "Vinya" character, someone Isi had yet to meet. She was excited, though, to be doing some recruiting and teaching. She padded up to Nsundu, "Looks like I slept in," she said with a sheepish grin.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu stopped her dancing at the sound of approaching footsteps, looking up at Isithunzi. Aha! There she was! She simply shrugged her shoulders at the lioness, grinning at her comment about sleeping it. Perhaps Isi had slept it, perhaps Nsu had simply gotten up really early. She couldn't help being extremely excited. Could you blame her? She was about to return to her homeland she'd never seen. It was a surprise that she'd managed to sleep at all last night.

With a motion of her head, Nsundu set off in the direction of the oasis. It shouldn't take them too long to get there. She wondered if Vinya would actually be there when she returned, or better yet, if she had decided to come with her to the Nchi lands. It would be nice to have someone her own age, especially since the pride was basically composed of members either older or younger than herself.

"She was a bit skeptical about Rhythm," Nsundu explained to Isithunzi as she walked, "So I said I'd come back after letting her think about it."  

[Light Atago]

Rhythm. Isi's favorite topic of their Pride, and so it should be. The Umshayi knew the most about the drum beat, after all. Isi rather enjoyed it. Though she had a wonderful singing voice, she always loved the pounding of the drums better. She had started to formulate the way to teach this "Vinya" about what she'd need to know.

"I'm sure she's been contemplating it," Isithunzi said honestly. Joining a Pride was a significant change; it would certainly require a lot of thought.

"Lead the way, we'll get some teaching done, and hopefully have one more Pride member," Isithunzi said to Nsundu, excited for what was going to happen on this day.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu grinned back at Isi, glad that she had found the lioness when she did. It was good to have a companion who was both supportive and willing to help her learn. Without her newly appointed Umshayi, the young lioness would have probably messed things up. Of course, she wouldn't think she was messing things up – as was usual of her personality – but things would definitely not be as they had been in the olden days.

The oasis was not far from where they had slept the night before, and it didn't take too long to get there. Besides, Nsundu had set quite a quick pace in her excitement. Ah, the joys of youth. When she was within shouting distance of the oasis, the young lioness started calling the one she was meeting up with, "Viiiiinya! Vinya, you there?"  

[~Masamune~]

Vinya'nyota stirred as she heard her name being called. For a moment, she wasn't even sure where she was, but she soon remembered as she blinked the sleep from her eyes and let out a huge yawn. The pale lioness loved to sleep in, so she wasn't best pleased at being woken up. When she realised who was responsible though, a huge wave of relief swept over her. Nsundu had come back for her, and Vinya'nyota couldn't be happier.

Grinning, she got to her feet and quickly shook off any sand and dust that was coating her fur. Lilac eyes narrowed, she looked out over the horizon for her friend. When she spotted Nsundu, she frowned slightly as she noticed another figure beside her. Of course there was bound to be other Pride members, but Vinya'nyota had grown a little paranoid as she had gotten older, and she was already cautious of anyone older than her. Not wanting to let it show though, her grin returned as she walked out to meet Nsundu and her companion.  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi smiled back, not noticing Vinya's nervousness, and gave her a polite dip of the head, a custom not honestly of her tribe, but seemingly of every single polite rogue there was. (All the ones she had met always dipped their heads, anyway.) "I'm Isithunzi," she said in the pause once they arrived close enough to the new white-and-pink lioness. She felt good to see someone interested in her old Pride... She gave a quiet sigh of delight. She would be teaching rhythm, just as she always hoped she would. She awaited Nsundu to give more proper introductions.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

The young lioness's ears perked when Vinya came into view, breaking out into a run to meet her friend. She'd stayed! She had actually waited for her at the oasis and she was here now! Nsundu was probably just as happy about Vinya being there as Vinya was about Nsundu coming back to meet her. The very fact that the pale lioness had kept her word meant a lot to Nsundu.

She slowed her pace when she got close to Vinya, still almost prancing on the spot in excitement. She was here! The pride was actually starting to take shape! Nsundu leaned in to give Vinya's shoulder an affectionate bump with her nose, grinning widely. She was about to introduce Isi when the lioness took the liberty of doing it herself. Good, that would make a nice first impression. A lioness of confidence to be their teacher. She liked it.

"She'll be the pride teacher of sorts," Nsundu explained to Vinya, "Helping everyone learn about Rhythm and all the songs. She'll be able to explain Rhythm better than me." She added the last bit a bit sheepishly.  

[~Masamune~]

Vinya'nyota nodded politely in return, but didn't say anything. She assumed that Nsundu had already told Isithunzi what her name was, and where she stood in regards to the Pride and such. The adult female seemed nice though, so the pale lioness managed a genuine smile. If she was going to be a part of his Pride, she would have to learn to give others the benefit of the doubt, and not be so cautious all the time.

Vinya'nyota felt quite at ease with Nsundu, so none of that would be a problem in regards to her. Being a fellow adolescent, she felt as if it was safer to trust her. She grinned as the chocolate female nudged her shoulder, then listened carefully to what she had to say. "Sounds good." She said finally, before flashing Isithunzi another smile. "I want to learn everything there is to know about this 'rhythm' Nsundu keeps going on about."  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi smiled at the new lioness. Those were the words she'd wanted to hear, words of determination. She smiled. "You've come to the right place, if you ask me," She said with a smile. Isi wasn't much older, but her last growth spurt had made it impossible for one to tell that. She was fresh out of adolescence herself.

Isi smiled as she searched around for something to beat out a rhythm on... But she couldn't find anything right away. "Rhythm lives all around us. When you walk, it's the beat you pound with your paws whether you realize it or not," Isi said as she looked around for some make-shift drum. She still hadn't had time to rebuild her own. A rock would do alright, it wasn't far off and it was just the right size. She continued as she walked over and started to push it towards the pair. "Everyone has a particular rhythm in them. It's completely different from anyone else's. Some take a long time to find theirs, others realize it right away, but if you play around with it..." She said as the rock was finally moved all the way back to the other two females,"... you'll find it." She smiled. She would wait to see if any questions had arisen before continuing on with her lesson.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

She wanted to learn everything about the Rhythm? Excellent! Not only had she found a family with a natural talent for music, but her other pride member was eager to learn. That was perhaps even better than finding the already talented. Vinya would make a great Umsini, making the pride's jewellery and teaching them how to dance. Nsundu had great faith in her.

The young lioness sat down quietly and let Isi explain Rhythm. She was so much better at this than Nsundu. It was very lucky that she had met up with the older pride member. It was nice to have someone on the same page as her, just as it was nice to have lions willing to learn about her pride. Life was just that much easier when it was like this.

"It takes some time to find it, but you know when you do," Nsundu added, hoping that she wasn't interrupting. "It's kind of hard to explain, but you know."  

[~Masamune~]

Vinya'nyota watched Isithunzi carefully, attempting to take everything in and then commit it to memory. Despite the fact that she was eager to learn, her personality demanded that she keep some level of skepticism, as what the adult lioness was saying seemed pretty 'out there'. And gosh knows what she needed a rock for.

When Isithunzi had finished talking, Vinya'nyota raised a paw. "Erm...so, if I do this..." Saying that, she started jumping on the spot, allowing all four of her paws to return to the ground at different moments. "That's rhythm?" She tilted her head a little, before going on to her next question. "And it's all very well saying that I'll know it when I find my own rhythm, but how do you know I'll know it?" The white adolescent hoped that she didn't sound stupid, but if she was going to do all this correctly, there was no point in continuing with the lesson until she was sure that she understood everything.  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi nodded at Nsundu's interjection, and then nodded at Vinya's next question. "That'd be rythm. It's everywhere really, even if you're silent, rhythm pounds out in you. The beat of one's heart and their breathing, there's a beat in everything. As to how you tell when you've found your own... It's very difficult to explain. You get kinda a rush when you beat it out, dance it out, sing it out... You get excited when you play it and know that nobody can play that rhythm quite like you can. You kinda... forget where you are... it's not easy to explain," She said.

"At any rate," time to continue. "You're probably wondering what the rock is for." She looked down at it. It wouldn't make a very good drum, but it'd be easier than the ground alone. "After I left our lands when I was young, my drum broke. I've never gotten around to re-building one, survival's kinda rough when you haven't been taught to hunt and all," She said, "So I've been using makeshift drums like rocks and logs. This is a sample of Rhythm." She pounded out some very quick beats on the rock with her paws; it was her father's song. The very beat sounded strong. She stopped rather abruptly to give an explanation. Rhythm is essentially any beat there is, anywhere. Whether you consciously create it or not, it's always with you. You can skip beats, double up beats, the key to it all is feeling the base-beat, the heart of any song. The base-beat's what you tap your paw to," she said, and that was the best way she could think of to explain it. She nudged the rock closer into the middle. "One of you have a little go at it, show me what you've got," she said with a smile.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nsundu decided to let Isithunzi handle the question, having just the barest understanding of Rhythm herself. It was very hard to explain a feeling when you hadn't known anything else but the Umshayi was doing a very good job. The young lioness was quite proud of her.

With a grin she sat down and watched the lesson, learning from Isi probably as much as Vinya was. While Isithunzi would be teaching when they got to the Pridelands, it was still up to Nsundu to keep and eye out for potential members and work on her sales pitch. The better she understood Rhythm the easier it would be for her to make others understand. At least, that was the theory. It sounded okay, so Nsundu believed it. You never knew until you tried.

When the makeshift drum was offered to the two of them, Nsundu glanced at Vinya. Did she want to go first, or should Nsundu give an example? Hmmm... well, you were supposed to lead by example, so Nsundu figured she might as well give it a shot. The beat she tapped on the drum had been one her mother showed her, softer than Isi's with more 'tink' sounds because Nsundu was using her claws. When she was finished, she nodded to Vinya. "Your turn."  

[~Masamune~]

Vinya'nyota was really having a hard time taking everything in, although she tried not to let it show. Her innate skepticism didn't help much either. How could there be a beat to her breathing? Breathing was just something you did, not something you listened to. The pale lioness raised a paw to rub her forehead, no longer able to hide the fact that all this was difficult for her. "I hope it all becomes clear to me once I find my own rhythm." She murmered. "It's not that you're a bad teacher or anything, I'm just having trouble 'getting' all this stuff."

As the lesson went on, Vinya'nyota focused on the rock. She had no idea what a drum even was, so she was happy that Isi was willing to give a visual demonstration. When the adult lioness had finished beating the rock, the adolescent felt somewhat impressed by the strong sound that Isithunzi had produced. "So, is that your own rhythm? If it is, what's stopping someone else from just copying it and then saying that it's their own?" Vinya'nyota believed that to be a valid question, despite the fact that Isi had explained about the individuality of everyone's own rhythm.

Vinya'nyota grinned as Nsundu had a go at the rock. The sound she produced wasn't as strong as Isi's, but she liked it anyway. Now that it was her turn, she was unsure what to do. Should she just smack the rock as hard as she could, or just tap it a few times? In the end, she decided on a something in-between. She hit the rock hard with the flat part of her paw at first, then went to tapping it with her toes and claws. She didn't do it for long though, as she stopped to turn to Isithunzi. "Did I do it right?"