[PRP] The Path I Walk [Kitambi/Waseme/Sen/Nsundu] - FIN

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Kitambi, you know you're the heir, right? Sha'ihubo is what we call you. But don't get your heart set on ruling any time soon, since I'm not going anywhere."

It had been explained very early to the cub where she sat among her fellows. Lower than the leading adults – which consisted of her mother, another lioness, and a lion she had never met – but higher than all other cubs. Such a strange fate, to be born into a position of power when your own sister was to be ranked like any other cub born to the pride. To be honest, Kitambi didn't care much. She would have been content being second born. However Nsundu had told her that it was natural justice that put her where she was, and she was inclined to believe her mother. The same mother who would probably keep the throne until she was old and senile, but her mother none the less.

Kitambi sat quietly beneath one of the few trees that littered the Nchi'mahadhi lands, brown eyes focused on the lake in the distance. It was impossible to get close to the lake without coming back with black legs, so the cub had settled for watching from the shade of a tree. At least that way it was cooler.  

[Hopefolly]

It could be said Waseme was born angry. It wasn't true, but it might as well of been. It took very little time for the cub to feel the powerful emotion called 'rage'.

In history, many times has it been said there is no feeling stronger than the one of revenge. Waseme, while she understood the concept of her being ranked so low, and while she understood about her sister being ranked so high, she didn't understand the concept of revenge. Not yet.

Kitambi herself, from an observers point of view, hadn't done anything to warrant any anger, let alone vengance. But to Waseme, she had, simply by not caring for the rank her younger sister wanted. Young though she may be, Waseme, already, had a lust for power.

Perhaps, had the cub been born with her sisters appearence, the rank wouldn't have mattered to her. As it was, she was not beautiful. In fact, one could rightfully call her 'ugly' (and some had). As it was, she was not important. She was like the other cubs.

As it was, she was nothing, but not for long.

Whatever it took, she would become the Sha...whatever it was.

"Kitambi!" the younger cub cried out from behind her sister, crounched down in what was suppose to be threatening, tiny teeth bared. Natural instinct told her winning a fight equals dominance, so, why not?  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

While born into a pride of rhythm and music, Kitambi found it nice to have moments of silence like these. Though sometimes should could hear drumming from the drum circle, she was far enough away to ignore it and enjoy the sound of the lake. The tide was not strong, but it still made a sufficient sound to be relaxing. The cub knew that one day she would have to find her rhythm as well as herself, but for now she was content to bask in the silence. Her silence, however, was ended rather abruptly by the arrival of her sister.

Kitambi didn't even have to look to know it was Waseme. Only her sister would speak to her in such a manner. Just as Isithunzi believed Nsundu to be a gift from above, so she had taught her cubs to respect the Sha'ihubo as their next leader. Nobody but Waseme would come before her, teeth bared. Apparently, it was a form of challenge, something that the cub found... well, Kitambi had yet to find a word to describe the situation. Until her vocabulary expanded, she settled for 'stupid'.

"Waseme," Kitambi acknowledged, finally looking over her shoulder at her sister, expression neutral as ever. "Isn't this getting old?"  

[Hopefolly]

Ironicly, Waseme caring so much about gaining a title didn't prevent her from disrespecting the one who had it. If Nsundu saw, woo boy, she'd probably get a lecture! Or...something. But so far, she hadn't. If Kitambi ever told, she'd deny it. Surely her word wasn't more honest in the eyes of their mother just because she was born first?

Waseme would like to think so...

The cub growled. Given her age, it was as 'fierce' as it could be. It definately wasn't lacking in the 'I hate you!' department, either. "If you don't like it, then step down and let me have it!"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

If Kitambi ever told, Nsundu would probably tell Waseme to just "accept it." But Kitambi never told. Tattling would only make her sister angrier, which wouldn't solve the problem. With tattling ruled out, that left the cub with several options. She could fight back, ignore her sister, or step down. The last option was automatically ruled out, simply because that would cause an even more irritated situation with her mother. The first option was nearly as irritating as the last. She didn't need to prove herself to Waseme, so she wasn't fighting her. That left her with only one option. So far, though it hadn't worked perfectly, it appeared to be the lesser of two evils.

Kitambi narrowed her eyes a fraction, the only change on her face. "No." The answer was fairly simple, and she had given it enough times that she didn't bother explaining anymore. Whatever she said went in one of Waseme's ears and out the other. "Your presence is ruining my peace and quiet, you know."  

[Hopefolly]

The mere growl became a snarl. Not too terrifying, she was still very small, but it had meaning clear as the moon in the sky above them. How dare she speak to her like that! Ruining her peace and quiet?!

"Yeah, well, for once I'm not letting you get your way! You don't deserve to follow Nsundu and you don't deserve this pride! I won't let it happen! By time we're older they'll know I'm better than you!"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Aw man, now it was into snarling. This was going to get very dirty very quickly. It wasn't like they hadn't gotten into physical scuffles before, but Kitambi liked to avoid them. She always went into each argument hoping that Waseme would simply rant and then go off to sulk. It would appear that today was not going to be one of those days. The cub had been hoping to at least enjoy her morning before she was required to socialize with the rest of the pride.

"It doesn't matter what you think. The pride wouldn't go against tradition," Kitambi deadpanned, eyes still narrowed a fraction. "And why would they choose you over me? I see no redeeming qualities... unless you're going to growl at them and disturb their peace. That'll make you really popular."  

[Hopefolly]

She wasn't blind the truth. She wasn't really denying it. She just, plain and simple, refused to accept it. Her sister being faster, stronger, all around better she was unwilling to just accept. Not without a fight. Fights, more correctly. As many times as it took to be better. If it was ten, twenty, a hundred, even more, she was willing.

The fur along her back stood on end. A second snarl. More spiteful than the first, if that was possible. "I'LL SHOW YOU!" she barked. A spilt second later she'd lunged at her sister for, oooh, the sixth time that week.

The results would, no doubt, be the same as always.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

To Kitambi, the truth was the truth. You could deny it all you want, but that didn't change the fact that she was fated to be pride leader. And why tempt fate? She knew that if she gave the pride up to Waseme that something would happen to put her back in that position. That was the way things were. You couldn't just go about changing things to suit your own needs.

She'll show her? How many times had Waseme "shown" her? Too many to count. Kitambi was getting tired of this. The cub propelled herself upwards and met the leap, hoping to catch her sister in the stomach. If she could knock her over and pin her it would be over faster than if she just tried to evade her attacks. She wanted this over so she could go back to her silence. How else was she going to strive for perfection if her sister kept getting in her way?!  

[Hopefolly]

Waseme acted like this was the first time, spouting her self-righteous words at the top of her lungs. Really, this had happened many times before. The results varied, yet were the same; Waseme would end up with her face in the mud, stuck in a tree (don't ask), and in this case, pinned.

Yet again, she snarled, squirming under her sister. If she could just get one could hit in her face, that'd show her! Too bad she couldn't even manage that. Were her legs shorter or something?!

Having failed again, Waseme did the only thing she could think of: screech and scream. "I HATE YOU! YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE DOWN WITH THOSE NOBODY CUBS?! YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi held firm as her sister squirmed, unable to help feeling sour as she stared down at her. Sisters were supposed to be friends. They were supposed to love and support each other. Just look at Jua and Mai. They were friends. Why couldn't Waseme just go with the flow and be her friend? Why did she have to start these pointless fights? She made Kitambi's life so difficult.

The cub's expression hardened before she let it become a sneer. It was nobody's fault they were like this, but that didn't stop it from being a problem. She refused to change her expression as her sister ranted, remaining unmoving. "It's not a matter of deserving anything, Waseme. You would make your life a lot easier if you just accept it and moved on."  

[Hopefolly]

"I WILL MOVE ON!" the younger sister growled. In a stroke of complete luck, she managed to hit her sister enough to knock her off. Waseme scrambled to her feet and took off, refusing to cry. Her eyes were only watery because it was cold out.

She'd show her 'move on'. She'd leave this pride and never come back! See how they liked that! Yeah, they'd learn, then! At least, she thought they would. Not that she was thinking so much as... just running. She kept running until her lungs burned and her throat was ragged.

It had been a while, though how long a while she wasn't sure. She may have even kept going, if she hadn't crashed into something and toppled back. That something was not a something, but a someone. A white, green-eyed former pridelander known as Sen.

"Hey, are you alright?" the older lioness prodded, nudging the cub with her nose. She hadn't gotten back up after the collision. Was she dead?  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi was just about to reply to her sister's angry outburst when she was shoved roughly aside. The cub was expecting Waseme to pounce on her, and was quite surprised when the pounce never came. Waseme was... running away? Well, perhaps this was for the best. She sighed softly and sat up, idly tapping her claws on the ground. It had ended quickly, something that Kitambi was pleased about. But that didn't stop it from being tiresome.

Without thinking, Kitambi began to tap out Indlovu's rhythm. It was the first one she had been taught, since Indlovu had been the very first lioness to understand Rhythm. Tapping out her Rhythm was almost as though she was there. "I don't know what to do with her."  

[Hopefolly]

"--and so I left..."

Sen had listened through Waseme's entire tale of woe and family strife. A long while ago, she'd have been nodding along, then went on to ramble about why her brother was a horrid factor in her life, too. Not too long ago, she'd have told Waseme to suck it up and accused her of being stupid.

Now a days, Sen did none of those things. Age didn't nesscarily bring wisdom, because she wasn't nesscarily wise. But, she was notablely more patient, and far more accepting. She would need to be to be a leader, Mwokoti had told her, and she'd taken the words to heart.

"You can't just run away."

"I can too!" Waseme was totally, completely pouting. She looked like a spoiled cub who'd just been denied something. ...But she wasn't spoiled! She was treated like dirt! Like a commoner!

"And how are you gonna live?" Sen ventured. No answer. "That's what I thought. Come on, my friend and I will take you back."

---

Sen was running, a large shadow casting over her. "What do you mean you don't like it?!" Oh, she missed the days when she could fly with Mwokoti! Finally, she had realized she herself would never fly, and now? Now, she couldn't even hitch a ride. It was true the Goddess probably could carry her, she just refused to.

Waseme, high in the air, trembled and slunk back. "T-this is too high!" Who would enjoy this?! Her reaction to the Goddess hadn't been much of one, she knew of Gods already. Flying was a total different matter, though...  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Aaah today was such an awesome day. She had managed to find some old jewellery, and while it probably wasn't her mothers, it was in good shape it would have to do. Vinya would hopefully be learning how to craft new musical jewellery soon, and then she could spread the music around. The very thought made her excited. Soon you would hear the rattle and tinkle of the Nchi'mahadhi lionesses all around the land! Two necklaces held carefully in her mouth, the lioness set off to find her daughters. She had presents to give them.

Kitambi hesitated in her steps when she caught sight of her mother approaching. What was hanging from her mouth? Were they necklaces? She had been told that it was pride tradition for mothers to give their children some of their jewellery, however Nsundu hadn't had any to give. Apparently, now she did.

"Hey kid, how's it going?" Nsundu grinned and nudged her daughter playfully. "I got something for you and your sister. Where is she, anyways?"

"She.... ran that way." That was the most suitable explanation that Kitambi could think up.