[PRP] First Impressions [Laszlo + Kitambi]

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Sigh.

Kitambi sat at the edge of Lake Victoria, watching the waves slide up the black beach to just barely touch her toes. Kimanda had gone back to his traveling companion, having learned all he needed to know. The cub almost missed her pupil, having enjoyed teaching him about her lifestyle and her pride-to-be. In the end, he hadn't been able to see Nsundu, but the cub believed that it was for the best. That way he would come back again to see her mother, and she would get to see him again. She was the closest thing she had to a friend, so it was understandable that she missed him.

The cub dragged her claws through the moist sand, watching as it fell back into place when the wave came up again. Perhaps she should try making friends with some of the other younger pride members. She had been so focused in perfecting her art that she hadn't even met any of them. Sure, she knew their names, but that was totally different than meeting them.  

[katersaur]

Laszlo's family had only recently moved into the lands. None of the cubs had had a proper chance to look around yet, and though he was sure it was something that should be done in a group, the little blue and green boy had escaped the fray of his loved ones to explore on his own. He was getting bigger every day, after all, and he was the largest of all of his siblings. Probably the strongest, too. He could protect himself, right? Right. The one thing he couldn't do alone, though, was navigate this strange new home. After wandering around the central area of the territory for a short while, the juve grew bored and moved outwards, away from the familiar and into the alien world that existed around him. Incredible sights, sounds and scents lured him farther and farther away from anything recognizable, until he reached something he'd never seen in his entire life: a lake.

Lake Victoria was not only massive, it was unique. Sure, Lasz had seen plenty a water hole in his short time in the Southlands, but they had been small, practically puddles in comparison to what lay before him. But that wasn't what was really taking his breath away. As his paws shuffled towards the gentle tide, Laszlo became lost in a world of music. He'd never heard a tune like this before. The rushing of the water, the whistle of the breeze, the rough beat his paws made on the sand... It was all so incredible! And so alien! And so... so... Who was that?! Laszlo's eyes widened, his mouth agape. Just as he was beginning to completely release himself to the music, he caught site of a slightly younger female on the edge of this giant water hole. Never having been the best with words, he simply stood there and stared, not at all sure what to do next.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi, who had lived in the Nchi lands her whole life, didn't share Laszlo's enthusiasm for the lake. It had always been there, and she had been in it more times than she could count on both paws. Lake Victoria was just that: a lake with pretty shells that they used for jewellery and their drums. Not to mention that the cub was never really impressed by anything. It wasn't that she didn't find things beautiful, but things didn't really have a meaning for her. They just were.

The cub's ears swiveled at the sound of approaching footsteps. For a moment, Kitambi thought it was one of Isithunzi's cubs. It was only when she realized that the footsteps were too heavy did she turn her head to look. Oh. This must be one of the cubs that her mother had told her were going to arrive at the Nchi lands with their parents. He didn't look much older than her. "Hi," she said softly, when Laszlo said nothing. "You new here?"  

[katersaur]

((ooc ignore the color change. XD; i'm trying to find a better color.))

Laszlo took a few more steps towards the female. "Yeah." He preferred to wait a for more moments before adding in any specific details. He'd never been the talker of the family. Though he could be social if coaxed from his comfort zone, he much preferred to let others do the talking for him. Since his sister (the most talkative one by far) was not here with them, it was apparent he'd need to do a little more than he would've liked. "I'm Laszlo."

Though he gave very few words, his body language spoke multitudes. He walked towards her slowly, trudging almost, until he finally got within a friendly yet respectable distance and plopped himself there. He was a shy boy when thrown into new situations, that was for certain, but he was making an effort to make a new friend. Plus, his father had told him as much as he could about this pride before they had gotten here. In this place, he had said, everyone could hear the music. So, the usual shyness that Lasz harbored was at least toned down a bit. Usually, he was worried he'd have nothing in common when meeting new lions because his whole life was centered around music. Here, though, it seemed he wouldn't have that problem. It'd be good to make sure though, right? "You can hear it... can't you?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi continued to watch the young male, face emotionless as usual. Unlike Laszlo, talking was neither here nor there for the cub. It was just one of those things that she had to do, being an heiress. She couldn't very well be socially inept, especially if she was going to take on the teacher role. Still, while she may have been good at talking and holding her own in a conversation, that didn't mean she had to come off as excited about it. Kitambi was definitely not an excitable young lioness.

"Nice to meet you, Laszlo," the cub replied smoothly, committing his face and his name to memory. Laszlo. Right. One of Juke's boys. There were so few boys in this pride that it would be easy to remember them. She hoped that Laszlo's brother didn't look too much like him. At his question she tilted her head, trying to look politely attentive. "Hear what? I hear lots of things, sitting out here." He would have to be a little more specific than that. Kitambi had grown up surrounded by music, so having someone point it out was like someone telling her that she had brown fur.  

[katersaur]

Lasz couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed in her reaction. His face fell a bit, but he managed to keep at least some of his happy glow. He couldn't get completely saddened in this atmosphere, anyway, not with so many new songs to listen to. Worse case scenario, this cub was simply bringing him down far too much, and he'd tune her out and focus on the melodies of the giant lake.

"The music, of course! My dad said everyone here can hear the music." He nodded matter-of-factually, as if the female knew his father. Every word that came out of Juke's mouth was absorbed into Laszlo's brain like a sponge, and believed to be true. "Oh were you born here?" The boy cocked his head to the side a little, considering this might be true. If everyone here could hear the music, he supposed that he might've just made himself look extremely stupid. Though he wasn't one to care too much about what others thought of him, he didn't want to ruin any future friendships with pride cubs due to this one lapse in logic. "See, where I come from, some lions can't hear anything. It's really kind of sad."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi raised an eyebrow at the look on Laszlo's face, not entirely sure why he was so disappointed. He had asked her if she heard it. That was a pretty vague question, and so he had got a vague answer. What was he expecting, her to list all of the things she could hear? She could have gone on for days. The cub waited for the young male to clarify what he meant, tilting her head when he finally said music. Oh. Of course she heard music. How would she not?

"Your father would be correct. This pride is centred around music. It would be a sad fate if one of those born here didn't hear music at all." Kitambi had never met Juke, but she had heard about him. Nsundu spoke rather fondly of the family, and so she knew that Laszlo's father was probably a very sweet lion. Her mother only talked about males if they were sweet, or she could walk all over them. Nsundu rarely spoke of any male who pissed her off.

"I've heard that much from my friend who comes from outside the pride. Is it really true?" She wasn't sure if it was sad, but she wanted to know how much truth there was to Kimanda's statement. He was just a loner cheetah.  

[katersaur]

Kitambi was far more informed than Lasz was. He was almost impressed with her cool nature, though he would've liked to see a bit more warmth in her eyes. One thing he could tell from just the way she handled herself, though, was that she was pretty smart. Maybe just a little more work on her lion-skills. What Lasz didn't know was that this little cub was the daughter of the oh so nice leader of the pride, and a future leader. It all would've made a little more sense if he knew that.

"It is. I've never met anyone who can hear it 'sides my family before. How many members are there 'round here?" He had already moved on from his slight disappointment, and was back to that bright, warm look again. He was excited about meeting more lions who could feel and hear the rhythm. At the same time, though, he didn't want to leave this nice lake for at least a little while. There was such a unique tune to the gentle rushing of water, he didn't want to make it stop. He sighed contently, staring out at the water. He really liked it here.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi liked to think she handled herself very well. It was rare that the cub came out from behind her cool exterior, and it most certainly took a lot of trust to get her out of it. Even so, she wasn't particularly unkind about it. She just didn't come off as very friendly. Laszlo, however, seemed like a very nice young male. Kitambi didn't mind having him around, which was rare, since she generally liked to be by herself. Perhaps it was because he was quiet. She liked that.

The cub seemed to be amused with Laszlo's excitement, though not in a mocking way. It was always a little funny to see how excited others got when they learned that there was a pride where lions acted the same way they did. Kitambi supposed it was natural. You found a place where you belonged after all. "There's not a heck of a lot of us, but there's quite a few. Isithunzi is the drummer, she's got two daughters... we have Vinya'nyota, the lioness who does the jewellery... my mother, me, your family.... That's pretty much all of us right now. Oh, and that cheetah who comes to visit us when he wants to learn to dance." Good old Kimanda. "We're not huge, but it makes it easier to get to know people."  

[katersaur]

Laszlo wanted to meet all of them. Yet, at the same time, he didn't. Meeting all of those lions (and cheetah) would mean moving around a lot and talking a lot more. It wasn't that Lasz didn't like conversation, it was just that he often found himself with little to say. He was a true beleiver in body language and facial expressions to drive his points home. The fewer th words, the more that was communicated. Show, don't tell.

"Not huge?" The young male cocked a brow, surprised at the way she described the pride. He'd never been in one, never even been near one for that matter, so this was the largest gathering of felines he'd ever seen. Until now, he'd lived in a den with two sisters, a brother and his parents. He'd seen other critters in the southlands, but he'd never seen any organized groups. "A dancing cheetah..." His voice trailed off, his thoughts switching to the topic of his father. Juke danced. He danced often. Laszlo... sort of danced. He wasn't the best there was, that was for certain. "Do you dance?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Yeah, not huge. My mum told me all about this one pride called the Pridelands where there's supposed to be hundreds of lions living there. I've never seen it, but I've heard lots of others talk about it. I dunno if it's the biggest pride, but I bet it's pretty close to being the biggest pride," Kitambi responded dutifully, hoping that was why Laszlo had repeated the bit about the pride not being huge. One day she'd like to go and visit the Pridelands just to see if the rumours were true, but for now she believed her mother. She hadn't seen anything to the contrary.

Kitambi nodded when Laszlo mentioned the dancing cheetah, grinning inwardly at the thought of Kimanda. She wondered what the cheetah was doing, now that he was hanging out with his traveling companion. Hopefully he could remember to come back. "Dance? Of course. I couldn't take over the pride when my mother steps down if I couldn't. Why, do you?"  

[katersaur]

Laszlo's eyes widened. Hundreds of lions? All in one place? All living together? Why on earth would any lion want to be with that many others all around them?! He shook his head, as if said lions were crazy, and fiddled with his paw in the sand. "Doesn't sound like my kind of place." He honestly thought anyone who wanted to be there was a bit batty. Surely there's a lot of music there, but with so many lions' unique beats playing, it must be a bit overbearing. One's eardrums might pop! And with all those harmonies struggling to become the one melody, well it must sound like a grand mess, that. It was hard to imagine something so pure as music becoming a mess, but the more Lasz thought about it, the more he realized that what made music so magical was how simple it was. The less simple it got, the worse it must get.

"I can dance." He looked back up at her with a snap, an almost defensive tone in his voice. In truth, he could dance, but he couldn't dance well. His parents, who were really so wonderful at it, had failed to pass that skill on to at least one of their cubs. Really, if he took to the time to stop trying so hard, he'd do great. It was the only thing that Laszlo ever really put so much frustration into learning, and that was probably his biggest problem with it. While he was glaring, he realized what she had said. So this was one of the queen's daughters? Things began to make more sense now. No wonder she was like this. Though Laszlo did have a few issues with understanding the reasons for a monarchy, he did grasp that they were important. That was all the progress he had made on the matter, though.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Didn't sound like his kind of place? Perhaps it was the sheer number of lions there. Kitambi could relate to that. She wouldn't like to be the heir of a place like that. The cub had enough trouble keeping up appearances with her little pride right now. The very thought that she would have to act this way to tens of times more lions was mind boggling. Yeah, this pride was definitely the right size for her. Enough space for everybody, and more importantly, enough space for her to be alone. "I'd have to agree with you on that. The size would be too much." There was a silent 'for me' at the end, but Kitambi didn't feel the need to add it. Laszlo would know what she meant, if he felt the same way about too many lions in one place.

Kitambi tilted her head at the slightly defensive tone, unable to help but be slightly amused. "I didn't mean anything by it, Laszlo. You asked me the same thing." She really was amazed that he took such offense to the question. It was a dancing, singing, and drum beating pride. Of course he would be able to dance, and so would she. Though she had yet to meet one that couldn't, she at least knew that they existed. Somewhere. "Did you mum teach you how to dance?"  

[katersaur]

"And it'd be too busy." He nodded in agreement. Lasz thrived on quiet time and just chilling out. He imagined he couldn't get either in a place with so many lions. It'd be too fast paced and too loud for him. It wasn't so much that he was lazy ... well, yeah he was. He was a lazy bum when he wanted to be, but he could do work if the occasion called for it. As long as he had plenty of breaks.

The juvenile watched Kitambi as she talked with a slightly paranoid look. He knew that in this pride there were points where everyone danced together, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Maybe he could practice, maybe out here by the lake. The music had such a defined beat here, it'd be easy to do, right? Right? Well, that was what he was going to bank on. If he was lucky, he'd be able to rope one of his sisters or a parent to help him out. That is, if he had the guts to talk to his parents about that sort of thing. For some reason, he'd never seen Ronan dance, so he really didn't know how good he was at it. "Well, my mum and my dad. They both did."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"It would be," Kitambi seconded, cringing inwardly at the thought of how many bodies there would be around. It wasn't like the Nchi'mahadhi lands were small by any stretch of the imagination, and they were certainly be able to hold lots and lots of lions. Even so, there would be a limited amount of space for each lion. She would always have to be interacting with somebody if she was the heir of such a big pride. Kitambi didn't like that thought very much. "We would have to have a really big drum circle if we got that large."

The cub looked slightly amused at the look Laszlo was giving her, even though she wasn't sure what he was paranoid about. Did he not think his dancing was up to par? Perhaps if Kimanda came back for more lessons she could invite Laszlo to come along with her. Would the older male mind taking lessons from her? Kimanda was easily bullied into submission, but she wasn't so sure about this one. "Both of them. That's good then. You enjoy it though, dancing I mean?"