[FIN] What's that you hear? (Kitambi and Ronan)

[MoonRazor]

Ronan had to admit, there was much to explore in this new land that his mother and father were now calling home. True, he didn't see quite what it was that made the rest of his family, and his parents in particular, so excited about it, but he had never really been one to question. He could see all to easily what was new, what was different, and what was the same about this new place. It all just came to him. There were new kinds of trees with leaves shaped like he had never seen them before, which he memorized once he saw them. The rocks were different, some smoother and others more jagged in places. He could see all of this, and yet he only saw a new place. It was different, but there was nothing so overly exciting about it.

He had promised his parents that one day they would all go exploring together. But he couldn't quite help but to wander off on his own, trying to find just what it was that made this place in particular so special. It seemed to him as if his parents would never want to leave this land, and there was nothing he wanted more than to find discover why that was. Perhaps then he would share their enthusiasm. Ronan had always found that he always felt like the odd one out in the family, and he didn't quite know why. He was determined to not be that odd one this time around. No, he would find out what it was.

He padded along with his eyes squeezed closed, feeling the ground with his paws. He had gotten tired of staring at the ground and the grass passing beneath his paws. They were all the same, and yet he couldn't help but notice everything about them - how dark they were, which ones were longer, which ones were healthier and stronger than others. He didn't mind that he could see it all, but he couldn't think when all he saw was the grass. And it had never occurred to him to look up.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

It was definitely different to explore a land and to be born there. Kitambi was familiar with every nook and cranny of the Nchi'mahadhi land, from the mountain path that led to their allied pride all the way back to the escarpment. She knew her den, she knew her mother's den, she knew where Isithunzi stayed, and she knew the dens were her sister would stay. Though she hadn't made any of the drums in the drum circle, she had been present when most of them had been made. She had even helped collected bean pods for shakers. Nsundu and Isithunzi were possibly the only two other lionesses who knew the lands like she did.

Of course, she knew nothing about the outside world, but that didn't seem to faze her. Her life was here, in these lands. She didn't need to know anything about the outside world. Thus, Kitambi sat neatly underneath her tree, enjoying the shade as she listened to the waves. It was soothing out here, away from the heart of the pride. If she listened, she could hear drum beats, but most of the time it was silent. She was used to being alone out here, however today it appeared she would have a guest. Brown ears perked at the sight of Ronan coming towards her, and for a moment the cub watched him.

"Laszlo's brother," Kitambi called, when she realized that the young lion wasn’t going to look up. He was getting much too close without stopping, and she really didn't want to be stepped on.  

[MoonRazor]

Ronan paused in his step, frozen for a moment as his brain processed what he had heard. Right, that meant he needed to open his eyes. He eased them open and blinked twice as the brightness of the world reached him. Oh, that sun was so... He turned his head and realized that a brown cub was watching him. Why?

Oh, he was Laszlo's brother. He grinned a little uncertainly. "Hi," He sat himself down where he was. "My name's Ronan," He added after a pause. He didn't quite want to be known as 'Laszlo's brother', although he didn't mind it all that much.

At a loss for what else to say, he decided he may well begin with asking her the question that had been on his mind since he realized she was there. "Why are you here?" He didn't understand. Granted, he was here, but it was only because he had been following his paws wherever they wanted to go. It didn't seem like Kitambi had done the same thing, and he didn't understand why this place, in particular, was the place she had chosen to spend her time. "What's so special about it right here?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi returned the grin with an interested look, never having been one to smile. Still, she was interested in this young male, and she would let it show on her face. There was no use looking stony to lions she barely even knew. It would be unkind. Besides, she had to keep up good faces if she was going to inherit this pride. It would not do her good if she was on rotten terms with the pride's youth. "Nice to meet you, Laszlo's brother Ronan," Kitambi replied, adding, "I'm Kitambi, Nsundu's daughter." Ronan was very much like his brother, she mused, especially in the way he interacted with her. He had probably never met other cubs before, so his reactions were probably quite normal. Still, it was rather amusing to Kitambi.

His question took her aback, and the cub blinked slowly at Ronan. Why was she here? Was this supposed to be some philosophical question, or was he asking why she was underneath the tree? Unlike Laszlo, Kitambi didn't have to ask for details, for Ronan gave them. What was so special about right here? "It's not particularly special," Kitambi said softly, turning to glance over at the lake. "But it's peaceful out here. You can relax and feel the earth and your heartbeat all in one Rhythm. It's very nice." Was she to be offended that he was questioning her spot?  

[MoonRazor]

"Nice to meet you," He said with a little nod. He had not yet met Nsundu in person, though his mother had pointed her out to him when they first arrived. He had always made a point of remembering everything his parents told him. It would likely all come in handy in the future, and it was a smart thing to do, remembering it all. "You look a lot like Nsundu." He added. One look, at least for him, and he could point out everything physically similar between Kitambi and her mother. And of course, that same look showed him much more - Exactly what colors her fur and speckled markings were made of, and where exactly those markings reached. How much smaller she was, but how big compared to that rock in the distance. It all came to him when he took a look, and he could process everything he saw far faster than anything he felt or heard.

"Oh, okay," He didn't quite understand, but perhaps it was all talk used by lions born to the area. Perhaps he wasn't supposed to understand, so he didn't press for details. Only his voice and the way his head tilted ever so slightly to the right showed his confusion. What Rhythm? He didn't much see how this particular place could be more peaceful than, say, next to the lake.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi tilted her head when Ronan said that she looked like her mother. Was that a compliment? Or just an observation? "You look a lot like your brother," she replied, tone neutral to allow Ronan to take it as he would. There was truth to both their statements, and neither of them had said anything potentially offensive. Unless, of course, Ronan had a problem looking like his brother. If he did, the cub could always help him by rubbing him in Lake Victoria's black sand. Then he would look totally unique. But maybe not. Ronan didn't seem like the type to get offended by too much of anything.

"It doesn't look like an okay to me. You're making a confused face. What part didn't you understand?" Kitambi was extremely direct with what she had to say, and she didn't waste time questioning her new subject. If he didn't understand, it was best to ask now.  

[MoonRazor]

Ronan had always taken pride in looking a little like both his parents. Indeed, even the fact that he looked somewhat like his other three siblings combined meant something big to him, and he grinned. "I always thought so too," He said gleefully.

"Well, just... Rhythm..." He said slowly. It seemed like the most important part of what Kitambi had said, and it had been the only part he didn't quite understand. Although it didn't so much irritate him as make him feel almost guilty somehow, there was that part of him that still wanted to know. He had never really been one to have a big ego, and he had no trouble admitting that there was something he didn't get if the opportunity arose.

That being said, it wasn't exactly like him to try to pry a hole into the conversation in which he could insert his question. For the most part, the blue cub didn't mind sitting and just listening to the conversation flow. It didn't matter so much to him whether or not he had input, only that there was a nice flowing conversation, and if it meant he got to sit out and simply listen, he didn't quite mind that either.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Aaah, so it had been a compliment. Excellent. Kitambi was getting off on the right foot with this young male already. Her mother would be very pleased if she found out. Hopefully Ronan would tell his father, and his father would tell her mother. After all, she had to be modest in what she did. It was only good praise if her mother found out what she was doing, rather than been told by Kitambi.

"It's like the music your family talks about. Rhythm is just a heavier, beat-like aspect to everything in your life. Your heartbeat is the best example, but if you walk heavy then you get a Rhythm too. It's really not that different from music though," Kitambi explained easily, having been exposed to Rhythm ever since she was born. Not only that, but she practiced her drumming extensively, as well as her teaching skills. Both would come in handy, especially in situations like this.  

[MoonRazor]

"Oh, I see." Music, yes, that was something that sounded familiar enough to him. Though as far as understanding the word in its entirety, he didn't. He understood what she meant she the word music was mentioned, but he always wondered why there was a special name for it - he just didn't hear anything special in the world around him.

"If I walk heavy?" He echoed with a little laugh. He doubted that he would be able to hear this rhythm Kitambi was talking about, should he walk heavily. All he would see was how much the leaves crunched, or how much he sunk into the sand. He sure would not be paying attention to the sounds his footsteps made.

But then again, every lion was different. He had learned that much, at least, from his family. He was almost amazed at how different every single one of his siblings were. They did look like they were related, he could give them that, but judging simply by their coats, they could almost pass off as being individuals with no family relations.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi had heard of Juke and Muujiza's family because her mother had told her that they were a musical family. Nsundu had said that Juke and Muujiza had been able to hear music, and so their children must have out of default. The lioness had never met their children, she had told her daughter, but she said it was safe to assume such. After all, how could a cub born to a musical family not even have a little bit of music in him? Thus, Kitambi was naturally inclined to believe that Ronan just wasn't familiar with the words she was using, not that he didn't hear Rhythm.

"If you walk heavy," the cub repeated calmly, aware that she had to explain it to the young male. "Stomping. If you walk heavier, your paws make a sound on the ground, and depending at what tempo you walk, you get a different Rhythm. In this pride we use drums though, because some of us are only small and can't stomp as loud as we would like. You'll get a drum too, when you learn how to make one. Have you seen the drum circle?"  

[MoonRazor]

So sometimes the sounds came faster and closer to each other than other times. He still wondered at how that was anything so special - after all they were just boring thumps on the ground - but he nodded and gave his customary cheery grin anyway. Now that he knew what she was talking about, he could probably figure out what she meant later on if he puzzled on it long enough.

Ronan shook his head. "No, I haven't seen the drum circle," He said, although perhaps he may have already seen it and just didn't realize what it was. He was still wondering about the logic of having a drum. So they stomped... on the drum? It didn't quite make sense. He had never actually seen a drum, but he couldn't imagine they would be big enough to support and actual lion, or perhaps even just a small one like himself.

"Then the adults don't get drums?" He said after a while of puzzling to himself. If the drums really were for stomping on, there was absolutely no way that there were ones that were anywhere big enough to support a full grown lion!  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Didn't think so. You haven't been here long, have you?" It would have been the first place Kitambi would have explored if she'd been new to the lands, but she had learned that it wasn't very interesting. To an outsider, it might just look like a circle of funny coloured rocks, especially if nobody was playing on them. She was surprised that this young male hadn't heard her mother or Isithunzi on them since they'd arrived. Perhaps the two older females had been doing other things since Ronan had arrived, and so he hadn't gone to investigate what all the noise was about.

"They're in the centre of the large rock surface where we have our dens. You'll see them eventually. Drums are only really useful if you like to beat out your Rhythm. If you'd rather dance, that's a different story." Kitambi raised an eyebrow at his question, before remembering his manners. Ronan probably didn't even know what a drum was, and her earlier comments probably confused him. "Of course they do. All members of this pride make their own and use it to beat out their Rhythms. Why would you think they wouldn't have one?" Now she was curious.  

[MoonRazor]

"Dance," He echoed with a slow, thoughtful nod. That was a word he knew, but it was yet another one he didn't quite understand. Mother and Father danced, if he remembered correctly. He had seen it once, too, although he supposed he hadn't been supposed to. It had been that one day when he had plucked up enough courage to wander away a little. It didn't seem like anything special - to him, only what looked like a strange shuffling of the paws that didn't seem do... anything at all.

"Oh, well..." He wondered how to put his imaginations into words. He could tell she was interested by the way she had set her expression - he tended to notice things like that, things he picked up through his eyes without quite trying or wanting to. "You said the drums are for little lions that can't make enough noise. So I thought adults would make enough noise if they stomped around."

Noise was the only way Ronan could really refer to it. He didn't know what it was, and he didn't want to call it Rhythm when he hadn't yet had the time to puzzle and process the word. And he didn't want to call it music, because he had no idea whatsoever what this music was supposed to sound like.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Hmmm... Dancing didn't seem to be getting anywhere with him either. Perhaps he was better suited to go along the same path as his father. Nsundu had said that Juke was interested in singing, and so might be interested in being the choir leader. "You don't have to dance or drum if you don't like it or it doesn't suit you. You could sing instead. I hear your father is really good at that sort of thing?" Hopefully Ronan would know. He seemed a bit dreamy and thoughtful about everything. Head up in the clouds, you might say.

"Adults can make the noise, but it's always better when you use a drum. And you just make them when you're little, but you use them all the time." She was a bit put off by the way he referred to Rhythm as noise. It sounded rather harsh to her ears, especially since Rhythm was so important to her pride. "... Are you sure you know what I'm talking about? Because it's not really noise...."  

[MoonRazor]

Ronan took a moment to think. His father was good at a lot of things, at least to him, so he had to be good at singing too. He hadn't ever really heard Juke sing. He nodded anyway, though, convinced that singing was too small a feat to be hard for his father. "Well, yea, he's good at singing," He said proudly. It was hard to see just how much pride the little lion held for his family.

"Oh, I see. So you just have the same drum all the time," That he understood. It quite excited him that he would one day learn to make a drum. He tended to pick up things quite easily, as long as he got to see how everything was done. Making the drum would be a breeze, and it would be unimaginably fun. He always liked to do things that involved his eyes and his paws.

"Well, yea, sure, Rhythm and music," He nodded again with a dreamy grin, his thoughts still wrapped around the notion of making his own drum. He could see himself sitting there working magic with his little paws, until he had put together the perfect drum and everyone, especially his dad, was proud of him.