[PRP] Life keeps going (Ithi x Arifu)

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Ithi had lived life as anyone should. There had been good times and bad times. She had been blessed with three beautiful litters, one of which would never know she was their mother but it was better that way. They were never to know the horrible father that, thankfully, she had heard was long dead. It was time he got what was coming to him.

The grey lioness stretched out near the borders of the land. She had been here for such a long tim now, as if she were part of the pride but she never would be. The the lioness to settle in one place, well, it didn't seem realistic in the slightest. She loved to be on the move. She just hadn't been physically fit enough to move from the pride for a while now. Her family had cared for her a little and now, well, she was just about fit enough to leave again, though she wasn't going to just get up and leave without mentioning it to Ny and seeing her daughters one last time.

She rolled over onto her other side before raising her head to wash her fur a little. It was nice to be able to clean without flinching. Her body was littered with scars of various sizes. She had never run from a fight but had embraced them. Stubborn thing she was and yet still after the heartbreak and everything, she was still as stubborn as the day she was born.  

[TheMadHatter]

He took the lowering of the sun behind the horizon as a chance to move out of the caves and do a bit of exploring. It had been a long time since he'd ventured out, preferring the darkness to anything else, but with the way things were now it would be harder to find interest in caves he knew better than he knew his own body. He would have to go hunting for stories on his own since many of their scouts had been lost.

Lugging his body though the area he paused for a moment to look up at the sky. The stars were just beginning to show and that meant that most others would start loosing their advantage. Normally he would have cursed his bulk being outside but it was a blessing for once.

Shuffling off a bit he paused as he caught another scent in the air. There was someone else around and it wasn't someone he recognized.  

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Ithi didn't pay much attention to the sounds she heard, she lived in a pride that she wasn't part of but they seemed to have accepted her presence and so, she was use to hearing others wandering around and not once being bothered by them.

However she did get up today, just because she was on the borders. She wasn't going to but she wanted to see if who she heard was someone she knew. She owed it to the pride to at least be some sort of guard when lounging on the borders.

She didn't see anyone at first so she moved in the direction that the sound had come from, she then saw a male and she didn't recognise him. Then again she didn't know everyone in the pride, its hard to know everyone!

"Hello there." She spoke softly. Once upon a time she would have flirted happily with him but not now. She was perfectly calm meeting strangers but then again she didn't care much of what happened to her now, as long as her children were safe and happy.  

[TheMadHatter]

His considerable bulk couldn't have been that hard to miss given that he stood out against the night so well. He hadn't expected to be found so easily though. He would have to make note to be more careful when wandering around in places he wasn't completely sure of.

He turned his head at the sound of a voice near him. Ah, so it was most likely a female from the nearby pride. "Good evening." He shifted his body so he could see her without having to turn his head so much. At least she didn't seem hostile so he knew he hadn't wandered somewhere that she should have know better than to wander.  

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"Your not from around here are you?" She was assuming that he wasn't but she was sure she hadn't seen him before not even from a distance. Yes she was sure he was a stranger here. At least she hoped she hadn't got it all wrong.

"I am Ithibati and if you are wondering, I am not part of the pride that lives near here, I just live here." She didn't mind given out all this information, after all why would she care? She was just living life as it came as she believed everyone should. She only mentioned the pride because she was sick of everyone assuming she was part of it. She belonged to no one and nowhere.  

[TheMadHatter]

"I am ... not from around here in the sense you speak." The caves were not that far from here and even though it was a simple tunnel it was still part of his 'land' as it were.

Living with a pride but not part of it? He hadn't heard of anything like that before. Most of the prides that they had stories about would not have let someone wander their lands freely. "You choose to live inside a group without being part of it?"

He supposed some of their members could have been called that given how they got their information but he doubted she was speaking in those terms.  

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"I stay while my children are young, once they can look after themselves then I shall move on." It was logical in her mind.

"Some of my other children live here with their own children. It makes sense to stay with support then to move on and live alone bringing up three youngsters." She settled herself, sitting opposite the stranger who hadn't given her his name. He probably had his reasons.

"What about you then, where do you come from?" She would ask for information but a name is a private thing and if someone wants to keep it hidden then she wasn't going to stop them from having that choice.  

[TheMadHatter]

That made a bit more sense. Having little ones around would be a good reason to find somewhere stable to live. He did not know many prides that he would go anywhere near that would toss away a lone mother.

He grinned slightly at her question. "I come from within the earth." That answer was either met with complete confusion or slight understanding. It would give him a bit of incite into her depending on how she answered.

"I am Arifu'Hadithi ... a story teller if you will"  

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"Within the earth? I don't know many lions that live in the earth, hares, some snakes and other little animals sure, but lions? I can only assume you have caves in the ground?" She did ask everything that she was in a way stating. After all she wasn't really sure about most of the things that she was saying, they were after all assumptions.

"It is nice to meet you Arifu'Hadithi. May I ask what storys you tell?" She was curious, she knew of story tellers in prides but she assumed he was just a rogue. Maybe she was wrong then? Either way he was a curious lion, that was for sure.  

[TheMadHatter]

He nodded at her question of caves. "My tribe lives in a network of caves under the mountains." They had recently relocated to an area near the Weavers of Mist due to a collapse in most their home. "There is an entrance not far from here that i had not taken the opportunity to explore before"

He would have to hope he cold make it back there before day break and hopefully find something to eat between then also. The tribe was small enough now that often they hunted smaller meals down for themselves. "Any story that happens to grace my ears." Whether true or false his pride wasn't one to let a story to to waste.  

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"Tribe? Is that like some sort of pride?" She wasn't sure what it was though where he was talking about, oh yes she knew the lands very well. Memories of Maji made her tense up unwillingly for a second.

"What is your tribe like? Do you collect stories then?" She was curious. This lion seemed to be part of something that she had never heard before. She loved stories, always had done but she made a story for herself that she didn't like and would never wish upon someone else.

"What kind of stories are they? Do you take stories that you have heard from others and tell them in your tribe?" She was really curious now and very interested in what it was he had to say.  

[TheMadHatter]

"It is ... though there are not many of us left anymore." There had still only heard from a few of their members after the collapse. He still had hope that more would surface and find their way to their new home with the markers that he had Devi had left.

"We do collect stories, from all over the savana and beyond." Anywhere that they had connections, and some times places they didn't, they collected stories from. "Anything can be a story and none of us would close our ears to a word." It wasn't often that others were curious about their tribe and slightly more curious that they weren't heard of. He hadn't thought they were that secretive. "Stories are shared amongst the tribe. Certain of us, myself included, are more ... adept to remember them though. There has to be someone around to tell youngsters stories from long ago"  

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"Oh I am sorry to hear there aren't many of you left, what happened?" She had completely relaxed now, she felt slightly bad at all the questions she was asking. She seemed to be finding out a lot about this strange male and he didn't know much about her but then again, all that was really important he did know.

"Tell me a story, please. I would love to hear one of the ones you carry with you." She loved to hear stories, always had done. When she had been a cub she had dreamed up her own, mostly stories of what life could be like. Never had she imagined what it actually turned out like. It was behind her now. She had moved on. The prospect of hearing a story though, that made her happier then she could explain!  

[TheMadHatter]

"Some of the caves we made our home in collapsed. Not everyone has surfaced yet." Some he knew they would never see again but he would not give up hope for a few. "We have moved on, left messages for the others, and hope that they join us soon."

He nodded slightly as he sat back in the grass. It was easier to tell a story when you were comfortable than when not. "Which story to tell ..." He tilted his head and thought for a moment. He decided on one that had always pleased others, young or old, about their god and how he had started weaving tales for his ancestors.  

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"Oh my, I truely am sorry. I do hope some more of your tribe will appear." She had never come across anything like that happening to anyone before. What if he had family that may have been trapped? She wasn't going to ask, she just felt compassion to those left who may have lost someone close to them.

She then settled down for the story. She was happy to just sit and listen to a story that may have been told millions of times over. Old stories are always the best, the ones that have been passed down over years. They are the ones that have grown the most and Ithi knew they were the ones that she found most interesting. So she would listen contently, drinking in every word that he said.