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 Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:36 pm
Tawa'di really needed to learn to keep away from the borders. It was hard to judge just who he would come across when he wandered them, but he still always, always felt that he might be able to welcome someone else home. It was a constant craving that the old lion had, whether his sight would tell it to him or not. He should leave it to the younger males of the pride to keep an eye out, but there was nothing like being able to be out their on your own, looking with your own eyes.
He was surprised to see something orange moving out there. What a bright colour! Certainly not one of the pride. The only bright coloured one of the whole pride was Tsi's mate Nyota, and he just had green on him mixed in with the brown. Nothing like this.
Intrigued, he took slow steps forward to see just who this stranger was, and if they were lost at all in his lands.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:41 pm
Zuri had wandered away from her family for a couple days, wanting a little time on her own. Though she was happy to be with her sister again, there were times when she still missed being on her own. And a certain lion that she liked, who had left her side one day and she never laid eyes on him again. It had been a traumatic situation for her, one that made her lose everything she ever trained for; the life of a false seer. It was something that she did mildly miss, if only for the attention it brought her.
Little did she know what it was like to run into a real seer. Or learn the fact that she actually gave birth to a litter full of seer, as they were sired by a god. Everything would of flown over the orange lioness' head, as she was still too preoccupied to think about anything but her failure as a mother, again.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:44 pm
Tawa'di's paws had brought him closer to the orange lump that he had seen. Well, now he was close enough to be able to tell that it was orange and blue. Well, that was even more intriguing to him.
He settled down where he was, surprised that she still wasn't able to see him right where he was. He was maybe 6 feet from her, and he was hardly a quiet lion, especially at his age. He studied her movements carefully, judging that she wasn't very happy at the moment. It was obvious with her head lowered and the indifference to everything that went around her. It was also apparent in the lack of much movement from her at all, besides the required breathing to live.
He stood where he was (well, more like sat), and cleared his throat, hoping that maybe she would look up. He didn't want to startle her enough to make her attack, so hopefully this would work.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:49 pm
She felt a bit of wetness behind her eyes. Did Tahari really hate her? It ate her up inside to know that her daughter might never love her like she loved her own mother. No, she had decided taht Barafu was a much better parent. Could Zuri really do a good job? Especially after Ruka had dissapeared, and she barely spoke with the other two. She didn't even seem to notice them around. Did they disappear, too?
She was wallowing in her thoughts, her body swaying just a bit whenever she fought back tears. So much for a nice, enjoyable time by herself. Even when she was away she still couldn't seem to escape her family. She sighed. "Maybe I should go-"
She was startled, her gold eyes quickly looking around the area. Who was there? It didn't take that long to notice the old lion before her, though he did blend in better with the land than she did. She stared at him, amazed, as if he had just appeared there out of this air, or even the ground itself, without a sound!
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:56 pm
"Go? Go where?"
Tawa'di smiled at the goddess. It was that cute-but-sort-of-creepy smile, one that only elders seemed to pull off. Perhaps it could be that they knew so much of the world, that anything that could seem terrible wasn't, and they would turn it around. Or they just knew exactly what the other was thinking, and wanted to talk about it no matter what the other said.
But it was probably just a bit eery.
"Do you want to go already, without introducing yourself? I would certainly hope not, this elder wouldn't be too happy about that! I'm Tawa'di Kanati, the elder of these lands, the Ela'wadiyi. Can I be of any help to you, miss?"
His smile slowly lowered a bit, so it wasn't as creepy, but he was also begging with his eyes that he would play along with it.
Which clearly showed that the elder was bored.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:59 pm
Zuri couldn't help but draw a paw upwards to her chest, as if she was protecting herself from the male. Now, she wasn't physically intimidated by him; it was hard when it was obvious just how old he was. BUT. The way he was staring at her, and with that smile....it was just weird.
"I was...going to go home," she said carefully, still not trusting the crazy looking old lion. Why was he so pushy? She really wasn't certain. She couldn't guess that he was bored, because he didn't know the elder lion at all, and since she also didn't know much about older lions, she had no idea how to read him. It threw her senses all out of whack.
"I'm Zuri'ramla," she replied softly, slowly lowering her paw back to the ground. It helped that the smile drifted away to a more normal one. "Help? I doubt that there are any that can help me, thank you."
There was no way she was going to just spill her heart out to a complete stranger. No way.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:04 pm
The smile returned. He let himself close his eyes, though, because he could feel the slight call of his abilities reaching at him again.
"No help? I see that you're having problems at home. Someone doesn't like you the way you want them too. Maybe even love? Perhaps. You're also jealous of someone else, though that is easy enough to tell without the sight." He opened his eyes again. "I can guess that it's a child, a son or daughter that you are having troubles with. The one you're jealous of is probably another family member. A sister?"
He stood where he was, still and quiet, letting her take in what he had just said. It looked like she hadn't decided just how to react to it yet.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:08 pm
Zuri was in shock. No, maybe it was even more then that. What, how? "How do you know all of this? Do you....actually have the sight?"
She would be amazed if she actually ran into someone who could do what she had pretended to be able to do for most of her life. She had been groomed to be a seer, even named for one, even though she was not gifted with the sight. It was a failure in her father's book, but because she had worked at it so hard for so long, she was able to convince the rest of the pride that she did have the sight, and so embarassment for her father saved her life.
A twinge of pain hit her as she thought about home. Would they return? Probably not. There was no way that they could actually take him down with just the two of them. Not with the guards that Father had. It would be hard to fight against those that she had grown up with as friends when she was just a cub.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:11 pm
Tawa'di laughed. "No, Zuri. That was simply judging you with your age and your body language. It's assumed that if you have a family and are on your own, there's conflict somewhere, and it usually lies with kids. Especially those that are adolescents. The jealousy thing was a stab in the dark, but since many females seem to be jealous of their sisters quite easily, another thing that was guessed on just who you are."
He shuffled his paws quickly after. "Though I didn't use the sight for that, I actually can use it. Just ask me something, and if my 'eye' decides to tell me, I will let you know the answer." It rarely let him down lately, so he was sure that he could convince him otherwise.
He settled right were he was, his green eyes watching her carefully. She was judging him, he could tell.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:16 pm
And she was.
Her gold eyes narrowed, staring back at his carefully. Really? He was good. Too good. She had obviously lost her touch, and having children certainly made the nerves frazzled. Perhaps she should get back into it. It would take a little practice, but if that was what it took, she would do it. Plus it might also make her a better mother, if she paid a bit more attention to everything out there. She would change it around this time a bit, though, and make sure that she wouldn't get too defensive about it. When she was doing it before, she was just trying to protect herself from everyone else around her, especially when Barafu had run away.
"Oh? Alright, then. Here's something no one knows, not even my sister. What did the father of my children look like?" She smirked, knowing that he wouldn't know it. It was too broad, and though her children did wear a lot of his coat, he didn't know anything about the colour of her daughters.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:18 pm
Tawa'di grinned. Too easy.
"He was white. And to boot, he was a very large male, as well. I shouldn't go further, though, I wouldn't want to embarass you."
The grinned stayed on his features. Oh, so that was the style of lioness she was? Well, that was something that he wouldn't imagine on her, but there were some things that you just didn't know about others from face to face conversation.
Ooohhh, interesting. He had another fact to bring on, one that he was certain she didn't know about.
"I see something else, too. My 'eye' is telling me that he was a god in disguse, as well." If she would believe it was in her hands, since he had no way to prove it.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:20 pm
Zuri's eyes widened. He knew!
"How..." she stood there for a moment, stunned yet again. A stranger, knowing all of that! Alright, so she couldn't deny that he had at least a little bit of the sight. But still, she had no idea how strong it might be. She raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I see. So you perhaps have it." She fell silent again, the perfect opportunity to hear his comment.
"A god? Blasphmy, I do not believe in any gods! Not even the one that is supposed to watch over my home pride. They are nothing but a myth, to keep us believing in the few that claim to speak with them."
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:26 pm
So, she didn't believe in gods? Fair enough, he would not press the issue. He obviously did, since....well, since he had Mana. He didn't know what to think of her. They were more like old, close friends than anything else, but what she was willing to do for him had touched him so. He swished his tail behind him, swatting at the flies that tickled his back.
"Alright. If you choose to not believe in it, that is your choice. I have no way of proving to you what I just said. Do not be surprised, though, if your children fight the sight. It is given to all of those that are the children to gods."
He felt a bit more relaxed now about the situation, but could feel the agitation that the lioness had before him. He didn't mean to agitate her, though, but perhaps it was best for her. She did need to know some of this now, did =n't she?
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:28 pm
Zuri was becoming a bit impatient. He seemed like a nice old lion, but perhaps she had just run across him on the wrong day. She felt like she was being humiliated, and that was something that she just didn't want to deal with. She didn't deserve it! She had been through so much, especially with Tahari, and to go and try to calm herself from that she got this! Especially since things with Tahari might slowly begin to fix, and now she was full of doubt about everything.
"They can't get the sight," she whispered to herself. "If they do, they might learn about my homeland, and that's the last thing that they need to deal with." She fretted, unsure as to if she should run straight home and talk to her sister about it all, or keep talking to this lion that did seem to hold all of the answers.
She looked back up at him, as if asking him what she should do.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:31 pm
Tawa'di couldn't help but smile at the lioness, in a warm, fatherly way. He knew exactly what she was asking him, and he didn't need the sight to know it, either.
"You should go, if you worry so much. It will show to your children just how much you worry about them. No one can tell when they develop the sight, if they develop it at all. Just be there for them, because they will need you there for them if it does become a strong talent in their blood."
He shooed her away with his paw. "Just make sure to return now, please. Let me know how it goes," he casually said, as if he had known her for much longer than the short time they had exchanged words.
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