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 Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:33 pm
Her brothers and sisters had been sent away one by one. If she was the last left she wasn't sure, she didn't know if she'd be next, either, if she -wasn't- the last.
She was familiar with the tradition, honestly, if it weren't for her nervous worries, she was thrilled with the prospect on going on such a journey to discover herself, to find her true name, but she was scared. What if she didn't make it back? What if she wasn't able to discover her name? So many what if's, and it was so easy to get lost in each one.
Her reflection stared her back in the face as she gazed down into one of the pools clear enough to offer any such thing. A frog darting through the waters, however, stirred up ripples and shattered the image. Chaka drew her head back away again and sighed as she settled onto her haunches, staring up into the branches of the tree whose roots she sat at now.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:30 am
Asali'jua dragged her paws as she made her way through the swamp, seeking out the last remaining child from her second litter. She hated sending them away, she hated it - but it had to be done. It was the way of things. They would either return or not; it all depended on what fate had in store for them, and even she could not see what that was.
Spotting her daughter's white pelt, she drew herself up and put worry behind her queenly mask. "Chaka."
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:22 pm
Never did Chaka think there'd be a day when she'd want to hide from her mother's presence, but oh, she did now. If she didn't know that she'd already been spotted, and if she had less control on her emotions she might very well have bolted at the mere sight of the lioness that she so adored. She knew what that queenly mask, that tone, and that single utterance of her name meant, in her gut she just knew, and she was afraid even as her head had swiveled instinctively to look up at the queen's call.
She sat now frozen to her spot, but her ears quivered and drooped expressively, speaking volumes the words she couldn't bear to bring in protest.
"Mother..." She almost whimpered, but then swallowed hard and stood up, heart hammering in her chest. This reaction only seemed further proof of how much she NEEDED to get out and find her true name, but more than that, gain some life experiences and grow a little... or a lot.
Chaka, sooner or later to be Chaka no more, lifted her head and met her mother's eyes with a mask of her own not yet so refined. She wouldn't make a fool of herself, that would be a terrible note to begin her journey on if this was truly the day she'd set out.
"Yes, mother...?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:46 pm
Chaka knew, of course, what she was here for; she must, with all her other siblings gone. Still, knowing something was coming didn't necessarily make it any easier. Asali took a deep breath and said, "It is time, child. Time for you to leave here and learn; your body grows, but so too must your mind, or else you will never truly be grown, no matter how beautiful you become."
"I gave you a name, once. I called you Chaka; it is a child's name, and as long as you bear it, you will be a child in the eyes of the spirits, in the eyes of the Mother, and in my eyes as well."
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:07 pm
The words struck Chaka as a dousing of cold water might. It was as if her mother was reading her like symbols on wood. Maybe that's what allowed Chaka to finally begin to accept the situation enough that nervousness began to make even the slightest room for an inkling of excitement if she'd dare admit it. To find her true name...
"I.... mother, I don't know where to start. Where...? What do I do? Where do I start?"
It was the only real indication that some childish reluctance still kept her from being quite so eager to go out into the world, even if she did accept this. She didn't want to displease her mother, she never did, but her love for her home and the lions that she called family here did make leaving a mixed-emotional deal.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:49 pm
"You must leave home, and you must leave it now. Leave these lands without delay - do not turn to bid anyone goodbye, not even your father. Go, travel as your paws take you, as the spirits and fate take you. Go and find your name." It was all there was, all the advice to be given; only Chaka could decide where to go or what to do. When and what she came to understand was out of Asali'jua's paws.
"When you have found your name, and only then, return here, to your home. Return to your pride and speak your name before us all."
And with that, the Queen turned her back on her daughter and loped swiftly away.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:15 pm
Chaka was silent as stone as Asali spoke, there was nothing else to do but listen, to stand silently, there was nothing she could say. This was the start of her journey, and truly she'd have to find her name completely on her own, but then that was how it should be. As her mother backtracked into the pride territories again Chaka could not bid her paws to move right away, but after a few seconds taking shakey breaths, finally the adolescent managed to turn her form around and map her way out of the lands, away from home and all she had known since birth.
She -would- return with her new name someday, that much she vowed now, and she'd be back as soon as she was able.
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