[PRP] Rhythm and Rhyme

[Manda]

It had been several days now since Nsundu had officially welcomed Kya into the pride, and she'd spent much of that time exploring the pride's lands as well as a little distance outside.

She was finding that she was happy here... and she didn't really miss home too much at all, since she'd always been a bit of a wanderer, even as a cub.

Now, though, she felt like she belonged. But there was one thing she was curious about. She had seen a lot of pride members who actually had drums that they carried around with them. And they could play them whenever they wanted, instead of waiting around to find a hollow log or something.

And Kya was determined now to get her own drum. She just .... had to figure out how to.  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi padded across the Pride's lands, drum rocking from side to side with each footstep, shakers also making a noise as the lioness walked along. She hummed a tune (Indlovu's song (AKA Hakuna Matata,)) cheerfully at the tempo that her feet were marching along at. She had nothing to do today, but she was in a good mood. It was a sunny day, and it'd be too warm if it weren't for the light breeze that kept the temperature rather quite comfortable.

Isithunzi saw in the distance a face she did not recognize... A green cheetah. She hadn't been expecting such a creature until she remembered some of the newly accepted members. Ah yes! She remembered that a cheetah had just joined, this must be her. Isi altered her course and headed towards the cheetah, saying "Hello," when she got close enough with a friendly smile.  

[Manda]

Kya blinked as a lioness seeming came from nowhere to walk up to her and say hello. She hadn't been paying particularly good attention as she'd been lost in thought about drums.

Oh, but this lioness had a drum! Maybe she could answer her questions. And she seemed friendly too.

"Hi!" Kya replied brightly. "I don't think I've met you before... I'm new here. Morayo'Kya, but you can call me Kya."  

[Light Atago]

"Well hello, Kya!" Isithunzi said brightly with a little nod. "My name's Isithunzi, you're new around here, right?" She asked, sitting down. The act made her shakers clink, a pleasant little sound. "So how are you liking the Nchi'Mahadhi pride?" She asked, always glad to see a new face. New faces... meant that the pride was growing- definitely a good thing to her. She was so glad that the place was flourishing, it was almost like the plague had never happened.  

[Manda]

Kya purred softly at that and sat down as well, tail curling about her feet. "I really like it here!" she said then, nodding. "Everyone is so nice and it's easier to learn new things."

A little pause, and she tilted her head slightly. "I have a question though ... if you don't mind..?"  

[Light Atago]

"That's good to hear, I'm glad you like it here. We don't see many cheetahs, either, so I'm glad you're liking it!" She'd met cheetahs about in the roguelands, but not so much in prides, she was glad that the Nchi'Mahadhi pride allowed nearly everyone to come. The diversity made life much more interesting.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts when Kya spoke again. Isi turned her gaze down to the girl and nodded. "Go for it, I'll bet I've got an answer!" She said with a wink.  

[Manda]

Kya wiggled just a bit at that, in a sort of excited manner. She loved how everyone here was so nice! Smiling happily, her tail swished back and forth behind her as she went on.

"Well I ... I've seen a lot of others here with drums. I was wondering... how do I get one?"  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi smiled at the cheetah's excitement, it was a bit contagious. She always got excited when the young ones in the pride did, couldn't help it. Her tail flicked lightly behind her as she listened to Kya's words before replying. "You've got to do your drum quest! And you're at about the right age, too. What do you say, we can get started on it right now, if you don't have anything else going on today," Isithunzi offered with a smile. She had a feeling that she could tell what the green cheetah's response would be.  

[Manda]

"Oooh, a quest?" Kya echoed, eyes widening at that. "What kind of quest?" Then the rest of lioness's words filtered through and Kya gave a little bounce.

"I would love to, if you have time to help me now!" she replied eagerly.  

[Light Atago]

"It's your drum quest. We'd go build a drum together today, so you learn how one's made, then you head out sometime soon to find your rhythm." She said with a smile. "It's kind of like a quest to find yourself, and then you incorporate that into a rhythm. I'd love to get started with you on it today!" Isi said with a nod.  

[Manda]

Kya blinked at that, then nodded eagerly. "That sounds great! I ... what do I do first?" she asked. She'd seen a lot of others with drums and to build her own ... well, that sounded absolutely wonderful~  

[Light Atago]

"Alright then! Well, first, we've gotta head out to the tree with all of the gourds. It's this way," Isithunzi said, turning a bit to face the direction of the gourds before she started to walk. "We first find a gourd that this tree drops- there's always fallen gourds around the base of it. You'll pick the one that sounds the most like... you." Isithunzi said, wondering if that way of putting it made any sense.

"I'll explain that more when we're to them, it'll make more sense when you've got one under your paws. Just keep in mind where we're going. If your drum's gourd ever breaks, you can always just come back, try to find one that sounds the same, and remake it." Isi concluded for now. "I always remember it as, 'in the east of our pride's lands,' but I know where it is," she said, kinda hinting to the young cheetah to keep some mental notes on landmarks and such along their path so she could find her way back to this tree in the future.  

[Manda]

The young cheetah nodded eagerly, following along after the older female. She looked all around them as they walked, trying to memorize the way that they were going. It was a bit hard, until she started to listen to the rhythm that their paws made against the ground. Then a little song came into her head about what the trees and rocks looked like. She chanted it to herself as they walked, making up more words as they came to each new thing.

After a while, Kya saw a large tree up ahead, and blinked. "Is that it?"  

[Light Atago]

Isithunzi chuckled to herself as the youngster started to come up with a song as they went. Thus far, she couldn't think of any other "student" to do that! She thought it was truly cute, and this one had some talent. Isi nodded her head unconsciously with Kya's song; it was pretty catchy! A creative way of making a mental map- truly in line with a drum quest.

"Yup, that's the tree!" she said, breaking her nodding as they approached. As she had said, the base was littered with gourds, all available for potential use. "So," she said, coming to a stop. "Each gourd has a sound, they all kind of sound different. Some have deep dark rich tones, others are very bright! Still others will resonate, some won't. You've got to test this by picking one and giving it a tap," Isi said, meandering over to one and demonstrating, ear perked. She tapped a claw on the rounded gourd- this one sounded about medium- not too deep, but not too high pitched, either. "That's the first step," she said with a nod, opening up to questions and allowing Kya to go about to pick hers out.  

[Manda]

Oh wow, there really were lots of gourds here! Obviously the older female hadn't been lying or exaggerating at all. Kisa listened carefully as Isi explained about the different sounds and then nodded - wandering off to try out various gourds.

She'd been beating on all kinds of things from the time she was a cub, so she already pretty much knew what sort of sound she liked. Something high, but not too high, that would sound good with her voice.

Humming softly to herself, she tried out a few gourds until she had it narrowed down. "One of these three," she said then, smiling.