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 Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 7:43 am
Jua'mwimbaji wrinkled her nose in distaste and carefully lifted a foot from the puddle of gooey mud it'd slipped into. Sighing, she glanced sideways at her companion. He seemed to be enjoying the terrain. But of course he would, she thought. He enjoyed everything. It was a talent of his she often envied. Well, no matter. If he could enjoy something like mud, she'd try to as well, if only for his sake.
"Well, O Ridiculously Joyful One... what now?" she asked with only a hint of her usual mocking tone present. She couldn't find the heart to really mock Dayo anymore. Not when he tried so hard to make her happy and worried over her so much. "Are you even sure this ground is safe?"
"You worry too much, Jua," Dayo smiled and moved enough to bump his nose against his friend's shoulder reassuringly. "As long as we take it slow and easy, we'll be fine. You'll see!"
Easily overlooking the hint of mockery in his best friend's voice, the young lion crouched slightly so he could better test the odd, minerally scent of the swamp. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, he decided. Just different. Looking up, he tilted his head slightly as he studied the ground before them. Nodding to himself, he nudged Jua again and rubbed his cheek against hers.
"Slow and easy, Jua. Just follow me."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:19 pm
Narindima'moyo picked his way around the borders of the swamp, keeping his eyes and ears open. Apparently, he was supposed to meet a someone or someones out here. That was what his mother had told him, and of course he did what he was told. Ordinarily she did these sorts of things herself, but she was very tired this morning, and so she'd deployed one of her dutiful sons. Not that he minded, of course.
Finally, he caught the sound of voices, and called out, "Hello?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:37 pm
Jumping at the sound of a strange voice in a place she hadn't thought anyone else could be, Jua felt the fur on the back of her neck stand up. Just our luck, she thought. We've gone and stumbled across someone else's home. I wonder if we can run faster than whoever-it-is? She was already backing up and preparing to run when, much to her dismay, she saw Dayo bound cheerfully ahead.
"You idiot," she hissed. "Get back here! What if they're dangerous or angry?"
It took Dayo a split second to reach a conclusion about the strange voice. It didnt' sound upset at them, just cautious. Therefore, since he wanted to reassure the stranger that they were harmless, he surged forward, his usual cheerful expression on his face with a slight overlay of curiosity.
"Hello! Where are you? We won't hurt you, if you're worried! I'm Dayo and she's Jua'mwimbaji!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:45 pm
"Over here!" he answered, brow furrowed curiously as he moved towards the sound of what was apparently a pair - and, he soon saw, a pair of adolescents! It was a little strange to see anyone of that age around the swamp, to be perfectly honest, since that was when the young ones went off to find their names.
'Young ones.' Hah! Like he was old at all! Just...grown-up. "Hello there." Somewhat puzzled, he tilted his head. "Are you lost?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:01 pm
"I dont' think we are,sir" Dayo replied respectfully. "We're just travelling. I didn't know anyone really lived out here, so I'm sorry if we're trespassing."
Dayo moved forward a bit more, still smiling and looking as friendly as possible. Once he could see the strange male, he sat down a careful distance away and simply waited to be told whether or not they weren't welcome.
Feeling somewhat ashamed for her outburst, Jua carefully followed Dayo's example and sat as close as possible to him. Sticking her head over his shoulder, she watched what she could see of the stranger and hoped that he wouldn't try anything with them. Then, feeling that she should try to show a little less wariness, she cleared her throat.
"Ermm... h'lo."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:21 pm
"Oh, it's nothing to apologize for," he assured the younger male, giving them both the once-over. We don't mind, as long as you don't mean any trouble. Were you going anywhere in particular?"
"Oh!" Reminded there had been no introductions when the lioness cleared her throat, he looked slgihtly sheepish. "I'm Narindima'moyo by the way, Nari for short."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:02 pm
Feeling somewhat more at ease once Nari introduced himself, Jua relaxed visibly and after rubbing her own cheek against Dayo's shoulder, took ti upon herself to answer. Though she was very careful to rein in her sarcastic tendencies.
"Well, we certainly don't mean any trouble to anyone. I wasn't giong anymore in particular. I'm just going with Dayo."
"And I'm not really going anywhere either." Dayo interuppted smoothly, grinning slightly at the playful swat Jua aimed at his foot. "I suppose we're just looking for a place we can be happy. When we find it, we'll stop travelling."
Dayo wasn't overly troubled about finding a home. He knew they would eventually and that was that.
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:33 pm
"Oh?" Looking for somewhere to be happy? Nari perked a little, curious. "Well, you could stay here awhile, if you like. Maybe you'll like it?" Okay, so that sounded a little lame, but it was the best he could do! He wasn't as good at this as Mother.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:55 pm
Dayo found himself blinking, then grinning as Nari made his offer. He certainly hadn't expected to be offered hospitality, but he'd be a fool to refuse. Especially with Jua looking as exhausted from wandering as she did.
"Really? We can? D'you mean it?" he asked eagerly. "I'd like to accept and thank you for the both of us, sir."
Looking askance as her companion, Jua sighed. It was like him to jump at the first offer he heard. But, and here, reason kicked in, it wasn't as if anyone else had been WILLING to extend such an offer. It spoke for a great deal of trust on Nari's part in even making the offer. So, mustering her best gratyeful smile up, Jua nodded and added her own thanks.
"It means a lot to us both to have you make such a kind offer when you don't really know us or about us, sir."
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:57 pm
"Of course!" Nari smiled, amused by the younger male's enthusiasm. Mother would like this one, he was sure. At Jua's comment, he chuckled a little. "We don't worry about those sorts of things very much."
The Queen was a very...effective filter for keeping out unwanted trouble. Like everyone else, he trusted without question the reliability with which she seemed to see.
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:01 am
"You don't?" Jua seemed genuinely startled. "But.. but how do you keep yourselves protected if you don't worry about things like that?"
Indeed, the young lioness was somewhat aghast at this seeming lapse in judgement. And all too readily her mind could paint up images of terrible cruelties and bloodshed that came when one didn't stop to learn more about folks.
For his part, Dayo, while no less shocked, kept his thoughts to himself, trusting that Nari or another lion had thought of a way to keep the peace of this place.
"Don't scold, Jua," he murmured. "Just because they don't worry about those things when they make an offer of hospitality doesn't mean that they never think of them."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:11 am
"Mother can usually tell if someone's going to be trouble," he answered, quite unoffended, then realized some clarification might be in order. "The Queen, that is - Asali'jua. She has us come and meet whoever's on their way, or chase them off."
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:55 am
"But... we've never met your mother, so how would she know whether we were trouble or not?" Jua asked incredulously. This was just getting strange and confusing. Let Dayo do the talking, she thought. My head is beginning to hurt.
Dayo's mind, however, was focusing on other things.
"Your mother sounds interesting. If she can tell if folks are going to be trouble or not, no wonder she's a Queen!" now he laughed self-depreciatingly. "I think that much responsibility would make my poor head explode."
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:42 am
"She just does, somehow," Nari answered with a shrug, "Just sort of sees stuff like that. A couple of my siblings have been the same way." As useful as it was, he was mostly glad he hadn't inherited that particular trait, although he sometimes wondered if it would have anything to do with how she picked who would succeed her.
...not that he wanted to be King. He felt pretty much the same way as Dayo about all that responsiblity. he chuckled, in much the same tone. "I know, right?"
"Anyway, if you follow me, I'll take you further on in and you can meet everyone."
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:12 am
Both lions stood and bowed their heads respectfully.
Jua still didn't understand how anyone could see things like that from far away, but she was more than willing to let it rest for now. There was no point, after all, in antagonizing Nari or his family simply because she didn't understand something.
For his part, Dayo was all smiles as he nudged his friend's shoulder with an I-Told-You-So air before twitching his tail playfully. They were going to have a HOME. And friends. Right now, that was all that mattered.
"Lead on, Nari, sir," he said. "We can't wait."
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