Welcome to Gaia! ::

He supposed he should have seen it coming, but...he hadn't. Perhaps none of them had - who ever really thought that someone they loved, someone so important would die? She'd seen it, of course. She'd always seen everything, or so it seemed sometimes. It was why she'd made her way out to the borders, to the banks of the river, with her Consort in tow, and bid him collect his siblings and follow as well.

There were eleven of them in all. Five adults, and six on the verge of becoming so. He wondered, if such a thing were possible, if she'd planned it that way somehow; to pass now, rather than return to find her gone. He wondered if Mng'aro had seen it, wherever he was...watched his mother lay her head on her paws, and die.

And most of all, he wondered why. Oh, not why she had died - no matter how he grieved, he knew that it was the way of things. That she had been old, very old. What he wondered was why him - of all five named Scions, why would it be him? Why not another Queen, in Epesi'vipawa, Arada'laurëa, or Mwenye-Heri Tarishi? And if a King, why not Roho'eupeanga? All his life, he'd thought it would be one of the others.

He wondered why she'd never told him, for she must have realized he had no ambition for it, and no idea. Now what was he to do? He wasn't wise the way she was, couldn't see the way she had. He was just...himself. And right now, he felt very small, and very sad, and very alone. It showed for most of the way back into the swamps, as he trailed along at the end of the dozen-lion procession and said nothing, even if prompted.

As they neared where the Mama Bwawa had gathered the pride, he forced himself to lift his gaze from the ground. Though he let his devastation show, he pushed back his insecurity to where none could see it. He was the last to swim across to the island-den that was the royal family's, to drag himself out from the water and turn to face the pride.

There were so many of them, now, and they were all here because of her. Some were born of her, most had simply been drawn here to the pride she'd brought back from death. Staring out at all those faces, he lost whatever grip he had left on words for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to breathe - tried to find a way to speak without having to think.

Finally, when he opened his eyes, Narindima'moyo spoke, just loud enough to be heard:

"The Queen is dead. I am the King."

Behind him, the goddess threw back her head and roared - not with triumph, but with grief. The grief of them all.

Domevlo made no effort to hide his shock and sorrow - if not on the entirety of his face, then in his eyes. He might not have known the queen his whole life - in fact he had only known her a short time - but it felt like nothing he'd ever known.

The queen had been the first to welcome him in to the lands. The first to ever offer him a word of kindness, or to show him acceptance. that alone was enough of a reason to bring tears to his face - salty drops that ran a narrow course along his scars.

Despite the sorrow, he could not curse the spirits for haven taken such a kind soul home. In fact, the thought brought him comfort. He looked around at the rest of the pride, seeing their reactions to the news. Domevlo thought to say something, to offer some sort of eulogy, but he didn't know if it would be appropriate.

In the end, he lowered his head in a great bow to their king.

Thembekile's heart broke as she huddled down against the ground. It seemed so strange to the dark lioness. She and her brother had just found a new home and now...

Now it was already changing.

Her violet eyes glanced up to their new king. Bekile pitied the poor male, to loose his mother and be thrust into the role as their new king so soon. She was sure that he felt lost and bewildered but what cold be done? They needed a leader...

Bowing her head again, she closed her eyes against the grief that seemed to press in against her from all sides.

Roho hadn't known how to take the loss. He constantly felt his body swaying towards his brother, the need for that cubbish companionship of saftey and reassurance. He knew better than to do that, though, and pulled himself back every time. Nari was going through even more shock than he. The fact that they lose their mother, turned with the fact that Nari was chosen to take her place within the pride. Roho always assumed it would be one of his younger sisters; as their litter-mate sisters had never returned.

His eyes had been glued to his toes as he walked, his heart breaking with every step. His mother has been his world when he was younger. The journey for his true name so trying, as all he wanted to do was return home to be with her. His adventure had taken a different turn, though. Perhaps his mother had seen that. He had brought someone home with him, someone that had covered the love his heart had for his mother. He had grown, not just with his name. And with that, he had spent less time with his mother. He stilled had loved her all the same, but Isha had consumed most of his time. But with that time, he hadn't been able to give his mother what she would probably most want. The next generation would come, but he wouldn't be able to have his mother there. Her smile, her voice....he would have certainly needed her advice. They would only know their grandmother in stories, never in person.

His eyes registered the other members of the pride hearing the news, but he couldn't focus on anything. He raised his head up as he heard the Mother cry, his heart echoing the pain. Looking upwards helped the tears not flow, and the sky, through the soggy trees looming above, comforted him.

His mother had named him well, as his heart would always remain with the sky. A name that had developed into something stronger. One that he would always bear with pride.

‘The queen is dead.’

The words echoed in his head as the Mother roared, and Kuuzusha lifted his eyes from the wet ground. It was almost unbelievable that she was gone. She, the lioness who had welcomed his mother here and accepted the cubs she had. He and his siblings had grown up well here, protected and taught in the swamps. Time had passed quickly, more so than he had ever thought it would. He shouldn’t have been so surprised that the queen would die within his lifetime. She had been an adult when he was born, after all, and most of her children were approaching adulthood with each passing day. Even so, Kuuzusha had assumed that the queen would always be there. It was so strange to say that she was not.

But death happened to every creature. Thinkers like himself were prone to considering life and death, especially when they were left to watch the world around them. Kuuzusha had seen many things live, grow, and die in his lifetime. It was an irreversible process, and an inevitable one. And so, he sat neatly beside his mother, violet eyes solemn, head bowed once more.

May the spirits bless the new king, and the pride, in their time of grief.

Kikwi'konochapa, formerly called Tsopa, was not long home from his name quest. It was oddly his first thought on hearing the news of Queen Asali's death. That at least he'd come home before, at least he'd been greeted home by her with his new name, that she'd known it, and he'd introduced his very-much-potential mate to her, seen her about the pride lands in the meantime - and not come home only to find out weeks after the fact. It was a comfort he'd been home and seen her, now he wouldn't see her about the lands again.

He was not born of Asali but she had brought him and his siblings up alongside her third litter, so he'd cared for her as more than just his Queen, though the foundling would never have called her his mother mother she was still an important figure to him personally. Kikwi was slowly starting to realise from his visions that the Mother might actually be...well his mother but he owed so much to Asali.

He'd be loyal to Narindima'moyo as the new King but for now, his thoughts were centred (quite rightly he thought) on the late Queen. He lowered his head in grief.