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 Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:06 am
The little Banu very carefully nudged at a bent leaf on the pretty little flower she'd found growing not far from the den she shared with her mothers and brothers and sisters. It was a really small little flower, but she kind of liked it. She was just worried that, with the leaves all shriveled up like that, it wasn't going to have enough energy to grow. Plants with shriveled up leaves always looked like they were dying to her. And that was sad, because some of them were really nice.
With a small sigh, Suha flopped down on her belly, resting her chin on her silver paws as she watched the little purple flower. It really was a pretty color, she was fond of purple. But there didn't seem much she could do for the flower, and she didn't want to hurt it by accident trying to help.
Bending it in half by mistake wasn't going to make the poor shrivel-leafed problem any better after all. Besides, she was sure the flower was doing it's best. It wasn't the plant's fault its leaves had gotten shriveled in the hot sun. It was just trying to grow and be beautiful. Just like she had only been trying to make a nice story. But Kisun hadn't been interested enough to even hear the ending, so it must not have been any good. Not like her daddy's stories.
Heaving a sigh that made the flower flutter slightly from the small whoosh of breath, Suha lifted her head to look around. She just needed to find some more inspiration for a story, that was all. She needed to find some better way to tell a good story. Maybe she could find someone to tell her about an adventure... Zarha's daddy knew lots of things, maybe she could find her friend and ask her? But... but she wanted to make her own story, not tell one of Zarha's father's...
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:15 am
 To begin with, even though she moved gracefully, as if she knew exactly where everything in the pride was, Amani had no idea where, well, anything was. She barely recognized a third of the lions there, and she had no clue about the cubs whatsoever. None of this showed on her face as she walked around. She emitted a quiet confidence that she had learned over the time she was the Vizier's beybanu. Each step was graceful, poised, each move calculated and smooth. And then she saw the cub. Something about her--no, almost everything about her reminded her of her brother Aali. Her trajectory changed and she casually made her way over to the little girl, taking her time to allow the little one to see her.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:03 am
Suha was idly letting her eyes roam about, contemplating heading off to the rock she'd found to see if she might manage to get a little cloud watching done. Sometimes she could make up a story about the shapes she found in them, it was worth a try at least...
But then her light eyes fell on an unfamilar Banu, who seemed to be heading towards her. Or...well...there was something familar about her. But Suha was sure she'd have remembered meeting such a graceful person before. Slightly awed by the poise with which the adult moved, the cub almost forgot about how she'd been taught to have manners. And if someone met someone else for the first time, it was always polite to say hi and stuff... right? Right. Just because she forgot sometimes with other cubs didn't mean a grown up wasn't going to mind her being rude or something...
"Hello," she said sweetly, hastily rising to her feet and wondering if she'd gotten covered with dirt or some such thing while laying around on the ground. Most of the Banu she saw were always so clean and lovely, she would hate to be a bad Banu. Even if she was just a cub for now.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:06 am
"Hello, little one," Amani said with a smile. She was so adorable! "My name is Amani, sister of Faiz and half sister of Aali," she introduced herself. "Am I mistaken in thinking that you might be one of my nieces?" She was pretty sure she wasn't, not with that coloring and markings, but one could never be too certain.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:23 am
Ohhh, so that was why she seemed so familiar! She was...her aunt! She didn't know she had an aunt! How come she'd never gotten to meet her before? Surely the pride lands weren't so large that she wouldn't at least have seen her...
"My name is Suha," the little cub beamed, "And yes, Aali is my daddy!" And he was the best daddy in the world! Obviously. "How come I've never met you before?" Oops! She didn't mean to say that! What if it was rude? It had just...slipped out...
"I...I mean, it's nice to finally meet you?" Suha tried uncertainly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:30 am
"It's nice to finally meet you, as well," Amani said, discreetly picking the proper question to reply to. "I have just come back from a very long journey, one that took place long before you were born," she explained. "It's such a delight to find such treasures here upon my return!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:35 am
Oh good, she wasn't upset or anything. Suha felt herself give a tiny sigh of relief. She would hate to make a bad first impression, what if Aunt Amani said something to her daddy about Suha being rude or something? Not to mention, she didn't want to insult her aunt on accident...
Suha's eyes widened slightly, obviously impressed when the Banu said she'd been on a long journey. "Wow," she breathed, "All by yourself? Isn't that dangerous?"
She'd always wanted to go on an adventure! But she was too nervous to go off by herself...not to mention, she wasn't sure daddy would let her. And she certainly wouldn't run off without telling him!
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:40 am
Amani thought about it as she sat, cocking her head slightly as she thought back. "Well, you see, I didn't start out alone. My pad, he was a Vizier, a great and noble male, he took me on a hunting trip, showing me just how beautiful this land was. You should see the sunsets over the desert, little one. They glow so beautifully. And the elephants! Have you ever seen an elephant?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:47 am
Suha sat back down as the lioness did, ears perked eagerly. Surely then, she was going to hear a very exciting sort of story now. The best kind too, because it really happened!
Wide-eyed with wonder already, she shook her head 'no' when Amani asked if she'd ever seen an elephant. She'd heard about shee-tahs, or, no wait... cheetahs from her friend Zarha. Were elephants as strange as the cheetahs had sounded? And she'd seen sunsets before, but never out all alone except for the sands of the desert...
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:51 am
"They're massive creatures, more than twice as tall as the biggest lion you've ever seen. They have big flappy ears and a long, long nose that can pick things up off of the ground," she told the little one. "And they're gigantically round, far bigger than the most pregnant female you've ever seen."
She was clearly enjoying her story telling. "The males have these huge, curving teeth that come up instead of down on either side of their long noses. But the Vizier and I didn't get too close. They looked extremely dangerous. He told me that they walk in a line, holding each other's tails so they don't get lost."
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:57 am
"Wooooow..." Suha breathed again, plainly stuck in 'impressed' on the emotional range. But that was huge! More than twice as big as a lion? More than twice as big as daddy? That was... too big to imagine! Were they bigger than a tree? Could they reach up with their strange noses and touch clouds? What did they use those teeth for?
Her paws wriggled on the ground, trying to imaging giant floppy-eared creatures holding each other's tails with their long noses and walking all in a line. It was...so strange...
"Are they furry?" she asked, realizing a detail that her aunt hadn't given her, "Do they have really big manes?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:11 am
"Nope, not at all," she said. "The only fur they have is on the end of their tails." She brought her tail over, waving it at the cub. "But we kept going, because, as the Vizier told me, the prettiest sunset was always the one waiting for you."
She stopped, struck with sadness as she remembered him. "He was a good pad," she said softly. "I still miss him."
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:14 am
Suha giggled when her aunt waved her tail at her, reaching out a paw to bat at it playfully before she could remember to stop herself. She'd never seen grown up Banu's doing silly things like that! But it also seemed silly to have no fur, wouldn't they get cold?
"Miss him?" Suha repeated, confused curiosity getting the better of her as her head tipped to one side. "Where did he go?" Weren't Pads supposed to stay with their Banus?
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:21 am
"He went... to be with your grandfather, in the sky," Amani said softly. "They were very good friends, you see. And they are probably up there right now, telling stories." She looked up, a single tear escaping her. "So I came home alone, because I knew that I would have family waiting for me. I was only blessed to have so much more family than I expected." She smiled down at the cub, gently rubbing her cheek over Suha's in a sign of affection.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:26 am
"In the sky?" Suha said wonderingly, looking up as though she expected to see her aunt's Pad sitting on a cloud looking down at them as it drifted along on the wind. Oh, to be a little cub, so innocent of the future every life must hold! But she didn't understand... how could he leave Amani? She seemed so sad that he went away without her...
She was distracted by the affectionate rub, a happy little purr rising in her throat as she twisted to nuzzle her newfound aunt. Suha decided Amani was going to be her favorite aunt, she knew lots of stories and had even been on an adventure too! Maybe she could be just like Amani when she got bigger!
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