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 Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 4:48 am
"Once upon a time... no, that's not quite right..." the young lioness muttered, "How about, a long, long time ago...hmm...no..." Suha sighed, looking down at where her paws sat side by side on the edge of her rock. She always came to this rock, a little ways out of the way. It was a good place to watch clouds, or to just think. Or to practice telling stories. And she needed the practice.
Her daddy was just so wonderful and she was just so...not. Silver-tipped ears laid back against her skull as the little Banu examined her paws sadly. She had daddy's markings alright, but not his colors. Just like she had the same love of stories, but, as far as she was concerned, none of his talent. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't make them come out right. Sure, she could imitate the ones he told, but that was like cheating. She wanted to make up her own so very badly, but that never worked out to well.
She sighed, her black fluff of hair falling into her light eyes.
"There was once a lion who, though handsome on the outside, was very ugly inside. One day an old limping lioness with a twisted foot..." she started softly, recanting the tale she dimly remembered about a male who was cursed to be as ugly on the outside as he was inside, until he could find someone who would love him all the same. Her voice took on the soft honeyed tone it always did when she spoke in stories, her eyes going distant as she described the way the handsome lion scoffed at the poor cripple, and how she rebuked him with her curse...
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:35 pm
Kinaya was pretty sure she LOVED this new home Kame'bufuu had brought her to. The lands were so pretty and soon enough there would be cubs! Her mate had talked to her already and she couldn't wait to have babies! This would be so amazing! As she had dashed around, exploring and looking for a playmate, the young lioness heard a soft voice. Slowly, she turned to head towards the source of it, excited to hear the story - Kinaya LOVED stories, any kind of stories, even Kame'bufuu's old war stories (even if they weren't as fun). Seeing the younger female on a rock, telling the story to seemingly no one, she walked over, stretching out on the ground and listening intently. This was a nice story!
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:00 pm
"...and if he could find someone with eyes to see deeper than skin, he might break the curse. But first he had to change what was under his skin..." Suha murmured on, talking to her paws as she wriggled her toes on the rock. Why couldn't she be like daddy, with his big soft deep rumbly wonderful story-voice? His stories always sounded so good...
"...he didn't know what she meant, or what to do, and so he was very angry, and then very sad... until one day a girl came to the oasis where he'd made his den..." It was another true love story, really. The kind Suha positively adored. She wanted a true-love story too, just like she'd wanted an adventure. The adventure had been a little bit of a let down, but it was still fun because Rahim had taken her on it. Maybe they could go on another one!
"...very pretty, and very kind, but when he refused to let her leave..." the little Banu continued, her mind running in two directions at once as she daydreamed, the story pouring from her lips while she watched her paws and wondered where Rahim might be today...
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:07 pm
Kinaya listened in awe, quiet till the younger banu reached the point about not letting her leave. "Oh no!" she gasped quietly, staring in wonder, "But he's gotta be nice to her or she won't wanna love him." the lioness mumbled.
It was at that point she realized she'd totally interrupted the story. Her pink furred cheeks took on a scarlet tinge as she laid down again. "Sorry." she said, "Go on, I didn't mean to interrupt."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:12 pm
Suha just about came right out of her fur at the gasp. While she stayed in her skin, she did slide halfway off the rock before she regained her balance. Startled, she started at the strange pink Banu, her silver tipped ears laying flat with embarrassment.
"Oh, oh I...I'm sorry," she squeaked, shrinking slightly as she spoke. "I didn't realize anyone with there, I didn't mean to be rude...uhm...uhm...I'm Banu Suha," the young lioness fumbled. It had been okay as a cub, she could get away with mistakes like forgetting to introduce herself. But she was getting bigger now! She couldn't do that anymore!
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:41 pm
Kinaya's head cocked to the side. Hadn't the little lioness realized she'd had an audience? She was such a good storyteller though! "Don't be sorry - I'm the one who interrupted."
With a bright smile, the older female nodded. "I'm Banu Kinaya - at least I think that's how I'm supposed to be called? My family and I are new here." she said, stretching a bit and blinking up at Suha with a smile. "Are you going to finish?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:48 pm
Suha nodded, "Yes, if you're not a Banu then you'd be a Beybanu or a Kajira. If you were a Beybanu, then you'd know, and I don't think you're a Kajira, you look too sweet," the young lioness explained. It was easy for her, she'd been born here and knew exactly what was expected of her. Sometimes lionesses who became Banus were not happy at first, but Kinaya seemed to be doing well enough...
"...uhm...finish?" Suha repeated meekly, "W-well...I dunno, I mean, my daddy tells it better and all..."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:52 pm
Kinaya listened intently and nodded. "Oooooh, then I'm a Banu then. Kame just called me one of his mates till we came here, so I wasn't sure. Tai's probably Beybanu, maybe." the little female seemed a bit confused but smiled brightly just the same. "You seem young to be a mate already." It wasn't meant to be offensive, just a nice comment.
The pink female looked confused, "Yes, finish. I liked how you were telling me the story. If someone else tells it I'll get confused cause they might do it different or start somewhere else and it won't be the same."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:09 pm
"I am young to be a mate," Suha agreed, "I'm still in my daddy's harem right now, when I'm a little older he'll give me to my Pad." Who would it be? Who did she want it to be? Well... it was up to her daddy. He would decide.
But she hoped it was someone she'd fallen in love with...
"Finish...well...I guess if you put it that way it makes sense..." the little lioness muttered, scuffing her paw against the rock. "But you should listen to my daddy tell it later. He's much much better," she insisted, before scuffling around on top of the rock a few moments more. Finally settling some, she looked down at her toes nervously. She hadn't told a story in front of an audience since...well...
"When he wouldn't let her leave, the lioness was very upset. The little bird he'd befriended ch-chided-ed," she fumbled slightly on the unfamiliar word, and her ears went back nervously, "Him for locking her in the den. He said 'You'll never break the curse like that!' But the lion didn't know what else to do. 'It won't break if she leaves either!' he insisted."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:12 pm
Kinaya listened with the same rapt attention she'd given earlier and smiled at the word. "You got it right." she told the younger lioness, having struggled with words before too. The pink female tried to not stare too much, lest she make her new companion nervous, just wanting to hear the story.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:19 pm
Suha's ears relaxed slightly as the pink lioness assured her that she'd gotten it right. Banu Kinaya really seemed to like hearing her tell the story. Slowly as she spoke her voice gained confidence and she stopped speaking to her toes and finally started glancing at her 'audience'. Carefully, tripping over a new word here and there, she unfolded the story of how the once handsome lion learned to let her go, and in letting her go finally won her heart.
It was one of her new favorite stories, because it had true love and a happy ending. Happily ever afters were her very favorites. If she cut out the very scary bit about the rogue who tried to 'save' the lioness then who cared? The boys weren't here to whoop over the battle, and it was kind of upsetting. The story was much better with the sweet little lovey dovey romance followed by the curse breaking.
"And they lived happily ever after," Suha purred at last, "And that's the end."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:22 pm
Her audience was very obviously pleased by the story. It had been a nice tale and one she'd never heard before, so Kinaya was more than satisfied with it. She clapped her paws a bit, tail flicking at the completion.
"Good job, Suha!" the littler female seemed to need all the confidence boosting she could get - and boy, Kinaya knew about needing a confidence boost some days. "You're not bad at this story telling thing at all! You just need practice!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:25 pm
At the lioness' praise Suha ducked her head shyly, her face feeling warm beneath her fur. "R-really? You think so?" she asked meekly. After the disaster last time she'd given up hope that she'd ever be anywhere near as good as daddy. She still probably wouldn't be, but if people liked listening to her tell them than that was a good enough start!
"Thank you, Kinaya, I'm really glad you liked it!" she grinned nervously, her tail flicking against the rock. It felt like she'd made a new friend! It was so much fun to meet new people who she could get along with so well. She was glad Kinaya was a Banu in the pride, and liked it too. It was always sad when the newcomers didn't want to fit in.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:28 pm
The older female nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! I really liked that story and how you told it. Your only problem is confidence," she explained, standing so she was a bit more on level with the other. "The only times you messed up were when you got nervous cause you didn't know a word. You did good."
Kinaya flicked her tail a bit once more - a nervous habit of her's, "Want to go exploring? Well...I guess it's not exploring for you. But do you wanna look around anyway?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:33 pm
She nodded meekly, the criticism the other Banu was giving her she already guessed at. It was only in learning what she did wrong that she would start to improve. And it was nice to have someone who'd actually listened to the whole thing.
"Sure, if you'd like. Have you been to the lake yet? Or there's a whole bunch of flowers that grow over that way, but it's a little bit close-ish to the borders so we'd have to keep an eye out if we went over there. They're really pretty though!" There were lots of places and things to see in the pride lands. Exploring was fun! It was almost like an adventure, except safer.
But it still would have been fun to go with Rahim. She liked Kinaya though! Maybe they could be friends!
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