[FIN] Let me tell you a story... (Haruma'moyo & Tarafa)

[mouselet]

Tarafa was wandering the pridelands, as she was wont to do, looking for stories to hear and stories to tell. It didn't matter to her that it was simply a day like any other with people going about their daily business - even these things could become a story in the pride's oral traditions if told properly.

It was the stories that created a link between past and present, and it was Tarafa's way of contributing to the future of the pride.

As she wandered, she idly wondered how many of the pride remembered her own story, her childhood betrothal to Uzazi, his death, and her subsequent change in rank. With a start she realized that there was probably an entire generation that had no idea.

Perhaps she should remedy that...  

[Talencia]

Haruma was sprawled in the sun on the rocks above the den, enjoying the sun's touch. She was beginning to learn how to be apart from her siblings somewhat, though she often chose a spot where she could keep watch for trouble or supervise them from afar. Her mothering instinct was strong, and her brother and sister brought it out of her early. Yes, they had a new mother, but only the siblings knew how best to look after each other.

She still hadn't adjusted to this mother thing. She had accepted it, so that it didn't bother her quite so much, but she still didn't feel the desire to rely on this surrogate. Still, she was indeed grateful of the large, warm body at night to snuggle against, and the protection having a single caretaker provided.

For now, she was feeling lazy, just laying there, not quite sleepy enough to doze off, but not inspired to any playing just yet. For now, it was good just to be here, and to be alive. With languid interest she watched as the grown-ups padded to and fro at their tasks, amusing herself by imagining what it was they might be up to.  

[mouselet]

Well...here was an interesting sight. Not that of a cub curling up in the sun, but of a a cub curling up in the sun where she was clearly watching two other cubs that had to be out of the same litter as she. Tarafa wondered if she was watching because she chose to or because she had been left in charge. Or perhaps it was something more?

Regardless, there was sure to be a story of some kind.

The blue-grey lioness padded up next den the cub was lazing atop and peered up at her. "Do they know you're watching?" she asked mildly.  

[Talencia]

Haruma blinked at the cool-toned lioness. She sat up politely, curling her striped tail close about herself. She glanced over at her sibs, eyes unreadable. "Yes ma'am, most likely," she answered truthfully. "They know I watch over them." She paused thoughtfully. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if my brother was keeping an eye on me too." They all tended to look after one another, in fact. Haruma just felt herself more responsible in the task because she was eldest of the three. Not in that she did a better job, but that it fell to her most heavily.

She then turned back to the adult, face sober. "Am I not supposed to look after them?" She was reasonably sure it was alright, but she was far from knowing all the ways of their new pride, and didn't see it wise to assume anything in light of the phrasing of the question the older female had asked. Of course, a rule against it couldn't stop Haruma from tending her siblings. Not in a million years. She'd just have to be more careful how she went about it.  

[mouselet]

Her brother was watching her too? She glanced over and saw the cub in question glancing at herself and the first cub. Interesting. But it was the child's question that brought Tarafa up cold.

"Of course you can!" she blurted out. "There's certainly no rules against it. I merely thought it a bit out of the ordinary." She paused and then gave the cub a stern look. "And don't call me 'ma'am'!" Her gaze softened into a grin. "I'm old enough that I don't need you reminding me of it. Call me Tarafa."  

[Talencia]

She watched the older lioness curiuosly, noticing what an expressive face she had. She accepted the permission calmly, but cringed back a little at first when the stern look was directed at her. "I... ah... okay?" She peeked shyly at Tarafa. "I'm Haruma," she replied, straightening again and resettling herself, with a flick of a glance at her sibs to assure herself of where they were and their safety. It wasn't exactly something she did conciously. It was a habit to keep tabs on them.

However, something niggled at her. She gave the blue female an openly quizzical look. "It isn't ordinary for siblings to look out for each other?" she asked, puzzled. "Why wouldn't brothers and sistsrs look out for one another?" Unspoken was what Haruma naturally thought of as established fact: the world was a dangerous place for cubs. Adults had not yet proven to be reliable in guarding her litter against those dangers, so to her mind it was normal and natural for the cubs themselves to actually do it for themselves.  

[mouselet]

"Well, it's nice to meet you Haruma," the older lioness replied as she contemplated the rest of what the cub had said and her expressions. She was quiet for several long moments as she thought how to best respond to the question.

"It is normal for siblings to look after each other," Tarafa began, "but it doesn't usually happen until they've grown a bit. Until then, it's the parents who look after the cubs in most families." Unspoken was the fact that so many cubs of the Kitwana'antara didn't live to become adults, and that the parents did what they could to protect their children against everything but the disease that was a part of their pride.

Of course sometimes the children were orphaned...the blue-grey lioness wondered if that was part of the cub's attitude towards her siblings. "And if the parents have been called by the Goddess, then the cubs are taken in by another member of the pride. Though I would guess you and your sibs already know this, eh?"  

[Talencia]

For once, the young lioness's eyes darkened to something very near anger. She couldn't be said to exactly love their mother. Not after what she'd done. "My mother is not dead," she said with brutal honesty, but not with directed anger. "She just left us." She took a deep breath, her small chest rising and falling noticably.

"But yes, everyone has been very nice to us." It was a carefully measured response, a polite acknowledgment of gratefulness for care that lacked the closeness of an actual parental relationship. "We have an adopted mother now." Once again, the term lacked the natural warmth that came with a parent-child relationship. She couldn't help it, it just wasn't the same as a real mother. She held no ill-will for it, though.  

[mouselet]

Tarafa's eyes widened at the unexpected heat of the cub's response, but she said nothing. Perhaps when Haruma was older she would ask about that story...or perhaps it was one she would never hear.

She could, however, hear the fact that whoever was the siblings' caretaker now hadn't - or was it couldn't? - replaced their mother. "In that case," she told the girl gently, "try to remember that every cub in this pride is important, and that we only want you to be happy. The Goddess calls many of us, and She shows little regard for age."

The older lioness looked out into the distance, blue eyes focused on something in years gone by. "I had siblings too...once..."  

[Talencia]

Haruma gazed intently at her companion, seeming to be reaching to hear and learn more than was what said audibly. She pondered what was said for several silent moments. There was so much sadness here, it was part of what made her wary and distanced from the adults. it didn't seem right to have so much sorrow in a place that should be bustling and content. It was time to seek answers. She probably should have asked her mother, but she saw an opportunity here, and took it.

"Why is it the Goddess calls many of us?" she asked directly, eyes fixed on the older lionesses's. "What is it that is so bad here?" Surely there must be something bad. Somehow, someway. "What's wrong with the pride?" For noone had quite explained it to her as yet. Whether it was because they thought her too young, or because some assumed they already knew. Regardless, it was time for explinations.  

[mouselet]

Tarafa returned the cub's stare calmly. She had thought that their adoptive mother might have explained things, but apparently she was wrong. She didn't even know who the woman was, she realized. How times had changed...

The lioness exerted her will and focus returned to the blue eyes that had been misting with reflection. "It is the disease," she told Haruma baldly and simply. "Every lion but the rare few who are naturally immune has it in some form. Many, like myself, and like you I would bet, are simply carriers right now - capable of spreading the illness but not yet ill ourselves. Though that can and probably will change with time."

Tarafa smiled at the cub. "That is why we worship the Goddess of Pestilence, and why her call is a relief to those whom she takes. We know that they are no longer suffering, and so we honor them by celebrating the life they led."  

[Talencia]

She frowned, her cubbie brow wrinkling in an expression much too old for the young face. "You mean... the disease," she began slowly, "is killing the sick lions?" Her face went from intense concentration to dismay to great concern. "You mean... they are suffering? Right now?" She hadn't been far enough from the den as yet to see the places where the sickest lions were kept, though she had heard sounds drifting on the night.

"You mean, they are dying? Right now?" It was clear the whole idea horrified the cub. Such hurting put her own life's suffering into perspective. These were lions she was coming to know, and they were sick. All of them. Or, most of them anyway, she mentally amended. Tarafa had said a few were immune. She gathered the meaning of the word from how it had been used, but she felt a strong desire to be sure she understood. "What is immune?" Despite her clear distress, she was not flinching from the subject whatsoever. She wanted to know, to grasp, so she could take it in and process it fully.  

[mouselet]

Tarafa watched the thoughts chasing themselve around Haruma's face as the cub worked her way through the information she'd been given. The blue-grey lioness had never seen a reason to talk down to cubs and had found that if one treated them like rational creatures, they acted as such. And in this pride, even a cub had to understand death and disease.

"Yes. Even now there are lions and part-lions who are in the later stages of the disease, dying a little more each day," she replied sadly. It was the fate that awaited most of the pride.

"Immune," she explained, "means that that person will never catch that particular disease. Ever. Cheetahs and leopards are immune to the disease that is at the heart of this pride, because it is a disease of lions only. Some lions are immune too, but only the Goddess knows what makes them so." The older lioness paused. "Just because they are immune from the disease we know doesn't mean they're can't get sick though. There are many other illnesses out there and each one is different."  

[Talencia]

These were sobering thoughts, even for the serious little cubbie. All sorts of feelings and impressions tumbled about her head and squeezed her heart. This was much to think about, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that thinking in front of this lioness. So, using her reliable coping tactic, she retreated back within her emotional shell, closing off her reactions from the lioness.

In a dignified manner, she thanked Tarafa. "Thank you for answering my questions," she said quietly. "It is important to me to know about the pride I am now in." Surprisingly, it wasn't a foreign concept to be in a pride. It seemed natural to be so, even though they had not been born into a pride.

She decided quite suddenly she'd rather go be with her siblings now, with thoughts of dangerous disease running rampant through her mind. Her instinct to protect them kicked in something fierce, and she positively squirmed with the need to assure herself of their health. "I'd like to go be with my brother and sister now," she said politely. "May I?" It was indeed a request, not phrase before actually doing what she'd asked without waiting for a reply. Though she fidgeted, she did not move from the spot. Not before obtaining permission from the adult present. it still felt to her as if bad behavior might earn her and her siblings the disgrace and danger of being ousted from the home of their benefactors. Rudeness was not something she could afford.  

[mouselet]

Tarafa was concerned and a little alarmed at the way the cub had withdrawn into herself. Perhaps it wasn't surprising, seeing how she seemed to cling to her siblings and continued to reject her adoptive mother, but it was worrying. The sudden stiff politeness and asking permission to go, instead of bounding off without a backward glance, was very foreign. The older lioness hoped that it was something Haruma would outgrow.

"Of course, I'm happy to retell the stories of the Kitwana'antara any time, Haruma," the blue-grey lioness told the cub with a smile. "Go on, talk to your sibs and don't forget how to play like the kids you are," she added with a wink. "It's not healthy to think about such serious things all the time." Hopefully the child would listen to her. It was important to grab happiness when one could, because it made life worth living, especially in the face of plague. That was a fact of all life in the pride.