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 Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:08 pm
 Ainra loved being surrounded by others, loved noise and chatter and being part of a group. That was why she had finally decided to settle in a home where these things would be easier to come by. Unfortunately, her time away from any sort of pride had her feeling strangely out of her depth and shy. She felt awkward and bumbling as she tried to learn new names and a new way of life. It would certainly take some time for her to become fully accepted as a member of this new home, but she hoped that it would happen eventually.
In any case, that day the female was hoping to find a friendly face to help her find her feet a little. She was actually looking for another lioness, but at that moment in time - feeling horribly alone - she would have been glad of anyone to point her in the right direction and make her feel a little less...lost.
She sighed, stretching her neck up above the long tangles of golden grass. The landscape was beautiful but it was foreign to her. Oh dear...she really ought to have made sure to pay attention to where she was going and not get so turned around.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:40 pm
 Laini'hatua, or just Laini to most of the pride, was wandering along enjoying the peaceful morning, true to his name 'soft step', the young juvenile made no sound as he paced along, his dark coat whispering like a shadow among the golden grasses he knew so well.
The youth was often found on the edges of the pride's territory, being more of a loner than most lions his age, partly due to his nature, but also partly due to hoe the pride saw him, son of the late Umholi Matifu, the old male's untimely death just before Laini's birth had given the youngster the rather unwelcome rank of lusizi, compounding his natural desire for quieter spaces into a need to escape the knowing stares and muted whispers as he passed by. It certainly didn't help that he took after his father in coloration more than his mother, or that his older half-brother was the new Umholi that had replaced the older male.
Vivid orange eyes scanned the landscape, spotting the unknown female after a moment or two. Pricking his ears he altered his direction towards her, for though he may be a loner, even he wished for company and the sound of another's voice every so often. And if he was lucky, this female wouldn't treat him with the coolness of the other females, who were friendly enough, but made it clear that they preferred he didn't linger near them.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:54 pm
And Laini would certainly be in luck. Being new, Ainra had certainly not had time to adjust to social expectancies. When she heard the sound of paws approaching she moved instinctively in their direction, appearing from the long, tasselled grass to come face to face with the young lion with the dark pelt and the stripes of gold in his little 'mane'.
Ainra instantly brightened.
"Oh! Hello, there, little one! What are you doing out here all by yourself? Are you lost, too?" She beamed across at him and then slowly sat down, making herself lower so she could be more on his level. Her tail flicked as she looked at him, his dark pelt stark against the gold grass.
"My name is Ainra." She smiled. "I'm new here."
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:17 pm
Looking up as the female appeared out of the grass before him he smiled at her in a friendly, if slightly shy, manner. "Greetings." He replied, head tiltng her her question before he gave a slight shake of his head. "No, I come out here all the time Its pretty easy to know where you are going, so long as you keep that split-tree in sight." he turned and motioned back behind him, to where a lightening-blasted tree stood clear above the grass, its blackened bark a lifeless skeleton.
Turning back to face her he smiled. "I'm Laini'hatua. You just joined the pride?" He blinked at her, head tipping the other way. So she had been a rogue? He hadn't met any rogues before, though of course she was now in the pride, she was an ex-rogue, which was almost as good. He already knew he would have to leave his homeland once he got too old, it was the way of things for any male born to his pride, but it was still an abstract idea to the youngster so he looked at her with curiosity, wondering what it was like outside the pride.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:36 pm
Well wasn't he a polite young man! His mother must have taught him very well indeed! And he even knew where they were, too! That was excellent news and Ainra could already feel her worry dissipating. She turned to look where he indicated and was immediately glad that the navigation point was so unusual. She'd certainly be able to spot that without a problem.
"Thank you very much." She replied. "That's a wonderful help. I really did start to think I wasn't going to be able to find my way back."
She settled more comfortable and turned back to regard him. "That's right. I'm new here. I've been looking for somewhere to settle for a long time and this seemed like a very nice place. It's nice to meet some other members. I'd forgotten what it was like to be part of a proper society!" She smiled. "Anyway, should you be all the way out here by yourself, Laini'hatua? Won't your parents be worried about you?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:00 am
The youngster smiled, pleased he had been able to help her. Chuckling at her comment he nodded. "It is a very nice place, though of course the rules can be a bit annoying at times." He briefly recalled some of the lioness' attitudes towards him and huffed. But he loved his family and the pride and couldn't imagine living anywhere else, even though he knew he would have to move on one day.
"Oh its fine, Mother doesn't mind so long as I'm not gone long." He sometimes wondered if she even noticed, but she loved him and he didn't like to worry her if he could help it. "Dad's dead, so he can't mind." The youth added as an after though with a little shrug. "Besides, Im not lost and I'm not really that far away from everyone... if you go in that direction, you get straight back. Going to the tree is the longer way." He turned and motioned behind him in the direction the pride lay.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:29 am
"I think I have missed rules. A life without boundaries is not all it is cracked up to be!" She smiled across at the child, reminded of one of her own children. It seemed like only yesterday when she'd had her little cubs roaming around, causing mischief when they thought she wasn't looking.
And then the cub continued and Ainra's bright eyes grew suddenly sad, her ears falling back against her head. "I'm sorry to hear that, dear. It must have been a hard time for you all." To lose a parent must be a terrible thing. Her own cubs had never known their fathers - being the results of...flings, but they were still alive out there somewhere. Or she hoped they were.
She reached out to ruffle his growing 'mane' and smiled encouragingly at him. "Thank you for being so helpful, little one! I'll be sure to tell your mother if I see her. Do you look like her?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:28 pm
Ears pricking he wondered what a rule-less life would be like, considering he would eventually have to go away from the pride. But for the time being, the idea was a fun one, no more rules fora cub was always a good idea, games all day, no one to tell him to be careful or stay close. No lioness' whispering 'Lusizi' to each other when they thought he couldn't hear them.
Her gentle words pulled his attention back and he shrugged again. Unwilling to explain that his father had been killed, or that he had stumbled across the body by the boarder of the pride after the fact... Or that the death was the reason he and his siblings were looked down on in the pride. So instead he just smiled at her.
Giggling at her ruffling his fur he blinked large, luminous eyes up at her. "No Ma'am, I don't. My sisters do though.... Mother is like half white and half brown.. only the brows are two different browns... I have her mane stripes though." Tilting his head to show off his stripy fluff of baby-mane he blinked up at the other lioness. "Mother is called Njalo." He added after a moment's thought.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:49 pm
Ainra certainly had a lot to learn about this pride. She knew the basics, of course, but not everything, and she did not know that this little cub was destined to become a rogue whether he wanted to or not. She was pleased when he seemed to cheer up a little, though, and found herself laughing, too. No one had ever called her 'ma'am' before.
"The mane stripes are very lovely. You have the best of her, I think." She replied. "Very well, Laini'hatua, when I see your mother, Njalo, I shall tell her she has been blessed with a very helpful son indeed!" Mother's always liked to hear good things about their children, after all.
"If I head back towards the lands, will you join me, Laini?" She wasn't sure about leaving a youngster out by himself, even if he did seem certain that he was fine. She'd never forgive herself if something happened to him.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 2:46 pm
As young as he was, the compliment made him squirm and poke at the dirt with a paw. "Thank you." He replied, looking up with a grin before nodding his head. "Sure thing, I dun want you to get lost again." Giving her a bright, friendly smile he turned back the way he had come and started to pad along, glancing over his shoulder and waiting for her to follow before he continued on.
As they walked the youngster chattered about his siblings and the pride in general, mostly cubbish things like where the best playing areas were or who the least grumpy lioness' were, but he was just trying to help her out and make her feel at home in the pride he loved.
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