Luoji was able to get lost still. He had thought that by now he would be use to 'Nera, but he was wrong. The pride was much different than his previous one. For one thing there was no snow. He had no idea how to handle that. Before he spent hours playing around in the snow, making snow angles. Here he couldn't do that. His job was a low grunt. Others told him what to do and when to do it. He was found by some pride members near the pride. His front paw was hurt and he would have died if left there. He felt fortunate that he was saved.
He was healed and put to work. It wasn't a bad thing of course. He did owe them and he needed a place to live anyways. This pride wasn't bad at all. He had heard about the pride civil war that happened. Thankfully he wasn't involved with that. He came into the pride soon after the war.
He was told to go down to get some water from the tunnels leading to small pools of water. Some of the weaker members of the pride needed water to drink but couldn't make it to the pool of water. So he was supposed to bring bowls of water to them. The bowls were coconuts that he had brought with him on his adventure before joining 'Nera. They had come in handy so far. There was a hole in the coconut shell where the water could fill in or get taken out.
Now if only he could only find the pools. He saw a while cheetah and decided to ask him. “Excuse me, could you direct me to the tunnels that lead to the pools of water?”
Ajani was in his own little world. The war had ended, though it didn't give him time to relax. He was glad that Emi had taken up the leader role. She would be the leader the pride needed. The pride would strive with her as leader, he was sure of that. But there were other things he needed to worry about. The pride was rebuilding and fixing from the damage that had been done. Lately he wasn't doing much entertaining, but doing whatever the pride needed him to do.
His thoughts were almost always on Rada though. He wasn't sure where they were or what they were. If she wanted to keep their relationship strictly professional, he would hate it, but would respect her choice. Being the mate of an entertainer was always difficult. They were required to pretend to be in love with others and sometimes mates got jealous. No matter what happened he would never love anyone as much as her though.
He sighed. He hated having such trivial problems when the pride had so many issues. When he heard the voice he turned around. “Oh yeah, I can show you it if you would like.” Ajani offered. He had never seen the lion before and guessed that the lion was new to the pride. “My name is Ajani by the way. Are you new here?”
Luoji nodded his head. “Yeah I just here recently. My name is Luoji, nice to meet you.” He nodded his head, causing the coconuts to clang together. He was glad that there were kind members of the pride. There were little to no lions in the pride so it made him feel so out of place. So far he hadn't had too many issues with being a lion, but he was sure that there would be problems eventually. For now he would look at the brighter side.
“I actually come from a land of snow. It was amazing.” He said with a sigh wishing he could see snow once again. “Do you know if it snows here?” He hoped it did, but if it didn't that would be fine. Though he might ask that he be escorted to the rogue lands to find some snow.
He followed the cheetah as he was lead to the pools. He tried to guess what rank this Ajani fellow was. His only guess was medic. He didn't seem to fit any other rank. “Are you by chance a medic?” He had been interested in learning how to heal. After meeting a lioness name Sendatu he was curious about how it worked. She was so talented and he thought it would be a helpful skill. He hoped that he could eventually become a herbalist at some point.
Snow? He hadn't seen that since he left his old pride many years ago. “Snow is rare here.” Ajani said with a nod. He wasn't sure how often it snowed and thought that it might have snowed while he was away on a mission. “I haven't seen snow since I was a much younger cheetah. I would love to see it again though.”
He almost laughed when the Luoji asked if he was a medic. Until recently he could hardly handle the sight of blood. But when Sol had his accident, he was able to bandage him up. It was hard for him to do of course and it was something he had never wanted to do again.
“No, I am not a medic. I am actually geisha.” he replied with a smile and a bow. He loved representing the male portion of the entertainers. Not only was he one of the best male entertainers in the pride, but he was one of the best period.
He had thought that geisha's were a female only rank. “Ah I am sorry! I just didn't think males could be geisha's or any entertainers really. I bet you are a wonderful geisha.” Luoji said. “I was more curious about you being a medic because I really wanted to learn a little bit of the craft and I thought if I knew someone from that rank I could have an easier time getting in.”
He shrugged though. “Being a lion though I don't know if I will be able to go very far in the ranks. I really just want to be helpful though. Anywhere they put me I'll be happy.” He said. In his old pride he didn't do too much other than hunt and keep his sister safe. Now he didn't do either. His sister he was sure was safe and the pride had others do the hunting. He wouldn't mind hunting now and then though.
“Were you born in the pride or did you come in?” Luoji asked curiously. A lot of the members he met had been born in unlike him. They headed into the tunnels. He tried to paid attention to the direction they headed in. He didn't want to have to ask for directions again. It was so embarrassing.
“Male's can be entertainers as well.” Ajani gave him a playful wink. “Don't be sorry. There are some who think that entertainers are a female only rank. I've always struggled being a minority, but I love it and would never change my choice even if I had a chance.” He had many thoughts of changing his career. Right now he was thinking of becoming a council member. That way there wouldn't be any problems with him being an entertainer between him and Rada. If having a different rank would get her to be with him, he would do it. But that was it. Nothing else could get him to change his rank.
“I am sure you will go pretty far in the pride. Now with Emi as the Boss Lady, you should be able to go as far as your ability will let you. The pride, I feel, will be much more fairer toward non-cheetahs and hybrids.” He said with a nod. That was one thing about the pride he never liked. He felt everyone deserved to be treated the same and he felt the pride was heading in the right direction.
“I came in the pride when I was an adolescent, but my pride wasn't much different. It was attacked soon after we left.” He explained. “I haven't even thought of it lately. It seems such a distant memory. This pride was a way for me to start over. It has been amazing being here. And we are almost there.”
“It must be such a fun rank to be.” Luoji knew he could never do that rank. He wasn't flirty or pretty. He was just kind and sweet. Once he was done with his task he would have to go and meet other pride members. He wanted to meet other friendly members. Ajani was also a minority in the pride. Luoji would be sure to keep close to him.
He could smell the scent of water as he approached. Inside he could see the pools of water. It was so relaxing in here. “Thank you so much Ajani. If you ever need anything find me and I'll return the favor.” Luoji said with a nod. “I am pretty good at moving things, and maybe I'll get a chance to become some sort of medic. That way if you or a friend needs healing I could help.”
He would have to talk to some pride members to see if he could become a herbalist. Ajani put new hope inside of him. At the pool he set his coconuts into the water and they slowly filled with water.
“It is amazing. What other rank can you dance and sing all day. The company is usually good, but occasionally there are jerks. Most of the time it is really enjoyable.” He said with a grin. “I'll introduce you to some entertainers sometimes. Most of them are kind, though not all of them. We'll avoid them though.”
He didn't like the concept of owing someone so when Luoji started talking about repaying him, Ajani frowned. “Don't worry about returning the favor. I like helping others just because it gives me a chance to meet others. However, if you do go into the medic field I might have you meet one of my friends. He won't be terribly happy to see you, but I think he could use a medic to help him.”
Sol-Lucius was a odd case, but after all they've been through, he liked to think that they were friends. He wanted Sol to get better, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time soon.
“I would love to meet other entertainers as well as your friend. I will do what ever it takes to help him as well. Once I learn the trade that is. Right now I doubt there is anything I can do to help him out.” He said with a laugh. “What is wrong with him if you don't mind me asking?”
He was sure it was the war. His knowledge was little about the events. He did know that the war involved hybrids and non-cheetahs. When he found out about that he was so hesitant about asking questions. He hoped there was no bitter feelings left over still because if there were he knew he could be in trouble.
“Alright, I'll see if I can get some entertainers to come around. My friend, Sol, he's sort of temperamental so I'll have to talk to him before he meets you. I am sure everything will work out.” He said with a nod. “Now I must go and help the others. If you ever need help again please seek me out.”
He left the lion in the tunnels. His thoughts were on the cheetah twins. Rada and Sol. He felt lucky to be close to both of them. However he needed to keep an eye on both of them. They were both so strong, but they also needed a beam to hold themselves up. Ajani could be there to help one, but he wasn't sure about both of them.
WC: 2,000 exactly xd
