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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:56 am
A large pale lion trotted about restlessly along the borders of the pride he strived so hard to protect. They were borders that he had drawn up in his own mind. Their lands would change as they moved, and so he had to be on guard.
He would often extend the borders, to find and try to eliminate new and different dangers. Although he did like to investigate, Nguvu was always careful to stay near to the lionesses and the cubs, just in case anything should happen.
His eyes and ears were alert but his mind was clouded a little in remembrance. Often, he would try to remember life as a cub. He had a few memories, but nothing too vivid, it was all so long ago, and so much had happened since.
His sisters had filled him in on what had happened when he left, but he was sure there was still so much more to know. Now that some of the lionesses were warming up to him, they began to tell him a little more, but there were still many who he did not speak to.Kaelyndra As you gave me Nguvu as an adult, I'm totally cool with Nahmba making up any stories about his backstory or past! just bare in mind that though he is a protective and strong lion, he is loyal and kind. <3
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:58 pm
Zohwhee (( Will do. Thank you for starting. Definitely appreciated! )) 
However, a determined lioness could hobble her way around all of Africa. And, if you asked Nahmba, she was certainly a determined lioness. Her aunt had gone, a sister years ago, and she had watched her own grandmother go on the treck. Nahmba would certainly not be left alone.
To build her muscles, hone her body, she would walk along the borders. Forcing herself to practice loneliness had been the lionesses hardest task thusfar. The roguelands were vast, empty. The other night Nahmba had slept away from the pride. Alone.
She could not remember ever doing something more difficult in the entirety of her life. Nothing she chose to remember, rather.
Today, her quest to get used to loneliness fell short when a familiar scent blew towards her on the breeze. Nahmba, face bright and ears forward, took her slow strides towards Nguvu.
"Oh, are the borders safe, Inselelo?" Nahmba called, her voice still full and eyes bright.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:46 pm
The older lionesses' pale pelt blended well with the surrounding area, and it was not until he had heard her voice that he truly took note of who it was.
He had a lot of respect for all the lionesses' in the pride, but particularly those who were older and more experienced. It could perhaps be argued that he had a bit of an emotional tie towards those who had been here when he was young. He was sure he could remember Nahmba, her striped face and her bright eyes.
Nguvu bowed gently as she approached. "Thankfully, they are!" He gave her a wide smile and took another long look over the horizon. "Are you well, Nahmba?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 12:53 pm
"Of course they are," Nahmba purred as her final steps reached the Inselelo. "You are watching it!"
When his eyes turned to the horizon, Nahmba's remained on the bold white mane and large head. "Oh, she is so-so." The lioness' voice dropped an octave and she let out held-in breath.
"Nervous." The admittance came with a drop of the pale lioness' eyes. She turned her attention towards the scents and sounds of their group of lions. "But I shouldn't stay here." Her children didn't need to watch her fade away slowly and die; she wanted to be remembered for her kind heart and good hunting.
"Tell me a story," Nahmba said to distract herself.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:29 am
He smiled at her compliment.
He could tell by her voice that something was wrong, and at her admittance of nervousness he almost certainly knew what it was. He felt a little pang of emotion in his stomach. Greif, worry? General sadness?
The inselelo couldn't be too sure as he wasn't great at unpicking his own emotions, but he knew that he felt something akin to sadness.
"I understand." He looked at her with a serious face, eyes wide.
A story? That put the Inselelo under a little pressure. He certainly wasn't a creative type, so had to think back to something interesting that had happened to him, rather than a fable or myth. Come to think of it, there wasn't a lot. Aside from the crocodile business and being reunited with his birth pride... and Nahmba had been witness to that one.
He paused.
There was one. He supposed it was a little embarassing.. It was certainly .something he wouldn't share with everyone... But in the interest of lightening the conversation and Nahmba's spirits, he proceeded. He had faith that she wouldn't ridicule him in front of the whole pride.
"Well."... He shifted his bulk to be more comfortable. "I was in the rogue lands, once, a long while ago. I was a young lion then, much closer to adolescence that adulthood. It was the days when I started learning the true nature of some things in the world. I was travelling a lot, I saw different places, different faces.
I came across a leopard colony, they were friendly enough. In the beginnings of a forest, or so it would seem. The earth was very hot that day, and uncomfortable. I could not rest easily. I looked up, and I saw them there, in the trees. They were so cool, and comfortable and there I was, panting in the heat, trying to cling to the bits of shade I could find."
He stole a glance at Nahmba, and then to the rest of the pride in the distance.
"I decided it looked far better up there than on the ground, so I began to climb. I made it up easily enough, and had a much better time of resting up there than I did on the ground..."
He paused to clear his throat.
"But coming down, was, a little harder. In fact, I couldn't come down. I tried my best. 'What goes up must come down' they say, but I found that hard to believe" He smirked. "The leopards began to notice, and tried to cheer me on. Some at the bottom, some in the treetops. Eventually I managed to edge my down the tree. I was a strong lion still in those days, but my claws could not cling to the tree properly... and I crashed down from mid-way, into a rather prickly bush."
The inselelo let out a little chuckle.
"Although they were friendly, it did not stop the leopards from laughing. Oh they laughed so much, and eventually I had to join in..."
"The lesson that day was that lions are not meant to climb trees."
He looked over at Nahmba.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:14 pm
"Leopards are not trustworthy," Nahmba instinctively warned in the middle of the story. The old lioness' eyes focused on the Inselelo's as if expecting the story to have an unfortunate end. Though Nguvu stood before her, there was a disconnect between his real self and an imagined past self who was likely to perish in such a tale.
Nahmba's nose shriveled and her ears went back when the Nguvu in her imagination crashed to the ground. The creme colored lion must have swayed, skin twitching terribly from the prickles. Nahmba remembered experiences with nettle that stung. The pain was searing, but only lasted a few moments.
"You climbed the tree," was her humming reply when he finished. And, many other lions had climbed trees before him. Meant to, or not, lions made things work.
"Do you think we are meant to walk when our lives end?" Nahmba asked him, linking the two concepts as though it were a bridge lit with fireflies.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 3:36 pm
Nguvu fell silent. His story perhaps didn't have the intended effect of cheering the lioness up, but he suspected his attempt would be clouded with the other things on her mind. He was not wrong, for the question the lioness asked next was one that spun around in his head a little.
The inselelo admitted to himself that he did not know much about death, or what happened after. He supposed that was all part of it's mystery. It was something that frightened him at times, as it no doubt frightened most others. It was difficult to believe that someone so alive, here, living and breathing, would one day be no more than dust and bone. But it was the way the world worked.
Nguvu looked at Nahmba with his eyes wide and full of honesty. "I do not know what happens when our lives are nearing the end, I could not suggest what was meant to be, or what wasn't. I think we just have to do what feels right for us at the time."
It was perhaps the most wise thing he had ever said.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 10:02 am
Nahmba looked back, and did find wisdom there. The lioness' head bobbed slowly, the comprehension making its way from eye to brain. But there was still tension in her shoulders and a furrow in Nahmba's brow.
"Leaving does not feel right," Nahmba thought out loud. Her Enda for a son still needed guidance, her last litter before she had gone barren were still learning about the world. Gakere would take care of them, she hoped. He was a strong leader.
"But not walking feels wrong." The pale lioness looked out to the plans, then over her shoulder towards the scents and occasional sounds of the mingling pride.
"How far does the grass go?" Nahmba shifted the conversation. Even when she'd had flings in her youth, she had not reached the edges of the great plains. Nahmba had never seen the ocean, only could imagine the watery greens of the great jungle, and could only see the great mountains in the distance on which water culminated itself as a cold form called ice and snow.
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:22 am
Nguvu had no idea what to reply to her last statement with. Although, he understood entirely where the lioness was coming from, and that was something unusual in itself. He found he didn't often understand enough to completely empathize.
Although it was not in relation to dying, he understood how both things could feel wrong. Leaving as an adolescent felt wrong for him, but it would have been wrong for him to stay too. He could not falsely claim celibacy, as he wanted his own family. Nguvu understood the pull between two emotions.
He turned his gaze to follow Nahmbas. He had seen many things in his rogue years, and there was grass everywhere. The great plains were very great and vast indeed, and he could not remember exactly how far they had gone on for.
"A long long time... And beyond that, there is water, mountains, desert..." He trailed off as he thought of the different places he'd seen. "Jungles, even." Nguvu had struggled to settle or start his own pride in the rogue lands, so had spent his time wandering and exploring, before, by chance, wondering into the path of his birth pride.Kaelyndra I'm so sorry, I thought I'd replied to this!
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