[PRP] Heartsong (Ndoto x Zehoret)

[SilverLutz]

It had been a while since Ndoto found himself wandering the rogue lands. In fact, he hadn't been here in years. His new home with the Nchi was more than he could have ever asked for and he wouldn't leave it for anything. Things had been getting a little hairy lately, though, with whispers of a lion-hating group of animals that had killed just at the edge of their pride. A new group of lions had been brought in for protection, but lots of the lions still were wary.

Ndoto, however, knew that life would toss whatever it wanted at him, and fighting lions or no, things would happen to him. He hadn't seen much of his friend Nantale as of late, as her queenly duties were suddenly swamping her with work. He didn't blame her for being scarce: she had had a hard enough time without this new danger and grumpy lions on her paws.

Letting out a quick breath, his poofy mane blew up out of his eyes for a few moments. He needed to take a little vacation from home, so he was doing just that. The rogue lands never failed to present him with something new and exciting, and he was counting on the vast expanse of savanna not to let him down again today.

Humming a little tune under his breath, he began to sing snippets of the song he had recently taught a bunch of young cubs. It was an easy, catchy tune, one that even someone who was tone deaf could pick up on easily.

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

Zehoret was looking for materials,.

Looking for something to be good at wasn't easy and the female often was at a loss as to what she might be good at as suxh a small and frail lioness, but she did findshe played with wood sharpening her claws and it had placed ideas in her head, and so she risked health and misfortune to try locating a nice large stick she could carry. It wouldn't need to be too big, but she wanted to make something pretty, and she wanted to experiment, and it needed space.

The pale female moved deftly, looking around curiously as she walked, ears flicking as she did before the female stretched, considering a break before a sound caught her ears, and she blinked, paling and huddling. Has she intruded in territory?

"H...Hello?"  

[SilverLutz]

Ndoto was bobbing his head to a beat only he could hear, taking turns to sing in different voices. The song called for the female cubs to sing one part and the male cubs to sing the other, so he went back and forth between a high and low voice. In the silence that followed - where the drummers would usually have a solo and the cubs would dance - he heard a very soft voice from somewhere to his left and behind him.

Turning around, he was surprised to see a pale lioness cowering behind some rather tiny shrubs. They must have hidden him from view, but he could see her through them. She looked absolutely terrified! The poor thing.

"Ah, hello," he said cheerfully, moving around the shrubs so she could see him. He put on his friendliest grin and bobbed his head in greeting, his fluffy mane bouncing with the movement. "I'm so sorry, my dear, I didn't mean to scare you. Please don't be frightened." At least, he assumed it was he that had scared her. There was no one else around, just him, doing strange voices and singing songs to no one in particular.

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

Zehoret peered up at beng addressed and smiled shyly, tail flicking once as she did her best to look submissive and respectful. She had only just found a home - she didn't want to become some slave for trespassing, and she peered up.

"I'm sorry I - I'm not trespassing am I?"

He seemed kind, thankfully, but unconciously Zehoret egan kneading the ground, looking down again shyly. "I don't mean to intrude."  

[SilverLutz]

My, but she was small. Ndoto had thought at first it was just because she was cowering, but now that he was in front of her it was apparent just how tiny she was. That didn't bother him, though. In fact, it made him feel sorry for her. No wonder she was scared! A lion such as him, rather large and looking even larger with the poofy mane, wandering around and talking to himself...sheesh. He would have been scared too!

Laying down on the ground so as not to loom over her, he gave a little shake of his head. "If you are, then I am, too. I'm just out for a stroll," he said with a comforting grin. "My pride is a decent walk back in the direction I came from, but our borders don't extend this far. I'm pretty sure this is unclaimed land," he added, sniffing the air experimentally. There was no scent of lions other than them, though, so he was fairly confident in his statement.

"I'm Ndoto, by the way," he said, offering his name to ease her worries a bit more. "And I promise, I'm about as tough as a field mouse. No need to fret."

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

((Oh no they're cute together.))

Zehoret knead a bit more before he said the land was unclaimed and she seemed to both relax and brighten, offering a soft, shy smile that was more warm than timid, nodding.

"Really? I live in the desert nearby, by the river in my pride." She smiled. "I was looking for wood to experiment with. What were you singing?" She asked.

With no fear of being stolen or harmed, Zerhoret was curious, and while timid, she still wanted to know things. So much to learn!  

[SilverLutz]

As the lioness opened up a bit, Ndoto gave her a wide grin. Good, she didn't seem as scared anymore. Letting his tail flop from side to side in an almost cub-like manner, he tilted his head and glanced off behind her.

"Ooh, I didn't know there was a pride out there," he said, genuine interest in his voice. "I'm not sure I could live in a desert...I know I'd probably blend in really well out there, but all that sand...." He trailed off, shaking his head. No, he much preferred the dirt and grass and water his own pride offered. The feeling of sand between his toes was bad enough, but thinking about a sandstorm blowing it all in his fur and mane and eyes and nose and mouth...ick.

When the question about the song came up he quickly forgot about desert storms. "Oh! It's a song from my pride," he said with a little nod. "One for cubs, so they can learn the ways of the dance and how to sing, should they so choose. It's a nonsense song, really...but it's fun."

Tilting his head a bit, he gave her another smile. "Could I ask for your name, miss? So when I go home to tell my friends and my brother about what I did, I can say I made a new friend."

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

"It's small, but, we're growing." Zehoret admitted. At his explanation, she perked and beamed, earslifting as she bounced.

"Oh, but that's clever! I think we have some song and dance, but I'm new and don't know them. I'm learning - crafting too!" She nodded, beaming eagerly as she danced a bit.

"I'm Zehoret." She answered. "It's nice to meet you!"  

[SilverLutz]

Ndoto grinned, liking that other prides kept songs and dances as traditional things. There was a bit of crafting in the Nchi as well, but it mostly revolved around instruments and jewelry that would make noise when the lion wearing it would dance.

"That's great! It's nice to meet you as well," he added as she gave her name. He leaned in a bit to sniff at her stick before glancing back at her, a curious expression on his face. "What are you going to be crafting?" he asked. Perhaps it was used in the crafting she did rather than being made into something. It was a fairly long and sturdy stick after all.

"We're most a dancing pride, but there's a few singers and a few that play the drums. Our crafting is mostly those instruments, but every now and then they make simply decorative things, like this." He pawed at the string of little beads around his neck and ankles. He had been given it as a gift when he had arrived and he was quite proud of it, finding it very beautiful.

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

"I'm not sure sure yet. I found ?I can do something cool though."

She positioned her stick to brace it on rocks before one paw raised and she very slowly pulled a paw along it at an angle. The motion was slow and methodical, producing curls of wood, and she looked sheepish.

"If I go slowly, I think I can shape it." She admitted.  

[SilverLutz]

Ndoto turned his attention to the stick as Zehoret balanced it on two rocks, letting her work with it without holding it. His eyes widened in surprise as her claws slid over the wood, making little curled shavings in their wake.

"Wow...that would be great if you could figure it out!" he said, looking up with a grin. "I knew a lion in my old pride that could carve wood, but I never knew how he did it." Wood carving was certainly a rare skill, and if she could master it...well! He'd have to find her again and see if she could carve him some things. For a price, of course. He wouldn't want her to work for nothing.

"I had to create paint for my pride," he added, remembering the job not too long ago. "It's great for stone, but perhaps I could refine it to use on wood. Then you could paint your creations, too!" He wasn't that good of an artist, even though he had figured out the proper ratio of clay to pigment to water, but put in the paws of the proper lion, he was sure whoever it was would be able to create amazing things.

"But first you should figure out the secret of carving. I'm getting ahead of myself," he said with a light laugh.

NovaCracker

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

Zehoret smiled shyly, looking to her wood happily.

"I'm teaching myself, but I'd like to make nice things if I'm good at it. Paints?" Zehoret lit up, brightly. "Maybe when I'm better we can trade for stone and wood paints. I could make things for them. I bet the others might like painting our home some." She smiled, dancing and wiggling in place like a cub.

"It's relaxing, if nothing else."

Zehoret blushed, smiling to him again as she pad over again.

"Maybe your crafters can use the shavings for instruments?" She offered. "Things to rattle."  

[SilverLutz]

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking," Ndoto said with a laugh, glad that they had the same thought in mind. "It doesn't seem we're that far from one another, we could meet up every few months to see how you're doing with your carving and to see how my paints hold up on your wood."

He reached forward for the shavings and rolled his paw over them, grinning at the noise it made. "You know, I think you might be right. If you collect the shavings as you practice I'd love to take them off your paws for you."

NovaCracker

If you wanna wrap this up in another post or two we can toss them in the breeding thread owo

 

[Eos Galvus]

SilverLutz

Sounds good, want me to ping links or? I'm entirely missing her throwback info.

help these two are cute.

Zehoret nosed the shavings to him, beaming.

"I'd like that, and besides we can always practice when we meet, too." The female nodded. "I need to travel out to find wood, so it isn't hard to meet if you'd like."

Yes, this was a brilliant idea and Zehoret beamed, wiggling. "I should take the wood I have home soon, though, but I'll try to keep hold of the shavings. Imagine when they dry!"

Maybe she could bring them to him in skins, or something!  

[SilverLutz]

"Very true," Ndoto said, taking the little scraps that she had made. He tucked them into his mane, figuring they wouldn't fall out since it was so poofy and there weren't that many yet. He could experiment with them and see where they best made noise. In a gourd, perhaps, or a hollowed out bone. There were lots of possibilities.

"Yes, don't let me hold you up," he said with a laugh. "I should be heading back anyway. Don't want anyone to worry about me."

NovaCracker

Yeah, you can send me her links/cert/uncert/all that fun stuff, and any throwbacks you can find X3 Ndoto just has one, his brother XD