|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:54 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Home.
Ah, she could smell the familiar Kusini scent wafting in the air, could see the dense line of trees in the distance. "Now, Bahati'chozi, I want you to grab onto my tail and not let go. I don't want to lose you in here; it's very easy to do that. You stay close to mommy, okay?" She turned her head to look at her baby who was trailing along behind her, trying to mimic each step she took. Oh, the sight of him warmed her heart, made her lips pull back in the softest of smiles. "Baha, you listening to me?" She arched a brow delicately, amusement flickering in her eyes as her son batted at her tail.
"Yes mom."
"Grab on to my tail."
"Okay." Baha eyed his mother, a little upset that he had to do something as stupid as hold on to her tail, but she wanted it of him and he was young enough to listen to everything that she told him to do. Obediently he opened his tiny jaw, and bit gently down on the portion of her tail that was just before the tuft, and like this he followed behind her. His mom guided him through the dense forest, careful with her steps, because things that obstructed her course obstructed her son's, and she wanted to make it easy for him. He had fallen silent, and in turn his mother had as well, but he was intensely fascinated with his surroundings. His blue eyes rolled up to what he thought would originally be the sky, but it turned out that all he could see was the tops of the trees and little pools of sunlight. It was so dark... and scary... and suddenly he was too far away from his mother!
"MOMMA!"
He released her tail, bounding forward between her legs and underneath her belly. He came up to her front paws, blue eyes pleading with his mother to remedy the scary situation. All he could see coming from her was a soothing look, a look of tender caring and love. And then rather suddenly he was lifted off, his tiny body locked in the comfort of her jaws.
Kibuulu'ardhi could barely contain a chuckle at her son's response to suddenly being carried. But he immediately slacked and went limp in her jaws, making it incredibly easy for her to carry him. Secretly she had been given a heart attack as her son had cried out, had run to her to seek comfort from whatever had frightened him. Carrying him in her jaws was the easiest way to comfort him and keep him 'safe'. So like this they continued on in their journey, until Buu broke through the denser section of the wood and came to a clearing where deer usually grazed, where lions usually hunted. Setting Baha down, she sat back, sighing softly as the familiarity of home settled in on her. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:41 pm
|
|
|
|
 The pale young lion had made his way towards the clearing where the deer usually frequented in an attempt to find himself something satiating to eat. Of course, he had arrived to find that there were in fact no deer there when they should have been. He sighed and shook his mane, figuring that perhaps some of the cubs had scared them off on purpose. He knew his little brother would likely be one of the ones to do such a thing, and he wouldn’t put it past Sithela and Izulu to help him. He snorted, however, at that thought and rephrased it in his mind – Sithela and Kinya probably did it at Izulu’s whim. Those three got into more trouble than they were worth, and what was worse was that they were dragging in Ihlo’s little sister these days. With a sigh, he turned around, about to head back out of the woods. Of course, that was until he heard a sound.
He whirled around quickly, braced instantly should it be someone dangerous coming through the trees. There were quite a few ‘dangers’ he could think of off the top of his head and rogues certainly weren’t the most disturbing. He would give anything in the world not to have to see that look in Damu’s eyes. However, as he stood there watching, he began to discern a brown figure among the foliage. Well, that was instantly settling – it was more or less a sign that the lion approaching was probably a pride member.
“Buu, you’re back!” he exclaimed happily as that face came into view, although it seemed to be slightly covered by something brown and blue and – he froze. As excited as he had just been, his mind froze instantly and came to a screeching halt. That thing she was carrying was a cub – a cub that looked far too much like her and her siblings for it to be mere coincidence. For a moment he simply stood there, maw slightly agape, unable to grasp what it was that he was seeing. He had told his adopted sister to go out, to see the world, and she had come back with a.. cub! She had seen just a little too much of the world in his opinion. “With.. a son,” he said with a little croak in his voice, the words coming out almost in a rather froggish squeak.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:02 pm
|
|
|
|
She saw a pale form come out from the brush, and oh, she recognized it immediately as her brother! But yet, she didn't dare assume... didn't dare hope that he would be the first to see her return as shehad been the first to see him when he had returned from his own journey. But then he spoke, and she knew him for the sibling that had been her playmate and dearest brother. Suddenly Baha was forgotten as excitement rose up on her, her jaw slackening and as his weight left her mouth she cried out to her brother. "Njozi! Oh, Njozi, I missed you so much!" She ran forward, nearly kicking her son in the head in her eagerness to get to her brother. Half-way there, though, she realized that she was missing something rather important.
Stopping, she blinked, chest heaving slightly from her exertion, and looking back at the area she just left. "Oh, Baha! I'm sorry!" She saw the now familiar blue markings in the midst of green grass. Without giving another look to her brother she turned around, running back to her son and covering him with affectionate licks as if that would make up for her dropping him on the ground and leaving his side for a few seconds. "Darling, you must meet my brother!" Without giving her son so much as enough time to speak she scooped him up in her jaws and made her way back to her brother. She set her son more gently down on the ground this time, walking ahead of him to greet her brother with an affectionate nuzzle of her cheek against his.
Buu, turned back to her son, urging him closer with a tilt of her chin. "Ah, there he is. Njozi, this is Bahati'chozi, my darlingest little boy. Isn't he so sweet? Oh, say hello Baha, and remember to be polite." She turned, her attention back to Njozi, so happy to see him that she disregarded the fact that he appeared stunned at the sight of her with a son. "We've been working on how to be polite. His father was a wonderful gentleman; Baha's certain to turn out just like him." Apparently losing the 'love of her life' hadn't been overly traumatic.
One minute he was floating in the air, feeling rather comfortable in his mother's jaws... and the next he was suddenly on the ground. With a loud and distinguised 'OOMPH' he hit the ground, tumbling forward away from his mother. As he made to sit up Buu's paw came inches from hitting him in the head. For quite a while he was simply stunned as he saw his mother bounding off ahead to go greet a pale, big lion. He hadn't even been given enough time to collect his thoughts, to think that he had been abandoned before she came back to see him, apologizing to him with kisses and sweet words of praise. Heck, he couldn't even tell her that it was all right and he didn't feel bad that he had dropped her (it was a little bit of a lie... his tail hurt as well as his ego - it simply wasn't graceful to fall) before she had picked him up once again.
He was limp again in his mother's jaw, up until the point where he was placed (he thanked the gods for that) on the ground. As his mother greeted Njozi all he could do was glare sourly up at the bigger lion. This lion was the reason his mother had forgotten about him, and he wasn't too impressed by this. Not. One. Bit. He peered out at Njozi from behind his mother's leg, cautious, curious, and a little hateful. But all of this changed as soon as his mother looked back to him. Immediately he turned into a polite little boy who couldn't be sweeter without being mistaken for a girl. He moved closer to Njozi at his mother's bidding, glancing back at her to make sure she really wanted him to say 'hello' and be nice. She did.
So... he gave it his best shot. "Hello... uncle Njozi? Uncle?" Once again he had to look back to his mother for confirmation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:04 pm
|
|
|
|
“Uh, I missed you.. too,” he said slowly, almost in a stutter as she turned back around. Njozi simply watched Buu as she went back to get the little cub, his eyes widened so far that they looked ready to pop out of his skull. One must understand that he was the one that kind of sent his sister out in search of adventure, which meant this was ultimately his fault, even if he hadn’t meant for the silly girl to find quite that much adventure. What had she been thinking? He gritted his teeth and turned to look behind him as she had her attention on her son (that word was still so foreign on his tongue). What would mother do to him for this? Oh, but he didn’t want to think about that right now!
“What?” he asked as he snapped his attention back to Buu, realizing that she was bringing the little boy closer. Well, he certainly looked a lot like his mother and her sister, but those blue markings across his face weren’t from any lion in the family – well, they were kind of unique. That meant he would be easy to find, right? He gritted his teeth again and pushed the thought away – Buu seemed happy, that was all that mattered, right? Although, he silently scoffed at the talk of ‘gentlemen’. If that male had been a gentleman at all, he wouldn’t have done such a thing – or, at least, he would be here to take care of her and his son too. “Oh, right,” he said suddenly, realizing that he was supposed to be paying attention and not drowning in his own thoughts.
“He’s a very handsome little thing,” he said with a smile, a true smile, because he really was telling the truth. No matter how strange the situation was, or how much he wanted to go hunting down that male, he still loved Buu to pieces and cared for her beyond reason – so he would love her son too. “Politeness is a virtue,” he said with a small nod, flickering his tail behind him, “mother would never tolerate anything less, would she?”He chuckled, not really trying to frighten the cub, but he didn’t have any nieces or nephews to toy with yet. He really did wonder how his mother would react, even if this daughter of hers was only adopted. She’d probably get really emotional. The thought nearly made him sigh and cringe at the same time – he felt bad for her, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be there when she found out either.
“Yes, I suppose Uncle Njozi would be right,” he said with a small nod of his head, dipping it rather gracefully. He wasn’t sure how to explain to the cub that he was only an adopted uncle and truly his cousin down the line, but he figured that didn’t matter and would only confuse him anyway. “I suppose you and your mom just got him, eh?” he smiled, turning his shining eyes back up to his sister – in a much better mood now. “I think we should show your little one our home, don’t you?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:52 pm
|
|
|
|
Buu seemed completely oblivious to her brother's shock, to the fact that no matter how much she talked he didn't supply her with his normally lengthy replies. He managed to say what was needed to be said, and that was satisfaction enough for her. But the main point was that she didn't think that Njozi would be shocked by this, and she simply wasn't expecting it. Lionesses had cubs, that was how things went, and if the lioness was lucky the male who had gotten her pregnant would stay with her and be her mate. Buu had just been struck by misfortune, but she didn't believe it would last that long, especially since she had a darling boy to raise and dote upon. Baha wouldn't stand in her way of eventually finding a mate, and sure she hadn't hit the target this time around, but next time she was sure to. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't give herself over to a male so easily as she had. Maybe she would hold out to see if it was the true thing. It had been horrible for her, when her male lover had suddenly left. The pain had passed over quickly when she realized she was with cub. A heartache was replaced by a darling little boy who filled her heart completely.
"I know, he's the absolute mixture of his father and me. I was instantly in love from the moment I saw his blue markings, his precious little blue eyes." She turned her fond gaze down to her son, waiting patiently for him to glance up at her, and once their eyes met she bowed her head to affectionately lick the top of his head. She didn't seem to notice the way Baha cringed at being 'embarrassed' in front of a big, older lion. "Oh, yes, we should definitely show him our home, mother and father... Adamu, yes, Adamu too. And cubs his own age, he needs someone to play with - it must be boring for him to hear me chatter on all day, but he's still the perfect little angel and doesn't tell me I'm bothering him. The perfect child, and I could not want anything more then him."
She turned to head back towards their parents' den, gently nudging Baha with her foot so that he would follow her. "Coming, Njozi? I don't want to keep everyone waiting!"
Baha was fastly losing interest in his mother and uncle's conversation, because he had already come to know that his mom liked to talk. He was, although, a little more observant then his mother and could tell that Njozi had difficulty responding towards the beginning of their conversation. But still he lacked in understanding, and really couldn't think of why Njozi wasn't talking as much as his mother. Maybe he was simple-minded? That would explain a lot, but Baha didn't want to judge. His mom was disappointed when he misjudged a silly little bird and called it 'stupid'. Since then he made a little effort to not make assumptions.
He didn't like the sound of his mother's mother, though, because he could not be the perfect and polite little boy all the time. He made mistakes, and if Buu's mother wouldn't tolerate it he was sure it wasn't going to be a fun stay at his mother's original home (he was assuming that they were going to move on like they had before and to new places). "Okay, Uncle Njozi. And ummm.. sure?" He looked up to his mother, and then suddenly, HORRIBLY, she licked him... right in FRONT of his uncle! UGH. That was so not nice, and in a minute he was flushing red with embarrassment, moodily staring at the ground. He could suffer through this... he could suffer through this...
And then his intense concentration on getting himself through his embarrassment was broken by the feel of his mother's paw against his back, her voice urging him to follow her. He really had no choice but to follow her, because if he didn't she would carry him.. and he wasn't sure he could suffer through more embarrassment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:52 pm
|
|
|
|
Njozi still couldn’t push down the overwhelming urge to simply leave right then and there and go out to find whatever male it was that had happened to do such a thing to his precious sister. He didn’t care how she acted now, how ok she was with it, because he knew Buu. There was one point, however brief, that the male had hurt her – at least in his leaving. He didn’t want to say he was mad because she had had a cub – no, she would have done that eventually, just as he hoped to do that eventually – but instead, he was mad because the male had abandoned her. Out there, somewhere, was the father of that little boy and he was probably out doing the same thing to some other lioness. With a bit of a frown, he pushed the fury down.
As soon as he managed to forget it, however, he let a little laugh spill past his maw. He couldn’t help but be amused as Baha’s distress, especially when it reminded him a little of himself. He was always groaning at his mother when he was small, although it usually had a lot more to do with her temper than it did with her embarrassing him. He simply shook his head, giving the little cub a rather sympathetic look and shrugging it off before looking back up to Buu. Well, at least the cub wasn’t a total little nitwit. She could have done worse for herself, he supposed.
“As long as you don’t let that one cub of Adamu’s play with him,” he said with a little wrinkle of his nose, tail flickering as he thought back to what he had heard of little Izulu. He shook his head with a sigh, “or Bibi’s little girl, Sith, either. They’re both pretty bad influences – they’ve got Kinya doing who knows what, and I don’t even want him around them at all, but mom doesn’t really see a problem,” he muttered, ranting a bit. It was frustrating knowing everything that went on in a pride but not being able to do a darn thing when it really mattered. If they weren’t careful, Kinya was going to grow up and be just as much of a pain in the a** as Izulu and Sith were already turning out to be.
“Of course,” he said with a little laugh, turning and trotting to catch up with his sister. He glanced down at Baha with a little smirk as he trotted along, watching the little fellow, sizing him up and studying him all in one little glance. “Have you ever met a cub your own age, Baha?” he asked, eyes drifting back up to look at the horizon once again. He has no idea that the little cub even half-expected that he was half-wit. Njozi was no such thing, though he did come off as a touch slow at times, especially when he was surprised at all. This, of course, was one of the biggest surprises he had ever had – although, he was sure it was the first of quite a few, especially if he was planning on starting a family with Ihlo any time in the future.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:03 pm
|
|
|
|
It had hurt, watching the 'love of her life' simply turn around and walk away, but Buu was able to push through the pain with such an adorable cub to rear. The actual abandonment wasn't dramatic, he had just said he was leaving, that he didn't want a cub, and Buu let him go. She didn't have the strength in her heart to hold someone down against their will, no matter how much she wanted the other to stay with her and raise a family with her. So he had left, and Buu had been left a gift in the form of Baha. He filled the void that the male she had fallen for left when he abandoned her. So, though it hurt still to think about him, it was a pain she suffered through and pushed against to reach that happiness. With Baha it was easy to find it, her happiness. If she didn't have him she could have returned home in a much worse state then just toting a cub behind. She would have come home a broken lioness, changed and beaten with no fight left in her, no will.
"Adamu had cubs?" She asked this with a curious tilt of her head, and realizing that her brother had children of own made her notice how long she had been away from home. She had no idea who these cubs were that Njozi was rattling off. "Syeira had more cubs? Who's Kinya? Oh dear, how much has this pride grown since I've been off?" She felt the sudden pang of homesickness that hadn't really hit her before. Buu had just returned home for the sake of a stable environment in which to raise her cub. But now she felt as if she wanted to be home to see her family again, to meet all the new cubs and most certainly her siblings and parents (adopted as well). There was so much that she had missed that she needed, desperately wanted, to catch up on.
Baha had no idea who they were talking about by now, and frankly he didn't bother himself with caring. It would take too much effort to remember them all at this point when he didn't have a face to match to the names. So he contented himself with walking out in front of the two adults, letting his paws sink into the mushy earth with each step he took. A grin broke out across his face, and he darted a few paces again, being utterly caught up in the moment of being someplace new. The plains were completely different from the forest of the Kusini'mwezi. He was beginning to think he liked the forest a whole lot better. There was shelter, and vegetation to play with. The earth was not baked by sunlight, and it was practically a haven for such a little cub.
When he heard Njozi say his name, he glanced back at the other curiously, giving the adult a blink or two as he tried to remember what the lion had said. "Oh?" He thought back after remembering what the question exactly was. "Yah, I saw someone my own size before. She was mean, though. She was a monster." He had told his mom the story about the hybrid cub that had tried to terrorize him. He didn't like her, so his introduction to those his own age had not been that great for him. "I don't think I'd like to meet her again."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:22 am
|
|
|
|
Njozi hadn’t realized how long Buu had actually been gone, and it surprised him now that he remembered she hadn’t been around for any of the new births. Sure, he had certainly missed her while she was away, but he had been so busy that he seemed to simply lose track of time. Now that he thought about it, if she had gone out, had time to find a guy, and already delivered the baby before she got back, then she had been gone far longer than he initially realized. Baha was nearly as old as the cubs he was talking about, so that should have been the dead giveaway there. He’d just been so surprised by her reappearance, he supposed, that he forgot all about everything else for the time being.
“Uh, yeah,” he said finally with a bit of a lopsided grin, walking along side her as he talked. “Adamu had cubs, three little boys. Bibi had four little girls and a son.” He paused here, knowing that these would mean something to Buu, but knowing that the other litter he had to talk about would mean so much more. He was her sister, at least in a sense, and she had been raised mostly by their mother. To know that she had new little brothers and a sister would probably mean as much to her as it did to him. “And Kinya is.. our little brother. Mom had another litter while you were gone. Six little boys and one little girl.” He beamed proudly over the fact, watching her face for a reaction.
“Oh?” he said as he heard Baha’s words, turning his gaze back upon the cub that had run a little farther ahead of them. “Well, meeting mean creatures is usually not fun for anyone. I’d steer clear of some of your relatives if you don’t like it when others are mean – there’s some real sour apples around here,” which was the honest truth. Uumi was inadvertently related to Baha through Syeira, and then there was Sithela and Izulu as well. Damu wasn’t around, so he didn’t matter much, but he had heard tell of Azima coming home and he might just as well be as bad. They had a large, interesting family at least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:29 pm
|
|
|
|
Buu herself had yet to come to the realization that she had been gone for so long. For her, time had flown by through her various journeys. Like Njozi, how long she was actually gone had slipped ot of her mind. It was as if she had gotten pregnant yesterday and had just given birth today, and had not missed anything that went on at home at all. Of course, she was wrong, which was clear from the way her brother began to rattle off names that were entirely foreign to her. It made her regret being gone long enough to miss all of the births of new cubs, the beginnings of new families. How many of her friends had settled down and had children of their own? How many of her siblings had their own families now? Of course, she had her own new family as well, but it was sorely lacking a key component - a father. She loved Baha to death, but she knew that her 'family' was missing something, and she wasn't sure that someone would ever fill in that empty space. She had searched through the roguelands for someone to love, and she thought she had found someone. She had been wrong, and now she was uncertain that there was someone for her, someone for Baha.
"Oh, Adamu!" She looked truly happy that her brother had three boys of his own, three precious little boys that she desperately wanted to see and spoil. "I'm so happy for him, who's the mother?" Talk about other families was making her happier and happier, her blue eyes glistening with her joy with how much her family was beginning to expand. "And Bibi too? Oh dear, I've missed so much!" She didn't mind the paus Njozi took, because she was currently busy getting her head around these two new families. She desperately wanted to see the cubs, what the looked like. But then, when her brother spoke again her mind was sent for a loop. "Mom had MORE!?" There was a huge grin on her face now, and she was happier than Njozi could imagine. "Oh? What do they all look like? What are all of their names? Will I get to see them soon? Do they know who I am? I'll have to congratulate mom when I see her."
"I don't see why other creatures have to be mean," he said in a whining tone. Obviously he hadn't had a great experience with the hybrid 'monster'. She certainly was a nasty creature that he never wanted to have to see again. "There's no point. Everyone likes you better if your nice." It was clear that some of his mother's logic had rubbed off on him, and that he was as sweet and innocent as she was, or almost was. Baha was inadvertanly a boy, and so his mind ran along a different path than his mother's did when she was a cub. His focused on games, wrestling, and other stuff that a young male cub would consider 'manly'. He didn't have all of her innocence. He knew that everything in this world wasn't good, that hybrid girl had taught him that. So, he was not another Buu incarnate, but that might be a good thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
