[PRP] A New Home (joining rp)

[Kimaria]

He was tired, so tired that he didn't even have the energy to be grumpy. That he didn't have the energy to go on. He had a feeling, from all the scents around him that he was close to a pride's borders.

But which pride he had no idea. Heck, he didn't even know where he was.

He was a pitiful male really, brain over brawn anytime. Yet occasionally - more like all the time - he landed himself into trouble with his sharp tongue. He'd goaded a pridelander female who had said he was too scared and weak to leave the pridelands and like a fool he had done just that.

He hadn't spared a thought for the family he left behind nor to what was lying out there to claim him. He'd just thought of proving her wrong and that had been, what, weeks...months ago?

Since then he'd been travelling the lands, scraping together as much shelter and food as he could find. Now he was travel weary. He wanted somewhere to live.

But not that home. Not where he'd been born. The time for him in that place was over and what was the point of settling back there? All this hardship would have gone to waste!

He gave a low grumble in his throat and pulled himself back to his feet, picking his way across the rugged landscape.  

[demon_pachabel]

With a lack of guards to his house's name, Yua found himself spending a lot of time out and about in the lands of Tianxia, watching over the lands so his mate could watch over their young. While the once Ela'wadiyi pridal member was not exactly a strong being, he was sure enough he'd be able to throw off at least the most basic of invader.

Which, on the note of an invader, the old lion paused for a moment, pondering if his eyes were playing the same trick they always liked to do, a facade of a being who didn't exist, at the sight of a rather white looking shape in the distance. Because of his little 'curse', he sighed deeply and found himself moving in closer to the rugged shape. There was no way to tell state of being from where he was, and if someone who didn't belong in the lands was walking in... he needed to kick them out as quickly as he could to solve the problem.

However, the problem seemed to take the shape of a poor little ailing boy, bringing out a certain degree of sympathy from the older lion. Of course he wasn't about to just throw him out with force.. yet.

"Well, you're sure a new face.."  

[Kimaria]

To say he was surprised would have been an understatement.

Weakened beyond belief, lost in a land that he had no understanding of, knowing full well that he’d never get back home. He was a bundle of nerves. His sharp tongue had been softened by his hunger and his fatigue. It was all he could do not to break down and plead for his life.

That girl back in the Pridelands had been right. He was nothing but a coward. He should have stayed there, grown up there. Even if he was unhappy, at least he would have had a full belly! Now, he’d spent the whole of his life scavenging and putting all his effort into appearing to be fine when really he was quite the opposite. But he’d never been taught proper survival skills or how to defend himself. He was a weakling through and through and he realised now, that if he couldn’t get back to the Pridelands then he’d need somewhere else to stay.

He hated rogue life.

He pressed his underside to the ground and blinked up. His eyes were the only colour on him. His once pristine white pelt was stained and mussed and his face was sunken and sickly looking.

His automatic response was a sarcastic one, but he bit it back roughly. Maybe this lion could help him and if that was the case then he should at least try to be nice. “I’m Yen Ha.” He replied. “Who’re you? You sure don’t look like a rogue.” And then panic filled him. This was a pride cat. It had to be! He’d heard stories of prides that enslaved or killed trespassers. What if this was one of those? Dammit, he should have paid more attention to the signs! Should have steered away from strange scents!

But then again…wasn’t a pride just what he wanted? How did one go about joining a pride anyway? He’d been born into one and left it without telling anyone, not even his own family. He didn’t understand those sorts of procedures.

“I’ve…wandered into pride lands, haven’t I?” His voice was dull. He already knew the answer.  

[demon_pachabel]

There was a sense of panic to this poor young soul. It was something he himself had understood far too well from his own experiences. Heck, he even saw a little bit of his former self in this young one. A former self he'd had to push down into a little corner of his soul once the youth he'd become a part of this pride to protect had been born.

Yen Ha. That was a new name. Yua remained seated, his body firmly grounded. There was no anxiousness to his form, nor any threat to him. He was a very unthreatening being, by all means, but that might have been part of being a very unpowerful being. He could hunt as well as any other lion, but as a warrior he left much to be desired.

"Ah. A pleasant name, Yen Ha." he said, seeming to test the way the word sounded in his mouth, a reflection of two of his youth who could 'see' words... or so they claimed. Ah, how they reflected their dear old dad. "I am Yua'Lopoka Mila." Yua kept a pleasant air about him, before the boy spoke in a tone that said exactly what he already knew. That he was in pridal lands.

Of course, he didn't reply in a tone of 'No duh'. "Very astute of you, young man. You're in the lands of Tianxia." he stated very calmly, smiling a bit.  

[Kimaria]

"Thank you. I like my name." He replied. And it was true. His name was something he treasured beyond anything else. He took compliments well. Flattery was something that always whittled down his defences, but only a little. However, now that the edge of his panic was subsiding he began to realise that this pride cat didn't look as fierce as he had first imagined. His voice, too, sounded far different from what he imagined a monster lion would have sounded like.

But either way he was trespassing, and that was foolish. Rather embarrasing really, for a lion who liked to think of himself as smarter than most. Maybe he just liked to think that because he was weaker than most. Either way, he decided not to try his luck.

He smiled rather politely when the other gave his name and nodded in silent acknowledgement. And then he was given the name of the lands. Tianxia.

"I've never heard of them." He replied honestly. In fact, other than the Pridelands he only knew of the Firekin and that's because his eldest sister had scarpered off with one of the princes.

"I left my home to learn the ways of the world. All I have learned so far is that they can be cruel and unforgiving. Rogue life is too hard for me." He decided to be honest, besides, one look at him could tell that. He was far from being a healthy weight.

"I didn't mean to trespass. I was tired and this seemed the easiest path. I'm searching for a new home, you see."  

[demon_pachabel]

"If you can like at least one thing about yourself it will open a door to liking other things about yourself." he said, nodding his head with a sense of... knowing exactly how deep of an experience learning to like oneself was, without the help of others feeding the ego.

The child's (oh, how old it made him feel to have that be his first inclination upon not knowing where it was that he was standing earned a rather pleasant laugh from Yua. "I'd imagine you don't. Not many do. We're a fairly young pride, see." he stated, feeding the young male as little information as possible, due to the pride's secretive nature, "An expansive pride, but young."

Hard to describe something other than 'expansive' without explaining the five houses, giving a total of 10 leaders, though two were the absolute, the other 8 simply maintaining the order. It was quite the clever system, to be honest. At least in -his- opinion.

As Yen Ha continued to explain this journey that he'd gone on from his home, Yua himself felt a pang of familiarity. Only in that he'd left to find a way to accept himself, where his own family could not, and it had taken himself many moons, more than many moons, but a far too long of time to find a home. He'd found himself love before a home. No, rather a 'house'. A place where hoardes of little girls ran rampant.

"A new home is a hard place to come by, young man. However, if you are looking out this far, I'm afraid the only home you'll find, if you mean a new pride, would be the lands your already in. The fact you're all the way out here already says you've wandered quite a ways. There's no other pride here for some distance."  

[Kimaria]

"I hope so, because right now I don't feel that great about myself." Yen Ha admitted. He'd been proven wrong, something that he didn't like very much. And by a silly little pridelander cub - who probably wasn't a cub anymore since he certainly wasn't. Had it really been that long since he'd left? Well, taking that into account he must have travelled a good long way.

A young pride? It certainly sounded interesting. Fresh and new ideas, an expanse of lions to learn from and to teach himself with the knowledge that he had learned from his months out in rogue lands. An ear turned towards the elder lion, clearly from interest.

"Yua," He spoke humbly and with a tilt of his head as he was unsure of whom this lion was. Either way he was of a pride so effectively higher up the ladder than Yen Ha, especially whilst on his pride's land. He'd learnt that the hard way too. He seemed to like doing that. "I have learnt many things about my time in the rogue lands. I left my home when I was a juvenile and have been travelling since then. However, I only heard warnings about never treading onto a pride's lands, how some could take you as a slave or some kill you just for stepping too close to their borders. I never learnt how to join a pride." He lifted both ears then.

"I have ambitions to become a well learned lion, to gain knowledge from all parts of life. But I've been a rogue long enough to know it well. That life means nothing for me. It doesn't feed my ambition nor teach me anything new." He shook his head. "That is my long way of saying, would I fit in here? If you are accepting new members, of course."  

[demon_pachabel]

What a curious young man. Yua was actually quite intrigued by the young man who was seeking knowledge of his own, which of course prompted him to laugh quite a bit and nod his head towards the young man.

"We are quite a diverse pride. But your luck has happened to fall under the correct star. I am the head of the house of the east, which happens to find great pride in knowledge and those who seek it are always welcome in our numbers." he said, smiling brightly.

Yes, he would have very little issue in allowing the young man to come and join his ranks.

Certainly he would need to adjust after some time, but just bringing more than his six daughters into his ranks would be something that would help in the growing numbers of those who were amongst his house.

Which was sadly the one that needed to grow more than anything. But at least he could make a start.

"You would be most welcome amongst my house."  

[Kimaria]

His ears lifted even further, those teal eyes shining in that white face of his. "Truly?" If Yen Ha wasn't a lion of 'science' and 'fact' maybe he would have put some value into fate. As it was, he thought of this only as a lucky coincidence. He'd been travelling a while, after all. He was bound to find someplace where he fitted in. It seemed, finally, that he'd found the end of his journey and that was this land.

"I would be welcome, indeed?" He stepped forwards, hardly able to contain his excitement at the prospect of finding a home amongst intelligent lions like himself.

It was almost too good to be true.

"I will do my best to earn the kindness you have given me, Sir."