"Hey. " Zumaridi raised her head, blinking away sleep, as she'd just been napping. She perked her ears,for a moment forgetting where she was. Right, in the highlands. Right now she was against a stone wall, common here. It had a small sort of 'hole' in it, which hid her from the sun, but it was setting anyway. Looks like she'd slept through the afternoon.
As for who'd awaken her, she took a bit longer to spot, before identifying a red and white cub. "Hello, Ting Lan. How can I help you? " She said, bowing her head respectfully. This was the heiress, best act respectful.
Ari eyes the brown lioness. So this was Zumaridi, the lioness her dad had let into the pride. She didn't have a proper name yet, which made Ari wonder a bit, and apparently she hadn't really settled into a house. She'd seenthis lioness before, just never bothered to do anything. "My father told me you're a seer. "
Seer, she'd always been a bit curious about them. That leopard, Xian Poo, his ratel-friend was one too, but his powers were somewhat pathetic. Apparently he'd never seen anything of great use,and could hardly ever make sense of what he saw anyway. "Are you a good one? " she continued.
Zumaridi blinked, tilting her head. Why was her being a seer important? "I'm not sure. I haven't had many visions. " She shrugged. "The ones I've had were clear, though. " Her tail flicked. "Why? " Ari frowned at this. "I don't need a reason. " She said, ears laying back slightly. At first Zumaridi seemed surprised, then chuckled a bit. "No, I guess you don't. "
Of course she didn't. She was heiress, she could roughly do whatever she wanted, so long as it didn't contradict her parents. .. Not that she did do everything she wanted. Ari was a smart girl; she made sure to be respectful and as perfect a kid as possible to anyone that mattered. Her parents, the lords and the ladies... her siblings, because they were a threat.
This lioness, however, was just a random lioness who hadn't even settled in properly. she didn't have to be nice. Though, she'd avoid being a total brat. "What did you see? " She wasn't really that interested anymore, she was bored. Zumaridi pondered a bit.
"I saw an earthquake, a few weeks ago. But it was far away, and probably unimportant. " Ari's ears pricked with slight interest at this. "An earthquake, huh? " She seemed to ponder a bit on this, but shrugged off any interest soon enough. "Why don't you have a proper name yet? "
The brown lioness pondered this for a moment. "I suppose I should have one, shouldn't I? I don't know, actually. " She shrugged. "I was actually thinking of Mingyu, or Qi. " she said, tail twitching. "Which is nicest? " Ari eyes the older lioness, twitching her tailtip a bit. "I like Mingyu. " She said after a moment. "Then Mingyu it is. There, I have a name now. " Zumaridi smiled.
Ari liked this, how she'd been the defining factor. She wasn't so sure she enjoyed the lioness herself, but she wouldn't get worked up about anything. Zumaridi raised her head, looking at the sky. It was getting late, much too late for her to be detaining the heiress. Yawning and stretching out her paws, she stood up, shaking her head groggily. "Come on, I'll escort you home. "
The heiress blinked, looking up and contemplating an objection, but Zumaridi was right. She knew better than being late to arrive home and risking her parents temper. She got up as the older lioness began walking. And she had no excuses to turn down an escort, which could be unwise anyway. She was important, after all. After a few minutes of walking, though, she grew a bit bored with the silence.
"Where are you from, anyway? " She asked casually, then added. "You're old. Shouldn't you have a mate and cubs? " Zumaridi's pace slowed, almost to a stop before she started again, though her head hung slightly for a moment. Ooh, had she hit something here? A normal kid may feel a bit bad for the potential hurting of feelings, but Ari didn't, really.
"I used to, " Zuma said dryly, not looking at Ari for a moment. "And I'm from the jungle. " This was said more contently, the older lioness was certainly glad to change the topic onto that, rather than what happened to her mate and cubs.
She'd certainly struck a nerve, Ari decided. She decided not to touch it again, not wanting Zumaridi to start getting gloomy on her, because then she'd be expected to be.. nice.. and stuff. The idea almost made her shudder. "jungle, I hear its pretty. But I doubt its nicer than here. " she said, grumbling. She didn't get what could be so pretty about a jungle. Just trees and trees and trees and water. But here she could climb atop the highest mountains and gaze across the lands; it was amazing.
Zumaridi glanced down at the cub. How do you know? she bit back the urge to ask it. his was a cub, didn't know better, and she had no right to scold cubs that weren't hers. Besides, this cub outranked her as it was. It was a bit funny to think about, actually.
After not much longer, Ari stopped, and, obediently, Zumaridi stopped too. "I can take it from here, " The heiress said matter-of-factly. Zumaridi would protest if it were another cub, but reminded herself this cub was boss. It took some getting used to. "Alright then, Ting Lan. " She bowed her head politely. "Good-bye. " Ari seemed to like this, and watched the dark chocolate female leave for a few moments, before turning and continuing on her way home.
