[PRP] Wishing to live with a loved one (Intuthu x Kitambi)

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It had been a rather unexpected decision and maybe one that Jumuu wouldn't or couldn't believe completely or maybe she did. He found it hard to work her out sometimes but he knew how he felt towards her and that was enough, that was all he needed to know that he wanted to stay with her, to live with her and to never leave her side. It in some ways went against everything he had been brought up to know. He wasn't a strong fighter, not compared to his brothers or others back at home anyway. He had never lived upto the prides expectations and so, though he would miss his family, they were close by and he wanted Jumuu and she would not leave her pride so he would try to join it. It seemed to be the only thing that made any sense.

He had been doing his research and heard about the change in monarchy. So he went looking for the new queen, Kitambi, something like that anyway. He wasn't sure what she looked like or how he would find her but he needed to. He wished to find her and ask to join her pride, learn the ways of it and help in anyway possible. He wished to be with Jumuu and so he would explain his love for the beautiful lioness. He would do whatever he could to stay here, to be able to leave in peace with the one he loved.

Oh how his mother would be sickened by what he was thinking. It saddened him that she would never see his mate but she wouldn't approve and he would go and tell her about Jumuu but he knew they would never meet. His mother believed in the pride strongly. She was what he could never be and he would always love and respect his mother.

He walked through the prides lands, really not having a clue where he was going to find this queen.

"Oh please let me find her soon..." He mumbled under his breath. She had to be around somewhere, surely!  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi had been wading in the waters of the Lake when news of a strange male in the lands had reached her. She’d shaken her fur dry and retrieved her jewellery, before setting out to see what was the matter. Her mother had not told her of any other males hanging around besides Aepep, though it was possible that this one had heard the pride’s noise and came to investigate. Luckily for her, the male was not very hard to find. There were no lions in her pride that had a red mane.

She stopped at a respectable distance, careful but not fearful. A lone male in a pride wasn’t much of a threat, and despite his size he didn’t seem to be intent on causing any harm. He could have come in and destroyed the drums in the circle, not to mention had a look in a few of the dens, if he’d really wanted to do damage. But instead he was just wandering around. How peculiar.

“Are you looking for someone?”  

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He wasn't expecting to run into anyone this quickly but he was grateful and just hoped that what Jumuu said about the pride welcoming strangers was true.

"Yes, I am looking for someone called Kitambi." He hoped that was her name and he hadn't got it wrong. Should he explain as to why he wished to talk to her? It might not be a bad idea, he wasn't sure still how the pride worked exactly and only knew, well most of what the pride does but not really how they took to strangers.

"I erm... need to talk to her. Jumuu... erm its about Jumuu." Well it was in a way. It was about Jumuu and himself but he wasn't about to tell anyone about that as he wasn't sure what Jumuu had told others, if anything at all. He just hoped that this female would be able to help.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

The lioness was quite surprised to find that she was the object of his search. It was very funny indeed. She studied him quietly for a moment, before deciding that no, she’d never seen him before. He didn’t look like anybody she’d ever seen, nor anymore her mother had told her to watch out for. Thus, since he couldn’t be here on some sort of revenge mission, it was probably okay to let him know who she was. Not to mention she was an adult now, and didn’t need to hide her identity.

She was even more surprised that the lion wanted to talk about Jumuu. The little shy lioness who had just become the newest Head Hunter? This day was getting stranger and stranger. Still, what was there to do but plunge head first into it? “Well, you don’t have to look any farther. I’m Kitambi.” She offered the male a small smile. “But what about Jumuu? She’s not hurt somewhere, is she?”  

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He smiled as she revealed that she was the lioness that he was looking for. That was perfect and would save him a lot of time needlessly looking around while not really knowing who he was looking for!

"Oh, it's nice to meet you then. Jumuu mentioned you a few times and something about you taking over the pride, which is why I came to find you." He let out a soft sigh.

"Jumuu is not hurt, far from it. If she was I would be with her and not here." He really wasn't sure how to ask what he wanted to ask, in fact he hadn't a clue how to say it so he thought he might as well come out with it in the simplest way he could.

"I am Intuthu, I was born in the Motoujamii pride. I don't know if you know about it, there was a civil war and during that time my mother sent me to the borders to avoid the fighting. During that time I met Jumuu." He smiled remembering their first meeting, it was such a long time ago now.

"We have become close friends since then, very close. The reason I came to find you, was to ask if I could stay here with her." He wasn't sure if what he was saying made sense, his mind was somewhat jumbled by what he was saying and how Jumuu would react when she found out that he had asked to stay and live with her.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Interested in joining the pride? This male got more peculiar by the minute! Still, Kitambi had an inkling as to why he wanted to be here, especially since he had mentioned a lioness. It was only just recently that she’d welcomed Aepep into the pride, knowing that his cubhood friend Mawi Mai also lived here. It appeared that boys were joining for their girls in great droves these days. Of course, she couldn’t discount her own mate, who had left roguedom to take his place here. She was still grateful to him for that sacrifice.

The lioness nodded when Intuthu said that Jumuu was not injured, glad that he was not bringing her bad news. Instead, he continued down the path that Kitambi assumed he was going to go. She had never heard of his pride nor the war that went on with it, but accepted his history as truthful nonetheless. He could have been from the desert that bordered their lands, though she had a hard time believing anybody could survive in there.

“I don’t see why you can’t join,” she replied with another nod, “Provided that you do not bring with you any strife from your old pride. We of the Nchi’mahadhi are a family oriented pride, and though we do look out for each other, we do not believe in the need to be extremely guarded. Has Jumuu told you anything about Rhythm?”  

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Intuthu listened and nodded.

"We lions rarely leave the desert. The chances of anyone following here are low, the desert is our home and we don't leave it. That and the pride doesn't like outsiders, so they won't come out. They are a strange pride in many ways. You need not fear them though, I bring no problems with me." Intuthu felt a little saddened that he was leaving the desert. He would miss the sand under his paws.

"Jumuu has told me a lot, she loves the pride very much. She has mentioned about rhythm and drums." He was trying to remember everything Jumuu had told him, why was it now that his brain decided to stop working?

"She told me about how it has a lot to do with the pride, it's what the pride is about..." He wasn't sure again if this was making sense, he was just saying what came to mind as he remembered it.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

So he was from the desert. Surprising, and yet she shouldn’t really have expected him to be from somewhere like the Pridelands. Though they were fairly close, they were hardly close enough that Jumuu and this male could have met without wandering quite far from their native prides. And, as everyone knew, Jumuu was the least likely female to go on any adventures. Still, Kitambi was glad that this desert pride male wasn’t bringing any friends with him. She didn’t want any trouble, not with so many little ones still running around.

The lioness nodded with his assessment of rhythm, pleased that Jumuu had done a lot of the explaining for her. She had taught her fair share of rhythm-inept creatures, but she liked it better when they arrived at the pride with some knowledge of the idea. “Rhythm is the central teaching of this pride, I guess you could say. We believe that Rhythm is both a uniting and a dividing force, keeping us together but keeping us unique. You make request a drum lesson from myself if you wish, or perhaps Jumuu can teach you how to make your own, if you wish it.”

She paused for a moment, not wanting to give him too much information all at once. “There is no ceremony for joining this pride. Instead, we only ask that you treat the other members as if they were your own family, and you use whatever talents you bring to benefit others. If you agree, then you are welcome here.”  

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Intuthu listened intently. He nodded as she mentioned about drum lessons and wasn't sure if Jumuu had ever told him about such things before. Maybe he had just forgotten.

"I am sure she would love to teach me, if not I shall find you." He smiled. This was all sounding so good. He would be able to live with Jumuu, together. He knew she was be happy about it. This was his surprise to her, his present as it were.

"I would give everything I have to protect this pride and Jumuu." He smiled. He agreed. He would happily help this pride in any way he could. He wished to be able to help with anything and everything. He wanted to prove to Jumuu that he could live here away from the desert. He knew staying away from the desert would be hard but he would get use to it.

"I will help the pride in any way I can."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

As the lion agreed to all the terms she put forth, Kitambi nodded along with him. Good. He seemed very whole-hearted in his words, not to mention honest. If he was as good as his word they would have added a very good young lion to their numbers. This one may not have been very experienced with rhythm, but his size would make up for it. After all, it was the heavier males that could make the best stomps.

"Welcome then, Intuthu to the Nchi'mahadhi pride!" She offered him her best welcoming smile. It was getting easier now, since she was getting quite a lot of practice. "Shall I give you a tour of the lands? Or just show you to where the dens and the drum circle are? I'm sure you'd be able to find Jumuu somewhere around there. She usually does not stray too far."  

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Intuthu smiled back. At last he had somewhere to stay, somewhere to live and with Jumuu! He was so excited and oh how he wanted to see her now and tell her the good news!

"Thank you!!"

He listened to her offer and nodded. Jumuu had shown him around a lot of the prides lands but he had not been shown where the dens were or the drum circle so it made sense to take her up on the offer. It would mean he had more to impress Jumuu with!

"Jumuu has shown me a lot of the lands, she was very persistant about it; however I have not seen where the drum circle or the dens are." He smiled, a home. A home with Jumuu. Life couldn't get much better.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Good good. I doubt you'll get lost in these lands, but knowing where everything is is quite helpful." With a motion of her head she beckoned him to follow her. The Nchi'mahadhi lands were quite large, though probably not as large as the Pridelands. Her mother had often boasted about how big the Pridelands was, and while Kitambi did enjoy the security of a large pride, the thought of having hundreds of lions together in one place was a little frightening. How was one lion supposed to lord over them all?

Deciding that they best not make the journey in silence, Kitambi started to give a small tour. "The Nchi'mahadhi lands stretch from the lakes all the way out to the river, and from the escarpments to the mountain. We're allied with the pride on the other side of the mountain, so you're always welcome to visit them. Most of us tend to stay close to the drum circle, as it's sort of like our central point. Only the huntresses really venture into the grasslands, and that's to look for food."

She paused to gesture towards the escarpment that was visible in the distance. "If you can still see that then you're in pride territory. Everyone lives there in their own den. You may join Jumuu in hers or perhaps even find one large enough for the both of you." She paused to allow her words to sink in, giving him time to ask any questions if he had any.  

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Intuthu followed her curiously and listening to everything she pointed out. He couldn't help but smile when she mentioned he and Jumuu living together. That would be amazing! Though he still wasn't completely sure how Jumuu felt about him, he just had to hope.

"Thank you, I am sure Jumuu and I will be able to sort something out." He smiled and nodded, allowing her to go on if she wished. Oh he couldn't wait to let Jumuu know that he was staying here with her and he hoped more then maybe someone should that she would be happy about it.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Kitambi nodded, continuing their walk in a comfortable silence until they reached the drum circle. It was much bigger than it had been when she was born, each new adult member adding their own drum as they made them. There were big gourd drums, smaller gourd drums, rainmakers and even the shakers. Just the sight of them made her smile. All of her pride, or almost all of them, were represented here. It was comforting.

"Here we are, the drum circle. Wherever you are in the pride you'll be able to hear the beat of the drums and follow them here. The dens are just back there." She gestured with her head. "And this is where I leave you. Welcome home, Intuthu." With a final incline of her head, she turned and headed back the way she had come. Intuthu was now free to do as he pleased, as a full member of the pride.  

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Intuthu found the drum circle fascinating, how lions could make such things. As Kitambi spoke he turned around and smiled.

"Thank you."

He really was thankful and as he watched her walk off he turned to once again look at the drums. This was his home now and he had to go and find Jumuu.