It was Tamana's job to make sure he knew the area around the Matembezi VERY well. He was a Navigator, after all. And so he made trips outside every couple of weeks to survey the surrounding land, mapping out everything he could in his mind. He wasn't the BRIGHTEST of lions...but he had one damn good memory for terrain and landmarks and the occupants of an area. He was on one such foray when he came across a place that just...smelled different. The great mountain that loomed in the distance seemed...alive almost, and even the scents of the place were dark and forboding. Was this the land of 'demons' he'd heard those who'd come from the Mwako talk about? It seemed to fit the description...He supressed the shiver that threatened to run down his spine.
Mvua'wingu was, frankly, bored. She usually was these days. The pale white lioness wandered the Aikanaro'hini pridelands aimlessly, fulfilling whatever duties her master required of her, but those were often few. She didn't need to hunt; the hunters - the demons - had that covered. Besides, she would just eat whatever scraps Hakuna left her. In any case, Mvua wasn't hungry. Her slate-blue eyes were dull and lifeless, scanning the horizon purposelessly. She knew that she had come from another place, somewhere out there, but she could never return. No, she was condemned to stay with these demons forever.
So today she followed the border, walking slowly, coming as close as she possibly could to freedom and as far as possible from those dark, haunting shapes that prowled the volcanic lands. It would be so easy to simply cross over and flee, but Mvua couldn't. She had nowhere else to go. All she had ever known was here. And so she stayed.
Tama was carerful not to cross over the scent-markers of the border, but he trotted along it, curious. And if he could remember the border exactly, he could tell the others about it. He hadn't been expecting to see a pale figure in the darkness. Weren't all demons dark in color? Curiosity won out over common sense, and he trotted towards the...lioness. Yes, she was a lioness. No mane. "I thought only dark lions resided in the demons' lands?" Oh he hoped he didn't get attacked. He was big, but Emil was a far better fighter than he was.
Mvua heard the stranger's voice and jumped slightly. He had a dark pelt, like all of the other demons, but smelled strongly of...something else. Besides, he was on the wrong side of the border. But her mind raced frantically - Maybe he was a scout, out looking for other demons? Or maybe even taking new slaves? But she clearly couldn't see any other lions with him that could be slaves, and she would have known him if he was a member of the pride. Her first instinct was to run from this stranger, but she would rather be with him than among the demons again.
"I am only a slave, sir," she bowed very low, as she had been trained to treat all non-slaves, and especially the dark-furred demons, with respect and modesty. "My master is Hakuna'jina, and my name is Mvua'wingu." She kept her eyes to the ground, keeping her tone formal in case - just in case - he was a demon coming to join the pride. He had a black pelt, after all.
A...slave? Tama pushed down his first urge to try and take her away from the place. Slavery was wrong! His mother and grandmother had taught him that. "Ya don' need to call me 'sir'." He smiled. "'M no one high where I come from. Name's Tamana. A pleasure to meet ya, Mvua'wingu." From the sound of her voice, the way she acted...how long had she been here?
Her ears flicked at the peculiar sound of his voice, the way the words mumbled and tumbled over themselves. Indeed, Mvua had definitely never met him before. The impediment might even have made him a slave, had he ever decided to join - but she reserved her judgment, respecting his dark pelt and the possibility that he held a demon within himself. "Hello, Master Tamana," she replied out of force of habit, despite his claim that he was no one important. At least he wasn't a slave.
"Pleasure," she echoed awkwardly, hoping that it was merely some form of greeting where he came from. "No one's ever described me with....pleasure before," she said quietly, finally looking back up into Tama's face. Unless they meant sadistic pleasure, she thought to herself.
The 'master' bit had him flustered. "Ah...'M no master, miss! Jus' plain ol' Tamana." He smiled sheepishly. "An' it is a pleasure to meet ya! Yer a very pretty lioness, an' ya sound very nice." He wondered what sort of life she had, if she'd never had someone say 'pleasure to meet you' before. It couldn't have been a good one. He was going to have to talk with his grandmother...
Mvua actually smiled at his words, her first smile in a very long time. He seemed so genuine, so....kind. "I'm not nice," she said humbly. "I am just what they have made me." Which didn't really tell this stranger Tama very much of anything. But she didn't want to think about the demons. She had spent most of her life thinking about the demons. "What brings you this close to the volcano?" she asked, trying to change the topic. "Why would you come to these lands?"
Tama let her change the topic, perking up and grinning. "'M a Navigator for the Matembezi'wasakaji. S' it's my job to make sure I know the terrain of places around the pride. An' we're a few days 'way from here." He pat the earth with a pale violet paw. "I like knowin' the land like I know my own paws."
Mvua glanced down at the ground. "Your paws don't want to know this land," she warned. She looked back into his eyes and tried to burn the warning into his mind, her ears pinned back defensively. But she found it curious that there were other prides out there. She had only ever known of the demon-hunters, led by Moto'nyota, the famed sister of Mvua's master. The two prides had a deep blood feud. "My own paws know them too well - and can never leave."
Could never leave? That made Tama's ears droop a bit. Creatures were meant to make their own decisions, especially adults. "If this place is what I think it is...I don't think my paws want to know it either. I've heard stories..." He gave her a sad look. "Are ya sure ya can't leave? Run an' find a new place? Yer...too pretty to look so sad an' serious."
Mvua shook her head solemnly. "My place is here with my master and her family. They have broken me, but they have trained me well and raised me to be who I am. I could never leave Master Hakuna." That much had been drilled into her mind, at least. Hakuna wasn't nearly as violent anymore - she was almost nice, or as nice as a demon can be. She wanted the best for Mvua, but only so far as her slave status would allow. It wasn't such a horrible life anymore. The horrible part was living with the memories.
But she smiled graciously, unused to the flattering attention that Tama was giving her. She had never been complimented on anything other than her fighting ability, and she had definitely never received such attention from a male. It was all very foreign to her...but it felt good. "Surely my scars hide any beauty," she said modestly. Indeed, her body was drowning in scars from her long history of abuse and "practice."
"I don' mind 'em. My own mother had a lot o' scars herself, but she was no less pretty. An' it's not just the outside tha' determines beauty...it's the inside too!" It was something her firmly believed in...and despite her sadness, Mvua seemed a very beautiful girl, inside and out. Well...if she felt she couldn't leave...he was going to brighten her day! He grinned as he spotted a small white flower growing nearby and moved over to pick it with his teeth, carefully, then presented it to her. "A pretty flower for a pretty girl!"
Mvua's eyes lit up at the sight of the flower. They were so rare in the pride lands, and it did not surprise her to see it growing on the other side of the border. She accepted the gift, leaning forward to let Tama place it behind her ear. "Thank you, Tamana," she blushed beneath her white fur. "I've never been given a gift before." Nothing that wasn't just a gift a pain. The flower felt peculiar behind her ear, almost as if there was some strange tie to it. She was wary of how the demons would react at the sight of it, but this stranger's kindness had pushed that from her mind. He had given her a greater gift - a gift of distraction. Of some kind of happiness amidst her usually unhappy life. Mvua smiled, a real, genuine smile. "Thank you," she repeated, her eyes meeting his.
Tamana gingerly placed it behind her ear, deciding it looked right there. Like the flower had been growing there just for her. His dark muzzle broke into a grin again, his brown eyes holding a spark of happiness that he'd made her happy, even if only for a moment. "Yer most welcome, Mvua." He met her eyes, his grin softening into a kind smile. "I hope...tha' I can see ya again." Yes. He'd have to come back this way. If she could not or would not leave, he'd still be a good Matembezi member and bring light to her! She needed it, it sounded like. "I'll come back in several nights. I still 'ave a lotta ground to cover 'fore I get home but...I'd like to talk with ya again." He bowed his head to her. "Be safe." And he turned, and made his way off. He was a bit sad he couldn't bring her home with him.
