Ninau - Das Tor
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Mpozi-nyufa - NovaCracker
Word Count: 1,025 [According to Google Docs]
Ninau still wasn't used to their new home. The mountain...just wasn't the same as the swamps he'd grown up in. The swamps he had missed with all his heart. And now he missed them again. He sighed, shaking his head. For all that he missed the swamps, his place was with the rest of the pride. He...cared too much. At least his mother seemed happier for the lack of mud? Though really, his mother could look like the most dignified royal blood to exist even when she was dripping wet and muddy.
It was just...still so strange. "Spirits, what did we do to be driven from our home? Did we...simply need a change? To keep from being too settled in bad ways?"
Mpozi was still styudying the mountain even upon coming home so long ago. The cold was Wrong, the air was Wrong, everything was Wrong - she wasn't even sure the spirits were appropos, buit she did decide she needed to be polite, even if the move happened during her pilgrimage. She worried for Beti and her mate, wondering if they needed to come home or if she need find a way to send directions, and the lioness sat. There were no gaps to bridge her and her name felt meaningless, but she still may yet do- something with her life, and Mpozi moved about the mountain lightly, sighing. Another day, another hunt.
Ninau paused when he scented another. This far up...it could only be another pride member. And the scent was familiar. It took him a moment before he recognized why. Ah yes! Hadn't one of Daima's cubs returned recently? Well...she wasn't a cub anymore. She was fullgrown now, with her adult name. And, if he remembered right, she'd grown into her paws quite well. He shifted a bit, making his way toward the scent. Perhaps it would...behoove him to be social. He could ponder the intricacies of the spirits later.
Mpozi blinked when she scented a male, blinking before turning to the scent. It was one she knew, and the female beamed, bounding to pounce playfully.
"HIIII!"
The male raised a brow at the female's antics, letting himself be pounced. "Hello. I see you've grown and come home. So what is it I am to call you now? Aside from mudball?" He wasn't always serious! Having a cub had helped cure that.
"Mpozi-Nyufa." She purred. "But just Mpozi is fine. How've you been?" She smiled, grooming him promptly. "I bet nice and warm. I'm cold."
Did she really...she did. Ninau rolled his eyes, letting her groom. For now. Unless Amaranthus happened by, of course. But his daughter deserved to see him at his most dignified. "I've been well. My daughter has been settling in rather well. And I..." He paused. "How are you doing, Mpozi? Settling into the new pridal lands alright?"
"I'm adjusting alright." She sighed, shrugging. "It feels wrong here though. Cold and not as comfortable." She missed the swamps, very much so.
The white-and-black male nodded, frowning. "It is very strange. The ground isn't as soft, and I rather miss swimming." He'd never been the best at it, but he did so miss it. "And the creatures around here...they just aren't the same. The plants are different. And..." He sighed. "It's not what I raised my daughter to...Amaranthus loved the swamps I taught her about. And so soon after we came home, we were chased out by fire..."
Wait.
"Perhaps it was only the spirits of fire who were angry with us, for some reason." But what reason would fire have to be angry at them? Perhaps because before the drought, the swamps had been nigh impervious to their touch?
"There are lions with spirits of fire." Mpozi said softly. "Maybe that's it. One of us angered the fire spirits and they punished us all." A frown came across her maw and she looked down, shaking her head. "But we're not of fire.... So... Why?"
"I hope to one day figure it out." He was a very curious, studious sort. He would find an answer, no matter how long it took. He would find why they had been punished. "Until then...we must adjust, and hope that one day we can return home..." Preferably within his lifetime. And the lifetimes of their cubs. He wanted to grow old in the swamps, not with the cold rock of the mountain they now dwelled on.
"I hope so. I miss mud and splashing." Mpozi sighed. "Oh, Beti will be so unhappy."
"I just miss home." He wanted the place where he grew up, the place where he had learned to hunt and inspect the world. He wanted the mud and water and great trees. "Beti?" The name was familiar...but he could not place a face to it for a moment. "Ah! Yes, one of Daima's first!" Now he remembered her. The first-born, pale.
"Mmmm! I ran into her! She's still traveling, but with a mate." Mpozi's eyes flashed with excitement, the female beaming. "And a looker too. Very big and handsome."
A mate..."I hope they return home soon, then." Pain crossed his features, and the ache he'd thought he'd pushed aside returned with a vengeance. To be Jini-msemi on one's Name Quest was hard enough. To have a mate? It was harder. Especially if something happened. "And I hope they return without loss." No one deserved to lose their mate like he had.
"They probably will." Mpozi admitted. "Apparently he's a fighter, if not a bit grumpy." A shrug, and she smiled to him. "All will be well."
"There are more dangers than just fights." He shuddered, then nodded. "Whatever the case...so long as they come home, all is well." He let his ears turn towards a faint noise, then chuckled. "It seems my daughter calls. I will talk with you another time, Mpozi." He nodded to her, then turned to go towards his daughter's voice.
"Keep warm." Mpozi grinned, and nodded, turning to move off herself. At least someone had sense.
