[PRP] Wayward Daughter

[Mimsey]

Fira was annoyed.

Fira was usually annoyed, but in this particular instance she felt she was at least partially justified. After subjecting herself to yet another one of her mother's wild tangents about the 'great' history of their blood and the dramas of their ensuing 'grand destiny', Fira had slunk away to avoid the midday sun and contemplated disowning the rest of her family. There was only so much madness she could take, and these days, it felt as though she had too much of it.

Sighing, Fira dug her claws into the hot sands. For the moment, just contemplating. Disowning seemed melodramatic...but there were often times she dreamed of simply running away. She was likely too frightened for such an action...but it was tempting.

Up ahead, Fira noted a raven circling in the distance. She shrunk a bit further into the shadows. Likely Yoan, looking to make amends for Elcca's ranting. Fira decided if there was anything she disliked more than her mother's random mood swings and delusions, it was being patronized to.

"...I need to do something."  

[Mimsey]

Kolina

Will do fine! <3

Fira's stare was a wide-eyed one, and for a moment it might have looked as though she'd rather run than risk the threat of lecturing. Her shoulders twitched, muscles compelled to motion...motion that never happened. She sighed, full of dejection and angst as she allowed the older lioness to settle down beside her.

"I'm not good company," Fira said gruffly. Only she couldn't quite pull off the gruff tone, and it sounded just a pitch too close to whining. She never liked how she couldn't carry a more foreboding lilt to her voice.

Grumbling to herself the lioness curled in the other direction, showing Kinja only her back. But as the seconds passed, she realized it might have been something close to folly to think that the older woman would simply walk off. Elders had endless time on their paws, didn't they?

Her nose crinkled, just short of a sniffle. Then she turned her head, her grey eyes steely. "I don't need advice or anything," she protested. But it came out sounding anything but.  

[Mimsey]

Kolina

Fira grumbled to herself as realization set in. She wasn't entirely familiar with pride names either, but her mother did keep a short-list of important sounding individuals. While legacy names were common in the firekin, Fira doubted that there were many named Kinja.

If escape wasn't possible, then she'd have to talk.

"Fira," she said flatly, her head thumping onto her paws. "I doubt you would have had reason to know it."

That wasn't entirely true. When they were born, her mother had made sure to parade them around half the pride. As a cub, she'd never completely managed to escape the stigma of her drudge father. Now, as an adult, she found herself unable to find a place for herself to stand on.

"If you can't walk around, why not stay home?" she grumbled.  

[Mimsey]

Kolina

Fira's ears immediately went flush to her head at the mention of her mother being proud of them. That was maybe true in some cases- she was proud of her brothers. Proud of her sister. But her? Granted, Fira supposed her siblings often felt the same. Elcca was a strange lioness, whose attention was won for seemingly the most bizarre of reasons.

"My mother is only proud of herself," she snipped, her chin raising off her paws. "I doubt it had anything to do with us. Probably just wanted attention. Everyone gives mothers attention, she would feel as though she were obligated to it."

That definitely sounded more like her mother. "I wouldn't mind being alone, I think. Could go around, do whatever I wanted."

Even she realized how childish that sounded. Her eyes lowered.  

[Mimsey]

Kolina

That pride can be so strong that it certainly can overshadow their pride in other things. Fira felt the words prod about in her head as she tried to rectify such a thought with her own mother. Elcca was a proud lioness to be certain. She was always quick to remind the world that she was not a firekin by birth, and that her 'extensive' explorations of the outside world were what had allowed her such freedoms and powers.

But maybe Kinja was right. Elcca was a firekin. For all her blustering, one thing she had never lacked for was pride. She had found the place that suited her wiles, and given rivals for her to compete with. Maybe she'd always been that way.

"I suppose," she said quietly. Although a bit short, the sad tone suggested that the words had hit their mark. The idea of truly leaving home, being alone... it did frighten her. What she worried was whether or not that fear was natural, or a mark of cowardice. "...guess I don't really know where I'd go even if I went somewhere."

She gave a sigh, pressing her forehead back against her paws. "Just feels like...I don't really do anything. Mom has all these crazy ideas but I can't keep up with them. And I don't know if I'm just too dumb to understand her, or if she really is just crazy. I just sit around and whine."
 

[Mimsey]

Kolina

A job. It seemed like too easy a solution, but as she sat there, Fira realized she didn't exactly have a lot of other options. At the moment, she hunted. Not exactly work she was particularly good at, nor felt fulfilled doing. A sentinel though... they got to leave the pride.

Elcca would hate that. She'd hate even one of her offspring falling far from reach, not with her grand plans.

"I'm not really good at a lot of things," she admitted, looking back down at her black foot-pads. "But...I don't know. Maybe I'll look into it. My mother would be furious if I went off and became a sentinel."

She glanced up towards the sun, her tail thumping. "...but, maybe less furious than running away."

The lioness sat upright, a fine layer of sand clinging to her side. Her head turned to face the older female, her own expression falling as her ears pressed to her head. "I...uh," she started awkwardly. Her tail twitched. "You said you couldn't make it back to the main dens? I could walk back with you, if you'd like."  

[Mimsey]

Fira made a light sound in her throat that might have been a laugh. She couldn't exactly argue with that. At the very least, Elcca would have to find someone else to heckle during the day. "Mom always used to say our family has bad luck with things. But done right, the capacity for anything."

She had a feeling it was mostly superstition. But maybe...it was time to try her own hand at fortune.

"I don't mind the pace," she said, following slowly behind Kinja. Her head was low, but little about her steps suggested she was ready to rush into her future just yet.

For the moment, Fira simply retreated into the companionable silence of an older female that wasn't currently nagging her.

/end