[PRP] Fresh Beginnings (Adina x Imarogbe)

[RuIerr]

Finally.


Finally, Adina had discovered the pride she'd been searching for. A majority of her life had been spent as a Banu in the Ukuucha'Wafalme, a pride full of polygamy in the form of harems. It became a lifestyle that Adina grew accustomed to, enjoying the daily function of the pride and the way she was able to exist easily within it. After being blinded by her sister for becoming a "traitor" in adapting to the pride's ways and reforming herself, life was hard. It took adjusting. But she grew to love it. Then, the pride disbanded. She struggled to survive. The only food she managed for herself were the slowest and weakest animals, usually small creatures like rabbits that were already injured. Adina had no hope. Frail and hungry, she finally opened herself up to speaking to others, and eventually heard tales of the Likno Tis Zois, a pride completely different from what she was used to, save for one thing: harems. She knew immediately that she had to find it, knowing that the comfort of the familiar pridal structure would help her once again.

Now, she was a member. A Constable. She was regaining her weight, feeling like herself again. And it was wonderful. Although the new lands were uncomfortable to navigate, she was learning. Adina was settling into a routine, finally getting comfortable with it all once again. She could tell that the pride was not large, but had avoided as many members as she encountered in her days within the Likno. However, she knew that could not last. Eventually, she had to open up to socializing once again with pride members. This was her new home, after all.

Big Hobbit

 

[Big Hobbit]

Imarogbe was stalking around the pride in boredom. This pride seriously never got attacked or anything. He had spent quite a while patrolling the borders, but had left when someone had come to trade positions with him. Now he had nothing to do and the rest of the day to do it.

When he was growing up in the Ukuucha'Wafalme, there always seemed to be something going on. His many relatives always bustling around up to this or that. Then, when they'd been under attack, everything had been chaos and insanity and he had been thrust out into the roguelands to fen for himself.

This had happened before, but there had been hope of him returning home, a goal at the end of the tunnel. This time, there had been no goal and he was stuck out in the wide open world. He was fortunate to have found this pride, this new foundation that one of his relatives had build up from the ground. Ima swore that he would help guard and protect this place once he'd come to live here.

He never wanted what'd happened in his home pride to ever happen again.

Pausing in his steps, he saw a lioness that he'd never met before. So, he thought that he'd do the neighborly thing and introduce himself. Approaching slowing, he greeted her, "Hello there!"

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

Adina's ears twitched slightly as she heard quiet paw steps in the distance, apparently headed her way. The steps were heavy, sounding like that of a male. Her suspicions were confirmed as she heard a deep voice call out. Assuming he was speaking to her, she turned slowly in his direction, hesitantly stepping forward. Adina smiled kindly, a habit of hers she discovered after her old pride had allowed her to join, and dipped her head slightly. Although she couldn't see the other, she realized it was still a nice sign of respect to acknowledge them in that way. "Hello," she spoke softly, then cleared her throat a bit, realizing she wasn't quite sure how far away the male was, or whether or not her voice was reaching him.

"I don't, ah, recognize your voice. I'm new to the Likno, I don't know many others. My name is Adina," she spoke a bit louder this time, the smile still pasted to her face. Going from nearly homicidal bad girl to someone calm, quiet, and submissive was strange, but Adina liked to think she made it work for her. Although it definitely still felt strange. She raised her head a bit higher, knowing that on occasion strangers found it difficult to understand just how bad her situation was. In this new pride, Adina strived to make it easier, making her handicap crystal clear while continuing to assert her usefulness. It was important to her.

Big Hobbit

 

[Big Hobbit]

"It's nice to meet you Adina, my name is Imarogbe," he said with a strong but kind voice, "I haven't lived here for that long myself, but I do like it here and I hope you will as well."

When she lifted her head, Ima was initially taken aback by the scars that ran across her eyes, clearly causing her blindness. Then, he felt a slight anger toward whoever had put them there. They were clearly claw-like and he could guess that she probably hadn't been blind prior to being injured.

Ima knew that he knew nothing about this lioness and was meeting her for the first time, but somehow he felt that she had been scarred unjustly. He knew just how cruel this world could be. Besides, on first impression Ima thought that Adina seemed like a nice person.

"You know, if you ever have any questions or need help finding your way around here I'd be more than happy to help," Ima smiled and then grimaced at his choice of words, hoping that he didn't sound like he was referring to her blindness, and quickly added, "Not that you can't find your own way around! If you want, you know..."

If he hadn't been in the middle of a conversation, he probably would have smacked himself in the face. It probably would have been better not to intoduce himself if he was going to act like an idiot.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

Imarogbe. In her mind, Adina was rolling the name over and over, focusing intently on his voice, determined to recall him the next time she encountered him. While in her old pride this had become old hat, she hadn't spoken with anyone really since, and she knew her memory was going to test her this time around. And so she focused on Imarogbe's voice, finding it a pleasant mixture of deep and kind, something she actually enjoyed listening to.

At his rushed words, Adina let out a large laugh. "I would love to have someone show me around," she said with a smile. "It is quite difficult to figure things out when you can't really see what you're supposed to be figuring out." Her tail twitched, clearly entertained by the male's nerves at committing some sort of faux-pas in pointing out her condition. After it had first happened, when her sister had blinded her, she'd been quite sensitive to it even being mentioned. But now it was a fact of life that she knew she had to live with, so it was better for everyone for her to remain good-natured about it.

"What's this place like, anyway?" She tilted her head questioningly, eyes fixed, unblinking, on the male. "I haven't gotten to do much exploring. I've been a bit too tired, I suppose. Care to show me around?" Imarogbe seemed nice, Adina decided, and she could use some nice in her life. So why not try to rope him in?

Big Hobbit

 

[Big Hobbit]

Ruler of Everything

At the sound of her laugh, Ima relaxed and his fear that he may have offended the lioness in their first meeting dissipated, and his relaxed and easy going smile returned to his face. He was generally a social guy and preferred that others liked him and enjoyed his company.

"I'd love to show you around your new home. Besides, I know all the best places to hang out," he said proudly. As a guard in the pride, Ima spent much of his time stalking the border, making sure that no trouble came into the pride's lands.

Ima still shivered when he thought of the chaos that had brought his homeland to the ground. He would help protect his new home with all of his strength. He couldn't afford to be lost again like he'd been.

"What kind of things do you like to do?," he asked, trying to get a feel of where he should take her first.  

[RuIerr]

Adina could hear the pride in Imarogbe's voice, and it made her feel the same. Not for the same reasons, of course; he seemed to enjoy his familiarity with the Likno lands, but Adina was just proud to have discovered them, a wonderful group of lions with her same beliefs that were warm and welcoming. Glad to have another member, no matter the strange circumstances that had brought her there.

At his question, Adina cocked her head. "Well, I..." Hm. She thought. And thought. There wasn't much she actually did - she just enjoyed wandering around and hoping for the best. But then, "I do enjoy water. Of course it can't be too deep or too rough, but it's nice. I've always enjoyed the feeling of water on my paws." Adina's mind was suddenly triggered, returning to days in the Ukuucha, and her eyebrows raised involuntarily. It had been so long, but how could she have forgotten? "I really love cubs. I don't know if there's a place where they're all watched over, but..." She trailed off, smiling pleasantly. "They're just so innocent and carefree. Although they don't understand much, they're still so entirely free of being judgemental. Nothing's ever made me happier."

If her eyes could light up, they would have been shining brighter than the sun at this moment. Although her and her Pad in the Ukuucha had never had the chance to even try for cubs, they'd always been a huge comfort to her.

Big Hobbit

 

[Big Hobbit]

Ima waited patiently for her answer with interest. He was definitely curious about his new acquaintance. She seemed to hold an air of mystery around her and he wondered what her story was. Maybe one day he would learn more about her.

When she spoke he listened intently and then looked upward in thought. He was silent for a few minutes as he filtered through the locations in the pride that he knew of.

"Water, huh? And cubs? You know, I think I know the perfect place that we can go to first. Come with me."

Ima got her attention and lead her to the location that he'd though of. He walked toward the area of the pride where several of the families lived. There was an open field where Ima knew many of the cubs played under the safe watch of adult pride members. In the center of the field was a small pond that was only chest deep and a few small fish swam around.

"I've seen cubs playing here, and there's also a shallow pond in the field if you'd like to wade in the water," Ima said to Adina, grinning happily.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

At Imarogbe’s rather positive and optimistic response, Adina grinned. It wasn’t often anyone dealt well at all with her blindness. They typically reacted awkwardly, uncomfortable at their own ignorance of how to treat her like, well, a normal lioness. Although on her way to the Likno lands she had encountered a young male who indulged in her lost love of the night sky, that, she found, was a unique experience. But with Imarogbe here, it seemed as if things were starting to really look up for her.

Following both his scent and his footsteps, Adina was led to what felt like an open expanse. According to the slight sink of her paws into the ground, she sensed there was a body of water somewhere nearby. Her suspicions were confirmed when Imarogbe explained the scene to her, it being the absolute perfect place to bring someone with her interests. Her face visibly brightened as she mentally jotted down the way to reach this place. Although she couldn’t hear the pleasant sounds that seemed to follow cubs around, Adina knew it’d be a place to which she would want to return.

“Has anyone told you how incredible you are?” She grinned at him endearingly, already feeling incredibly lucky to have found both the Likno and Imarogbe. Flicking her nose forward, she continued smiling and started to head in the direction she felt the water would be, according to the change in dampness of the ground. “C’mon!”

Big Hobbit

I'm so sorry! I didn't see this until now, for some odd reason

 

[Big Hobbit]

Imarogbe felt pleased with Adina's reaction, he was enamored by the way her face lite up in happiness. He grinned bashfully at her comment and looked away from her even though he knew that she couldn't see him.

"Oh it's nothin," Ima shrugged nonchalantly while still grinning, "I pass by this spot sometimes on my rounds."

To him, the area was simply a reminder of the way his life used to be, surrounded by family members and those who loved you. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of his fellow pride members, it was just that he missed having things like someone to sleep next to or someone to tell all of his deepest thoughts and dreams. He would have his own family one day.

Adina snapped Ima out of his brief reverie and he then refocused his attention on her. He quickly trotted after her so that he could walk with her toward the pond where there were a couple of cubs splashing around the edge.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming!"

Well, the day had done a complete turn around for Imarogbe, and he really couldn't complain about it. He wasn't the type of guy to stick to a schedule anyways, he tended to get sidetracked and he wasn't about to change now.

At the end of the day, it seemed to him that he had benefited from it.

Ruler of Everything

Its cool, end?