The earthy red male had walked away from his "family" he was traveling with six cubs, and two adult females. They had decided, that the pride would be a good one to rear their young, and so Ten blindly followed along with the idea. The mass amount of creatures were something he was not all together used, and he wandered away from were the females and young napped. The ocean was a sight to see, something he could never have imagined. Standing on the shore and feeling the water ebb at his feet the lion felt not at peace but in confusion. How had he ended up in such a place? He got wind that there were others from his past that might be here, and now he was stuck. He opened his eyes and looked out at the vast waters. What kind of things lay out there? Where did it end? Did it have all the answers like Kamaria seemed to hope? He wasn't sure, but he assumed there would be someone in this pride that knew more of the ocean that drove him crazy with questions.
Miani was out collecting the sea's gifts, as she did every morning. She bent to pick up a shell with care, and placed it in the simple woven sack she wore around her neck. Her eyes were on the sand and the water, dancing to and fro sharply in hopes of spotting something meaningful. Her tail swished thoughtfully behind her as she padded slowly, weaving a bit as she went, not at all paying attention to where she was going.
Ten did not hear the approach of the female, but quickly saw her come into view in his peripheral and turned towards her, "Miss, you might want to look up, you've nearly walked over me, " he spoke cheerfully, something that he rarely did and looked her over. She looked like the seaweed that washed ashore only she looked more well kept. In fact, with what she looked like she could have been one of the gifts that she delicately collected. Seeing her pouch he thought of possibly collecting things for Senalta's young to use as play things and trinkets to remember their time here, if they did not join.
Miani looked up with a start, then smiled. A wanderer, no doubt. She hadn't seen him around before, though they seemed to attract a strangely large number of red lions to their cool shores. She shook seaweed from her face, causing many of the trinkets tied around her neck and in her fur to clink and jingle. "I'm sorry," She commented serenely, looking up over him to the clear sky. "The sea is content." She remarked, then tilted her head at his question, as though it was obvious. "Gifts from the sea." She explained. "I come to accept them from her every morning."
"The sea, speaks? And gives gift?" he asked another question and suddenly felt completely rude, "I am Ten, and this is the first time I have ever felt the sea on my skin, he remarked and looked down at his paws as the water pushed towards him and pulled back. He thought remotely that maybe it waved like that because it did not want to touch him. But, that seemed foolish, the young lioness said it was content, not disgusted. His eyes ran over her trinkets, and decided that perhaps he could make those for the little girls in the large litter.
Miani blinked at him, completely in earnest. "Of course it does." She settled gracefully into a sitting position on the warm sand, curling her tail about her paws. "Isn't it wonderful?" She said happily, referring to the feeling of the sea about his paws. "It's very comforting." She gazed out at the sea distractedly, then back to Aten. "Are you here to learn more about the pride?" She inquired curiously. She didn't often meet many of the newcomers to the pride herself, as she was very much a loner, but her father and Tamu often told her about them.
"I can say that it is among the most interesting feelings I have ever experienced," he paused trying to figure out a fair way to interpret that, "I am here with two traveling companions, one has recently given birth and she needs a place to stay to keep her young safe, Kamaria suggested that we come here." He answered and then turned to look off into the distance, "I could live here, the air feels different, but the water is..hypnotizing, like it wants me to be apart of it." But it couldn't want that, look at it pull away, he thought and looked back to the green female, "You look like you belong to the ocean, I bet you hear that a lot."
Miani gazed at Aten with a serene smile, and nodded. "It is perfect here." She said, as though it was fact and not merely her own opinion. She lifted her eyebrows silently as he described his situation. She was not sure how her father felt about cubs - he had expressed the feeling that too many of them would be difficult for the pride to care for properly, but she was sure he wouldn't turn anyone away from the lands out right. "I do belong here." She said, simply. "I am the daughter of King Tambuzi and Queen Mlinda. My name is Miani."
Perfect, a perfect place to raise his adoptive sister's children, Aten had not thought of having children, he did not know about fatherhood, or spending time with someone's cubs and it caused him great inner turmoil trying to act like a good father figure to Senalta's litter. Perfect, well at least if they stayed it would be his perfect home, that's for sure. He smiled warmly, and took a deep breath of the salty air.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Princess Miani, I believe I have me your sister, Tamu?" he offered, remembering the blue lioness, how they looked different! His entire family shared the same reds and dark grays, often black.
"I think you look as if you belong to the sea, is what I was trying to hint at, with the seaweed, and the round things," he lifted his paw and touched one of her shells gently, "What are these, the round things?"
Miani's smile spread wider and she dipped her head gently in confirmation. "Yes! Tamu is my sister. She is wonderful, isn't she?" the green lioness breathed, her expression radiating fondness for her sibling. At his second comment, she tilted her head slightly, a bit of a frown passing over her face. "We all belong to the sea." She informed him, blue eyes completely sincere. She looked down at the shell. "That's one of my sea-gifts. It's a shell. Some animals live in them, and when they die, the sea brings them to us." She explained.
"Tamu was very kind and helpful to us," he nodded and dropped his paw not trying to seem too forward with the lioness, golly if Kamaria found out he had met a lioness alone what would she think? Where I come from we call the things left behind when you die bones, not shells, but of course..animals don't live in bones, do they?" He tried to make a joke but feared he was failing miserably.
"Even those of us who were born miles and miles away are from the sea?" He inquired curiously, surely the sea did not branch too far onto land, look right here was the edge he thought.
Miani stared at him blankly. "No," She replied slowly, as though speaking to a small child. "Many of the sea's creatures wear their bones on the outside." Then she smiled again, the same somewhat distracted smile. "Tamu is lovely, she will make a very good queen someday." The lioness shifted slightly, again causing her ornaments to clink brightly. "Everyone." She repeated firmly. It was the first time her voice had taken on some strength; usually she spoke in an airy fashion that lead one to think her mind wasn't entirely focused on the topic at hand.
"A very good queen indeed."
Aten noted that his joke was missed and his smile faltered slowly, she seemed very dedicated to the sea and the ideas of it, but the nature of her voice made him think she was not interested in their conversation. "I come from a place where water is scarce, and most of the watering holes are hidden away, I find it hard to believe someone can die of thirst in the middle of no where when so much water is here. " He did not know that the water was filled with salt and could not be ingested without a bad taste in your mouth that only left you thirstier.
"I am sorry if I may seem so naive, I am just learning of places around this land, like the desolate deserts and the drought filled Mistweaver lands." He bowed his head and looked down at his paws.
Miani blinked and stared at him with some confusion. She certainly did not mean to belittle or upset him. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then leaned down, pawing one of her many shell pendants off and, picking it up in her teeth, slipped it over his head. She then sat back, serene smile back on her face, admiring her handiwork. "I've heard of such places." She remarked thoughtfully. "Though I find it hard to imagine them. We have much water, salty and fresh." She perked her ears up, and idea coming to her. "Would you like me to show you around the lands a bit?" She asked brightly.
Aten blushed furiously behind his red cheeks as she slipped the pendant around his neck, now he had one of her wonderful trinkets, "I will always remember meeting you and the sea because of this, even if we do not stay in your wonderful lands." He commented and his ears perked up at the thought of seeing more of the lands, he had not seen much of it, mostly the borders and he'd wandered to the beach as his companions.
"I'd love to see more! I have seen very little!"
Smiling and gazing out at the waters briefly, Miani got to her paws, shaking sand off of her fur as she did so. "Lovely. Then you will be able to find water and food for your friends." She remarked, smiling back at him to make sure he was following her. She set off towards the ridge of the forest where the clear spring flowed, tail flicking and charms clinking.
Aten mimicked her shaking the sand from his fur, although he had little and stood moving slowly after her. long before coming to this pride the male walked with a limp, but over time wounds heal, he still felt the phantom pain and stiffness, as he walked he shook his hind left leg to shake the feelings.
"I would love to feed them, there are so many, even knowing where to bring the little ones for water ill make things easier."
"Well, don't let them drink from the sea." Miani advised, leaping deftly over a large rock. "It's not fit for drinking." She explained, leaning back to make sure Aten was alright. Walking on sand could take some getting used to. "I will show you the stream we drink from."
He followed her with his eyes as well as his paws and saw the concern in her eyes as she looked back. He was not used to sand, bu that was not the issue either, he was still mentally healing up from a grueling trip away from the desert.
"Has this pride lived her for many years? I know many prides are generations old, but I haven't seen too many lions, perhaps I'm not looking hard enough." He wondered if they were as old as the firekin or pride lands.
Miani considered his question thoughtfully, picking her way up the slope of rocks to the forest. "We are an old pride." She answered finally. "But many years ago the sea became angry and took all of the members away, save my mother. We are only beginning to rebuild our numbers." She didn't sound particularly sad about this tragedy, simply stating it as fact. After all, the sea must have had a good reason for its actions.
"The sea took them?!" His eyes grew wide as he weaved around a large rock not wanting to merely walk over it. His heart turned to his companions, would the sea take them if it was angry? Would it be angry because they were not welcome here? They seemed welcome..what if the sea did not want him? He shivered at the thought.
"How..did it take them?" He gulped. How he sounded so young here, so naive.
Miani peered back at him, eyebrows raised curiously. He sounded so shocked! "Yes," she replied simply, padding through the undergrowth towards the watersource. "It raised a massive storm and swept them all away." She said serenely, blending in with the lush foliage that grew around the springs.
"Do you think this could happen again soon?" He asked wearily what if this storm takes his friends and this nice pride? No one seemed mean here, what would force the sea to take them all? He continued to follow her with his eyes and noted that she was the color of her surroundings here as well, she probably could easily hide in plain sight around the pride's lands because she knew them so well.
"He ducked around branches and tree trunks his bulky form feeling a bit large for the current surroundings. He began to hear a soft bubbling and knew that meant a stream and was happy to know that this lioness was just as nice as the others and wouldn't deceive him.
"No, I don't think so." Miani said cheerfully, pushing through a thick growth of branches to a small clearing where a spring bubbled out of a pool and ran in streams towards the sea. "But I couldn't say for certain. The sea is temperamental." She bent to take a few laps of cool water, then lifted her head, cleaning the drips off of her whiskers thoughtfully. "And we've moved our dens much farther from the beaches, of course." She added with a smile.
He pushed through wriggling his fur free of the brush and essentially poped out the other side into the small clearing, "This place holds so many circles," he commented his nerves calming, she seemed intune with the water and if she trusted it not to take them then he did as well, he could probably tell scary stories to the cubs about it.
He bent and took a sip of the cool water closing his eyes as it sloshed down his throat, "It tastes to clean," he murmured and opened his eyes to look at her, "You have been such a wealth of information for me, I don't think I will ever find anyone harmful in these lands. And it is good to know to tell Senalta to build den away from the waters." an odd look came over his face and quickly left. He was thinking how odd it was to just trust someone, he'd never done that before, always questioning loyalty and faith.
Miani smiled as he took a drink, nodding her head. "The water comes right out of the earth." She indicated the mouth of the spring, where the cool water bubbled forth. She gazed at Aten fondly. "Yes, everyone here is lovely. If anyone was bad or harmful, father would make them leave." She assured him, stretching. "She would be safest past the rocks, I think. I've never seen the waters go that far."
"Actually from the inside of the earth?" He questioned but this one was not to be answered, of course she was right, "This place is full of wonders, no wonder it is the perfect place." he answered and took another drink. "I was worried at first..afraid to get in trouble with a pride afraid of so much water, she says I will learn to swim, but now..you've shown me wondrous things in such a short time!" How he felt so alive and new here was a mystery to him, but it felt like he' come to the right place, and if they did have to move on then so be that, but for now he anted to enjoy it.
"Perhaps I should get back to the girls and the cubs," he said allowed and gave her an 'I'm sorry, duties' type of look.
"Don't worry, my parents are very kind. The joining rituals are strict, but not difficult if you're really interested in the pride." Miani lifted her nose to the air. "We don't swim much." She admitted with a smile. "Anyway, it's dangerous to go to far out. You could get swept away." She perked her ears up at his last statement. "Oh, of course! Would you like me to help you find your way back to the beach?"
"I believe we have an interest, at least the girls and I do, but it depends on how everything happens I suppose," he bowed his head deeply to her, "Thank you Princess Miani, you've helped me enough for one day, wandering my way back does not seem like such a bad thing." He loved that swimming did not happen often he was afraid of getting too far out as it was, but also afraid that he was so big he would sink to the bottom like a stone.
Making another deep bow, a gesture he was accustom to he turned back the way they had come and squeezed himself through the brush's edge and began his descent back to the beach, to follow hi own footprints back to the girls and the children.
