I'm The Map, The Map~ (Ingi,Ajili,Mapatano,Umoja) FIN

[[. Rozu .]]

This was all so strange!

Eyes closed shut, claws dug at the soft ground of the cave floor while the pudgy cub cringed at the dream-like visions that flew at him at what seemed like lightning speed. Then, as soon as it began, Ingi found himself dumbfounded and staring blankly at the endless tunnel of darkness before him. What just happened?

What began as what seemed like a never ending search for his father lead him and Ajili to the base of the mountains and into the mouth of an ominous looking cave. They were lost in a maze of crisscrossed roads that often turned into dead-ends, making everything extremely confusing. Ingi would have ask to turn around and go back to where they had started, but it was growing increasingly obvious that finding the entrance was going to be equally as difficult to find as the opposite end. If there even was another end.

So lost! We're never going to get out of here! But I've got to be strong... Strong like daddy!

Sticking close to Ajili's side, tiny eyes had already adjusted to the dull lighting of the cave, but it was hard to see anything more then basic outlines of even his mom's figure beside him. But what was really puzzling was the vision he had seen before. What was it? And why is everything starting to look... Familiar? Blinking, it took the cub a moment to realize that what he had seen in his mind was beginning to show up around them. Show me again! Shutting his eyes, it took a bit of serious thinking, but sure enough it all began once more. From where he was standing, the cub felt himself fly forward, twisting through the dark tunnels and on to a point where it stopped. This must be where we should go!

Finding himself where he had begun, Ingi couldn't help but grin wildly and let out a squeal of delight. "Mamma! Mamma I know which way to go! This way!" He yelled out before bounding ahead.  

[[Eskimo]]

How long had it been since the earthquake? Hours? Days? Ajili didn't know any more. It seemed like it had been an eternity since they had started traveling through those dark tunnels. With so little light around, Ajili felt as though the world had been plummeted into an eternal night after the quaking of the earth. But she had to be brave; for Ingi's sake.

Ingi...He was acting strangely. When they first got into the tunnels, Ajili acted as the strong mother and lead the way as best as she could to try to find some sort of exit. But she grew tired; tired of the darkness, tired of the never-ending searching...and her cub's excited ideas of helping to lead the way won her over. So, she let him lead. Strangely, it didn't feel like they were lost. It was like Ingi knew the way out, or at least thought he did. Either way, Ajili began to feel hopeful.

"I'm coming, little one." she called gently. "But not so fast." she added, a smile tugging at her lips. And putting her every last ounce of trust in her son, she followed him.  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano watched the two for a moment, though he couldn't make out their shapes too well in the darkness. Bicker bicker bicker. They should concentrate on something more productive! From quiet Mapatano had gone to rather restless. He hadn't slept a wink since the entire ordeal, the darkness was probably good because his face probably looked rather.. bad. Hisa had began to quiet down too, though had, for the time being, taken over as Mapatano being snarky. It was almost like they'd swapped places.

But it was Mapatano who first perked his ears at the sound of paws coming from down one of the tunnels, echoes small, but audible. "Umoja, be quiet and listen. " He snapped, sitting up. Their bickering was getting in the way!


After a moment, he looked to the heir again. "Do you hear that? "  

[[. Rozu .]]

Yes! This has to be right!

So far, the pair had yet to come across any dead-ends thanks to this vision that Ingi was able to use to lead them. Even so, the air seemed to grow colder and damp as they continued padding their way through the tunnels, making the cub shudder. At the moment however, he was too busy concentrating on this ability to really care too much about the chill that clung to his fur. These visions were coming more easily and clearer now, though it only took a couple tries to understand which way they needed to go.

Take a right, follow the long pass and keep going through until we reach...

Eyes flew open and his ears perked up, catching only the slightest hint of what sounded like voices. Slowing his pace, Ingi tilted his head up to gaze at his mother's dark silhouette. "Mamma? Do you think Daddy will be this way?" He would ask curiously, trying to keep his hopes up.

There it was again! It was coming a bit louder now. Two, no wait.. Three voices. "Mamma! Do you hear that too?"  

[[Eskimo]]

Before Ingi had even said anything, the fur on Ajili's back had risen.

There were voices in the distance.

Even though they sounded far-off, that didn't change the frightening fact that they weren't the only two traveling in those tunnels at that moment. Were they lions? Perhaps they were something else? Whoever they were, were they coming towards them or going away? Maybe they were hurt, or trapped. Thoughts buzzed constantly in Ajili's mind and her troubled heart beat quickly. The only thing that snapped her out of her worried trance was the voice of her cub. She couldn't seem ill at ease in front of him.

"Yes, I hear it, Ingi." she answered him, a bit stiffer-sounding than she had wanted. She tried to act as though she didn't hear his question about his father. There was no way he could be in that dark place...Could he? She sped up to walk just slightly in front of Ingi. "No more running ahead, okay, love?" she said sweetly. "Stay close to Mama." She nuzzled the top of his head lightly and continued walking further, voices getting closer with each passing moment.  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano folded his ears back as Umoja began to speak, but was rather glad the lion cut himself off, moments later. As the lion seemed to pay attention to the sounds, like he had, Umoja creeped closer to the tunnel where the sounds were, crouching near the wall as if to catch more sound. Hisa, perched on his shoulders, ruffled her feathers, puffing out, as if anything could see well enough as she took the typical strategy of looking bigger than she was.

Sadly, she was blind as a bat. It was harder to be scary witohut eye contact anyway.  

[[. Rozu .]]

Putting his weird visions aside, Ingi's fur prickled as he stuck as close to his mother's front paws as he thought possible. The once confident little cub began to show his more cautious and innocent side, breaths shaking a little as they continued on. "I'm scared..." He managed to squesk, almost a whisper. These voices were NOT Daddy, he could tell this time and he was sure of it.

Flinching as he heard the booming question ringing through the caverns, Ingi let out a whimper of dispeasure and scampered back to cower behind Ajili. Thank goodness she was here, she would keep them safe. "W-- What..?" Stumbling on his words, poor guy couldn't seem to form any type of sentance.

Mamma will take care of it. She's good at talking to grown-ups... Right?  

[[Eskimo]]

Ajili pressed herself lower to the ground, shielding the majority of her cub with her upper body. She tensed her muscles and stared calmly ahead. Hesitating before answering the roared question directed at them, she tried to get a better look at who or what was in front of them. Whoever they were, they were still too far away to see. Ajili took a whiff in through her nose.

Lions.

A second smell; birds? What would birds be doing with lions?

"Who goes there?" Ajili questioned back daringly. Despite her kind and docile nature, she would never ever back down when it came to protecting Ingi.
 

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano watched Mfalme hop off as well as he could, but in the darkness it was easy to lose someone, even if they were bit like a martial eagle. As expected, he began to shadow Umoja, keeping low to the ground and not pulling ahead, keeping his post behind the lion with Hisa fluttering off to sit in a corner, not wanting to be on his back in case anything jumped out of anywhere. Still, she remained close enough to touch his tail tip, more as a guarantee that she was, in fact, still there.

For a moment he couldn't help but wonder if they were being too jumpy, but then again, they'd been down here a while. They had a good excuse. "Are you from the valley? " Mapatano called out, ears folding back a moment. He didn't know all members voices by heart, and considering how warped it all was due to the echoing, it might as well just be a party looking for them. Umoja, anyways.  

[[. Rozu .]]

The echos of the voices bounced off the walls of the tunnels, making it as if whoever was talking was really big and growing closer still. Tiny claws raked against the soft earth beneath the cub's mitts and his nostrils flared in attempt to catch any sign of scent from these strangers. So close now...

"Mamma, they sound like they're just around the corner!" Voice was a bit louder now as Ingi's curiosity began to grow, knowing now that they didn't sound too threatening. Still, he couldn't muster up enough courage to run ahead of his mother and find them himself.

Ears twitched as he listened to the male's question, as clear as can be. Valley? Ingi had only heard of such a place before, full of tall grasses and chirping bugs... Surely they were not from said valley.

"I think they sound friendly!"  

[[Eskimo]]

Though slowly and steadily, Ajili had continued to walk forward. From the sound of the voices and the scent getting closer and closer, Ajili knew that there were two male lions not so far away. Just like her cub said, they really were very close then. Heart pounding, Ajili put her ears forward and mulled over the question that was asked. They certainly weren't from a valley. But if they said so, how would that affect their situation? Well, if things took a bad turn, they could just...Run away, right? Ajili took a deep breath and decided to trust her instincts and respond. Something in her felt it was okay to speak to them. Their presence didn't feel threatening.

"We are not from a valley." Ajili responded clearly, though not too loudly; they were finally in sight. She could see their basic silhouettes not too far ahead. "I'm Ajili and I'm traveling with my cub, Ingi." She nodded stiffly down to her cub, who was acting very excited. If he trusted them, maybe they weren't dangerous? Ingi did seem to have a strange sense about such things. "We left our home and ended up in here. We're searching--" She cut herself off smoothly. Perhaps it wasn't best to give out too much information so early on. "We're...Trying to find a way out of here now." she said finally, not able to hide the hint of helplessness she felt.

Now, it would all come out. Would the others aid them?

...Or not?