[PRP] Amphibian Melodies [Madaha + Nantale] - FIN

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nantale was out on a hunt. Not a true hunt, per se, but a hunt nonetheless. Music was everywhere, from the wind in the rushes to the drip-drip-drip of the rainwater off the trees. Her pride had taught her that and she had embraced it with her heart. But today, she was looking for something a little more special than the natural music. She had heard tales of smaller animals having music and was seeking the truth to that statement. It was too early to search for fireflies, the creatures which had helped her mother teacher her cheetah friend how to dance. Instead, she was looking for something a little more… amphibian.

"Here froggy frog…." She called, mis-matched eyes darting from leaf to leaf. "I just want to talk." Binafsi had told her that she'd heard frogs singing, that it was the way that they looked for a mate. Though she was not interested in finding a mate she was interested in their song. So far, however, her search had been in vain. Whether there were just no frogs near the stream or they were all just hiding from her she didn't know but she was determined to find at least one.

As she rounded a stump a rustle in the reeds made her hesitate, eyes locking on the large bull frog that leap from its hiding place. Nantale's face split into a grin. "I fooooound you!" She whispered. Across the small trickle of the stream, the lioness and the bull frog eyed each other, neither ready to make a move. Now what to do…  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha's stomach growled, and it wasn't for the first time that day, either. The problem with being on your own, among many of it's other troubles, was that food was harder to come by. She wasn't a strong huntress on her own, finding for whatever reason that the speed or strength to take down the cleverer game didn't come naturally to her. Whatever the case, be it bad luck or bad skill, she'd been subsisting on small fry for days, and was plenty sick of it.

She knew from the scents on the wind that there were other lions nearby, but the source was indistinct. Mada was being cautious, but there were other worries, too. For starters, she was thirsty, and she could hear the rush of slow-moving water close by. She also thought she heard a voice, but once she'd stood still to listen, it was gone. Just her imagination?

Quietly, in case it wasn't all in her mind, she crept towards the streambed, crouching down in the reeds to hide herself and take stock of her surroundings. The stream seemed peaceful enough here... Madaha had about decided, after a moment's hesitation, that all was well, when she caught sight of a large, fat bullfrog about a leap's distance from her hiding place. Her stomach started to turn at the thought of eating a slimy, bony bullfrog, but the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Who knew when she would find an easy catch like this again?

Madaha stilled herself, tensing her muscles, and after a moment's pause, leaped forward in an explosion of dry reeds to catch the frog with both front paws. She wasn't fast enough this time; the frog jumped away at the last moment, and Mada was rewarded for her efforts with a giant splash of water right in her face, and both her paws sunk into the cold mud of the streambed. Disgusted, she growled to herself, then looked up and froze, staring into the face of a big, black lioness. Startled and more than a little frightened, she didn't move for a moment, staring mutely up into the stranger's face. She seemed somehow familiar...  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Steady now… it was not the time for rash judgements. If Nantale was going to communicate with the frog then she would have to win its trust. She would have to prove that she wasn't about to catch it and make it her next meal. Of course the frog should have known that just by looking at her, what with her well-fed body and glossy coat, but she would forgive the amphibian. For all their supposed musical talents, she'd heard they had very small brains.

The lioness was just about to extend a peace treaty to the creature when things went awry. From out of nowhere another lioness joined the scene, springing out of hiding in an attempt to catch the frog. Unfortunately for her, the frog was quicker, and all the other female got was mud. Nantale, who had stepped backward in surprise, only received a gentle spray, leaving barely-visible mud spatter on her face. The lioness wrinkled her nose and brought a paw up to clean it off, watching the other lioness with her blue eye.

"I was going to talk to that frog, you know," Nantale started conversationally. "He was supposed to teach me how to sing. I don't suppose you were trying to eat him, were you?"  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha took a moment to compose herself. She had mud all over her chest and paws from her landing, and surveying this dismally, she thought to herself that it'd take hours of grooming before she'd be able to get all of it out of her fur. On top of this, she was wet (not her favorite state of being), and standing in a most undignified half-crouch right in the stream before a lioness whose stare made her want to slink off into the reeds and hide. She didn't sense that she was unfriendly, just... She was so sleek and confident-looking, and here Madaha was looking like something that had been dragged through a watering hole.

"Sorry," Madaha muttered quite sheepishly, flattening her ears against her head in embarrassment. "I guess I did want to eat him... Maybe you'll find another one?" But not around here, Mada thought shamefully. Her outburst would have scared everything away within earshot. Looking at the lioness before her, Mada once again had a strange feeling of deja-vu. It was the dark lioness's eyes... Such odd, unique eyes that seemed to remind Madaha of someone she once knew. She straightened up, still standing in the water but with other things on her mind, and asked boldly, "Do I know you? You just... You look familiar to me."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"I guess," Nantale answered noncommittally before shrugging. "Don't worry too much about it. I don't think he was going to talk anyways. They're very skittish around this river for some reason. Probably because they're being hunted. Oh well." She couldn't imagine eating frogs. They'd taste like swamp water, or worse, mud, and she would much eat something with fur or feathers than disgusting slimy skin. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and this lioness was clearly trying to make due with whatever she could catch. Perhaps she could convince her mother to let her stay a while in the pride. Kitambi shouldn't mind.

Her question, however, caught Nantale off guard and she tipped her head. After some careful deliberation she decided that she definitely didn't recognize this lioness and she didn't look like anyone she should know. "I'm not sure," the dark lioness answered after a pause, a slight frown forming on her face. "I can't say I recognize you though. You don't have any family in my pride, do you?"  

[Satsurashi]

"Well, probably not," Madaha confessed, going over her mental list of relatives still living in her mind and affirming that none of them should have been anywhere near where she was. "But if you're talking about the Nchi'Mahadhi, then I used to be a member, a long time ago. I would have been just a cub then."

Madaha knew that she was close to it's borders, or at least... well, to be perfectly honest, Madaha wasn't entirely sure where it's borders were anymore. She just knew it was close. Looking over the lioness again, Madaha couldn't shake that feeling of recognition, but when the other lioness hadn't known her Madaha assumed she had been wrong.

"My name's Madaha," she introduced herself, still standing in the stream and muddy, to the well-groomed lioness before her. Yes, there was definitely a bit of shame and embarrassment involved.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Well.... she hadn't expected that.

Nantale's eyes widened at the mention of her pride before she threw her head back and laughed. "Well I'll be damned!" She continued to chuckle, her grin widening. "You know I don't think I've ever head that one from a rogue before. You're in luck then, Madaha! That's my birth pride. My mother is the Malenga." The lioness couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to tell a rogue something like that and have it mean something. Normally they looked at her like she was crazy. A lion pride that could sing and dance? How absurd! But Madaha... Madaha would understand!

She could barely keep from dancing on the spot, grinning like mad in her excitement. It took her an extra moment to realize that she hadn't even introduced herself and in a rush she said, "I'm Nantale."  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha’s eyes lit up instantly as Nantale spoke, and she couldn’t contain the grin that spread infectiously over her features. What luck that the lioness she ran into was one of the pride she had been looking for, and the Malenga’s daughter no less! To hear mention of the traditional queen’s title after going years without thrilled Madaha.

“It’s great to meet you!” Madaha could barely contain her excitement, stepping up out of the stream and onto the bank on Nantale’s side. Even though she was so out of practice, Madaha felt like dancing, and probably would have had she not been so keen to ask Nantale more questions.

“Are things like they were before the plague? Did many others come back? Do you think I’ll be accepted again? I’ve come a long way to find the pride again, how lucky to run into you!” Brimming with excitement, Madaha realized that she was babbling and quieted herself, though she could not still her swishing tail, and her feet wanted to move without her bidding them to do so.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Nantale could only nod enthusiastically once the questions started. "I can't say for sure what it was like before the plague but it seems to be bright and thriving like before! Or at least, that's what they say and I believe them. And we just got a bunch of old-timers coming back not too long ago! Little group of three that happened to find their way back here with our first storyteller! It's very exciting!" The lioness had been thrilled to hear the kinds of stories their new Sheha had been able to tell them. After travelling for so long she was positively brimming with tales to tell.

"As for being accepted, well…." The dark brown lioness's grin grew cheeky as she gave Madaha a playful swap. "They'll be more than happy to have you back! Come on, let's go! Unless you want to keep hunting frogs out here?" Nantale raised her eye bows and paused mid-step despite being almost certain that the other lioness didn't want to stay here when the pride was only steps away.  

[Satsurashi]

Nantale’s words seemed to ease Madaha’s heart as she heard them. Things were as they had been before the plague… even the assumption coming from someone who wasn’t sure was enough to start Mada reminiscing again. There was no way she could have known who the group of three who recently returned were, but she tried to remember the storyteller when she was a cub. She seemed to remember a darkly-colored lioness, but she was uncertain.

Madaha seemed initially surprised when Nantale swatted at her playfully, but then her grin spread quickly and she bounded in place like a cub. She’d forgotten how good it felt to be with others, and suddenly the prospect of belonging to a big pride again was all the more inviting. All she could think of now was that she had been foolish not to try and return sooner!

“NO, no more frogs if I can help it!” Madaha agreed with vehemence, leaping to join the hesitating lioness, “Unless it’s for singing lessons.”

And so, Madaha was finally on her way home.