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 Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:55 pm
 Nyota sat near the edge of the pride lands waiting for her mother to arrive. She had sent her falcon friend Leena ahead to pass the word of a visitor waiting at the border to her mothers bird, though with strict instructions to not say who it was. Though honestly Nyota figured Maua would know, who else would request for her to come down here instead of taking the journey up to the noble mountain. She had been gone for many months, gone since she had informed her mother that she was indeed pregnant with Tamu's cubs.
Now the cubs were old enough to travel about. Today was a special trip, that she was only taking Uzuri'siri, it was time to introduce her mother to her granddaughter. A granddaughter who didn't have an ounce of purple on her. Oh that would get Maua going almost instantly. "Remember," She told her daughter quickly as they sat there waiting. "Not a word about your brother.""Yes mother I remember." Uzuri'siri gave her head a nod. She had been reminded of many times to not mention her brother when they came to visit her grandparents. Today she would meet her grandmother for the first time and she was quite excited. Her grandmother was a noble, and while her mother didn't like to talk about it all that much but when she did Siri was completely enthralled with the stories. Part of her wished that she could be a noble but from what mother had said that only happened when you had a purple coat and unlike her mother Siri had none.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:31 am
 Maua had been somewhat irritated when Aurora came to wake her this morning "what on earth do you wan at this time of day you accursed little creature?" She'd grumbled at the bird as she roused from her sleep"Begging your pardon Mistress" Came the birds replay though she was careful to try and hide the touch of sarcasm in her voice, dipping her body in a bird bow before continuing on. "But you have a visitor waiting for you at the prides boarder"A visitor? Well wasn't that intriguing, she couldn't think of anyone outside the pride who might wish to speak with her..unless..and suddenly Maua didn't feel nearly as tired as she had been only a few moments ago. "Very well then Aurora" she told the bird in a succulent voice "But you have better hope this is indeed important" She warned the creature with a lick of her lips before standing and making her way out of the den. "Well are you coming or not?" She demanded, over her shoulder when the bird was too slow in following."Of course Mistress!" Came the birds reply as she took to the air in a flurry of feathers to catch up with the lioness, Maua did so hate to be kept waiting and Aurora was quite sure she wouldn't hesitate to replace her - with a rather nasty retirement plan - if she failed to please.Somewhat mollified by the birds quick response Maua started down the mountain to wards the boarders, it wasn't hard to pick out the purple hide of her daughter as she drew closer and she felt a bit mug at seeing her - had rogue life been to hard? Had she returned with a bit more sense in that rebellious head of hers? It seemed so.
Of course that was before she laid eyes on the mud colored cub sitting beside her, what an ugly little creature she thought to herself as she strode up..and thoroughly ignored giving the youth more then a cursory glance (And thus not noticing the golden eye spots so prevalent in her family line) "Nyota.." She greeted the lioness
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:51 am
Nyota sat painfully still as she watched her mother approach followed by that bird of hers. Wasn't it cute how Maua dragged that little slave everyone. Her mothers greeting held no sign of happiness at seeing her rebellious daughter return though Nyota certainly hadn't expected a warm welcome, but she did notice how quickly Maua ignored the cub at her side. Already her mother had passed judgement on Siri without even giving her a chance. Well this just reinforced the reasons why Nyota had stayed away fro so long, because she knew that the only thing that mattered to her mother was a purple hide.
"Mother." Nyota said dryly, not wanting to pretend that she cared, which honestly she didn't at least not about how Maua treated her, but the fact that she so quickly ignored her daughter irked Nyota more than anything else. "I do hope I didn't wake you." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, since she knew damn well that Maua had likely been sleeping. "But I thought you would like to meet your grandchild." Nyota motioned to the cub beside her who seemed absolutely enthralled with Maua. "This is Uzuri'siri."
Eyes went a bit wide at the sight of her grandmother, she was so beautiful and regal looking! Siri's jaw went a bit slack as she watched the lioness move with such grace and poise that it appeared to come completely natural. And she had a bird too! Mother had a bird but Leena didn't have the spectrum of colors that this bird had. Perhaps it was a good thing that she was so distracted by Maua's appearance that she missed her grandmothers instant silent rejection of the cub.
Hearing her name spoken snapped Siri out of her daze and she quickly snapped her jaws shut and bowed her head slightly. Oh gods she had been staring. "Hello grandmother." Siri's voice certainly contained a good slathering of awe to it, she had always thought her mother was beautiful but Maua was ten times as beautiful as Nyota was.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:11 am
Maua quirked an eyebrow as Nyota as she made the remark about not waking her - surely, even in the time she'd been gone sh hadn't forgotten her mothers schedule. It rarely changed. Then again Nyota had never shown much of a care for others - always out to do what was best for her and to hell with the rest of them. She'd never learn to care about what was good for the rest of her family.
Of course her daughters next words made Maua take another look at the youth, laughing lightly "Surely you jest..she looks nothing like you..why she's the color of mud" She stated in a cold tone, but then..she looked harder, took notice of the gold dots beneath the cubs eyes and her ugly mud coloring gave rise to another memory that had Maua near shrieking in fury. "You dare! you dare bring that..that creature here and call it my grandchild?!?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:34 am
 Kivuli had been out walking around the pride lands when Maua was summoned to see to the visitor, so when he returned to the den to find his mate not there he was a bit shocked. Maua normally would be sleeping right now and he felt sorry for the poor soul who had awoken her. A quick talk with one of the guards allowed Kivuli to find out that there was a visitor who had requested a meeting with Maua, and knowing how few lions they knew outside of the pride Kivuli instantly knew it was their somewhat estranged daughter Nyota.
He had best hurry before things blow out of proportion between the two. So the large black and white lion ran down from the noble mountain. He arrived just in time to hear Maua's yelling something about a mud colored cub and how it could not be her grandchild. Oh dear, he quickly padded up to his mate and gave her a reassuring look before setting his eyes upon their daughter. "Nyota." He greeted her and then looked to the cub. Kivuli was actually quite surprised to see that none of the family's purple had passed onto this cub, though he hid that surprise well. Part of him was disappointed, this was their first grandchild and she would not be able to follow in the noble footsteps so many generations had laid down before them.
It was time to do some damage control and quickly. "Now Maua, please be calm." He looked to his mate and even though he knew he would likely take a lashing from her anger he felt the need to protect Nyota and her cub. His head swiveled about to look at Nyota. "You knew this would make her angry but still you did so, have you no respect for your mother." He did not want to scold her in front of the young cub but he also wasn't about to let her get away with this, he knew she had done this deliberately."I do not jest mother. Mud colored or not she is your grandchild, she just so happens to take after her grandmother, the nice one." Nyota couldn't help but throw in that jab but before she could say anything else her father had made his appearance and instantly took Maua's side in this. Kivuli had always been the calm and relaxed one, but ever since she had first uttered that lie that had then become truthful her father seemed to no longer overlook Nyota's rebellious ways.
For the moment though she concentrated on her mother. "And how dare you! Insulting my cub, your grandchild like that when she is sitting right here! I thought you had better manners than that." Then she looked at her father. "So what do you expect me to do, never introduce you to Siri. Do you want to live your entire life without ever knowing your grandchild?"Siri couldn't believe it, such anger and harsh words coming from such a beautiful lioness and they were all directed at her. Yes, she had wished on many occasions that she had have been born with some purple on her, but hatred was new to her. Her parents loved her greatly and her other grandmother Fara was so sweet and kind, but Maua was a completely different lioness.
Siri's ears flattened against her skull and she ducked her head even more when the male, her grandfather, showed up. He didn't have too much purple on him but was still an impressive sight, he was much bigger than father was. What could she say to show her grandparents that the color of her coat did not mean she was worthless. The poor cub was at a loss for words, but hearing her mother defend her gave her some hope.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:45 am
Maua turned blazing eyes on Kivuli as he spoke to her, the fact that he went on to harp on Nyota did very little to calm her down "Don't you tell me to be calm!" She all but hissed at the big male "Don't you see why she did this? She just wanted to flaunt her poor judgement in front of the pride...make us look bad, just because she doesn't wish to be a noble she must ruin chances for the rest of us to advance in society. Perhaps if she'd stayed..taken responsibility for her mistake and given the cub to one of the players to raise...like a proper noble would have, this would be different" She snarled at him still in a fit.
Her head swiveled back towards Nyota "The nice one? the nice one..that harlot who tried to woo your father...figures she'd be the parent of that beast of a male you took up with, such is the quality of peasant blood." Maua sniffed disdainfully "She is not my grandchild...my grandchildren with be nobles..and only one cub? How... disappointing, you'd think at least one would have taken after the decent side of the family"
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:03 pm
The large male sat silently as his mate berated him for telling her to calm down, it was a bad habit that he couldn't seem to drop no matter how many times she snapped at him for it. Ever patience Kivuli waited for Maua to finish yelling at him. "My apologies my dear." This was truly out of his paws now, he could say nothing to smooth over the situation of that he was certain, if he could he would have whisked young Siri away so that she did not have to hear any more negativity, but that would make it worse.
His head lifted slightly at the mention of a harlot and his eyes looked to the cub once more. Now he saw the resemblance, yes she did indeed look like that lioness that he had ran into in the rogue lands some time ago, but he knew that she did not try to woo him, but was wise enough to not say that given Maua's fury. For once however he would have liked to have a meeting with Nyota that didn't boil down to a screaming match between the two females. "Perhaps it is best that you leave now Nyota, you have done enough for one day."
"I ruin your chances for advancement and make you look bad?!" Nyota laughed. "Look at yourself mother, you are the one that ruins your reputation always blowing things out of proportion and yelling when you could have just walked away. No, instead you draw attention to yourself by acting like a stuck up child." Perhaps if her mother had have just talking like a calm adult then she would not be drawing any attention to how pathetic her life and family was.
Nyota forced herself to not yell about Fara not being a harlot. And while she had planned to keep her son a secret Maua's words forced her to bring him up. "Two actually, but you will [never see your grandson. I will not have you tainting him with your skewed views on life." Nyota refused to have her sweet and loving son molded into Maua's image of a perfect noble just because the cub was unfortunate enough to inherit some purple on him. Cold eyes turned to her father. "I can't believe you, you have always been so open and now you are willing to shut not only myself but your own grandchild out. I knew this pride was no good, and I promise you both this, after today you will never see me again."
The perfect world that she had lived in so far was crumbling around her. Tears threatened to roll down her cheeks as more and more nasty words were thrown between the adults. She had wanted to badly to have her grandmother love her, to one day maybe find a way to become a noble even without having any purple on her hide, but now those dreams were shattered. Siri found a small bit of confidence, enough to utter a few words but smartly kept her eyes glued to the ground. "I'm sorry I disappoint you."
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:31 pm
Perhaps if the cub hadn't spoken Maua could have continued with her self righteous tirade, as it was the cubs quiet remarks took just a bit of the wind out of her sails. Ugly and mud colored she might be but that was her mothers fault really - if she'd taken a proper mate then the cub wouldn't have to be going through this. "It is not you who disappoint me but your mother" Maua told the cub.
And perhaps if she'd had a better relationship with Nyota to begin with she could have gotten over this a bit easier - but she'd had such hopes and dreams for her daughter and she'd ruined it all. "What type of mother are you Nyota...you knew how this would play out, and you subjected her to this just to satisfy your own selfish desires to make me angry. If I am a child then you are almost certainly one as well" she told her in a cold voice.
And Nyota might have hoped that her other comment would have slipped past Maua' notice - but it was not to be and Maua plastered a kind look on her face and looked to the cub "Now be a good girl and tell me, what color is this brother of yours?" Perhaps he had taken after Nyota..perhaps his hide was a wonderful purple. Surely she could lure him into the pride with the promise of a noble life despite her daughters wishes otherwise.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:43 pm
He as about to step in, to break this up and send Nyota moving and take Maua back to the mountain, but then his mate showed a bit of compassion for once in her life. He was grateful for that as the cubs words had melted his soul and broken his heart at the same time. At his he stepped forward and gave the girl a loving nuzzle. "You do not disappoint us." He echoed Maua's words. "It is unfortunate that you have been caught up in this long standing feud." And while that might have not been the wisest thing to say as it could potentially reignite Maua's fury he needed to let his granddaughter know that this was not her fault.
Nyota wasn't buying her mothers usdden change of heart towards Siri, she may say she wasn't disappointed but had she not earlier dismissed the cub without a thought and yelled to the fact that she was not her granddaughter and never could be. At least they were treating Siri well now, even if it was likely just for show to lure information out of the cub. "I had a good idea how it would turn out, but I had hoped that just this once we could put those differences aside and act like a normal family for once." Nyota stated and for once she was being completely truthful, it could be seen in her eyes. She had never wanted to hurt Siri.
"Do not tell her that Siri." Nyota cautioned but it was too late the girl was already rhyming off the colors of her brother, then flashed Nyota an apologetic look when she realized she had done wrong.
She didn't disappoint them? Now Siri was more confused than ever, they had called her mud colored, claimed she was not their grandchild and now they weren't disappointed in her. Prides were a strange thing and now she was not sure if she ever wanted to join one or not.
Her grandfathers touch and his kind words lulled Siri into a state of bliss and before she could stop herself Siri was describing her brother. Her mothers words came too late to stop her. "Well...he's brown, and white, and blue...and he has some purple hair on his head." Then her ears pulled back against her skull a bit and she looked at her mother, apology in her eyes, know realizing she had said something she shouldn't have.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:25 pm
Maua seethed silently as he mate nuzzled the b*****d cub, but she let that go for the moment so that she could laugh at Nyota's words "A real family...perhaps you should have thought about that desire before spurning everything our family stands for and running off to play in the rogue lands. We would have been quite over joyed had you given us grandchildren in the proper manner..in the pride, with a noble...but you threw that all away and now expect us to simply accept this slap in the face with good graces? How utterly ridiculous" Maua stated with an air of finality.
And the cubs answer to her question didn't do much to sooth her, just a bit of purple hair on his head - such a shame with the bounty of purple in Nyota' coat she had hoped for something more. Alas it was not to be..and Maua didn't think it really necessary to fight over visiting a boy with only a dismal amount of the royal color on his hide. Still it was best to make sure "Only on his head?" She pressed
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:19 am
Kivuli tore his attention away from Siri to look upon his mate and their daughter. Nothing would ever make them get along, of that he was completely certain, even if they just acted civil towards each other the underlying hatred would still be there. It was a shame it had turned out the way it was, and there were many times he wondered if they could have done something different in the past so that Nyota would have stayed or at least rebelled against them less. But honestly he had gone over the situations in his mind countless times and was never able to pinpoint the exact times when things had began to spiral out of their control.
"That is enough from both of you." He interjected, even if it meant taking a lashing from Maua now or later, he was done with listening to them bicker once more, especially in front of the cub. "Things between us will likely never be normal, we all must accept that. Let us leave it at that. Nyota you have always defied us and still do to this day, is that something you really want to teach your daughter?" He gave his head a shake, Siri was at that young impressionable age when everything around her could shape her future and seeing this behavior not only from her mother but her grandmother as well could affect her greatly.
Eyes narrowed as her mother laughed at her words and lashed out once more. It shouldn't have surprised her that Maua would not accept her or her daughter now, and this just reminded her of why she left the pride in the first place. Why even her father was taking her mothers side. Fine, Nyota thought, enough of this. "You're right, second chances aren't a thing that happens here. You are too blinded to give a s**t about anything but your precious station. I'm done."
Turning Nyota stood and moved to Siri, lowering her head she gave the cub a nudge to get her moving. "Come Siri, we are not welcome here." Never again, she told herself, never again would she come here as this was not a life she wished to live, nor was it a life she wanted for either of her children. Padding off Nyota made sure Siri hurried along too, and refused to look back.
Siri was still a bit confused as to what was going on. Why exactly was her mother and grandmother fighting like that? Was it truly something that had been going on for a long time or was it because of her? So many questions that she wanted to ask but she found herself almost too shy to speak again. But then her grandmother asked her another question, and it would be rude to not answer, so with a gulp Siri thought hard. "Um...no he has some on his tail too." Her eyes moved to her grandfather a moment and then back to her grandmother. "Like grandpa has."
She would have said more but then grandfather spoke, and she found herself silenced by his words even though they weren't directed at him. He was certainly a commanding presence even if he wasn't trying to be. Then her mother decided it was time to leave, and Siri had no choice but to move at that nudge. Before she got too far she turned her head around to look at her grandparents one more time. "Goodbye." She called out as Nyota pushed her along, and all too soon the two were but specs on the horizon.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:07 am
"You were done along time ago!" Maua snarled at her daughter as she left "Always running away from everything. Have fun in the rogue lands dear. Try not to get raped or mauled by the heathens living out there" She called cheerfully as they left. She didn't bother answering the cubs good-bye...she'd already gotten the information from her that she wanted.
Turning to Kivuli she narrowed her eyes at him "I want to find the boy...if he's as the mud colored one says then he has the same amount of purple as you and not all of our grandchildren will be a waste. He just needs to be raised properly is all.."
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:20 am
Kivuli heaved a sigh as Nyota and Siri left. It pained him to see them go but knew it was for the best for all of them. Nyota was not meant to be a noble even through her entire hide was colored as such, and Siri would never find a place in the pride that was more than just a commoner. Still he would have liked the opportunity to see his grandchildren grow. Where had they gone wrong? Kivuli wished he knew, but it was far too late to undo the past, best to move on.
Maua's words knocked him out of his thoughts and he turned to regard her. The fact that she wanted to seek the male cub out was not a shock, he expected that the moment they were told he had purple on him, but he wasn't sure that was such a good idea. Nyota likely already told the cub many bad things about the pride, even if they did find him he likely wouldn't accept them or the pride. But he couldn't tell Maua that right now, best to let her cool down for a while before bringing that up. For now he would do the smart thing and simply agree with her for his sake. "Don't worry, we will find him and raise him to be a proper noble should his coloring match Siri's words." He gave her a reassuring bump with his head before turning. "Come, we must be getting back. There are things to attend to." And with that he set off for the noble mountain once more, they both needed some time to think, but there were some duties to see to first.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:31 am
Maua had half expected Kivuli to argue with her about this plan - but he didn't, in fact he agreed with her and that more then anything else pleased her more then anything. Nyota's visit might have been doomed from the beginning..at least as far as friendly family get togethers went..but it had provided her with some interesting information at the very least.
And she would find that little male cub, she had to offer him a chance at a good life. The life of a noble as his bloodline deserved. Surely Nyota had told him som terrible lies about the pride..but Maua was sure she could fix that given the chance and bumping her head against Kivuli as he assured her they would find him she turned and padded along behind him back to the pride.
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