[ORP] Red Sun Rises (Done)

[Tanakako]

Anashe didn't seem to register the cold tone of the other andolescent's voice and instead closed the distance bewteen them. But as she drew closer she noticed the stirrings of the other lions around them, most if not all were looking in the same direction, so Anashe turned that way as well. "Oh!" She gasped, startled by the giant dark shape of an unknown lion. "Who's that?" She asked, her tone partly unnerved and yet also partly curious. Kezela, who had been getting ready to berate and chase away the silver pest, was distracted from her annoyance by Anashe's sudden reaction to something. Twisting her own head she followed the female's stare, only to startle herself and unconsciously take a step backwards. Who was that!? She mentally echoed Anashe, her ears pinning back against her head and her eyes widening. Where was her father? He couldn't be gone, he just couldn't!  

[oo Ded]

Emeka gave a small nod of acknowledgement to Umkhombo's words. She didn't have any particular attachment to Andhaka and Bangizwe, and she wouldn't deny that the idea of having kin as Umholi was, if anything, comforting. The Imbiza moved closer to the gathering, assisted by the lioness at her side. There were those who had lost fathers, though. Regardless of who was now in charge, the changing of Abaholi always had a few rough spots. Her eyes in particular rested on the adolescents, wondering what they must have thought of it. In particular, her yellowed eyes set onto Kezela, watching on at the reaction of a daughter losing a father.

"Such is the way of things," she commented finally, half as a response to Umkhombo's words and half as a word of sympathy to the adolescent.

As the pair of lionesses moved closer, Yithemba remained mostly silent. She was still digesting what Umkhombo had said. Like Emeka, she didn't feel particularly attached to the Abholi. As far as she was concerned, it was the lionesses of the pride that made the backbone. That made for stability. Umholi came and went.

She found herself caught on Umkhombo's words. That he had defeated them wasn't unbelievable. 'But not alone. There will still be two Abaholi'

"If not alone, then where is the partner you claim to bring with you?" She asked, her brow raised. Had he been injured? Had they only sent in one to break the news to the group? Having two new Abaholi approach out of the blue might make the lionesses feel more on their toes, but would certainly make the statement of Andhaka and Bangizwe's defeat definitive. Time would tell, she supposed, but Yi wouldn't deny that she found herself a bit excited with all the coming change.  

[Meepfur]

So the gray male was an Inselelo. He was sure his mother and others had opinions about that, and that he would certainly be hearing them before long, an inevitability he looked to with patient dread. He was fond of his mother - she had, after all, given birth to and raised him - but even he found her to be a bit...much. He doubted time had smoothed any of her rough edges. "I suppose it is," he responded with a very slight nod of his head. The other male was clearly not at ease with the situation, which was to be expected. "I would speak with you at greater length later, when time allows."

He had no immediate intentions of ridding the pride of its only current sitting Inselelo, but he did intend to get a better feel for him. Once he knew more of him, he would make his decision one way or the other, but based on initial impressions, he doubted that Kuhasa would be problematic. His red cousins - really niece via his half-sister, but relatives in the Ithambo were many and convoluted, so he more often categorized such relatives just as 'kin' or the technically incorrect but much simpler 'cousin' - approached, and he grinned. "Khanga! Do you have to sound so surprised?"

The dark, fetchingly striped lioness with scars on her nose who accompanied his three-legged kin raised a fair question as to the whereabouts of his partner, and he answered willingly (and in so doing would answer the unspoken concerns for the deposed Abaholi), "He'll be along. He's seeing to it that our predecessors...find their way safely away from here in their injured state."

An unfamiliar lioness called out a welcome, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement.

Ecavi

oo DeD

Vesale

 

[Annchen]

"That's right," she said, offering a small smile to the other female, "I'm Marmar bint Adala, uh... Adalas daughter. I'm named after the white rock."

She paused, trying to remember if she'd heard a name for that rock in the language the Bonelands lionesses used. Umkhombo had warned them the females of this pride would try to rename them in their language, and that they meant it as a compliment of sorts. So far no one had called Marmar anything other than the name her mother gave her.

"I'm like a small rock," she continued, slowing her pace to better match a straggler among the cub, "You can try to fight it... but the rock will still be there."

Not quite right... It sounded better in her mother tongue. She was small for an adult, but she was tough, and when her opponents underestimated her because of it she tried to make sure they didn't live to regret it. Even with the injury that made her limp she was certain she could do some real damage in a proper fight.

Tanakako

belloblossom

ABVirus

---

Ukufa followed along as Ilantshi walked closer to investigate the new situation. She always walked like she owned the place, and in a way she did. Her friend had been a high ranked female from the moment she was born, while Ukufa was lusizi. People moved away for her to eat. People moved out of her way, period. That' was part of why it was so nice to be her friend. As long as she stuck closer to her she could pretend she was important too.

And now... There was a hitch in her step. Perhaps the red female had stepped on a thorn? Ukufa could pretend that was it, but deep down she knew that it was something else that had happened. Drifting words pieced together. A look of pity from an older pride member. They were the same now, with no father in the pride.

---

Ilantshi's face showed a range of different emotions over a short time as she finally realised why this male was here. She didn't know what to feel. Sorrow, anger and shock fought for domination, and the end result was a numb and unreal feeling. Ukufa was there and she leaned slightly against the other adolescent.

Slowly anger started to push away the numbness. On closer inspection he wasn't all that handsome after all, dark pelt or not, and she glared at him for daring to upset the way things were.  

[belloblossom]

"No!" Mazuri wailed, her eyes wide with dismay. Her father, Andhaka, was no longer with them. She had never known her father particularly well, she realized that she was one of many sired by him in this pride, but... Well, she kind of assumed that he would be there forever.

Of course, this was the way of the pride. She knew that, of course she did, but she couldn't help feeling betrayed by it. To look at this stranger who she didn't know a thing about and have to welcome him as openly as she had her blood kin... She couldn't do it. Instead, she found herself drifting away from the group that welcomed the dark-coated male so easily, her ears laid back as she went to find someone who could share her heartache.

Since neither her mother nor her littermates were there, she sought out her half-sister, Ilantshi. With a ducked head and a shudder, she sat close to her sister.
"I... I didn't think he would ever be defeated." She confessed to the younger lioness. Maybe it was wrong to lean on someone younger than she, but right now, she just needed some family at her side.

Annchen

Meepfur

 

[belloblossom]

"Goodness, that certainly is a mouthful!" Nomvula replied, her eyes widening in impressed surprise. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember all of that. Though, I can't even remember my former name, before I came here." She said, now looking a little sheepish. "I think I can remember Marmar, although...You said you were named after a stone?" Nomvula had received her own name from her pride sisters. She was so happy to be readily accepted that she had no problem with answering to the her name. "Little rock... Rock..." She murmured, closing her eyes to remember the word. "Idwala! Or, there's Itshe, too, I suppose."

Opening her eyes, she looked back to her younger companion and smiled at her.
"I don't mean to take away your old name, but if you care to embrace your life here, you could be called Idwala, which means rock here. Itshe means stone--I know, it's really confusing, right? But if you're not ready for the change, I understand. As a Busisa, I hardly have a right, even though I've been apart of the pride for a few seasons now." Eyes widening in realization, she turned sheepish again, "Goodness, where are my manners? I'm Nomvula, it's a pleasure to meet you." She introduced herself.

Glancing down at the remaining cub who walked beside them, her grey and white colors glimmering pleasantly in the sunlight.
"Would you care to be carried too, my dear?" She offered the cub, unsure if she felt left out when her two sisters were being carried.

Tanakako

Annchen

 

[belloblossom]

So... The Abaholi were defeated and were being seen from the pride lands. Safura's ears twitched in interest as she continued to listen in, but her ears caught not the sound of further conversation, but the sounds of those mourning the loss of their fathers and former leaders. She turned to see a brown lioness with a darker mask marking slipping away, looking rather downtrodden. Oh dear... Was that how she would act if Kuhasa left the premises? She wondered, before shaking herself and turning her attention back to the dark-coated newcomer.

No. She decided. When it was Kuhasa's time to be overthrown by a younger or stronger lion, she would stand with dignity. They had, after all, gone into their breeding like business partners. Sure, she wasn't quite certain he had delivered in his performance, but she would not cry when he was replaced by someone who could help her out better than the current Inselelo had.

It was time to stop being shy and go investigate on her own. Taking a deep breath, she approached the lion called Umkhombo and smiled her most charming smile at him (which was easily becoming her trademark smile when it came to speaking with the eligible males of the pride.)
"Greetings, Umkhombo." She said, coming forward with some of the other lionesses."I don't believe I know you yet, but I look forward to." Said she to the other, a sparkle in her eye.

Meepfur

Ecavi

 

[Meepfur]

With her aunt approaching and speaking to the new male, Nolaku was left feeling bereft, and in spite of herself, she drifted after her. She stayed several paces behind, looking from aunt to usurper and both awaiting and dreading his answer. He had defeated Bangizwe and Andhaka, but with a partner...who was escorting the former Abaholi away from the lands? They weren't dead? Relief rushed through her, and she expelled all her tension with a sigh. That they were defeated but alive was far easier to accept than their deaths.

Her ears flicked forward again when her aunt made reference to the fact that Umkhombo was 'no use' to her. No...oh. Right. For having cubs. Ears canted back as she made an 'ew' face, but then...forward once more with interest she would deny having.

It was an interest Khazine would also deny having, particularly to her father. No, her interest in who the other Umholi was was purely curiosity and nothing more. Unless, that was, he was especially handsome or scarred...hmph. She was sure he must be strong, or why else would her father have brought him? Rather than place her focus there, however, she chose to ask another question, one she was sure Grandmother Ukuthula or Aunts Uheshe and Nesf would ask if they were here and not out hunting: "You let them live? Why didn't you kill them?"  

[Anderleit]

Being such a newcomer to the pride, Mokosh hadn't felt quite right volunteering for this morning's hunting party. She had been feeling a certain regret for her standoffish decision. Now, however, she was thinking that the middle of this little change-up was right where she needed to be. While getting used to the rest of the Bonelands peculiarities, this event... Well, this was something else altogether, wasn't it?

The emotions were what really got her. Mo couldn't help but glance around her, searching out the sources of the almost-tangible tension. A recent mother rose up, a number of lionesses flanking her retreat with her cubs. There seemed to be a line drawn between some of the sisters. Some watched anxiously, while others greeted the self-proclaimed new umholi with more acceptance.

Mokosh drew closer to the gathering, taking up what she felt was a respectable distance from a nearby group. The tawny lioness she landed closest to was an unknown, but the pelt draped over her shoulders was pretty darn distinct. She would presume her a busisa as well, given the accessory - that, and she seemed to display the same kind of cautious indifference that so well matched Mo's own. Or she could be projecting. It remained to be seen. "Looks like someone's prodigal son coming home," she murmured by way of greeting.

Tanakako

 

[Meepfur]

"I suppose we'll see soon enough the extent to which our tastes overlap," Umkhombo answered Khanga with a small smile and a shake of his head. He suspected there might be some disappointment from at least a few lionesses in his choice of partner, but then, that was to be expected. Complaining, he recalled, was a popular pastime here. But if they were willing to tolerate an Inselelo with such a pale mane as Kuhasa, how much fault could there really be to find with his compatriot?

...knowing his mother, plenty. His daughter had questions for him as well, and he snorted. "We had no quarrel with them beyond that they were in our way. Killing them seemed unnecessarily extreme, once they yielded."

As some still wrestled with the sudden change brought upon them, another lioness came forward to greet him, and he didn't recognize her or her markings, which were quite distinctive, as belonging to any Ithambo bloodline. He dipped his head respectfully, choosing for the moment to glaze over what might have been flirtation, responding with dry observation and a twitch of a smile, "At least someone does."

Ecavi

belloblossom

 

[Andranis]

For the moment, Imvula simply watched and listened. Thus far, only one of her sisters had had cubs by, by a long-gone former Inselelo. They were easy enough to spot as his, in the pride, based purely on his markings. Imvula herself, and her other sister, had not yet had cubs of their own, though. The overthrow of Bangizwe and Andhaka made her realize that her time to have cubs, to leave just as much of her family's mark upon the pride as her sister had, was finite. She knew, as a small comfort, that unlike most lionesses in the pride, she and both of her sisters had the luxury of picking any breeding male they pleased, be he Umholi or Inselelo. She began to silently weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the two known males and the cubs they'd sire, soon lost in her own thoughts.

Zola was silent for a while as Umkhombo spoke. Her lips twitched at Khanga's words, and her mouth moved before her brain could filter what she was saying. "Well, I certainly don't have that problem..." Her father, after all, had been an Inselelo. His time had been temporary, and her mother had snagged an opportunity with his presence. She bore, like Imvula, no relation to much of the pride outside her direct family. Only her mother and sister were in the pride. Suddenly she wondered, how would her spot markings look mixed with stripes? "So, Umkhombo... Now what? Any new ideas for the pride?" She remembered, dimly, stories of when Umkhombo's grandfather had ruled the pride. No other males got to breed, until Gakere came along. Of course, change didn't often happen in the pride, so set in its ways. It was like an old river, slow to change course, even if it did eventually. Sometimes, though, rivers could have very sudden changes of course, if there was rain enough.  

[ABVirus]

Ezinothuzi was pleased when the pale tan cub didn't struggle in her grasp too much. Instead, the cub seemed to take the ride in stride and Ezino was more than happy to have something to do. The group was getting smaller in the background and the voices of her pride sisters more and more distant, so they must be making good progress away from the commotion.

The dusty brown lioness glanced about her, noting the friendly conversation going on between the striped lioness and the adolescent. They seemed absorbed in their own world now, though they walked beside the mother and Ezino. Since Ezino had the youngling dangling from her maw, she couldn't very well put in a word of her own, but she was sure that would come soon enough, once the mother of the group decided on a place to rest.

With this thought, she turned a questioning look upon the mother, her eyebrows raised as she silently inquired when they were going to stop or, with a look forward and then back to the mother, whether they were continuing on, even further ahead.

Tanakako

belloblossom

Annchen