[PRP] Little paws on a new land (Ushokoledi & Afya)

[Syrius Lionwing]

He had barely been here for more than a minute, yet some of the looks he gained from the existing pride members felt odd. He often thought perhaps he had something stuck to his face but upon looking in to a clear pool he discovered he definitely didn’t. It was an odd feeling and he really didn’t know what to make of it. He really wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say, maybe, stop staring; well, he would never do that. He was far too shy to ask why they were looking at him oddly.

The chocolate brown cub, or perhaps he was closer to a juvenile now, his head was getting more fluffy for sure, lay in a patch of shade watching the world go by. The world was strange. This new world with all its traditions and promises and words and, and, and, well everything’s. It was giving him a headache.

When his mind hurt as much as this, all he could really do was try and sit still, try and be as stil as possible and think about other things. Usually other things lead him to the things he didn’t want to think about. His mother; not Zobu, though he thought of her as his mother, the face that always popped up was that of the dark lioness he had gained his darker colouration from. His real mother. The sad look in her eyes would forever be a reminder that he wasn’t allowed to stay in the pride in to which he had been born and while his brothers had chosen to stay in the stormborn with their aunt, he didn’t want to loose another mother and so have followed his father until they had settled here.

He felt a dampness in his eyes and wiped a paw across his cheek. He had to think of something else, something more cheerful, but what?  

[Z o m b i k ii]

Syrius Lionwing

Afya had been indulging in her favourite pastime; bullying her father. Kione was a grumpy marshmallow of a man who was as docile as they came until his buttons were pressed a little too hard. The black lioness was still testing the waters to find that limit and sometimes she just needed to escape the den for a while; to let him cool off. Thankfully his worry would often outweigh his frustration and by the time she returned home, he was ripe for the picking once more. The cycle continued - and with each coming day, she became more and more of a daddy’s girl.

Born into the N’ezi she was unaware of how large the world outside the borders was; and though the Pride had seen their fair share of struggles (many of which she was too young to fully understand), she had never gone a day without feeling a sense of belonging. A sense of home. There had been more and more new faces as of late - and the magnitude of the situation was yet to sink in. She was one of the first cubs to be raised with Outsiders since - well, since a very long time. The Pride was being shaped as she developed; it was kind of a big deal.

To Afya though, it meant nothing more than they were more children to play with. Though, the one she had stumbled across today seemed very very sad. The petite girl approached the chocolate male, a dark brow furrowing with curiosity.

“Are you crying?”

The words were not accusatory but rather laced with confusion and concern. The N’ezi did not cry about much - not even death.  

[Syrius Lionwing]

Z o m b i k ii

The young chocolate male seemed almost shocked when the female spoke to him. He had thought he had tucked himself out of the way enough that he could simply sit and brood. Not that, that was any good for him, far from it, he should find a distraction.

It seemed he had been caught with tears in his eyes though and those odd coloured eyes fell upon the dark female questioningly. She didn’t sound like she was judging him for crying. She seemed confused by the action. He in turn was of course flustered by her approach and her words, the temptation to go on the offensive, deny his tears, blame dust or the sun; fluttered away quickly.

“I don’t suppose there is any point denying it.” He whispered a clear catch in his throat, any sort of denial would have felt wrong and more than likely he would have been caught out, dust in the eyes never caused a dry throat.

Uschokoledi cleared his throat audibly trying to flush away the cleggy feeling in his throat that had caused that catch. It felt useless but his next words at least came out a little clearer. “I was just.. Thinking.” He wrinkled his nose distastefully at the word, he had been thinking, there was truth in that but that wasn’t really what he was doing. He was feeling sorry for himself and she had interrupted that reverie. He wasn’t really sure if he was happy about that or not but he was at least okay with a break in the hurt that he felt when he thought too hard.  

[Z o m b i k ii]

Syrius Lionwing

Afya opened her mouth to speak for a moment, but promptly closed it. Dark ears fell back flat against her skull as her gaze drifted towards the ground. The youngling was taken back by just how honest he was being - she certainly was not as open when she was caught sobbing, not that it was something that happened very often. “I would try not to linger on such sad thoughts.” She offered him a soft smile, knowing full well it was easier said than done. Afya was no authority when it came to sadness and anxiety, she was naive to the way of the world and the hurt that could be found in it.

Though that did not mean she was unaware of it. Her aunt, one of the brightest lionesses within the pride, often spoke of her own grief and more importantly - how to live with it. “My auntie told me that this land has seen a lot of despair and that the only way we can hope to dry the tears from the soil is to look up towards the sun.” The plague was a distant memory for most but even the youngest children were suffering the consequences of it; many did not have grandparents, uncles, aunts - they would never know the faces and love they should have.

Echoing the words of wisdom that Nyarai often spoke, Afya gave a small shrug. She was never one to pry into business that did not concern her; everybody handles negative emotions differently. The boy might have not wanted to talk about the thoughts that plagued him so. “You were born beyond the boundary, weren’t you?” The young lionesses brow furrowed curiously once more, bright blue eyes drifting to look at the horizon. Though she did not wish to leave these lands - there was a childlike curiosity that made her mind sometimes wonder to places unfamiliar.