Andranis
It had started innocuously enough, a giggle here and there. But then he'd noticed the whispers, seeming to follow his every step through the lush jungles. At first he'd thought it birds, maybe even monkeys, but the longer he walked, and the more he heard, he soon realized just what it was - The flowers were trying to get his attention again. A lot had changed in the lion, since he'd joined so long ago, before Shandor's time ruling. He had, himself, changed a lot. He'd gone back to his birth name of Tlaloc, though maintained his connection to the flowers. Flower Lord, once upon a time. A part of him had wanted, he thought, to maintain that muse, the flowers that had once spoken to him, whispered and sang for him. Then they had vanished, and his world had crumbled and he'd folded in upon himself, it seemed, to... To what? He now sat, trying to figure that out, batting lightly at a flower as it seemed to mockingly giggle at him. "Hush and let me think!
Das Tor
Maisha had made a long and winding journey, traveling all over, finding new places, new homes, new friends and family. He'd fathered more than a few young ones...and now? Now he'd found the place he was supposed to belong. Maybe not like the little seer he'd once met had said, as Mpeko wasn't like what the seer had told him of, and he still bore his birth name...but of late, he'd started hearing the rain whisper when it came through. Oh certainly, it always made noise. But it had never whispered to him before. It was...odd, a little alarming, but exciting. He'd been ready to head out on his patrol when he spotted Flow-Tlaloc batting at a flower. "Is something the matter?"
Andranis
Ears moving back, the lion looked around. When he spied Maisha, he let out a relieved sigh. "The flowers have started to WHISPER again..." It was, to be frank, unsettling. But also comforting. Was it comforting? Perhaps it was. "I am... Wrapping my head around it. They haven't done this in a long time, since before Shandor..." It was like hearing from an old friend again, or a sister long lost, as it were, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it. He sighed, then looked at Maisha, "The muses have returned." He hadn't even partaken in the brew... But perhaps this was why he was against it, not so much the muses but more that it shouldn't have been something they had to consume somethign to achieve. A flower began to giggle again and he batted at it. "Hush, flowers!"
Das Tor
Maisha blinked, then chuckled and sat his fluffy bulk down. "I never knew this 'Shandor', but...long ago, when my mane hadn't fully grown in yet, I met a seer who told me I would 'talk to the rain'. I never knew what she meant...until recently." He looked up at the clear sky. "Whenever it's rained lately, I hear the rain whispering, like an old friend telling me secrets. It's...it's been very strange, but I think I like it. It's comforting, in an odd sort of way." He looked back to the lion. "Why...why would anyone want to have been rid of such a thing? It's like...like we're a little more at peace with the world around us. A little more in tune."
Andranis
Tlaloc hummed, regarding the flowers, "I suppose so..." He became silent for a bit, before he looked up at the sky. "Shandor was one of the rulers before Shanhali, Shanhali's father." He chuckled a bit, smiling, "I look at Shanhali and I see a bit of Shandor's face, but not enough to ever mistake him for his father, and he's certainly a very different lion." Gods bless that boy, he was trying his best for his pride. Well, mostly. He did mess up a little with the attempt at the brew, but it hadn't, thankfully, worked out. Of course, now Tlaloc would have to communicate with his sister by BIRD... But that wasn't important at the direct moment.
Das Tor
"What...was Shandor like?" Maisha frowned, tilting his head to one side. "No one seems to want to speak of him, or his reign. And...well, history is the good and the bad and all the in-betweens." He moved to sit near Tlaloc, curious.
Andranis
Mulling his words over, Tlaloc frowned just a bit, "He was... Now that I reflect on him, possibly sick in the head, in a way very unlike my love is." He didn't doubt his mate was well and genuinely insane. Ironically, the presence of the muses was CALMING her. "When the muses went away, he saw danger everywhere..." He let out a sigh at that. "Made me paranoid, too. Protective. TOO protective, really." He shook his head, "And we were very wrong." His gaze went again to the flowers, which had settled to humming and signing softly, a wordless tune he wasn't sure to forget. It reminded him, as it were, of when he'd first begun to woo Ulimwengu. The memory made him smile, how he'd danced and sang for her... "I think that, perhaps... The muses coming back IS a good thing. A happy thing. It allows us to be at peace with the world, in our own ways, in a way Li-wei's blessing wasn't quite allowing. Natural peace..."
Das Tor
"I know how it is. To be too protective." Maisha sighed, shaking his large head. "Mother saw demons where there were none, a sickness of the mind caused by trauma." He paused. "Perhaps something bad happened to him once upon a time? Something that made him unable to see the good in the world?" Because there was much good, smiling faces with good hearts, strong paws who would stand beside a creature for not other reason than because it was the right thing to do. "Whatever the reason...I am glad we are getting the muses. The rain's whispering is nice, is calming. It reminds me of my Mama and Grandma, of the songs one of my aunts sang. And I think Mpeko and Terra are enjoying things, too. This is becoming a better home for us more and more by the day."
Andranis
One ear twitched at the mention of the leopon's mates, causing Tlaloc to smile a bit. "That lioness is massive... I haven't seen one that big since Red and his mate were here." Where was it they'd been from, again? Somewhere far to the north and a bit west. Many of the lands beyond their borders were a very different world, full of many different land features and different residents. "I do wonder sometimes, about the lions out there in other prides... How they function..." He thought of his sister, Meztli, ever traveling with the Ela'wadiyi, and his sister, Coaxoch, long thought lost and dead. He'd have to visit some time, perhaps. "But, more on HERE... How IS Mpeko adjusting? She was from somewhere much dryer, I recall?"
Das Tor
"She is!" Maisha seemed to almost swoon at her size, smile growing wide. "A gentle giant with a heart of fire." He only knew a little of the Firekin, but he knew she'd been too sweet to be among them, too gentle-hearted, for all the fire in her. "It depends on the pride, really. I've been through a few, before coming here. But...I like here best." It was safe, and beautiful, and best of all? It had his mates. His sun and his moon, his head and his heart. "She's adjusting rather well! She grew up in the desert, but she loves the water. And it's not a constant struggle to survive out here, like it was when she left her birthplace."
Andranis
"I can understand struggling..." Tlaloc thought, for a moment, of the time he, Meztli, and Nenatl had wandered as rogues, lost cubs in a cruel world that had robbed them of their parents. He drew in a breath against the memory and let it out, along with the memory. It was no sense to dwell upon the past like that, when everybody was somewhere safe and content and could flourish. "You know, one thing that was done, before, with muses... Not to change the subject again, but... Did you know Ulimwengu was not always known as Ulimwengu? It wasn't unheard of for lions to change their names, before, when they found their muse." His lips twitched a bit, just a hint of a smile. "It's... A bit of why I went by Flower Lord, during Shandor's time. It was in memory of the time I was Xochipepe here." He paused at that, humming and looking to the flowers again. "Perhaps I should be, again..."
Das Tor
"The change isn't bad! And changing names? I..." Maisha looked up, remembering the little blue cub who spoke cryptically. "I remember...the same seer who told me I would eventually belong here? She called me by another name. Urasharasha. Sounds kind of like the sound rain makes, doesn't it?" It was tempting, to maybe go by that. Tempting, but he wasn't certain. Maisha was one of the few things his mother had given him, one of the things that showed that despite all her hurt and anger, she still cared. "I think it's a nice tradition, if the pride takes it up again. A...a coming of age, of sorts, yes?"
Andranis
"Something like that, yes... But it's not required." Xochipepe inclined his head in thought again, humming. "It will be up to pride leadership if it's enforced or not. They may yet, but they may not. They might also leave it up to those from before the return of muses to do so. Until then, it's best not to worry about it too much." He smiled at Maisha, then stood up. "I think, perhaps... I should commune with the flowers again. Thank you, Maisha, our talk has allowed me to sort my thoughts."
Das Tor
The leopon nodded, ears perked up out of his overly-fluffy mane. "I am glad I could help! If you ever want to talk again, I'm not hard to find." He was, after all, one of the few 'half-muses' in the pride. "You've given me some things to think on, and to talk about with my mates." Much to discuss, and wonder about, and figure out. Especially if there were cubs once more. "You have a good day, and I hope your communing goes well!" He stood, shaking himself before trotting off.
Andranis
Xochipepe gave his own shaking out, humming, then carried on his way, looking at the flowers and smiling as he spoke to them, "Yes, hello, old friends..."