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 Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:25 am
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With help from Fuu and Selene, Kimondo was feeling somewhat better about the political flub from earlier in her trip and she was ready to go back, apologize and smooth things over. As complicated as it was from her own side as well, it wasn't the time or place to remark as she had.. she would find a way to fix it. But for now, there was something more important she wanted to do, after offering Selene her birthright there was only one thing left.
Only a few lions had accompanied her to the Central House to meet with the Empress, Emperor and the hiding Duke and Duchess from the West.. and among them were a few very important guests.
She was very well prepared to put her foot in her mouth again but this was something she desperately wanted to offer to her friends. It had been so hard to leave Liuhe behind but he had his family to think about, and his happily ever after had been much neater than the others.
We would love to meet them!
A long-planned surprise.. but not one she could force on either side. After Selene and Fuu finished comforting and advising her, she had discussed her plan - with her, she had brought three of their grandchildren. All three had been uniquely impacted by Shangyue's cruelty and she worried about the isolating effect it could have. Kimondo's part was much less personal and it weighed heavily on her, but she had her parents and beloved sister to turn to. Nketa and Antara had each other, and Kamia tried so hard, but all three had been separated for so long.. she had no reason to believe it would be any better, grandparents and grandchildren had been apart even longer but it was different. This whole place was different.
She was making a lot of assumptions, so she had to be upfront about everything.
Standing before Nketa and Antara, she wondered if they had figured out why she had invited them along yet, if they guessed at the truth now. Her meaningful stare as she searched for the words to explain herself must have been a clear sign that this was it, finally.
"I'm going to tell you both a secret," she said, "There are only four lions in the pride who know this: Meshach, myself, my mother and yours. I need your word that you will respect the wishes of those involved and not reveal their secret without just cause."
It was hard to forbid the idea of tattling on the supposedly-fallen Lord & Lady of the Mwezi'Johari.. the more lions who knew, the more likely it was to spread and honestly, she didn't know quite how to read the twins on subjects like this and only hoped it would be treated as happy news and not a betrayal.
"We came here so I could talk to Duke Zhong Chao and Duchess Zhong Tiao of the West House," she explained, "They're living in the Center with the Empress while we are visiting in their home because they don't want to be recognized. Your grandparents are alive. Princess Selene and Lord Fuu survived Shangyue's attack and they've been living here, in the Tianxia."
(( Finally made this! Surprise! xD I'm working under the assumption that neither of the girls are very close to mom. Kamia made some difficult [and arguably bad] decisions that affected their family structure, she'd be an easy scapegoat from a young age and that can be really hard to get over sooo.. Kimondo is hoping this will help them in some way. I won't be offended if it doesn't ;3 I know IC isn't OOC, no obligation to react in any way that is not true to your character.
(I'm almost expecting blank stares -cough-))) |
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:30 am
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Nketa had practically glued herself to her twin's side for the whole of this so-called adventure out of the Mwezi'Johari. She still became anxious in a crowd of any size, and being here, amongst total strangers, wasn't helping one bit. She'd almost been relieved when Kimondo singled out the two of them, but no, now she had anxiety for a very different reason.
Always her bloodline, unwanted and inconvenient, made her special and brought her into strange situations that other lions wouldn't have to endure. She could blame her thankfully deceased father only in part, because no one ever seemed to let her forget she was his eldest. Well, his eldest in the high class. And his eldest daughter, now that Mari was dead.
Sometimes Nketa daydreamed about leaving the Mwezi, running away from the Tianxia, and just going somewhere else where nobody knew a thing about her and her bloodline. But that would just be kidding herself - the purple lioness was far too afraid of the unknown masses of strangers she might encounter.
She was worrying about all this as Kimondo spoke, until the phrase "your grandparents are alive." Blue eyes riveted on the Queen in confusion. What grandparents? She'd never had a thought towards grandparents in her whole life, especially given that so much of the pride was related to her in one way or another, and there were plenty who were or were old enough to be grandparents. What need had she for specifics?
But Kimondo brought names into it. Names that even Nketa recognized, for they'd been the center of so much of the controversy her father had caused. Selene and Fuu.
...well, great. So they weren't dead after all. That didn't make Shangyue innocent of murder, right? And what on earth was she supposed to do with this information anyway? It wasn't as if they meant anything to her as people, just as symbols of her father's power-hungry cruelty.
"I don't see why that matters," Nketa finally said at last. "It's not like it changes what Shangyue did in all other cases. Being innocent of two murders amongst all the other pain and strife he caused changes nothing." |
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 1:05 pm
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 11:42 pm
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As had been the trend of the trip to the Tianxia so far, it didn't seem that this was off to the right start or headed in any direction the young Queen might have wanted, but this was the reaction she expected the most. From her own strong family, she simply could not let go of the idea of just how important it was, even to friends who had every reason to distance themselves from their own. She was ready for this much of the fight, at least.
"It doesn't absolve him of anything," she agreed, looking at Nketa but making sure to glance to Antara as well, "This isn't about him, this is about them, and about you."
Kimondo hesitated. She considered Antara and Nketa her friends but their circumstances had never allowed much in the way of true, close friendship. This was the moment she was going to get too close and personal for the reserved pair, she was sure of it, but she pressed forward.
"I can't honestly say I understand your situation, but I have tried," she explained gently, her voice sounding more confident than her eyes looked, "After everything you've been through, I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to run away and start again. Fuu and Selene have done that, even now this is the life and home they've chosen for themselves."
She knew Liuhe had expressed the desire to just walk away from the whole pride more than once when he was at his lowest. It was hard to say if fear or duty stopped him, but Hivyo was definitely what sealed it. Yueyun's children likely played a part in keeping him at home, too. Tyfu's sons were a muddle of personalities and motives that had only one of them leaving, and then the rest of Shangyue's children had had less of a spotlight upon them. Ndogo, Liuhe and Yueyun's sisters, and all of the litter born after Shangyue's death.. they would have the emotional baggage but little of the experiences the others had.
"I invited you here with me to give you some time away from home, to be somewhere different where you could blend in instead of always standing out," she continued, "There's a perspective here you won't find at home. If you want to meet them, I'll take you there, if not then that's OK."
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