A Survivor Arrives at Pride Rock

[Ajenti]

This log takes place before any of the drama between Uzuri, Taka, and Uru. In those days, Ajenti, Uzuri and Sarafina were just friendly rivals, and it would be easy to forget the latter two didn't live here all their lives...

[Ajenti]

Pridelands - Pride Rock
Pride Rock: it is indeed an awesome site to behold. To the weary traveler, it is a symbol of habitation. Yes, there is someone here. When the sun rises in the east and casts its warm glow on the red-hued stone, the monolith is promising. However, when the sun sets in the west behind the formidable rock, it puts it in silhouette and makes it appear ominous and foreboding. Day and night - both are part of the Great Balance.
Around the base of Pride Rock, the grass gets shorter until the only ground covering is the soft dirt. There are a few boulders - some craggy and others easy to climb upon if one is large enough - scattered about, getting sun at different points in the day. The area is also peppered with shade-granting acacia trees, which serve as the roosts of many songbirds.

Exits:
[West] to the Vast Savanna
[South] to the Southern Trail
[North] to the Northern Trail
[East] to the Vast Savanna
[Under] the Promontory
[Up] the Path of Pride Rock

Present:
[LRP] Nekratini
[ZZZ] Seran
[ZZZ] Kingukera
[ZZZ] Eshu
[IC] Uru
[ZZZ] Natsume
Zazu's starry-eyed skull from Zazu
[ZZZ] Mahrsala
[ZZZ] Tamaa
[ZZZ] Kwada
[ZZZ] Maziwa
[ZZZ] Kiziah
[ZZZ] Bimbaya
[ZZZ] Maiba

Welcome to the transition from rainy season to dry. It's a healthy time in the Pridelands; plenty of chattering birds, leaping insects, and passing antelope. The shadows of the fading wipsy clouds play over the pelt of a supple adolescent lioness, returning home after who knows what kind of adventure. From the look of it, Ajenti is enjoying the best of life. While not unduly happy, she's clearly been doing what she likes to do. The Circle turns slowly on its great spindle.

When one ages, one doesn't usually do it so gracefully as Uru. The queen's on the brink of the transition between adult and elder, and yet she is still as fit as any lioness in her prime. At first glance, one could hardly tell that she was anything else, but it is apparent in the slower pace with which she walks and the slight limp of her left foreleg. Her muzzle is paling as well. The aging queen rests in the shade of the promontory, gazing out upon the savannah. A small smile appears on her face when she spots the young Ajenti returning from one of her adventures.

Ajenti is looking clean and proud. She regards a couple of the adult lionesses with respect as they ramble home from their hunt. The adults mainly disperse and head their own ways, and a couple take to the path upwards. Ajenti stands there watching them go, and then spots Uru and jumps to attention. "Hey, Uru! Guess what I got to do today!" she calls across the distance.

Nekratini can be seen as a speck on the horizon, slowly drawing nearer and nearer to pride rock. Her joints are stiffer than they used to be, and the longer fur has started to get silver tips. She contemplates her life, the mistakes she's made, but mostly the things she enjoyed. Of course the kingdom and everyone in it had been dead for a long time now, but in her head it lived on as much as her limited point of view was capable of reproducing. The panthress becomes lost in her daydreams and nearly walks right into Ajenti. She scrabbles her claws along the ground to regain her balance and avoid colliding. "Sorry," comes her soft, lulling voice.

"What did you do today?" Uru calls back, her voice also showing age in its roughness. It's deepened slightly over the years to a low alto. The smile remains on her face, and her old ears swivel forward with interest, even more so when she spots the pantheress. Ah, who's this then?

Ajenti leaps to the side when the stranger approaches. "Yii! Who're you?" She skitters away from the strange older feline, but doesn't seem to be too afraid, just startled. "Heh. Dunno who you are." Looking to Uru, she answers: "They let me be a relay! I relayed signals from one group to the other! I did it right, too. They made a kill!" She apparently doesn't view the rogue as important enough to be worth derailing her thoughts over.

"I'm nek-" she starts to respond, but her quiet voice fades away as Ajenti continues her conversation with Uru. Her expression droops a little, the very short period of attention payed to her reminded her of how very alone she was with everyone gone now. Nekratini was not old. She was younger than Uru, but she certainly didn't feel that way. Her life was over and had been for some time, it just perplexed her that she was still walking around. Why only her? She continues walking on, as if nothing had happened, this time with her head hung low.

The smile widens even more as Uru--with a small amount of effort--pulls herself onto her feet. "That's wonderful, Ajenti!" she chuckles. "I'm sure your mother is proud of you." Her smile doesn't lose any warmth as she looks to the other lioness who seems to be a bit down in the mouth. She says nothing to her at this moment, nor does she move to approach the other two lionesses. Let them come to her.

Ajenti, unfortunately, isn't really the sort to reach out to strangers. She's far more concerned with winning and nurturing the loyalty of her pridemates. She glances at the shambling lioness and hurries past her, toward Uru. "I'm doing well. I'm gonna be a full huntress before the dry season's over, you just watch." As Ajenti hurries up to her queen, she tries to read the royal expression; is there anything weighing on the queen's mind? It doesn't seem so, which is a relief. The adolescent looks out toward the wanderer. "Are we gonna find out what she's doing here?"

Nekratini blinks and lifts her head abruptly as ajenti rushes past her and she finds herself on another collision course with her. Luckily, she's at a crawling pace and adjusts her path to avoid the lioness. Her ears perk as Ajenti asks about her, and big blue eyes immediately turn to uru, full of sudden worry. She stands frozen for a moment, waiting for what will happen.

But there's nothing to worry about. Uru's smile never wanes as she observes the other lioness, listening to Ajenti as she speaks. "Yes, I was thinking of doing just that," she responds after a short pause. The queen then begins to move forward, still the proud stride of her younger days, if not slightly stiff. She finds nothing threatening about Nekratini, and so she shows no hostility. In fact, she seems more amiable than anything. She greets the stranger with a soft chuff. "What's your name?" she inquires.

Ajenti follows along with subservience, but also a heated curiosity, behind Uru and to her left. She's ready to help however it's necessary.

Nekratini dips her head down as Uru approaches, still a little timid. "I'm Nekratini," she purrs, giving you a twitchy, nervous smile back. "Who are you two?" The lioness sits down, glancing over to Ajenti when she can escape Uru's captivating gaze. There was no doubt that the older lioness was royalty. That gaze had been given to her so many times in her life, and she had always longed to posess it. A subtle power, and modesty. That was what she saw in it.

"I am Uru, queen of this pride," is the kindly response. "This is Ajenti, one of our up-and-coming huntresses." Uru indicates Ajenti with a benevolent look, then returns her attention to the newcomer. "What brings you here, Nekratini?"
Ajenti beams and remains at attention. Her mind is swimming with possible stories this rogue could have to boast.

Nekratini nods to Uru and then turns and dips her head to Ajenti. "nothing, really. This is just where I was chased to," she purrs, her eyes flicking back to Ajenti. This young one had much potential, the lioness could see it. She was like a bud that had not yet bloomed. It could become any flower, and nobody could guess which one it would be. "A huntress! Wow, that's what I always wanted to be in my pride. Of course I'm quite useless at it but when I was your age I would dream about being one. But you actually get to be one! I'm so happy for you, Ajenti."

"Chased to?" Uru repeats curiously, one ear turning forward and the other twitching back inquisitively. "Who is chasing you?" Troubling news indeed. What would this aging lioness have done to warrant being chased away?

Ajenti is pleased and a little perplexed. She's never viewed being a huntress as anything special, just a matter of duty and pride. "Well, I'm happy too! But is it really a big deal? Most of the lionesses around here are huntresses." She inclines her neck and tilts her ears. "What was it like in your pride?"

Nekratini's gaze hangs on uru for a second as she asks that, her mouth hanging open as if she were on the verge of saying something, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she looks back over to Ajenti and tries to avoid the subject. "Well, yes it's a big deal! In my pride, you could be a huntress, a member of the guard or a nurturer. Nobody wanted to be a nurturer, and until the war broke out being on the guard just meant doing drills all day.. but being a huntress was kind of prestegious. It's hard, and you're expected to bring back results." she explains, smiling at her memories. "I didn't get to be any of those.. I was best friends with the queen and given the status of a baroness. I hated it, all I got to do was lay around all day and entertain silly socialites. I got in a bit of trouble doing that.."

Being ignored is not something Uru's accustomed to, and so she dares to press the matter further: "Is that what you were running from?" She would normally not want to delve into someone's painful past, but if the lioness is being chased by something that could threaten her pride, Uru wants to know about it.

Uzuri, a strong, fast, and deadly lioness of Ajenti's age who was trained by Katana to be strong and fierce,ps out. She is like her sisters: Former Duchess os of Palandasya, and well-bred. While not royal, there is royal blood pumping through her veins, and she carries it well. She steps out to the rocks. "Hello, everyone."

Ajenti is hanging on every word. She closes her mouth and licks her lips. "Where do you come from?" she asks. "That sounds really kind of cool," she remarks aside to Uru. "The way my mom taught me, if you can't hunt, you'd better have something else you can do. Or you're hardly a lion at all." She realizes she may be offending the stranger, and gets nervous for a moment. "What kind of war was it?" She smell Uzuri's approach before her greeting, and flicks her tail to her rival as a greeting.

Nekratini glances back to Uru, ears flicking back. It didn't look like it could be avoided. "My queen sentenced me to death. Since there is no one else still living, she must carry it out herself. I run from her." A smile is sent to young ajenti again, truly touched that she's interested. "I come from a pride called the Shantori. We lived.. under the grass, for the most part. the palace was inside a mountain. Like a big cave. Yes, we were the same way.. you had to do something, or you were cast out. And being a shantori didn't promise you anything but hard times anywhere else. The war?" she murmurs, pausing a moment to try and forget most of those memories. "It was.. a nightmare. The prince of the north tried to get out of his title because he wanted nothing to do with it. I met him when he escaped to the south, our lands. He was destined to marry our queen (she was only called a queen because she was our leader.. we had no king), but we fell in love. Nobody knew he was the prince.. but being with me, he was in royalty, and politics, all over again. He did everything he could to stop it but the war started and ended, again and again, until most everyone was dead. When my queen found out he was the prince, after he had died, she swore the war would never end until I had died at her paws. It's been a long time, and I'm old now, so I think it's almost over."

Uru listens quietly to the story, and her smile fades slightly. If Nekratini is running from the queen of her pride, it's doubtful that the Pridelanders can offer her sanctuary without incurring the wrath of another pride. That could spell war, and with young Taka soon to ascend to the throne, that would not be wise. Still, the queen can't help but feel pity for the aging rogue. "I'm sorry to hear that," she utteres.

Ajenti is amazed at the richness of the story. She stares at the wanderer with utter fascination. "Your whole pride tore itself to shreds?" she summarizes. "What a great story! I mean--that's terrible, really. But wow! So did the pride to the north find out, or was it all a civil war?" She's bouncing on her hocks in excitement. Her tiny glance to Uru belongs to the 'Can we keep her?' family of plaintive looks.

Uzuri looks at Uru and Nekratini. "War? Here?" she shakes her head thinking about what Nekratini said. "Well... we can't just throw her out, your highness! Back home, we'd have made sure she was looked after! Maybe I'm not wise, but maybe I'm making strong assumptions here. Just, in my opinion, every lion who comes who needs our help should be helped." she says.

Nekratini feels just like she was young again, staring into ajenti's eyes. Her enthousiasm was rejuvinating the old lioness, and it totally loored her that anyone was interested in her life. Her blue eyes sparkle in the pale moonlight. "The north was the Shantori as well. It was all civil war. It happened because we used to be one big pride. But it got too big, and we had different interests from one another. Other prides took land down the middle and we became separated into the North and South. Then, as recently as my lifetime, the divide was taken by the north and we had a passage to one another. If you knew the northerners, it would come as no surprise to you, but they wanted to take the south as their own. And after the wars kept coming and coming, the south had to try to take over the north to exist on their own." She starts to lay down, grooming her big tail.

The queen would certainly offer Nekratini protection if it wouldn't put her own pride in jeopardy, but it does. She glances to Uzu and Ajenti and shakes her head slowly. "She can stay for a few days, perhaps, but we can't keep her here and have her queen declare war on us," she says. "I would happily do so, but Taka will be taking over the pride someday soon, and I don't want that pride to be taken or damaged by war." Just then, the queen is called off by one of the other lionesses, who seems to have something urgent to say. With a smile and a quiet farewell, Uru wanders off to deal with the matter.

"And now they're all dead?" asks Ajenti, her tail waving back and forth and then slapping the ground with a morbid thud. "Except the old queen, raging and searching for you, soon to perish alone and enraged?" She glances at Uru and frowns. "But...but if they're all gone, there won't be any war. I mean..." Well, Uru is distracted. Ajenti is used to losing her attention when something serious comes along. Oh, well. "Hey, Uzuri. Yeah, let's make her feel at home! What's your name, stranger? Mine's Ajenti." She doesn't think of asking the stranger whether or not she *wants* to stay...it just doesn't occur to her that she might not.

Uzuri smiles and walks up to Nekratini. The strong young lioness sits before her. "And I'm Uzuri. And I'm gonna be the Hunt Mistress. I just gotta beat 'JentI and my baby sister." she says as a joke. "I wish there was something I could do. But I guess not." she says.

Nekratini smiles and continues grooming her freakishly large tail. "I'm Nekratini. Oh! I forgot.." she purrs, turning to the side so you can see her left shoulderblade. There's a scar there that kind of looks like a leaf crying. It could double as an eye but it looks more like a leaf. "This was what the south started doing when the war went on, to know who was on what side. Thackur, the prince, gave me mine. It hurt a bit but I always felt so proud to have it, not for what it represents but because he gave it to me." She turns to Uzuri, giggling a little. "Good luck beating Ajenti. I don't think she'll go down without a fight." she muses, making herself more comfortable in her laying spot. "I'd love to hear about your customs, and history, but I fear I might fall asleep before you finish.."

Ajenti nudges Uzuri with a shift of her hip and a flick of her tail. "Sure! Well, we're a lot more normal than you, I think. We're pretty much at peace. But sure, I can tell you some stuff. You should get my mom to talk to you, though, or Rafiki, or Zazu. They know more than I do. Uzuri, here, is pretty new to Pride Rock, so she's still fitting in." Wink, nudge. "Thackur, huh? That's a stupid name, isn't it? It's like, someone who does this all the time." She swings her rear end and *thacks* Uzuri playfully with her tail.

Uzuri looks at Ajenti with a sly face. Oh yeah? She whips her tail right back at her pride sister. She knows a few things from Tunu that might surprise AjentI. That and the training that she got from Katana when she was but a cub. *Swap swap* goes her tail against Ajenti. *Daring* her. "Well, I hope she does! As Hunt Mistress I want good huntresses. Helps feed the pride, you know."

Nekratini smiles and rests her head on her paws, watching the two cubs. She could watch them playing and swatting at each other forever, if she could manage to stay awake that long. Ajenti had really changed something inside of the older lioness. It seemed now that maybe her purpose here was not over yet, and that there was still a lot of life to live before her time would come. To think that this whole time she'd been sour about how she thought it should have come a long time ago. In all her selfish longing for what was gone, she forgot how much she would miss what was still here. Her eyes all shut, and she's soon sleeping.

"Well, you should stick around. Hey, you don't gotta sleep there. You can go and rest under one of the rocks if you like. Probably shoudln't let you into the pridal cavern just yet, but...well, it's sweet." She trots over and settles down next to the old lioness, pointing things out and talking about the Pridelands...until she realizes her companion is asleep. "Huh," she mutters. "G'night, northerner."