Post by Rani on Sept 6, 2019 14:36:36 GMT
(January 14th, late evening in the area behind Pride Rock. Open to ALL. This thread may determine which faction Rani spends most of her time around, if not joins, depending on which characters greet her.)
Sun-colored eyes, almost too big for the small head that framed them, locked on to the shapes of feline tails disappearing into the tall grasses of the horizon. The little lioness the gaze belonged to felt her ears drooping and forced them back up resolutely. In an instant the look of real, cub-like vulnerability as she watched her escort leave was replaced by a calm, regal posture befitting a princess...even if the princess herself was only six months old.
But Baliyo and Nirmala had been reluctant to go home without her anyway. One look at the thorns and it was all, ‘Maybe we should turn back,’ and ‘Grandmother wouldn’t like the look of those thorns,’ and ‘I don’t know if we should leave you here when we can’t even find King Mufasa.’
She couldn’t show the insecurity she felt (totally shouldn’t feel because what kind of leader was afraid of a bunch of brambles) or they never would’ve let her do this on her own. Plus, they were half the Night Pride. When she thought about only Grandmother and Surak left to guard the valley, it made her want to chase her brother and aunt all the way through the mountain pass herself. So Rani had put on her Firm Face—which she’d been perfecting—arched her tail over her back and told them to go on back to the Tree. “This is what the Queen would want, remember? I can smell lions. I’m sure the King is just around the corner.”
And they’d listened. The pride of that almost warmed away the empty, lonely feeling the chocolate cub felt swallowing her.
She turned back to Pride Rock. Wow. It was about seven times as big as the Tree. Nothing in this whole savannah stood out like that. She’d always wondered why any of the Great Kings wanted to leave the mystic valley. Grandmother said they were all wise, but she’d always thought maybe some of them were a little crazy, because who would ever choose not to stay at her home? But looking at the awe-inspiring stone like a regal mouth roaring to the sun, she could believe it. ...Even if it did have twisted, spiky vines crawling up it’s back.
Rani took a deep breath. Arama karo. Nirmala would tell her to relax. But the thorns were pretty intimidating. Mostly because they were weird. They shouldn’t be able to grow like this, in this habitat, if anything Grandmother taught her about roots was true. “Creepy,” she muttered.
As the sun set, Rani hopped down from the boulder she’d been standing on. She needed to get closer to Pride Rock. Surely the King would be there. If she wasn’t afraid of thorns, neither would Mufasa be, right? So why couldn’t she see the Pridelands Pride?
The stoic princess bent bent her head and sniffed at the ground. If she had to wiggle through these tendrils, she wanted to be sure of a direction, first. That was what Surak would do. As she crawled, she murmured quietly to herself, reciting what she was supposed to say to the great leader of the plains. “My name is Rani of the Night Pride...as it’s future queen—ugh, no, as its future leader and Queen—I have come to learn why...”
Sun-colored eyes, almost too big for the small head that framed them, locked on to the shapes of feline tails disappearing into the tall grasses of the horizon. The little lioness the gaze belonged to felt her ears drooping and forced them back up resolutely. In an instant the look of real, cub-like vulnerability as she watched her escort leave was replaced by a calm, regal posture befitting a princess...even if the princess herself was only six months old.
But Baliyo and Nirmala had been reluctant to go home without her anyway. One look at the thorns and it was all, ‘Maybe we should turn back,’ and ‘Grandmother wouldn’t like the look of those thorns,’ and ‘I don’t know if we should leave you here when we can’t even find King Mufasa.’
She couldn’t show the insecurity she felt (totally shouldn’t feel because what kind of leader was afraid of a bunch of brambles) or they never would’ve let her do this on her own. Plus, they were half the Night Pride. When she thought about only Grandmother and Surak left to guard the valley, it made her want to chase her brother and aunt all the way through the mountain pass herself. So Rani had put on her Firm Face—which she’d been perfecting—arched her tail over her back and told them to go on back to the Tree. “This is what the Queen would want, remember? I can smell lions. I’m sure the King is just around the corner.”
And they’d listened. The pride of that almost warmed away the empty, lonely feeling the chocolate cub felt swallowing her.
She turned back to Pride Rock. Wow. It was about seven times as big as the Tree. Nothing in this whole savannah stood out like that. She’d always wondered why any of the Great Kings wanted to leave the mystic valley. Grandmother said they were all wise, but she’d always thought maybe some of them were a little crazy, because who would ever choose not to stay at her home? But looking at the awe-inspiring stone like a regal mouth roaring to the sun, she could believe it. ...Even if it did have twisted, spiky vines crawling up it’s back.
Rani took a deep breath. Arama karo. Nirmala would tell her to relax. But the thorns were pretty intimidating. Mostly because they were weird. They shouldn’t be able to grow like this, in this habitat, if anything Grandmother taught her about roots was true. “Creepy,” she muttered.
As the sun set, Rani hopped down from the boulder she’d been standing on. She needed to get closer to Pride Rock. Surely the King would be there. If she wasn’t afraid of thorns, neither would Mufasa be, right? So why couldn’t she see the Pridelands Pride?
The stoic princess bent bent her head and sniffed at the ground. If she had to wiggle through these tendrils, she wanted to be sure of a direction, first. That was what Surak would do. As she crawled, she murmured quietly to herself, reciting what she was supposed to say to the great leader of the plains. “My name is Rani of the Night Pride...as it’s future queen—ugh, no, as its future leader and Queen—I have come to learn why...”