You've Never Let me Down (open)

[sacredfire]

The young yellow colored lioness was making her way back from another hunt, not together with the other pride members but by herself. It was something that she practiced on, at least three to four times a day and taking several breaks. Since she knew she would need them from the hot sun. Soon a thought came to her that made her shutter a bit, what was the point? This was her life, it seemed like it was at a standstill this time. There were no leads on anything about her parents, and it wasn’t like she was going to jump to some new higher position in ranking. The reason why she hunted was in order to keep her family’s memories alive of what she had left of them. As she sat down underneath one of the trees she looked back up at Pride Rock as it stood above them.

Even in the distance she noticed how small it had gotten, and many had the same look on their face when they realized just how big the place was. That was well when she was younger; the same reaction came to her face as she looked up at the large rocks piled up and up. Almost as if they were stretching to the sky. Scar would have probably kicked her out of the pride if it had not been for several reasons. Her family lineage, being Simba’s cousin, and that she was a female. Almost all of the males had been kicked out awhile ago, but it seemed that many had returned. Which was at least a good sign at least, the pride was prospering.

Adanna let out a soft huff of displeasure as she put her head down in the grass that was trying to grow. She remained still as she let the shade come into her coat and start to cool it off. It felt nice. Yet something was making her stay on edge. If there was someone nearby, she would stay alert enough to make sure that they were certainly not a threat. “That feels good. The shade here has never let me down in the past.” Adanna added as she started to feel her muscles relaxing.

[nightshade]

Afrika had spent the morning training hard for her future role as shaman, it was tiring, especially learning from Rafiki who often used cryptic messages and would nod knowingly rather than answer her many questions. She didn't mind though, she found the presence of the old monkey oddly comforting at times, and she loved learning how to be a good shaman. She felt very connected to the spirits and had always desperately wanted to help others, by following the spirits guidelines, mixing cures etc. But she now had the afternoon off, to leave the land of spirits and return to pride life.

She shook her coat vigorously and stretched her legs, ready for the long walk back to pride rock. Her jaw twitched irritably, it was nice to have the afternoon off, but half of it would be wasted on her long journey back to pride rock. She repressed a heavy sigh and pressed forward, hoping she'd meet another lion at least halfway through her journey for company. It was somewhat risky, being a lone teenage lioness walking back through empty lands, but she had not yet been harmed on her walks home. She thought of what she'd do when she actually returned, she was tired, so would need to rest, and hungry too, the feeding options around the baobab tree weren't exactly top pickings. She hoped the lionesses had had a good hunt today.

With that thought, she felt a soft pang, others her age were learning to hunt and bonding as a pride. She was beginning to feel isolated, although she knew she was learning an important tool as well. Life as a shaman was starting to seem kind of.. lonely. Especially as her friends were building up to their first hunts. The suns heavy rays beat down on her back, and she veered slightly off course, heading for the Accacia grove, it would be safe for her to rest there for a while in the shade. As she approached, she realised she was not alone, and wandered vaguely if the spirits had guided her this way, or if it was just mere coincidence. She made her pawsteps heavy, so the lioness would hear her approach, she didn't want to startle her pride-sister.

[sacredfire]

For awhile Adanna had paid no heed onto who had been coming into the area. She was enjoying her alone time more than she had hoped for, and it was just what she had wanted. However she noticed that something seemed a bit off, her ears heard what was coming and for a moment didn't recognize it right away. Soft thudding noises were heard in the distance, which at this point made her look up to see who was there. Her eyes darted about in the Acacia trees that stood tall and shaded much of the ground. But she soon figured out who else was there, it was another female lion, one younger than her but she looked like she was almost an adult. Maybe not entirely, but the first looks gave her the impression that he was.

It also dawned onto Adanna that she had not seen this lioness before, maybe once or twice but she hadn't even asked this one's name before. She knew most of the lionesses names that went hunting with her, many of them as well as the members of her family she had recognized. And knowing that she was often shy at times, she knew that may get in the way with speaking with her. But she quickly shoved that aside in hopes of an opportunity to gain a new friend. "Um hello...I've never seen you around before. I apologize for this but what is your name? Mine's Adanna." She asked trying to be friendly. She also had a guess to see that this lioness may need some company.

[nightshade]

Afrika's features rearranged themselves into an open smile, pleased that the lioness seemed glad of company rather than annoyed at the intrusion, she seemed friendly enough, so Afrika relaxed slightly, reassured that she was under no threat. I'm Afrika, trainee shaman. She smiled slightly, deciding it was necessary to add her pending rank, hopefully it would explain to Adanna why she had not seen her around much. I'm glad to see another lioness, I feel like its been ages since I've been around lions. she joked. I hope I'm not intruding? she posed it as a question and looked towards pride rock, it was not so far from home any more, and if the other ess needed peace, she could take the walk back alone, although it would be nice if she could wait a while with her and perhaps be accompanied back to pride rock.

[sacredfire]

Adanna shook her head as if to show Afrika that she was not intruding at all. Adanna didn't mind company from time to time, which would have made it look like she was antisocial. After all this was perhaps an opportunity to strike a friendship. "No you're no intruding at all. I just came back from a practice hunt and my paws were aching from. I come down to the Aciaca trees for a bit to rest under the shade. You can join me if you want, I just started." Adanna said as she looked over Afrika. She noticed that the other lioness shaman had seemed rather happy to see another one of her kind. She didn't blame her for that reaction; it must have been a lonely job from time to time. Well now she realized, that if she ever did get injured she knew one of the Shamans, not that Rafiki was bad but it was nice to always have a conversation that didn't seem so...odd.

[nightshade]

The tan hued ess broke into a soft smile, she was glad of the company, and didn't really have many friends outside her tight family circle, it would be nice to branch out and meet someone new. That sounds good, I could use a rest. It was only then she realised how true those words were, her limbs were aching softly, a soft smile graced her features at the thought, with all the travelling she was doing lately she was toning her muscles at least, even if her hunting skills weren't being homed, she would hopefully be as toned as the other lionesses. She knew being a shaman would be useful, but she couldn't help but feel that being a hunter would be useful too, she often felt guilty for eating from the kills of the hunt, feeling that she shouldn't eat a kill she hadn't contributed to. She now found herself wondering if this was one of the lionesses she internally felt she was stealing from. A you a huntress of the pride? she questioned lightly, feeling that she should find out the basic information of her new found companion.

[sacredfire]

"Yes I am, I have been around awhile but not as much as the older lionesses have. So I hunt and practice on my own when I get the chance too." Adanna said as she watched Afrika. She didn't at all mind her presence. She would have accepted any lioness that she knew from the hunting party, although Afrika wasn't one of them she still invited her any ways. It was better sometimes being left alone. And she made a friend too. Today seemed to be getting better for her, it seemed as if the darkness on her past was starting to slowly shed some light, not enough though. There was a lot of it that was going to stay there. Unless she found her family, but she was convinced at this point that they could not be in contact with each other, or worst of all dead. She did not want to completely think of it that way, that was an extreme. But she would have given for any detail, any clue, any piece of the puzzle that would have said that her parents and sibling were alive. However she did have some other family in Pride Rock, her cousin was in fact Simba.

[nightshade]

She nodded softly, she knew many of her friends practised hunting in their free time, it was a skill that she guessed could always be improved on, even some of the older lionesses were finding new methods and strategies, which was especially useful to the pride as they began to slow down after their prime. I'm not sure hunting is in my blood as much as the others, my mother is the lead warrior. Are your family all hunters? she asked simply, but felt a strong nagging sensation as she did so, as though it was not a topic she should have breached. This happened often with Afrika, though she always tried to hide it, not wanting the others to judge her. Rafiki said she had a gift, but at the moment she mostly saw it as an embarrassment, although the pridelanders were renowned for being a religious pride, many were not too tolerant of others who said they had a connection with the spirits, so she kept quiet, and averted her gaze from Adanna, not wanting to intrude somewhere that was sensitive,.

[sacredfire]

"I believe my mother was but other than that I couldn't tell you much about it. My family has disapeared since Scar's reign and I haven't seen them ever since." Adanna said as she noticed that Afrika was looking away from her at this point. She could understand why, sometimes family was a touchy subject. As it was now for her, she had missed her family so much, even if Simba had been a close cousin, the two weren't exactly like he was with Nala. They only occasionally saw each other, other than that, they were pretty much on their own paths. "But it's alright." She found herself saying again to when Afrika had mentioned she wasn't much of a hunter, "Not everyone is good at everything." She doubted at this point she was much of a shaman lioness. She couldn't tell the difference between most plants that grew in the savannah along here. She may be able to point out a few, but she could very well mix them up with others.

[nightshade]

Afrika raised her brow, surprised, she did not blame Adanna's family for trying to escape Scar, he had been a brutal and truly evil king, Afrika was grateful she had her family to protect her when she grew up. She was surprised that Adanna had been left behind though. She nodded at the lionesses next words, many had very different talents, it was rare to find a lioness who could hunt, cubsit, defend and had a good knowledge of the spirits and plants, the pride worked well because everyone had their own place. Perhaps they will return when word of Scar's dethroning spreads through the Savannah. She said hopefully, We are all far better off without the tyrant king. she stiffened slightly before her next speech, He blinded my mother, she has great scars across one side of her face. She shook her head sadly, disgusted that a lion could do something like that, then looked around suddenly, making sure that no one else was nearby. Afrika didn't like to mention her mothers blindness to anyone, but was okay to discuss it within the pride when no one else was around, the danger came from allowing other prides and rouges to know such information, Simba did not want his rivals knowing that his lead warrior had such a great weakness, and Afrika wanted to obey her king.

[sacredfire]

"I hope so, it seems like every time I go out hunting I try to look for them as well. But really my hunting is to keep the memories of them alive. I hope that makes sense in a way. Both my parents taught me how to hunt when I was a cub." Adanna said as she spoke with Afrika. Though the next words surprised her, and there was spite in her words as she found out about that. Scar was certainly truely evil. How could have he mated with females of the pridelands and gotten away with that kind of harsh crimes? It made no sense to her. But if she was up against Scar she would rather go against him fighting with her own claws and teeth instead. "That's aweful. It makes me even think lesser to him. And if he does return we certainly won't welcome him back with open arms that easily." Adanna added trying to help assure Afrika. And the hyenas were another thing, being that they have been rivals with lions for decades, she could not understand why he paired up with them. They were only pawns really, doing the things that he had not wanted to do all a long such as hunting and 'keeping the lionesses in their place.'