[ORP] ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ Wet and Full of Life ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

[Ctrl F Greenie]

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ Wet and Full of Life ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

The return of Malenga Shauku and the wondrous surprise of little paws. Though the rains had swept her and others away it has brought back many, along with new life. Shauku hopes the new life brings back hope and perhaps some more motion as the last while has likely been tough. While she was away it's expected that the pride was putting itself back together.

In light of her return there will be a clash of ceremonies thrown immediately in honor of all that has happened. The Introduction Dance and The Sun Dance will happen as a collaboration, of course there is expected mistakes and so on, but know that there will be no unhappy souls, unless they have decided to see her return in a different light than positive.

Returning Character(s)

Shauku ; Mysses Greenie ; Malenga
Aine ; Seaki ; Mate to Shauku
Hlaziya ; Mysses Greenie ; Son
Elikai ; AstoriaFallen ; Son
Uamuzi ; Kitsune Mistress Nyoko ; Spawn
Tawhujalbahja ; Kathryn Dragonna ; Daughter

Ceremonies

The Introduction Dance
IC Purpose: Introductions of new litters.

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This dance welcomes the newborn cubs to the pride. Females give birth to their cubs in a den situated far away from the center of the pride. No member of the pride may see the cubs until she presents them, excepting their father or healers (in the case of health problems).

The female will return to the pride with cubs and beat out her rhythm in the drum circle. The pride gathers and awaits the Malenga. Once she arrives, the Malenga breaks the circle with the father of the cubs and approaches the mother.

In her mouth she brings the mother's jewellery. The mother dons all of her jewellery save for the piece she gives to her each of her cubs, signifying that they are a part of her. The Malenga then begins the welcoming chant, the pride echoing her words. The dance she performs is very simple one and with each verse of her a song a cub will step forward, say his/her name and join in the dance. Once all cubs are dancing the mother and father join, followed finally by the pride. They sing their welcome to the new cubs who are now officially part of the Nchi'mahadhi pride.

The Sun Dance
IC Purpose: Simply to give thanks for good fortune.

Question(s) & Answer(s)

Ask away!

Notes

• Everyone is welcome to participate within this ORP. It's actually encouraged, Shauku has been gone for so long that she will need to be brought up to speed on what has happened - this is an opportunity to report any big news that may or may not have happened. Think big and small!
  
• NEW! Other prides diplomats/those who may have assisted the pride during it's hard times following the mass flood are more than welcome to join the RP. If they had been in contact with the pride at all it would have been well known that their leader was MIA and to keep an eye out. It's likely that the same rumor mill would share the news of her return.
  
• This disappearance may have caused turmoil, it could be seen as abandonment. She had no intentions of leaving, but of course the truth could always been seen differently through different eyes.
  
  
• Please let me know if you would like RP outside of the ORP. Or if you have any plot ideas, all are welcome. Just PM myself or the mule.
  
• ALSO, there will be prizes eventually and so all names of those that participate in this ORP will be entered into a Raffle that should happen in the very near future. <3

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ New ; Raffle Prize ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

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Raffle List:

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Shauku was approaching home at last. It had been a long trip from where she had begun to get to this exact moment. Yet she couldn't be happier, by her side was her new mate, at least one of them, who had happily accompanied her to their new home. The family didn't stop there, it was easy to logic that the pitter patter of little paws was the real cause of her being so late on returning home.

Small limbs, happy sounds and plenty of chatter emitted from the small crowd that surrounded her. As she arrived to the pride the chatter began to cease, then get much louder. This was likely one of the most exciting moments in the cubs young lives at this moment.

"Hurry along, there are plenty of others to meet."

Shauku said, giving a couple butts a shove to hurry some slow little rumps along. The Malenga was beaming with pride as she came into clear vision of the pride and some of it's members. What a day to remember.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

TawhujAlbahja was normally bouncing around trying to make her siblings laugh, but not today. All this traveling was hurting her little paws and she just could not be more miserable. It seemed like EVERYTHING was getting to her now. Normally the fact that she looked different was not really something she let bother her, but now that her cheer was dampened by the tiredness and sore paws, everything was horrible. Her Lady Father was horrible, her mother rushing her was horrible, her pelt color being different was horrible, and her paws were horrible.

TawhujAlbahja saw everyone staring at them and stopped. She was not going any further. There were too many of them, and she was quickly feeling overwhelmed by everything. When her mother gave her a nudge, she just tipped forward onto her chin and grumped. "No." She righted herself, only to plant her butt on the ground and look up at her mother. "Not moving." The normally glowing, blubbly cub was now a passionately stubborn one.

The small cub just wanted to curl up in a den and sleep. That was another thing, what was wrong with the den they had been in before? Mother had said they would be going to a NEW den. Why? Theirs was fine. Theirs was comfy and familiar... and did not require hurting little paws to get to it like this new one. TawhujAlbahja had finally had enough of all this change and was done with it. She was happy to stay RIGHT here.  

[Big Hobbit]

Malaika could hardly believe her ears when she heard that the Malenga had returned to their homeland. She was on her way to see for herself that the missing lioness was indeed back.

When the floods had washed her away, she thought that she would never see their leader again. The time that had followed had not been an easy one. Feelings of sadness, unease, and an overall sense of being lost came over the people. No one knew what to do in those first days. Eventually, they were able to continue living, but things just weren't quite the same.

When Malaika arrived at the scene, she was shocked to see Shauku making her way back into the lands, and with cubs in tow no less!  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Hlaziya, the eldest of the twins, or so he assumed and reminded others constantly, was quickly following in his Mothers foot fairly closely albeit a little grumpy himself. The amount of pain he was feeling was manageable, even for a tyke and he glanced his sisters way at her sudden, but minor outburst. The brother shared a look with his twin, the look said 'look at how lame she is',y'know, normal brother stuff.

Suddenly, as things came clear to him, he was seeing plenty of faces - maybe to many faces. Ziya was faced with a huge change all of a sudden and his reaction was calm, cool, collected on the outside and at the same time he was also skittering closer to Aine. The pair had bonded a fair bit in the Roguelands, or so he figured, and yes his Mother was still his Mother, but at this moment Aine was his go to.

"I don't know Brother." He spoke quickly and quietly, without engaging anyone else.

---

Shauku had expected no less - these were her cubs after all. Being stubborn, even a little shy wasn't an unusual course of action, she just hoped that would change with time. "Hlaziya, Elikai.. you're welcome to be as far as you'd like, but within sight." She smiled, still a nervous Mom herself, but she hid behind the excuse of it being their first time within their home lands.

"Tawh.. Oh Tawh." The Mother, clearly tired, turned to look at her typically bubbly little girl and smiled softly. "Aren't you excited to see your new and final home?" The dark lioness knew what her daughter had wanted and likely had even come to expect in her short time of being alive. It was the same thing that most cubs probably wanted, a safe and warm place to call home.

"Oh my sweet little cubs, this is home, welcome to Nchi Mahadhi."

The pride in her voice filled up and expelled with those words, but continued on as soon as she began to find some familiar faces among the crowd of those she would get to know. If her memory served the lioness went by the name Malaika - though she had never spoken with the lioness herself she tried to make it habit to get to know the members of her home.

"Malaika?" A slow smile spread on the Malengas face, the name felt strange on her tongue and so she paused to allow for correction and to also ease into the situation - it had been a long while and she was sure the shock effect would be quite large, she felt it too.

AstoriaFallen

Kathryn Dragonna

Big Hobbit

 

[Epine de Rose]

The Bahari'mtoto had not been the only pride to have suffered great loss in recent years. The turmoil they had faced may have been terrible, but over the course of their attempts to repair their damaged home they had stumbled across a series of prides that were also embroiled in their own struggles. At the time, they hadn't attempted to lend to much of a paw as they had had very little to offer - such was the way of things in trying times.

Nevertheless, they had always wished those they had encountered well. They may not have been able to will the gods to heal and aid them, but they could hope and pray that fate would smile on the prides eventually and lead them back to prosperity.

As fate would have it, it seemed that one of those prides had indeed been gifted with a spate of good luck. Their recovery wasn't complete, but a breath of life had been given to the much needed lands and as with all things, the gossip and rumours had managed to gradually make their way back to the coastal pride. The King had lent his ear to this with much more interest than he generally graced such murmurs with, and once he had been given a brief confirmation that the rumours were true he had summoned forth his diplomats.

...One of those was La'Seine.

Her duty was clear, she was to enter the Nchi lands and offer her salutations, her congratulations, and much more importantly, the help of the coastal pride if it was required. The Bahari'mtoto were much more healthy in these times and as a consequence, could provide resources that they could not have afforded previously.

Thus, the leopon made her way into the Nchi lands with a touch of uncertainty, but with her duties clear in her mind. Hopefully they wouldn't be hostile to her 'kind' as some prides were liable to be, she was only here to offer good tidings!  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

The sight of an unfamiliar face came into view not long after the Malenga had begun to mingle with pride members. Detaching herself from the others, who was already openly following her own gaze to see a dark and pale patterned creature who appeared to have a kind gait, strangers weren't uncommon to the lands, but with all the devastation recently it wouldn't be surprising to see some hesitation.

Even the new mother had almost forgotten her place and approached on the defensive, but instead checked herself prior to speaking. "Welcome." Her words were filled with warmth and welcoming, there were no underlying tones to give the impression of negative feelings. Having just returned home herself she had no intentions of beginning a feud - not that her nature would allow for such a thing, but having cubs around made her a little more edgy than she had anticipated.

"I apologize, but I don't recognize you. Are you from around here?" The words were filled with hesitation, Shauku felt the gamble she was taking with each word spoken. If the individual was a pride member than she would look a fool, yet she felt confident that the female before her wasn't from around these parts. There was a certain smell, pleasant and calm - perhaps something that suggested contact with a large body of water. Unfortunately the female found herself unable to entirely determine where she figured the other female was from.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Mysses Greenie

Not hostile! Her brain gave a tiny 'woooo!' of approval and relief as the lioness approached her. Admittedly her gait was cautious but La'Seine couldn't blame her for this, after all, she was an intruder so to speak and all things considered...she hadn't exactly sent a postcard underlying her intentions to visit. Speaking of that, the hybrid did make a mental note to persuade one of the local birds to assist her in her future endeavours as that did seem like the polite thing to do.

...You know, show up after warning them as opposed to just shuffling in.

"I am not, no," She finally responded, hopefully allaying some of Shauku's concerns. Today, the new mother would not look the fool, the hybrid was most definitely an outsider. "Actually I'm from the Bahari'mtoto," she lifted a paw and motioned towards the east, waving it (or was it flicking), as if to indicate it was some ways off.

"We live on the coast, by the ocean," she explained and lowered her paw again. "We couldn't help before," she added and returned her gaze to the new mother. "But fortune smiles on us now and we wanted to offer our greetings," she paused and gazed at the cubs for a moment before grinning. "And apparently our congratulations too!"  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Relief seemed to be a common feeling among the pair and Shauku found herself letting go a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding before responding to the hybrid. "News travels fast." The smile she had already been wearing broke into an even larger grin. The explanation also provided to her where the pleasant smell was from, ocean air.

"Thank you." The day could not have been going better in her opinion - firstly she had returned home, now she was able to host a member of another pride. Though they were unable to send aid during their toughest days, it was incredible that the thought was even there to begin with. Shauku hadn't had any dealings with other prides before, though she was very aware they were out there. It was about time the Nchi made themselves known, particularly to create positive connections. "We are happy to hear that the Bahari`mtoto have been smiled upon. It seemed we,ourselves, had only dark days ahead. But now the sun seems to shine brighter."

"I'm Shauku, Malenga of the Nchi`mahadhi. What is your name?"

It seemed she was well out of practice in the political department, the dark female made a mental note to go over some best practices before attempting to go any further than the potential connection before her. Perhaps spending some additional time with the hybrid would help with this, along side getting an opportunity to inquire a little more about the Bahari.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"La'Seine is my name, diplomacy is my game!" She clapped both her paws together merrily and regarded Shauku thoughtfully. "It's actually Mshauri'rafiki but that's such a mouthful, much easier to say 'my job is to make friends'," she remarked and rested her paws against her hindlegs. She was, perhaps, the most harmless creature in existence and it was a wonder she hadn't been given an escort just in case things went south.

"Honestly we've had fortune favour us for a while now," she waved her right paw a little, not dismissively, but more to move the conversation away from whatever might have befallen her pride. "Which is why we came to you," she continued and leaned a little to the left to peer at the gathered pride nearby. "We were curious as to whether or not you still needed help?"

"We have plenty now, much too much sometimes that we even have to ask our neighbours to help," she huffed out her cheeks. "No, really," she continued even though the poor lioness hadn't even said a thing yet. "Last time we had this really fat whale was up on shore and you can bet your fluffy butt that we couldn't eat all that quick enough to stop it smelling so we had a gigantic party with our friends in the jungle -" she paused.

"So if you needed anything, we would love to help?" she tilted her head to the side. "When we were at our worst, so many beyond the Bahari provided aid, it's only fitting we return this in kind," she murmured.

Granted, the Nchi had been dealing with their own issues (and still were), but that didn't mean she couldn't offer to pay it forward! After all, the whole point was to make friends and allies, right?

Just as well the elders couldn't see her, she probably would have been chastised for her manner of address as it was most certainly not very regal.

Mysses Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Perhaps not the most regal demeanor, but it certainly was refreshing. Having managed to survive a stint in the rogue lands, lucky enough to not meet with an unfortunate end and in fact coming out on top with her delightful family she listened intently with a light in her eyes that showed how pleased she was.

The Bahari was notably a kind pride, it was clear in the portrayal of innocence that was presented before her. Though Shauku knew better than to think that innocence meant lacking in intelligence - La`seine was clearly passionate about her purpose in life and to her pride. It was admirable in so many ways, the dark pelted lioness hoped that her own cubs were grow to be so enthusiastic about their position in life.

"To much can certainly be just as bad as to little." A small laugh erupted from the lioness. "I am still learning of my homes status, so unfortunately until I know more I won't be able to discern just how much we will need." Her eyes grew sad, and almost weary - the appearance was not reflected anywhere else and as seconds passed so did the tired look in her eyes. "I suspect we will have many drums to repair, dens that may need to be put back together and more. If the pride has been so focused on repairing then hunting, though vital, may have been set to the back burner."

Shauku was smacked with reality fairly quick, the bubble she had closed herself into of simply coming home and getting a move on was popped. There was a chance that the pride was worse off than she had thought or better off than she had thought. It was all an overwhelming idea, but she chose not to allow it to control her at that precise moment.

"How long do you see yourself staying?"

If the Bahari wanted to help she may be in no place to say no, though her own personal pride took a beating for that it was the good choice for all. Until she knew more she wouldn't be able to really pass along a request to her newest companion.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

La'Seine's eyes glazed over at the mention of drums, these weren't something she was terribly familiar with... though the mention of rebuilding dens did have her interest. Perhaps it would be advantageous for her to stay for a while... if she could see how the pride functioned then she would have a greater understanding of whether or not there was anything she could give them.

"Oh, well..." she tilted her head as she regarded Shauku. "How long would you like me to?" she asked in reply. If things were too inconvenient for her to stay for extended periods, she could mostly certainly arrange to leave and come back when more ducks were in a row.

"If you would prefer I return later I can, either periodically or for a longer stint at a different time," she clucked her tongue and peered at the pride with renewed interest.

"But not before I find out what a 'drum' is..." she finished at last and returned her attention to Shauku, eyes bright. "What's a 'drum'?"

Mysses Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"Perhaps if you were to stay briefly after our celebrations? I will have had a chance to look around and discuss with various pride members the extent to which we are repaired at this point. That way you don't leave and come back only to have to leave again for resources?"

Shauku was satisfied that she was holding the interest of La`seine. It was clear on the way she reacted to the word 'drum' that an exchange of knowledge and possibly even articles could be had? It was a dream to have such connections, especially if the pride was having such a favored moment in their lives.

"Ah, you are new to the instrument?" Sure, the dark lioness had ended the statement with a question, but rather she was making a fact plain. "Our instruments are paw crafted right here within the pride by our Crafters who have worked their whole lives to create these beautiful articles. It would be ideal for you to sit with a Crafter while you are here, get to know what they do." The Malenga felt at home while explaining and perhaps even bragging a little about the magnificence that was her pride members. She was sure that the Bahari likely had something similar.

"These drums are used during our celebrations, all celebrations are accompanied by song and dance here within the Nchi. Once everything is a little more settled you will likely see the instruments in action."

Pride was beaming from Shauku. It felt much better to be here, instead of just waking up and going to sleep thinking about it. "What about the Bahari, your home, do you use anything for instruments?" It hadn't occurred to Shauku that perhaps other prides didn't incorporate as much song or dance to their traditions, something like that would likely shock her a little bit.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"Oh, so a little like the Kizingo'zaa Mummer's Ball!" La'Seine seemed to have been able to establish a connection between what he Nchi did and something similar she had seen before. While the Mummer's were most certainly different, favouring plays rather than songs, she had seen a few of them perform in a particular way. This must be similar to what the Nchi did, though it seemed to they had placed considerably more of their time into this art as opposed to anything else the Bahari's neighbouring pride might have been inclined towards.

"They sing sometimes," she clarified. "Usually during their own celebrations, but it sounds like you have a much greater love of it," she tilted her head to the side. "Or perhaps it is more appropriate to say you afford more significance to it?" she shook her head. In a way she suspected it might be both, the pride must have been one who expressed itself through dance and song while the Kizi had always preferred generally revelry.

"We don't use instruments in the Bahari," she answered the lioness's questions after a moment of pause and offered a wry smile. "Our celebrations are usually much quieter; there is laughter and games but song is not something we would use. Not that it isn't welcome, I'm sure many would love the opportunity to try," she lapsed in to silence for a moment as she eyed what she assumed was one of the 'drums' the lioness spoke of.

...Even now she had visions of cubs knocking their paws against them.

It would be a noisy 'toy', but she could see where the fun would be in it from a young age. Alas, La'seine would have to be permitted to see a performance before she could appreciate how such a thing could be used as an instrument.

"We don't really know any formal dances either," she said slowly and grinned. "It would be fun to learn some, but I would very much like to see what it is your pride embrace. I'm curious to see how these instruments are made, how they are used..." she drifted off.

The lioness obviously had a huge amount of pride in her family, her land, and her heritage. La'Seine really couldn't be faulted for wanting to see how the Nchi lived!

Mysses Greenie