FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Nala tucked into the rhino with gusto, eating the soft areas that Paka had already opened up. She ate in silence, however, as Uzuri lingered at the edge of the copse, looking out into the savanna while sitting in the shade of a smallish tree. She had her back turned and her tail slowly lashed back and forth. Nala had no intention of mentioning Paka to her again, now or for the foreseeable future.

It had been a long while since Nala had had the privilege of eating something as thick and savory as rhino, so the meal itself was enjoyable. Though starved during adolescence, Nala felt some of her old strength returning just for having the meat distending her tummy; already she thought, it was not so unpleasant to lie on the bones of her hips and shoulders. Nala washed herself perfunctorily as Uzuri seemed in no great haste to leave and then strode to where she sat contemplating Ancestors knew what.

"Are you quite full?" Uzuri asked before Nala could speak.

"I am comfortable, thank you." Nala responded, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not what I asked you." Said Uzuri sharply, now rising. Just looking in her eyes, Nala could see that her patience was nearly lapsed.

Still, Nala replied, "I'm not going to kill anything while I'm there."

Uzuri's face was grim with warning as she said, "You say that, but without understanding the temptation. There's not going to be a waterhole to keep everyone calm there, Nala. There's only your own willpower. You can't understand the damage you could do to all of us if you slip and end a life that you cannot give back." She snorted, and eyed Nala's midriff where her meal still showed behind her protruding ribs. "So I ask again, are you quite full?"

"Yes, I am." Said Nala, not without a hint of defiance.

Uzuri sniffed and began walking along the tree line separating forest from savanna, due north. Nala walked behind and fortunately the lioness ahead of her set an easy pace. The Pridelander was indeed 'quite full' as Uzuri had said. Her belly felt heavy and although her wrenched leg was no longer bothering her, she felt like she could have done well with a 16 hour nap.

The ground lowered sharply and Nala found herself wading through dense green grass. The side of the slope that was in shade was lush, and Nala could smell running water nearby as the humidity rose. At one point, the ground fell away almost entirely and the cats had to leap from boulder to boulder, dropping at least two body lengths almost straight down. It was on the last of these that the lower curve of the stream came into view, winding its way out of the sparse forest.

It was quite a queer sort of stream, however. Nala could see at once that its channel was very deep, even though it was currently spilling over its banks with flood water. That wasn't the odd part though, what was was that piled against its banks were rough woven sacks containing earth, or so Nala deduced from what she could see through rips in the threadbare fabric. These were doing a moderately good job of containing the surging water, however the ground to either side was still puddled and soaked through. The cats kept to the high ground, though it was heavily slanted and still moist on the paws.

"Humans did that." Said Nala as they walked along the stream carefully picking their way. It wasn't really a question.

"Yes," said Uzuri. "You will find that humans are quite industrious and clever. There are a lot of things one can learn from them."

But Nala frowned, looking at the buttressed stream and its dark, foaming waters. "But why contain the water? Wouldn't the flood pass more quickly if the water was left free?"

Uzuri turned her head and gave Nala a curious look, almost like she were seeing her for the first time. "Why, yes, I suppose it would, if the water was left to its own devices." She paused in her step for a moment, looking out over the turbulent stream and its leaking reinforcements. "But if the water was freed, it might run into people's homes or the streets, which would be very unpleasant for humans." She added when she saw Nala's ear flick in question. "Also, flood water might carve a completely different path than this and all of the channels and plumbing that has been built down stream would dry up."

Nala stood on a dry rock and contemplated this information, trying to understand. Finally she said, "What's plumbing?"

Uzuri grinned snorting and resumed her trek along the stream. The Pridelander was left feeling both ashamed of her ignorance and angry at Uzuri for feigning sophistication and superiority. Another half an hour of wading through belly high grass followed and then Uzuri finally veered off course and led Nala back up to the crest of the slope. The lead cat stopped and sat down, the grass much lower here, though flowering. As Nala climbed up the last few steps, she said. "This is the town of the humans. We call it Liglim." Uzuri then sat in silence as Nala gaped at what she was able to see from this high vantage.

Below, a most unusual sort of landscape spread, unnatural and Nala did not know at first how to recognize what she was seeing with her own eyes. It was almost as if the earth itself had decided to sprout teeth in an attempt to gnaw at the world above. But these dark stone teeth weren't all there was to see, not by a long shot. There were humans, so many humans of a number that instantly made Nala want to bolt into the comforting emptiness of the savanna, away from this moist green fold of the land. There were also animals milling about, mostly of kinds that the Pridelander had no knowledge, for instance the large ground pheasants and the fat juicy looking herbivores which were kept higher up the slopes. This 'town' stretched seemingly endlessly away so that Nala could not hope to take it all in from here, even with the high vantage.

It was many long moments before Nala was able to find her voice. "I've never seen so many caves before." She said, voice mostly numb, "It is odd to see them form like that."

Uzuri cleared her throat in a way that suggested she was suppressing laughter, "Those things are stone, but they are not caves, Nala. They are buildings. Men make them to live in, just as they made the banks for the stream and the channels for the water to run from it all through this place for men and lions and other beasts to use."

Nala let several more long moments pass while she gaped at the living landscape spreading out before her. "I still don't understand..."

A tail flicked her nose and Nala turned to see Uzuri already on her feet and trotting down the slope and into the town proper. "You're not going to learn everything there is to know about humans in a day Nala. Come, let me start by showing you around."

Nala followed wordlessly, her former preconceptions left behind like so much dust. This place was out of her ken and she knew it, but she was eager to learn and observe.

Probably the first thing that Nala learned was that humans do many inexplicable things and there is simply no understanding a lot of their behavior. Uzuri admitted that there were quite a few things she did not understand, particularly regarding the concept of currency, but Nala did not know even enough to understand the niceties that Uzuri was describing. Some of these behavior were explainable, however, particularly in regards to religion. Nala saw many supposedly religious behaviors from humans as the two cats paced down the stone inset or cobbled streets.

Humans always got out of Nala's path when she walked, even if the particular street happened to be crowded. This was due to respect for creatures closer to the spirits than themselves, Uzuri explained, but it made Nala feel uncomfortable. She did not feel entitled to any sort of respect from these beings, especially when their city was so grand.

And grand it was, for a lion coming out of living in a simple cave or in the open. The sheer complexity of the dwellings humans crafted was mind boggling, everywhere she looked, there seemed a new way to go, or an opening into some building or enclosure. Gardens and small canals were plentiful, carrying the water from the stream into a million bisecting paths so that the original body of water vanished entirely, even though the water itself was never far away. As Nala lapped from a stone culvert carrying cool water, she had to admit that this arrangement was far more convenient, and there was no fear for crocodiles either.

Water wasn't the only thing to drink. Humans, usually the kind that Uzuri referred to as 'shopkeeper's - although Nala could not tell especially why they were designated as such - frequently made offerings of milk to the two lions, usually out of rough wooden bowls and no more than a mouthful or two. Milk was a strange substance for a grown lion to drink, and yet as it was offered it immediately became addicting and Nala began unconsciously nosing towards prospective humans, sometimes needing to be drawn back by Uzuri.

"Human are generous creatures." Said the lioness as she pulled Nala back from one such excursion, "But it is never wise to take advantage of their generosity. Such lions become identified as lazy beggars rather than priests."

"Priests?" asked Nala, suddenly mystified and slightly aghast. "Is that what they think we are?"

Uzuri sighed, apparently at Nala's ignorance and with an exasperated paw, directed her off the main path and into a quiet hollow, largely overshadowed by a large drooping tree. "In order to understand what I mean, you must know that there are two main paths for lions in our pride. These are the soldier and the priest." Uzuri reared up and offered her two paws, pads up. "The soldier fights and protects. They work with their paws and teeth to better the community, both at the shrine, here in Liglim and in our outer territories. The soldier remains close to our roots and the earth." Then Uzuri made a quite un-lionlike gesture raising both paws high over her head. The motion made Nala's back wince in empathy, "The priest communes with the spirits and offers guidance and wisdom. They work with their minds and their hearts." Uzuri dropped back to the ground and stretched against the earth, tail extending. Finishing she added, "Priests also bring good luck to those who help sustain them."

Nala sat placidly, looking at the older lioness. Cocking her tawny head slightly, she said offhandedly, "Sounds like it is much better to be a priest than a soldier."

If Uzuri was irritated by the irreverence, she didn't show it. In fact, when she answered her tone had more than a little of her brother Fauzi in it. "Some say so... But if you live here long enough, you notice that humans tend to be more generous towards lions that do work than those that do not." She pushed her way past Nala and back out on to the thoroughfare. "Eh... Most of the time." She amended as Nala went after her.

As hard as Nala tried, she could not hope to encompass the entirety of the human city. Even when she gave up on understanding and simply tried to remember everything she saw so she could go over it later, there was just too much to see. Nala did begin to understand why Uzuri was so insistant that she was full before coming here. A big part of what humans seemed to do was moving things around, to and fro, up and down and a lot of those things were live animals. More than once, Nala and Uzuri had to move aside as several large ungulates were harried and shepherded down the street, devouring the entire width of the lane. Usually, the herbivores were fat and waddling, their bodies rippling with fat and muscle. Nala hadn't seen the like as savanna animals tended more towards lean and gamey and she would have wanted a taste if she had been the least bit hungry. As it was, however, Nala watched them go, but decided to ask about them later, perhaps when she next saw Mirembe.

But while the town was filled with humans and the food beasts they raised, clearly there were a large number of lions here also, probably more than actually lived at the shrine, Nala soon realized. Nala caught the signs at first, a whiff of damp fur or a characteristically gnawed bone left by the side of a building. Uzuri explained that solider cats were typically found outside of the town and priests had to space themselves out within both to maximize their collective auras, and also not to tap one area of offerings and gifts more than the others. So it was probably not surprising that the first cat Nala met in town was one of these so called "priests."

Uzuri and Nala came upon him as he was lapping from a bowl of milk which sat on the ground. Nala's first impression reminded her of Fauzi for this lion's coat was also immaculately clean and glossy. However the similarity was only superficial. This lion, unlike the lean and sly motioned lion back at the shrine, was obese and his movements, while bold lacked the natural grace of the other. While not nearly so large as Paka, this "priest" was heavy of neck and jowls and his multiple chins wobbled back and forth as Uzuri hailed him.

"And who is this bright eyed stranger you've brought to us, Uzuri?" asked the fat lion, milk still dripping from his saturated whiskers.

"Her name is Nala, Enu." Said Uzuri, reaching back and pushing Nala forward with a paw behind her elbow. "She claims she's from a place called the Pridelands. She's new to humans."

"New to humans?" said Enu, "Well, this all must be very disorienting for you then."

Nala looked into the ochre eyes of the pudgy lion in front of her. Still not completely used to being around male lions, the Pridelander found herself somewhat at a loss for words. Enu's eyes certainly contained the hunger she expected when a male looked at her, but unlike Fauzi, who displayed it flauntingly, here, it seemed tempered somehow, as if there were more important things on this lion's mind, a thought that was somewhat new in Nala's world. His eyes were also soft, like his body and seemed both here and far away. Nala wasn't sure what to think about a lion with eyes like his, except that he probably wouldn't last long out on the savanna, far from his human caretakers. "Yes." Said Nala quietly, now looking away from his face and down his wrinkled neck to his generous chest. "Uzuri has been explaining to me how you all get along with humans."

Enu laughed as if Nala had made a joke and then he looked at the other lioness. "You aren't corrupting the youth, now are you, Uzuri?" he squinted at her and tapped a paw down hard on the stone pavement under him. "We could use some new blood around here, so don't go scaring off outsiders like this pretty thing here."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Enu." Said Uzuri testily. "I wouldn't dream of depriving you of a chance at some new blood, not when you've already barked up all the available trees."

Enu coughed weakly and wiped his white chin with a paw before licking the transfered milk off of it. "Anyways, I suppose there's a reason why you stopped to say hello?"

Uzuri waved a paw. "I'm getting bored of hauling this empty-headed outlander around. I thought you could give her a lesson on what you do around here." Uzuri raised an eyebrow, "Assuming you do do anything around here, right?"

Enu's mane thickened around his head, but apparently decided not to respond to Uzuri's jabs. "You know I'd never forsake a chance at enlightening one of our ignorant siblings."

Nala growled softly, not liking being called empty-headed or ignorant. But Uzuri stepped forward, all but pushing Enu out of the way and towards Nala.

"Then you wont mind taking her up for a tour of the temple." Said the older lioness, already bending her head to lap at Enu's bowl of milk.

"But-" said Enu, but the protest died in his throat. He looked at Nala and threw her a genuine smile. "Shall we go up to the temple then?"

Nala shrugged, more confused now than at the start of the conversation. Helplessly, she said, "Why not?"

As Nala walked away with the waddling lion, however, Uzuri lifted her dripping mouth from the bowl and added, "Say hello to mother for me, Enu."