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Mosi & her twin sister, Pili, joined Quixote's pride as part of an unexpected trade offer. At the time, Quixote was uninterested in acquiring new lionesses for his pride, and so almost dismissed the offer entirely. However, his inherent curiosity go the better of him, & the twin girls immediately impressed him.
Both are clever & headstrong, mischievous & adventurous. The elder lionesses patiently waited for age to temper their boisterous behaviour, hoping they focus it into the hunt to provide for the pride.
Although never part of Kinamasi Mbari's royalty, Mosi & Pili quickly became favorites within the pride, & were treated almost as if they were duchesses. They lived to see the end of Quixote's reign, & saw son, Rocinate, take the throne. Pili's last daughter, Sekai, was chosen to remain with Kinamasi Mbari to carry on the Albino legacy of her mother & aunt.
After having done everything in life together, from hunting to bearing cubs, Mosi was heartbroken when Pili passed away, leaving her alone for the first time in her life. Inconsolable, she spent her own remaining days at her sister's graveside, refusing to leave her twin's side even in death.
Mosi (meaning first born of twins)
Pili (meaning second born of twins)
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A Story by Kailani (Maasai) (#18301)
"That's not how it went at all Mosi!"
"It is too!"
"You must be losing your memory in your old age."
"You're the same age as me you dope!"
"Well that may be but I aged gracefully while you look like an old hag." The two older lionesses sat side by side, their tails flittering about as they watched over a small cub that was chasing a butterfly around. Mosi and Pili were thick as thieves, they had been inseparable since birth. Most of the other pride members were baffled as to how they were able to stand doing everything together. None of them had even seen the twins have a serious argument and when asked they would say they couldn't even remember the last time they fought. Of course that was a lie. Both girls knew exactly when their last fight was, it had nearly cost them their lives....
-Flashback 11 years ago-
It had been raining for a while now and it seemed as if there was no chance of it letting up. Mosi and Pili were tired of being cooped up in the pride's makeshift den. It was cramped, dim, and damp and the two decided that they would go on the next hunting expedition.
When the head lioness called for the hunting party the twins eagerly joined the group and made their way out of the den. The ground was soft under their paws and despite their best efforts they sunk a little with each step. Soon their beautiful pelts were covered in splotches of mud. Mosi was starting to rethink their decision to adventure out into the watery plains. She turned to her sister and muttered, "Pili this isn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be." Her sister nodded and replied.
"I agree, we've been walking for a while and I'm covered in mud." It was then that the wind decided to pick up and smack them with sheets of rain. The group of huntresses grumbled in unison as the head lioness stopped to speak.
"Listen up! Our target is the herd of gazelle to the east of us. Our scout has honed in on a lame female who will make for an easy kill. Beware the buffalo herd to the north, if the chase puts us into their path we must retreat. I will not risk one of my lionesses getting injured, or worse."
The lioness' speech fell on deaf ears in regards to the twins, they were busy playing in the mud. Mosi sent a paw-ful flying in Pili's face, squealing when it hit the desired target. Pili then knocked Mosi over and proceeded to smash her face into the mud ignoring her sister's cries of surrender. As their bickering and mud slinging continued they wandered away from the hunting party. Soon they were out of their pride territory and skirting around the buffalo herd.
"Ouch! Pili that one hurt!" Mosi shrieked as her sister landed a bite on her rump. Mosi turned around and charged at Pili, sending them both tumbling.
"Stop Mosi! I didn't hit you that hard!" The younger twin growled as she smacked her sibling across the nose. Mosi's eyes watered as she scrunched her nose up to try and dissipate the pain.
"Aki, why do you always have to take things to far?" The injured lioness wailed as she licked at the trail of blood that was dripping down her snout. With one more angry hiss Mosi turned her tail and ran, Pili shouted after her but the elder sibling would hear none of it.
Pili frantically tried to look for her sister but she lost her in the tall grass surrounding the marshland. When Pili was belly deep in mud she decided to turn around and try to find the hunting group to get them to help in the search. As she made her way to more solid ground the tan and white lioness found herself in the middle of a buffalo herd. She gave a yelp of surprise, which of course caught the attention of the large bovines. Pili's ears were flat on her head as she crouched low to the ground. Unfortunately for her one of the buffalo took that as a threat. He pawed at the ground and lowered his head pointing his sharp horns at the lioness. Pili's eyes went wide as she called out for her sister, all thoughts of anger vanished as she cried out for her twin. The bull decided that he had enough of Pili's antics and he charged, Pili dived to the side, narrowly missing the deadly weapons. She scrambled to get up as the bull faced her once again. By this time the other buffalo were taking notice of the intruder and started stomping their hooves preparing to join in on the maiming of the adolescent.
One of the buffalo managed to land a kick to Pili's hindquarter, sending her tumbling. Any attempts she made to get up were in vain. With one last cry out to her sister Pili closed her eyes as the bull charged at her. The grunt that reached her ears followed by the growling of several lionesses caused Pili to open her soft, brown eyes. Standing above her was Mosi, growling and hissing like their very life depended on it as the huntresses attacked the raging bull. Eventually the bull and his herd retreated, deciding that the lionesses were no longer interesting. Mosi licked her sister as she tried to calm her racing heart.
"I'm sorry I ran off." The first born muttered as she helped her sister up.
"I'm sorry you are so sensitive." Pili giggled as her sister rolled her eyes.
-End Flashback-
Ever since that day the girls had never had a serious disagreement. Of course there was the occasional bickering but it was quickly resolved when one of them thought back on that day when they let a foolish argument almost end their lives. Now the twins were looking over their legacy, Sekai, born out of Pili, who would carry on the startling albino coat within Kinamasi Mbari.
"You know, she looks more like me." Mosi said to her sister.
Pili looked over at her other half and stared at her in disbelief, 12 years and Mosi was still insistent on pushing Pili's buttons. A growl formed in her throat but died on her tongue, replaced by side splitting laughter. She nudged her sister and shook her head at a complete loss for words.
"Mama! Gazi! Can we go back now? I'm tired!" The little cub whined as she approached her mother and aunt. The albino twins stood up and stretched in unison. Pili nudged the cub back in the direction of the pride den.
There was no doubt in their mind that these girls would be together until the end of time.
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