For Tanisha there was nothing better than a good story. They were something so powerful they were almost otherworldly. It wasn't just the words, it was the feelings, the atmosphere, the imagery so strong that for a moment you felt like you were there.
Running through a magical forest looking for lost treasure.
Heart clenching in despair and grief as everything you cared for was lost.
Relief when, in the end everything turned out alright.
The revenge, the lies, deceit, truth, life, death all woven together, parts of the great tapestry of life.
It was addictive, both hearing the stories, but also passing them on. It was this shared joy that gave rise to a wandering pride, one that enraptured any they met. They were said to be the greatest story tellers of all time.
It was a huge standard for Tanisha to live up to, she had been born in the pride. It was her dream to join them properly, to work alongside her parents and pride mates rather than depending on them.
There was one problem.
Tanisha hadn't found a Medium.
Having a medium was nessary in her pride. They were the unique methods in which they set the scene for their stories.
Each member of her pride had a unique way of showing and expressing their tales.
While one lion sculpted figures from liquid earth, blasting them into pottery another lion might talk through flicking flames, another drew sweeping arcs with dark ink across light bark, her mate spinning orbs of water through the air. Magic was a favoured medium for many, but there were also the no less interesting lions who could pull others in with nothing other than words.
But while it was incredible, none of it called to Tanisha’s own stories. She tried so many things, desperate to join in but nothing felt right. Using her paws to explain sometimes helped but it didn't feel like Enough. It was good, but not good enough.
Until one day, as she washed down in a cool river, she heard something.
It was fine and reedy and yet powerful. A voice sang along, masculine though the words couldn't be heard from the distance. Music. It was the one medium her group didn't have much access to, this music in the distance was far more expressive than the warbling her brother said was his medium, or the bass-like drum that set the pace when the troop moved. It was the humming of voices, and an instrument that was sung in such a different way to the drum that Tanisha wondered how the sounds they created could both be called music.
Tanisha ran, skipping as she felt her spirits being lifted by the music, by the sounds before crashing down once more. As she felt the emotions she reacted with her body, skipping before slinking forward. She soon came across the pair creating the incredible music, who stopped as they saw her.
“No, please keep going.” She gasped, panting. She had never felt this involved with expressing the emotions and things inside her. The lioness with the instrument went to resume but the lion, the one who had sung held out a paw, with a soft confused look on his face.
“Were you attempting to dance while running?” He asked, head tilted, a strange expression on his blue face.
“What's dancing?” Tanisha asked cautiously back. She had heard of flames dancing but wasn't that just movement? Of course Tanisha had been moving while running, pretty hard not to. The instrument screeched to a stop.
“What's dancing?! You don't know?” The two gasped and exclaimed. Tanisha felt herself blush under her pale fur. As the two explained it felt like Tanisha had missed a huge art form, one so different to the others her pride used. It was expression through the body's movement and Tanisha knew she had to try it. She had always felt the urge to move and sway with music, but now it appeared there were names for such feelings, and a lion who could help her put them into action. His name was Uro, and Tanisha could hardly stay still in her excitement.
It appeared she had found a medium.
(Random mix of 1 + 2 sort of (It went off track))
Dancing was a lot harder than Tanisha had originally thought. Timing, coordination and being aware of where her paws were at all times all played such huge roles. Repeating the same few movements over and over again, trying to make it so each feeling in her story could be properly expressed. She loved expressing joy the most, but to move into sadness, to watch her mentor, Uro, face fall with her own body language was its own reward as well, to see how her actions convey emotion to others. It was something she had always wanted for herself, the ability to act through a medium and tell stories.
The more she learnt, the more she loved dancing. None of the other mediums had ever felt like this for her. She felt in control of her audience and for the first time she felt truly in control of herself. She found herself holding her head higher, a spring in her step. She danced as she did her chores, as she ate and drank, and sometimes even as she slept.
She had no clue how she had ever held back, how she had survived without the music and dance in her body.
Not that it was always perfect though. Her mentor could be strict, or a dancing partner could become clumsy. Tanisha could get tired, begging not to spin on a hind paw just one more time.
It didn't help that her back had started hurting, Uro claiming it was just standing on her back paws making it sore. It would make sense, but Tamisha had a feeling it was more than that. It was strange how it flared with her most expressive movements, irrelevant of whether they balanced on two paws or four.
Dancing was hard, but when she got it right, it was as if everything lit up with joy. She felt so proud of herself, every movement mastered. When she could finally perform, everything would be worth it. Uro, and her family, her friends, would all be so proud.
(2)
Tanisha was nervous. She felt vaguely queasy, her stomach hurting as if warning her against this. What if she wasn't ready yet? What if she made a mistake? She might stumble, or forget what she was doing.
What if they just didn't like the story she expressed?
Her friends, the ones who had first played true music for her were waiting. It was time. She would just have to go through with this-
No.
This was her Medium. This was what she had spent countless hours on. This was what she was working for and this
was what would make her family proud. This was all her success and discovery wrapped up into one song.
She wasn't going to dance. She was going to
perform And with that thought she stepped onto the open air stage.
The music started, building up and Tanisha fell into place. She rose, along with the violin, cautious and yet optimistic sounding. Small movements changing as she started moving across the stage.It was mellow enough and she had a moment to glance at her pride mates faces.
Smiles and pleasant encouragement. They hadn't seen anything yet,
Iah started to sing, and from there the song progressed, challenging and powerful, Tanisha's movements becoming more fluid and graceful. She dove and span, watching as her father's face went from happiness to outright pride. Of her.
The bridge was fast approaching and Tanisha struggled to keep herself steady, to keep moving and going at the right speed. This was a three lion performance and she wasn't going to let them down. Her back burned as she got more spirited, lifted off her front feet and leapt up as the violin rose up in challenge.
There was a feeling of release, gasps and pride members standing in a sign of silent applause. A pause for a moment as Loveita missed a note. Had something gone wrong? Tanisha turned to where the audience were looking, only to realise she was the center of attention.
Her back was flourishing with flowers. Brilliant red blooms interspersed with gold ones. She had always had similarly coloured splotches, but never had she realised what she had been holding back. The flowers trembled, as if with her own confusion and surprise.
She grinned, and the flowers sprung back into full bloom with her emotions. It was incredible and breathtaking, and with a nod to her fellow musicians she stood with her back to the audience and shook all over, celebrating the end of the song with flower petals of her own making.
Celebrating her new found confidence and desire to take the world head on.
Welcome to the new age.
(Word count = 1490/1500 + 3 for titles)
Song:
Radioactive - Lindsey Sterling and Pentatonix (Imagine dragons cover)
Credit
-Font + dancing icons from
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