Username: Mercuré
Cat Name: Manzi
Gender: female
Rank: warrior
Clan: Spirits of the MayombéAge: 29 moons
Prompt:Nuani the dead. Manzi the liar. That is how the two ended up. Manzi in her dreams had imagined the two of them together, until their fur greyed and the kits they fostered had grown old.
Nuani had been so full of life when Manzi had last seen her. Nuani was all smug smiles and playful quips. Some found it arrogant but Manzi found it mesmerizing. Manzi had loved her, she had known that. Even though she was prone to strong feelings (as all the cats knew) she knew that these feelings were different. Nuani probably didn’t feel the same, she knew that, but still Manzi would follow her, basking in the glow she seemed to radiate. Nuani cared about her though, which not all did. Manzi was known for the lies she had spun since she was a kit. Little details here and there and then eventual entire stories. She hadn’t been able to stop, she had no clue why. Nuani never was annoyed however, she’d always grin and play along.
Nuani the dead.
Nuani had disappeared suddenly. There had been search parties and the like. Manzi had been in one but had quickly been kicked out after she had lied again. Something about stronger emotions just urged her to lie and in a fit of her devastated hysteria she had lied. “There’s Nuani! I found her!” Why did she do it? She couldn’t explain why. Maybe because the lie made it feel like they really could find Nuani, like she’d just been hiding around a Dibondo tree.
All the cats scolded her. This was serious business after all, how could she act as if it was so trivial. Manzi cried that night under the stars. She hadn’t meant to do it, it had just slipped out.
Nuani where are you? she asked the stars. There was no response.
Manzi was the first and perhaps the only to realize something was up with Lubokoyongo. The way ‘Boko’ seemed to be more nervous, less fiery. The way her eyes darted about as if she was ready to flee anytime someone talked to her about Nuani. More than that, she disappeared in the night sometimes.
So naturally, Manzi followed her. The first two times Manzi followed her all Boko did was walk to a clearing and yowl. One night however, she spoke. She spoke to the spirits about a variety of things, so much that Manzi nearly fell asleep. But then, Boko said something important,
“I’m so sorry, spirits of the Kayengele and spirits of the Ntoto, I know what I did was wrong! But please, you have to understand! Nuani deserved it I swear! I hope she met a painful end at the bottom of the river.”
Manzi was in shock that it had been so clearly spelled out. Just then as she shifted her weight a branch cracked and Boko whipped her head towards the sound, spotting Manzi. Manzi turned and ran, ran as fast as she could back to the Buala where she could tell everyone what she heard.
As soon as she was back she began yelling, “Lubokoyongo killed Nuani! I heard her! I heard her tell it to the spirits!” She knew she was in hysterics but she didn’t care. Slowly cats left their dens to see the cause of the sound. “Lubokoyongo killed Nuani!
Mukoko Ngò, the leader of the Buala stepped forward. “What is it Manzi?”
Before Manzi could speak however Boko, who had caught up to her spoke, “The two of us were talking and had a disagreement, before I could do anything she ran here screaming that I had done something.”
Manzi opened her mouth in shock, “No you don’t understand! I heard her! Heard her admit to killing Nuani!”
But Manzi knew it was all in vain, even before she had finished speaking all of the cats began to give her the look they gave when she would lie.
“No! I’m not lying!”
“Manzi,” Mukoko Ngò said gently, “I understand how upset you are but you can’t make accusations like this.”
Manzi argued back and forth until the sun began to rise and finally she ran to the river, tears streaming down her face. She had loved Nuani and she couldn’t even give her this, the avenging of her killer.
Oh Nuani, what have I done
