Somewhere near the border of the Pridelands, a lioness sat alone.
The wind toyed with her fur, but she appeared not to notice. Instead, her eyes stared off into the distance, as though watching something just out of sight. It was a pleasant day, with the sun warm on her dark brown pelt, but there was something about the lioness that spoke of sadness. The sadness of loss, and the sadness of an empty nest. When such a mood struck this lioness, she would go near the border, and she would watch.
Kezia meant to be good, really she did! But the sun was shining, and the wind was blowing, and it was a day for adventures. So she'd managed to slip away, and had been passing the time with chasing birds, butterflies, and the occasional shadow. All the while, she was unaware of the distance she was covering, and how she was growing nearer and nearer to the border. Even if she'd known, she wouldn't have worried--someone would let her know before she got too far! As the cub missed a grasshopper and stumbled, she rolled onto her side with a giggle.
Today, it appeared that someone would be Muta. Her ears pricked at the childish laughter, and for a moment she was back in the den she had shared with her mate, watching their cubs play. Shaking off the memory, she rose to her feet, tail swaying slightly behind her. It was difficult at first to pick out the little tan cub among the grasses, but when the lioness caught sight of her she could only shake her head slightly with a faint smile. "What might you be doing all the way out here, little one? You're almost at the border, and I don't think you want to be exploring that far yet."
Clambering to her feet, Kezia grinned at the stranger. "I'm having adventures! I wanna catch stuff, and find things, and maybe bring one of them home to mom and dad! And--" Then her eyes widened until they were nearly pools of deep green. "Ohhhh, you have flowers on your fur too! My mom has them, and my sister, but you're the first stranger I've seen with them!" With as much sincerity as she could muster, she took a breath and added, "They're very pretty." And they were, all swirly and pale against the lioness' dark fur.
Another might have been taken aback by the torrent of words, or the abrupt change of topic. Muta simply laughed, and her mauve eyes warmed. The energetic cheer of young cubs could be infectious, and it was something the lioness sorely needed. "Thank you, little one! My...family has them, too." She--barely--managed to refrain from referring to her lost mate, but the pause brought her down slightly nonetheless. Choosing to focus instead on the cub in front of her, the lioness brought another smile to her face. "I suppose I can't keep calling you 'little one' forever now, can I? My own name is Muta, what would yours be?"
"All of them? Wow, that's cool!" Kezia's eyes were as wide as saucers, now. ...Not that she was likely to ever know what a saucer was, but there it was. A whole family of pretty swirly flower markings...it was almost like her family, except her dad and her brother didn't have flowers. That was okay, though, since they were boys. The little tan cub thought boys might not like having flowers on them all the time as much. "Muta's a pretty name! It's not too long," she clarified with the sort of serious nod only a cub could muster. "My name's Kezia!"
"It's a little easier to remember short names," Muta agreed, bobbing her head in a nod. "Kezia is a very pretty name, as well." It was so nice to interact with a cub again--she had forgotten how much of a joy they could be to be around. Unless they were unlucky, they were too young to know much about any of the hardships of the world. Her own litter had lost their father early, but she had to admit they had grown well despite that. While her daughter had made her own way, she still had her son--even if he didn't need so much of her mothering anymore. And he'd turned out well, hadn't he? Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she smiled down at the cub. "Didn't you say you wanted to bring back something for your parents?"
"Yeah! That's why short names are awesome." Bouncing from foot to foot, Kezia watched the lioness' expression grow distant and thoughtful and frowned. She was about to ask if something was wrong when Muta spoke, and the tan cub's eyes lit up as she was distracted from her growing concern entirely. "That's right! Something pretty for mom, or neat for dad. I think a pretty thing would be easier to find, though. Since, you know, flowers and stuff."
"That makes sense." Tilting her head, Muta thought for a moment. While her somber mood had prevented her from noticing much of the scenery on the way here, she had paused to smell of some particularly lovely flowers. Given the little tan cub's fascination with her own markings, the brown lioness had a feeling that those would be particularly appropriate. "Speaking of flowers, I saw some very nice ones on the way here. Would you like to come back with me and see if those would be what you want to bring home?"
"Ooooo." Kezia thought about this for a moment, her forehead wrinkling as she scrunched up her face. Less than a second later, her expression brightened. "Very nice...so they're really pretty flowers?" A wide smile spread across her face, and she nodded enthusiastically. Flowers were good, and really pretty ones even better! "That sounds great!" Her fidgeting redoubled as she moved from foot to foot with a twitching tail. "Are we going now or do you want to do more...of whatever you were doing out here?"
Muta laughed. "Let's go, little Kezia."
