Again the unruly young lioness had managed to slip away from her family’s watchful gaze. Of course D’oro-Moyo was proud of herself for her accomplishments but also made it no secret that she did not stay gone long as to not worry her poor mother. Even though she was a troublemaker, she did have set values. Her burnt orange pelt was a stark contrast against the green grass that filled the Pridelands as she made her way through the plains, bounding and leaping as she did so. Today would be a good day!
There was...nothing to do. Or so Zimran thought as she knocked a rock out from in front of her paw while she walked through the cool grass under the rising sun’s gaze. She was no hunter and of little use to the pride because of that. Perhaps she would be good in another role. Perhaps a scout! She had always had a decent pair of eyes and her skittish nature had always helped her be alert of her surroundings. Yes, maybe scout was the rank for her. With a more confident step, the goddess moved onward, a little farther from Pride Rock with each step she took.
D’oro-Moyo looked back over her shoulder, her eyes going back as she saw just how far away from the center of the pride she was. While it was frightening at the same time it was exciting. Never had she managed to get so far before bumping into someone along the way. Sure there had been passing lions, but the little one had managed to duck down and hide from them just in time, leaving her out there alone. She had heard stories about the outside world and it had always been a sort of dream of hers to finally go and explore but that would mean leaving her brother, sister and parents behind. Her smile turned to a frown at the mere thought of having to leave her family to do what she had always wanted. Maybe one day she would, but that one day was not that day as suddenly a larger body fell not too far from her.
Zimran, who was usually graceful, had suffered a sudden case of clumsiness as she fell to the ground with a highly undignified oomph. With her hair tuft in her face, she laid there, her chin on the ground as she contemplated just returning out of shame. What shame was there really? There was no scout in sight at the moment and this far out she was unlikely to encounter other lions. Her ears turned back, her expression sinking. Why did she feel so useless? She was no huntress and as it becoming clear to her; no scout either. As her eyes slid closed, Zimran was becoming more determined to just stay on the ground there in her own self-pity.
“Heeeey, are you okay?” Came a voice out of what seemed like nowhere. It shocked the elder lioness as her eyes snapped open to see a burnt orange cub standing in front of her, its head turned to the side as if confused. “I saw you fall and you didn’t get up. Are you okay?” The young lioness asked again since she hadn’t gotten an answer the first time. If she could have, it was likely Zimran would have been blushing a fierce color of red. Someone had seen her fall! And it was a cub as well!
Duar and Mdambi’s daughter frowned at the lack of reply. “Maybe I should go get an adult. You may have hit your head pretty hard since you seem to be kinda stupid right now.” That got the goddess finally talking. Just the thought of others finding out sent her mind into a whole knew panic. “No, no, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?” The golden pelted lioness asked, her eyes narrowing as she inspected Zimran. “You don’t seem too okay.”
“I’m fine.” She replied again as she put her paws over her eyes, her worry and her mind being filled with so many other things causing her illusion to finally drop for the first time since she had joined the Pridelands. It wasn’t under she heard the little cub in front of her gasp with a sound of awe that Zimran finally realized why: her horn was showing. In her own panic, the goddess scrambled up into a sitting position, leaving the two of them there staring at one another. This little girl was the first to actually know her secret. Zimran had just wanted to join and not have anyone treat her differently like so many prides she found would have. Luckily she had learned quickly that the Pridelands held so such reverence to Mkodi’s servants, something she had been glad for. That did not mean others may not look at her a little different if they learned the truth though.
“Sooo, what’s that thing on your forehead?” D’oro-Moyo finally asked, breaking the silence that had been growing between the two.
“I...uh...”
“Oh come on, spit it out. It looks kinda cool actually. It’s different.”
“I’m...a goddess.” There was really no way to go about explaining it any other way and if there was, Zimran hadn’t seen. This was situation she had known would happen, but had never expected it so soon. “Oh please don’t tell.”
“And why not? You keepin’ it some sort of secret?”
“Something like that. I don’t want people to look at me differently.”
D’oro-Moyo could sort of understand where the lioness in front of her was coming from, but not to the full extent. While the growing cub acted more like a male in many ways, including some of her manners, she didn’t want to be growing up as ‘one of the guys’ and secretly yearned to become more feminine. It was just...hard. “Fine. I’ll keep your secret.”
“Oh please do- wait, you will?” The quick agreement had shocked the pale lioness. Zimran had honestly been prepared to beg, even barter to some extent for the little lioness to keep her secret.
“Of course, if you don’t tell my momma I snuck away again.” With a large grin, the golden cub sat up straight, proud even. “I’m D’oro-Moyo.”
“Zimran.”
“Well Zimran, it looks like it’s getting late. Want to let me ride on our back home while you tell me more about these gods?”
The request was...odd, but what position was Zimran really in to deny the cub her request? She nodded and almost the moment she did, D’oro-Moyo scrambled forward and onto her back the moment the goddess lowered herself down enough for the cub to do so. “Alright, come on then, lets get you home before your parents worry too much.”
“And as promised, you’ll tell me about the gods.” And so she did, or at least what she felt she could share.
[Word Count: 1153]