Bangua looked at Cheneta as they padded along together. They had been traveling for a couple of days, and the closer they got to her home land, he was sure, the more quiet they had become. Neither was looking forward to reaching her pridal lands. Not because the place itself had anything wrong with it. It was probably a lovely place, why else would she live there? But she was meant to stay there, and that was the problem. He did not live anywhere, and had no ties to prides. He was not sure he was meant to live in one place, as he was supposed to be a roamer, a wanderer. That was all he knew how to do, but then... maybe she would ask him to stay.

He would not push the subject, though. He watched her, smiling as she finally looked at him and caught his gaze, he moved a bit closer to her and bumped his shoulder to hers. She looked very sad, and he imagined she was thinking the same things he was. That their short lived friendship was near coming to an end, and they would have to walk different paths once he dropped her off at her pride. He sighed and tried to push that out of her mind, smiling at her warmly and moving to bump her again lightly, this time not pulling away in a hurry.

"It's okay," she said to him quietly, "I'm just thinking about going home. I was having so much fun out here, with you. I don't know if I want to go home just yet, but my pack is full and there's nothing I want to part with right away... so we have to go home... it's just..."

"I don't really want you to go away, either. I'd rather we just spend all our time exploring and gathering things, but I guess if you didn't go home, there wouldn't be a point of all these things we're collecting. You want to trade them, right? So you have a place to go back to, and a pride to belong to. That's a good thing, and I'm sure you can just leave again, and come out and meet me at that water basin some time in the future, right? We can call that our spot, and maybe we will be able to spend more time together out there... and find new places to explore as well."

He smiled and she chuckled, shaking her head. She leaned against him now, but it was not a shoulder bump. She just nuzzled him, closing her eyes and taking a slow breath as she calmed herself. She felt better with his words, and opened her eyes again at length, drawing back to look at him. They had stopped walking, and Bangua watched her passively as she spoke.

"You're very sweet, Bangua. I think the best thing I found in all of this adventuring was you. I don't get out much, and I used to just stay in the pride. This is my first time out, and now I realize what I'm missing. I love my home, but now I know there's a lot more outside of it that's good for me, too. I can't wait to get home and tell everyone what I found and what I did, and trade all these lovely things, or make something out of them... but..." She watched him, ears drooping. "I'll miss you a lot, until we can run into each other again."

Bangua nodded, then looked around. He saw the sky was darkening and smiled, almost glad for that. It would buy them a few more hours together, at least, and for that he was always thankful. He looked at her knowingly, his eyes glistening. She did not know what she was reading in them, but she was very glad to see it. Something in her tingled and she shivered because of it, closing her eyes for a moment to steady herself before she let her emotions get the better of her.

"Let's find a place to sleep for the night, and we'll finish the journey in the morning. It's not too far from here, is it?"

"No, not at all," she smiled, looking relieved for the chance to rest as well.

"Then we can wait out the night and avoid traveling in darkness, at least. Come on."

He nuzzled her and then moved to lead the way for her, good at finding a nice little place for them to rest in. He had spent a lot of his life finding homes for himself each night, after all, so he could see all the markers of dens and useful homes. He eventually managed to find them a little cave dug out of a hill, which was abandoned and empty by the looks and smell of it. It was just big enough for the two of them, if they did not mind being very close to one another. He moved to lay down first, curling up on the floor and then looking up at her as she moved into the den and settled down against his side, putting her head down on his paws. He put his head down gently over hers, creating a good cushion of his fur and mane for her.

He smiled and closed his eyes.

"We'll think of something," he said quietly, and she sighed her agreement. He continued speaking, sleepy and quiet as he did so. "Maybe I can live near your pride, or maybe... well... I don't know what sort of a home you have, but maybe I might fit in there... if you would have me there."

She lifted her head and looked at him, moving out of their little snuggle pile to regard him for a moment, eyes wide and happy. She smiled at him and nuzzled against his cheek, giving him a light lick in response to his ideas.

"Whatever happens, I'm with you tonight, and we'll figure out the rest as best we can. I don't think we were brought together just to separate. I'll show you my home, and if you like it, then I hope you'll stay. But if you don't... then I'll just have to spend more time out here. But for now..." she looked at him again, and he watched her, then leaned closer and felt warmth rushing through him, the closer they got.

Word Count in Word; 1,072