Hekima & Sungara
Hekima limped quietly along, Sungara trailing behind anxiously peering around as they traveled. They knew they were in someone's territory at the moment, because the overwhelming smells of other cats were in the air. They were unsure which cats the scents eminated from, but it was definitely cat. Hekima only hoped that the group, pride, whatever they might be, were friendly and non-aggressive towards outsiders. The last thing he needed was another fight and sprint. The last time that happened, Sungara was so anxiety ridden he didn't sleep for days. Not that he slept very well to begin with.
"Sungara, speed up kiddo. You're lagging behind too much. I won't be able to get to you if something happens when you're that far away," Hekima urged, turning to note how far Sungara had lagged behind and the slow pace he was going. Sungara's ears pricked up immediately, and he faced forward with wide eyes, "Somethings going to happen?!" Hekima winced at the tone of Sungara's voice, already fearing the boy was going to go into another panic induced state. He had to be so careful of how he phrased things around the boy, and he never knew what harmless warning or precautiuonary word would set him off. He was growing tired of it, but it wasn't something that could be helped. Sungara had seen as much as Hekima had, but he never was quite able to process it completely. Hekima knew that the war's memory plagued the boy nightly, but there was nothing he could do to comfort him. It was something he was going to have to deal with in some way on his own.
Tiegan
Tiegan had spent a very busy night hovering over her nieces and nephews, doting them on them with the sweetness of a worried parent, before finally deciding on a break. They were all growing up far too fast for her comfort, but she just supposed that's the way things were.
She rolled her shoulders, and pranced about the pride for a while, inquiring as to it's goings ons before venturing closer to the border. Sitting still didn't bode well for the cheeton; too much weighed on her little shoulders for her to bear if she didn't keep up the pace. Her dark paws slipped into the wetlands, squishing porous soil between her toes. It felt good now that the lands had returned to their wet state, and she knew that Chozi would sleep easier now because of it. Still, it made her presence less than subtle, and when she was close enough to hear movement she stilled. Tiegan was still behind a few trees, so she couldn't see anything, but that sounded like...Her heart stilled, and cautiously, with the timid nature of a child, she called out, "Hekima?"
Hekima & Sungara
Hekima was attempting to calm down Sungara when he thought he heard his name. What made him thought he heard his name, as opposed to being sure he heard his name was the voice he thought he had heard. A voice he hadn't heard in so very long, and occassionally popped up in his dreams while he slept. He had thought he heard Tiegan's voice. No, no that couldn't be, He thought to himself trying to pull himself back to the situation at hand. But what if it was her? What if it was Tiegan he'd just heard. It'd been so long. Surely she'd have moved on. Hekima dismissed the voice he thought he had heard and turned his attention back to Sungara, who had been moments earlier begining another one of his panics. But the boy was stone cold silent now, eyes wide and starring at something in the distance like he had seen something... or heard something. His breathing was shallow, and he was tembling slightly. He got that way when he felt certain something was nearby. Hekima whipped his head around quickly to scan the area, but at the moment could see nothing through the dense trees. "Hello?" He called, attempting to sound steadfast, but now nervous himself. He swallowed, and quietly whispered to the emptiness, "....Tiegan?"
Tiegan
Tiegan's tongue caught in her throat. She licked her lips as she shifted nervously from paw to paw awaiting the reply. It was absolute agony; one she had thought she would never have to face. Hekima was gone from her life, taken from her with the fall of the Demon Hunters, but could he really...? Moving closer, she made sure to stay as low to the ground as possible just in case. Her light belly skimmed over the muddied ground, coating her in it's filth. When she heard him again Tiegan stayed low out of shock. For a moment she just closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment to compose herself before rising and moving to peep out from the trees. Just the sight of him from tears to her eyes. "Hekima? She thought...Tiegan thought you..." He wasn't alone but she didn't care. She ran to him and threw her paws around his big, furry neck.