Isa sighed, her journey from her home among the shrines to the Pridelands had taken a silly turn and she found herself wandering and enjoying the world around her. She understood why so many lions worshiped and revered the world about them.
She stood beneath a tree feeling the fast moving wind through her fur and smelling the coming rain. Lightening flashed in the darkness in a far off distance.
Ka raced in the darkness each flash illuminating the world around him. He was searching for his cousin, Duma. She was older than him, but Ka always felt responsible for making sure she was okay. They'd been exploring and looking for a home outside of their jungle retreat. Ka wasn't exactly one hundred percent sane.It was something his late mother had passed along to him. The storm had caused him to panic and wander and now that he was away from it, he was lost. He worred for Duma - he'd run off and left her...somewhere.
"DUMA!" He shouted and ran, his feet slapping the damp earth, "DUMA!" he shouted again. He needed her, even though he felt he was the one taking care of her, she also took care of him.
Isa paused, in the middle of her musings to listening to the far off rumbling and then she heard it, the lost hopeless cry. She didn't know who or what Duma was, but whoever was looking for her, they seemed so scared. She looked back and forth searching for the voice. As the voice came again she started running toward it.
Ka had grown slightly scrawny, often times forgetting to eat, and he was caked with mud making him a hard creature to spot in the dark. The flashes of lightening gleamed off of his orange eyes in the dark. He wasn't in the best of shape either and it caused him to be even more fearful when he encountered others.
He stopped to catch his breath hoping that he would be able to find Duma soon, he was growing tired.
"DU-" the shout caught in his throat as a lioness bounded towards him. He shrank back, she was very large for a lioness.
She almost hadn't seen the leopard until he started to shout again
"Are you alright?" She asked quietly slowing her pace. "I heard your shouting." Sensing his fear she stopped moving all together a few feet away from him.
"I-I wont hurt you, I don't mean to frighten you." Lightening flashed over head. She was puzzled by the small leopard and felt suddenly that she'd made a mistake running to a screaming voice. What if this was a trap? She looked around him nervously. She could hunt and take care of herself, but if there were more leopards around she didn't think she'd be able to protect herself.
He felt the same as she did, what if there were more lions? What if she was going to hurt him? He knew that there were not always great felines out there, there could be a gang of lions out there hiding!
He coward away from her, "I'm looking for my cousin, she's here, she could be here any minute." Duma was larger than him, but a pacifist, she wouldn't hurt another creature even if asked to. He felt a twinge of anxiety that she would show up and get hurt as well.
"I promise, I'm not here to hurt you. I heard a frightened voice in the night and wanted to make sure whoever it was, was alright." she said softly, he looked very afraid and she was certain now that he wasn't acting.
"My name is Isa," she said hoping to cut the tension, "I'm really not a bad lion." she wondered what about herself looked intimidating. Her features were always soft and she was even trying to look less scary.
"I come from a pride a little ways away, have you ever been to the shrines?" Maybe the reputation of the pride would be helpful to her to make him understand she really meant him no harm.
Ka had not been to the shrines, but he'd heard of them, they were nice and usually respectful is what he heard. He wanted to go there on day, he and Duma had talked of it to see if there was a shrine to her father. Duma was part god and she had the visions every now and then. He wondered if the reason she seemed to know so much and keep him on track was because of her seer abilities.
"I'm Ka," he seemed to puff up and look more lively, "Duma really should be around here," he added fixated on the fact that she wasn't here. "She's my cousin, she's white and brown, she's part lion and part leopard." He knew hybrids were rare and came in all shapes and sizes. Duma looked more to the lion side, but had a long fluffy tail like her mother.
"I've never been to the shrines, but I've wanted to. We were going to go there together."
She sighed a little and sat down, he seemed to relax more and she was concerned more for his safety than her own. He looked thin and dirty, like he needed a bath and a meal. She was helpful and trusting, always trusting to others.
"How about I help you look for her and when we find her I will give you directions to the shrines. You can bring a message to my family even."
Isa wanted to always be kind, she was a large lioness but didn't have the strength of her brothers who could move the boulders around. She felt she had a knack for talking and working with others and when she got back home wanted to discuss possibly being a guide or a keeper of one of the shrines. Her wanderlust made her worship the world around her and in a way her journey had made a believer in something higher than herself. She knew gods existed and that they were often like any other lions.
He needed to find her, had to find her and if this kind stranger would help him he had to trust her. He was panicking inside wanting to find the leopon.
"I think we were over here," he stood and gestured with a front paw, "When we find her she'll be so happy." He didn't want to admit or believe that maybe he was more afraid than her and had been the one to panick.
"She'll know what's happening." he muttered and started walking in the direction he pointed.
"DUMA!"
Isa followed unsure where the leopon would be and hoped they'd find her soon for Ka's sake.