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The day and the night had come and gone many times since she'd travelled into the Kunanda pride lands with her mother and sister. It hadn't taken Sanuye, who was used to female companionship and couldn't honestly recall having ever seen a male, very long to get used to the various traditions and customs of the pride. In fact, the young lioness was simply glad to have finally settled down.

She would never admit it, but traveling had exhausted her. It'd taken a lot for somebody of her age to wander as far and as wide as they had. Sanuye didn't like to think about how long she'd slept the first night, because it'd surely given away how weak she had been. She understood that she would grow in strength and size with time, but it wasn't something that she felt she could sit around and wait for.

Sanuye wanted to be big and strong, and she wanted it right now.

At first, the red colored lioness had been so overwhelmed by all of the beautifully bright ladies that surrounded her to pay much attention to Baala's absence. However, it'd been only a matter of time before Sanuye recognized her mother's departure. She was angry that the older lioness had left, and couldn't possibly bring herself to understand why.

This was a wonderful place, where she could do as she pleased- for the most part. What could make Baala want to leave her and Nuksani there?

To distract herself from her grief at the apparent loss of her beloved mother, the youth threw herself into various degrees of physical activity. She ran and she jumped, off of this and onto that, and she made attempts to climb whatever she could get her claws into. Unfortunately, the brown eyed girl found that her antics had gotten her into a bit of a predicament.

She was stuck. In a tree. Admittedly, she was not so high up that she could not be helped but she was far too high too jump down from. And she was terrified.

How the hell had the ground gotten so far away?

The only thing she could think to do was cry; loudly and obnoxiously.

((totally okay. <3 I was just looking for some random RP. :3))

Sanuye did not immediately notice the blue form of the lioness on the ground beneath the tree she'd chosen to assault. In fact, she was far too preoccupied with all of the other emotions (fear and grief, mainly) that plagued her poor little heart to pay much attention to anything else. She howled where she hung with her eyes clamped shut- helpless and seemingly alone.

Then, an unfamiliar and decidedly feminine voice somehow managed to penetrate the wild, unintelligible (and terribly annoying) noises spewing from her lungs. Sanuye was so surprised, as she had not honestly expected anybody to happen by so quickly, that she was struck dumb and, thankfully, silent.

She was determined to look the speaker in the eye, but was actually too afraid of falling to move. The youth opted, instead, to keep her eyes closed and simply tried to explain herself;

"I don't know how I got up here," she said loudly, in-between sniffles, "I was just... practicing. Somehow, this happened."

It was true, for the most part. When Sanuye had first clambered up the side of the tree, she hadn't been in an entirely healthy state of mind. Her mother was gone. As far as the red kiddo could recall, there had never been a time when she, her sister and the black lioness weren't together.

Change was often difficult, but Sanuye found it almost impossible to deal with.

As far as relatives went, Sanuye didn't have many. Until she'd come to this pride, all those nights ago, she hadn't known anybody other than her sister, her mother and her mother's mate. The three of them had made up her entire world and, as far as she was concerned, nobody else existed.

Now, as she was talking to this strange lioness with her eyes still clamped shut, it occurred to the little girl that everybody might have their own, unique little world- some, that even she wasn't a part of. The idea was so ridiculously likely that it made her uneasy.

"I think you should," Sanuye nodded her head vigorously, and winced at the feel of the bark against her cheek. It was harsh and reminded her again of just how much she wanted to be back on the ground, where she could wander around as she pleased and didn't have to worry about things as awful as falling.

"I didn't do it on purpose," she sniffled indignantly as the older lioness grabbed her by the neck. It was a moment or two before Sanuye released her hold of the tree and, after a deep and exhausted sigh, her claws came loose with a soft click.

"Please, don't drop me." Every syllable gave away exactly how scared she was.

The youth recognized the quake in the older lioness's movements as she struggled to hold her up. Sanuye had never given much thought to her weight, other than to cross her toes and hope to someday be one of the largest and most fearsome lionesses around. She had always wanted to be strong and, since day one, had naturally been a bit larger than most girls her age- which was a marvel in itself, because her mother was very small. At the moment, there wasn't much muscle to her fluffy frame but, beneath all that fur, there was a fair amount of fat.

Her chocolate brown eyes snapped open the moment her feet connected with solid ground and, as the blue lioness released her, Sanuye didn't bother to disguise her excitement. She yelped for joy and did an awkward, talentless little dance before beaming up at Horowai.

It did not matter that this lady's fur was darker in some places than it should have been. As far as Sanuye was concerned, the older lady was the most magnificent thing on four legs.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed in relief, "You saved my life!"

"My name is Sanuye'Kiuma," the little girl did her best to remember all of the questions Horowai had thrown at her, "but, you can call me Sanuye. My sister and I are the only ones. From my family, I mean. We're new."

Sanuye had never met a leopard but, as children with new heroes sometimes do, she took the older lioness's words to heart. If Horowai said leopards were awful, than they were most certainly awful. She vowed never to climb a tree again- mostly because she never wanted to relive that particular experience. If anything was nastier than leopards, it was heights.

"I have not heard of many people," she returned the other female's grin, but the one on her face was slightly apologetic. Because Horowai had said it, Sanuye felt like she should have heard of her before.

"I sure hope I grow into it," Sanuye replied brightly and smiled so wide all of her teeth her visible. She was immeasurably pleased with all of Horowai's compliments. There was nothing she liked better than having her ego stroked, especially by somebody who was as brave and as special as the older lady seemed to be. After all, it wasn't everyday somebody, especially not a stranger, came to her rescue.

In the short time that she'd been a member of the Kunanda pride, Sanuye hadn't had much of a chance to learn much about it. She'd learned quickly about the importance of color and that she was a member of the Tarka clan, but did not have much knowledge of the others.

"Not the Nihang," she shook her head slowly, "the Tarka. Are you a Nihang member, then?"

It seemed like the most likely possibility. If it was not Horowai's own clan, why bother asking about it specifically?

She was at a loss as to what to say when it came to the importance issue. Sanuye did not know enough about anything to say whether or not it was true. Anyways, she was quite sure that, since Horowai had said it, it must be true. Her sister must have been something very special.

"I was born outside," Sanuye nodded her head vigorously, glad that she had something to contribute to the conversation that wouldn't require her to make any lasting judgements. She was worried that she might say or do something wrong and get in trouble for it.

Until a couple of days ago, Sanuye hadn't known anybody other than her immediate family. As it was, her social skills were not and, because she wasn't one to particularly care, probably would never be developed to their full potential. If they had any potential at all. Awkward feelings of isolation and miscommunication were complete strangers to her. She'd always been of the opinion that if somebody disagreed with her or thought otherwise, they were wrong by default. Unless, of course, said person held a very special place in her heart.

Naturally, exceptions could be made for exceptional characters- like she'd always done for Nuksani and now, for Horowai.

"I do not know Kawarimono," she shook her head sagely, and made a mental note to seek out the lioness who belonged to that name if she ever got the chance. Since Horowai knew Kawarimono, Sanuye wanted to know Kawarimono. It was important to her.

"I didn't think it was wild at all," the little girl informed the older one in a casual, 'I guess so' sort of tone. "Sometimes, it was not always easy to find food and I did not like sleeping on rocks, but it wasn't too bad."

With lionesses like Kiuma and Baala looking after and taking care of them, Sanuye and her sister had led a pretty fortune life so far. As far as the yough could tell, their mother and her lover and done everything they could to ensure their safety and well-being.

...and then, of course, Baala had left. Sanuye liked living in the jungle and the Kunanda lands, surrounded by mighty warriors with brilliant colors very much, but it was difficult to compare these things to a mother's love.

"I will keep an eye out for her," Sanuye said conversationally, and with every honest intention of someday meeting the lioness Horowai had talked about. Her interest in Kawarimono only went as far as her newfound heroine's influence would allow, but the youth never said things she didn't mean. She wasn't the type to make promises, exactly, but any promises she made were always kept perfectly intact.

"It is very nice here," the juvenile agreed, even though she'd never thought much about the various effects her surroundings might have had on her appearance. It occurred to her that, at the right place and at the right time, she might appear to be the most massive and frightening creature for miles around. The thought was a simply delightful one. "But, I do not like the trees all that much. They are too high off the ground sometimes."

"What's a male?" As far as she knew, Sanuye had never seen one and, if she had, it certainly hadn't been referred to in that specific way. However, yhe harsh tone of Horowai's voice suggested to her that they were horrible and nasty things.

"Thank you. I am glad to be here- now that I am back on the ground."

If she'd known what innocence was and could tell what was going through the other lioness's mind, Sanuye would have informed her that she wasn't particularly concerned about keeping it intact. She cared more about growing up tough and fierce than anything else.

"They are pretty, but I like being on the ground better," she did not like to disagree with somebody who'd just saved her life and, therefore, simply decided to go with the happiest medium she could find. "I can't wait until I'm bigger."

"...I don't know where my mother is."

Sanuye wasn't sure whether or not Baala would have been upset at Horowai. She'd left before they'd really had a chance to get to know each other.

"I miss her."