Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was the worst possible time of day to be out stalking through the desert. The sun, always an enemy in such a barren land, emitted scorching white rays down upon the sandy ground. There, nestled in the earth, the heat awaited for one to pass by and fall prey to its temperature. Buried in shallow sand, the sun’s dreaded gift burned the tender flesh of anyone not accustomed to such a place. It was easy to tell which animals belonged in the heated climate and those who did not. The poor souls who were not turned to chalky skeletons strewn across the dunes, were forced to stumble in the sand at a loss of where to go.

Thankfully this was not the case for a certain white and black speckled lion. Trudging over sand dune upon sand dune, Shupavu Vuguru had managed to survive this uncharted territory for over three days now. Each and every day, for those three days, lady luck bestowed upon him clean water springs and careless prey. If this land wasn’t so wretchedly hot, the young male could certainly see himself taking refuge here. Everything seemed to come easy in this mysterious land. At least Shu had an easier of a time than what he had been having out in the savannah.

Tired but certainly not done, the young male’s large paws stepped forward and into the sand. He had to keep trudging forth. He had to reach the end of his quest. Suddenly, a rare gust of wind blew past him. Arching his body up and inhaling the sweet air, Shu reveled in the beauty that a breeze held in such conditions. Normally he wouldn’t take notice of this part of nature, being the wind, but now that he was in such a dead land; to smell the fresh air livened his aching muscles and brightened the shine that had begun to dull in his eyes.

He would get out of here. He had to. Over the horizon was his family. His father, his mothers, his sisters; they were all there and they were all waiting for him. All he had to do was get out of this place and run on home.

The question of where exactly home lied now didn’t drift into the young male’s mind as he trekked in between several large sand dunes aligned closely together. As long as he got out of here, those questions could be saved for later.

With the sun beating down and warming his fur to the extent that one would claim it to be smoking, Shupavu continued to lumber through the foreign land. With even steps he crossed over the broken and parched surroundings. Of course his careful steps never truly remained serene for a great amount of time. It only took one glance to the side of him for Shu to not notice a dead branch lying in his way. Without another passing moment, the large adolescent tripped and lost his footing as he collided with the lost tree arm.

A frightened yelp broke his week of silence and his close call sent Shu running much quicker down the sand dune forest.

When he finally halted his heavy paws, only a few seconds had passed by. Angry with himself Shupavu sat himself beside a dune. Glancing about every which way to take in the scenery; his dark eyes narrowed from pain as a wayward ray from the sun reflected itself against the sand only to come crashing the light into his eyes.

To ease the throbbing ache in his eyes Shupavu lowered his head enough to allow his paws access to rub his dilated orbs of black. When he was able to see clearly again Shu lifted up his head to make another attempt at taking in his surroundings. This time he was given mercy, and with that mercy of not becoming blinded by the sun’s rays again, Shu could see someone upon the dune just a few paces to the left of him.

Just like that his attention was trapped upon the figure who was sitting on the pile of sand. Who could it be? How long had they been out here for? Could they help him? These questions got through the barrier Shupavu had set up earlier around his mind to stop himself from turning back when his journey hit a few bumpy roads. He really wanted to know who it was upon that dune. But if so…why weren’t his legs moving for him?

When Shupavu gained control of his paws after wasting several moments just staring at the figure ontop of the dunes; he directed himself towards the stranger. Maybe they could help him get out of here?

Hope bubbled in his chest as it lightly swashed from one direction to the next. Perhaps today was the day: his final day in this scorching land if this creature could tell him how to escape.

Bounding towards the dune, Shupavu directed his eyes upwards to stare at the shadowy figure. As he drew closer with each pull from his strong legs, the young male could make out the figure better. The nearer they became Shupavu could see that it was a lion, looked like a female, and..upon further inspection…staring at him.

A hard lump gathered in the male’s throat as his nerves shook. She had seen him, and if she was an unfriendly lioness, this just wasn’t going to be a good day. Yet instead of turning tail and running the opposite way, which he preferred to do, Shupavu ran closer until he was just below the sand dune.

Deep black eyes looked up upon reaching this spot to try and snatch the attention of the lioness. She had been staring at him long enough to realize just how close he was now to her. With a tilt of the head to the left, and then to the right, Shupavu tried to make himself appear as harmless as possible. After all, he didn’t want to scare her way. Especially if she was his key to escaping this blasted dessert.

“Um…E-Excuse me…?” The male squeaked even after he had cleared his throat and coughed down the lump in his throat. Even at this age he still possessed a case of the stutters? Was he really ready to speak with a lioness? Or was this going to end up in a blood bath?

Shupavu squinted as the sun’s bright shine stung his dark eyes. A low groan rumbled out from his throat as he voiced his pain. As the rays broke from the shadow this young lioness produced, Shupavu could see her features much better without the cloak of darkness. Something sharp pierced his chest and tightened the strings to his heart when his black depths met those of pink.
The youth inhaled deeply from both shock and embarrassment. It had been a long time since he had spoken to another of his kind. What had he begun to say again? Shu couldn’t recall as he stared up at the female. As her muscles tensed Shupavu could barely see her look that had once been that of amusement turn cold.

Perhaps today just wasn’t his day.

Yet instead of tucking his tail between his legs and scurrying away to the nearest corner, Shupavu stood his ground. He wasn’t a wimpy little cub anymore. He had grown to become a courageous being. A female shouldn’t send him cowering. Not even an angry one.

“I-I….I’m sorry but….are you of this place?” Shu asked her in the same voice accompanied with a stutter like before. “I seem to be lost…”

Amalahle’s predictions were right. The poor lion before her was seeking some kind of direction. Yet whether she gave it to him was all up to her.

Shupavu stood on the tips of his furry white and black paws and leaned ever so close to the young lionesss's sand dune as she began to speak. His ears twitched with anticipation as the wind blew past them. This time the great gust carried a shiver worthy cold chill upon it's breath.

Quietly he awaited some kind of answer. By the looks of her expression along with the sweeping sound of her voice she gave off the air that she knew the way out. Yes it had only been one single word, a repeat to his own even, but it hadn't been a no. There was still a chance at finding freedom to this awful land just moments away.

While she padded the ground with her sleek claws and mauled over her thoughts, Shu awaited in tense silence. The youth leaned forward as soon as the brown female's mouth opened. He resembled a meerkat with his big black eyes and attentive look.

After all, he was thinking: "At last!" as the first two words dropped from her black lips.

Yet the answer to his long thought out question never came. In moments the lioness was standing above him and then...she wasn't.

"M-M-Miss!?" Shupavu cried with shock at the sight of the dune transform into a beast and gobble the female up. Never before had he seen something such as this! Who knew sand was capable of fully swallowing a lion?

Without another thought the speckled grey and black lion leaped into action. His front paws immediately reached forward and began to throw back the sand. "A-Are you okay?" He asked while attempting to dig her out of the sandy tomb. "I-I'll get you out! Don't worry, Miss. I-I'll make sure you're free."

Shupavu did just that. Once he had freed her up to her shoulders, the young male leaned forward and grasped the scruff of the young lass's neck with his teeth and pulled. Back, back, back. Shu pulled with his back legs and pushed away with his front paws with all his might.

The rogue male certainly was putting a great deal of effort into freeing the young lioness from her prison. Many would think that he was only helping her because she may have been the key to his mystery, but the reality was he didn't want to see her hurt. Her getting stuck in the first place was possibly his fault, so he had to free her. Without a doubt.

One second. It was just one brief moment where Shupavu had the young lioness’s dirt flavored fur in his grasp, and the next he was pressed against the sinking earth with sand in his mouth. How he got to point B from A had been too filled with whirling colors to make out much. The male just knew that something rather heavy and warm had settled on top of him. Not exactly in the most glamorous and painless manner, but whatever it was had done a bang up job making itself known.

With a racing heart Shupavu opened his eyes that he had screwed shut on the way down. As the dust and sand cleared, he could perfectly see the young lioness. Yet she wasn’t standing over him like he had thought she would do. Not a dark or brooding expression was on her face. At least that he could see. Since, she was…on top of him.

A rampage of shivers and chills raced across the lion’s spine and into his veins as he stared in shock at who was on top of him. He still could not fully comprehend exactly what had happened, but whatever had had placed this female smack dab lying over him.

He wanted to scream. Yet a loud and boisterous cry would not, nor could, come to fruition due to his current situation. For when the Shu opened his mouth to voice his surprise the shout got stuck midway. It seemed either he had lost the ability to breathe, or he had swallowed too much sand to utter a cry.

When the female bounded away from him, oh he had to be honest: Never before had he ever been so relieved about something in his life.

Slowly Shupavu rose to his feet as the sand gathered and tried to suck his paws into the earth. Before he looked to the foreign lioness, Shu quickly reached up with his right front paw to tap at the golden circular object strung on a string around his neck.

As it glinted in the sun it’s cool texture was a welcoming thing for the lion. Since yep, it was still there to lend him courage and protection.

With the taste of reassurance upon his maw Shupavu turned to look back at the young female. She seemed rather flustered, just like him. So at least he wasn’t alone.

The thank you he heard (after of course leaning closer and stretching his ears) made his cheeks tickle and his fur feel lighter. It was nice and a welcoming thing to hear. So did this make him some kind of hero? Just the mere thought of something so grand but impossible made the youth chuckle while directing his eyes away from the lioness with the thought of being polite on his mind. When he had finished, he looked back at her and with a sweet tone asked, “Are you hurt? That was….well…” He looked at where the sand dune had seemingly melted. “Very interesting.”

The young lioness was fine. She was OK. No bumps, no scratches, and no broken bones or tears. She was safe. Safe from harm and pain. All because of him being at the right place at the right time.

Unlike many before him, Shupavu was very relieved to see the female regain her vain attitude in less than sixty seconds. Perhaps it was not his most favorite personality he had run into over the course of time; but at least it meant she was altogether body and mind. Without a warning the lion released a noisy long gust of air. The same air he had sucked in and held for what felt like a million years when the female fell on top of him.

The large speckled lion appeared to deflate in front of the female as his nerves eased and relaxed.

Yet before he could become comfortable, another onslaught of shivers raced across the young male's bones to spark a visible, but small, jump from the ground. At last the male had noticed just how often his eyes came in contact with those of the other. She was watching him. But not in the way that many did. Oh no. The haughty, snarky, and just a tad bit rude female before him appeared to be dissecting him from his fur down to his red blood. It was as if her eyes were peering into his soul and searching for something that she knew to identify him with.

There was no time to ask her why she was examining him so closely though. When Shupavu had captured and formed a perfect question that remained polite as well as to the point, his mind was focused on something else.

Just like a shooting star the words shot by his eyes quickly. But he heard them. His ears never perked so high and stiff without a reason.

"It's happened before and will probably happen again..."

Did that mean...?

Shupavu's black orbs widened to the size of the moon as his heart grew and beat rapidly against his chest.

If luck was with him, this female knew her way around the desert. Perhaps she wasn't very graceful in making her way through the sand and dust but her words implied that she had done it plenty of times before.

This grouchy lioness with her nose raised towards the sky could be the key he was looking for. The needed piece to find the treasure of escape!

Without much time to think it over, Shupavu had to make a choice. He could let this rogue female leave and never see her again. Or, he could follow after her. She was alone, and would certainly need some kind of protection from the unknown. (Even if this land was her domain) He could give it to her and in doing so be led to the gate out of this heated land.

So if not now who knew when the next chance would come?

The once cowardly lion, who never thought of exploring the world outside of his den felt his legs moving forward before his mind could catch up. He was running, no, bounding towards the female with all the hope and desire he could muster in such little time.

"Ah! H-Hey! W-Wait!" He called after her.

It was now or never. Shu realized as he sped towards the lioness that he couldn't wait for good fortune to bless him again. Now was the time to make it for himself. Besides, he had already brought this female luck, maybe if he could keep doing so he'd get out of this hellhole in less than seven moons from now?

Protection, good luck, and someone to talk to. What more could a girl want from a boy?