Sado x Tabansi
Safaia & Skye Starrfyre



He had been alone for some time now; something that he was once again used to. From time to time he could still hear the various affirmations his head had been filled with by the old leopard who'd raised him. If there was something out there in life for him he was both destined and determined to find it and once he did he'd never let it go.

In his wanderings he failed to notice that he'd crossed the border of one of the local prides until he caught the scent of other lions nearby, one seemingly stronger than the others. Pausing his pace he glanced around, wondering just how much trouble he was in.




Sado had spent many of the current days pacing the borders of his homeland. As his family had grown, many had begun to disperse, starting their own families and leaving. He could understand the family part...but leaving? It seemed almost impossible for him to imagine them leaving, moreso with his baby sister. She had always been so weak...and she was the first one to leave. Was there something out there that he was missing? He knew that this was not his mother's homelands, but she refused to speak of her cubhood, of where she came and what she did. He had given up on her, but he couldn't quite give up on the idea of what was past the borders.

His ears perked as his was shaken from his thoughts. A stranger. He knew better than to raise an alert. Strangers were welcome here as long as they were friendly.

"Hm," he grunted, his brown eyes locating the stranger. It seemed that he was aware of what he had done, but perhaps he didn't know where he was if he seemed so alert. "Hello," he said with a nod. "Welcome to the Pridelands."




A pride. Wonderful. He took another step back, still cautious as his eyes fell to the male who seemed a good bit larger than he was, even from the distance between them. At least he didn't seem hostile... A bonus. "Hello." He managed, clearing his throat as his body's stance loosened up into something slightly more comfortable. "Pridelands, eh? Are you one of the guards then, or just someone with something on his mind?"




Sado's ear twitched as he thought about what was asked. "No guard, no," he said slowly. "Just wandering, thinking." He wasn't sure exactly what to say to a stranger. He studied him, mildly interested in his mannerisms. Different, and cautious.

"I'm assuming you didn't mean to cross in," he commented, offering a nod. "No hostility towards you as long as you don't offer any yourself." His tail swished behind him as his mind went back to the idea that he was a stranger. Someone who was not from these lands, and knew more about the outside lands.

Ah. Sado wasn't the best conversationalist, though. So instead, he just sort of stared at the orange lion before him, wondering if he would say anything more. Sado knew he was making it a little...awkward.




"It's generally not the best idea to walk unprepared into a pride one knows nothing about... I learned that lesson when I was younger from my..." He paused, thinking of the word that would best suit the only father-figure he'd ever known. "... My mentor. I usually try to avoid crossing the borders of prides, but it seems as though my mind was elsewhere as well. Wandering while thinking can be both helpful and counter productive, I suppose." He nodded slowly before straightening myself out. "My name is Tabansi and I offer my apologies for interrupting your thoughts. I'm not hostile... At least, not towards anything other than a meal and lion's never struck me as anything worth trying to hunt." He smiled as he said that.




Sado was normally very uptight, but he couldn't help but chuckle at the last comment that the lion Tabansi said. He shook his head softly, never doing anything with a firm movement. "Well, be aware that the Pridelands is always very open to everyone, so never worry about crossing into undesireable territory."

"Even hunting is fine, as long as you share what's left that you can't consume it all." His tail swayed again, a habit he picked up from his mother.

"My name is Sado," he offered in exchange for knowing the stranger's name. "There is no worrying needed for interrupting my thoughts. Nothing but childish ideas of the world outside."




"It's always better to share a hunt than it is to hoard it all, or worse, to let it waste. For every one you help someone might, in turn, help you, no?" His brow lofted slightly, mane rustling as he tilted his head to the side "I'll remember that of the Pridelands though should I ever find myself in need of a place to be safe."

His brow lofted a tad higher, a slight trace of amusement glimmering in his eyes. "There's a lot out there in the world, you know... Many prides formed by various different kinds of lions, each with different ideas and ideals... Some with the same. I'm sure there's got to be a place for everyone out there somewhere. I still wander because I've yet to find my own. But this... This is your home?"




Sado merely nodded his head slightly, his eyes searching the area behind Tabansi. "It is a home of sorts. I was born here, told a little of the outside world from parents that wish nothing more of it. I never thought about leaving, but as some of my sibilings began to leave, one by one, I find myself questioning my ideas. Is it better to stay here where it is safe, where nothing ever changes? Or is it better to take the risk of leaving, perhaps never returning?" The ideas were frightening, but tempting as well.

"And if you have not found a home yourself, would I even be happy ever leaving mine?" He chuckled. "Sharing so many wide thoughts with a stranger on the wind. I guess the idea has grasped at my heart more strongly than I had realized. Voicing one's worries forces him to meet them face to face." Eh. Dumping so much on him, Sado was acting too much like a female.




"Is it better to have loved and lost..." He murmured softly before shaking his head, gaze returning to the other male soon after. "All of these questions that you're asking yourself would have answers, you know, if you took a moment to go out and seek them. Just by crossing this border into the lands nearby you might be able to find -something-, even if it was just the answer as to whether or not it's worth leaving for the shortest bit of time, if not longer. Would your pride welcome you back with open arms if you left for a time only to return after deciding that the outside world wasn't for you?" His brow lofted slightly once more before he became seriously for a moment.

"I had a home once... One that I don't recall much beyond brief flashes of memory about. I was raised by one who had no blood ties to me and I've learned that the world is a place meant to be seen. Seeing it is the only way we learn about it; the only way we can embrace it, or the lives that we've had before."




Sado paused, thinking long and hard about what the lion had said. He felt that he shouldn't let the silence go on for too long, though. "I know that I would be welcome back, but I'm certain that my mother would nag me about leaving," he said with a laugh. "I know she wouldn't mean it, but that's a mother for you. A little too protective, even if you're bigger than her."

His tail twitched, wondering what it would be like to not really remember your cubhood, or your home. He wished he could relate, but nothing of anything importance happened to him when he was growing up. He had what he considered a good childhood, even if it was a bit sheltered.

"You speak the truth," he said with a sigh, obviously not pleased in admitting it. "Perhaps sitting here doing nothing is worst than risking it all."




He smiled but said nothing more on the subject of mothers, knowing that his own had been nothing of the sort that Sado's seemed to be. She'd discarded him for one reason or another and if it hadn't been for whoever it was that seemed to be looking out for him that day...

"If you would be welcomed back it might not be as much of a risk to take as you think, you know. Even if you -did- find somewhere else there are always ways of getting word back to your mother, if you think she would be worried. I've heard stories of little birds carrying messages when others can't."




Birds....it was sad that his little sister never thought of that. He had no idea where she had gone, and it bothered him. Pushing that aside, though, the idea was tempting. Almost too tempting, especially as well as he was making it sound.

"You've almost got me convinced," he said. "I'm assuming you like it out there, with the wandering and the meeting of strangers such as I. The dangers that must go along with it as well." He could imagine that hunting was not as easy alone as it was with a group.




"I enjoy the wandering sometimes, and I try to take something from every meeting and confrontation that I have, but one day I would like to settle... When I find the place where I'm suppoed to be." He nodded slowly. "Not all of us are meant to stay where we're born. There might be someone or something waiting for us to play our part in another place."




He chuckled. "I think I got much out of this meeting than I previously thought." Maybe he would try to see what the world was like out there. He'd let his mother know, and just give it a shot. If he didn't like it, he could always return. There was the possibility that he would find just what he needed out there too. Fear would be there, but he could be stronger than that.

"Thank you," he said, bowing slightly in thanks. "It seems I needed that little kick in the head, especially from one that's from outside of my home. Hearing it from ones that have never left is one thing. Hearing it come from the mouth of one that has experienced is another."



"You're more than welcome, Sado. I wish you well on your travels should you decide to take them. I'm sure that, deep down, your mother will be proud of you no matter what you decide to do."




He nodded, a small smile on his face. "As to you, I wish you to find what you hope to find in the end, no matter where it takes you. Thank you for the advice. I'm certain it will be helpful now, as well as in the future when my doubt return."