The day had started off nicely, everything seemed to be going her way for once instead of against her. It actually hadn't been until the moment she'd found that accursed boulder that she'd even run into a bit of an issue. Issues should have been something easy for Warrul to overcome, but Warrul'thun wasn't at all adept at swimming despite her mother's swamp background.
Standing atop the boulder and staring down at the swiftly running river below her, Warrul contemplated just walking back the way she'd come. It had been so far she'd come from her family's home after all. She'd told them she was going on an adventure to find someplace new to hunt. Despite her best efforts she'd told them not to worry about her, that she'd be fine and that she would bring them all presents. Though her parents had both just nodded their heads sympathetically, Warrul had stuck her nose in the air. She knew she would find what she was looking for.
It was the sun she was searching for after all. The sun that had lead her home.
Even if it meant crossing a river she wanted to find him. Today was no different, she had the same goal on this day as she'd had on the previous as she walked slowly out of the pride's lands. Having only just gotten out of them she wasn't entirely sure of where to go now. It had been a month since she'd seen Ithayiga and she hadn't kept track of where he'd left off to, not that he'd mentioned where it was as he'd walked away from her.
Heaving a sigh, Warrul sniffed and peered across the river again. Crocodiles were said to live in rivers... could she really cross it?
Even when you're in love you still need time apart.
Keep telling yourself that as you walk away trying to find her again. This was what Paki was telling himself at least. Mut had gone off for a new pride, where that pride was he wasn't quite sure though she'd given him directions on how to get there since he'd had to say goodbye to his sister first.
Paki wasn't that great at following directions, even from someone he loved. Or rather, especially not from someone he loved it would seem.
Between the blindness and the lack of simple directive sense, Paki couldn't find his way out of the pridal lands if it killed him, though at least he could say he didn't walk into anything in the process.
Boulder.
The thought sparked in his mind just as he sidestepped the rather large thing and felt his foot get wet. A large shudder ran down Paki's spine.
Water was never his friend. Ever since his cubhood water had all but been his mortal enemy unless he was drinking from it. Even then...
If it hadn't been for the fact that the large bush of a lion she'd seen had just nimbly dodged the boulder Warrul would have been convinced that he was going to smack into it. In fact she'd have bet money upon his hitting it with all the brute force that some males kept in those stocky bodies of theirs. Especially the one she was looking at, he didn't seem to either have a sense of direction or the ability to see whatever direction he was headed in. If he could in fact see at all it was impeded by the thick crop of mane that hung down to his nose, though Warrul had a feeling that was more because he couldn't see than it was just natural growth. Some males could be seen hacking theirs off systematically to keep it from getting that long, whether with claws when it was wet or by chewing on it, which was disgusting.
A long time ago she had decided that it was a good thing she was a female for good cause as well. Females had less problems it seemed... or maybe more, she wasn't sure yet as she'd only just hit adult hood not so long ago. At least the mating urge hadn't come upon her yet, though she heard that was fun. Not.
"Sir? Are you okay? Did you hurt your foot?" Warrul asked in her normal hauty way. Vanity could only be cleared up to a certain extent after all.
Of course he'd known she was there, but not every lion that he ever came across wished to be spoken to. Most in fact would rather remain silent, or they were hunting. Paki didn't exactly follow the conventional trails when it came to travel. It was because of this reason that he didn't leap from his bushy fur when she called out to him in the brass voice of a female so sure of herself that she worried little for personal safety.
He'd seen what sureness had wraught in the past.
Sighing softly so that his mane moved a bit, Paki flicked a chocolate ear in the direction of the female upon the boulder he'd only just dodged. From what his senses could tell him she was a small thing and a lioness from the smell of her. A newly adult lioness about to come into her time. That wouldn't be good for her in the future, could all but be traumatic if she didn't get back to her pride. Were they even still in the pride's borders?
"I'm fine, I just have a thing about water. I hate it." Paki said in his general blunt way, a smile on his shaggy face. "What causes you to sit before the water on such a nice day though?"
It was a valid question, one could only assume she'd been there quite a while as she'd yet to move since he'd come upon her and it had been a few moments. Maybe they were both siblings in their hatred of water, or maybe she just feared it for the lizards that ruled it. They were sadistic things, having spoken to one had taught Paki this much.
"The contemplation of how to cross it of course. I don't know how one goes about it without being eaten and it would seem that this is the best way to get around it. The river goes for miles."
She had tried walking the distance to where it might bottom out in a large watering hole. Of course Warrul'thun had been wrong but she'd tried that was all that mattered. Still, it had to come from somewhere didn't it? Water didn't just appear on the grasslands like an enigma out of the sky.
So why couldn't she find an end to it?
"You wouldn't know of a way to cross to get around the crocodiles would you?" Warrul peered down at him in the hopes of an answer. It was so odd seeing a lion talk to her and not look at her. Maybe he really was blind, all he had done when she'd spoken to him was to move an ear in her direction. Did that impart blindness? Or just lazyness? Surely he'd been taught better. "I've been trying to think for a long time of how to get across the river so that I can keep on the path I've been on.
Why did it always have to involve crossing of water with these females? Of course he'd met Mut in the bottom of a dried out river bed, though that had been more his fault than Mut's own. Both of them had fallen, or so he'd ended up learning from her much later than that. Mut had gone and left the pridelands after the death of Sarabi and the overtaking of the new royal blooded lions. Paki himself had gotten whiffs of the future within that pride and had decided it would be a fantastic idea to follow Mut to wherever it was she was going. He couldn't leave her after all, he loved her too much.
Moyo had her own life by this time with Kiwi, who had changed in his own right. It was as if Paki could no longer tell when he was around... which wasn't a good thing since he couldn't smell or sense lions of a bad nature. Even though it pained him to leave his sister again, Moyo didn't need him and didn't need him around to boot. She had Kiwi and their cubs, she had friends and a pseudo family with the lions of the pride. Paki's family was now with Mut wherever it was that she wanted to take it. Mut and her boys even if they weren't his. That had never actually bothered him to much really, that they weren't his. She'd told him about the situation and it made Paki frown that the male had run from her, but he hadn't known Mut at the time. Things happened for a reason and the mating urge of males and females was strong enough that he could see why it would happen.
He was a grown male after all, he'd felt those same things.
Snapped out of his revier by the female's last statement, Paki moved his head to actually look at her as much as he could really see her.
"Crocodiles aren't generally the thing to cross. If there are some in this area of the river then we'd best move along to the next area and pray that there aren't any there. Your eyes can tell you if they're there or not. The rest is fairly simple." Paki responded with a gentle smile splitting his white muzzle. "This river I've come across in previous travles, it comes down from the mountains and goes to the sea. If you were trying to get to the ocean or further down to the south, you could actually follow it down towards the ocean itself. Once it gets there it'll shallow out and you can cross without too much difficulty."
It started in the mountains? Great. That was so far away that there was no way she was walking towards those. Sure she had no idea where Ithayiga was other than this general direction but she wasn't going to the mountains. In fact she'd been going at an angle most of the way, it would appear that Paki was right about the ocean being part of the destination in the least.
So maybe following the river? Down the river and to the ocean, it almost seemed like to sickening of a song for words.
"So following it? I don't know where the person I'm looking for went though. Do you think that maybe... at an angle that I've been going at... that he might be at the ocean like you say?" Warrul asked the male as if he would even know what she was talking about when half the time she herself didn't know what she was talking about. The male didn't know her, and he probably didn't know Ithayiga either or at least he didn't seem the type that Itha would hang around. He was a bush of a lion with things hanging off of him in tons of different directions. It was like looking at a bush that two-leggers had just finished decorating for a holiday or something akin to that. Odd.
Of course he didn't look like the kind of lion that Itha would hang around, he didn't have enough room for paint and he was too much like... well he looked like a bush. Ithayiga was so sleek and gorgeous looking. A lean, lithe, light little thing that could easily run across anything and just keep running. He didn't have the boxyness to him that the male lions did when they reached adulthood. He was pretty to look at and he seemed to fit right beside her height wise as well, instead of towering over her like a male did as well. Perfect male, mane or not.
Actually... she liked him without that mane.
Just thinking about him raised her body's temperature and she all but pined for the male that she loved silently. He didn't even know that she loved him, though that was okay. They'd only met once.
How did she love him?
The smell from her piqued again and Paki shook his head. Female lion indeed. Paki needed to find Mut faster, these younger females were making him want to laugh with how badly they seemed to fall in love and how quickly that happened to them.
"You must be looking for someone or something important. If you were headed at an angle then you were probably headed towards the ocean. Just as I said before, follow the river to the left and just keep going. Eventually you'll hit the ocean though it's a few days travle from this point to there. Whoever you're looking for must be lucky to have you going so far without being entirely sure of their whereabouts." Paki said seriously and frowned just a bit.
Turning back to his own situation, the large lion put his paws into the water and shivered again. "If there are any crocodiles it would be nice for the warning actually. I can't see them quite as easily as you, generally they have to be right on top of me for me to even know that they're there in the first place."
His blue eyes looked back at the lioness even though he couldn't see her.
Not being the one for goodbyes or even thank yous half the time, Warrul'thun had already leapt off the boulder and was about to head down the river towards the ocean where he had suggested when she heard the male speak again and turned to look. He was standing elbow deep in water and had chosen now to ask her whether or not there were any crocodiles. Males really weren't the brightest in all the kingdom that they were in. He seemed to care enough about her to help though, or maybe that was his reason for being.
"No, not in this general area, not that I've seen at least. I'm never quite sure since they hide so well, but I haven't seen any in hours. You should be okay crossing the river, but I can stay if it'll make you feel safer until you're on the other side?" The question on the end was half hearted since she knew that if one of the lizards grabbed him there was no saving him.
The things looked like demons of the ancient times. Once upon a time she'd had a dream about lizards larger than those of even the crocodiles. It had been an odd dream and she was sure it had something to do with the cactus juice she'd drank earlier that day to help her through the belly illness she'd suffered.
All the same, it didn't make her hatred of crocodiles any more or less. They were still frightening and still just as odd looking. They were so strong, that must have been what it was for her at least. She'd watch one break the back of a full grown waterbuffalo like it was nothing and drag the beast under the water.
Nothing like that should be alive.
He'd been wading into the water when she'd opened her muzzle with that last statement and Paki had nearly ended up face planting right into the wiquid from laughter and shock at her statement. She was half his size if even that due to how large he was and she was asking him if he wanted her to stick around as a safety net just in case something did try and eat him? If something tried to eat him it was karma for the times before with the water where he hadn't actually managed to drown himself. Death would finally get him.
Like a tiny sprite of a lioness was going to help him out in an endeavor like that. She'd be more of a hinderance than a help in a death roll with a crocodile.
The laugh that came from his white muzzle wasn't intentional but he figured it got his point across as he hunched his shoulders and back in the walk he was doing towards the other side of the river. Like it was going to help him at all, the water was already close to his bulky shoulders and he was arching them like he could get them away.
Noooo...
Water was his mortal enemy but he had to beat it this time.
"Actually you should head out on your journey, I'm sure that there are quite a few places you're going to see before it ends and staying here to help out an old lion as he crosses the river would probably be the least of your worries." Paki chuckled mostly to himself and as quietly as he could. She wanted to help him. How odd.
Ready to stick it out, Paki kicked his legs out and started moving his heavy legs in strong strokes, pushing the water away from him and heading at a quick pace towards the other side of the river. If it was the river he remembered for certain then he knew that it was very short to cross. He would be on the other side in no time at all.
One of her dark eyebrows lifted at the male. He was so sure of himself he'd already taken off swimming. What was it with males and their egos? Were they all like that?
No... Ithayiga hadn't. Maybe it was just lions then. That made more sense ot her at least.
Heaving a sigh and turning once more, Warrul stared at the river's twists and bends towards the ocean that was so far before her. Hopefully that male was right, hopefully this would take her to the ocean and back to her sunshine cheetah.
The sun was all that was guiding her now, all that had guided her that one time she had gotten lost. Maybe it was fitting that in the end it would be him she would go searching for. Maybe it showed how much she loved him at first sight, or maybe just how desperate she was to be like her siblings. To find love when she was young, to have a family of her own.
Now it was just a matter of finding it. A determined look crossed her face and she let a smile mar her shield for once as she took off running along the bank, mindful of the mud and things that Warrul the Super Klutz could trip on.
