(AIM log between Thal and Kim)
So this was it. He was embarking on an adventure. Leaving the lands of gold behind him, never to return. It was a scary thought. A sad thought. And, as he walked he wept, wept to think of friends he would never see again, the brother he wouldn’t ever talk with again. And yet, even as he did so he felt the tears on his face and knew a true Firekin would never cry. He paused and glanced down at his golden paws and felt his heart ache. Nothing about him was Firekin. This was the future that awaited him. Somewhere out there, in the big, wide world, a new home awaited.
He swiped a paw across his face and moved onwards.
The first day he encountered grass had been one he had never forgotten. He moved through it cautiously, not sure whether he liked its prickle against his feet, or how it tickled its sides if it was exceptionally long. He had eaten it – bleugh! Rolled in it and batted it with his paws. In fact he had spent a whole day playing in it, familiarising himself with it so that its touch would no longer bother him.
And, as he continued, he realised how different the world outside of the desert was. He had always thought the sea of gold beautiful but this place…this place was a different kind of beauty altogether.
Now he stood, watching a herd of antelope grazing, his eyes wide and unbelieving. He’d been told about this, of course, but it hadn’t prepared him. Nothing could have truly prepared him for this.
---
It had been only a few weeks ago that he'd left the sea of sand. The green lands that laid beyond its borders had been, for so long, only the shadow of a cub's memory. His pads had grown harder and thicker due to the punishment of the hot sands, his back far more tolerent of the sunlight due to constant exposure. Still... for how right and soft the world felt now...it was empty.
The small family of former royals had their own matters to attend to for the moment. A bittersweet reuinion of the father to one of his many offspring. Zaphod had allowed them their privacy.
He laid out in the grass, a bright contrast of blue against the sea of green. Red eyes gazed out towards the horizon, wondering, quietly, how Kenna was doing...wondering if the male she'd taken was treating her well....if her offspring made her proud.
---
His stomach growled, his mouth watered. He wanted to hunt now, to chase and catch prey. He’d done it before and he could do it again, right? Right! Yes, of course he could! He was Uddhava, son of Ripuka, brother of Azarax and student of Moja. He’d prove to himself and to them that he was able to fend for himself out here!
Stifling and excited rumble, he burst from the grass and ran – full speed – towards the herd. They looked up as they saw him coming and nickered with fear, throwing up their well-armoured heads and scraping dust into the air with their hooves. Uddhava, choking as he got a face full of dust, sprang in an attempt to land one. His paws touched nothing but air and as he landed – heavily I might add – he heard the rumble of their hooves and coughed and spluttered in the wake of their dust.
With a whimper, the golden lion backed up out of the dust cloud and, head and tail drooped, headed back the way he came, feeling pretty sorry for himself.
That was when he spotted the blue lion.
He came to an abrupt halt and stared at the other, trying to figure out what he should do or say to a non-firekin. Did they act different out here?
