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It was the second day that Berfortoto was looking for Nyota's twin. Because they both hadn't found her by the caves where Nyota had said that they would be, it didn't deter him to continue searching elsewhere. He had traveled to the sides of a riverbank, wondering if maybe she would be near a bigger source of water. He had met many other felines along the way, but none of them had even seen the purple lion. Not wanting to doubt Nyota, but he couldn't help but feel that maybe this sister didn't exist in the first place?

He sighed, planting his flank by the edge of the river, starting to feel a bit dejected.

Silly, stupid little twit, to have gone off with a stranger out of the blue like that! Jazua was still quite furious with her twin sister for breezily accepting the oily lion's words. She had tracked them for four days, at which point she had come to the place where they had split from each other. She couldn't tell whom had left whom first, but she suspected the male had left her, when he had tired of her. Jazi of course wouldn't have come home. Oh no, knowing her sister, Jazua knew she'd have continued on determinedly, sure that she'd find her "one true love" somewhere out in the wilds. What a ridiculous notion!

She had come to the river, and had promptly lost the trail. You'd have thought it'd be easier to track her sister in the softer soil, but it seemed that was not so. It had taken some time to decide whether Jazi would have gone across, upstream, or downstream. After much thought, Jazua had decided that Jazi likely had tried to wade across, and been caught in the current. This could mean she left the river at any point downstream, on either side. This was not the best situation to try and track her sister from.

So today she was trotting steadily down the riverbank, mentally chewing out her twin for being such a fool, for being so much the oppositie of herself. Why couldn't she be sensible, clear headed, or even just have some common sense?! Lamenting this silently, she caught sight of someone up ahead, jsut sitting. Well, at least that could be a source of information. "Excuse me?" she called politely, though her muscles tensed, just in case this was not a friendly individual.

He was about to let out another sigh before taking a small drink from the river, but his head snapped up almost immediately, thinking for a moment that maybe, maybe this was who he was looking for. Oh, how happy Nyota would be! Though when he actually did see the lioness, he at least got the right gender. He momentarily frowned, disappointed, but quickly tried to erase it over with a friendly smile. "Y-yes?" he said, standing up and making himself look somewhat more presentable than the haphazard position he was sitting in. It wouldn't look good at all if he looked like some kind of slob to a female.

"Is there something you need...?" he tilted his a little, wondering if she would know where this Iya would be. He noticed that she was a bit tense, though he really couldn't blame her. Sometimes there were lions that couldn't be trusted. But he didn't look like that much of a terrible and scary being did he? "I, uh...won't hurt you, Miss." he said simply, his smile geniunely friendly, wondering if that would be enough to calm her.

The first impression was definitely not that of a warrior. She had caught him unawares, surprising him from thought. That and his tentative words and tone spoke volumes as to what kind of character he had. She narrowed her eyes slightly, stifling the critical side of herself that rose to disparge his lack of... well, masculine tendancies. She continued to approach, so as to speak easily without raising her voice. Once close enough, she sat and regarded him calmly, most of her tension gone. No sense in wasting energy unnecessarily.

"I only would like to know if you've seen a lioness who looks like me," she waved a paw up and down, pads towards herself, "only green instead of brown." Aside from the head and tail fur, of course, but that seemed rather unnecessary to mention. She'd clarify if he needed it. "She might have come down this side of the bank about... five or six days ago?" It was a guess on the timespan, but it was the best guess she could make.

Ha ha. How funny. She was also looking for someone like her too. Why was it that females were suddenly looking for their missing twins? "I wouldn't know." he said truthfully, "You see, I just arrived here myself." Berfortoto gave an apologetic nod, "Though I myself am looking for someone..." he started, wondering if it would be the right moment to ask. She was much different from the more joyful and child-like Nyota. More...what was the word? Serious? But she didn't seem that serious. But it was something along those lines.

"Er...I'm looking for a purple lioness. A friend of mine lost her twin sister. I was curious if you had heard anything about a purple lioness? She is small and petite." His blue eyes studied, her wondering what kind of male she went for. Perhaps a stronger, bigger male. More bigger than he was. And probably more assertive.

She nodded her regret, ready to turn and pad away, continuing her search, but was stopped by his next words. She turned back to him, sitting once more to listen attentively. He'd been kind enough to entertain her own search, she'd return the favor. It was only fair, and only made sense. One did not get ahead by disregarding one's own responsibilities to do for others as well as for self.

However, his words hit her like a ton of bricks. She stared at him, eyes wide, uncertain whether he was pulling her leg or trying to get something out of her with this tale. How could this be? The coincidence was too much for her logical brain, and her ears almost instantly canted backwards. She eyed him suspiciously, teeth gritted together in readiness. What was he getting from this, anyway?

"A twin. Like I am looking for." Her voice was flat with disbelief. Still, he had provided much more detail than she had, as suited someone actually seeking someone who... did not look like himself. At least he hadn't said it was HIS twin sister. She drew her lips together and looked at him closer. No, he didn't exactly look like the sort to tell such a clever lie. She relaxed minutely, though still clearly suspicious. "No, I haven't seen a purple lioness of that description," she answered, her words polite enough, though her tone was clipped and abrupt.

Berfortoto felt a little unsettled that the female was staring at him in such disbelief. Well..it was too much a coincidence, he decided. "Um yes." he said simply. "I believe her name was 'Iya'. Nickname for something longer I believe." he'd never met her before, so he couldn't give the lioness a personality description.

"Then how about..." he said this slowly, as Berfortoto noticed that she was definitely wary of him. "...We go look for them together? Two pairs of eyes is definitely better than one." he said, hoping that she would accept. While he did want to get to know this lioness better, he also wanted to help her find her sister as well, along with finding Iya. Though, if she didn't want to...(and he was expecting it a bit) there was nothing he could do to stop her from not wanting to.

Though why she was so wary of him, he had no idea. Did he have something on his face that was making him look so suspicious? Berfortoto would have to quickly check the water when she wasn't looking. The male casually look his paw, rubbing at his muzzle as casual as he could, but was still looking at her, but quickly averted his eyes hoping she didn't notice.

After the words had left her mouth, she'd known she'd made a mistake. If the lioness he was looking for wasn't where she'd already been, it was natural to look for her the same direction Jazua was going. Inwardly she groaned. She was not in the mood to entertain company, especially company she found confusing and suspcious. The way he kept glancing at her made her uncomfortable, giving her the impression he had other things on his mind than just finding this supposed twin sister. She shuddered her coat and stepped back two steps, thinking hard on how to get out of this.

"Well... I haven't seen any traces of her on this side of the river," she stated firmly, putting all her determination into her voice to keep it from sounding like an excuse. "I was thinking I would swim the river and try the other side." Thankfully, the river was wide enough to not talk across, though perhaps someone on the edge of the water could see someone on the other edge. She'd make sure to walk some distance from the bank, though, if she could.

She edged to one side then, watching his eyes flick to and then away from her. A cold worry came to her then. What if he didn't let her pass? He was currently between her and the water, and had already stated he'd rather she stay with him. She glanced over her shoulder, suddenly realizing that he wasn't with this 'friend' he was seeking the twin of either. Where was she, if his story was true? Had he done something with her? For once in her life, Jazua's imagination ran wild and got the better of her, making her skittish and as coiled as a striking snake.

Berfortoto quickly looked to the river, thankful that he could look at something else that was not the lioness that was staring at him so suspiciously. Thankfully, it was a nice day so the river was calm and very easy to swim, maybe even wade across. "The river looks pretty safe to me. Looks like you can make it." He was gonna ask for help, but decided against it. She looked like the type that wouldn't need anyone's help, much less his when she was staring at him like that. He let out a nervous cough, "Oh well, thank you. Perhaps I will take my search somewhere else." Did this Iya even exist in the first place?

"Um...um..." he didn't know how to say this, but the way she kept staring him was extremely unsettling, "I...won't eat you, you know..." Berfortoto tried giving his trademark friendly smile, but it looked like more of a grimace. "Or hurt you in anyway..."

Later on, looking back on the event, Jazua would wonder where her head went, and feel sorry for the poor male she'd maligned. But now, with her fright rising and her instincts screaming at her to leave as swiftly as possible, she had no room for consideration of his feelings. She edged further to one side, beginning to curve towards the water's edge, but keeping herself facing the male.

"I'm sure you wouldn't," she replied, rolling her eyes to look towards the river without turning her head away from him. "You seem the nice sort." Never had she lied like this in her life! "I just am in a hurry, since my sister's all on her own and all," she babbled a bit, skittering sideways towards the river. Eventually her tailend was facing somewhat towards it, and she began to back up, step by step.

"Good luck looking for this... twin," she managed to get out, her disbelief still clear as day. She was certain in her own mind, there was no twin. Only one possibly lonely, possibly deceiful lion that she simply couldn't wait to get away from. Her hind paw hit water, and she gave another shudder, this time of relief. "Goodbye!" she barked swiftly, before turning and plunging into the water at all speed, swimming for her life. The sooner she was out of sight, the better!

Berfortoto backed away uneasily, letting her back into the river. "Oh...um...thank you..." he said, feeling a bit hurt. Why he felt hurt, he had no idea, but it was probably because of her constant suspicion of him. "I wish you luck on finding your twin too..." He watched her hit the river, swimming away in a frenzy.
"I'm Berfortoto...just in case you were curious..." he added under his breath. Sighing he sat down back on his haunches like he did moments before he had met the female, deciding that he would take a short (or maybe long) break before looking for Nyota's twin again.