Her children had left her. She didn’t know what to do. Sighing, Katika stumbled across the rogue lands. She knew one child went one way, towards the west, the other h ad headed towards the east. If the two of them went in the same direction, she’d be more keen as to following them. However, in her mind, what kind of mother would she have been if she had found one child and not the other? That just wouldn’t due in her opinion.
The sky was darkening, the start of the rainy season about to begin. Katika quickened her pace, not wanting to be caught in the down pour that was about to happen. The female made her way towards a small cluster of trees, only stopping when she heard a small, panicked voice coming from underneath a lone tree just away from the cluster.
“Is anyone out there?” It called out, causing Kati to tilt her head. “Please? I fell out the tree!”
Curiosity killing the cat, the lioness quickly moved towards the voice, spotting the small mass of blue feathers in which it had come from. A bird? A bird had fallen out of the tree? That was unusual, seeing as birds were meant to stay up in the limbs of the African trees.
“How did you fall out, little one?” Katika called out to the avian, moving slowly towards her, so not to frighten the blue bird.
But the bird was far from being frightened. With the visibly twisted wing, being scared was something that wasn’t on her mind. More so the fact she’d wanted to get up in the tree, away from the storm that would flood the grounds. She’d be drowned in a heartbeat.
“The blasted limb broke!” Kalani shouted, pointed at the broken limb with her peak, and the one it had snapped from the top of the tree as well.
“Rotten luck, can’t move the wing I take it, huh?”
“Captain Obvious.” The bird snarled inwardly, regretting it when the lioness looked at her wide-eyed, and started moving away. “Wait! I…do you think you could put me back up there?” The bird looked pitiful.
“I don’t think I can reach that high,” the lioness said truthfully.
Kalani made a noise of discontent, hopping on her legs for another source for someone to help her.
“Wait…bird?” Katika called out.
“I have a name…”
“Sorry. Wait….?” She started, pausing for the other to fill in the name.
“Kalani.”
“Kalani!”
“…what?” The bird stopped hopping, turning her head to stare at the much larger female before her.
“Why don’t you stay with me? At least until the rains are gone. I can help you, and then when the rainy season is over, your wing should be healed.”
“And how do I know you won’t eat me until then?”
“You trusted me to lift you up, why should you have reason to not trust me now?”
“…” Kalani was silent. That was something hard for bird to be.
“What’s in it for you?” She finally asked, breaking her silence.
Kati shook her head. “Nothing really? You looked like you could use the help, and since my boys are all grown up, I miss having the company around. If I am looking for something, call it just a friend to talk to. How does that sound?” The lioness asked, having the instincts to just lift a paw up to the other. However, with her being at least ten times smaller than herself, she opted out of the gesture.
“You just want someone to talk to...?”
“Yep! I say it’s a fair deal, right? You get the protection of a big lioness, and I get someone to talk to.”
A crash of thunder, followed by a few droplets of rain caused the yellow lioness to get antsy a bit. “What’s say you? Any second now I bet you the sky will open up. No use both of use getting drenched, right?”
“I guess so…Seems like a fair enough deal.”
“Great! Why don’t you er… hop on my back?” Katika lowered herself the ground as the rain began to get harder. “I can run faster than you hopping.”
Kalani did not wait, as the droplets of rain were monstrous compared to herself. She quickly did as she was told, holding on to the fur with her talons and beak. Not a minute passed before the yellow lioness has sprang to her feet, bounding for the cover of the trees.
The blue bird bobbed with the pace, finding the now wet pelt of the lioness’s back difficult to cling to. “whoa!” she would should out, finding herself slipping at times.
Once in the shelter of the trees, Katika lowered herself, letting the bird hop off her. She went to shake the excess water off her, successfully (and unintentionally) drenching the avian in the process. Her blue eyes turned to her with a sheepish grin. “Sorry about that.”
Puffing up with the now wet feathers, the bird glared at the lion. “No problem.” She chirped a bit sarcastically, preening her feathers to get them dry.
“When do you think the storm will let up?” Kalani asked after a moment, staring up with a feather in her mouth.
“Probably not until the night. Which, I can’t even tell if it’s close to it, because the clouds are so dark.”
Kalani nodded in response, unconsciously walking over to the other’s paw. The lion was much warmer than she was. “What’s your name?” the bird asked quietly, nestling herself on the dry ground, taking care of her injured wing.
“Oh!” In all the commotion of trying to get the other to agree to her terms, she had forgot to introduce herself. “I’m Katika’peponi. But, if you want, call me Kati.” The yellow lioness stated simply.
“Kati…okay…” The blue bird was getting tired. Kati could only assume she had been shouting for a long time trying to get the help of another.
“So, Kalani… how long…” the female didn’t finish as the soft sounds of snoring at her paws had interrupted her. “…Nevermind,” Kati whispered, lowering herself under the canopy of trees, watching the storm roll in. She’d let the other get her sleep, Kati knew she probably needed it.
{Word count - 1044}
