Where had time gone? Danzi wasn't sure, and he was sad to have seen it go. His cubs had long ago ceased being cubs, and he had grandcubs that were no longer cubs. He was beginning to feel old now, and lonely. The orange lion paused at a small watering hole, quenching the thirst in his throat. He was homesick... Which home, he wasn't entirely sure. The oasis he'd been born at? No, not there. The jungle he'd hidden in with his sisters, so very long ago? Certainly NOT... The Motoujamii Desert? He'd rather join Ripuka before going back. He sighed, sitting up and closing his eyes for a moment as the winds shifted.
Navale was off hunting, so Kimiko explored the direct area around their chosen resting spot. The scarred lioness pulled a branch of a low-hanging tree down, examining a flower. As soon as she sniffed it, she noticed the ants hurrying down the branch to protect their tree. With a light smile, she let the branch gently swing back up. The ants were placated for the moment, and the lioness moved on. As thirst tickled her throat, she spied the watering hole. This was why they'd chosen that particular spot. Water was easy to reach, and she'd be easily spied by the blue and white lioness. As she approached, though, Kimiko noticed she wasn't exactly alone. A lion sat across the water, orange and black in coloring. He looked... Familiar... But she couldn't quite place it. With a light hum to herself, she settled and drank, rolling thoughts over in her mind.
When he opened his eyes, Danzi had to blink a few times. After a moment, he reached up and rubbed his eyes, then looked again. Was he seeing things? No, no he wasn't... That looked like Kimiko. The last time he'd seen her... He'd left her in the Matembezi lands. Slowly, he rose to his paws, padding around the pool of water. He could see the the gold eyes watching him, wondering what he was up to. It was only as he got closer that he sat down, tail flicking and curling around his paws. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
The pale lioness slowly sat up, shifting her weight a bit. "It has." It was only as he got closer that she'd recognized him. It was Danzi, the lion who couldn't seem to decide just who he was. Was he a Pridelander? A rogue? A Firekin? Was he a nice lion, a fierce lion? To Kimiko, now, he was a confused lion. "How have you been? As confused about who you are as ever?" Once upon a time, she'd felt herself confused. Declared a princess in a pride that never got past her father, step mothers, and plethora of half sisters, she'd found herself a rogue, a slave, a rogue, a simple huntress, and now, a rogue again. She no longer tried to fill a role. She was just Kimiko, a lioness.
The male gave a start, looking up at the lioness in surprise. "Confused...? What's that supposed to mean?" What DID it mean, anyway? His brow furrowed, shifting to look at Kimiko with one eye. For the first time, he noticed just how scarred up she was. The majority of it was from Toshiro, he knew, but some of it came from her time in the Firekin. He hoped she forgave him for that, though it was looking like she probably had a long time ago, when he'd helped her to a safe new home. "And why did you leave the Matembezi lands?"
The pale lioness chuckled, a bit of her old fire showing again. "Are you a rogue? A Firekin? Or a Pridelander? Just where do you fit in in the world, Danzi? Or was it Makaa'kali?" She pushed herself up onto her paws, padding over and winding around him. Her tail, for a moment, swatted against his dark mane, the tip all but vanishing. "And I left, because I felt nothing there. My cubs grew up and left a long time ago... I'm sure you know how that is..." She felt empty there, with nobody to care for and nobody to care in turn for her. She was lonely, too, and felt just too weak next to the militaristic ways.
Danzi let out a sigh. "Danzi again... Just Danzi. Son of Taka and Madaha, nothing more, nothing less... Half rogue blood, half Pridelander blood, trapped between two worlds..." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "And I think I'll go back..." He actually missed the grasses, the sun, the joy of the land. He missed, too, being surrounded by so many related lions. The family he knew he had, but didn't know personally. It was oddly comforting.
Something flickered across Kimiko's eyes. Was it longing? Perhaps. "Back to the Pridelands?" She considered what to do from there. Finally, she nudged his shoulder with her head. "Can I come with you? You're the only lion from my past I know out here... That doesn't want to kill me..." For a moment, sadness tinged her eyes, her voice, her whole body. She let out a sigh, smiling. "Listen to me, just an old fool in a young lion's world... Given time, at least, I think I can still hunt..."
He nodded. "Back to the Pridelands... My father's birth pride..." He'd heard the stories, from birds who'd heard it from a pride that grew just outside the Pridelands. His father had been heir... So either Danzi would never have been born, or would have been born in the pride. He was glad things had turned out how they had, then. He wanted no part in the throne. "I suppose nobody's left there who'd remember your father... So I'd say yes." He looked at her. "If you'll join as my mate..." It was... Logical, if one could call it that. They already knew each other, and it warmed the corners of his heart to find someone from his past.
Now it was Kimiko who was surprised. Nobody had ever asked her to be their mate. Two of three litters had fathers that were just passing flings in the night. The other had been a less than stellar result. It almost felt like she was finally getting a happy ending. She smiled, then sat down, leaning on the orange lion. "Okay... I can live with that." She'd tell Navale when the younger lioness came back.
