It had been only hours since she'd left behind the small bit of water she'd met the snake at. It was refreshing, washing things away like that. Even in all her time in the plains before then, she had never stopped to take a bath in such a manner. The light breeze felt cool as the water evaporated off her dark coat, and Jua couldn't help smiling to herself. It was a strange feeling, being... Happy. Even knowing what she'd done with that one male lion... She hadn't felt this way even as a cub. Maybe... Maybe this time she'd stick around and raise these cubs. She suddenly paused, noticing a lion in a pool of water along the same path, laying down in it as if he was about to take a nap. What curious markings he had... She gave in and went over, staring at him for a moment. "What are you doing?"
He lifted his head, opening his eyes to stare at the lioness. She looked like she'd never seen a really good life, covered in scars and incredibly scruffy. But the way her fur looked told him something else. He smiled, motioning with a paw at the water. "Come, you can join me. I'm enjoying Tamu's gift in a most wonderful manner. It's also good for washing away what ails you, though I have this feeling you may have already done that." The ones who washed their own past problems away without help... They were a refreshing sight to the lion.
She looked at him funny. "Tamu...?" While she'd heard of other gods, their exact names tended to be few that she learned. She didn't even know what this Tamu was the god OF, either. She stepped into the water, enjoying the cool feeling as it soaked back into her coat. The dark lioness settled down, eyeballing the other lion. "Who are you, anyway?" He was a... Curious lion, to say the least. He was just so relaxed, so.. Calm. Like an undisturbed pool of water, deep and imeasurable. She tried Seeing anything about him, his past or his future, but drew a blank. It was like he had a wall around his mind.
Lifting a paw from the water, he moved his mane out of his face. "I am Hajime. But you may be wanting more than a name. Before I tell you, you had another question - Who is Tamu? Tamu'dhihaka is the God of Water, and one way to honor him is to enjoy this gift he gives us." He dipped his paw, cupping it so that a tiny pool formed in it. "As to more of who I am, I am a lion who spreads the word of new beginnings. Every harsh down fall we experience is a chance to start new, to find ourselves on a new road, change our course against what fate appears to have had in mind for us. Perhaps it was fate that led you to meet me here... Now..." He reached up, poking her nose. "Who are you, were you, and where are you going?"
Talkative guy... She then scowled. "God of Water..." She splashed the water with her paw. "If he was REALLY a God, he'd take some to the desert and end the damnable drought." She then snorted, doing her best to relax. Thinking of the desert wasn't helping, though, and Jua began to feel the stresses return. "My name's Jua'taka... And..." She sighed. "I WAS a lioness with opes of becoming a story teller for my birth pride like my mother... But fate had other ideas.. My pride split in two, and when the part I went with merged again with the other side, I left... I lost faith in pride leaders...." She shook her head. "I don't know WHERE I'm going at this point... Somewhere else, I suppose..." She felt like a speck on the wind, blowing around, looking for a clover or something to land on.
"I see..." He crossed one forepaw over the other, thoughtful for a moment. Then he got up, stretching out as water dripped from his coat and mane. "Well, Jua'taka... I don't suppose you'd mind company on your journey to nowhere? Or perhaps this is an invitation for you to join me on my own journey to nowhere." Regardless of what she was going to answer, he stepped from the pool, not even bothering to shake the water off. Green eyes turned back to the lioness, expectantly waiting for an answer.
Weighing her options, Jua finally rose from the water, stepping out after the lion. "No funny business, right?" While she didn't doubt she could take this lion on, even with old injuries plaguing her, she was worried about psychological attacks. Could she really trust anybody in the world...? After the life she'd led... She wasn't sure she could take any more lies from those she would otherwise have trusted.
Hajime chuckled, the smile spreading up his face and into his eyes. "Jua, what would I possibly gain from doing anything off? It would go entirely against my moral code to pull the wool over your eyes." He began to walk, mentally pleased as he heard the lioness' pawfalls behind him. "Besides... Life is too short to waste it on harming others. I would rather spend it enjoying the splendors of the world around us, that which the gods have given us, than some short-term gain." He paused to examine a flower, allowing the black feline to catch up. "Look, one of the gifts of Uakihasho! The colors are spectacular on this one..."
Getting close, Jua looked, thinking on what he'd said before about the God of Water. She looked at the flower, then Hajime. "God or Goddess of Flowers...?" She shook her head. "I've spent so long worshiping Finar-si... You'll have to tell me about the other gods..." Who better, she supposed...
He smiled at her. "Goddess. And I'd be happy to. Think of this as a new beginning, Jua... You're opening your mind to just how many gods there are! And a fitting place to begin talking..." He gave her a dew-thumb up. "Finar-si, Lady of Change! Your mind is changing as the world around you is." He began an easy walk, something she could keep up with. "There's a god and goddess for everything, you know... Many are told apart from mortals by the features they bear, often because of wings or how their ears look... There's one god with long ears like a rabbit, a couple with tails like dogs... Skeletal wings, skeletal bodies..." And on he went as they walked.
