Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dragging her feet along the sand, anyone who took note of her, would think she was near death. But in fact, she was far from it, just being your typical drama queen. At least that's what her fellow pride members would tell her. But she would never be called that again! She had resigned herself to a better name, an amazing name, one that held respect! One that would make all of those who had frowned down upon her before, now quiver in worry of their mistakes. She'd underestimated the work the task would take though, and she was exhausted beyond words. So while she wasn't near death, she was pretty pooped.

Looking ahead the lioness caught sight of another of her species, she looked to be quite gorgeous. Her pelt colors alone were remarkable. Eyes now wide with excitement and the opportunity to 'read' another lion, she nearly tripped over her own paws to get closer to her. Which completely wiped away any sign of her being near death.

The closer she got, the more her heart began to thump in its chest. It had been what felt like AGES since she'd encountered another lion. Forget worrying over her level of friendliness, she just wanted some form of contact.

It took longer than she had expected to finally reach the lioness. So long, that the other female had had time to get up fetch herself a drink, and return to the tree which she had been lounging under. Whether that proved that Thulile was slow, or that the other lioness was really quick ... she had no clue. But she wasn't about to dwell on it either.

"HI!" As she slowed her pace and came to a stop before the lioness, she took in her surroundings. "Wow, you sure do have a nice place here. I bet you can see the stars in all their glory from here..." No longer gazing at the lioness, Thulile had changed her position to stare up at the sky. Of course there was nothing in it yet, but in a few hours ... oh there would be plenty to see.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be a bother. I just saw you and thought i'd come over and stay a while."

Nevermind that she was being incredibly rude by stepping into someone else's territory, but she was being very naive as well. Poor Thulile was lucky the lioness hadn't snapped at her yet!

"Oh that's a shame, a place like this would make an excellent place to stay. I would stay for as long as you can, I bet you get a nice view of the sky!" Thulile nodded quickly, not really sure where she was going with her conversation. That's just how she was, she never really knew what she was doing, she just went with what was happening around her.

At the sight of the hare, the lioness shook her head in disagreement with the other. "Oh thank you, but no thank you. I wouldn't dream of taking your hard earned dinner. I'll hunt something down for myself later."

Taking note of her signal to have a seat, Thulile graciously took her up on it. Sitting down with a loud and obvious sigh she smiled. "Whew! Its nice to sit down after a long day of walking isn't it?"

She smiled, eyeing the female questioningly. It wasn't until just now that she realized she knew nothing of her new companion.

"I'm Thulile by the way - forgive me for being so rude."

This lioness was oddly nice for a stranger ... though she don't know what she had expected. She'd heard that the rogue lands were a nice place, but her Mother had also warned her of all the possible dangers. She knew what places to avoid and this one wasn't one of them. Well ... she didn't think it was, truthfully she didn't really know where she was.

"I'm positive, but thank you again!" Thulile waved her paw to pass of the female's offer once more, but then her ears perked at the mention of water. FRESH water? "Now that's on offer i'll take you up on Nyota! I haven't had fresh water in days. I've mostly been drinking dew as it falls on the leaves of plants." Shrugging her shoulders, as though this was common place for her, she continued. "If the gods want me to have water, they will bless me with it, as they just have!" Trotting over towards the water, Thulile kept an ear open to Nyota's words, all the while taking many laps at the water just by her feet. Gods it was delicious.

"I"m on my naming quest of course!" She said it so proudly, so full of life, that it didn't even occur to her that others had no idea what she spoke of. Truth be told, Thulile just assumed everyone went on a naming quest when they came of age.

"Oh you mean you you've never heard of it?" That was definitely something new to the lioness, everyone she'd ever known had been sent on a naming quest when they came of age! Everyone she had known .... She only knew of other lions within her pride, was it possible her tradition was based on her pride?

Taking a deep breath and preparing to explain, she indeed did catch the whiff of the rabbit, but it wasn't important right now. She wasn't starving so she could eat any time.

"A naming quest is when a lion or lioness goes out into the rogue lands in order to find their true name." Pausing for a moment she tried to think of how best to explain this. "I thought it was something everyone did, but I guess I was wrong. Anyway it's a tradition in my pride, and when we return its a time of much celebrating. I can't wait to find mine, but so far i've had no luck."

All of this talk of home was starting to make her homesick, in a way that would never go away. She had watched her old home destroyed by fire, only weeks before she had been dismissed on her naming quest. Now she would never see it again, but with her new name, came a new beginning for her pride in a new place. Sure, it wasn't the swamps ... but it was a glorious place in the mountains! She knew it would never be home to her, but at the same time, she was really excited by the idea of returning. Starting her own family in a new place, and sharing tales of her old home.

"OH! Silly me! I'm from the Jini-msemi! We were a pride of swamp lions, but recently our home was destroyed by fire and we had to relocate. But the new place isn't so bad! It's really pretty, we have this huuuuuge mountain all to ourselves!" Over exaggerating her words a bit, the lioness nearly fell on her face as she stretched her paws out before her.

Laughing it off she looked back at Nyota wondering where it was she called home. "What about you Nyota, you don't have a pride do you?" Suddenly her words went from filled with excitement, to dripping with sorrow. She hoped she hadn't offended the lioness with all of her excitement.

Thulile's frown only grew longer when she heard Nyota's admission, but she quickly perked up at the lioness' idea.

"HEY YEAH! I LIKE THAT IDEA!" Thulile grinned, bouncing around on the pads of her feet. "Especially now! Our pride lost a lot of its members during the fire, I bet they'd love to have you!" In her mind, the idea was cementing itself faster than she could think up the process.

"I could tell you exactly where it is, and, and you could go check it out, and I -" Almost immediately Thulile froze in her steps. She was going to say she would go back with Nyota, but that wasn't something she could do. She hadn't found her name, and she couldn't go back without it.

"I mean, I could meet you there when my quest is over!" She tried to plant a wide smile on her face, but it sadly came off as more of a pitiful frown.