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Demani had been able to tell that Pas was quite stressed by the company he had ended up in. It was why she helped him sneak away while Adokh was sleeping. When the lion woke, they'd likely be long gone. Still, she was relieved to have come back to even find Pas. Some part of her suspected that the lion would have wandered off and been unable to find his way back. If he had gotten lost, Demani had no idea what she would do if she couldn't find him. She could try tracking him, but her skills were not excellent in that regard.

The young lioness would just have to resolve herself to keeping an eye on him as much as possible until they made it back to their homelands. She couldn't afford losing his company, not when she had just gotten it. Demani didn't want to go back to her lonely travels, without another soul in the world to talk to. "Well, I went asking around to see if there were any significant places nearby." The young lioness pointed ahead of them, towards a thick patch of trees and brush. "There's supposed to be a sort of oasis in there, and I was hoping that it would give us inspiration and maybe our names."

They weren't that far away from the Pridelands now, and Demani had only figured out that they were close to there by talking to Pas. She had only heard of the Pridelands, never knew where they were or even how to get to them. She had no idea where the Pridelands were in comparison to her homelands, after all.

Demani was hesitant to leave Pas anywhere, and she knew he had to hunt well enough to survive on his own. So, perhaps next time they could try hunting together. If he proved to mess up too much, Demani would just politely suggest he sit in one place and wait for her to come back, or follow her at a safe distance so that he wouldn't startle potential prey animals. But, Demani wasn't particularly hungry, and food was the last thing on her mind as she led her way towards the thick growth of trees. Already from a distance, the area looked rather green and lively. Potentially, a pride had already laid claim to the area, but Demani didn't intend to stay long. She and Pas would remain there for as long as it took to determine if their names could be found, or if they needed to keep on moving.

"Well, it's the most promising thing I've come across so far. The lion I talked to gave me very solid directions, so I'm pleased we're even able to find it," Demani replied with a bright smile. The lioness moved ahead of Pas, leading the way as she was beginning to get into the habit of doing. To get to the actual oasis, however, took a little more time up travelling. By the time she made it to the outlying brush, the afternoon had reached its peak.

"Uhhh..." She turned around and looked Pas over. The brush was thick, and she was concerned about losing Pas in. "Just stay close to me, okay?" She'd tell him to bite onto her tail to keep himself from getting lost in the brush, but she didn't want to outright embarrass him, and she was sure she wouldn't like her tail being chewed on.

"Good," she looked back to him and flashed him a relieved smile before she hopped over the thick bush blocking her way and temporarily disappeared into the forest. Though, she didn't move an inch until Pas joined her in the undergrowth of the forest. If she just started walking blindly ahead of him, she'd end up disappearing completely into the forest and Pas would never be able to find her. His sense of direction was terrible, and Demani was sensitive enough to it that she was mindful of his abilities without being demeaning towards him about it.

"Surely. Man, I've been gone for so long I bet all the cubs I knew have grown up and gone on their pilgrimages too." That was probably a bit of an overstatement, but Demani felt like she had been away from home for far too long. It had probably only been a couple of seasons, but it felt like ages to the young lioness.

Once Pas was right behind her again, she began to weave her way through the forest. Her lithe body seemed to naturally know where to duck or where to climb over. Demani's pace was slow, mostly because she didn't want to lose Pas. But, it gave them ample time to chat before they made it to their destination. "Did you have any younger siblings before you left?"

"I have siblings, from the litter I was born in. I actually haven't met my father, so I think he was a rogue, or maybe from another pride." The fact that she did not know her dad didn't seem to bother the lioness. She had a lot of siblings that she cared for, and her mother hadn't seemed poorly off without a mate. It had simply never been that big of a deal for her.

"Watch out for this branch," Demani called back to Pas after she nearly had walked head-first into a thick branch. After a few seconds, she decided to carefully duck underneath it, crawling against the undergrowth until the branch was well out of her way. The lioness' white coat was already getting dirty with mud and leaves, but that did not seem to deter Demani in the least. She was used to getting dirty, though when they rested for the evening she'd likely spend a good time cleaning up... just to get dirty again the following day.

"I think the forest is starting to let up. The oasis is supposed to be towards the center..." But, it was easy to get turned around in a thick forest like this. She had no idea if they were still on track, or if they had veered off to the side and bypassed the oasis completely. "At least, that's what I was told." She could have been lied to, but Demani liked to think the best out of other species. She trusted the stranger enough to believe she hadn't been lied to.

Demani did have it easier when it came to navigating through the brush. She was smaller, and tight squeezes were easier for her to make. Pas had the misfortune of having a thick mane to contend with. But, perhaps once they were out of this forest Demani would help him pick out all the leaves and dirt from his mane. She could try to push him into a pool of waster, but Demani wasn't sure Pas would appreciate the gesture nearly as much as just having her help him get stuff out of his mane.

"Seven? Wow, that is quite a few. Kind of crazy, really, especially when you all leave for your pilgrimages at the same time." That was a lot of youth leaving the pride at once, but it was tradition, and it likely would remain the tradition for generations to come. It was hard to think of her pride as changing, but surely it had even in the time she was gone.

"Well, believe it!" Demani finally announced as she weaved around a tree and some more brush and found an opening in the forest. The grass here was short and green, though there was little of it before a massive pool of water. Demani let out an excited breath and pranced to the edge of the pool, glancing around her surroundings with unhindered joy. She could see the sky inbetween tall branches and thick leaves. Pockets of sunlight made it down to the forest floor below. The pool of water was fed by a soft, slow-flowing stream, and littered with only a few leaves despite how heavy the forest was around them.

"I can't believe I did!" she admitted with a soft laugh, still taking in her surroundings with wide eyes. It was very pretty, and rather calming. The area felt secluded from the outside world, and almost timeless. It was a sight she had never seen before. There had been similar places, vast pools of water and a forest here and there. But, none of those places seemed to compare to this tiny little slice of paradise.

The lioness sat back, and looking over her shoulder and to Pas, she showed him one of the biggest smiles she had worn on her face yet. "Do you want to stay here a while, then?" Demani already felt like she couldn't quite abandon this place so quickly. She wasn't even thinking about finding a name as she glanced around her. Her name was far from her thoughts, because all she wanted to do was take in this naturally beautiful sight. "At least the night, since it'd be silly to try and push our way through the rest of this forest when it's dark out, anyways." Demani didn't think she needed to convince Pas to stay, but just in case, she put out a pretty good reason to remain here at least until the following morning.

Demani's gaze lifted to meet Pas, and for a moment she felt unusually flustered staring at him now. Her chest tightened just a little bit, and she found herself glancing back to the pool and away from him out of embarrassment. "I could too," she admitted softly, especially if Pas was going to stay here with her. But, it was a silly little dream. They both wanted, and perhaps needed to get back home. Every day it seemed like their journey was just going to last longer, both of their names eluding them.

But, staring at this place now, Demani felt the first real hope of finding her name. It had been so long since she had felt even close to discovering what her new name would be, and this place had so much potential! Thinking of a name, perhaps, would draw her attention away from the sudden surge of weird feelings she was getting over Pas. "But, I can settle for a night or two instead, if you want to?" Demani glanced back up to Pas, a hopeful smile lingering upon her face.