There was a sense of uneasiness in the air now that Surtak was missing. Ukushisa and Mvua had been two of the voices calling for the Inqina to be stopped, postponed, something, while Ukwazi had been firm that it needed to happen, with or without the Umholi around.
The trio laid under one of the scattered trees around the current space the migratory pride occupied. The sun was already high in the sky, heating the air to an almost unbearable temperature. It was only with their mouths open that the three lionesses stayed cool enough to do nothing worthwhile.
The fiery red pelted lioness was rolled onto his back, her belly exposed to her pride-sisters as she tried to stay cool. Her tail swayed slowly on the ground, disrupting the dusty ground.
"Ukushisa!" Came a familiar voice. It belonged to her tan sister.
"Whaaaat?" She groaned, opening one eye to look to her nearly identical sister. If it wasn't for the drastic color different, their mirror markings would have probably made them twins. What the hell did she want? Couldn't she see that she was trying to nap?
"There's a lioness out there. Do you know who she is?" Ukwazi asked, her pale eyes narrowing in the bright sunlight of the afternoon to look at a striped lioness that was currently under another tree that was a short jog away, but it was still away from most of the pride and even further away from the Outpost. It was a lioness that she had seen before, but everyone always kept their distance from her. Ukwazi was curious why.
The conversation had stirred Mvua from her shallow slumber. One of her ears twitched as she slowly raised her head. Blinking her eyes open, she looked in the direction that the tan lioness was facing. A yawn broke free from her mouth before she could even say anything.
"Mm, I can't say I know her." Came the red-pelt's reply as she rolled onto her belly. It was clear that she wasn't going to get any kind of rest, not while Ukwazi was curious about something. Usually it wasn't Ukwazi that was the curious one, but she liked to know everyone in the pride. Maybe it was because of her aspiration to become an umama one day, who really knew what was going on in her sister's mind except herself.
"Her name's Mcheni."
The frank statement caught the sisters off-guard. Quickly they turned their heads to look towards Mvua who was laying with her paws crossed and her head looking out to the familiar lioness.
If she wasn't so tired, Mvua probably would have laughed at the expressions on the other two lionesses. "She was found along the borders and was in good health, plus she had a cub with her. The cub on the otherpaw was ill looking and looked as though it hadn't been fed in some time." 'What a cruel mother!' was what many of the other lionesses of the Bonelands murmured as soon as they had seen Mcheni and Ukame for the first time. Muva knew better though. She knew that the striped lioness was not the mother of the growing cub.
From the look of things, it seemed as though Mcheni was almost grieving, which was odd simply because she wasn't known if she was with cubs or not or even why she would have cause to despair. She was so new to the pride and had no family that any of the three lionesses knew.
The three stayed quiet in the shade until Ukushisa finally said something. "Well come on, lets go see if she wants to join us!"
Before Mvua could object based on a previous run-in with the other lioness, the red-pelt was already up on her paws and jogging over. Pale blue eyes blinked as she watched Ukushisa's sister also rise and follow after. It was obvious her curiosity was getting the better of it. Both ears flattened as she too finally rose and followed after the other two. It couldn't hurt. At least she already knew Mcheni to some extent, maybe that would help ease the awkwardness of introductions and conversation.
"Hey!"
The lone mother's head raised to look up at the sisters that now blocked the sun from shining on her. A frown instantly plastered itself all over Mcheni's face as her brows began to lower into a glare.
"What do you want?" She hissed out while looking between the three that now stood before her. One of them she immediately recognized. It was the lioness who had given her a scrap of meat on a bone. The meat which had paid for Ukame to nurse from another lioness and the bone to keep the little one occupied for some time. She was, of course, grateful but the other two she didn't know and that made her nervous.
"Weeell, I'm Ukushisa," The red lioness' head dipped down towards her sister. "And this with Ukwazi." Neck craning, she tried her best to look around her tan sister. "And the other one over there is Mvua." Finally she looked back to the still unhappy looking striped lioness. As quickly as her words had come out her ears fell back. Introductions were going...well. It wasn't the kind of meeting that Ukushisa had envisioned, but at least no one was attacking eachother yet.
"I didn't ask for your names-" Any kind words were gone and now there was anger in each syllable that fell from Mcheni's mouth. She had been here long enough to know more of their native tongue that basic small talk was possible. At least she wasn't struggling in this confrontation.
Quickly Ukwazi's paws took her to the front of the trio. She knew that her sister wasn't being careful. They were three lionesses, large lionesses, surrounding a mother that was currently separated from her cub; almost forcibly since Ukame wasn't exactly injured or ill. "We saw you by yourself and didn't want you to be alone. These are trying times with Surtak missing and the cubs gone on their Inqina. You always seem to be...distant, like you're avoiding the pride."
"Maybe I am."
The three words that fell from Mcheni's mouth were not what Ukwazi was expecting to hear. She had been hoping a 'thank you' or something along those lines were going to be her next words but that was wishful thinking. The distant lioness was beginning to garner a reputation of being separate, a recluse though her daughter, Ukame, was fitting in just fine. Sunny eyes narrowed as she huffed.
The tension could be felt in the air as the Ukwazi and Mcheni stared eachother down. While Ukushisa was too taken back by the distant lioness' opposition even to introduction and was staying silent, Mvua was still watching, hoping that they could break through at some point. Ukwazi was failing though and it was only a matter of time until they were chased off. They were three against one, but she knew none of them would fight against a pride sister over something like this. Pride sister...could Mcheni really be considered one? She hardly slept with the rest of the lionesses and only hunted with them because she'd likely be thrown out by the remaining Umholi or the lionesses otherwise.
"We were just concerned about you."
Mvua's voice piping in caused the other three to quickly turn their heads to look at her.
"Mvua..." The utterly of the seer's name came from Ukwazi's throat, but mimicked what the other two had wanted to do if their throats had allowed it.
"We were worried about you, about Ukame, about the fact you're so distant from us, from the pride. We're all sisters here. We look out for one another. You included, whether you like it or not. Even if you don't want it, Ukame doesn't deserve to be so isolated." Each word got louder, harsher and angrier. Finally in a huff, after the last word left her mouth, Mvua left as well. Turning quickly she simply walked away. Everything was just so...frustrating. No one listened to her. She could have told the sisters this was a bad idea. She wanted to believe the Mcheni would eventually join them and become a sister she could depend on but there was something itching in the back of her mind that told her that it was a waste of time and that she'd have better luck making a rock sing.
Was that dirty lioness...? No. She couldn't be... Mcheni's ears suddenly fell back as her lips raised much to the shock of the sisters. She was done dealing with others for now, done with the extra stress they were piling on her. For what? A little quality time? A new friend? A new hunting buddy? Bah. She didn't need that. She was only in the pride for Ukame and even she was slowly being taken away from her by them.
"Come on 'shisa, lets go check of Mvua."
The sisters left, following after the trail of the younger lioness. Ukwazi stopped for a moment, looking back at the striped lioness that had already put her head back down. There was something off about her and it wasn't just her need to be isolated. It was...different. Maybe a group of three was a bad idea, but one on one wouldn't be so bad, right? Sunset. After sunset she would be back and hopefully she could get to the bottom or why Mcheni insisted on living on her own while there were so many lionesses who wanted to help her.
[ word count: 1609 ]
