She studied the temple walls carefully, trying to understand what the ancient pride had written. The ruins were deep inside a mountain side and was lite up by the cracks in the wall. There were a couple prides near by that the ruins could have belonged to, but now the ruins were abandoned. It was a perfect time for her to really investigate.

Tsillah had always loved learning about different prides. When she was a much younger leopardess and lived with her family, she would spend her days away from the shrines and instead find the elders of the pride and talk to them. If the elders didn't want to speak with her, she would go off and find tablets where the pride wrote down their history.

Her desire to learn was seen as a troublesome trait though. Where the pride valued the gods above all else, Tsillah valued culture and history. Unlike a huge majority of the pride, she couldn't care less about the gods. It was a huge factor in why she ended up leaving her pride at the end.

She went back to focusing on the wall. It was pointless to think about her past. There was a much more interesting story hidden in the wall in front of her. Carefully she used her tail to brush away some of the dirt from the wall so she could read it a bit better. Her attention was fully on the wall that she did not hear someone enter the cave.

“You know trespassing is rude,” a low but playful voice said.

Tsillah turned around and looked to see who it was. A large lion with a ginger mane stood in front of her. He was almost twice the size of her.

“I'm sorry. I was told this was part of some ruins from an ancient pride. The locals told me that no one lives here. If you need me to leave I can, but first let me investigate this wall. I haven't figured out what it says.” She said. If she backed off now, she wouldn't find out what was so important to the old pride that they. The lion didn't seem mean. If he really wanted her out of there he would have attacked her. She turned her attention away from the lion and back to the wall.

She heard the lion chuckle before laying down. “Take your time. Take your time.” He said. “The locals in this area know nothing about the pride that once lived in this area. They established themselves years after the downfall of this pride. Once they plucked all the valuables from this area they wanted nothing more to do with it. Probably why they said it was deserted.”

Tsillah did her best to faze out the lions voice, but the fact was that he seemed oddly knowledgeable about the pride. She stopped looking at the wall and turned to the lions whose gaze was already on her. He had a huge grin on his face. “Can you tell me more about the pride that was once here?” She asked curiously.

The lion took a moment to think about it, giving her a quizzical expression. “I could. To be honest I could easily tell you exactly what was written on the wall. But it is much more entertaining to watch you scrunch up your eyes while you try and figure out what is written there. Plus if I tell you, what do I get out of it? Absolutely nothing but my time wasted. I have already graciously allowed you passage in my home. And you just demand more more more.”

At first she was taken aback. The lion was... odd to say the least. But he said that he knew about the pride that was once here. She could not miss this opportunity. “Maybe we could make a trade? I could, I don't know, hunt for you or tell you a story, something like that. And you could tell me about the pride. How does that sound.”

He smiled, which was promising Tsillah thought.

“That does sound fair. But I have a lot of information about the pride. It would probably take me a couple days to tell you everything I know. Half the day you would spend doing the chores I give you. Then you would have to get some supplies so you could keep track of all the information. And you would have to stay here with me or find shelter near by. It just sounds overall a huge hassle for you.” He said. “But if you are up to the challenge, then I guess I have no reason to reject your offer.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “I am sure that I can handle it. Learning about different prides is what I live for, especially when they are ancient prides. I want to be able to tell the stories that they wanted to share.” She explained.

The lion laughed. “Very romantic. How about you start by picking up some furs so we have something comfortable to lay on?” He ordered.

The locals were trading some furs, she was sure that she could figure away to trade them. “Alright, but first I wanted to ask you. How do you even know about the pride? You said the locals knew nothing about the pride. How would you know anything about it? How can I trust you and your information?”

“That is a valid question with a simple answer. I am all that is left of my pride.” He said. “There were stories passed down from generation to generation within my family telling how the pride rose to power and the dreadful day it fell apart. One by one my family left leaving just my father, mother and I. When they passed I was the only one around to inherit this pride.”

That was something she had never heard before. When a pride fell apart usually all members would disperse and find knew homes, but his family stuck around for generations? “Why would you stick around here? No family, no friends? What is the point in living a solitary life?”

“If I wasn't around who would tell my pride's story? We would have been forgotten as time went on. Plus someday I hope to have a family of my own, to continue my pride. What would be better then reviving a once dead pride. Imagine the stories that would be told about it.” He said, giving her the largest grin yet. “If you stick around you might be able to help me bring in some new life into the pride.”

If only he would have left that part out, Tsillah thought. She was sure that she would have to find a shelter away from him when it was time to sleep. “I am sorry you were left here alone. Your dream, though unlikely, is very wonderful. I wish you the best of luck in achieving it.” She got up and headed toward the entrance of the cave. “I will be back soon with the furs. That should give you enough time to figure out what you will be teaching me about first.”

And then she left.

Utako watched her leave. She was a cleaver leopardess, he would give her that, though not cleaver enough to get away from him when she had the chance. He looked at the wall with the ancient text wondering how she would react when he told her what it said. Even more than that how she would react when she found out it was because of him the pride was destroyed. The god in his mortal form gave a small chuckle. He would take his time telling the leopardess. There was no reason to scare her off too quickly.

WC: 1,309