"Welcome to our home," Anansi said pleasantly as she lead the two lions through the open area of the pride's lands.
One of her guardians had come across them lost in the rainforest and had brought them to her after speaking with them. It had been a while since the pride had welcomed anyone new into it's lands, but these two seemed like a good addition. Anansi had spent some time with them, asking about where they'd come from and why they were here. Once they expressed interest in staying and living in the pride, Anansi carefully explained their culture and way of living to them before taking them on a tour. The Queen thought the two were intriguing, having come from a destroyed pride. She could see trances of their anguish hanging from them like drops of water. Having had to flee her own home, the dark lioness felt sympathy for them.
She wanted for the Indlovukati to be a sanctuary for the lost to find a new way of life, so now she would have to own up to her own intentions. Anansi made sure to warn the male that he would be watched during his initial time period there, but that afterwards he would be treated like a regular member and would be expected to help hunt. Even though she was wary of new males, she new that some genetic diversity would only benefit the pride. Studying the two curiously, she absently wondered if they were a couple.
Arutemisu watched Lunaria's reaction closely as they were lead through the lands of the pride that they'd been brought to. He looked closely for any sign of distress on her face. The past weeks had been both better and harder for the two of them.
On the upside, Luna was showing signs that her heart and mind were healing. She was speaking to him more and more, and there were moments when she was almost like her old self. He knew that she would never truly be the same as before, but he wanted to help her get to a new normal. The lioness had even smiled at him a few times, causing his heart to leap inside of his chest. On the downside, it was becoming more and more difficult to acquire food as regularly as they needed to eat and they were running into more danger the more they traveled. Aru would always give the majority of whatever food they had to Luna despite her protests.
Making her his number one priority had been therapeutic for him. Seeing her everyday, knowing that she was there next to him and alive, and knowing that he had to take care of her strengthened his heart and his spirit to keep moving. Along their journey, they came across other prides that were either unfriendly toward them or simply didn't sit well them. Luna and Aru needed to be able to live with the customs and traditions of whatever pride they joined, and the ways of some where not for them. When the mysterious Queen explained the ways of this pride to them, the Indlovukati, he knew that this would be a good place for he and Luna.
He didn't care if he had to spend extra time being watched or had extra chores because he was male. He knew that this was a good tactic to protect the pride's females and to keep them safe and cared for. Besides, if they were to decide to stay here, he would want the same done to any new male that was to occupy the same space as Luna. Arutemisu could see that the pride was vigilant about protecting itself and appreciated the female only warrior force. It reminded him of the beautiful female guardians that had fought hard to defend his birth home.
"Well, what do you think Luna?," Aru looked to her and asked cautiously as the three of them came to a halt.
Lunaria had recovered significantly in the weeks that she and Aru had spent searching for a new place to call home. Though the memory of her first home and family would always burn bright in her heart, she began to understand and agree with Aru's reasoning for wanting to move on. The entire reason why they had gotten lost in the rainforest in the first place was because they'd sought refuge there after being chased by an aggressive gang of wandering young males. It was dangerous to live on the outside. It was something that she inherently knew but did not actively remember in her state of depression. She also realized that she wasn't much help to Aru, who was trying so hard to take care of them both.
Overtime, her resentment of him had transformed into appreciation and respect. He had to have been feeling the same amount of pain that she was over their shared loss, yet he had sacrificed his own mourning to pull them both forward. It was only because of him that she was here at all, in these beautiful lands. When they'd been discovered by one of the pride's members, it was Aru that had thought to explain to her that they were in search of a home. Luna had been frightened while they were being lead to a strange and unknown place, but she tried her best now to show it for Aru's sake.
Anything could have happened to them, they could have been held prisoner or even killed. Instead, they were lead to their Queen who interviewed them and explained the culture of the lands to them and was now showing them around. Luna's heart began to thud as the nature and feel of this pride reminded her of her old home.
The nostalgia that was blossoming in her chest caused her eyes to well up with tears and a small smile to cross her face at the same time as she looked around. It seemed as though fate had had a guiding paw in their travels, for there really wasn't any other place that seemed more ideal for them than this. Looking to Aru with soft teary eyes, she said the words that he'd been waiting exclusively from her to say.
"I think we found our new home."
