Another day had passed, and yet, he still clung to this land. What was holding him here, he didn’t know. Bari wasn’t here. His children? They were not here either. Everyone had gone their own ways after the fire in the swamplands. Some had traveled with the remaining pridemembers, (such as Talahm), while others decided to find a new home. Part of Talahm wished he stayed in the swamps. Maybe, just maybe, Bari would be there, and they could be a family again.

Tala dreamed big. He wanted his life to be just like the past, where he was placing purple milkweed flowers on the cave step of their den. Regretfully, he knew, that it would not go back to that. His life changed the days leading of the fire, and it wasn’t for the better.

The brown lion sighed. Maybe if he went back to using his old name his future would turn out better. What was it again…Os…Odi…”Odijo.” He let out. The name sounded so foreign to him. He had been Talahm for so long it was now who he was.

“Odijo?” A voice crept up from behind him. “Is that your name?” The voice was soft, feminine. Cornflower blue eyes turned his attention to the newcomer, cursing himself for not paying more attention.

“No.” He stated. “That was my name, when I was much younger.” A small smile graced his maw as he gazed at the lioness. “I am known as Talahm around these parts.” and the swamplands, Talahm added silently. “I’m afraid if you have come seeing the Jini-msemi lands, you are a little too late.”

The dark pelted lioness shook her head. “No. I haven’t.” Green eyes scanned the skies. Anozira should be around here somewhere. “Well, Talahm who was once Odijo,” she stated with a smile, “My name is Sehemu. What is the Jini lands?” She inquired, interested in what the other was talking about. “And…why is it too late?” Her ears fell slightly. She was looking for a new home, but it sounded like this Jini place would not be it.

“The Jini-msemi.” Talahm said, fidgeting in one spot. “We were once a pride in the swamps, until the day the sun burned the land, leaving nothing but char and smoke. We moved to the mountains, but we seem to have fallen from the glory we once were.” There was a tone of sadness held in Tala’s voice. “Now we are nothing but a memory.” The memory would only last as long as someone held on to it. The male lion pondered sometimes if he too should hold on to it.

“That’s awful…” Sehemu stated with a gasp. “My pride is no more either. We called ourselves the Aka’mleli. We were bonded with birds.” Sehemu shifted, staring down at her chest. Around her neck, the three feathers from her previous bond remained. Mal had made her the necklace when they were reunited. He had kept the feathers to remind himself of Sehemu, but when she returned, he figured she would be happier with them. The dark lioness indeed was happy to have a little piece of her friend always with her wherever she went, even if the memories of him were unclear.

“I am sorry to hear.” Tala said softly. “What brought you to the mountains?”

Her previous pride was in the mountains too, but these seemed like a slightly higher range. “Anozira.” Sehemu said with a smile. At the confused look Talahm gave her, she elaborated. “My bond. She’s a falcon.” She scanned the sky again, expecting to see the green marked avian swoop down at the introduction. She didn’t. Sehemu frowned.

Tala nodded, understanding. “We befriended snakes in the swamps. It seems like every pride had their own unique differences.” The only pride life he knew was that of the Jini-msemi lands. Prior to that, he grew up as a rogue in the Southlands, leaving his parents company at adolescence. He learned by doing, and from there found a knack for teaching. He taught lions, leopards, cheetahs and mixes between. He learned from others, and taught that to anyone who wanted to learn. He did this for a while, until he stumbled across the swamplands and what he would soon find was the love of his life.

The lion was silent for a moment, causing the lioness to watch him. Her green eyes gazed where his own, at a particular spot on the ground. She knew this look. The lion was lost in thought. “I know that look.” She said quietly. “Anozira tells me that is the look I always get when I think of my past.” She padded over to the male. They had just met, but the similarities between the two’s own pride life was difficult to ignore.

Tala didn’t care the lioness neared. She was not a danger to him, so there was no need to put up the defenses. “My apologies.” He shook his head, clearing the past memories from it for the time being. He’d reminisce later, when he was alone again.

“Don’t apologize. If there was anything that Anozira taught me over the last few years, that it was best to speak about what was on your mind than withhold it.” Sehemu shifted. “I should know, I didn’t remember my past for the longest time. Ano helped me out though.” She rambled.

The lion nodded. “Your friend sounds like a wise one.” He stated, gazing back to the mountains. “I do not wish to bore you though with my life.”

Sehemu giggled. “Try me!”

And so the two chatted well throughout the day, and into the night. Sehemu learned more about the once great pride of Jini-msemi, and Talahm learned the memories of Aka’mleli from Sehemu. When Anozira finally found them, she scolded the lioness for not meeting her at their designated spot, but dropped the attitude to introduce herself to the male lion. “Pleasure” she had said to him before pushing the lioness away. “Come on, come on. We have wasted the day.”

“Where is it that you two plan on going?” Talahm had asked.

“We are going to find a home!” Sehemu chorused with a smile, gazing at her bond, silently asking the question.

Ano shook her head, but then sighed heavily. “Fine.”

“You are welcome to come with us,” Sehemu said to Talahm.

His ears perked forward. “Go with you?” And leave these lands? Well…nothing was holding him back here…so…maybe it would be for the better.

“Yeah! If you want to that is.”

Tala nodded, gazing softly at the lioness and her bird pal.

“I would like that very much.” It was time to start a new life, and who knew what sort of adventures this duo would bring him on.

((WC : 1129))