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Angavu had snuck off away from the den without Shiri, Meme, or Hodari noticing. It if were not for Mnyama's sudden movements, the young male might have missed everything that was happening. Turning to get a look of just where Mnyama was off to, Hodari's eyes went wide. Trotting along at a rather quick pace was his younger sister. Where was Anga going!?

Although Kei visited them constantly, the fact that he was not always around forced Hodari to be more of the father figure than he already was. Hodari took his role as first born very seriously, even without a thrown to eventually take over. He was bigger than his siblings and would need to protect them. He couldn't imagine life if anything happened to any of them!

Scrambling to his feet, Hodari slinked away from his other two brothers and managed to get away unnoticed. Shiri had been speaking with Meme, Cheshi and Sungura and so it was not difficult to disappear. Once he was out of earshot of the others, he sped up and struggled to catch his sister. "Angavu! Where do you think you're going? Mom wouldn't like us out here by ourselves!"

Sirati did not know the meaning of the word 'lost'.
Either that or she simply refused to admit it to herself. However, she was lost. She didn't really mind it all that much. She'd been wandering around the Rogue Lands for quite some time now. She knew that when she finally found her family, they were not going to be pleased. At least she could show them that she could survive on her own. For the most part, anyway.

She was a bit thinner, as food had not been instantly provided for her by her mother. She'd managed to find some food here and there, and she'd been helped by a few other lions along the way. Her bright red paws continued their relentless track through the dried grass, her sky-blue gaze taking in her surroundings with mild interest. Her current goal: water. After that, she should probably find a way back to her mother and father. Her nose had just picked up the faint scent of water nearby, when another of her senses was assaulted. Her ears pricked forward as she hear the sound of voices nearby. Being the curious youth that she was, she delighted in meeting new people, and maybe she could find some friends to play with.

She continued through the underbrush, until she spied two cubs, only slightly younger than her, speaking with a hare. The two cubs looked different than her brother and sisters, and she wondered why. Sirati wasn't shy at all, so, her mind made up, she marched straight up to the trio and said, "Hello."

Anga watched Hodari very carefully, fighting the simultaneous urges to grin and yell. He wasn't looking like he was going to go and tattle on her, but she wanted to be sure- when he finally spoke up, she did grin. As long as Mnyama wore that wide, hypocritical grin, Angavu had no intention of acknowledging her scolding. She had a feeling the hare would be on her side, it was Hodari that she had to worry about. She was so intent on watching him, though, that she did not notice the newcomer until she'd spoken up and Hodari had gone and rudely asked who she was.

"Hodari!" Angavu scolded in her best mama-imitation, hopping over to her brother to examine the stranger. Sirati did not look much bigger than them or very dangerous, to Angavu at least.

Mnyama had to bite back a laugh at the pair of cubs, she was heartily amused by the situation- especially by the reactions of the two cubs. She was amused until the stranger showed up, anyway. She surprised herself by having the urge to stop Hodari from stepping forward, but then mentally sided with Anga on this one.

She'd never had a problem with strangers, and wasn't going to hesitate to greet this one whether or not Hodari was there. With a smile, the hare hopped forward.

"Hello there," she greeted the little lioness.

Hodari, so used to being the one calling on his siblings, lowered his ears when his younger sister commented on how he addressed the stranger. As intelligent as he might have been at times, he was still a cub and had much to learn. Once his sister had finished scolding him, he slipped farther from her to get a better look at the new cub. She was beige, almost yellow, like some pridelanders, but had a very distinct bright red on all of her paws, tail and head. She was curious, Hodari decided.

When Mnyama greeted the stranger, Hodari's lowered ears raised again and he listened carefully. He was growing more and more interested in this stranger. She was rather far from the center of the pridelands. Was she from somewhere else, or did she simply wander off as they had?

"What's a pridelander?" Hodari suddenly asked, as though he had been entirely shocked that this cub did not know of them. "I'm a pridelander! We're all called pridelanders because this is the pridelands. It's our home. Home to many lions who all live together..."

And with wide eyes, Hodari continued to question Sirati, "So you aren't from here? Where do you live then?"

Sirati smiled ruefully at what she had obviously gotten herself into to, but not without a smile. After all, she was curious, and she liked to meet new lions and other creatures. With a grin, she set out to answer their questions.

"Hello Angavu, Hodari, and Mnyama. My name is Sirati. And no, I am not from here. My homelands are the Kusini'Mwezi lands, and I guess you could say that I am lost. I've been wandering for awhile, away from home, and I don't know how to get back. I'd hoped that maybe I would run into someone who could tell me how to get back."

There. Before this, Sira hadn't wanted to tell anyone that she had been wandering, but she was ready to finally get back home. She wanted to see her mother and father, even though she knew they would be angry with her for wandering away and being gone for so long. Even though, it had only been about a week, to her, it seemed like much longer.

"Sirati is a pretty name," Anga said brightly, intent on keeping the conversation lighter now that she'd managed to get some control over it. She looked over at Hodari curiously when Sirati mentioned the Kusini'mwezi lands, wondering if he might know where it was by some crazy chance. When he suggested asking someone, she nodded enthusiastically.

"I bet if mama doesn't know, gram might," she said optimistically, "Or maybe if we found dad."

Smiling, she looked over to Mnyama.

The hare listened carefully, rubbing her nose thoughtfully as she did. She'd never heard of much outside of the Pridelands. Her parents hadn't always been so close to the center of the Pride, but they'd never mentioned being near any other prides.

"I'm sure someone will know," she agreed.

As Sirati and Angavu spoke to one another, Hodari looked back towards his home that he and his sister had wandered off from. It would take them a little while to return to the den, but once they were there, there would be a variety of others to ask that knew much more than they did. Like Angavu had mentioned, between their mother and grandmother, someone was bound to know something.

It was only when Sirati mentioned the comment of getting into trouble that Hodari's ears perked and he turned back to face them. "Oh yea.. I didn't even think about that.." Lowering his ears against his head, the cub suddenly looked really guilty. Angavu had been the one to run off first, but he wasn't one to tell on his little sister.

"Well.. maybe we can find dad." He remembered that was why they had left in the first place and hoped that his sister had been right. If Kei knew they were only looking for him, perhaps he wouldn't get into as much trouble. "Best thing to do now is to continue on, I guess.." And once Hodari had finished speaking, he began to continue out farther, still bordering the pridelands. "I remember seeing dad around here one--" The cub stopped and then grinned. "DAD!"

As though their wishes had come true, a large beast of a lion could be seen from a few miles out. He had thick black fur and a flowing white mane, making him stand out boldly upon the golden grassland beneath him. As he neared, he could clearly hear the excitement in his son's voice and witness the pleased expression. "Hodari! Angavu! What are you two doing so far out? Are you sure your mother would approve?" Kei was quick to speak, but as he did so, he leaned down to nuzzle his two cubs. Once he lifted his head up, he noticed the other cub. "And making friends, I see?"