Jicho & Siri
Safaia & LazyNozomi


When the night came, Jicho's pale eyes searched to the sky for answers. The stars, always flickering, seemed to never have a care in the world. He envied that. It seemed that the older one got, the more complications arose. His little sister was driving him nuts, the girl determined to prove to everyone that she was an adult...when she was doing the opposite. He worried about her, but couldn't find anything to distract her. He would only be able to sit and watch. Then that boy of her's she found. He only snorted at the thought of that.

And then...his sister. Their last meeting was so full of hate. He regretted the whole matter, but knew that Shabaha was not. Her true feelings had shown their ugly colour in that confrontation, and he still felt the sting of her betrayl.

With a heavy sigh, he had left the den the pride slept in, and let the faint moonlight guide his paws to a small outcropping of rocks that he usually reclined on in the early morning. With a grunt, he flopped on them, his eyes looking back up to the stars while his mind wandered elsewhere.





Not too far off, Siri sat also staring at the stars above. Though, she was pondering on entirely different matters than her dark counterpart. Since Siri had met Jicho and come to the Mteo everything seemed to be viewed through a rose colored gem. The lioness could not remember a time when she had been happier in life, save for the few memories she retained from her cub years.

However, from the few whisperings she had heard, Siri also knew about the general unrest that seemed to be growing within the pride. Most of it centered around Shabaha from what she could tell, though, to be honest the lioness wasnt very close to that matter. She had always given the other black lioness a wide berth and it seemed to be working well for both of them.

After a few minutes of pondering, Siri's ears flicked when the picked up the faint sound of another lion. She turned, and in the dark moonlight could distinguish another black shape laying upon the rocks. No one else in the pride that she knew of had a black coat like hers, save for Jicho and Shabaha. Figuring she would take the chance of either, she stood and slowly padded over. "Hello?"





Ears perking up at the sound of a voice he didn't quite expect, Jicho started. His attention turned to the approaching lioness. "Siri!" he exclaimed, quickly trying to gather himself up together to look a little less...ragged. His life had been a little up and down lately, and he wasn't sure how tired he would look, even in the dim light offered by the moon.

Seeing her made a little of his worries melt away. He shouldn't worry so much about his little sister. His twin was something he was most concerned about, but for the moment he should focus his attention on the moment.

"Ah, sorry if I seem surprised. I've been a little lost in my thoughts lately." Poor excuse, but it was the best he had to offer. Offering a sheepish smile, he continued. "It's a quiet night tonight, hm?" he asked, trying for a poor attempt at conversation.





Siri smiled warmly at the sound of the voice she had come to recognize immediatly. Jumping up onto the rock, she situated herself beside the lion, facing him. In the faint moonlight, she couldnt see much of him, but his eyes positively glowed, and they looked tired. "Its quite alright, no need to apologize to me."

Siri pondered for a moment on whether it would be too bold to ask about his thoughts, but quickly figured that if she was to know, it would come out of Jicho's mouth unproded. "It is indeed a quiet night. Quite beautiful too- the moonlight makes your eyes glow." Small talk was good enough for her, for the moment at least





Relaxing slightly, he offered her a more genuine smile. "Thanks, Siri," he said softly. "Even if I would find that creepy myself when I was younger." He chuckled to himself, shaking his head slightly. He didn't think about it until many others were surprised that he could see. What was so weird about it? Hmm, but now wasn't really the time to bring up silly cub stories, was it?

""Quiet enough to let the mind wander," he said as he lowered his head onto his forelimbs, looking out at the dark land before them. "Sometimes I wonder why I stayed here. I never thought about it until I met you, actually. But at times, I wonder if it would have been easier." He let out another soft sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before raising his head to look at her again. "Ah," he said wondering if he was speaking too much. "Well, I was just thinking about family," he offered for clarification, ending his thought a bit awkwardly to him.





Siri chuckled. "I think I might've found it creepy when I was younger as well." A lion with eyes that glowed in the moonlight seemed like part of a scary story, particularly when you were young.

The black lioness took a more comfortable pose herself, though not fully lying down. The next few sentences that came out of Jicho's mouth where rather shocking to her, and Siri unfortunately didnt know enough about family to make any conjectures there. But she did know about life outside of the mteo, lands and lions both. "I cant say much about family, Jicho...but I guess the savannah is always green on the other side." She let out a soft sigh. "It may have been easier, as you think. But..." She pondered on how to phrase her words.

Stretching out on her back, and looking up at the stars she continued. "The world out there... holds many wonders I guess. But it also holds cruelty, and hunger and pain. You must take the good with the bad, regardless of the surroundings." The lioness hoped she didnt come off as preachy, because it was certainly not her intention





Jicho raised a paw, examining it as Siri offered her words. He was greatful for them, and there was certainly strong truth to them. "True, I've never gone through true hunger, but pain...true pain is something new to me." He lowered his paw, looking at Siri more strongly now. "It's just..." he fell silent, unsure as how to exactly put his words together.

He laughed at himself. "Here I am, putting my worries on you. I'm sorry, Siri. It's good to hear a voice outside of my family, though. Especially if it is with you." He shifted for just a moment before continuing. "For how smart I think I am, there is too much that I don't know, and won't experience." Hopefully he'd be able to lean a little on Siri for that. Outside opinions brought new light onto things.

After a moment, he picked up where he had left off. "My sister, my twin, Shabaha. She....she declaired that I am no kin to her."





Siri looked over at Jicho, matching his stair. She had a feeling what he was going to say was important, so she listend intently, silently urgin him on.

She listened to the whole statment without coment, until it seemed that he was done talking. She was shocked...how could Shabaha renounce him like that? It was preposterous and kind of angering, though she didnt quite know why it angered her so.

"Firstly, I'm here to listen to you, whenever you need it. Dont worry on it." The lioness felt for him, and searched her thoughts for the words to say. "I... I'm sorry for saying it, but that was a horrible and selfish thing for her to do to another, particularly her twin."

Reigning in her momentary flicker of emotions, she thought more on everything. "I dont know what to tell you, for I'm nothing I can say at this point will make you feel any better about the situation." She scooted closer to the lion, hoping to offer comfort through physical contact, and reached out to nuzzle his mane softly.

"Have you told your father about this?"





He sighed, resisting the urge to shake his head. It was...too nice to have Siri so close to him. Instead, he would have to vocalize his answer. "I haven't. I've been unable to find the right words to explain to him what had happened. I fear it would break his heart." Without directling thinking about it, he returned her nuzzle affectionatly. "I am only hoping it was something she said in the heat of the moment. Her views are so different from mine and Father's, she was probably saying anything to get me to see her side."

Ah. He was a little...close, wasn't he? "I'm hoping that she comes back, as I haven't seen her since then...heh." He couldn't help but shake his head softly. "She has always done these things, and I've always forgiven her. She will probably never do the same to me, though." He knew about the prophicies of old, but he had never taken them seriously. Shabaha must have, and when it wasn't working out right, her frustrations were turned on him.

"I guess if Father asks about her, I will have to tell him what I know, though." He dreaded that day, one that he knew would come.





Siri was surprised when Jicho nuzzled her back, expecting her motions to be more comforting one way, and not returned. She was even more surprised at the warm flood of feeling that resulted from the touch. "It is possible that she was trying to arouse some reaction in you, whether it be negative or positive- something to either justify her passion against you or turn your viewing in some way.

Siri sighed. Perhaps they where too close? And this inner warmth was just body heat? "Even though it may break his heart...I think he may deserve to know Jicho." She said this as softly as she could manage. It would make her sad indeed to see the Akida sad... but still. "If she's become so radical as to renounce you... theres no telling what she could do."





Jicho chewed on his lower lip in anxiety. He felt uncomfortable with that prospect, no matter how 'right' it may be. He had never experienced this sort of pain, not one that lingered for so long.

He let his eyes wander back upwards towards the stars above, feeling the flashes of envy again. "I don't think she would do anything serious," he said quietly. "No matter how much she disagrees with us. She's smart enough to know that. I just hope that she isn't...gone. Sometimes I wonder if it's better than way, and then I can't believe I felt like that." Awful feelings, ones that perhaps had been hiding within him for all this time.

He glanced over at her again, greatful all the more. "Thanks for listening, Siri. And your advice. I only really ever speak to family, and they're all biased in their own right. That, or they're worried about other things."






Siri hoped Jicho was right, she really did. But something inexplainable about Shabaha made Siri's fur stand on end. The other black lioness was a wild card, and someone that could potentially hurt Jicho, even more than physically. She just hoped that Jicho wasnt blinded by love in the case of his sister.

"Its alright, your just a lion, we dont necessarily have complete control of our emotions. Its what makes us alrive. And like I said...I'm happy to help. Anytime you need to talk Jicho, my ears are ready." She gave him a soft smile, not really noticing until now how close they actually where. She could touch his nose if she really wanted too... The black lioness blinked her pink eyes a few times, wondering why she'd thought of touching his nose.





"I know," he said softly. "It's just one of those things I need to hear. Hm. I always thought that the more I cared about her, she would change. I think it eventually had the opposite effect." Even though time spent with her had been less as they grew into adulthood, she was still always there. Now that she wasn't, he felt a little disattached to everything. Maybe that's why he was feeling so emotional tonight, so envious over the stars in the sky that winked at him. It was all silly, adolescent thoughts that brought him down to here.

He chuckled. "I'm not sure if you want to promise me your ears. You might get quite tired of my voice after saying that. It's nice having someone outside of the family to converse with." He felt his voice die before he could say how lovely she was too. Why...no, he wasn't an idiot. After seeing how his little sister Nyuni had been, he had an idea of how he felt. He just wasn't the kind to go jumping off a cliff like she was.

"But...if you ever have anything, I'd be happy to return the favor," he belatedly added on.





"I'll be sure to remember that. I may need to talk your ears off someday." Siri chuckled as well. It had taken her a while to figure it out, but as she let her mind wander she wondered if she wasnt falling for Jicho. He'd always made her feel different. "And I dont think my ears could get tired of your voice."

A rare breeze swept the savannah, and Siri sighed lightly into it, looking out over the moonlit grass. Nothing was stirring at this late hour. Everything was calm and almost magical. She looked over at the black lion next to her. "I am quickly getting used to this place. Its nice to have a home."





He had gone back to peeking at the stars, but there was no emotions towards them. He was merely just admiring how pretty they were. What was the point of envying something that was probably too lonely, in truth?

He turned his attention quickly back to Siri when she mentioned home. It stirred him, shifting something deep inside of him. On the outside though, he merely relaxed, falling back into the lion that he usually was. "I'm glad," he said warmly. "I hope you love this place as much as I one day."

He was very greatful when she had decided to come see his home. Even moreso when she decided to stay. Only the future would know what else would happen between them.





"I'm sure I'll come to that point. I'm already well on my way to be honest." She laid her head down on her paws and looked around slowly, finally resting her eyes back on Jicho. Siri was more content here than she had been in a long time.

"What a night, what a place." She smiled contentedly.