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Zitomoya found herself along the edge of some pride's lands, unaware of exactly where she was. She could find her way back to Mir and his rag-tag bunch sure enough, but the geographical whereabouts escaped her. She was coming down from a violent vision, and while she could only recall the pain and the fear that shook her, she couldn't recall exactly what it was she'd seen. It wasn't that unusual, in fact she was coming to terms with going crazy and not recalling what was driving her there. Now that the floodgates had opened, it seemed she was getting the visions more often then was normal.

Perhaps it was just years catching up to her that she'd gone about living a normal life, conning people into believing she was a seer -- how ironic, when she finally stopped lying about it the visions came natural to her. If that isn't a cruel joke, she didn't know what was. The dark cheetah slowed her stride as she teetered on the edge between Rogue Lands and Pride Lands, and she glanced over the edge and into the abyss that was some stupid pride. It didn't seem so different, really, but she knew better then to cross over into lands that were not hers to tread upon.

She wasn't about to risk life and limb just for the sake of adventure.

“Hold it right there!” Suddenly a large, tan male pounded up the boarder, a growl curdling in his throat. His mane had started growing in only a few weeks ago, sparse in some places around his neck, where the scars of his battle with the Firekin juvenile still showed. They were old scars by now and would be covered up by his adult mane, but the lessons he learned from receiving those scars still burned in his mind like fresh wounds. Worst of all were the scars on his face. His lips were torn in places and so was his nose. He could smell alright, but his scarred muzzle and bright eyes made him a fearsome sight.

As he came close he slowed down suddenly, lumbering to a halt. His sneer loosened a little. Just a cheetah. He never saw one this close before. Sometimes when he went outside the pride’s boarders he would spot one by the lake or chasing down gazelle out on the grassland, and would sit down on a termite mound to watch the lithe cat speed across the earth like a bird, not because he found their bodies elegant; just plain weird looking.

"The Pridelands." She glanced past him towards the rock formation. "Pride Rock. Very clever." She deadpanned, smirking a little at him. "No, I'm not." She shook her head, getting up. "I'm just a humble rogue, wandering in search of food." And freedom, and answers, but those things were hers to keep and not to share. Her ears flicked a little, perking up towards him. She doubted he'd been farther then the Pridelands; if he'd stepped a paw over them, she'd be astounded. Still, it wasn't her place to say so. If he felt safe behind some imaginary border, that was his business.

"What're you called, Pridelander?" She smirked at him. Something simple, if the pride's own name was something to go by. Zitomoya couldn't help picking at it, but at least she wasn't vocalizing her picking remarks. She'd learned that wasn't the best way to go about things if one was practically straddling the line between pride and free lands. Better safe then sorry; those scars meant the lion had survived something, and she'd hate to ruin his record of survival.

“Misilivuma. It means Like Rolling Thunder.” He felt an urge to try and impress her. It was the way she talked about his home. The Pridelands was not very original, and this was obvious to him, but strangers simply shouldn’t say those things, even if they only imply.

He turned toward her, muscles tensing. Most males his age were shaping up with muscle. Vu was ahead of the game, shedding most of his baby fat at an early age thanks to his mother’s training and naturally high energy, and it was obvious he hadn’t been coddled. He was the middle child in his litter, neither the biggest nor the smallest, but he worked hard most of his life – not for the purpose of merely surpassing his siblings, simply because he wanted to push himself to always do a little better, grow a little stronger day by day. His passion paid off.

“My pride is peaceful, but I’m not. My family believes in power. That’s why they raised me to be a warrior. One day I’m going to join a very special army and become one of the most powerful lions in Africa.” There was an edge to his voice, no blatant threat. He seemed too proud of himself to think of threatening her when he enjoyed bragging so much more, though a challenge would have been nice, too.

"Oh, a God?" She grinned a little, tilting her head curiously. "The army of a God. If you'll pardon my sardonism... Sounds a lot like a big cub playing with a bunch of grasshoppers." Blunt and to the point, but she couldn't help herself; what would a God need an army for? Her curiosity was peaked, but she knew he wouldn't speak more. She doubted he was the gossiping kind. All the well; she'd had enough of Gods when she lied about them. Eventually one would smite her. Steering clear of them just seemed safer.

Whether his arrogance made her less comfortable or more comfortable, even she wasn't aware. Arrogant over-confident felines on the savannah just seemed to be a given. She reached up, scratching at a scab across her cheek. The remnant of her first violent vision. It wouldn't scar, thank the heavens, but the scab itched all the same. "Doubt I'll see, little soldier." She snorted. "I'm not from around here." Wherever she was, exactly, she knew that she was at least a day and a half's run from where Mir and the others slept. How she'd gotten this far out of the way, she could only guess.

Funny thing about the savannah. It seemed to stretch forever, and before you knew it, you were lost. But at least she had company.

Sardonism. That was a new word. Unfortunately, Vu was never very good at figuring out new words, even given the context, so he grew accustomed to simply ignoring them when he could. His vocabulary was unashamedly small.

He found himself starting to relax. She didn’t seem interested in a fight, which disappointed him, but her sardonic tone was just irritating enough to be entertaining. Pridelanders rarely took that tone with one another. It was refreshing to meet someone with a rebellious slant. In a way he felt more at ease around her than he did most of his fellow Pridelanders because she didn’t seem to need or even want his respect. His social ineptness always got him into trouble, little things like forgetting to say please and thank you that gave adults reason to scorn or being too playful (rough they called it) around cubs his age.

He looked at her, ears perked. “You must travel a lot. Where do you hail from?”

"Home has a funny way of following you, even if you did manage to lose sight of that... rock." She nodded to Pride Rock, grinning a little. "I haven't had a run in with the Firekin, but their reputation preceeds them in the rogue lands." She made a point to keep tabs on prides that might present a problem, and the Firekin was one of them. She hadn't heard news of the pride as of late, but she knew enough about them to stay clear away or risk her own safety. And Zito? Risk her own safety? Pffff.

"You've had a run in with the Firekins, have you?" She nodded to him, focusing in on his scars. "Did they..." Was it any of her business? No. But she couldn't help asking. It was a natural born curiosity and nothing more. He survived, that's all that really mattered. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger or whatever.

"I've seen prides, but I've never bothered meeting any of the lions in them before. You're a first. Aren't you lucky?" She winked at him, grinning innocently. "I try to keep my snout out of other prides' business. Seem to get into trouble if I don't."

“Y-yeah.” He looked away, licking at his tattered lips. He wished he could remember what it felt like to have a whole face. Even though his wounds were mostly concentrated around his muzzle, a piece of his identity had been taken that day. He came back from rogue lands looking like a different lion. He would never forget the horror he felt the moment he saw the blood dripping from his face or the awful taste it left, the sense of being wounded on a level deeper than the flesh.

At least he had Mollie. He couldn’t honestly say that protecting her was worth the price – he would have avoided it if he could have, there was simply no other option at the time. It was his duty to protect her, but there was more to it than that. She was the only person who looked at him the same as before the fight. Sometimes she made him feel like the attack never even happened. He felt grateful to have her as a friend.

When the cheetah spoke Vu flicked his ear and glanced her way. Her comment left him looking puzzled. Finding himself in a vacuume, he spoke up half-heartedly to end the awkward silence. “What’s it like out there? Is there anything beyond the savannah in the south?”

Zitomoya watched him, and she was almost disappointed by the youth's admission. Who was he trying to convince, anyway? Her, or himself? She rose, and moved just a step closer, leaning towards him. "Sometimes to protect your family, you need to know what's out there to protect them from." She said simply, watching him. She smirked a little. "Besides, your pride seems... pretty peaceful. All things considered." She inclined her head towards the rogue lands.

"Perhaps you just need a change of pace." She looked over at him, smirking a little. "You can find your way home. Everyone can, if only they look hard enough." Except her, it seemed, but wherever 'home' was to Zitomoya, she didn't care to return there. She ran away for good reason, and whatever that reason was, she didn't want to face those demons. "And you can bring your own stories of the rogue lands home." She wasn't so sure why she was trying to convince the youth away from home. It wasn't any of her concern; she doubted the young lion was going to follow her home like the other feline she'd ran into. In fact, she'd almost prefer if he didn't.

In a deep part of her, she knew why she was trying to convince him. Because, really, she felt all he needed was a little nudge in the right direction to go running into the rogue lands. He was strong enough to take care of himself, and if his family needed protecting so bad, then... then... what, Zito? What then. She shook her head a little. "Or you can suffice on the tales of old bitter rogues who have nothing but scorn for the free lands." She'd ran into them often enough. Lions forced from their homes into the desolate rogue lands; lions there by force, not by choice. Really, with all the prides in the vast savannah, you'd think they could just join another, but apparently that was hard. She snorted a little. "Although from my stand point, the Rogue lands treat me better then my pack did."

Vu listened intently, expressionless. He could be good at hiding his emotions when he needed to and he felt that her sudden interest in getting him out of his pride was a little odd. Still, no matter how strange it seemed, he wanted to listen. He wanted to nod in agreement, though he didn’t even know her name. His eyes gradually pulled away from her and he stared at the silhouette of Pride Rock, sitting as still as stone, and thought of his father.

He stood again, watching Pride Rock the way a hunter watches a pack of hyenas moving in on his kill, and casually stepped over the boarder. His father would want him to experience new things outside the pride. New challenges could only make him stronger. Besides, he didn’t have to be gone forever. He could always go back when he felt ready.

Zitomoya rose when he did, following after him a few steps before catching up to walk by his side. "There's a lot to see." She said, grinning a little. "Lots of different lands to see, going north or south, or east, or west. Prides are everywhere, you'll surely meet with some pride lions on your travelling." She shrugged. "Rogues... we do whatever we want." At least, she did. For the most part, anyway. "Travel wherever we want, hunt wherever we want... Who knows, you might meet some special lion lady out there." She smirked, bumping her shoulder against his lightly.

"You'll learn a lot out here, if nothing else. How to survive on your own, that's a useful lesson." She smirked over at him. "Learn what life's like outside a pride. Things like that." She shrugged. "It's... hard out here." She looked over at him seriously. "But you look like you can survive it." She smirked a little, but her eyes still held that serious edge. It was hard surviving on one's own, not everyone was cut out for it. But if he had leaving in his head before she came around, she couldn't blame him. Only warn him.

Vu let out a guffaw. “No way! Love… who needs it?” He knew he was just repeating what his father told him time and time again, with little enthusiasm. Love makes you weak. He often wondered if his father was wrong about love. Since he never experienced love before, at least not that kind, he believed in what his father said only because he had no reason to think otherwise. Though he wouldn’t say it aloud, part of him wanted to learn more about this mysterious emotion. But when he thought of all the other things he wanted to do finding love came up very low on his list.

“I’ve been out here before. I was gone for a few days when I went to the edge of the desert. I was smaller then, so it took me longer to travel. I hunted for myself and everything.” He would definitely not be traveling north again. As he tried to think of a change of subject something occurred to him and made him feel a little foolish, because he should have thought of it much earlier. “What’s your name, anyway?”

At least she wouldn’t think him rude for forgetting. He hoped there were other rogues like her. He was so sick of being expected to apologize for being rude when he hadn’t even meant to forget to say please or thank you or ask for someone’s name. It wasn’t his fault he was born awkward.

She noticed the way his ears turned, but she didn't say anything. If he did have a little lady at home, she mustn't be that special; he was still leaving, with or without her.

She grinned a little, nodding quietly. "Some lions can be really... well. Uptight." She laughed a little, borrowing his words. "You know, there's no shame in leaving a pride you don't fit into." She pointed out. "Doesn't matter where you came from. What matters is where you're going." She looked ahead of them, grinning a little. "Even if you don't know that, just going is more important then dwelling on a bad past. They tend to make you forget what's going on in the present. The present and the future are important. The past is just... days gone by." She shrugged, looking over. "Who says being born there means you have to be loyal to them forever?" She snorted. Loyalty was something she manipulated, but didn't express. It held nothing for her; she was loyal to herself and only herself.

“That’s what my parents taught me,” he answered matter-of-factly. “They said you should always be loyal to family even if you disagree with them. Of course, my father was never around.” He furrowed his brow pensively. “So I guess that means you don’t have to stay with your family to be loyal to them… or something.”

He shook out his mane, feeling uncomfortable. He wanted to look over his shoulder to see that Pride Rock was still there (he knew it was) but resisted the compulsion. “Do you have a family? I mean a… a group, I guess. Someone you travel with.”

Zitomoya blinked at the request, and shrugged a little, snorting. "I'm not going to say no." She smiled a little. "Just know you're old enough to be put to work." She said, nudging him with her shoulder lightly. "With all these newcomers, I'm going to need help hunting down food." Slowly but surely, she was recruiting without even meaning to!

Grinning Vu returned the nudge. Unlike other cubs, Vu showed his affection by biting, nipping and shoving from an early age, so when Zito shoved him he felt like he belonged.

“Good, then I’ll get to show off.”

"Pffff." She laughed a little at him, rolling her eyes. "I'd hate to embarrass you by being a better hunter." She grinned wickedly at him, and looked back.

"Do you wanna say goodbye first?" She asked, looking over. "I'll wait, if you want to." She promised, looking over at him. Another couple hours wouldn't hurt their return, it wasn't like the group would move on without leaving her some way of finding them.

Vu hesitantly looked over his shoulder. He knew he would have to say goodbye sooner or later, he wouldn’t feel right running away without telling anyone after how worried his mother was the last time.

“I guess I better,” he said reluctantly, glancing at his paws. He faced the direction of Pride Rock while keeping Zito in his site, then started to jog back toward the boarder. “I’ll try not to take too long!”

Sira would be the one to tell. She always understood him. He just hoped he wouldn’t run into his mother or Mollie.

Mollie. He would have liked to take her with him. She was still too young. If she came along and they got into trouble again he might not be able to protect her. The last time he saved her it almost cost him his life. Maybe he would come back for her someday. He didn’t want to leave her forever.

"Alright, I'll wait here." She said, watching after him. She laid down after a minute, resting her head on her paws and watching him jog twards that Pride Rock formation. When he was out of earshot, she grumbled and covered her face with her paws. "Just can't help getting involved, can you." She chided herself. Two felines following her home practically one after the other, how ridiculous was that!

"Guess I'm just that charming." She deadpanned, grinning a little. It felt oddly nice to have her group grow a little from four to six. She wondered what Mir would think of her bringing home a young lion. She was sure she'd hear it when she got back to their den.

((End! Happy trails! ^_^))