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Everywhere was dark. Thick clouds of grey obliterated any light from the moon and the stars that might have penetrated into the blackness. Una, silent as the night that enveloped her vibrant blue frame, paced along the border of the Mizimu'Tungika lands like a lone sentry. But her purpose was not to guard. It was simply to find. Every night since she'd heard the news of her sister's impassioned departure from their homeland Una had wandered the border; back tense, ears flat against her head. She was terribly worried.

While they did not always see eye to eye, Una could never deny that Petra was a very special character in her life. They were sisters; bound together for eternity by a mutual heritage and a shared youth. The other lady meant a great deal to her (Grandpa had taught them both the importance of family, after all) and, if they could not be immediately reunited, Una wanted nothing more than to know that Petra was safe. Inner turmoil wrought tension and stress within the place where they'd grown up; the Pure and the Second had left. So had many others. Food was quickly growing scarce. Una did not speak with the spirits herself, but she knew that they must have been displeased. Something dangerous was brewing. Everyone could feel it.

Was that why Petra had left? Did she know something that Una didn't?

Her eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness and her steps were determined as she marched, every sense on edge for a sign of the bright orange lioness who was so much like her, and yet her complete inverse.

Una was not manipulative or mean enough to trap her dear sister into anything, even if she felt it were to be for Petra's own good. There was never anything noble in deceit. Nevermind that Petra's poor soul might forever be damned by the spirits for betraying her fate and tossing her sacrificial privilege to the winds. The damage, if there indeed was any at all, had been done the moment Petra abandoned their homelands in favor of her own selfish whims.

Still, a part of Una couldn't help but sympathize with her sister. Was it really so selfish to dream of living? Certainly, aspiring to have some say in your own destiny wasn't really that whimsical. Destiny. Fate. What were they, anyways?

Grandpa certainly had reservations about the ways of the Mizimu'Tungika. He and Grandma hadn't agreed with her mother's spiritual fate; which she and Petra, due to the nature of their bright coats, consequently shared.

This sometimes happened to Una. After accepting that, once again, Petra would probably not be returning home, her brow furrowed in concentration and she lost herself in thought. All concentration on the outside world was lost, and she focused on the inside.

So, when the familiar and sorely missed form of her sister exploded from a patch of nearby bushes, like a cannon thrust from the bowels of a ship, Una yelped and jumped backwards in surprise.

"Petra!" she exclaimed once she'd calmed down enough to realize what had happened. Una lowered her voice and, after a quick glance around, continued in a whisper. "It is so good to see you! I have been so worried. You've no idea. Where have you been? Is everything alright? I- wait... what? Come with you? Come with you, where?"

Her sister's rushed, energetic tones and the very nature of her story set Una's heart fluttering. Freedom, the way Petra painted it, did sound truly wonderful. But Una could not shake the beliefs and customs she'd been brought up to trust and follow so easily as her sister. Yes, Grandpa and Grandma hadn't necessarily agreed with them, but they were of a dead and beaten pride. There had to be a reason the Mizimu'Tungika people had persevered for so long. Indeed, their ways seemed to have suited her mother just fine. She had, after all, taken a Mizimu'Tungika warrior for a mate and been, as far as either Petra or Una knew, a willing sacrifice.

Una refused to accept that her mother's death was founded on anything less than the ultimate right.

Petra and Una were of mixed blood; two halves originally united by war and assimilation. Now, they were of different hearts. Still, she longed to be with her sister and to make her happy. Petra's well-being meant the world to Una, and she was even more frantic about it now than she would have been otherwise, knowing how reckless Petra could be. It was true. Petra rarely paused to think before she acted. What if her sister was wrong? It was this, more than anything, that made Una wary of her sister's impetuous decision.

Touched that Petra had returned for her and eager to make her happy, Una hesitated for only a moment before she nodded. Many of the things Petra said made her nervous. "I am glad you told me this. I do not wish to fight against you either, Petra. I'm so happy you came back for me, and that you're safe. I know what Grandpa said, but I am still not sure. This is our home... Isn't it?"

"The purpose of a sacrifice is to appease the spirits. It isn't wasting. We pay them for permitting us to live the way that we do..." Even as she said it, Una couldn't help but think about the diminishing health of the pride. Was it possible that the betrayal of the Pure and the Second, along with the dissapearances of so many others, meant what Petra said? Did the spirits want them to change?

Una wasn't sure. She couldn't be sure of anything.

"And then who will consume the Dhati?" Una asked reasonably, turning Petra's own logic against her. "When does it end?"

Petra's point of view concerning war and death made sense to Una. She could understand where her sister was coming from. The end was the same; but she knew, in her heart, that the choices she made in leading up to the conclusion would be what defined her destiny. Not the end its self.

"Of course I dream, Petra!" Una sighed and shook her head. She was full of doubts and questions. What she knew for sure, however, was that she wanted Petra to be safe. She needed somebody to look after her. "What you say makes sense... I am torn. I want to live, but I do not want to abandon this place either. I am scared to leave."

Passion. War. Destiny. They were, ultimately, all comprised of the same things. Una sat quietly in the face of Petra's frenzied declarations, her bright orange eyes locked onto her sister's blue ones. A thoughtful expression played on Una's lips as she considered everything that had passed between them in the last couple moments.

A part of her agreed with the things that Petra said. It would be nice to live as long as Grandpa had- to see her own children grow and, if the Spirits willed it to be, to watch as they raised children of their own. But another, very prominent part argued that her Sacrifice was the Spirit's will. It was how, with the exception of Grandpa's stories, she'd been taught to think and to believe; trust in the Spirits and in the Pride. If what Petra said was the truth and the Spirits enabled the Dhati, which must mean that her homelands had indeed been corrupted, then so be it.

Until then, however, Una could not betray her own heart. She knew where she belonged.

"You've given me so much to think about," Una murmured softly, "I think that you must be right. I do very much want to live, and I want to be by your side. We are family. I don't know what I would be without you. Still... forgive me, but I can not make my decision just yet. I would like a few more days to think about this, and to prepare."

Petra was impulsive, while she was contemplative. They were still as they had always been; the reverse of one another, and the opposite of twins, yet inexplicably bound together. The thought of being away from her sister, and opposing her, weighed on Una's conscience like an anvil. She couldn't stand to be apart from her, nor did she like seeing the other lioness so unhappy. Still, her loyalties remained with the Mizimu'Tungika. She wasn't sure leaving and living a life of her own design was worth the risk of inciting the Spirits' wrath.

"I won't stay much longer," Una reassured her sister calmly, "all i need is a couple of days to make ready. No one knows that you've been united with the Second and the Pure- all they know is that you've left. If anyone has, indeed, seen us I will tell them that you are my sister and that you have every right to visit me on the border because you love me."

Never mind that the disappearances of the Second and the Pure, along with a number of other esteemed characters, had wrought a definite sense of panic and fear amongst the members of the pride that still remained. Una knew, like Petra, that their sneaky behavior and whispering tongues would be considered highly suspicious.

"Only I know what you're doing here, and no one can prove any different." Una smiled sweetly at her sister, "I am not in quite as much danger as you are right now, and you're right. We have lingered too long. I should return before somebody starts asking questions- we should meet again soon."