[Phaethon x Tumaini]


Normalcy.

The mere existence of the word made the adolescent scoff as he snuffed out the life of a helpless insect that happened to pass him by. Boredom, no doubt, was currently consuming the young lad, and with a sigh Phaethon lightly plopped his head beside his one paw while trying to get wipe the insect guts off the other. Truth be told, he hadn't done much to earn his place in this demon hunting pride. He hadn't been entirely deserving in the first place, considering his mental instability. Occasional as it was, it still wasn't normal. In fact! The last 'normal' occurrence in this young lion's life was when he was born. Everything else that followed he'd never considered normal - especially not the parting from his mother. Strangely enough, though this was how he felt he couldn't even bring the distant lioness's name to mind. Not long ago a sudden onset of depression had come about him for reasons unknown. He hadn't bothered with it further, but for some reason these days he felt he was missing something. What it was, however, was beyond him. Suffice it to say that the feeling irked him half to death.. and unfortunately for the late insect, he happened to take some of his frustration out on it.

"Unlucky.." he muttered, licking what was left of the poor thing off the bottom of his paw. His face scrunched up slightly at the bitter taste, but he finished the task no matter the discomfort. "Either way, if I hadn't ended your life who knows what other animal would have. You should be happy I didn't have you for breakfast." A smirk. "Then again, a small animal like yourself doesn't worry about much else save survival. I guess it's safe to say you failed miserably, no?"

Phae waited a while, as if he expected an answer in return. When it never came the lion gave a delighted chuckle, shrugged his shoulders and rolled over onto his side. It was yet another scorching hot day, and while there was plenty of water and ways to cool down, he just couldn't bring himself to do anything - not even get up and get a drink to keep his sanity. The heat was the furthest thing from his mind though. Within seconds of rolling onto his side the adolescent had already drifted into a rather comfy sleep, with a bit of snoring to top it off.


Another troublesome day, no doubt because of the damned pride just beyond the distant horizon. Though she supposed without them she'd be out of a job, but she had more uses to this pride than just being its Baridi. She could fight just as well as the rest of them, so there was always the option of fighting within the ranks or teaching the coming generation. Still, becoming Baridi was perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to her. Becoming a mother was a close second.. really though she knew that her cubs should've come in first place. However, simply the thought of how they were conceived brought chills down her spine. It was the last thing she wanted to thank the gods for, but still she loved her cubs all the same. All of them deserved a better life than what she could ever possibly offer, but anything was better than condemning them to a life with those demons. Somehow that alone was enough to console her.. and the Mwako and all its members were very welcoming. Each young life was cherished here, and in time her cubs would grow and find their place among the Mwako. With time, she was sure. They belonged here...with her.

As she went, Tumaini began humming a small tune to herself. Something she'd started to do recently to keep herself occupied as she travelled. Journeying alone was no easy task, and even though she loved to travel, travel alone grew tiresome after so long a time. This was just a new addition to the task that somehow made it more interesting. Surprisingly, Mai found that she had quite a musical side to her, which helped considering the long hours she'd just be wandering the rogue lands by herself. Sometimes she'd run into an ally, sometimes an enemy, sometimes just a passing rogue, but for the most part she had but her shadow for company. Which she didn't mind most of the time, but when boredom begins to rear its ugly head a simple tune was enough to simply drive it off for another few hours.

The Baridi was about halfway through her pleasant song when she noticed someone lying down not too far from where she now stood. It was familiar, somehow, though from this distance she couldn't seem to place it. Of course, when she got close enough she immediately remembered. You.. she thought, smiling softly and shaking her head as she made her way over. By the time she got there the adolescent had already dozed off, so she shook him gently. "Hey, Phae," she started, voice very soft as though she weren't trying to wake him. As the seconds passed the softness had been slowly replaced by irritation until finally she yelled, "Phae!" after the umpteenth attempt to shake him out of his slumber. "This isn't the time or the place to be taking a nap."


He wasn't a very deep sleeper actually. It was more like he just didn't feel like getting up as he was shaken up by some random passing lioness. While he didn't actually see who it was that was trying to wake him, he could tell that it was a 'she' just by the sound of her voice. Had she not yelled and said what she said the adolescent would never have gotten up, but the familiar reprimanding voice of Mai slowly had him open his eyes and groggily sit up. After a rather deep yawn he greeted her with an annoyed sort of look. "Baridi," he said as he bowed his head slightly. "I didn't expect you'd be within the lands this soon after your last departure." That was true.. this was probably the shortest time she'd spent in the roguelands since he'd met her, and that was back when he had just grown out of being a cub. It's been a while, for certain.

Still, he couldn't say that he wasn't happy to see her. The lioness was perhaps the closest thing he had to a friend around these parts. That was probably because of his antisocial tendencies, but somehow she's helped grow him out of that. Mai was a mentor of sorts to Phae, and strict as she was he knew that her concern was genuine. Despite all this though, he still hadn't told her about his mental instability. It would be very hard to explain or demonstrate if she didn't believe him, and as of yet he wasn't sure he was ready to listen to what she has to say about it. His episodes had been slowly decreasing though, to the point where he'd only hear from his 'other self' once every few days, as opposed to hearing from him every few hours. It was a huge improvement by his standards, but even so he knew that if he told her he might lose what little trust in him that she had. There was always that chance.

"So what brings you back so early?"


"Business, of course," came her reply as she nudged the young lion to stand up. "News from here and there that was important enough to pass on to our Mwezi as soon as possible. None of it, however, concerns you." And that was that. Mai glanced at the male with a curious eye, wondering what it was that brought him out to these parts all alone yet again. Hadn't he found a friend to accompany him on days such as this? Hm.. then again she hadn't a friend at his age either. At least none that she ever trusted completely. Her mother had worried for her so, but she still turned into a capable adult. With a sigh and a slight shake of her head Mai let the thought go, not wanting to start an argument with him. She knew his defense would be something along the lines of 'well no one here really likes me', and for all she knew that was true, which wasn't a very comforting idea, but he had a charm all his own. If he tried the lioness knew he'd be capable of making at least one friend. Just one.. and so far that 'one' was her.

"So why sleep?" she asked, so as not to bring their conversation to an end. "There's plenty you could do to pass the time. There's always training to be done, maybe hunt, help with the cubs. You ought to learn to make yourself more useful around here."


If he were anything like when he'd first met the lioness his ears would probably have flattened against his skull, eyes train themselves on everything else but her, and he probably would've started fussing with his paws uncontrollably. However, having grown out of his cublike tendencies.. all but his attempts to avoid her gaze had gone already. With a sort-of grin the adolescent gave a shrug, not really wanting to answer her question simply for lack of a decent answer - or, at least, decent by her standards. Despite being the kind and caring lioness he'd come to know she was surprisingly hard to please. A part of his was grateful that she wasn't his mom, or even adoptive mother come to think of it. With that thought his mind was brought over to her newly born cubs, and he snorted lightly. "Poor cubs.." he said as he continued to avert his eyes from her.

When enough time had passed (or so he thought), Phae finally glanced back at Mai with a smile. "Right, well better late than never?" he replied at last as he got up and started for the inner pridal lands once more. "There's not too many things I could really do to help though, in case you were wondering. No one really thinks I'm of much use."


Mai resisted the urge to smack up upside his head just to set him straight. With a stern look she stood up after him and followed, soon taking the lead and quickening the pace. "Obviously they won't think you're useful until you apply yourself, Phae," she said in a lecturing tone. "You need to prove how invaluable you are to this pride, you don't just automatically have everyone's trust once you grow into adolescence. You need to carry your own weight from now on - that's the stage you're at, and if you don't do that now it'll be hard to start once you're older and are supposed to already have a place within the Mwako."

The lioness finally slowed, turning back to see her 'apprentice' and shaking her head. "You've lived here since you were a cub, right? That, plus you were raised by the Mwezi herself.. why you didn't realize this earlier I'll never understand. BUT! There's still time for you to find your place amongst the working class, so don't worry." And with that she started again, bounding for the heart of the pride. She had experienced a similar feeling of not belonging when she was about his age, so she understood his position. Maybe that was also why she was pushing for him to succeed much earlier on than she had..


Luckily for him, Mai's attention was mostly on the pride just ahead of them, so she didn't see him mockingly imitating her as she went on with her lecture. In most cases he'd listen intently, taking in what she had to say and at the very least pretend to want to apply it to his own life. He's heard this same lecture so many times now, though, that he's learned just about all he could learn from it and...maybe even more? He gave a deep sigh when she finally finished, nodding in a know-it-all manner and rolling his eyes. "I know, I know.." he said, trying to rid his voice of its annoyed tone. "You told me already, Mai, I got it."

Which was very true indeed. He just...had never been the mingle-y type. He was incapable of small talk, unable to focus or apply himself to any task around the pride. For some reason he thought it all menial, and simply......busy work? In his eyes, Mai was lucky that she got to travel as often as she did. He didn't dare say any of this out loud, though, because he knew exactly what Mai would say - 'Every position has its own purpose and is vital to the survival of the pride.' He frowned at the thought.


It was probably her tone that brought about the response that he gave her. With another sigh the lioness turned around, returning the frown that he was wearing. "Look," she started, sounding a bit hesitant about what she was going to say next. "I've given some a bit of thought, and while I'm back for official business there is something else I'll be speaking to the Mwezi about. Don't read too much into it, but make sure you get a lot of rest tonight. Tomorrow could possibly be the roughest day of your life yet, so you'd best be ready." With that she started walking again, veering more to the left now and making headway toward where she usually met with the pride's leader.

"Phae," she called, stopping and turning for only a moment to relay one last message to him. "Make yourself useful today, or I won't ask. I'll be watching you, so don't think for a second that you can pull a fast one on me." After a thoughtful pause the lioness gave a parting nod before continuing to make her way to their meeting place.


After the last stop Phae couldn't help but keep a confused look on his face. What...exactly did that mean? With the puzzled expression still on, he nodded goodbye and sat in thought for several minutes, rolling her words around in his mind and analyzing them to the best of his ability. Curious that she'd leave such a message for him, actually, but knowing Mai it was probably something good. Something, he figured, that'd be good for the both of them; probably more-so for him, come to think of it. She'd always looked out for him ever since their first meeting, and it was probably thanks to her that he hadn't gone completely insane.

He already owed her that...and if his guess was right, he'd probably owe her big again. Still, once he'd started walking toward where the cubs were being kept, the adolescent just couldn't keep the smile off his maw. This was probably the most excited he'd been since...well, ever.


Was it right to kind of tip him off? Mai questioned herself as she waited for the Mwezi, glancing here and there nervously. Moto would probably notice it right away since it was very out of character for her to be as jumpy as she was. Phae wasn't stupid, in fact she could probably venture so far as to say that he was rather intelligent despite his rather careless personality. He would easily be able to connect the dots.. but that wouldn't have been a bad thing right? She'd been planning on recruiting him for this particular position since he was a juve, actually.. and now that she thought about it she ruined probably the biggest surprise for him that she had. With an almost involuntary (her nervousness brought about an unusual twitch) shrug she brushed the thoughts aside, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand.

"I'll deal with all of that later," the lioness reasoned with herself. "He'll be fine until then anyway."