The trees certainly LOOKED foreboding... Meztli glared into them, as if she could force them to spit out her sister. The dark brown lioness didn't much like the look of the trees, or the feel of the swamps. The dampness under her paws was unfavorable to her, that was certain. Ears folding back, she let out a light snort. She'd get Nenetl back, even if she had to fight off tree monsters herself! As the lioness began to enter, the hair long the back of her neck prickled up. A snap of a twig made her jump and spin around, eyes wide.
When she spotted her sister, Nenetl went bounding out of the trees and tackled her. "Meztli, Meztli, Meztli!" Circling on top of her sister, Nenetl sat down, ears forward and grinning down at the disgruntled lioness. "I met a little spirit in the swamps! He needs help, so I'm gonna stay here and help him!" It was obviously so simple! Somewhere in her jumbled thoughts she thought of the fact she should bring the little spirit out to meet Meztli. Oh, she'd have to go get him! She jumped off, starting for the trees. A paw grabbing her tail and yanking her back brought all thoughts to a screeching halt.
"You went in there?! ALONE?!" Meztli sat on her sister, glaring down at her. "I was worried sick, Nenetl! And I found Minoru, so we're going to find Tlaloc and go HOME! And you're coming WITH us!" She got up, starting to drag her sister away. But Nenetl's paws were firmly planted, and the larger lioness had trouble moving her. "Come ON! Minoru is WAITING!"
Nenetl let out a squeal, digging her claws into the soft soil. When that proved ineffective, she grabbed a tree. "No, Meztli, he needs my help!" She struggled, then kicked her sister. "I belong here, I just know it!" The gray-brown lioness smacked into the tree as Meztli let go. "Oof!"
Meztli glared at her sister, hackles up. "And what makes him special, Nenetl? Isn't getting back to Lord Ganon important to you? Or did you forget who we owe our very LIVES to? We still have to find our brother, too, and you want to run off to live in a filthy, slimy swamp!" She circled around the tree and Nenetl, before trying to forcibly detach her sister from it. "He can't be worth this much effort for you to abandon your family and your very pride!"
Ears back, Nenetl struck out at her sister. "I'm not abandoning you all! I just... I don't belong there, Meztli!" She let go of the tree, sprinting away from Meztli and around another. Peeking out, she frowned at her sister. "Look at you, you're strong! You make males follow you without having to beat them into submission! You don't have to understand others to make it through life! And Tlaloc is strong, he can fight anybody off! And me... I'm tiny, I'm weak, and I'm too soft for the Ehe'anda!" The lioness slowly stepped around the tree, sitting down. "Meztli, he's got problems, and he needs help fixing them... I can help, I know it!"
Meztli stared at her sister a moment, then sighed. "Fine. But if you ever find you're unhappy here... You know where home is." She turned and started to walk off, ears back. She paused, though, mind going a mile a minute. She looked back at her sister, pondering her words. "Do you still remember.. How we used to be... Feeling together, believing whatever, my love had said to me...? Both of us were dreamers, young love in the sun. Felt like my saviour, my spirit I gave him, we'd only just begun..."
Nenetl watched her sister, and felt a sorrow in herself. She looked down at the ground, her own ears back, before they lifted with her gaze. Her sister singing... Wasn't something her ears knew too well. It was a deep thing to her mind to hear such a thing. "Yes I stil remember, every whispered word... The touch of your skin, giving life from within, like a love song that I'd heard.."
Walking back took effort, but Meztli had to at least bid her sister farewell. They wouldn't see each other, probably for a long time, possibly never again. Rubbing her cheek against Nenetl's shoulder, the darker lioness kept her ears down and back. "Slipping through our fingers, like the sands of time... Primises made, every memory saved, as reflections in my mind..." A tear slid down Meztli's cheek, soon followed by another and another. The already-soggy ground did nothing to absorb the droplets as they hit it, already at its capacity for moisture.
Nenetl heard, more than saw, the teardrops hit the ground. She blinked a few times, before burrying her face against dark brown fur. Her own tears soon soaked Meztli's fur, and then hit the ground. "Back where I belong now, was it just a dream? Feelings unfold, they will never be sold, and the secret's safe with me..." Nenetl's whole body quivered, wanting to let out the ache of departing from her sister. She held it in, though, not wanting to let Meztli see.
"Hasta manã, always be mine..." Meztli backed away from her sister slowly, looking at her sadly. She was right... She needed to be here. Not just for whoever this little ghost was, but for herself. It would do her good to be here. "Viva forever, I'll be waiting... Everlasting, like the sun... Live forever, for the moment... Ever searching... For the one..." Before she could show any form of sorrow, Meztli turned and hurried off. Her paws flew under her, putting distance between the lionesses. One day... She'd be back to see her sister, or see what had become of her.
Watching her sister leave, Nenetl's trembling turned into out-right quaking. Before long, she sat down, letting her sorrows out. "Viva forever... I'll be waiting... Ever lasting... Like the sun... Live forever... For the moment... Ever searching... For the one..." She hid her face with her paws for a moment, trying to collect herself. After what felt an eternity, she got up and headed back to the swamps. She was sad to say goodbye to her sister... But she needed personal growth, on top of Mle needing help. "Live forever.. For the moment... Ever searching.. For the one..."
