Alaia sighed, making her way down the mountain ledge as carefully as she could. Here she was, out on her own for the first time. Out of the pride lands, out of the lands she called home, for the very first time. It would be lying to say she wasn’t scared, but lying to say she wasn’t excited, too, a small butterfly of excitement fluttering in her stomach. She was off to find her dark stranger, the lion from her vision. She could see the tall grasslands, stretching out for miles before her, but she had to reach them first. She was part way down – half way there, perhaps. But it was tiring work, and her knees were beginning to ache. She didn’t even want to think about climbing back up again, especially if she was going to be pregnant. Ugh, that certainly wouldn’t be fun.
Boy, he’d certainly travelled far! Ilyas couldn’t believe the height of these mountains, there was nothing at all like these in the Ukuucha’wafalme, or anywhere he’d been before! It was amazing, they were bigger than the Sun even seemed to be! The adolescent was struggling just to comprehend their sheer height as he scaled the sides, blending in surprising well with her dark gray coat, which was similar to the rocky cliffs he was climbing. His paws were sore from all the sharp rocks, which were far different from the sand or mud Ilyas was used to, but he was too excited about what he might find to stop, only continuing further onwards.
What was that?
She’d heard a rock. It was only slight, a small rock falling down the cliff face, making a small ‘thud!’ everytime it struck the ground. But it certainly hadn’t been her that had knocked it off, which meant it had to be someone else. Frowning, she glanced downwards, dark eyes struggling to find anything. Until suddenly – movement! That rock had moved! Or not rock, as Alaia soon came to realize, but lion. A young one, by the looks of it. He had interested markings, swirling all over his back. He was too young to be her dark stranger, his coat wasn’t dark enough either. But the lioness was still curious, hopping down to get closer, more natural on the terrain than he was. “Hello?”
Huh? What was that? Ilyas glanced around him, confused by the sudden voice, before he suddenly looked up and bam, there she was. An adult lioness, though not too much older than him, peering over at him curiosly. Ilyas cocked his head to the left, frowning for a moment in confusion, before a hopefully friendly smile spread over his face, his tail swishing behind him.
“Uh...hey there? I...how did you get up there!?” he asked incrediously, glancing around for the path. He’d been struggling as far as it was, and this was the point where it suddenly got a lot steeper. He’d been planning to turn around and head back.
Alaia smiled back down at the younger lion, friendly as always. She shuffled along the ledge she was perched on, to get a better look at him. He was somewhat lanky, clearly still growing, and his mane was only just breaking through. He’d be quite handsome as an adult, she was sure, but for now he was much too young. Besides, her stranger had definitely had a mane, a large fluffy one. This adolescent barely had any neck fur yet, he couldn’t be the one. “I’ve come down, not up, but it isn’t hard. Or at least not for me – but it only gets harder from here. It’s really steep.”
Ilyas frowned. She’d come down? Where from? Was she like, a mountain goat or something? She shuffled about, and he assumed she wanted to come back, backing off to give her space to do so without injuring herself. “How steep?” he asked, sure she must be exaggerating. If a little thing like her could manage, he was sure he could too. “Where’ve you come from? Oh, what’s up there!?” he asked in excitement, jumping on the spot a little.
“Not much,” Alaia responded, preparing herself before jumping down to the same level as him, her smile brightening at his positive attitude. He was being happy, she liked that, he was jumping on the spot! She imitated him, hopping a little before she soon got bored, stilling her paws once more. “Just my pride – I’m a Priestess, I see things. I’m on my way to complete my duty,” she explained, glancing up the rock face, back to her home. Where she’d come from, where she’d left. Where she’d return to, one day. “Very steep. It’s taken me a few days to get down to here.”
Very steep? Aww, he wouldn’t be able to make it up there, then, he’d taken ages to get this far! His expression drooped, ears flattening as a sigh escaped the adolescent’s maw, though he managed to force a smile for the pretty lioness. Maybe she’d want to come back with him, be his Banu? ...Oh, she had a pride, maybe not. Not wanting to ask if he knew what the answer would be, Ilyas merely brightened his smile a little more, offering a grin instead. “Well, can I escort you down the rest of the way, then? I don’t think I’ll be going much further, its taken me forever to get this far!”
Alaia indicated the direction she was to be heading in with her head, taking a step forwards before looking back, expecting the younger lion to follow her. A companion to talk to the rest of the way would be welcome, it could get lonely when she was by herself. Alaia had been singing, before, singing to the birds and the rocks around her. But she didn’t think her voice was particularly good, and so preferred not to sing when others could hear. It was embarrassing! “So...” she started, before suddenly realizing that she didn’t know this stranger’s name! “Oh, I’m so sorry! I’m Alaia!” she blurted out, mortified that she’d been so rude!
He followed her as she indicated for him to do so, grateful for the company. It wasn’t far to the bottom, and it was easier going down than coming up, so he doubted they’d be talking long. But either way, she seemed pleasant company. She introduced herself, and Ilyas’ cheeks flushed pink as he realized he hadn’t introduced himself. How rubbish, that was such an obvious thing to do when you met someone! How had he forgotten something like that?! “Ilyas,” he responded with a smile, moving forwards, “So why’re you out here in the rogue lands, Alaia?”
Ilyas? What an odd name. It wasn’t like anything she’d heard before, it almost sounded foreign. Perhaps he was from far far away, oh, what if he had stories to tell? Stories of amazing places, like the places that occasionally cropped up in visions Alaia had. Those were the visions that didn’t mean much – they were more like dreams. “I’m performing a duty for my pride – I’m to fall pregnant and bring new life to the pride,” she hurriedly babbled, far more interested in the lion than talking about herself, “Ilyas, where do you come from? Is it beautiful and amazing?”
Wait wait, back up! She was coming out to fall pregnant?! And she said it so bluntly, the same way one would expect her to say she was popping out for a drink. Wasn’t falling pregnant like, a big deal? Wasn’t it painful? Obviously he hadn’t been around for his mother’s pregnancy, but he knew Mzuka’s had been painful. She’d been constantly moaning, although she’d ended up giving birth to nine cubs in the end, so fair enough. The conversation turned to him, and Ilyas frowned. “I come from a pride – the Ukuucha’Wafalme? Basically I’m out on my Coming of Age. I have to capture a female and bring her back with me, to prove myself an adult...”
He looked surprised, but Alaia couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. It was her duty, something to be proud of, she liked declaring it to everyone. Declaring that she loved her pride so much she was willing to do something that she was...well, honestly quite scared of. His pride sounded interesting, although she didn’t quite understand the whole capturing a female concept. “You aren’t capturing me, are you?” she asked, frowning to show her confusion over the concept.
Capturing her? Wait, did she want him to capture her!? Oh, could this be the lioness he captured, so he could return home at last? He’d have to find Zeki first, the two brothers were sticking together as much as possible, but he’d love to see his mother again after all of this time... “I wasn’t planning to, b-but if you wanted I...” he mumbled, not wanting to be too forward incase he’d got it all completely wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time, this capturing females thing was turning out to be harder than he’d expected.
Capture her? Alaia stopped, nostrils flaring as she watched him with wide eyes, clearly distressed by the idea. “No, No I certainly don’t!” she clearly stated, tail flashing behind her as she watched him carefully, looking for any sign of hostility, of movement. She was trusting, but she didn’t want to be taken from her pride, her home. It was all she had, she didn’t want it to get taken away! With a cry of fear, Alaia suddenly fled down the rest of the cliff, off towards the grasslands below. She wouldn’t be captured, she wouldn’t!
”I-No, I didn’t mean it like that, I wouldn’t if you didn’t wa-“
Too late. The lioness had already broken into a sprint, fleeing down towards the grasslands the pair had been heading to. Ilyas’ expression drooped, the lion giving a long, hard sigh. What a shame, she’d seemed like such a nice lioness. Why did he always have to go and ruin things like this by talking about capturing them? Ugh. Defeated, the adolescent continued his way down at a steady pace, deciding to go look for his brother.
