Laini was merely wandering, enjoying the feeling of the tall grass brushing against her fur. It was odd, like a tickling sensation, but more enjoyable. It didn’t tickle her so much that she had to roll onto her back and giggle mindlessly, like she did when Jicho was tickling her. Just a light touch, a light tickle. Wings flapping in the wind, the young Goddess burst into a sprint, racing forwards as she occasionally jumped, wings flapping fiercely in an attempt to pull her body into the air. She hadn’t been able to fly yet, only the occasional glide, and those were rare. But she was determined, she was going to do it! Because all Gods could fly, right? That was just...the definition, right?
Jicho flew alongside the cub, warily keeping his eye out for anyone who could be a threat, or anything the youngster might end up running into. She’d done it more than once before, and he was worried it was going to start affecting her brain.
She was here. This was where the grasslands stopped, and the mountains began. She was almost home, just a mountain to climb. Which sounded a little ironic, in a way, but the pride wasn’t at the top of the mountain – perhaps half way up, maybe a little more. Her belly was full, and hopefully with more than just meat, and Alaia was ready. She was ready to go home and face them, tell them about the duty she’d done. They’d be so proud!
But then suddenly, she heard giggles and squeals. Turning her head, she spotted a small shape darting through the grass, something smaller flying above it. What...what was that? Something was flapping on it’s back, did it have a skin? It was only a child, surely it couldn’t. And it was green, no animal had skin that green... Unable to stem her curiosity, she moved towards it, calling out, “...Hello? Are you lost?”
Oh, who was that? Laini skidded to a halt, dust flying up in front of her and coating her dark blue fur with a thin layer of brown dust. She glanced around, left then right, having lost the source of sound and therefore unable to use her hearing to focus on it properly. She heard footsteps, rustling of the grass, and was able to distinguish that whatever it was was something on her left, so that was where she turned her head, faded eyes staring blinding into space. “Who’s there? ...Who is it?” she asked warily, taking a step back (or at least she hoped it was back/away). Jicho was on her shoulder almost instantly, chattering angrily at the intruder.
Who’s there? Couldn’t she see her? It was a she, of that Alaia was sure, the young cub had rather feminine features. And speaking of features, was that what she thought it was, on her back? WINGS!? Alaia gasped in excitement, jumping forwards to greet the youngster, forgetting how frightened she’d sounded and how confused she’d been. Alaia practically stuck her nose in the girl’s face, reaching a paw out to touch her wing and make sure they were real. “What are you? You’ve got wing, that’s so cool! Can you fly?”
”GO AWAY!” Laini screamed, terrified as she suddenly felt a foreign paw on her wings, and could smell the breath of another in her face. A breath that stank of meat, a fresh kill have been made very shortly. But she didn’t care, only skidding backwards with a frightened cry, tucking her wings in tightly as she tried to concentrate, tried to teleport away. But right now she was too distraught, couldn’t concentrate, only look around blindly for help as Jicho rushed at Alaia, trying to scare the older lioness away so Laini could escape.
Alaia herself screamed as the youngster did, surprised by her scream. Why was she so frightened, surely she’d seen...oh. It all suddenly became clear. The faded eyes, the inability to focus, the confusion over where/who she was. But before the pale lioness got time to explain herself there was a small...rodent-thing in her face, scratching uncomfortably at her fur. Alaia screamed again, trying to use her paws to bat the thing away, but it was too quick, evading her paw with relative ease. “Get off of me!” she shouted, shaking her head to try and shake it off, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare her, to scare you!”
If she hadn’t made to scare her, why had she gotten so close, so quickly?! Laini whined, wanting Pala more than anything at that moment, the screams of the other lioness only distressing the young Goddess further. She gave a long, low whine, before finally screaming out, “Jicho, STOP!” She knew the bat was only trying to help, but he was scaring the other lioness and so scaring Laini more. The young cub just sat, huddled in a fluffy bundle, shuddering softly as she hid her face under a wing, hoping the other lioness would just get the message and go away.
Suddenly the creature stopped, and Alaia was aware that it was because of the youngster asking it to. She brushed at her face, making sure there was no dust left there, before glancing over at the shivering fluffy bundle, frowning. Was she okay? Alaia couldn’t just leave a small cub like that, alone and frightened. You’d have to be heartless to do that. Making as if to take a step forward, before deciding that wouldn’t be a good idea, Alaia instead just stayed where she was. “Thank you,” she whispered quietly, sure the blind child would hear since it was so quiet. “Are you okay?”
Jicho huddled up to Laini as she remained exactly where she was – she heard Alaia, despite the quiet volume, but just stayed where she was, though the shivering subsided. After several long, tense moments, her wing unwrapped from around her head, a blind eye glancing in Alaia’s general direction, though failing to see anything. Laini blinked, although it made no difference to the youngster, before slowly uncurling from her position, sitting up properly, though her shoulders were slightly hunched over and her eyes fell to the ground. “You scared me,” Laini whispered back, tail curling around herself, “I’m sorry Jicho scared you.”
Jicho? Who was that? ...Oh, the flying rodent thing? Alaia wrinkled her nose as she glanced to it, perched on the lioness’ shoulder. But was she a lioness? Those wings, they were real, Alaia was sure of that. Perhaps this was one of her visions and she was still back under the tree. But her visions never went on this long, and the wing had felt so...so real when she’d touched it. “I’m sorry I scared you,” Alaia responded with honesty, hoping that her genuine sincerity shone through in her voice since the cub couldn’t see her expression, “My name’s Alaia. What’s yours?”
Jicho hissed slightly at Alaia, but seemed comfortable where he was, so didn’t make a move towards the paler lioness. Laini began to fidget, her front paws moving over the ground and pawing over each other, eyes still staring blindly at the same spot. “I’m Laini,” she responded after another few tense moments, tails beginning to flick from behind her to beside her, and then back again. Her wings fluttered a little on her back, and curiosity got the better of the young Goddess as she asked, “Why did you touch my wings?”
Laini? “That’s a pretty name,” Alaia responded with a sincere smile, hoping to make the young cub feel more comfortable. When wings were mentioned, Alaia began to shuffle on the spot, feeling a little embarrassed now. Were wings normal things, out here in the rogue lands? Maybe she was being stupid, and had just terrified a young cub for no reason. Oh, did that make her a horrible lioness? “I’m sorry, I was just so curious if they were real or not – I’ve never seen anyone with wings before.”
Pretty name? Laini took the bait, smiling brightly as her blind eyes turned back upwards, to focus loosely on Alaia’s general area. She liked her name, she thought it was pretty. She had never been told it, she’d just...known. Jicho’s, too. She heard movement, and assumed the lioness was shuffling about, but her distress was clear, Laini not liking that she didn’t know what was happening. “Of course they’re real,” she replied a little warily, wanting the lioness to stop moving, “I can’t fly yet, though.”
The cub looked sad – why? ...Oh, right! Alaia hurriedly stopped her shuffling, cheeks shining red through her pale fur at the embarrassment. Oh, she was really failing here! Maybe it’d be better if she just left. But that was mean, leaving a defenceless cub all alone in the grasslands! And oh, her wings were real? And she couldn’t fly yet? Did that mean she would be able to, soon? Ohhh, Alaia was so full of so many questions, but she didn’t want to scare the cub with them, and she really did need to get on her way back to her pride, with her exciting news. “Are you alright by yourself, Laini? I need to get going, but I can help you find someone if you like. Are you with your family?”
Oh, she was leaving? Had she said something wrong? Laini’s expression drooped, but she gave a nod to show she understood. Jicho seemed to be liking that Alaia was leaving, not liking her much. But Jicho didn’t particularly like anyone, so it was nothing new. She shook her head vigorously at the suggestion of Alaia helping her to find something, even hissing a little as she shuffled back. “No, I don’t need anyone! I can find Pala all by myself!”
The bat didn’t like her, she got that, but Alaia was surprised when the child hissed at her. She took a step back, and with the cub’s shuffle back it increased the distance between them by a fair enough. Alaia sighed, shaking her head, before allowing a warm smile to grace her lips as she inclined her head politely, speaking softly. “Okay then. It’s been nice meeting you, Laini. I would say I hope to meet you again, but it’s unlikely, since I’ll be in my pride...” she trailed off, before turning and departing, now with a new tale to tell the pride. About how she met a child with WINGS.
