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Kayin:
It had been years since they'd last seen their mother. Kayin could barely remember her. Most cubs had the memory of a warm belly to lay against in their early days, a warm, gentle tongue grooming the knots and snares from their fur, and gentle paws pulling them close when they strayed too far. He and Utomo had been given what was needed to keep them alive but not not much more. Once Utomo was old enough to explore outside of the cave, Ciyari had left them.

Utomo had been different... he had visions, unexplainable flashes of the past, flashes of lions and places they'd never seen. Ciyari was terrified of her oldest son. At times the cub would blank out, his eyes growing distant as if seeing into another world completely. Only once or twice did he ever try to share his visions with her, only to fall under his mother's terrified eyes.

Kayin had been born different as well, though unlike Utomo, his deformity was ever-present. However, unlike Utomo, Kayin didn't know any better to know that he was somehow disabled. His ears hung lifelessly to the side of his head. Having no use for them beyond emotion, he rarely used them. The cub had always been happy to see his mother, and while she would often push him away or simply get up to find somewhere else to lay- he saw it as a game. Time and again he tried to get on his mother's good side though time and again it only seemed to rub her the wrong way. He'd found a dead mouse, shriveled and stiff from the early stages of decomposition, and had brought it proudly back for her to enjoy. While Utomo praised him for his efforts, Ciyari had sneered at the gift.

One morning, the game had ended. Ciyari had taken their sister and had left while the two brothers slept curled against one another in the back of their den. Ciyari's consort had watched over them for a time, serving as the father they'd never known but once the two had grown out their young adolescent manes they'd been on their own again. Utomo never trusted any of them. Kayin had taken the blame for their disappearance.

Since then, Utomo had been burdened with his deaf brother. While Kayin was no dumber than any other lion, he was unable to take care of himself. The lion had never learned how to groom himself properly from his mother as a normal cub might have. He never learned how to step lightly or quiet his breathing, so he was unable to hunt. He couldn't hear danger approaching nor could he roar to claim his territory. He had, however, learned how to read the posture, expressions, and lips of his sibling to engage in conversation somewhat. His voice, however, remained slurred, clumsy, and loud.

That day was no different. Utomo had gone out to hunt after giving Kayin very strict, firm instructions to keep to their den. Of course- Kayin had other plans. A little disobedience wasn't too bad, not if it meant he could surprise his bother!

The lion, still small, shaggy, and awkward, loped from his brother's claimed territory out to the grasslands. He'd catch dinner this time, he was sure of it! Then Tomo could smile for real, he could rest for a day, and perhaps the two of them could enjoy a full, rounded belly again.

Sarabi:
She left again, after just a brief visit to her home. It was the home of not many, but most of her family. Despite the absence of her mother, and her father existing in an entirely different state, it was still family nonetheless. The daily wisdom Aliona and Zuri'laghai had to offer was made good by their contentment of the settlement, and the temporary presence of Kachero was a welcome sight to her. But even then, she was beginning to find the importance of her job. It was enlightening to roam throughout the lands finding others alike, and spreading rumors of this place called home.

She met some, but not much. One particular intriguing encounter left her with more optimism upon departure of the pride's grounds. It was going to be another day, another experience, and another meeting. So, with somewhat of an affectionate nuzzle to her brother and likewise associate, she had started running the opposite direction, white tail waving enthusiastically behind her.

A few days had passed, with no luck that yielded promising results. No prospective members could be found, and she was only able to spread gossip to mostly insects - the only things one can almost always find. Her work was tiresome, requiring both travel and alluring tongue. At first, she didn't seem quite fitting - still, one could say that the small and meek light blue lioness was far from "seeking", but it was just something she felt obligated to contribute to the Mizuka. And sometimes, the duty brought encounters that would leave a lasting impression...

It was nearing sunset, and the petite female knew that if she didn't hunt before the prey beasts retired from grazing, moving elsewhere to keep a stricter eye on threats like her, she would have a more difficult time looking for a meal. A solution came to her almost automatically: she heard a rustling movement to her side, and she stalked low and stepped quietly through the tall grasses bordering the side of a cliff. She saw a small, isolated group of hogs in the distance. While she rarely tackled on prey with obvious defense, it was the only known chance she had at dinner this day.

She positioned herself lower to the ground, beginning to take the first few quiet steps towards the hogs... Her ears flickered forward, silently analyzing her surroundings, and whether the hogs were dangerously close to noticing her presence. Eyes moved to the center, intent on their goal: lock onto a hog, never let it out of sight, and pursue until she is satiated.

A small feeling had been tugging at the back of the small, hunting lioness's mind - something observable by means other than vision coming from the distance. She felt another presence draw near, but wasn't sure because it had stopped almost right after she noticed.

The hogs were still in the same spot; she let her attention waver briefly, but it did not cause a loss. Once again, she began making her way towards her prey, her soft, lithe, and small paws making it easy for the ground to remain silent. Indigo eyes narrowed in concentration, and then saw... a quick, strange but alert movement from one of the hogs. At first, it almost startled her; had they seen or heard her? No, they hadn't laid eyes on her yet...

But for cautionary measures, the light blue lioness stayed still, for the most obvious thing that would betray her was her pastel coat. She kept her breath slow and controlled, waiting for the one hog's release of attention from whatever it was that distracted it. But then... another one raised its head to look in the same direction! And another! Now alarmed herself, the lioness chanced a slight raise and turn of her head to the mysterious diversion. But in doing so, perhaps she had been too close for much error at all. Not long after this movement, she realized the chance of an easy dinner escaped; they scattered quite rapidly away from her.

Immediately, she took off after one of them, paws frantically moving over the tiny hooves imprinted on the ground. Her white tail flew fast behind her, and the lioness hoped she dashed in the right direction for the hog.

However, not a few seconds after her pounce, the petite female felt her body collide rather abruptly with something of equal mass; she rolled over to the side from the impact and stayed on the ground, seeing a blur of grey before her fall.

"Ow..." she voiced, though feeling more damage from the shock rather than pain; if only she was better at detecting silent grey shapes, she may have caught dinner by now. What had it been that stopped her? She waited for the slight dizzy spell to go away before checking - perhaps it had just been a rock.

The lioness attempted to keep her head still as the lasting effect of the impact made her process the stranger's presence and collision quite slowly. For one, she had thought it was a rock - a rather large one, about her size - that flew in the way! While large flying rocks weren't common at all, she was travelling in unknown territory as her role had her do, and so strange things weren't entirely impossible... She did just learn what the large expanse called an ocean was a while back, after all.

"N...No?" she squeaked softly, blinking from the ground.

"I-" she began, until the grey lion before her curled up and began stammering right in front of her.

Her own bewilderment came with the absorption of his, and her eyes widened as well when he completed his half-comprehensible line of thought. He was really scared of her, wasn't he? This was one of the last responses the blue lioness would have thought to come from anyone she met. How could her small stature and soft blue and light hues frighten anyone in such a way?

"Ah..." she began, though still soft in contrast to the stranger's yelling, "I am... glad you are not hurt? I think that's what you mean?"

She offered a smile, wondering if the shock of the situation caused the male to speak in such a manner; it didn't matter to her, as it seemed he meant no harm at all; rather, he was being too altruistic in spite of what actually happened.

"Don't go! I'm really sorry," she continued, lifting herself off the ground to step towards the male, "I should have known you were there. My fault! I really hope you are okay; are you sure you're okay? Those weren't... well, it's fine if the hogs get away. Another day, another time."

Another step was taken, and the lioness hovered over the grey lion's side to inspect for any signs of damage. She already felt responsible for his panicked thoughts and emotions; if he had been injured by her, too, then she would have definitely had to stick around to tend to him.

She had taken the continual fearful movements in stride, hoping her words would eventually calm him. While it was a little odd - as if he wasn't paying attention at all when she began talking (not even a flicker of the ear!) - perhaps the male was from a very, very different pride.

In the same manner, she accepted the lion's gaze without deeper thought as well; the concentration he had on her face made her subconsciously believe that he was being genuine in their meeting and listening to her. And maybe he was, as his subsequent compliment set her off into a bashful chuckle, prompting her to withdraw from her examination. It didn't look like their tumble roughed either of the two up, for which she was thankful.

"O-oh, ah, thank you," she replied, an instinctual turn of the head indicating her timidity.

"You are hungry, huh? I guess you wouldn't have been eying those either unless you were! And yeah, the foodthlings - I mean! The small things! I mean pigs... got away. That's okay."

She stopped for a moment, last statement making her think, "But we're both still hungry, that's right..."

A thoughtful hum came out, and she took her eyes off of the lion to look at the savanna land and cliff. There weren't a lot of obvious options available, but she did owe it to the still-stricken lion to do something for his hunger.

"Do you want to try hunting again? With me?" she asked slowly, meek hesitance in her voice, "...I'm not a hunter specifically, but... I still do hunt for myself. Maybe we can find those hogs again, and the won't expect the same lions around them a second time?"

And then she added more hopefully, "My name's Sarabi. What's yours?"

When Sarabi stayed with the lion, she noticed his what she would call intense focus on her face; this made her all the more capable of turning away, scared something might be on it, or that perhaps she looked funny when talking. However, she managed to stay still enough for him to capture whatever movement he was looking for. With the knowledge of the staring occurring in her mind, Sarabi was fortunately able to have more concern over her appearance over any annoyances that could have resulted from this interaction.

"Yeah... plig--I mean pigs," she nodded, starting to vaguely see a recurring theme in his speech, "Well, I uh..."

She wasn't sure whether he was implying that the pigs had name names, implying that they were individuals who shouldn't be eaten, but... "I guess they did look like a family, and had names, but... We need to eat!"

Sarabi hurriedly blinked forth an anxious smile; while it was possible that the lion before her, judging by his leaner than normal size, didn't eat much meat, how could he condemn it if he had himself been calling it food? Her worries were quelled when he replied to her suggestion.

When he got into his feigned prowling position, Sarabi found the sight all too amusing, but hesitated to think: was he doing it on purpose, or was he simply inexperienced? As she listened, another reason seemed to be behind it.

It wasn't hard to decipher his words through the sporadic up and down tones that attempted to throw off the meaning, but she managed, and replied to his try at her name, "Sa-ra-bi."

"I can teach you, Kayin, yeah," she said, some enthusiasm showing in her voice, "Though I only know the basics, nothing special..."

She then lifted her nose to the air and sniffed the winds - she listened to the breeze, closing her eyes, and decided that she could quite possibly get a good "lesson" down to Kayin by the end of the day. She lowered her head back down to glance at Kayin, motioning for him to follow silently, laying very low to the ground. She then began moving forward through the tall grasses, turning her head to show Kayin only a side.

"Can you smell them? They're close enough, but we'll have to be reaaally quiet soon..."

Sarabi nodded, accepting his reluctant statement. She felt concerned for him when she saw his face change expression, but didn't say anything further on the topic. She was aware and knowledgeable enough to know that anyone would feel self-conscious if they expressed their naiveté on basic things of life.

But it didn't seem like Kayin was oblivious for obliviousness's sake itself; this speech pattern was different, perhaps lacked a deep understanding of speech, but...

"Tomo is... your... mother?" she chanced to say, unsure of whether it was a name for a lion or lioness; it seemed more suited if Kayin had a caretaker, it be his mother.

But before she could draw an answer, it seemed she excited Kayin in all his nervousness by her proposition. She smiled genuinely, his emotions influencing hers. She got up herself and hopped next to Kayin a couple of times, then nudging her head against his side to bring him back to the earth.

"Yes!" she repeated, and then settled herself back down, thinking.

"Maybe Tomo is your... mate?" she chanced, thinking a lion would be more excited at that prospect even more so than their mother, "And it's alright. It's Sarabi, maybe you can get it later."

Bewildered by the sudden burst of... what sounded like breathing difficulty, Sarabi opened her mouth but paused when she saw the smiling face on Kayin. How could he be choking but happy at the same time? While she felt an obligation to help him - if he had been struggling - she could not say that she had ever been in such a situation to jump right into it. And it was better that she had not, for his repeated denial of her statement afterwards made it clear that he had not been in trouble.

When Kayin explained his family situation, Sarabi nodded, eyes widening to the effect of discovery.

"Oh! I'm... sorry," she expressed, "About that. Sorry about your mama and father."

At least, that is what she assumed from the mention of a "Hodari" figure.

"Tomo, your brother, takes care of you?" Sarabi asked then, aware that the lion before her seemed old enough to take care of himself, yet obviously lacked some capabilities... however, the absence of speech mastery was hardly a debilitating element to survival.

She was getting more curious each moment with Kayin, but she wasn't sure how to phrase it and put it to the other lion, who looked so kind and acted with such earnestly; even when she saw him tilt his head to ask such a question, he did it with an honest look that, despite what answer the question called for, made Sarabi flush slightly with embarrassment.

"A um... A m-mate? You don't know what a mate is," she started, as the question was also obscured to her when she had none, and when her own mother disappeared on her father, who died shortly afterwards from the heartbreak.

"It is... What your mother and father are to each other. To have you. And your brother. Your mama and Hodari, I think... If he was the lion who looked after you and Tomo."

She hesitated, unsure of what she thought of the final definition she gave Kayin. Hopefully it would be understandable, despite her inexperienced familial background to give her the authority to define it.

"A lioness who you want to spend a lot of time with," she put out again, hoping he would have no more questions in lieu of her self-consciousness.

"Ah, that's good," Sarabi expressed, "That you always have food. I'm glad I can help you get food for today, too."

She giggled at Kayin's befuddled state, but sneezed when one of his loose mane strands breezed by her nose. She regained herself, hoping the sudden jerk movement didn't surprise Kayin, and thought about whether she could further elaborate on what a mate was.

"...Kind of," she said tentatively, "But you just have one. I mean, others can have more than one, but where I come from, it is good to have just one. It... means more to have one. I mean, I just would want one, and no more..."

Sarabi confused herself in her words, embarrassing herself again, and tried to restate, "A very special and good friend."

"Anyways," she interrupted herself, hoping to stop her clumsiness in speech, "Shall we hunt?"