Saharan - ShinosBee
&
Ekundayo - Das Tor
Nothing was right anymore, everything was going wrong and was bad and ugh! The poor broken-hearted lion threw herself down in the sand of the Simbafutaji's beach. Everything had been going so, so well. She'd had a grand adventure, traveling vast lands and discovering lost peoples...Discovering her home. Her love. Naur...
...But then he'd sent her away, and crushed she'd come back to this place. Hmff. Not much better. The pride seemed in chaos, and who could blame them? Hunts were failing, lions were getting sick or hurt...a den had caved in on her the other day. Thankfully it'd been a shallow, sandy one, and she'd easily dug free, but still! What a mess.
Things hadn't been this bad when she'd left, not at all. It seemed even around her old friends she'd get no relief from her worries. It was like the spirits were singling her out for some punishment.
"That's ridiculous...isn't it?"
Ekundayo wasn't sure why things were going so bad. There were a few whispers it was because of her, but...that couldn't be right, could it? She'd been well-trained for this position by Kamaria, and the older lioness had faith in her. So why were things going bad? Had they chosen an unlucky place to live? Was there something deeper that was wrong? The lioness sighed and shook her head, uncertain and unsure. Things had never been this bad before, even when they were first starting out and consisted of just three small families seeking a safe haven. And the fact there were Seekers who had gone out months ago that hadn't returned worried her even more.
And her cubs were among those. Kali had returned long enough to tell her that he'd found a place that suited him better...She had been saddened, but given him her blessing to follow his heart. But Mbinguni? And Lehubedu? And Pwani'wingu? Not a sign of those three. She made her way to the beach proper, hoping to find some solace in the gentle push and pull of the waves. She was surprised to find she wasn't alone.
"Saharan?" She'd been there for the tail end of the den collapsing, far enough to not be of help but close enough to see, and had arrived when the younger lioness had dug herself free. Ekundayo looked worried a moment. "Are you okay?" She hoped so. So much wrong had been happening...
The sound of another made Saharan's ear flick, and at the greeting she even raised her head. Ah...Ekundayo. SHe'd heard the whispers that the bad luck was because of the pride's new leader, but she hadn't decided her stance yet. She seemed kind enough, and genuinely interested in helping...but the truth was that the bad luck seemed to have started with her rise to power.
"Oh. Fine. As fine as one can be when the world seems determined to grind you underpaw like a weed." She offered a faint sarcastic smile. "No injuries though from the cave in, if that's what you meant. Thank goodness it was only my den and not one of the cub-sitters'..." That would have been horrid.
"What do you make of this bad luck, hmm? Missing lions and ruined hunts...seems like the land's turning against the pride." As if to add sentiment, a rogue wave washed up the beach and over the red lioness even as she spoke. It was barely enough to drench her, but not move her from the spot, and she spluttered as it receded. "Gods above! I've about had it!"
Ekun listened to Saharan, and shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had it been the den of anyone looking after the cubs of the pride. Even the members who weren't for cubs themselves tended to have some fondness for the varied little ones of the Simbafutaji. She was about to answer when the rogue wave came up, and winced.
"I'm starting to wonder myself if we picked an unlucky spot without realizing it...Perhaps we were too desperate for a home to call our own..." She sighed. "I wish there was more I could do for the pride, but all I seem to be able to do is try to find ways to prevent this bad luck and smile when others cannot." There had to be a way..."I take it your Seeking did not go well either?"
She grunted at Ek's response. "I grew up here...the land didn't seem so unforgiving then. At least, not how I remember it. But then again, everything seems fun and safe and easy through the veil of cubhood." She eyed the sea warily. She held no fear of it, certainly, but if it tried to wash over her again she'd be ready to leap away.
"It went very well actually. I found what I was looking for. The Firekin. And more." She did not elaborate immediately. "They were a tough bunch, and didn't take well to me. But time eased that." So had Naur. Until he'd run her off. "And then...well. I had to leave. Given the choice, I admit, I'd have stayed. And not just because of the bad luck here."
"Honestly it's not helping me feel better though. I came back because it was all I had left. And now even here seems miserable and unwelcoming."
Ekun felt her heart sink. There was more that Saharan wasn't telling her...but Ekun knew better than to push. "It did seem better, safer, when I was smaller as well." Then again, after the encounter she'd had with a demon when she was little, nearly everything seemed safer than the rogue lands unless Usiku was with her. "The Firekin...I'm sorry you couldn't stay. You...at least might have had someone who understood there. One of my sons, the red one? He returned long enough to tell Usiku and I that he'd found his true home there." She sighed and closed her eyes.
"I plan on asking around, seeing if any of those who came from other places have encountered something like this before, a sudden surge of bad luck. Perhaps...perhaps there is something that can be done, that might make this palce a good place to be again. I...I am sorry it's been so miserable since you returned." It wasn't supposed to be that way. The Simbafutaji was supposed to be a haven, a home!
She offered a weak smile to Ekun. Really she was just trying to help. "Oh did he? Well at least he'll be somewhere safe, hmm? I would have liked to stay...There was a male there, and he...well nevermind. He sent me away." She sighed and rolled in the sand. It wasn't like her to mope. But then again, it wasn't like her to fall in love with knuckleheaded lions who'd rather fight than learn.
"I'm surprised we don't have records of anything like it. If it's happened before, you'd think we'd know. If any of the seekers'd come back, maybe they'd know..." It was strange they'd not come back at all. Usually those who'd found other homes at least let their loved ones know not to worry.
A distant rumble broke her train of thought. Over the horizion was a rapidly swelling dark blot. The sky roared, and the sea cried back. "Uh oh..."
Oh. Oh dear. Ekun couldn't help but feel her heart squeeze in sympathy for the younger lioness. Heartbreak was a terrible, terrible thing. She wasn't certain she'd be in a much better mood if Usiku broke her heart for some reason. "Perhaps it's something that just wasn't brought up. Some memories aren't the sort one wants to share willy-nilly, especially if heavy emotions are tied to it." At the mention of the seekers, Ekun's heart dropped again. When would her babies come home?
The distant rumble of the sky made her shudder, and she looked to Saharan. "Perhaps it is best we let the others know staying inside the higher-ground dens is best for today?" Living by the sea, they knew how to weather a small storm.
"Yes, we should do that. If the lower ones are washed out in a flood...well, best no one's there to see it first paw." She heaved herself to her paws and started up the beach. Another rumble startled her, and she cried out as she stepped right on an upturned shell.
She leapt to the side, into Ekun, and felt another sharp pain...a crab! It'd clamped onto her back paw! With a wail she fell sideways and kicked the thing away. She watched its line of flight through the sky...and was blinded by a flash of light. The immediately following clap of thunder--and the roar of the struck tree bursting into flames deafened her.
Alarmed and terrified and heartbroken, she bolted from the shore. Perhaps Ekun would think she'd just gone to the dens...but that was not the case. This place offered her no solace any more. There was no warm safe feeling. And so she fled, leaving the Simbafutaji to their ill luck and their fate. She didn't belong with Naur, she didn't belong here...but at least in the desert the sea didn't scream and the sky didn't rage.
Ekundayo followed Saharan up the beach, determined to see her pride safe. When Saharan cried out and leapt into her, she stumbled a bit, falling onto her side with an 'oof'. She started herself when a flash of light broke the sky and a clap of thunder clamored through her ears, stumbling to get to her paws and warn everyone as quickly as she could.
She saw Saharan flee, hoping she'd see the other safely back in the higher-ground dens. With everyone gathered there, whatever wound Saharan might have gotten could be looked over by one of the Healers. It wasn't until everyone was safe and sound that she realized Saharan wasn't among their number...and Ekun's heart sank.
