Ngoma stood on a small rise in the land, staring off at... Well, not much of anything. While Yu, Haki, and Susu were being pulled to a cooler area, his hot blood wouldn't let him go. He needed some place... Warmer. He took a deep breath, brow furrowed. The sun beating down on his back wasn't nearly as hot as the desert, seemingly a world away. The huge valley, though it didn't strike him as a valley, lay behind them, huge and imposing, yet full of grasses. It just wasn't for him. The former Firekin let out a sigh, then started to turn around.
"You're not going BACK, are you?" Susu stepped out of the grasses, cimbing the rise next to Ngoma. "Surely you're not going to undo so much distance. After all..." She flicked her tail, giving him a solid look in the eyes. "What's the point in going forward if you're just going to go backward?" She forcibly turned him in another direction. "Is it because you don't know where you're going?"
Ngoma let out a puff of air. "Of course it is." He sighed, looking down at Susu. She wasn't as small as her mother, but not as big as her half-brother. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn that Yu had Firekin in him. "You know for sure where you're all going, but me... I have no idea. Where am I supposed to go, Susu?" He shook his head. "I can't go crawling back to the Firekin with my tail between my legs like a hyena, I'd feel like I was betraying my mother's memory."
The lioness giggled, gently headbutting Ngoma's shoulder. "Your place isn't there anymore, Ngoma. But it's not back with the Matembezi, either. It never was." She motioned with her paw, a grand sweeping gesture. "Your place is in another desert, near the sea." She looked up at him. "Can you visualize it? There's not as many dunes... But there's giant stones piled atop each other... And a river, glimmering like a blue ribbon on the gold..."
The Firekin closed his eyes, just imagining the place Susu described. "Yeah, I think I can imagine it..." His ears flicked, then shifted forward, as if listening for the sounds of the pride. "How do I get there? And where is it?" His gaze returned to the lioness, eyes once again open. "If you know, that is..." From interactions with his oldest sister, he knew that seer powers were... Iffy. They could be hit or miss, especially the future.
Susu purred, gently butting her head on Ngoma's shoulder. "It's where you'll find it." She noticed the skeptical look. "Okay, okay... It's east of here, toward the rising sun." She made another grand gesture with her paw. "And a bit north. You got that?" She watched Ngoma nod. "Good. Now... Something important..." She flicked her ears. "Will you remember us?" Though she had brothers... Ngoma was like a big, strong, protective brother to her. She just had little idea how much like his father and her mother it was.
Slowly, Ngoma smiled. "Of course I will." He groomed Susu's ears a bit. "You're like that sister I never got..." He made a face. "Three sisters and not one seems to have come out liking me... That I know of." He let out a sigh, then started to walk. "Maybe our paths will cross again, eh, Susu?" He certainly hoped so. At least... Somewhat. Or he'd send one of his kids out to find one of hers. Now that would be a journey...
She sighed, frowning a rare frown. After a moment, she ran after him, blocking his path and burying her face in his mane. "Ngoma..." She went quiet, then smiled up at him. "I'll track you down again later... Much later... Okay?" She had to admit it, she did want to see him again. Some day. Maybe, far in the future.
"Okay..." He gently nudged her shoulder with his cheek. "Now go on, Yu and Haki are waiting for you. My journey with you guys is over, I gotta go on alone now." It wouldn't be safe alone, not even for a lion his size, but... It was just something he had to do. He couldn't show up at his destination with a group, after all.
The lioness nodded, let out another sigh, then padded away. "Goodbye, Ngoma..." She didn't cry, she didn't shed a tear. It wasn't in Susu to do so. Instead, she swallowed her sorrow, holding her head high as she walked back to her brother and other travel companion. They would take the news well enough, after all. Well, Yu would. She wasn't so sure Haki would. He might sing a song of sorrow... She bit her lip, then slid off into the bushes to be alone. She didn't want anybody to see her at the moment, after all.
He glanced back, then started on his way again. "Goodbye, Susu." He had a long journey ahead of him now. There was no more looking back. Even as he walked, he ignored the long, mournful roar that seemed to echo across the lands. His ears folding back into his fiery mane, he ignored it and continued on his way. Slowly but surely, the distance grew, and the hills sloped downward. The mountains were eventually left behind as he crossed into a mixture of plains and jungles in his quest for the coastline, and the mysterious desert-dwelling pride Susu told him to go to.
Only when she was sure Ngoma was far away did Susu come out of her hiding place. She didn't sigh as she looked for his shadow, his white coat against the grasslands. She simply stood on the rise, watching the distance grow between her and her brother-like friend. Was this how everybody felt, seeing a close friend leave for good? It had to be, because it felt like she was falling apart. When she finally returned to Yu and Haki, she felt... Somewhat empty. She already missed Ngoma.
