This place was... so strange. And for some reason Dauna never asked one question as to how or why she was having a conversation with a plant.
"Why thank you, I am very proud of the color of my pelt. In my old pride my sisters clan loved the color green more than anything, because we idolized your beauitful leaves." Dauna giggled and folded her ears back. This was almost like a dream come true, to be able to talk to this beaitful plant. Had she been blessed by the goddesses?
"Mom!" Nanami yelled out three times before her mom heard her. She had acted so strange, almost form the moment they stepped onto this prides territory.
"Good evening Nanami!" She smiled and greeted her daughter. She still couldn't believe that her first litter was also grown up. All of them turned out so beautiful, though her heart was still heavy about being so far away from her sons. They wouldn't of had much contact in the pride anyways, but at least she knew they were nearby, and safe. She saw a concerned look on her daughters face, something that wasn't too uncommon, but today it looked particularly serious. Dauna got up and nuzzled the side of her neck. "Tell me now, what's troubling you dear?"
Nanami was quiet for awhile before she spoke. "Mom.. I want to go back."
Dauna backed up for a moment, and stared at her daughter straight in her golden eyes. "Back..?"
"Yes Mom. I want to go our home, Back to where we belong. Don't you feel out of place here? There is no order here, the males have no respect for us and the lionesses have no respect for themselves!" Nanami's voice was getting more frantic with each passing word.
It had been awhile since Nanami had brought up K'N. In a way she was proud that she had rasied her to be such a strong lioness, but now that she had gotten a taste of the outside world all that work suddenly felt as though she had handicapped her offspring. "I know this isn't want you want to hear, but... I think it's best if we stay here."
This was insane. How could her Mom seemingly turn her back on the pride like this? And want to reside in the K'Z of all places, it didn't make any sense. "Our life is back in that jungle and you know it. Our whole family is there, and what must they think? That we are dead, or worse- that we abandoned them on purpose?"
Dauna folded her ears back, she felt like the child in this situation. "I'm sure they understand." She said simply.
"That makes no sense Mom, and you know it. What will auntie think? What will mom think!?" The more she spoke out loud about this, the more she realized what a serious issue this could be. "Mom... what if they don't take us back?" Her voice suddenly getting quiet, and a great amount of fear could be seen in her eyes.
This was heartbreaking to watch. Maybe Nanami was right- maybe they should go back. If they did though, there would be no turning back. They would live out the rest of their lives as they were meant to in that familiar jungle both of them had been born and raised in. "Come with me" Dauna whispered and began walking forward.
"Are you even listening to me? I knew it was no use asking.." The young lioness was getting flustered, but followed her Mom obediently anyways. Although Dauna stayed quiet, Nanami was still in the process of having her nervous breakdown. "Mom, I don't care WHAT you think, I spent my whole life trying to become the strongest lioness in our pride. Here thought? None of that matters, nobody cares about my strength. They look at me as if I'm the ones that's strange!"
Suddenly the two walked out of the thick jungle like hunting lands of K'Z and onto the ocean shore. Nanami's breath was almost taken away when she realized where her Mom had been leading them.
"If we hadn't gotten lost, we would have never had the privilage of seeing this beautiful view." Dauna took a deep breath, feeling the ocean mist against her face. "I believe this is a blessing in disguise. All I ask is that you stay for a little while longer. Try and get to know a few of the locals. If you still feel like K'N is where you need to be, I will return with you and explain everything. It was not your fault at all that we left, so they should hopefully be more lenient on you. If all else fails, I'm sure I can get Auntie to take you back in."
Nanami sat there quietly staring into the ocean a bit humbled; her Mom had been listening this whole time. It wasn't right of her to accuse her mom of not caring about the pride she served so loyally.
"Thank you." She said finally, her voice cracking. The young lioness who tried to always put on a proud face colapsed into the soft stand below her and whimpered. Something that the KN had always taught her was to stick with and to support your family. Her mom obviously hadn't forgotten that important lesson, but she realized that SHE had been the one to forget that. The land that they resided on didn't change who she was raised to be. She had her family here, and that was all that mattered. "Mom I'm-"
"Shhh" Dauna said, laying next to her daughter in the sand and nuzzling her face. She knew Nanami was about to apologize, but there was no reason to. "I love you and your sister more than anything in the world. I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings into consideration when I decided we would stay here. But I truly believe that we've made the right choice. I think it was destiny that we got out of the pride when we did. But my offer still stands, if you ever want to go back just say the word."
Nanami's head raised up to look at her mom. "I think... I will stay here for awhile longer."
(word count: 104 cool
