Mwezi had set out some time ago on her own. It had been so strange to leave her pride, to leave her mother. She remembered a time when she had been outside the pride with her siblings and mother, but that was a faded memory that was hard to pull up. Her father had collected them and she was taken back with her mother to the pride. All she remembered well was her mother, her pride, and the music.Music and dancing were her life. She had been raised with the expectation of learning to dance and to sing. She had excelled at dancing, singing was okay for her, but not the best if compared to the others in her pride. The only instrument she had ever taken the time to learn was a drum. She probably should have been more attentive to such things, but by the time she got to something other than the dancing her mother could teach her, she had been distracted.
That pad that had come to the pride in passing as an adol... he had distracted Mwezi quite soundly. She had thought of him often, and their chance meeting to her was more than just chance. His pride did not dance, did not sing... there had to be a reason he had met her then. She thought perhaps it might have been so that she could be inspired to bring such things to his pride, or at least to him. Music healed and soothed.
The idea of a whole pride, or even the majority of a pride, where music and dancing was not a part of everyday life, made Mwezi sad. She longed to find the male and fix this in his life. She wanted to teach him to dance, to sing, to enjoy the freedom of letting the beat carry you away. And that was where she was now, heading ever forward, in search of that male and his pride. She was determined she would find it, even if it took until she was a very old lioness. She hoped it would be sooner rather than later just because she thought the male cute, though.
It was strange to think she was having thoughts like that over a male she had only met once. It had been a while ago that they had met and she had been quite young. Barely more than a cub and he was only an adol. The fact that he had made such a wonderful impression on her was amazing to her. The more she thought about it the more impressive it really was and the more determined she was to find the male. She wanted to get to know a male that could make such a profound first impression.
Mwezi looked into the distance and grinned to herself. He could not hide from her, she was determined to find him! It was a challenge and even a bit of a game the way she had it in her mind. Hunt down the male, get to know him, try to bring the joy of dance to him and his pride. She would find a way to do it, and she would do it well! Perhaps it was just a dream she would never fulfill, but she was determined to try until her dying day. It was important to her.
She had to give herself some credit. She was determined, perhaps borderline perfectionist, and definitely stubborn. She had it in her mind that she was going to do something, and she did not see the "if it never happens, what should I do?" possibility. All she saw was the goal and a path to get to it. The time that it would take to get to it did not factor in on if she was going to do it. She would keep on that path no matter how long it took.
Mwezi chuckled at herself as she walked. Her paws would likely get sore and slow her down some, but she had a feeling it would be a long time before that happened. She was used to dancing most of the day after all. She would just have to find a spot to den for a while if her paws got too sore, and tend to them so she could continue on. It was amazing how easily her mind found ways around obstacles as soon as they came up.
The mostly grey lioness was convinced that the adventure to get to Aziz was going to be worth every moment of it. She had no doubt she would find some interesting individuals to socialize with along the way, and that there would be temptations to leave her path and let the journey unfinished. There were always temptations no matter what the path was or how badly one wished to get to the destination of the journey.
She just had faith that she would be able to hold firm in her goal and keep going. She was young, she was set, and she would likely regret it some day when she was old. She did not realize it, but many times decisions made like this one had been were not based on the whole picture. She would have to live with the fate she found at the end of her road, though. Her paws would carry her to it, no matter if it was good for her or not. They did not know the difference.
Oblivious to what the whole picture might be or even if Aziz really was as wonderful as he had seemed, Mwezi padded forward, toward her next day and next meal. If nothing else, she would be learning a good bit about hunting for herself and surviving without a pride to shelter her. Good would come of this one way or another. Her paws held strong and steady as they carried the lioness forward. They would not tire anytime soon. They might even outlast the mental endurance of the lioness.
