Jendayi Maat - -_Wish of the Goddess_-
&
Elua - Das Tor
Elua was still weak, but she was doing better. She'd never experienced so much HEAT in one place, so much exposure...The cheetah shivered a bit as she made her way to the drinking water. She never wanted to be that exposed again. It was...terrifying. Very, very terrifying. And it was the first time in her life she realized how close she'd come to death. If Naamah (she still didn't think Rutu suit the lioness) and her mother hadn't found her...she would be dead. Dead, and picked clean by scavengers. She was very, very glad she'd been found. She could return to her family, her friends, once she was ready to travel.
Jen had been wandering back to see her sister and mother, curious as to how they were doing, when something strange caught her eye. The young lioness turned, her paws slowly pressing into the earth, carefully, the white nearly blending, as she made her way to stand before the female. She smelled like her mother...and her sister....which meant they'd likely been taking care of her. "Heatstroke?" Her word was a bit slurred, indicating something off about her, as her eyes were trained on the cheetah's maw, instead of anywhere else.
Elua blinked, looking to the lioness before she could get a drink. Oh! Well, the first lion in this place she'd met aside from Naamah and Kilalanungu! She bore the same base color as Naamah, and had a very similar scent to the two females she knew. Smiling, Elua nodded to her. "Hello there!" What an odd, pretty girl. (It seemed pretty was a genetic trait in this family!)
The nod helped....It told her that the female had indeed suffered heat stroke, "Horrible...easy to do...." She murmured softly, sitting slowly, "Hello." She knew the word from the form on the Cheetah's mouth, "'m Jendayi Maat." She purred out, curiously.
She had...such an odd speech pattern. Elua had not heard anything like it befo-wait. Wait. Yes she had. Once. Oh! She shifted so the other would better be able to see her muzzle. "A pleasure, Jendayi Maat. I am Elua. Your mother and sister found me in the desert and have been helping me get better."
The female nodded slowly, "They're good lions." Her response was soft, well worded despite her hearing condition. Genlty letting her claw trace a pattern in the sand, the femme tried her hardest to listen to this odd creature.... She was really stunning..if not a bit odd. Something seemed different about her.
Elua chuckled, a paw moving to pat Jendayi's cheek. "I am certain you are a good lion as well. Families are often alike in many ways, at their cores." Though...she couldn't help but wonder something. "Have you any other siblings as well?" Naamah hadn't told her much about her family. Or life within the pride, really.
She blinked as the female patted her cheek. That was..a nice feeling, "Many siblings." she answered, her pale tail flicking back and forth, "Large litter." Her words were short, and the slur seemed far too obvious as she let herself relax slightly, "Much going on."
Elua smiled brightly. "So lucky! To have such a large family. Is there a lot of love? You and your sister and mother seem the sort to hold a lot of love in your hearts." And love was EVERYTHING. Without love, there was nothing. All was dust without it.
"Love. Lots of, yes." She answered, purring softly, her eyes soft, "I am glad for. Family love good." She seemed a bit sad though, her ears drooping back slightly.
Elua picked up on the sadness, and her ears went back. Oh..."What's wrong?" She reached her paw out again to tilt the lioness' head up. "What weighs your heart and pretty face down?"
Those blue eyes studied Elua's face for a moment before she took a slow breath, her paw moving over her ear, "....I....No love for me. Not other than family." She murmured. It hurt her that she'd never truly find love, or at least she didn't think she would. Not with how her hearing was going.
Elua blinked...then frowned. "Now that's just gnu-s**t." The paw she'd used to tilt the other's head up went to bat Jendayi's ear. "There is always love, you need only be open to it. It sometimes comes from unexpected sources, but it is always out there, waiting and searching." She grinned. "I, for one, love you. Perhaps not in the way you mean, but I love that you are pretty, that you love your family the way you do, that you're sweet."
She gave Elua a sweet, tired smile, licking her paw, and leaning her muzzle into Elua's paw. "I hope so." She enjoyed the other's kind words, happy that someone was giving it to her. It was nice, "You're nice." She murmured, quietly, laying down against the sand.
Elua laid so that the other could still see her speaking. "If you'd like...perhaps we could talk with your mother, and you could come and see what I mean? Meet others who will love you, perhaps even find someone who will love you the way you want?" Everyone deserved to know love that came from the bottom of one's heart.
This piqued the female's curiousity, her pretty blue eyes opening wide, and her ears going up, "I....like that." She murmured, "Sounds nice." She would be fully grown soon, and getting to visit this place....this magical place that Elua was talking about....The idea made Jen very happy. If she could find someone to love her...to treat her the way she wanted....It would be perfect.
Elua smiled brightly. "It's not any one place...my group travels many places. But...I think you will like the creatures we meet. We always meet nice sorts, full of open hearts and minds. Perhaps among them, you might find what you're looking for."
Her tail flicked back and forth, her paws helping her to a standing position. She smiled at Elua, bowing her head politely, "Thank you. Will travel. Want to." It sounded amazing to young Jen, getting out...seeing the world...finding love everywhere....It would be perfect. She gave Elua a happy grin, "Will send mother by with more."
