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Kailayna had been traveling for awhile now, along the borderlands of a pride that smelt... strange. The plain smell of the land, just something about it, made her believe that something was wrong there. Her nose wasn't good enough to know that it was a disease, but it was good enough to know something was sick within, so as she crossed the land, she had remained at what smelled like their borders. With swampland on the other side of the land that she was traveling, at the present, she hadn't yet had a chance to turn away and give it further berth.

She was headed towards the mountains she could see in the distance, hoping the klipspringers might populate it and give her a good meal. Lately all she had been able to manage were rabbits and other small creatures, and she longed to sink her teeth into some bigger flesh.

The lioness sighed softly, glad her search for food wasn't an immediate need, as it was nearing mid-day and she was much more inclined to want a nap than to hunt. In fact, the thought of a break in mind, despite the proximity of the strange smelling land to one side of her, she decided to find a suitable rock to lay on and sun, her dark coat standing out starkly from the gray and blue rock. Kai lounged, thinking of the goddess she had met very recently that had been able to coax gemstones from rocks such as this, and wondering about other gods, and what they might look like, thinking that they must all be beautiful, or at least impressive.

Kai heard before she saw Mlinzi, which was rather ironic, considering that he was blind. A crunch of his paws on dry brush is what claimed her attention, her ears swiveling but her head not immediately turning. When she heard another crunch, however, her eyes turned up and so did her head.

.....What was this heading for her? Kai had never seen such a snow-white lion before, or lioness, in all her life. She ought not to think it so strange, since she herself was the color of a shadow in the dark, but she did. His appearance was strange to her, especially since as he moved closer, she could see that he was not just snow-white in this green and brown landscape, but that there were patterns of rainbow lines on his face and his back. She couldn't remember having ever seen something so striking aside from the goddess with the antlers that she had met only recently.

Kai stood on her rock, giving her a better vantage, and her scent blew towards the newcomer lion. She could tell which way the wind was blowing, and knew her scent would carry to him, but she didn't care. She was intriguiged by his appearance. He was so lovely... was it possible he was a god? But there was a strange swagger to his step that made her doubt it. And he wasn't overly large.

Still, she was curious who he was. But she resolved to wait to speak until he was closer, or had seemed to notice her, which didn't appear to be the case yet.

Kai tipped her head to the side in confusion at the lion's words. What was he talking about? She hadn't said a word yet it was like he was replying to her... How was that possible? Unless he head read her mind and was answering her thoughts, if he was a god, that was certainly possible... Bomamadini had told her there was a god or goddess of everything so she was sure there were gods who could read minds... but yet there hadn't been any particular thought she'd had that he could have replied to with that.

Was he then talking to himself? But why think aloud like that? She supposed there were stranger things, but at the moment, like trying to remember a lion who had a more starkly striking coloration, she couldn't think of any. Kai cocked an eyebrow, wondering what he was thinking about, to say something like that.

"Uhm... are you... alright? That was an odd thing to say...." she decided to speak, since he had noticed her, hopping down off the rock she had previously been laying on and approaching him slowly. He didn't seem dangerous, and she didn't want to be afraid of him, so though she was cautious as always, she didn't shy back.

Kai tipped her head to the side, taking in the lion's confused words. There seemed to be something wrong with him, now that she got closer. He looked confused, smelled a touch strange, and was certainly unsteady on his feet. Was he sick? Poisoned perhaps? Poison usually caused collapse though, and it didn't seem like this lion was close to collapse. Her considerations about him being a god were certainly doing that however. He was normal sized - for a lion - and didn't seem to have any supernatural abilities she had seen.

Kai barked out a laugh after jerking back slightly in surprise at the lion's shout. "I'm an odd thing to say?" She laughed again, she couldn't help it, his words were too absurd! "What does that even mean? You're right, it doesn't make any sense."

Blinking at the paw suddenly pointed at her, Kailayna furrowed her brow in concern. "....You, well I know we're strangers, but you were acting oddly... are you alright?"

Kai wondered if the laugh was in response to her own, but honestly she couldn't tell because of the odd state the lion seemed to be in. Whatever was wrong with him - if there was something wrong - seemed to be effecting his mind. Or, for all she knew, he was always this way. Although that seemed most unlikely.

"Yes... I was serious..." her words intersected the white lion's as he spoke them, and she giggled again. Even if though it seemed something was wrong, this guy was amusing. Kai was defintely convinced that he was most likely not a god however, and thinking herself silly for ever thinking that was the case in the first place. "Well, am serious, I mean." she amended.

Oh, he had someone with him! When she learned this, Kai visibly relaxed. It wasn't her duty or obligation to take care of the lion, and someone else was with him, but apparently lagging behind, that could take care of him. But he sounded uncertain about it... That was a little strange.

"Ah, yes, sorry... my name is Kailayna. What's yours?" the smile offered her drew out one in return almost immediately. Oh, he had a lovely smile... but up close, she could see that he was squinting oddly, and his eyes never seemed to focus completely, like he was having trouble with his vision. "Can.... you see alright? Is something wrong with your eyes?" She stepped closer, worried a little more. If he was blind, he certainly needed assistance.

Kai herself sneezed at the sudden puff of dust that was abruptly blow up by the lion's descent to the ground. She hadn't been expecting him to suddenly just... lay down like that. Happily though during all the flopping and sneezing anf flying dust that occurred between them, she procured the white lion's name. Between sneezes at least. "Nice to meet you, Mlinzi. At least I think so."

"Uhm..." Kai was taken aback by his sudden confusion and upset. What was wrong? Had she offended him? She hadn't a clue, honestly. There was defintely something strange about the lion's pale eyes... maybe he was only partly blind? "Oh, well... I suppose that makes sense..."

It really didn't, but she didn't feel like saying so. Maybe, probably, it was a touchy subject for the white lion. If he was half blind, she could understand why it was. Maybe whatever had caused it was associated with some shame in the other's mind. She had no way to know, but decided not to press the issue.

"I...I could smell the scent of something... off in the land beyond, but with the swamp bog so close on the other side, I couldn't move off and put more distance between myself and the scent. I was planning to further on." She paused momentarily. So there was disease in that land... she hoped it had nothing to do with what was happening to the lion in front of her. If so, she might need to back off, and quickly.

"I don't have a death wish, no... I've just been traveling, I didn't notice the smell until I couldn't turn away. Are.... you sick? I couldn't catch something from you, could I?" she took a precautious step back "Is that why you're acting strange?"

Kai stared at the white lion for what seemed like a long time. She watched the shifting emotions pass over his face, one like he was deep in thought, another like he was confused, and finally one more like he'd had a most excellent idea come to mind. Figuring maybe she had said a little more than he was able to take in, she kept silent as the minutes passed and he reflected silently. In amusement, she started to count out how long it had been, but she only got about to five minutes before he finally spoke again. The entire time she had been patient, but yes, the look of concern had never left her features.

"Ah, I see...." Kai knew that diseases traveled by different methods, some violent, such as whatever afflicted the white and pale rainbow lion, and some more silent, such as breath. She was much relieved to find out that this disease traveled by a way that wouldn't be easy for her to contract unless she was attacked. It much eased her mind.

Surprise momentarily graced her features at being called a shadow. Years ago, when she was only a cub, her younger sister had called her that.... At least until they had been raided in the night by lions who killed her brothers as well as her sister, so far as she knew. Being called Shadow... it filled her heart with both a sad longing and a happiness. "My sister used to call me Shadow......Actually she would never call me by my name."

"Oh, I understand now... so you ate a strange plant... I hope you didn't poison yourself... your body doesn't hurt, does it?" She moved closer to him, no longer afraid of contracting his illness because of his disclosure of how it might spread, and sniffed at his mane, trying to detect the scent of death, and did not. This close, she did smell the strange scent that was the illness she's smelled from the land, and a faint odor of odd flowers, perhaps - maybe what he had eaten? - but not death. "You don't smell like you're dying, at least...."

"T-thank you..." Kai felt herself blush at the compliment. No one had ever told her she had a beautiful name before... Some had admired her coat for its simplicity, but none had ever complimented her name... it seemed odd, but then, the lion in front of her seemed odd. Though she found she liked that, and had, really, from the moment she saw him. And certainly none had ever called her alluring before!

"An honorable profession... wanting to help people that way... you seem like you're a kind soul..." A purr escaped her throat, and she tried not to laugh at the way that he wobbled when he stood. "I'm glad you're not dying now... I'm glad I met you...."

Kai didn't look away when the lion's light milky eyes met hers. It seemed impossible that he could see, but he was looking right into her own eyes. His third compliment in only a few minutes elicited another deep purr from her throat. "Thank you...." Unabashedly she rubbed her cheek against the underside of Mlinzi's neck into his mane, whispering seductively. "Let's make good use of the time you have left...."