[PRP] This is Where I am Suppose to Be (Ase x Safura'nafsi)

[nessiaing]

Asenath had been travelling for awhile. She was searching she had seen where she was suppose to be, it was a pride one that was just reforming. She had thought that she had found one, the place she was suppose to be but it had been all wrong. She wasn't suppose to be in the desert no her sight had been with mountains and snow cold not hot. Asenath shook her head how could she have thought that the other place was the right place.

Now Asenath was in the snowy lands and she could see the mountain looming ahead. She was so close she thought, just had to keep going soon she would see someone that would lead her the rest of the way she just knew it.  

[hibi-tea]

Safura sat at the only opening to their pridal lands left, waiting patiently. She had waited there from sun up to sun down for about four days now and she grew tired. She was certain this was the time that the other would appear, or at least her vision showed her this time. When their pridal flowers began to bloom at the base of the mountain, the dark lions streaked like cracked rock would appear and things could begin.

Safura sighed heavily, stretching her snowy body against the deep rich earth of the forest. She loved this smell more than she loved her own existence at this point. It was home. She was home. And now all she needed to do was rebuild this home, with help of the other who was soon to come.

"This will be monumental," Safura murmured to herself, smiling slightly at the thought. "This will be right."  

[nessiaing]

Asenath came over the last ridge and she saw it, she saw where she was suppose to be. She knew that when she saw the other female waiting for her, she had been here in the vision to. That is all that Asenath knew though she was here and this was the other leader, the two of them would make things amazing.

"You've been waiting too." She said with a smile as she approached the startling white female. Asenath had known that he colour wasn't going to be what the pride was use to, but she also knew that she was exactly what the pride needed.

"My name is Asenath." she told the other female coming finally to sit right in front of her.  

[hibi-tea]

nessiaing

"Yes," Safura replied, sitting up a little straighter in the presence of her other. "I am Safura'nafsi. Welcome home, Asenath."

Safura felt like she was overflowing with excitement. She had spent months searching for old members, and convincing all she could to come back to their home. Telling them what she had seen and how things would be better, prosperous even. Now with the arrival of her other, the one who would take her place to rule next to her, she really could prove to all that what she saw was correct.

"Are you hungry, Asenath? My boys are hunting, and they should be back soon. There is so much to talk about. I am so glad you are here," Safura sighed, genuine smile across her face.

She had almost began to doubt if her vision of Asenath's arrival was in the accurate time. Visions were never perfect, and though her's had told her this was the time that Asenath would appear, it could have also been telling her that it was much farther in the future than she could dare to contemplate. So to know that it was the present, and not the far future that she was here was a heavy burden off her shoulders.  

[nessiaing]

hibi-tea

Asenath was trying to take it all in, she couldn't believe she had actually been able to find it. In the past her visions had been so unclear and hard to follow. She didn't even begin to have them until she was an adult and even then they were usually quite foggy.

It seemed though that the closer she got to the pride the clearer they had become. At first it had only been the vision of a pride she was to join, to help lead, then it became clear that there was mountains, than snowy lands and finally Safura had come into view, though she had never had the ability to know her name.

"Yes food, food would be good I have been travelling a long time." Asenath said with a calm smile. "Tell me more about your boys, and the pride?" Asenath asked her head spinning with all the possibilities and question now that she was finally in the pride.  

[hibi-tea]

nessiaing

Safura began to lead her other towards the heart of the pride, past the tall trees and deep into valley before the looking mountains. She was glad that Asenath wanted to hear more about the pride as they walked, it was a very exciting time right now. Especially with the arrival of new cubs as well as Asenath's own.

"Well, the pride is a bit scrambled right now," Safura admitted with a small sigh, "Some time ago it became very warm and the snow and ice melted quickly. It caused a flood to the river that dissects the pride, and we were all swept away or forced out by it. Not long after that, the snows fell from the mountains and covered half our valley. It refroze and became ice. We are currently trying to dig out where we can."

The digging had been a lengthy process. And there were still areas they would never be able to get back into. Old dens that would never see cubs, and favored areas covered in snow and ice that would sit pristine and glistening for years untouched.

"Many of our members migrated on and found new homes. Others had come back here waiting for more of us to show up. My sons and I were separated from their father and their siblings. I haven't seen my other son or my daughter in a really long time, or my aunt....or some of my siblings, or my mother," Safura explained. "Most of the pride were from large families. So with their scattering we've thinned out quite a bit."

She smiled sadly at this, but tried not to let her sadness show. It burdened her more than other days, but she knew she couldn't allow it to drag her down. She was doing something good by bringing the pride back together. They would be prosperous this time around, and she believe it. Especially with a god in their midsts watching over them.

"But there is good things happening! Your arrival is good, and one of our members is pregnant!" Safura exclaimed, a little teary eyed. "Jugnu is one of our most devoted members. She returned as soon as she could make it through the pass when they snows and ice began to melt. Then my Grandfather returned. He is the father of the litter, in his old age. Can you imagine? Little aunts and uncles and I am four times their age."  

[nessiaing]

hibi-tea

Asenath walked while taking in the pride, there certainly was a lot of snow and ice. It was a climate that the black and white lioness wasn't so much use to but she knew that she would adjust, her fur would thicken up and her black coat although it was not ideal in the pride's eyes it would help keep her warm when the sun was out.

When she heard that there was a pregnant lioness in the pride Asenath perked up "Cubs are a good sign, these cubs will be the first of many." Asenath said in a knowing tone.

"Tell me how many strong are we now?" Asenath knew that she was joining the pride kind of late and that many had already gathered she could see a number of them walking around the pride lands now she offered those who looked at her with curious eyes a polite smile, they would learn who she was soon enough.  

[hibi-tea]

"Right now we are between fifteen and twenty strong. It seems like old members keep popping up overnight, so it has been a little hard to keep track. And there are some who have gone out searching for others," Safura explained, slightly exasperated by the experience.

She was honestly very worried about those who kept leaving and coming back from the pridal lands. Like Ithunzi. She had grown up with Ithunzi and knew how he was beforehand. How he is now is much different in a good way. He was much more involved now, where he was rarely involved before. But his involvement and eagerness to go out and search scared her. He was out on his own most of the time, and there was always the strong possibility he might not come back.

"Many right now are family, or childhood friends. There have been some of the old blood that have cropped back up as well, which is nice to see. And of course we have our god-guest right now. We are very blessed by her presence," Safura mused.

She had a few rare moments with the goddess when she felt like coming out to see them, and she was a very kind goddess. She was also a very pretty goddess, and quiet. Safura was glad they graced them with her presence.  

[nessiaing]

Asenath nodded as she looked around, "We will keep growing." She could see curious eyes turning her way now. "It will take time but they will accept me." she mumbled more to herself than to the lioness she was walking with. She knew in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't what the expected for a leader, but they would tolerate her at first, and learn to love her in the end.

"A goddess!" Asenath exclaimed, she had not seen such a thing in her visions and it was a pleasant surprise, but now she felt even more self-conscious. "It is good that she blesses us with her presence." Asenath said with a smile.

The black and white female was getting weary now, "Is there a den I could claim?" she asked. She needed to rest, she had been having more visions than normal lately and it was taking a toll on the lioness, "After I rest I can meet more of the pride." she said with a smile.  

[hibi-tea]

"Of course," Safura answered as they rounded a thicket of tall trees into the clearing where the pride laid in the partially melted valley below them.

"As soon as I saw you in my vision, I made sure a den was picked out and prepared," Safura explained, the smell of lions and other cats wafting into the air as they traveled into the more heavily occupied area of the pridal lands.

"Our dens used to be segregated into the males, and the females and cubs, but the avalanche and flood caused most of the dens to be permanently sealed. So we started allowing people to pick out their dens and claim them for their families," She said, stopping by a large rock formation with what looked like caves at the base that ascended upwards on slopes.

"Yours is marked with our pride's flower, Asenath. To welcome you. If it's too small, or you'd like a place higher up the side of the ridge, you're welcome to pick whichever one you'd like. I figured you'd be tired when you got here, so I made the boys clean one up for you," She smiled, as she motioned toward the den with flowers sprouting from the ground in front of it. "When you've rested, just follow the stream. It will bring you to a clearing where our shrine is. We'll all be there. We are going to celebrate Jugnu's pregnancy and see if the Goddess would like to join us. Rest well, Asenath. Welcome home."

Safura smiled again before she left Asenath to rest. Things would be good now. She could feel it.