Tsillah rolled over, expecting to nudge against Utako. To her surprise, she rolled into nothing but air. Her eyes opened up and she glanced around the cave, but the large lion was no where in sight. For a moment, she found herself worried. The feeling quickly passed though, when she remembered who it was that she was worried about. He can take care of himself, she thought as she stretched. The lion was large enough to scare off most.

She made her way to the entrance and glanced around. Fresh paw prints headed down the mountain. With a slightly annoyed sigh, she followed his tracks.

When she saw him, he was laying next to the pond, one of his paws in the water.

“You left the den quietly.” She stated as she laid next to him Utako gave her a playful grin before splashing water toward her. She shook her head to try and dry off. Without hesitation, she stuck her own paw in the water and splashed him back. He let out a loud laugh and shook his own massively fluffy head.

“We could spend all day splashing each other. Or we could start making headway on our next destination.” He said before sitting up straight.

Tsillah furrowed her brow. “Next destination? What do you mean?” She asked.

He raised one of his eyebrows. “Hm. Yesterday you offered to let me travel with you. Said that you could use the company. You aren't retracting that offer are you?”

“No, you can tag along, I don't care.” She stumbled through her words, trying to figure him out. “I just didn't think we would be heading out so soon. You have hardly had time to really think about leaving. This is your home isn't it. The last of a long line of lions who have lived here. I thought it would be a bigger deal for you to leave.”

“It probably should be. But to be honest I have as much attachment to this place then any other place I have visited.” He stated.

“Visited? No- you told me that you were born and raised here?” Tsillah said, raising her voice. She glowered at the lion in front of her.

“I figured if we are going to travel together that maybe I owe you some honest answers. After I tell you everything, I'll let you decide if you want to travel with me or not.” He explained.

She didn't like this one bit. He lied to her. For what reason? Were the last couple days with him a complete waste of time. “Why would you spend all that time lying to me? What is the point?” Her voice was quieter, but more harsh. It did not seem to affect him though.

“I enjoy telling stories. Sometimes they are mine, and sometimes they are from another time. This case, I got inspiration from a very small group who lived here. They were told by a god that they would be prosperous if they lived here. Things didn't really end up well for them as you can see.” He said, slowly standing up and heading toward his den. “They only survived for three generations before the smart ones left for better lands. The ones who stayed just ended up starving during one of the dry seasons.”

“Did you just make up the language on the walls or-”
Utako did not give her the chance to finish her question. “I was taught it a long time ago. Everything I taught you about the writing on the walls was accurate. There is a pride I want to take you to that can use what you have learned and document it so that it doesn't get disappear like the rest of the pride.” He explained as he continued toward the mountain. Tsillah was not far behind him.

“Is your name really Utako or did you make that up as well?” She asked.

“Eh, well my name used to be longer, but for as long as I remember I have always gone by Utako.” He said, looking back at he with a cheeky grin. They started up the path leading to his den.

Tsillah gave him a questioning look. “So if the pride or group that was here died off years ago, why is your name on the wall? If what you are telling me is true, then it is an awful big confidence that your name would be on the wall. Or did you just add your name to the wall?”

Utako did not answer her question right away, but allowed them to finish their walk in silence. When he reached his den, he stood in front of the wall she was referring to. “Since I have been staying here I have not edited the wall in anyway. To be honest, I was surprised when I saw the first time and I had to piece together exactly what had happened to the group. When I first met them I was still fairly young. I made a mistake by bragging about my powers and it ended up with the death of the lions who lived here.”

Tsillah stared at him at first with confusion, then realization. “Are you saying that you are a god?” She said before letting out a loud laugh. Quickly she turned away from him so she wasn't laughing directly at him. “That is a good one. You had me for a moment Utako. But you? A god? Even if I believed that gods existed I could not believe that you would be allowed to be a god.”

He rolled his eyes and sat beside her. “I have never been laughed at by a mortal like that. It definitely stings my pride.”

She looked over at him just as he transformed from a regular lion to his god form. Large brown wings sprouted from his back. On his head, two horns appeared. He grew larger in size, making her step back. All she could do was stare in awe.

“So still don't believe me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her mind went raising. There were so many questions she had for him. She had no clue where to even begin. She just stared up at him dumbfounded. So much of what he said was a lie, she just assumed he was lying about being a god. Her whole life she told herself that gods did not exists, but now she had one in front of her and she had no idea what to do about it.

“Why don't we head out and if you have any questions, I'll answer them on the way.” He said, changing back to his normal lion appearance. She gave a sigh of relief when he reverted. His other form was too much.

“I will travel with you for a little bit. I won't go to that other pride with you though until you tell me more about it. From here on out you need to be honest to me. If I find out you are lying about anything I am going to ditch you and you can travel alone. Do you understand.” Tsillah said as soon as she regained her confidence. She stared him in the eyes.

“Of course Tsillah you have my word.”

WC: 1,229