It was hot today. Hot and dry. Dina had been out scouting the pride's current territory with her faithful vulture, Bora, and though she had started the day full of energy and the best of intentions her body was beginning to protest. Luckily Dina didn't have to walk far, as Bora's wings did most of the work, but the lioness was further from her den and shade than she would have liked to be. "I just need to rest," she told herself as she rested back on her haunches. A drink wouldn't be bad either. Dina raised her blue eyes to the sky, scanning the horizon for any signs of her feathered companion's return.
Bora hadn't been gone from Dina's side for very long, but lately any amount of time away from the lioness worried Bora. Dina was steadily starting to slow down, the vulture had noticed, and the last thing Bora wanted was for the feline to be on her own away from her pride for very long. It had taken years for Dina and Bora to grow into working relationship, as at first it was simply a matter of convenience, but now the feathered Bora considered the lioness her greatest friend. The pale avian dipped her wings to steadily spill the air out from under her as she began to descend back towards where she had left Dina, and unsurprisingly the lioness had not traveled from that spot. Bora let a small sigh of relief that she hadn't realized she had been holding.
It could be difficult to spot Bora at times, due to the avian's pale feathers against the pale sky, but Dina managed to pick out her friend with relative ease when she came into view. The sight of the vulture brought a small smile to the lioness' maw as she went to get up from her sitting position. Really, she tried, but her legs simply refused to move underneath her. Hmph. That was inconvenient.
Chazama had grown and settled into herself throughout the years. An awkward, day dreamy, and somewhat uncertain lioness in her youth, the umzingeli had eventually learned her place in the pride. Her cubs were grown, their father gone, and yet she remained. There was a part of the lioness' heart that went out to her boys, as she had often wondered and worried about how they might be doing out in the rogue lands; but that was just part of life in the Bonelands pride. Many of her pride sisters had experienced the same thing, and it comforted Chazama to know that it wasn't just her. It would be ok. Life went on.
This day was particularly hot, the pale lioness noted idly as she stalked the tall grass for any sign of prey. In her youth she had been a terrible hunter, but experience had come with practice, and with it confidence in herself and her abilities. Chazama supposed she also had her mother to thank for this change as well, as Dina had never stopped pushing her to be better. Chazama smiled at the thought of her mother, but the smile slowly faded into a concerned frown. She hadn't seen Dina since the early hours of the morning, and the sun had turned bright and hot this afternoon. Chazama's tail twitched as the worry began to spread further throughout her mind, until she could no longer concentrate on her hunt. She too had noticed that her mother had begun to slow down lately and Chazama wondered if perhaps the older lioness had made it back to the pride yet? She cast her eyes over her shoulder, tempted to make the trip back to check on her mother.
Dina watched quietly as Bora took her time descending from the sky. The vulture always seemed to take her time in doing so, slowly circling first once and then twice before it seemed like the avian made any progress in getting closer to the ground. Dina wasn't near any trees, as that was Bora's favored perching spot, but there hadn't been any near by either. Dina kept her breath steady, though the hot air made her crinkle her nose once or twice. When the vulture was close enough, the lioness greeted her, "How fair the skies, old friend?" No need to panic. Dina just needed to take her time and her strength would return.
Bora landed ungracefully next to Dina, fanning her wings and hopping a few steps to catch her balance. Ground landings were not her favorite, as there was nothing for her powerful talons to grasp onto. "Clear as ever. nothing to report," Bora replied, rucking her mighty wings in at her sides. The vulture tilted her head to regard her feline friend, something seemed off. "And the ground?"
"Barren and hot," Dina noted, her blue eyes settling in the direction of home. How she wished to be home where she could find some shade. "Let's go home, before this sun gets any hotter." She said the words, and she meant to act on them, but try as she might the best that Dina could muster was a wobbly half-rise from her sitting position and a small stumble forward before the golden lioness slowly lowered herself to her belly against the hot earth. A reluctant sigh left her maw as she settled her chin onto the backs of her paws. "Bora, would you mind finding Chazama for me?" The question was pleasant and calm enough, though there was a hint of tiredness behind it. Still Dina was not worried, this would pass, but perhaps it would be best to fetch her daughter for some assistance.
Chazama had just made up her mind to turn around and head back home to check on her mother, when she heard a familiar cry from up in the sky. The pale lioness' ear twitched in the direction of Bora, and before she could even spot the bird up in the sky her heart gave a little twinge. Worry rooted itself in the back of her mind as Chazama fully turned to watch the white avian tightly circle above her. It wasn't the loose, lazy glide that Bora usually used to drift on the hot currents. Something wasn't right. Chazama's ears flattened against her skull as she rose fully to her paws from her crouched position. Where was Dina? The lioness' eyes hurriedly scanned the horizon, but when she could not spot Dina the lioness again turned her eyes upward. Bora screeched once more before flapping her wide, white wings to head off in a direction away from the pride.
That was all the prompting Chazama needed before she broke into a hurried lope after the great white bird. The pace was annoyingly slow, but Chazama's heart pumped heavily in her chest. She wanted to hurl questions up at Bora, but knew better then to try. The vulture had stayed relatively high in the sky, probably to cover the most ground in a quicker amount of time. What had happened then? Was Dina alright? Chazama pulled her lips back into a worried snarl, both terrified of what she might find, and absolutely infuriated at not being there yet.
It took much longer than Chazama would have liked to get to where Bora began to circle over head. In retrospect it probably hadn't had been very far from her hunting spot, but in her current state of worry every second that ticked by without knowing her mother's fate felt like an eternity. Finally Chazama spotted Dina amongst the sparse, dry grass. "Mother!" Chazama barked out, instantly panicked by her mother's stillness against the hard earth. To her relief, Dina's head shot up at the sound of her voice, and Chazama slowed her frantic sprint to an appraising lope as she looked for signs of injury on the older lioness. "What happened?" she questioned as she slowed to a halt next to her mother.
Bora hadn't been gone for long, or at least to Dina it didn't seem very long, but the lioness was feeling particularly sleepy. Her blue eyes gazed at the horizon, watching the tall, dry grass sway slightly in the hot breeze. She found herself reflecting on the life she had led, of all the cubs she had reared, and Dina smiled deeply at each of the face's she remembered. Some had been easier than others to raise, and some still worried her greatly for their future, but she had certainly been blessed. Her ears twitched at approaching paws, and she heard Chazama call out to her before her eyes focused and she saw her pale daughter standing beside her. "Hello, Chazama," Dina greeted, rather calmly.
Luckily it hadn't been too difficult to spot Chazama from the sky, and she didn't have to waste time explaining the situation. Now that they had arrived at Dina's side the vulture dipped into a quick descent, wanting to be close to her friend. Bora usually preferred to take her time landing, and would normally circle a few times before doing so, but not right now. Once she was close enough the vulture addressed the situation directly. "She could not stand," Bora explained, tucking her wings in at her side as she hopped over to Dina and Chazama.
Ah, yes. That was the problem. Dina sighed, rather annoyed at her body for causing such a fuss. "Help me up, Chazama, and we can go back to the pride together for some shade." That sounded lovely. Some nice shade away from the heat, and a good nap.
Chazama was dubious of her mother's calm, especially after Bora had informed her of her mother's condition. Couldn't stand? With some careful maneuvering, and with Chazama practically pushing her mother onto her paws, the two set off back towards the pride in silence. Chazama was too worried to speak, and Dina too tired to keep her mind focused on anything other than walking.
((Word Count: 1,661))