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The dark cheetah femme was also wandering this fine afternoon, enjoying the light breeze as it tickled through her dark purpleish fur. Her lighter purple eyes closed for a short while as she walked, sure-footed even with the brief loss of sight, before taking a deep breath and opening her eyes again with a little smile. She'd had a rocky week, but finally things were looking up again for her.

It was then that the sound of someone speaking caught her ears, and they perked and swivelled in the direction of the voice - young, it sounded. She spied the silvery lioness then, her curiosity piqued as she clearly heard the female discussing with herself the meaning of family. This young female didn't know? Then she must not have one. Zakiya sighed. How many more homeless youngsters would she come across? First Korou, then Tama... now this young female, it seemed. Each one pulled at her heartstrings.

As she was already in the lionesses line of vision anyway, Kiya altered her direction slightly and began meandering slowly toward the rock the female was perched on. She really couldn't help this impulse. It was instinct to the cheetah to help those who needed it, if she could.

With a smile on her maw, Kiya came to a stop when the little silver lioness did, slowly lowering herself to a seated position as she watches the femme with those kind light purple eyes of hers. She could tell the she was nervous, and a bit frightened, which was unsurprising to the older cheetah. Her size and age were often intimidating to smaller creatures that inhabited these lands, and for some reason her dark fur was, too, although she'd never understood why.

"Hello," she replies calmly, in that smooth, soothing, mothering voice that she seems to use, by habit, on younger creatures, especially those of the feline quality. It had helped to calm many youngsters she'd met on her travels, so perhaps it would have the same effect on the little lioness. She felt better herself when others felt at ease around her.

Zakiya shook her head from side to side, although her eyes never left the silver lioness. "No, child, I'm not trying to trick you." That was one thing Zakiya would never do. She'd never even dream of it. She's too kind.

At Safura's compliment, her smiled widened. "Why, thank you, my dear. Your fur is very beautiful, too," she murmurs, nodding towards the silver coat of the young femme. "Look how it shines in the sunlight. It's very beautiful indeed."

The dark femme had to laugh at this female's energetic speech, and its ceaslessness. It was quite amusing to the female, who'd run across a young wild dog pup and her mother, both of whom spoke in a way that was not completely normal - especially in the case of the pup - and it brought back amusing memories.

As the femme finally quieted down, Zakiya thought back over all she said, to try and answer all the questions the little lion had put forth. "My name is Zakiya. It's nice to meet you, Safura. Kor? I assume you mean Korou. I take it he's a friend of yours? I carry his scent because he lives with me. Yes, I can run like Korou, but I've never climbed a tree. I've never wanted to, really." There. She thought she'd answered everything.

Again, the rush of information was amusing to Zakiya, and she even went so far as to shake her head lightly. She could tell that this would be an interesting conversation with the little lioness. And it amazed her that she could keep up with it, too. She must have learned to follow things at a faster pace over a short time; not surprising, since she had Korou and Tama with her, and both could be rather energetic.

"Yes, I have nickname, but I haven't been called it in ages. It's Kiya. Yes, I'm Korou's adopted mother, and his adopted brother is called Tama. Hinotama."

At the last question, however, she sobered a little. How can one describe exactly what a family is? Instead of trying to answer the near impossible question, she instead says softly, "One day, you'll be surrounded by others you care about deeply, whether it's a group that takes you in and shelters you, or a mate and cubs of your own, and then you'll understand what a family really is. What 'family' means is different for everyone, Safura." She pauses, then adds, "When you have your family, you'll know it by instinct, and you'll have the answer to your question."

"Yes, you can call me Kiya," she says, smiling. "For me, family means everyone I care about, whether related by blood or not. That doesn't necessarily mean anything as simple as Mother, Father and myself. I never knew my father, and my mother and sister were taken from me when I was very young. Only me and my brother were left after that, and for a time, my whole idea of family was shattered. I'd gone from having what I thought was a big family to just having my brother. It was a while before I learned that, for me, family was what I made it by caring about others and being cared about in return." She shrugs elegantly.

As Safura looked into her eyes, so close she could see her reflection in the little femme's crimson orbs, Kiya let out a little laugh. "Thank you, Safura. You have very pretty eyes, indeed, as well as fur. But I must say that I agree that your eyes are prettier, sparkling magically in the light like that." She grins, and then continues speaking. "Korou is... fine," she murmurs, deciding not to recount Korou's little graveyard adventure to the young female just yet, if at all. "I was hunting, yes, and enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet before I found any prey beast worth taking down. You haven't been able to find food, though? Have you not had much practice with hunting?" She never meant the question to be rude, of course. Safura was young, so it wasn't such an outrageous assumption. Still, even if Safura didn't have much experience hunting, Kiya could hardly teach her, as she would offer to do with a cheetah of the same age. The hunting habits and skills of lions and cheetahs were vastly different. Teaching Safura to hunt like a cheetah wouldn't help the little lioness much.

She forgot about everything else the young lioness had said when Safura asked her to show her how she hunted. It wasn't the best idea to do this for Safura; it cuold very well give the young femme the illusion that she could run as fast as Kiya could, and hunt in the manner of a cheetah. Safura had to continue teaching herself how to hunt properly, to perfect a technique that worked for her.

With a little sigh, Zakiya says, "I can't teach you, if that's what you want me to do. I can make a kill for you if you're hungry, but that's all, I'm afraid. It would do you no good to try and learn how to hunt like me. You have to carry on teaching yourself, sweetheart."