Welcome to Gaia! ::

The white fur of the young female's fur stuck out sharply against the dark rock of the den she shared with her family. She was the only one home right now, sitting on the nest of leaves that served as her bed, staring at her paws. Her tail curled lifelessly around said paws, the black tuft and three black rings lying a few inches in front of her. She looked... unhappy. And she had since she'd gone out on yet another one of her explorations. She'd returned with her tail between her legs - metaphorically, of course - and had refused to explain why. She hadn't cheered up yet, poor thing.

She lifted her salmon head at a sound at the mouth of the cave, the arrival of someone, her crimson eyes seeming to come back from a great distance as she focuses on the newcomer.

The pale lioness managed a weak, shaky smile of appreciation for the silent comfort, appreciation mostly for the way her younger sister kept her silence. Of her second mother, Ithi's, three cubs, Asherah was most like her in personality, if not in look. She, too, distanced herself from the others, but Ny did it in physical distance, often disappearing at sunup and not returning til sundown, perhaps even when the moon was high. She, too, was one to offer comfort in silence, if she ever decided to give it, and she also, though it wasn't often she showed it, loved the trio who had so often kept her up nights when they were younger. Even Fedha, although she'd rather swallow her tongue than tell him that.

She turned her head slightly, allowing her to nuzzle salmon fur into the black of her sister's neck, one of her rare, spur of the moment shows of affection. This time, though, it's a gesture of seeking comfort as well.

In silence, she remains like that for a few moments, before she finally whispers, "I'm so confused. I don't know what to think about..." Her sentence dies, voice only barely audible above the rustling of the leaves on which they lay and those on the trees outside.

"Yes. Yes, I have." To be honest, there's not much of these lands that she hasn't wandered over. "Not well, though. More just passing through in idle curiosity." She lifts her head from the warmth her sister's fur offered, gazing with crimson eyes toward the den's mouth.

"But I'd appreciate anything to take my mind off everything. But you know them better than I? Could you show me around them?"

With thoughts of Nyekundu still in her mind, she'd gladly walk over her most well-trodden paths, if it meant it'd distract her from remembering that horrid encounter.

It's all right being impressed with her worldliness, but don't ever tell her. Even being down in the dumps right now, her ego is quite bit enough as it is. Admiring something about her would only make it worse. But since she does eventually intend to leave this place and go on her own adventures before coming back home and settling down for good.

"Sure." She nods, rising to her feet, although not feeling particularly better, at least able to focus on something else, on this secret Asherah knew of. "Lead the way."

She had followed her sister in silence, having no will right now to make idle chitchat. Instead, she just tried to focus on her surroundings and not on her father.

Well, Ny was still small enough to fit practically through any space a cub could wiggle through, petite little beauty that she was. "What's in there?" she asks, curious, but suspecting that her question won't be answered until she actually gets in there.

Picking up on Asherah's slight mood change, she gave her a reassuring smile. Honestly, at this moment, if Asherah were to show her something as silly as a particularly twisted tree root and declare it a grand thing, Nyunya would agree, for the simple fact that looking at it and trying to figure out exactly why Asherah thought it fabulous would distract her from her thoughts.

"Well... lead the way, sister," she says, stepping back a bit so Asherah could get into the hole ahead of her.

The small female had followed her sister through the small crawl-space, for once glad of her minimal size. It made the manoeuvring much easier for her.

When she came into the tiny cave at the end, however, her vermilion eyes widened in surprise. Whatever she had expected here, this had not been it. Her jaw drops slightly as her gaze moved over the lines of light in the dark stone in wonder.

"Asherah... it's beautiful..." she breathes, wondering how on earth she'd managed to miss finding this place in all her wandering. But then again, she preferred wide-open spaces to closed-in holes, so she tended not to look for secrets within rock. It simply wouldn't have occured to her to crawl in here, even had she found the opening. And what she would have missed if Asherah hadn't shown it to her. Soon, she would be too big to fit in here - or, at least, she hoped she'd one day be that big, though it didn't look promising. She was glad her sister had brought her here.

Nyunya let silence fill the cave, aware of her sister's eyes on her, aware of her wanting to know what was troubling her so, and yet not being the type to pry with words. But her eyes were quite enough, and soon Ny found herself sighing quietly.

With her eyes half-closed and focussed on the ground at her feet, she whispers, "I went out to the Pridelands a little while ago. I found my father while I was there." She broke off here, unable, for the moment, to explain why this wasn't a good thing.