[PRP] The Meeting of Gentle Souls

[Asparegus]

Moyenda was with Muroki's little troupe because of someone who had become very special to him, the white lioness Safiya. Very slowly was he coming to even meeting and getting to know the other members. The largest surprise he had discovered was that his niece, Laini, was a member of the group. He had not seen her for months and had not expected to see her ever again.

Moyenda padded slowly to the stream they had stopped nearby. It was dusk and everyone was settling down to rest but he just needed a quick moment to readjust his thoughts. They always seemed so close to bursting out of him and his feelings along with them. He liked Safiya, really liked her, and it was hard to keep from overly expressing such. He took a drink from its shallow waters and then took the time to gaze into it.  

[Tahja Estes]

They'd picked up a small number of recruits and new members since starting this journey, Moyenda being the most noticeable since he was the only male besides Johari's mate. Two mated pairs and one single lioness traveling now, surely safe in their numbers, but she hadn't spoken to many of them yet.

Johari was seeking to fix that, especially since these were her future pride mates.

"Excuse me... Moyenda.... isn't it?" She questioned softly, staying behind him so as not to seem threatening, or to startle. "How are you fairing...?"  

[Asparegus]

Moyenda lifted his head carefully and looked over his shoulder, his eyes widened in a "huh" sort of expression. "Yes, I'm Moyenda. And you're... Johari?" She was something special in the traveling group. Unlike Laini, he didn't have a way to figure it out, only an intuition. Every lioness in the group owed something to Muroki so he could not pin-point like Laini either. But he treated her with respect as he did everyone in the group. It was almost reflex now.

"I'm doing quite well, thank you," he replied cheerfully. "Have you come for some water? I don't mean to seem like I'm hogging it all for myself." He laughed lightly at his own small, little joke.  

[Tahja Estes]

"Not at all." Johari had a small laugh at that, padding closer once she was sure he was alright with her presence. "Nice to meet you officially, Moyenda." She inclined her head in a polite greeting, joining him at the water's edge then to lower into a comfortable crouch, lapping at the liquid with her large tongue.  

[Asparegus]

He sat next to her, looking down at her as she drank. "Nice to meet you too ...officially" he replied with a laugh at the last part. He decided for the sake of being social to venture a question. "So how do you know Muroki?" He thought it a safe question, no uncomfortable answers expected or resistance to answering. Sure, he hadn't joined because of him but it seemed like everyone else had?  

[Tahja Estes]

Johari waited until she'd swallowed her water before attempting to answer, sitting up as well so that she could face Moyenda politely in doing so.

"He was a member of my birth pride, that's where we met... we're.... well, engaged now." She smiled as happy as any soon to be wife could be, maybe more so if it were possible. She couldn't help the expression either, it simply molded itself onto her face at the thought of it. She didn't say what that made her, not wanting to assume he couldn't figure it out, nor wanting to really say it out loud. Somehow it still felt... sort of arrogant to go around stating a title like that so loosely, because she truly wasn't in it for the rank, she was in it for Muroki and the friends that she'd made in Kainda, Laini, and Safiya, and now Moyenda as well.  

[Asparegus]

Engaged? Marriage? It was an idea very new to Moyenda but an idea that went with the Dawnwalker pride. And, he admitted, it was a wonderful idea, being bonded to someone forever, to always have a family. Another lion might find it a stress but he did not. And a good thing too. For Safiya would surely want nothing less and Mo was eager to please.

"Congratulations!" he exclaimed. "That sounds really lovely, actually!" he hoped to himself that he didn't sound too feminine with that statement.  

[Tahja Estes]

"Thank you..." Johari flushed, though one couldn't tell since, technically lions didn't blush per say. "It's going to be a long battle though, with the vultures... I wonder how many there are, if the rumors are true about the slaves they're keeping." Johari set her lips in a line, but otherwise refused to loose hope in her stance, looking at the horizon again towards which they'd been traveling. "I can't help but wonder..."  

[Asparegus]

Moyenda made a face of displeasure at the mention of vultures and followed her gaze to the horizon. "Indeed it will probably be intense. Hopefully, though, we won't be the only ones. If not for finding pride members in hiding then maybe we might be able to meet some slaves alone, not being watched at the moment, and bring some onto our side to help and thus free themselves."

He looked back down at a paw in the dirt and then at the stream. "We can do it, though." Such a statement might have been greater had he known that he'd be fighting for a home for future little ones.  

[Tahja Estes]

"We will." She stated, soft, but firm, with a nod of confirmation. "For future generations as well as our own."

She was sure of that much. She wouldn't let Muroki's dreams die again. They'd rekindle the pride and it would flourish, and it would be a wonderful place to make home, for their children to call home, to grow up and play and be healthy and happy as it had been once before, she was sure, as it was supposed to be, rather.  

[Asparegus]

He smiled more to himself than to his audience. They shared a similar dream. Even if at first each wished for something separate, they had changed, evolved, to have the similar goal to achieve. It was a bond that tied them all together and made each one he met feel like a kindred spirit to himself.

Suddenly he had a thought. "I know it's rather late but I don't think anyone's really eaten anything all day. What say you to that we make it our special mission to find them something tonight?" he suggested.  

[Tahja Estes]

The female glanced over again from where she sat, eyes flickering just briefly before she agreed whole heartedly.

"That sounds like a great idea, Moyenda! Let's see what we can find, I'm sure the rest of them will appreciate it." And she still had some energy to burn after the past few days. She rose to her paws again and gave a languid stretch to wake her muscles before they set out on their trek. "Anything in particular you feel up to bringing down, before we go searching?"  

[Asparegus]

"Something that can't kill me in a fit of rage?" he joked. In actuality, he was quite serious. While he had gotten some help on hunting techniques, he was still only average or below on most occasions. He hoped she wouldn't mind ...or maybe that it would be one of those rare occasions where he did well.  

[Tahja Estes]

As un-queenly as some might see it, Johari giggled.

"No bison or wild boars then." She winked, turning to follow a faint trail of zebra that they'd probably passed some time ago. "Zebra it is... they should be getting ready to rest for the night so we shouldn't have any trouble picking one off."  

[Asparegus]

He grinned back at her comment and nodded appreciatively. "Very good! I always did like Zebra." This would be his first time hunting with someone who wasn't trying to help his pathetic self out. He hoped it turned out well. He looked over his shoulder back at the "camp" as if to reassure himself the others were still there and weren't in fact going anywhere soon, not that he could be a hundred percent sure on that anyway.