[PRP] Saying goodbye for now - Muroki/Kainda [/finished]

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In the end, Kainda couldn’t bear to say goodbye to all of them. She’d grown pretty fond of Johari and Laini and Safiya – they were a good trio of lionesses. No finer in the wolf’s opinion. She was glad they were to be Clan… And so she waited for her own great cat, Muroki, to come alone to her temporary den in the small jungle alone. For saying goodbye to them all would have been too much for her to actually leave, but how could she just leave her bonded?

She lay curled up inside her hollow tree, head on her paws and bright eyes closed. This evening she day dreamt as she waited for the possible visit. The last of the sun just about reached her through the thick leafy canopy, and the soft light behind her eyelids made her remember a much brighter light. Sunshine hot as liquid gold; the shimmer of the desert, the feel of baking back but cool legs and flanks as you waded through the deep oasis…the fuss of mother’s tongue and a touch of her teeth when Kainda didn’t pay attention to her lessons. Her bedtime stories mingled with her hopes or a nicer ending. A great Temple, it’s beauty and richness, once blotted out now by ugly glossy wings, now won once more by her and her companions (she paying a heroic part).

And they all lived happily ever after….  

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Muroki spent most of his last few days in the Unity Walker lands visiting his favourite places and musing on days past and days to come. He’d be genuinely sorry to leave the pride that took him in, the birthplace of his beloved and the inspiration for the new attempt to revive his real pride. The rest of his time was split between visiting the girls. Laini, his best friend, Safiya, the surprise, Johari, his love…and Kainda.

At this point he spent as much time with his wolf as he did with Johari! Of course, it was early days between him and his mate, but Kainda was very important to him too. As close as a lover, though the bond was completely platonic. It was still surprising how easily and instinctively they understood each other. Every gesture of a slender paw, the flick of those amusingly elongated ears of hers – Muroki knew what it meant. He even had started to grasp just how important her sense of smell was to Kainda who seemed to rely on it more than he did his own.

Speaking of his bond with the wolf, that’s whom he was just approaching now. Curled up in her scrape, dreaming but –  

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- she was not really asleep, for all her imaginings. Curled up, mostly relaxed, there was still a part of Kainda that was alert. After all, she had been waiting for Muroki to visit and he wasn’t the only creature in this small jungle. It wasn’t quite ‘sleeping with one eye open’. More like with one ear twitching. As soon as she heard light paw steps on the loamy ground, she raised her head and checked with her eyes. Already a springbok had awoken her then sprung away swiftly as she barked a warning. These were heavier steps however, nothing sneaky and with the weight of a great cat behind them

So she was getting to her paws and stretched when Muroki called, and Kainda trotted the last few lengths to meet him.

“Muroki, what a pleasant surprise~”  

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She’d been waiting, he thought, as he laid his head lightly along her neck, purring as she buried her face in his mane. Her shaggy coat sometimes made the gangly creature seem bigger than she was. It was like ‘hugging’ a skinny adolescent lion.

“Well met, little sister.” Muroki purred as they parted once more, only to lie down nearby. As his body curved one way, she curved hers the other way, creating a circle. The Dawnwalker mused for a moment that this was almost the O of protection two females made around cubs at a birthing, save that their heads faced the same away.

“How are you?”  

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“Well enough when alls said and done. You and your lady going to get hitched yet?’ She instantly teased, for she could smell the scent of the sandy-gold female on his fur. They must have gone for a walk together again, or maybe they even shared a den…Kainda did not ask. She only joked, and left her bonded up to his own devices with Johari now she’d got the ball rolling for them.

“Kainda!” he growled, raising his lips a bit as he said it, displaying his fangs, as if in warning. She giggled, and they kept jesting with each other for a while. He embarrassed her mentioning ho she’d been in heat the other moon-month and had refused to come out of her den for fear of marauding male wolves. She joked about his new relationship with Johari and how the pitter-patter of little paws was expected of a royal couple.

Things too embarrassing to laugh about with just anyone else. Then came going over the plan, Kainda marking out the curve of a river here in the loam, making a deep pawprint to represent lowlands there. Having travelled all the way from her birthplace to find him, her recollections helped bolster his own recollections from his travels. And of course there was Kainda’s own route to go through one last time….  

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“By that new moon, three sunrises in, we should be about here.” Muroki tapped the spot on their ‘map’ delicately with a claw. “The lionesses and myself will need a day or twos rest…as will anyone else we find along the way.”

“If I don’t meet you there, you’ll follow the sunrise so you remain on a straight path until here, right? I can find you that way.” Kainda sighed. Even with her path curving in and out of the lion’s, much of the journey would be alone save for those she led back to them. If there were any to lead back anyway.

“You’ll be alright, dear one?” He turned his golden eyes on her at the sigh. Poor dear. He wished more than anything they had an avian ally to send with her. Or a better yet a cheetah scout. Anything so he could ensure her safety while he led the females and looked after them. Muroki felt horribley responsible for them all. And if anything happened o his bonded because he was asking her to do this task…
 

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“I’ll be fine!” She chirped, turning on a bright smile. She knew as well as she did it was more cheerful that the truth alone. But Kainda wanted to do this. Really. They needed someone to try to rally others and find other lost Dawnwalkers. And honestly, she was the most expendable. She was no lion, so was less use in a fight – while she could sneak better with her smaller form and run swifter on her long legs that they could. She also had travelled more recently than any of them. Her experience would serve her well.

It was her duty and she wanted it, no matter if it took her from her friends. It just made parting a bit more difficult that was all.  

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"I'm sure you will be. Besides, you won't be going for a while and we can work on the plans some more so that they're perfect." Muroki's tail tip twitched, still a bit anxious. At least they'd sort it out so it was as good as it could possibly be, and they had time.

"Actually, I'm leaving tonight." She offered a smile, going for confidence. Really, she felt okay about the journey. Kainda knew the risks and was fine with them. It was just actually going...

"Bu-"

"But nothing." Taking in his reproachful look, knowing he was joking, she added "You're not a king who can order me to wait yet. We've gone over the plans and barely changed them for ages."

"...true. You're sure then? Really?"

"Yes. I've itchy paws. I want to go, now, while I actually feel like traveling. And I think it'll be an advantage. If I sneak out alone at night, without everyone saying bye, then those two remaining vultures watching for you won't notice me."  

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"How soon tonight? And did you just come up with that on the spot? About the vultures." Her left ear had twitched back just a tad, which Muroki had learnt meant she was not being entirely truthful.

"Soon. And yes. But it's true."

"...Fancy a game of tag, little sister?"

"Better than mushy goodbyes."

Despite what she just said, the fact Muroki had known her so well as to know she wanted to avoid goodbyes and she wanted to leave happily, made her feel a bit emotional. That and his new nickname was just, very endearing. Little sister indeed.

He got to his feet, licked her forehead affectionately, all serious and slow... and then bounded off like an overgrown cub.

"TAG!"

"No fair you have a head start!" She'd expected a hug first! Within a second Kainda was scurrying after her lion, laughing...And an hour or two later, a tagged Muroki on her heels, she ran out of the jungle. He didn't follow.

The game was their goodbye.