[SRP] Misery Loves Company (Laanfa/Suon)

[Meepfur]

This was awful. This quest was awful, being alone was awful, the whole wide world was awful, and Laanfa was sick of it. She was done with all of it, frustrated and frightened and on the verge of angry about it, and she just wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to the mountain where it was safe, and where she could see her mother and her siblings again, where everything could be the way it was supposed to be.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt, and the worse she felt, the more she thought about it. It was a vicious cycle, and she was completely stuck in it. Thinking about her mother made her feel guilty for being gone for so very long, and thinking about her brothers and sisters made her worry about them. Had any of them made it home yet, or were they still out here alone like her? Had something terrible happened to them? Was something terrible going to happen to her?

Laanfa had taken Apanthi's warnings about the world being a dreadful place to heart, and stumbled over her fear at every turn.  

[Meepfur]

By comparison, Suon was enjoying herself immensely. Enjoying herself in a calm, relaxed, and utterly unhurried manner, anyway. She was not and never had been the exuberant type, bouncing around from one experience or discovery to the next like some, but she was quite content to meander her way through her pilgrimage, taking her time and taking everything in. What was the rush, after all?

She'd have the rest of her life to sit around the mountain and be a proper 'swampie'; in the meantime, she intended to take full advantage of the freedom of being on her own. Sure, it wasn't all smelling the flowers and making nice with everyone she met. It was hard, surviving on her own, harder than she'd expected, and not everyone she encountered was friendly or even agreeably neutral, but it was life, and it was...sort of exciting.

And dirty. The greenish lioness had gotten awfully dusty, and she desperately wanted a bath. Not necessarily a safe venture, since there was always the risk of crocodiles in anything much bigger than a puddle, but it was hot and she was sick of all this dust! It was getting a bit itchy, quite frankly. So, good sense be damned, she sought out a watering hole to quench her thirst and maybe take a very quick little dip in.

Very quick!  

[Meepfur]

Laanfa lay what she had deemed an acceptably safe distance from a busy waterhole, 'acceptably safe' meaning really quite far, by most standards. It wasn't just crocodiles that worried her, but everyone and everything else! She'd taken a quick drink, refusing to so much as look at any of the other creatures for more than a second or two, and then darted away to rest. She just hoped she'd placed herself far enough away that no one would pay attention to her, or even worse, try to talk to her! She didn't trust them, no, not at all.

It was while lying there, glaring suspiciously at the shapes in the distance, that she took notice of an approaching figure that was far more interesting than any of the others coming and going. At first glance, she dismissed it as another lioness, but as her path towards the water brought her closer, Laanfa recognized her. She knew those colors! That pattern!

She didn't know them well, having never cultivated any real friendships during her awkward youth, but she knew them, and that realization was thrilling.

"Hey!" she called out, "Hey, over here!"  

[Meepfur]

It took Suon a moment to realize that the vague 'hey you!' call was directed at her, as she was far from the only creature within earshot. At first she didn't pay it any attention aside from flicking one ear in that direction, but curiosity soon won out, and she looked to see who was calling and to whom. A pale lioness was the source, and that lioness was looking at her.

And who looked...maybe a little familiar? Interest piqued, the streaked lioness strolled over to see who it was and what they wanted. "Uh, hey." Squinting in the sun, she looked the other over, trying to place her. Familiar, but... "Do I know you?"  

[Meepfur]

"Not really, no, but, um-" Now she felt silly, calling this other lioness over when she didn't even actually know her, and maybe she was bothering her, and oh, she should have thought about this more, but she'd just gotten so excited! "We're both Jini-misemi. I think. Right? Maybe I'm wrong. I just- I thought you looked familiar, but- but it could just be wishful thinking, I guess. I'm sorry."  

[Meepfur]

"Whoa, whoa, slow down! No need to get all worked up, alright?" Suon blinked at the flower-marked lioness, torn between minor annoyance and pity for the clearly awkward female. "Yeah, I'm Jini-msemi. Thought you looked familiar, too, don't see many lions with flowers on them like that."

"Anyway, I'm Suon. For the moment."  

[Meepfur]

"Oh! Oh, good! I'm so glad! It's so good to see someone!" she brightened considerably, her tail lashing behind her in her excitement. "So you haven't found your name yet, either? I'm Laanfa!"

"I'm sorry we've never met properly before. I kind of...I didn't really play much with anyone. I probably should have."  

[Meepfur]

Alright, this was juuuust a little awkward. Suon tried not to show it, though, not wanting to prompt another apology from her fellow pilgrim. "Nope, not yet. No rush, though, right? I'm kinda liking it out here."  

[Meepfur]

"You...you like it?" Laanfa stared wide-eyed at Suon like she'd grown a second head. "But it's awful! It's terrible! It's dangerous! Don't you want to go home?"  

[Meepfur]

Suon shrugged off Laanfa's incredulity, but shifted her weight from paw to paw with growing impatience. "I guess I do, yeah, but I'm not in any hurry. I will go back, just...not yet. Besides, I've still got to find my name, so it's not like I could go back, even if I wanted to."  

[Meepfur]

"Oh. Do you think, um, maybe-" Laanfa swallowed and fidgeted, working through how to ask her question or if she even should. She probably shouldn't, she decided, but she was going to ask anyway! "Would you like to stick together for awhile?"  

[Meepfur]

Whoa. She'd thought this was awkward before, but she'd been wrong. Now it was awkward, so awkward that she actually cringed a little. "I..."

"I don't know if we're really supposed to do that," was the best excuse she could come up with on the spot. It wasn't technically a rule that they had to avoid each other, or couldn't travel together if they happened to run into each other, but it was a bit of a gray area. "We probably shouldn't. I'm sorry."

Suon felt a stab of guilt as she said it, but she didn't really want to be stuck with what she was sure would be a very clingy travelling companion.  

[Meepfur]

"Oh. I- Okay. You're probably right," Laanfa agreed quietly, hanging her head. "Do you think- do you think it would be okay if we hunted together? Just once? It's kind of hard, by yourself."  

[Meepfur]

Suon sighed heavily, but her fellow pilgrim did have a point, and she was hungry, tired of little meals here and there. "Alright, alright. Just once."