Lindani was resting on a rock just outside of the "Kwa Kikombe" where he, for the last week, had been staying with Damu. She seemed restless to move on and get out of the place, as much as she also seemed to enjoy it. Lindani got that. He really did. She was adventurer, looking for the next night of chaos to dive into. He was... He was just lost.
He didn't belong here, he knew that right away. His daughter still didn't know who he was and he had no intention of telling her. He made up his mind, she was alive and that's all he needed to know. She didn't need details of who he was because... because she was happy. She wasn't miserable. She didn't miss him or her mother. She didn't mourn her siblings each night before bed. She was... Innocent. An innocence that he wanted to protect.
What better way to protect her from the real world then by abandoning her once again? She wouldn't notice, or care he imagined.
Lindani sighed and flopped over on the rock in defeat. He just... He didn't know where to go now. He didn't know where he'd head. He had no idea, but he didn't want to stay here. He also didn't want to go with Damu, it'd feel weird. She exhausted him with her constant moving about and he was more suited to staying in one place at a time. She wasn't, clearly.
Damu approached Lindani with a hare in her mouth. She had spent the week away from Lindani, who was stuck in a rut of sulking continuously. It wasn't like she was avoiding him because she didn't appreciate his attitude or anything, quite the opposite. She had gone away if only to spare him more risk of emotional trauma. Truth was she had plans to leave Lindani, and Damu wasn't good at leaving others. She figured if she was around him less then he wouldn't be so heartbroken when she abandon him.
He couldn't keep up to her pace, and she was fast-moving gal. She wanted to see things, places, environments of all sorts. Lindani was slow and didn't aspire to such dreams. The leopardess figured after they found Leilani she and him would reunite and she'd leave without trouble. This wasn't the case. Leilani had no memory of her father. Damu had delayed her plans and spent the week with him, but away from him all at the same time. She had tried her paw at that pride game Kikombe.
Now, she was fed up with it.
"Lindani." She called, and drop the food for him to eat. Skinny thing, he hadn't hunted for himself in a while. She wondered if he'd remember once she left him or not. "So..." She began.
Lindani's gaze did not part with the horizon. He continued to gaze and barely noticed as Damu set the hare next to his body. "Damu." He stopped her from speaking and waited until he felt that all too familiar feeling of her soft violet eyes gazing on his ugly coat. "Damu, I can't stay here." He told her flatly. No wheeze or cough followed, which was unusual.
"I can't stay with you either." He admitted after a long sigh and pause. "I'm leaving you." He said. "You understand don't you?"
Damu was quiet. But she eventually spoke. "I'm not an idiot." She told her with a slight snarl. She was terrible, truly terrible, with goodbyes. The leopardess softened her tone and then looked away from Lindani. Towards where he gazed.
"I'm not an idiot." She repeated. "Nor are we a couple. Your free to go if you want." She told him. "I won't stop you." She added quietly.
He flattened his ears. "I'm sorry." He never meant to be harsh about this. "I just... You and I are not the same. I am old, and slow... You are." He paused to think of a proper word. "Young. Free. Like a bird." He told her. "A fast bird that moves faster then the rest of the flock. I am an old bird. I'm slowing you down. You want to move far ahead but with me in the way you can't..."
He then turned to look at her, rolling onto his back slightly so as to avoid moving his head much. "I'm just holding you down Damu."
"You're not." She looked down at him now. Her violent hues gazing into his brown eyes. "It's as you say. You are older, and not in a hurry. I on the other hand, want more out of life." She was glad to have said that to someone at least. Mostly, she had just admitted it to herself.
"But we are not birds Lindani. We are a leopard and a cheetah." She reminded her friend. "Birds fly, cheetahs and leopards... soar. Or we walk, or we simply be." She added. "Lindani, you're not holding me down." She said in as a matter of fact tone.
"You... I'm moving too fast for you to keep up, that's all it is to it."
Lindani nodded. "Yes." He said. "And at the end of the day neither of us are happy to stay here." He stood slowly, for Lindani's movements were always slow. "I will head east." He told her. "Will you... Accompany me for a bit? Until we are in the rogue lands truly and surely at least." He asked her, hoping she'd agree. Last time he asked her something Damu had gone and made him fetch treasure with her. Man, his shoulders still hurt from that!
Damu seemed to be thinking. She was mulling over her options and bit her tongue while hissing out a whistle in her thoughts. A breeze moved over her and rid the ground of dust for a moment. The grass swayed and Damu could smell the inviting journey before them.
"I will." She said solemnly. "But once we are out there, we are going separate ways I suppose." She then turned and dropped something on Lindani's head. His ears folded back at that and Damu laughed.
"This." He rubbed where he had presumed she had simply knocked his skull, only to grasp a small object. When he knocked it into his paw and examined the object he recognized it instantly. "Why! The sun stone. I was wondering what happen to it." He chuckled. "Are you giving this to me or something." He asked.
Damu was already standing with a stretch. "I am." She said. "To remember me, in case you start to lose your mind, old bird." She winked at him.
Lindani laughed, and took a paw step off the rock. He was glad he and Damu were friends. He was glad he had met her at all.
Now, it was time to let that danger seeking bird fly free.
Wordcount: 1,145 words
Damu: 523
Lindani: 622