((Hakuna x Melisma'solfege))

Hakuna had left the den today with intent of... doing something fun.

He ended up at the waterhole, where he had expected at least ONE other being to be around, but there was only a boring lizard. It didn't even run, it just sat there and stared at him. Hakuna reached to pick the thing up, it let him, and the pink-eyed cub set it back down. It didn't even give a struggle- boring! With a discontented look on his face, Hakuna looked around, silently begging the savannah to provide him with something fun.

Sol walked along the muddy shore that morning and was just going to get herself cleaned off before she got something to eat. Hopefully, someone in the pride had something to eat! She was starving. The young female was far too lost in thought, thinking of that little song. All of the pride had their own speciality and she knew she had her own, but she could not show that she had one. She wanted to sing, she wanted everyone to hear her... but she did not have that first song. Not just yet.

"And so I say... my fair hello. The sun shines brightly on these good days... no,no,no, that's not it... Oh, why is this so hard?" She murmured as she continued to walk, leaving black prints behind her, unaware of whom was in earshot range.

Hakuna's ears folded backwards, picking up a familiar voice behind him that, if he did not turn around, would simply pass him by. However, anyone who had known the cub would know that if he was bored, he wouldn't let such an opportunity pass him by. He knew the voice belonged to a sister of his, which he couldn't identify from this distance... Haku peeked through the grass that separated the pair, spying his sister Sol meandering and singing to herself. He could tell already that his sister would grow up to be a great singer, if that was the path she chose, but his mind only lingered there for a moment. There were more important matters at stake... such as getting her to play with him, or go exploring, or... the list could go on and on, but the cub was already on the move.

He was about to pounce, but... something decent in him made him stop. Sol seemed to be concentrating on something, he didn't want to make her lose the thought. He went with a nicer method. "Hey sis!" He said, after un-crouching himself and starting to pad towards her.

"Oh! Hello, Haku, I didn't see you there," see, hear, smell, she didn't even notice that he was there. Thinking for another second, she headed in his direction. "What are you doing way out here, brother? Trying to think your own path?" Thinking about it now, he had forgotten what he said his path was-wait, had he ever mentioned it? Hopefully the impose question will answer her own. As Sol stood before her brother, she continued to think of that song. It's like poetry... just with some tune. Even that sort of rhyming she had trouble with. She cocked her eye to her brother, giving a soft chuckle.


"Say, Haku, could I get back and wash my paws off before I go home for some food?"

Going home for food? That... wasn't exploring. While it sounded delicious, going back to the den wasn't the first thing on the cub's mind. However, it'd make for a more interesting time than sitting with the lizard at the water hole he'd found, so the cub didn't complain. "Sure, there's a water hole just over there. You know..." he said, stating the obvious. He started back towards where he had just been. "So Solfe," he said, using a longer nickname, "What're you planning on doing after you go back to the den? Want to explore or something?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Well, after I go back home, I was thinking about going somewhere nice and quiet to think to myself," she smiled and walked past her brother toward teh water hole. That was right, how could she have forgotten? This was Haku, he had to be doing something fun or someone was going to hear it. She had no problems with playing with him.

Dipping her paws into the water hole, she made sure to get the mud off each paw, every nook and cranny. "You know, i heard there was this mysterious spot down the shore that had some rocks that were there one day and then disappear another. Wierd huh?"

Haku was going to retort to her idea of just sitting and thinking. Sure, that'd be good sometimes, but it seemed to him like it'd get... boring. Fast. Then she mentioned the rocks, Solfe knew just how to manipulate the tan cub. His mind shifted completely. "Seriously?! That sounds really weird..." Hakuna said to himself as his sister washed her paws. "Could we go check it out after we eat?" Hakuna asked excitedly, The thought of being able to solve a mystery sent shivers down his spine, it sounded much more exciting even than exploring!

"Forget food, we could get some later, want to go now? I know I just washed my paws but, what's mud but just some more water and some dirt? Come on, I don't know where it is but I know it is just a little bit down from where we are. Would you like to lead us?" She spoke as she shook each of her paws of their moisture. Solfe shook out her fur and stood before her brother, nuzzling him. Food sounded good right now, but she wanted to have fun and food will always be there for them to come home to.

Hakuna gave Solfe a nuzzle in return. It was times like this that made him thankful that none of is sisters were lame. "Sweet, yeah, I'll lead!" Haku said as he bounded forward, taking a few leaps forward before actually normalizing into a walking pace. The feel of those few bounds, though, would give away what he would be in the future, as he had a tendency to move with an odd, graceful smoothness- perfect for a dancer, if he chose to do that when time came. He headed west, the general direction of the lake.

After his pace turned back into a normal walk, he turned to his sister. "So, what do you think it is? Do you think they're magic or something?" he asked excitedly, tail swaying happily behind him. "Or do you think it's just something boring like waves?"

"Alright then, I'll be right behind ya, Haku." She chuckled at his slight foot work as he moved around her to take lead. Oh, so quick and suave. She was about to say something until he gestured. It seems he had already made the first motion as leader; point the direction. Solfe nodded and quickly came after him.

"Maybe the black mud is doing something with. Like maybe it's taking it into the lake and then spitting it back out all clean and shiny? But that means the mud has to be alive." She did not want to ruin his fun...

"Don't be silly, Solfe," Haku said to her theory. "Mud isn't alive." He said quickly and matter-of-factly off the top of his head. Then he thought about it a little bit... What if it was? He had to tack it on, "... Is it? If it is, we could bury anything in the mud, and have it come out shiny, right?" He asked, since Sol seemed to know more on this topic than he did, he figured she could answer any questions he had.

"Well, I heard that the rocks that were in the mud would disappear and reappear later all shiny. Sometimes a different color, it's a strange story. Maybe if we put you in, we'll get a more handsome brother," she teased and stuck out her tongue. But the thought did tickle her mind a bit; one goes in and comes out as a totally different person. If she went in, would she come out as a beautiful female who could sing like the birds? Oh, wouldn't that be a dream come true? "Say, Haku, do you suppose the mud would take anything and give something back even better all the time?" Solfe asked curiously. "Considering if it works, you know."

"Ha ha, very funny..." Haku said a little teasingly, though he himself had a smile on his muzzle. "You'd have to throw Matata in with me, unless for some reason it'd transfer to him, to." Haku chuckled a little at that thought. He wasn't sure if it would go through to his twin.... He guessed it would, seeing as the only way to differentiate between the pair of them was by eye color.

He padded alongside his sister and listened to what she had to say, brows furrowing thoughtfully. "I don't know. I guess if it's done that enough times to have rumors about it, and we can prove that its true with something... then I guess it'd be safe to say that it'd do that every time," He guessed, unsure if his theory really had any logic behind it.

She murmured softly, "But I like Matata..." she giggled and nosed him softly before pushing herself up ahead. She could see it now, the rock formation that was just off the coast, far away from the black mud was the land mark that she heard of and 'accidentally' forgot to tell her brother.

"Here we are, brother, this seems like the place. But... I don't see any rocks, do you?" Her eyes glanced over the murky, inky black dirt-water mixture to see nothing but that, mud. If only she could recall who told her the rumor to start with, it would certainly help, but it seemed like it wasn't going to be easy without any more information. Solfe took a few steps toward it, slightly afraid of going into it. "Hakuna?..."

Hakuna picked up the pace to keep up with his sister, jokingly protesting along the way, "Matata and I are practically the same..." He padded up to beside his sister and overlooked the beach too. He squinted down at the shore and the mud, eyes scanning for any rocks, either ugly or pretty, but he could see none.

Hakuna matched his sister's tentative steps forward. "Hmm?" He responded with a tilt of his head. "Worse comes to worse, we get eaten by the mud and turned better than before, how bad can it be?" He asked, sounding sure of himself to boost Solfe's confidence. However... He could only wish that he was honestly that sure of himself.

"Practically, there is a difference in there," she giggled as she continued to look about. Still focusing on the rocks, she almost missed her brother's rather... double-edged comment. She did like the way she was, though she sometimes wished she had a more decorative fur pattern like some of her other siblings, but her genes were not something she could control and eventually accepted it. "I don't know, it depends, I guess. Do you like the way you are now?" She asked, still not taking her eyes off the black mud. She swallowed what fear she had and took her first step.

"It feels... just like regular mud."

Now there was a thought that hadn't occurred to Hakuna. He did like the way he was, really... When he thought about it, there wasn't much he would change. The little lion's tail twitched as his mind worked on that thought, but didn't come up with much.

He would've told Solfe not to take a step forward- he liked her as she was too - but she had done it before it was too late. He'd share whatever fate she did and he, too stepped into the mud shortly after her. Haku flexed his now-darkened paws in the mud. He'd expected a tingling or something, if something were to happen, but... nothing. Just mud, is what it felt like. His face looked perplexed, he'd expected the rumor to at least have a basis in truth. "Yeah, it does feel like just mud." He looked down at his front paws and wiggled his toes some more, the mud on top squirmed along with them.

"So... you think it was a lie?" She asked softly as she pushed her paw deeper until it hit the bottom, even then it was not that far down. She wiggled her toes and sighed. The rumor seemed false. With not much to lose, she pushed on through and walked through the mud, getting the rest of her paws dirty. "What a waste of time! And I was looking forward to-" Something hit her foot...

Solfe reached down and grabbed the mud, unsure if she even grabbed whatever it was that hit her. Pulling it up, she looked at her paw, tilting her head. There was definitely something there, but she could not see it with the dark mud on it. "Hey, Haku... I think I found something."

"Yeah, Solfe. I think it was just made up..." Hakuna said, folding his ears back flat against his skull. He wondered who would be so mean as to make up such an exciting-sounding rumor, only to have it be false. A discontented frown crossed his face, but only for a moment. His sister's find had good timing.

Haku immediately perked up, pulled his paws out of the mud and padded over to his sister, looking at the thing in her paw. Sure enough, it was something. "What do you think it is, a rock?" he asked, the excitement back in his voice. Perhaps there was some amount of truth to the tale.

Solfe shrugged and tossed the pawful of mud onto the grassy area and quickly followed suit. As she ran, mud flew out behind her and in no time she was already at the black splat on the grass. "It was lumpy like a rock but it's real small-like." The little female paws at the pile some more, rolling the object back and forth in the grass. The mud was getting off, but slowly as it was being picked off by the blades around the object. Then it appeared, the smallest visible surface showed through the muck.

"It's... orange."

Hakuna followed after his sister's abrupt flight, gazing down at her roll and prod the little thing once she'd stopped. From following her (and running himself) the black mud had spread from his paws to... all over. Not covered in mud, but flecked with it. He would need to jump into that water hole to avoid a bath from mom, but he'd think about that after he saw what Sol had found.

"It is orange, like you!" He said positively, pulling his head up after agreeing with her. He had a rather broad smile, for some reason, the fact that his sister had found an orange rock made him really happy. "It's as if it was made for you to find." He said with a smile.

Without a moment of hesitation, she dashed off back into the mud, pushing her paws all over to see what she could feel. Muck. Dirt. Twigs. More mud. Her heart raced and a face of pure excitement drove her to find what she could. It was like treasure hunting! Just gotta get yourself down and dirty is all. "Come on, lets find one for you! Maybe one for everyone!"

She flung her paw out as another pretty gem, a purple one this time, flew out from the mass of black along with some mud. "Oh! Look, another!"

Hakuna was onto his sister's idea in a flash and was quick to join her digging in the mud. He flung it to the sides and behind him, though he was careful not to hinder his sister's digging. He felt a small, hard thing on his paw and extracted it. This one was covered in mud too, he rolled it around to get it off to determine the color. "Pink!" he said, tossing it out, but more carefully than the rest of the mud.

"How many do you think we'll find? And should we tell anyone else?" The first question had been asked at regular volume, the second just audible over the digging. Though, he doubted he could keep it from Matata... He could try. The two would dig for hours finding stones in the magic mud, and Haku would do his best to keep it a secret.