Umoja & Lamkana
Safaia & Felyn



Mfalme's words had stung, much further than he realized they could. The worst part of it all was that it was completely true. He was being childish about everything, and for far too long. It was time for him to stop blaming it on everyone around him and to start standing as the example he was raised to be.

Spending the day alone, as his mood towards his Bonded had darkened lately (though all on his own accord), Umoja let the breeze guide his path. He had decided that he needed to apologize to a few of the pride members he had crossed lately, and the first one on his list was his cousin. Mapatano probably didn't care if Umoja apologized, and Umoja didn't want to either. He would do something to make up for it. Maybe Hisa would save his rear and do it for him. For a brute, Mapa did have a pretty level-headed bonded avian.

His ears perked for a moment as he paused, taking a deep breathe of the soft breeze swirling around him. It felt like he had finally opened his eyes from a sleep that had lasted much too long.




Lamkana, for once, wasn't out exerting herself by trying to bring down as many prey beasts in one day as possible. Today, in fact, she seemed to be wandering aimlessly, which was more or less a rather uncharacteristic thing for the young female to do.

Today was a day for thinking, simply because she was beginning to feel lost in her life. She needed to do some soul searching, to find out what she was meant to do in life other than prove herself that way. She had already proved herself, in her opinion, what was there now left to do? She sighed at this thought, unconsciously looking up for Kota, although she knew she had dismissed him for the day.

It was a surprise to her to catch the scent of Umoja on the wind, and even more of a surprise to look up and find him so close. She should be more careful, letting things sneak up on her like that. She hesitated only a moment before she adjusted her path, feeling the inevitable pull in his direction, as always. "Umoja," she called out, a smile pulling her maw, "what are you doing out here?"




It took a moment for Umoja to pull himself away. His mind had felt clear in that one moment, the one time it wasn't heavy with the weight of reality. He opened his eyes slowly, turning to see that it was Lamkana who had found him. His tail twitched as he returned her smile with one of his own.

"Oh, Lamkana," he said softly, the tip of his tail twitching in humor. "I was looking for Mapatano, but it seems I'm not too good at finding my cousin." He shook his head slightly as he chuckled. "Tracking is not my strong point."

Remembering what Mfalme had said, Umoja flinched for a moment before nodding towards Lamkana. "Err..." he started, not quite sure exactly how to say what he needed to say. "Sorry for the last time we ran into each other. I was acting more like my daughter than myself." Embarassing, really. Maybe she did get her personality from him, and he had just never realized it.




She laughed lightly at how he compared himself to his daughter, but she did nod and throw a vaguely more serious expression over her face to show that she understood that he was a conscious ever to do this. "I don't honestly think it was that bad," she said with that smile returning, though she had to wonder if she was just deluding herself and making excuses for him. She probably wouldn't have known if he was being sulky or moody towards her or not. "Apology accepted though, if it makes you feel better?"

She laughed lightly again and looked out across the land, narrowing her eyes on the horizon. "I haven't seen your cousin around this afternoon." Not that she would have been paying much attention in this state - she hadn't even noticed the former (former?) crush of hers when he was within shouting distance. "I could help you find him though, if you'd like? You might not be a great tracker, but I've spent my fair share of time doing it."

She would be more than happy to help, but she didn't want to be a bother. She knew it was a desperate attempt just to spend time with him, and she hoped he didn't honestly see it.




"Mmm." He pondered over it for a moment. So much to do, but he didn't want to deal with any of it. He knew if he found Mapa, something would happen, and now he didn't quite feel the same drive to go find him. "I think I'll seek him out later. I'm sure he'll show up sometime soon, going on and on how he always does." Umoja had that sort of rough love with his cousin. The butted heads a little too much, but when it came down to it they were family. Comforting, since he was the only family that Umoja had left.

"And actually, I was going to look for you afterwards," he mentioned while looking out at the horizon, juuuust in case Mapa was spying on him. Maybe. "But since we happened across each other again, that's one less thing for me to do." His tail twitched, a little too quickly to be more than amusement. "I need to clear my mind before really figuring out what's going on." He shook his head, a little frustrated at himself but nothing more. "I've lived in another realm since the earthquake, it's time to get back to business, eh?"

Mmmm, maybe she wasn't the right one to ask. He wished Ukweli was still alive. Wishes didn't help anything, though. He shook his head. "I seem to have the habit of asking you everything, don't I? I'm too used to having Mfalme next to me."




"Alright then," she said with a bit of a nod, momentarily disheartened by the fact that he didn't seem to want her help. She offered him a smile, an appropriate laugh at the way he described his cousin, but she couldn't hold off the dissapointment. Of course, then he admitted that he was looking for afterwards, and the whole thing turned around instantly. "For me? Just to apologize? Oh, Umoja, it wasn't nearly that important." She was, however, quite pleased.

"I understand wanting to clear your mind," she said softly, turning her gaze up to look at the sky, "that's what I was doing out here alone, without Kota." She smiled at the thought, letting her mind drift over her useless pondering from before. "I don't mind you asking, really," she turned her gaze back down to him, sitting down on the ground at his side. "If I can help you sort things out, then that's just one more way to help my pride, isn't it?" And to help him, but that wasn't something she was about to admit.

She turned her eyes away from him, in an attempt to keep herself from staring too long. "I think everyone needs to do a little soul-searching from time to time."




Umoja shook his head. "I know I don't always make sense, but nothing really has to me in the moon-turns since our world shifted. Starting over from this point on is something I need, and starting it with the few that I've been a little too obnoxious to seemed like a good place to start." He winced, giving her an awkward face. "Plus, Mfalme said it would be best to do that. Sometimes I think my father must tell him what to do through something. Maybe that saying that the birds tell everyone everything. I don't know," he struggled, laughing off his awkward comment. Mfalme had been crueler than that, but Lamkana didn't need to know that. He had his doubts on what the eagle had said.

"I should probably clear my mind more often," he commented, raising his head up to the sky again. He felt like he had learned more of the realities of life than anything his father had attempted to teach him. Being like this...made life seem more simple again. "It's exhilirating."

Oh! A question popped in his head from that thought. "Is there something that's bothering you? If you needed to clear your head..." he grasped at a proper question, though he was failing the more he tried. He hoped that there wasn't another thing that his mourning had gotten in the way of.




She smiled up appreciatively as he spoke about how nothing made since, and how he wanted to start over. It was noble and admirable, and didn't do a thing to dissuade that terrible crush that Lamkana had been harboring since the day she learned what such things were. At least between then and now she had managed to get a better head on her shoulders and not come off as a groveling, silly adolescent. "I think many of us have had to start over fresh since that point, and our companions have been great guides." She tilted her head curiously at the way she spoke of Mfalme, but her pleasant smile remained. "Our companions are meant to help us in that way, or Hestia would not have given them to us, don't you think?"

"Mmm," was all she really said to his comments on clearing his mind. Her gaze shifted out around them again, lingering on the scenery. She turned her gaze quickly back to him once his question popped up, surprised that he had thought to ask at all. He had not been that observant before, to absorbed in his own brooding to notice or ask of others, at least from what she'd seen. Perhaps he truly was changing for the better.

"Oh, I wouldn't say bothering me, really," she shrugged at this, but she did furrow her brows all at the same time. "I'm just wondering if this is all there is to my life, to be honest. Hunting, day in and day out. Once I found it exhilirating but not so much anymore." It had always been second place to her dream.




He wasn't quite comfortable with her answer, his mind slowly churning through everything he could remember in the past moons. Much had gone on, but little as well. He knew that she was working hard to keep everyone filled, especially when the injuries were fresh. The loss of Elea's strong hunting talent dealt a blow that they continued to feel. Slowly, the scattered members returned, but the continued need for assistance in hunting dumped more pressure on the few that could continue to do so, Lamkana included. Perhaps the pressure had been more than he even realized.

"Is it just too much?" he asked, curious. His brows lifted slightly as he gazed at her, wondering if she would deny feeling any fort of frustration. He knew well enough that no one wanted to say anything negative directly towards him. He wasn't an idiot. "I'm certain that more of the duty can go around, especially as more of us are as healed as we will get."




"What? Oh, no," she shook her head quickly, answering her own question even without waiting for a chance to let him. "It's not the stress of the job, if anything, all the fuss right now is making it a little more bearable. Even as selfish as that sounds." She frowned at that a bit, narrowing her eyes down at her paws as she thought about it.

"No, it's just that I always wanted something more to life, but dad.. never wanted that for me." She offered a weak smile at him, blue eyes rolling up to look at him. "Though, I suppose what I'm doing right now is probably more helpful to the pride than anything else I could ever do. Maybe my own dreams don't really matter so much." The fact that she was pouring her heart out to him didn't go unnoticed, but now that she had started, she found it hard to stop.




He listened quietly, keeping himself still until she finished. He remembered a little of her family, but then most of the details were fuzzy. Names eluded him, and only forms of lions reminded him a little of her family. A hunter was a more safe job here than some of the other things, especially when it came to the borders. Was that where some of these emotions came from?

Wait....what was he caring so much? He caught himself for a moment, his face falling slightly as he thought about it. What...was he doing? He closed his eyes for a long moment, gathering up his thoughts and pushing more aside. He'd worry about that later. He had to act like how he was raised to be.

"Even if it something you do not enjoy, you are offering much needed help to everyone in the pride. Perhaps when more of the children grow, and more recover, you could always take a rest in your duties?" Was he acting too formal? His panic of feeling compassion forced him the throw his protective mental walls up...but was that the right decision? His head swam with these worries when he spoke, hints of confustion within his voice.




She turned her gaze to frown at him as she heard the small hints of confusion in his voice, though she was having trouble identifying precisely what emotion it was. It only, in turn, confused her and cause her to draw her brows down into a deep 'V', putting a strange look across her face. She wasn't sure what she had said to make him sound that way, or even what it was that was wrong, but she couldn't help feeling selfish all of a sudden.

He was here to tell her about his problems, she had offered a shoulder to lean on, and she had spilled out all her woes like they were the best of friends. She had to realize that just because she had idolized him most of her life, it didn't mean he knew anything about her beyond the big things, or that he would even understand this.

"No, no, I'd never take a rest in my duties," she said, shaking her head and letting a soft sigh flutter past her lips. "I'd rather be busy, doing something any day rather than sitting around doing nothing." She let her frown linger for a moment more before forcing it back and letting a smile spread across her maw. "I'm sorry to be such a bother, it's really nothing."




Thunk. That was the sound of failure. Urrrrg. What did he do wrong now? There wasn't Mfalme here to tell him how he screwed this up this time. He had to figure it out himself. If only he wasn't in front of her at this moment, he's probably start cursing at himself for being such a fool. When was it this hard just to talk to someone different?

"You're not a bother," he stated, curbing his frustration so she hopefully wouldn't pick up on it. He glanced at her, wondering if because of what he said she wanted to leave. He wouldn't blame her. He was screwing up left and right here.

He paused, not knowing what to say. Everything felt awkward to him. The interacting with the other pride members seemed so much harder than it had in the past. The confident, arrogant prince had faded into something that was a failure. Washed up. He didn't know how to handle it. The confidence was gone.

Ugh, he needed a good beating from Mapatano. That might work.

Slightly groaning, the lion sighed. "Look, Lamkana. I'm going to be honest here, since I don't really have anyone else to be honest to. I don't know what to say to anyone anymore. And in that, I feel like I'm only making everything worse. I'm sorry if I said something in some way to bother you." Uuggh, he said too much. He snapped his mouth shut then and there, letting his eyes wander up to the sky.




Despite the fact that he had pretty much been the reason for her fade into the uncomfortable mode she had retreated into, she couldn't help the small peal of laughter that bubbled up at his notion. It was strange to think that she had only just been thinking that she'd been making this too personal, and here he was, basically spilling his guts out to her. It was a strange twist, she had to admit, but all she could really do was go with it.

"You didn't say anything that bothered me," she admitted, glancing up at him as he snapped his mouth shut so quickly and averted his eyes skywards. It was an amusing gesture, and the frown that had been on her face vanished entirely, the last traces of it completely gone and replaced with that pleasant humor. "I just realized that the pride needs me, I guess, and I don't have any right to complain about things that happened a long time ago."

She shrugged a little, curling her tail around her lowered haunches. "Don't worry so much, though, you're doing just fine. I have faith in you."




He chuckled, letting his eyes slowly lower themselves groundwards. "Ah, if only I had the same in myself." He couldn't help but let his eyes meet hers, reassured that someone believed in him. Perhaps he just needed to speak to everyone else more. Being more personal with everyone might help. He might kick this odd stage he was in, the transition to where everything should be right, but it wasn't quite.

He shook his head gently, still chuckling, his mane swaying with his movements. "I should hear that more, probably. Mfalme is a wonderful companion, but he's a little cynical with me." His eyes drifted to the horizon behind her, his eye catching some of the standard landmarks that he knew by heart. "I don't blame him, I used to be quite the conceited jerk before all of this." He had the world, and then it was gone. He just needed to find his world again. "No wonder Mapatano couldn't stand going out on patrols with me," he said with a hearty laugh, just imagining how they used to irritate the fur off of each other. That was for another time, though, huh?

He shook his head. "Anyway, everyone has a right to complain at times. It was nice hearing a different side of you," he teased slightly. He felt like he had been using her as a dumping ground for his insecurities. Perhaps now it was going both ways, he thought with a grin.




"Everyone does have the right to complain," she said with a soft nod, reaching out to bat softly at the feather that dangled from his ear. It was playful, an attempt to lighten the mood, though she felt a slight bit of unease from simply doing it - they weren't quite so close, but she had to make an effort. "So you should give yourself a little break some time, and have a little faith in yourself." It was a mean thing to do, turning his own advice back onto him, but he should listen to what he was preaching just as well as she should.

"I'm sure Mfalme just tries to guide you," she shrugged, glancing off ahead of her. "I'm sure you really weren't that bad, though. I imagine you're just being critical of yourself because you've been through such a life changing experience. Most of us have, you know?" She couldn't help it, looking for all the goodness in him and denying all the bad. Even the 'conceited jerk' he was referring to had been appealing to her when she was younger.




Umoja was a little startled when she reached over to gently swing at his feather. He didn't think much of it, but later on he would start to piece the signs together. At the moment, he merely let a small grin appear on his face. "All right, Miss Lamkana, I'll take your advice to heart. A little R&R can't hurt." Especially if all it meant was getting away for a day. Well...day-time. He couldn't leave his kids alone yet; they weren't that old yet (thankfully!).

He chuckled again, slightly shaking his head. "Perhaps it came off as confidence to those not close to me, but I can assure you I had quite the inflated ego. Father didn't help to lower it either, but at least it helped me learn what I needed to growing up. Perhaps he had the hindsight in case something ever happened." His tail shifted softly as the topic came up again. "I'd be lost on what to do without it, and even then I was never fully prepared for what did happen." No one could have been, though.

"Careful, though. You're encouraging for that to come back. It'll be your fault if it does!" he said with a laugh, coninuing the attempt to lighten the mood. Hey, and it was true! He knew that if he got comfortable in his skin again, he'd probably go right back to it.




"Well, at least you had the ability to see the error of your ways and fix it when your pride needed you." She offered him another smile, though this one was a little more calm and a little less openly joyful, perhaps indicating simple admiration of him and what he had done for the pride in its condition after the earthquake and the.. unfortunate events that followed. "Your father was a smart lion, I'm sure he would have put a stop to any overinflation if it was really an issue. If he thought you could handle it, then you obviously could. It seems to me that you did just fine."

She nodded at her own words and then glanced up at the sky with a pleased hum. She had to wonder if she had ever suffered from an inflated ego. She didn't truly think so, she was more or less just extremely driven, and she was sure she'd never been a bragger - but he did have her second guessing herself.

"Well, if I encourage you so much that you turn into an egotistical maniac, I'll take complete and utter fault for it." She laughed at that before pushing herself up to her feet, turning to look down at him. "Of course, I'll make sure to keep an eye on you, so that doesn't happen. I think maybe I should get on my way though, I've probably spent enough time laying around, though it's been.. fun."




"Ah..." It had been some time, hadn't it? He had not been paying much attention, but he knew that if he was needed someone would have seeked him out. Her leaving meant that reality would hit him again. At least he had a bit of a new direction to work towards. He wouldn't have had it if not for speaking to Lamkana again.

"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it? I apologize." He offered a nod of thanks. "I appreciate your time. I'm sure that somewhere, someone wants me for something that only I can do. Hopefully not, but I'm certain that there's something waiting for me." Always busy. He needed to cash in on that day alone sometime soon.

"Remember that you'll take the fall for my new ego!" he said with a laugh, trotting away from her with his head to the sky, knowing that Mfalme would greet him soon with everything he had missed. Odd that the eagle wouldn't bother him sooner, but Umoja wouldn't question it.