Welcome to Gaia! ::

The moon was high in the sky as Dareia skirted alongside the wide lake set by the Ukuucha'Wafalme lands. Though it was just after nightfall, her paws were already horribly antsy; it had taken a great deal of stealth to sneak out of the den the way she had, but she'd done it, to great relief of Dareia. She knew she could not stand one more moment of pretending to fall asleep; it drove her mad in her vain attempts to lull herself into a seemingly endless pit of dreams.

Though she knew she shouldn't be out, she felt the need to be. Usually she never traveled so far as the lake; normally she would weave in and out of the varying dens scattered throughout the area. She would do something productive such as making new bracelets for herself out of dried grasses, but today she felt called to the side of the lake.

At the sound of the clearly unexpected voice, Dareia felt the hairs along her spine rise, rigid. She sucked in her breath, surprised by the voice that sounded so near, and so masculine. Dareia hadn't expected anyone else to be out at this time in the night, and that combined with the fact that she failed to recognize the voice made her flight or fight instinct kick in. She felt her tail lower, trembling - she was scared.

Knowing not what else to do, she decided to speak. "I'm... I'm the Sultan's daughter! If y-you hurt me, he'll know!" She tried to sound confident, but even she could hear the distinct tremble in her voice.

After seeing the lion step out into the light of the moon, Dareia relaxed - but only a little. Much bigger than herself, the other was the most extraordinary thing she'd ever seen. Tribal markings that looked gold in the moonlight glittered off his otherwise brown pelt, and his mane. Dareia failed to even describe in her mind how his mane looked; she herself was still attempting to process the overwhelming fluffiness of his thick, brown mane. It fell to the soft ground in a neat plain, and fell over his eyes so it was almost hard for her to see the yellow flashing beneath.

Once Nywele explained himself, Dareia felt herself relax immensely. "Oh! Hello there, Nywele." She bowed her head slightly in respect, then continued on, "I am Dareia - my daddy's Banu. For now, anyway. Oh, wow!" She grinned. "That was so brave of you, Nywele! And we're all very thankful you came along, or else..." she trailed off, not wanting to think about anything so terrible at this moment. "Aunt Amani is your Beybanu! That's wonderful!" She smiled, happy that her aunt had now been given to a very worthy male, after having been missing for so long.

At Nywele's question to her, though, she felt her smile fade. "I..." her voice faltered. Not many knew about her "night-wanderings" as she liked to call it, and she preferred to keep it that way. She felt naughty when she really thought about it; she wasn't supposed to be out of bed at this time of night. "I couldn't sleep," she told Nywele truthfully. "I can't ever sleep, so I always walk around. I love the night, and... I guess my body knows I'm not meant to miss out on the beauty of it all." She shrugged, half-heartedly hoping he didn't make it out to be more of a deal than it already was.

Dareia nodded in agreement; her daddy was, after all, a great man and would've saved Ameer has Nyweke never been there. Or at least, she liked to think so. She watched as the lion's smile widened at her mention of his Beybanu. She blinked and smiled alongside him.

Lowering her eyes, Dareia looked toward her paws and nodded softly. "I... I know, Nywele, but..." she trailed off with a half-exasperate sigh. She glanced up just as her whispered playfully of their new secret, and she smiled. She was prety sure she'd like this guy. Getting up to trot alongside him back to the dens, Dareia gasped. She'd seen a small flutter upon his back; some sort of shimmer. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at him in utter bewilderment. "You have wings?" It wasn't much a question so much as looking for reassurance that she wasn't crazy. Standing there, the wheels of her mind whirling and clicking like never before, Dareia felt her jaw drop. "You're a god?"

Collapsing into a fit of giggles, Dareia felt all previous worry wash away from her mind. Nywele was quite humorous, but also, it seemed, very humble. She grinned once the giggles subsided, and fell into step beside him. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed lamely, unable to hide her excitement at meeting a god. "What's your... uh... domain?" She smiled slightly, hoping she'd used the correct word for what he ruled over. Maybe it had to do with his tribal markings? Or maybe even his overly-fluffy fur? Either way, it was too cool; even cooler than being the Sultan's daughter, she thought.

"Oh! I was wondering why your mane is so... so lovely!" She grinned, watching his now-shaking mane with a new appreciation. Its pure volume and length was enough to turn any sensible lion's head; but do be god of such a thing? Incredible! Dareia smiled at him and nodded, ready to speak when he mentioned his mane being like a pillow when she fell into a fit of giggles, imagining some form of a pillow hanging off Nywele in place of his luscious mane. "A pillow?" She said once she regained her composure, suddenly wondering what that felt like. "Sounds very comfy!"

Dareia smiled in response to his own smile; when she found other people enjoying her prescence, it made her heart swell with pride; making her even happier than she'd been originally. As he explained the practical functionality of manes, Dareia found herself envious of all her brothers; they were going to grow up to virtually have suit of armors clouding around their handsome faces, but she was to be left vulnerable. Of course, she wasn't the one who was to protect the Banus of the pride, now was she? So it all made sense, really. "That's so cool! And it helps when you get into fights, right? 'Cause the better your mane is, the harder you'll be to defeat, right?"