Life around the pride had a certain tension that Nyesha had only recently come to recognize, she was just barely old enough to care about pride politics and what was going on outside of her own circle of friends and family.. and as much as she wanted to try to keep up and help out, she found her motivation lacking. She had been relatively healthy throughout her youth, so much so she was starting to think she might be immune to the plague of the pride.
Then her health turned, slowly at first but the aches were persistent (or so it felt!) and she'd had a fever more than once in the last few weeks. She was definitely infected and had finally started feeling it. It was no reason to stop being her normal cheery and optimistic self .. it just took some getting used to.
Today wasn't so bad and walking was a pain but if she didn't get up, her mothers would never let her hear the end of it. At least, that's how it seemed to her. So she walked, slowly and sometimes unsteadily. How was she supposed to spend a day like today, forced out of the den but not feeling energetic enough to play or attend lessons that might help her finally decide what she would be when she was old enough?
Eione was younger than Nyesha but she felt the same kind of tension around the pride, if only because her mother was the queen. It was hard to wrap her head around the situation, especially where she wasn't given (and couldn't keep track of) all the details. With everybody of interest apparently occupied, even Lutum was strangely absent from anywhere she thought to check, Eione took off by herself, keen on exploring.
She was a healthy juvenile, healthier in fact than she had been when she was smaller. A bad sign for her standing, she was supposed to be heiress but it was starting to look like she might not be infected at all. It was hard to tell so young, of course, but it wasn't very hopeful.
Didn't mean it had to get her down, though.
She was bouncing along, looking for something to do when she spotted a lioness who didn't look much older than her but was walking in a slow and pained way. She looked familiar but she couldn't remember who she reminded her of. Obviously Eione had seen a family member around at some point.
Nyesha had a strange cramp in her leg that made her stumble to a stop so she could stretch it out- and if she hadn't stopped, she might not have realized there was someone looking at her. The little stranger was familiar, too. Royal was all Nyesha knew off the top of her head, which meant she was the princess.
"Hello," she called with a smile, stepping carefully at first but then walking over to greet the young stranger, "You're the princess, aren't you?"
It wasn't the worst question she could ask!
Eione watched silently as the blue lioness stumbled and spotted her. Immediately she shuffled about like she might keep moving but it was very clear that the stranger didn't mind- she had a smile on almost immediately. So she put on a smile, too.
"Hi!" she squeaked back, taking a step closer but no more since Nyesha seemed keen on walking over to her, "Well- yeah, I guess. But you can call me Eione. What's your name?"
"Nyesha, my name is Nyesha," she said breathlessly, taking a deep breath to make up for the sudden rush to meet the little princes before her but never losing her smile, "It's nice to meet you Eione. Where were you off to?"
She glanced around, wondering if she had caught the princess in the middle of something important when she decided it was so important to come over and say hi. But it looked like she was alone and she didn't seem like she was very busy. Maybe she was too young to get irritated and impatient at an interruption, though.
"I was looking for my brother," Eione answered quickly, making up a better answer than the nowhere she was actually going. It wasn't entirely false, either. She did tend to gravitate to the same areas she might find her brother when they were separated.
"Are you OK?" she asked curiously. Sick was still OK, it was normal.. but it was hard not to notice the way that Nyesha walked. She might have been injured for all Eione knew.
Nyesha kept on smiling.
"I'm fine," she said confidently. She couldn't even call today a particularly bad day except that she had been walking and she was starting to get tired. That wasn't going to stop her though, "Just having a slow day."
Slow was a good way to put it, she felt smart now that she'd said it.
"Oh," Eione murmured, looking Nyesha up and down. She suddenly seemed unsteady on the same leg she'd stumbled over just a minute ago. Weird leg problems would slow you down. It probably was best not to push for an answer.
"Where were you off to, then?" she asked after a brief pause. It wasn't rude to ask if she'd already been asked the same question. Besides, now she was curious. Where was so important to go when you were feeling slow?
Nyesha kept on smiling, even as she watched Eione look her over before seeming to accept the answer she gave. The princess had to be familiar with plague symptoms, her mother was the queen and you couldn't be queen without being sick.
"Nowhere in particular," she said, drawing circles in the dirt idly before suddenly perking up, "Can I walk with you for a bit?"
Nowhere was a strange plan when you were feeling slow. And she couldn't hide her surprise when Nyesha invited herself along on her walk to find Lutum. She wasn't actually sure where she would find him or how far she had been planning to go.
"Um, sure!" she said despite herself, "I don't know where he is for sure, though."
"That's OK," she said, smiling, "It'll give me something to do!"
Maybe she'd even make a friend, it would be a nice distraction and maybe that was all she really needed for now. Maybe that was why her mothers wanted her to stop laying around.
Having no friends except her brother, Eione saw the potential in getting to know the blue lioness better, too. It would be better than eternally searching for her brother for company so, aside from being slowed down, there was no real downside.
"OK, come on," she said, bouncing in a circle to reorient herself to continue on her walk.
Nyesha watched Eione bounced and made her best effort in mimicking the motion. It didn't quite work out but she looked much cheerier already.
"Where to first?" she asked.
With no specific place in mind to start, Eione picked a general direction and bounced a couple steps at a time, pausing to wait for Nyesha to catch up. It would take a few minutes to get a nice pace.
"This way!"
Fin!