Were the days getting longer, or was she just getting older?The pale eyes of a lioness past her prime and yet somehow still an able huntress gazed out over the grasslands of her home. Amani had felt the creak in her bones for some time now, but she still worked hard, trying to maintain her purpose in the pride and with her mate.
All her daughters were long grown, now. Umbia had cubs who had grown, but no mate that Amani knew of. Huruma had left the pride long ago and hadn't returned.
She wondered sometimes what had happened to her daughter and the young male that had gone with her.
Had they found somewhere where they stopped? Were they mates? Did they separate? Did something bad befall them?
She sighed and set her head down on her paws.
Tarishi yawned as she crossed into the pridelands, her coat shifting into less colorful tones. The rainbows faded into shades of blonde, the dots on her face taken on the golden hue of her eldest son's, her wings gone. All that remained on her coat was the golden rod and the friendly blue and green snakes that hugged it.
Ever since she bothered a young male from a masculine pride, she'd started hiding her godly traits. They seemed to bother most mortals and she did enjoy interacting with other creatures, immortals and mortals alike.
She and Hermes had been traveling for a while this time, or at least it seemed so. Such was the messenger's duty, though. Of course, it seemed that she was rarely ever doing any actually message-delivering... But she didn't exactly mind the inactivity. It allowed her time to go back and pass time with her son, to look for the rest of her children.
Her faithful secretary was exhausted after a long flight, and slumbered peacefully on her back as she walked along, careful not to jar him. Just to be safe, she kept her wings invisible rather than completely gone, keeping her beloved friend safe in a little nest. Tari wasn't tired, her stamina was impressive. If anything, she was simply bored. Not having Hermie to talk to, there wasn't really anything to do. And even if she enjoyed it, she wouldn't talk to herself since that might wake him up and defeat the purpose.
Cresting the top of a hill of tall grass, her eyes fell upon a familiar form."Anni? What are you doing here? Where's Koda?" Tari asked as she approached. The last time she had seen the lioness had been when she had married Koda, when Koda had given one of the goddess' golden feathers as a wedding present to the mostly white female.
Amaani sat up and turned, stopping the lioness in her approach.
"Anni? I think you have me confused for someone else..." Her confusion was clear on her face as she considered the stranger. This lioness was larger than any of her pride members, with a bird sleeping on her back... How odd.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You look like the mate of someone I know. Well, she looks somewhat like you, and she is a bit larger," the unusual lioness replied and Amani's curiosity was piqued. She stood so that she could move closer and slowly sit back down. The lioness was a bit odd, with bands on her paws and neck, metal through her ears, feathers tucked into her mane, feathers she had never seen upon a bird. On top of that, she looked young, perhaps not even as old as Amani's daughters, and yet there was something in her eyes. Something old.
"Could you tell me about this Anni? Who is her family?" Were they related?
Tari smiled and carefully moved so that she could slide Hermes off her back. He landed on his feet and murmured sleepily before readjusting himself on the ground and falling back to sleep. Tari glanced down at him and curled her tail close.
"She looks like you," Tari began, repeating what she had stated earlier. "Only, her stripes are curly, like her mother's, and the colors are more like on your paws. Her mane is purple and her eyes are teal, like her papa's."
Tari paused for a moment, trying to think back. Her memory was impeccable, but not perfect and she hadn't really met the family per say, just observed the wedding.
"I think her parents were... Malik and 'Ruma, yes, that were their names. I didn't talk with them, just watched and listened to the mating ceremony. A curious tradition." Ah, but she was getting off topic. "Malik was almost as big as I am, creamy with a blood-red mane and 'Ruma was a purple color with red stripes like Anni and white paws."
Amani felt her muscles tense when the lioness began explaining the married lioness and her parents. Could this be a relative of hers? She didn't think she had any family besides her daughters and grandcubs. Of course, it was entirely possible, she had to have come from somewhere but-
And then the lioness spoke of Malik and 'Ruma. The male she didn't recognize, but...
She didn't realize she had been holding her breath until the lioness described 'Ruma's appearance. It left her in a rush and tears sprang to her eyes.
"She's my daughter, 'Ruma is my Huruma," Amani gasped, a joyous smile on her maw as the tears began to fall. Her daughter was mated, had cubs of her own. She had a granddaughter all grown up, starting a family as well. Goodness, did she had great-grandcubs? She pressed the back of her paw to her mouth, it was just too much.
She was okay, gods, Huruma was okay.
Tari smiled fondly when the lioness burst into tears and whispered that Anni's mother was in fact her daughter. The older lioness was so overjoyed that she began to weep, a sight that warmed her heart. She knew that feeling, had felt those tears the moment she had laid eyes upon her son and held him close.
"You daughter seemed happy. She's living in a pride on a mountainside. Her mate seems like a good male and your grandcubs are grown. The ceremony was small, but she was happy and her mate is a... good male. A bit eccentric, but good." she replied, reaching out a paw to touch the lioness' shoulder, one mother to another.
"I'll probably be heading back in that direction soon, if you wanted me to take you to see her, or take a message." She watched the lioness look back at the pridelands, knew what she had to be considering. To go back home, or take this offer to see her daughter and family. Tari could see the winter in this lioness, this would probably be the only chance she had.
"I want to see my grandcubs." Tari smiled and nodded her head slowly. Would that she could use her powers to help this lioness along the way, but no matter. She would stay with her, be her friend and help her safely reach the Ela. "My name is Amani, by the way."
"I'm Tarishi, but Tari is fine. And this is my friend Hermes," Tari replied, nudging her friend awake. Or, at least half awake.
"Mmm, what, babe?" he asked sleepily, one eye cracking open.
"Get back on, we're going to take Anni's grandmother to see her." He gave her an acknowledging hum and carefully clawed his way back onto her back, settling down, returning to his slumber.
She turned them in the direction of the Ela, away from the pridelands, and began walking.
"You have an interesting friend, Tari." Tari smiled.
"Wait until you see him awake."
(WC: 1,290)