It had taken some time, but the God of Negligence had healed. His friend, the one that found him in his time of need, had moved on and went his separate way, but Uzembe would never forget Tucci and all the help he had given him. Uzembe promised that he would always watch over the other, and he looked forward to finding him again. For a God, it was not too difficult for him to fly around and find a lion. It was nothing like walking on the ground and having to search that way: the sky made it so much easier to cover a lot more ground.

Wahed was still with him, though, and the two of them had agreed to set out together until Uzembe was strong enough to fly again. Right now, he was not able to get himself back into the sky, so he was walking next to his wild dog friend and really starting to understand the way life worked for mortals. It was terrible. His feet constantly felt tired and heavy and he was just not fun to have to use all these muscles that he was not used to using so much. He was so used to his wings, and just flying around, but even with his magic, the cuts on his back would just be too painful. The Stormborn lion that had attacked him really did a good job of crippling him, at least for now.

But Wahed was all too happy to walk with him, wagging his tail and keeping his head up as they plodded along. They had been on the road together for some time now, a few days at the least, and though the wounds on Uzembe’s back were beginning to heal, they were not going anywhere any time soon. Wahed was glad to help him hunt and do what he could to make sure the God was well cared for, and in turn he got to experience what life was like for a lion. A lion with wings, on top of all that.

This land they had entered in was rife with smells, and Wahed knew they were near or even inside a pride. It was just too scent heavy, even on the outskirts like this. There was one very dominant smell around, and Wahed was sure that there was a lion or some one living not too far from where they were. This was not a dense area as far as population went, but he was sure that there was still a pride around here, whether they all lived in this particular patch of land or not. And they did not. In fact, only one lion lived in this specific area, and he made sure to keep it that way.

Saidia was not used to visitors, though he had been getting more than he thought he would in recent days. He was not too happy about it, but he was also not an angry or grumpy lion. He was just quiet and stuck to his way of life. He did not like deviating from his daily plan, and for some reason he kept getting forced off of his path by strange occurrences and lions popping into his area without his permission or his previous knowledge. It seemed to all be happening in a matter of days, too, where he had gone a very long time before without seeing hide nor hair of anyone at all. He was just not sure what was going on.

He did not like it.

Padding over to the two new intruders, Saidia was a bit taken when he saw the large God standing next to a small wild dog. He had never seen either things before, and he was very baffled by the sight of both at once. He hardly thought it was real, and hardly knew how to really understand the sight. He decided to not focus on the strangeness of it, shaking his head and moving toward them while silently telling himself that he was just going to talk to others. Not Gods, not wild dogs, just other creatures of unimportant species that were invading in his territory and ruining his schedule.

He was supposed to be hunting right now, and now he was not. It meant his whole day was going to be thrown off if he did not get back to it right away. He was angry, but he was just not an aggressive sort. Even as he walked up to them, he did so while slowing his pace and making sure they spotted him and did not think he was there to fight them. He probably could not take that winged lion in a fight, anyway, even if he did get the drop on the little dog. It was near impossible for him to hurt anyone, lion or otherwise, unless they really posed a threat to him or his home.

“What brings you two to these lands?” He asked, once he was close enough for his voice to be heard. He shook his head, frowning at them as he sat down only a few feet from them. He arched his eyebrow at them both, shaking his head slowly. He just wanted to go and get his food before the sun moved too far down the sky, or he would just have to not be able to eat that day because he had no extra time scheduled for hunting. He just could not deviate from his plans, and he had the whole day scheduled! These two intruders were just distracting him, and he was the one that was going to have to suffer for it later.

“We were just passing through,” Uzembe said, nodding his head. He had his scruffy, broken wings curled against his body, keeping his back as still as he could while he walked. Stopping and sitting helped ease the pain after he strained himself with walking all day. It was good to be able to rest for a moment, even if it was in conversation with this tense looking lion. He smiled at the male with as innocent and friendly a look as he could manage, knowing that seeing a God was always intimidating for mortals. Maybe he should consider hiding his appearance at some point… but he always forgot. “Is it okay that we’re here?”

“I guess so. If you don’t cause trouble. I’m not sure about him,” he nodded at the wild dog, “but I don’t really spend much time with the rest of the pride. This is just where I live, on the outskirts… I’m supposed to be hunting right now.”

Wahed frowned thoughtfully at the male lion, wondering what he meant. It seemed like a strange line of thought, and he was not really sure why the other was not out hunting, if that was what he thought he was supposed to be doing. And could he not just wait a couple of minutes and talk to them like any polite male, of any species, would do? At least he was not aggressive in any way… but he was not very polite, either. Wahed was not sure if he liked this guy, not on first glance, but he was not too worried about things like that. Chances were good that they would be on their way soon enough, and would never see the other lion again.

“Why don’t you go hunt, then?” Wahed offered, with a wag of his tail. “I would not mind helping you if you need it. I could help you even if I’m a little small!”

“I don’t need help. It’s just the time. The sun is already too far along, I won’t make it back in time.”

“In time for what?”

“Eating it.”

Wahed stared at him. He just did not understand this at all. This guy was very odd, and Wahed looked at Uzembe, who was making a face that spoke volumes. He was not really sure what this lion meant, either. How could one be late to eating something they had not actually caught yet? But the last thing the God wanted to do was upset someone, though, and if this guy wanted to go and do something, Uzembe was not going to get in his way.

“Well uh. I guess we’ll get going, and you can… go back to… whatever it is you meant to do… we didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s alright. You can stay in these lands if you want. There are empty dens near mine, for the night. You both look tired.” He shifted, being nice, but not sure what else to do with himself. He was very jumbled, just confused about what he was going to do with all this free time he suddenly had. He hated free time. He just did not want to be doing nothing. Maybe he could fill the time by talking with these two.

Wahed and Uzembe exchanged a look, then the God shrugged his shoulders.

“My back is tired. I would like to rest for a bit. It’s very nice of you to offer us a den for the night. Thank you very much!” Uzembe smiled and Wahed nodded his head, wagging his tail. Saidia nodded his head, then turned to lead them back toward his den.

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