How many days had it been since her new friend with the jester's smile had left her behind? How many nights had she sat awake with worry, uncertain if this task was too grand for her small, leopon friend. Too many to count; it seemed like so few and so great a number all at once.

It wasn't a surprise to her that when she set out on her morning walk, aimlessly wandering toward the borders, that she found herself making the journey to where Lamia had been staying while she waited. So much had happened in the span of time she she had arrived, broken and dejected on the borders with no where else to go. That wretched, fiery male had shown up to cause trouble and a lioness had come to drop a group of cubs upon poor Rive.

They had not been so close before the Great Lion had chosen to intervene in both their lives at the same moment but now that she had met him and had stuck around to see what that pale lady had been up to, she could not help feeling somewhat responsible now. She had been there as he stumbled back into the pride with his three little cubs waddling in tow. Their bright eyes had been confused and worried but she had done her best to give them a mother's comfort as their new father stumbled over himself. She had already begun to consider him a lost son and she thought he was very thankful for that - especially when she took the little ones so that he might sleep a few hours.

"I should thank him, really," she whispered to no one as she stood before the watering pool where she and Lamia had sat with one another, telling their stories. "Those little darlings are what my soul needs.."

She sighed, feeling more content than she would have expected standing here among her memories, and lowered her face to lap greedily at the cool water. When she picked her head up and ran a tongue along her jowls to catch the water, she was surprised to find a dark face staring hesitantly at her from where he stood some few paces away.

He didn't.. look dangerous? He was older, she could tell, and there was something off about his face that she could not determine from such a distance but the hesitance in his stance told her that he was as uncertain of her as she was of him.

"I do not bite if you do not," she called, calmly, and was surprised to see how charming his smile was. He crossed the few extra paces toward her and stood at the other side of the watering hole. Up close, she realized he had lost sight in one eye due to a rather.. dangerous scar.

"I can't make any promises," he answered, playful, and she heard herself laughing before she realized she was doing so. The bit of humor in her seemed to calm his nerves enough that he leaned down to drink his own fill of water before bringin his head back up and nodding it at her.

"I thought that this area had been abandoned; the smells here were quite faint before you showed up but if this is some claim of the pride nearby then I do not have to stay. I was only going to pass a few nights here until I had the energy to move on again."

Ah, but he was polite!

"No, do not fret. Our guards do not usually pass this far and the lioness that was staying here for the time.. has moved on." She hesitated over the words where she hoped she wouldn't. To hide her stammer, she dipped her head in a polite return of his greeting.

"I am Malkia, Lady of the Mwezi'Johari."

It was the dark males turn to laugh but as he did she heard the tinge of appreciation. He sat pointedly where he stood and lowered his head, giving her the respect due someone of such a rank so close to their homelands.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Malkia, I am Magadi, King of Nothing."

She wanted to tell him that such a title seemed absurd but she only found herself smiling as he opened his good eye and flashed her that rogue's charming, devilish smile. It reminded her of the first time she had met Mwezi, when they had been young and full of life and hope and dreams. This male seemed easily as old as she was, perhaps older, and yet he was the only other soul so aged and fiery at once. It seemed he was all too aware of her admiration because the smile widened and broke around a laugh.

"Ahh, girl, don't look at me that way. You'll make me feel young again and then I might really act foolish."

Malkia felt the heat rise in her cheeks and her smile turned shy, making her feel every ounce the youth he claimed to be. The only difference between Malkia now and Malkia in her youth was that she had the knowledge and the wisdom to navigate this world, and these dances, with grace.

"What is so wrong with feeling young again, Magadi, King of Nothing?"

She sat where she had been standing with her spine long and her head held high, too proud to leave and too humble to tell him to come closer. He knew the look, though, and without her needing to ask him to do so, he pushed himself up onto his feet and rounded the watering hole so that he might take a seat next to her.

"Alright then, my lady, if you aren't afraid of this old face then let's pretend we are spring birds for a while. I'll keep you company for a few days while I'm here, hm?"

"A few days? Oh, you are bold." She smiled and laughed softly, rolling her eyes as playfully as any adolescent, "don't make me change my mind."

(1,106 words)