Just before dawn was Adaeze's favorite time- slinking out of her cave, geode in tow, carried oh, so carefully in her maw. They always said it was darkest right before the dawn, and the lioness was inclined to believe it. Stars still hung in the sky, bright specks sparkling eternal cheerfulness much like Adaeze's beloved geode, when the light caught the smooth, sharp edges of the crystal inside. All the stars in the sky could not compare, when Raha was in a good mood- he sparkled and shined like nothing else. She might not be willing to admit it, but it was one of the things she adored about the little geode her sister had gifted to her.

Let Nili keep his silly, flimsy flowers- they would wilt and die within a season, but Raha- Raha would persist and survive for generations and generations... And yet generations more, even, if others cared for him as dutifully and carefully as she.

Raha even had an uncomaparible beauty in his own right. Which was part of why she treasured him so- enough to bring him every morning, without fail, to where the jetty began. He liked it better than the beach, as soft as the sand was against her paws.... She was certain she once heard him wisper a secret fear that a wave would one day sweep him away and steal him to the bottom of the ocean- a ludicrous thought, of course, Adaeze would never allow it. Even if she had to swim to the bottom herself to rescue her poor friend- even if she had to fetch daddy to talk the sea into spitting Raha out, she'd never let him linger there long.

Still, she never begrudged the poor geode- she had her own fears, ridiculous or not, that lingered in the back of her mind and sometimes even invaded her dreams... None were free from fear, for it was what made joy and peace so... So.... Well, wonderful. Without the bad, the good would never be quite so good... Evil was an evil everyone was forced to live with, and life was all the sweeter for it.

The climb atop the jetty wasn't difficult- a bit pinful on the pad, if you weren't careful where you stepped, but the rocks were not yet slippery or traitorous where you climbed from the beach, and if you did not venture out into the sea, there was little danger atop the path of rocks... And Ada had little intention of venturing any further than the top of jetty- she had the same wariness of deep water Raha held, even during death ceremonies... This was as far as she'd travel, settling down on a particlarly large rock that jutted just a little bit. The jetty had always unnerved her just the tiniest bit, even when she and the rest of the pride gathered for ceremony- it was slippery and just the tiniest bit unnatural... She would always prefer good, solid grown beneath her paws, and the jetty was too... risky, rock or not.

Here on her seat over the beach, however, was a more than welcome throne- staring out at the horizon over the ocean, the sound of Hadithi's surf and Misae's wind, held by her own muse.... It was a peaceful, almost reverant place, and the lioness hummed a gentle, happy tune as she placed Raha at the peak of her rock, settling her chin on the cool stone to support Raha with her nose, keeping the geode's face towards the horizon.

It had been a long time- far too long a time- since Raha had spoken clearly. She used to worry that there was something wrong with him, and fretted over him day and night for a full week... And by the time she finally emerged from her cave to reassure her fretting family, Binti was no longer able to sing with her crickets. It was a very new, jarring fear that one day, the familiar and reassuring rumble and cracks of stone would not ring so clearly in her own ears- and the song of stone was not near so loud and clear as that of crickets... Once her muse was gone, there would be no bittersweet comfort in the remenant that Binti still had.

All the worse, she could feel it coming. Raha and his ilk were quieter most days- she could still feel them, and hear their faint song, but each season the stretches of quiet grew longer and quieter, and fear began to creep into Adaeze's heart- there were days she considered breaking off from the pride, taking Raha and going to find the goddess Muhali- the 'blessing' the god of peace had left was no blessing, it was a curse... Stealing the peace of the lions who lived there and maybe, just maybe, if she could find Muhali on this quest and convince the goddess to return once more....

But such were cub's stories. The thought of leaving her family, and the near certainty that she'd lose the ability to speak with Raha altogether always stilled her paws the moment they grew restless.

"The Bahari'moto have dissolved the treaty with our pride, Raha, did you hear?" Adaeze sighed, letting her eyes fall closed for the moments before dawn as she spoke- she and Raha scarce got precious quiet moments together aside from this, and she was not.. the rest of her family. She had no cubs, no love of her own- even Binti had at least had an engagement, even if she returned empty-pawed. "More and more are joining our pride, but I do not think this is a good thing, Raha. The cubs will be precious, and certainly will grow up pure Kizingo'Zaa, but I worry that we will not be the same pride when they do grow up. It's already so different from when I was a cub- you'd have loved it, Raha. Everyone had their muse- there was no dreamer's cove and insanity was not something frowned on and Muhali walked the lands herself. It was a different time, I suppose. Everything was so much.... Simpler," Adaeze sighed.

She was not one for politics- she was too set in her ways, too used to goofing off with her brother and doing as she pleased without need to worry about eyes on her constantly, or the responsibility of the entire pride resting on her shoulders... Yet it did not make her any more comfortable with the changes since her father and brothers led. "I think... Nili might be right, Raha." It might just be time to move on, as their siblings had- rather than cling to remnants. Hadithi and Misae were fine, stuck in their ways- but Adaeze was not entirely sure anymore. "It might be time to leave like the rest of our siblings have."

The morning was not meant to be somber, and Raha creaked with melancholy as she huffed over him comfortingly- but one thing was for certain as the sun began to peek over the horizon, dawn's first light glittering off Raha's gems.... She'd have to speak with Binti and Nili later.