Since the last time Alkaid had brought it up she had not once mentioned the idea of going home to Rive, for which he was extremely thankful. The uneasiness that had settled in the pit of his stomach abated little by little until he was, at last, at peace in the idea that it was just the two of them looking for a new place that they could settle.

They travelled well together, not quite aimless but without any true sense of what it was they were looking for. As they passed near to lands claimed by prides they kept their senses about them and whenever they encountered one of their members they asked questions, picked at their knowledge for anything about the pride that seemed to stand out. Alkaid had once belonged to a snowy pride, he knew, but he thought that she had no intention of seeking out one similar - she had her own wounds and did not want to be reminded of them. Thus, they steered clear of the coast and the mountains. At times her interest perked but it was always Rive upon whose shoulders the decision fell.

"Why won't you choose?" he asked at last, tilting his head at her above the remains of the carcass they had felled for dinner, watching her as she so contentedly cleaned the specks of blood from her fur. It took her a while to answer, so long in fact that he was about to open his mouth to ask her again, but she did finally let her deep, amber eyes rise to his.

"Because I was not a Queen, Rive. I have never known what it was to have subjects, I was not even among my pride very often given my purpose in life. I was a traveller doing the Gods' work and I was often very, very alone. It will not matter to me what pride is chosen - at least no further than making sure it is one that might heal that ache in your heart."

Rive could not help but feel as if that wasn't the entire truth but he couldn't place why - she looked as serene and collected as ever, calm and sure of herself. He mustered a smile and stood, shaking his mane out as he clambered to his feet. The pale rogue was certain he must simply need to shake off whatever peculiar feeling this was - Alkaid was always honest and open with him. There was no reason to believe she would be anything else. Obediently, she rose and fell into step with him. He never had liked making a camp near their kills - he'd always told her the smell of blood made any place unsafe and she hadn't argued it.

It was very close to their kill that Alkaid herself first noticed the scent - lions, and many of them. They had neared yet another pride's lands. Just as she turned to say something to him she saw his eyes narrow ahead of them on their pathway instead.Worried suddenly, she glanced ahead too. There, plain and obvious in the light of the setting sun was a mostly white lioness marked in the colors of the twilight. She was pretty, Alkaid thought.

They drew up short of her but she had, no doubt, noticed them as well. She was sitting, unthreatening but stiff, and staring at them down with eyes the color of the pink-tinged skies overhead. Rive's ocean blues shifted down to Alkaid with a silent question: shall we try this one? With a confident nod she answered and took the lead, strutting forward with a pleasant smile plastered on her maw. It was at a few paces that she noticed the other female's face had begun to echo her own and relief found her, swift and easy.

"Hello stranger," Alkaid spoke once within hearing distance, "we are sorry to trouble you. We mean no harm. Are you a part of the pride that is near here?"

The other lioness smiled, then glanced around her as if she expected company. Alkaid was certain she could feel the tense muscles of Rive's body screaming in alarm but she pretended to pay no mind to it. It wasn't abnormal to want to know one's surroundings.

"Yes, I am. You are near the Mwezi Johari, the land of my birth. You are welcome here just do mind yourselves, some of our pride members are quite wary of strangers."

It was hard not to smile as she spoke - her voice was gentle and lilting, as elegant and delicate as the finite spots that mottled her flank. Alkaid sat in front of her without verbal invitation and was not at all surprised when Rive joined her, smiling gently as well.

"I am Taraiya, a huntress here. Who might the two of you be?"

Pink eyes swiveled from the all white female to her companion, curious over what their relation was. Mates, perhaps? It was hard to say. There was an affection in the female's gaze that was as clear to Taraiya's intuition as the face of the moon but there was.. something else there, too. It wasn't in her nature to spy so she simply waited for the introductions, noting that the female that had approached her at first was now waiting for the male to take the lead in this conversation. More curious, still. It was certainly a sign of respect.

"I am Rive and this is Alkaid," his head dipped, bobbing his pale blue mane, "and we are traveling in search of a new home. Would you mind terribly if we asked you a few questions?"

Taraiya laughed, pleasant and soft, and saw the fading smiles on both their mugs renew. She had not meant it in any insult and she, for one, was glad that they had not taken it as such. It was just so curious a thing to say!

"Why, of course, our pride is one full of history so please ask me what you may."

Rive, as she now knew him to be, tossed an unsure glance at his companion and then let his eyes drift up overhead in thought. It was an interesting habit, the need to glance away from someone to let the wheels of the mind work, but she often saw it in cubs and dreamers. Truth be told, she did prefer a lion that thought before they blurted out whatever nonsense came to their mind. She rather liked the both of them already.

"Well," his silence broke at last, "I suppose the biggest question is what does your kind believe in? What.. drives you?"

"Oh, that's rather an easy one. We believe in The Great Lion, the one who watches over us at night and keeps us safe. We are bound to his cycle and live our life according to it."

A puzzled look passed both of their faces at once and it made Taraiya laugh again, low and amused.

"The moon," she raised a paw and pointed at the sky overhead where a ghostly outline of it was visible in the mottled pinks and oranges of the sunset, "is our deity."

The look that crossed Rive's face then was completely incomprehensible - so much so that even the lioness Alkaid looked completely unsure of him. They exchanged a silent glance that she was no privvy to understanding and, as he seemed to be taken by silence, it was the lioness that finally answered for them both.

"We have a few more questions."

(1,256 words)