"Idun, hurry up."
Bani had collected the young Idun from her mothers den and was greeted with wide eyes anticipating the adventure of her lifetime. Fortunately for Bani it wouldn't take much to impress the young adult. Home had always been a maze she couldn't enter, a forest she shouldn't enter, and waters she wasn't ready to tackle - per her mother. So Idun was ready to do something beyond study and prepare herself for a role she wouldn't be taking for quite some time, or at all.
"I'm coming, can you slow down." The frustrated voice of Idun, burdened by her own bags, was heard from some distance beyond him. Bani paused and sighed, shoulders sinking as he turned to look back and there she was struggling to leave home. Not because she wanted to stay put in safety - no - in fact she showed no remorse for wanting to leave at all. The struggle was simply with her unfamiliarity of the bags that adorned her in variety of ways. "What in the savannah.." He muttered, rolling his eyes dramatically. "What the heck do you have in all of those bags? Are you moving permanently?"
"Not permanently, but one can never be left in a situation they can't get out of." Her nose wrinkled and expression soured at his mockery. "You brought next to nothing so I had to step up and be the mule." Branding him as a lazy lion was easily done as she peered at his single satchel. A bag that was likely filled with some rations and nothing more.
Bani shook his head as she berated him and looked back down the 'path' they were traveling and chose to continue walking it. "Those bags will only weigh you down and you're foolish to think that you won't find the necessary things to survive out in the wild." He had wondered how Idun would do on her own and so far he wasn't a bit surprised of the answer he got. A lioness growing up without much teachings of survival, seeing as she didn't need it, wouldn't understand a bit about being out in the wilderness. Had she attempted to do this on her own she would have suffered long term - for now he'd let her suffer in a more shorter span of time. The bags would be gone within hours of trying to carry them. Especially if she discovered that those extra rations wouldn't stay. Hunger was a strange beast.. if one knows there are snacks then they are tempted by them. Bani snickered lightly at his own thoughts which earned a curious gaze from Idun that he missed.
"Where are we going first, Uncle?" She finally got the question out that she had been waiting to ask for most of the morning. It had been itching in the center of mind and it was obvious by the sigh Bani let loose that he had been waiting for exactly that question.
"I'm not entirely sure." He answered honestly, but it was clear in his tone that he wasn't done with his thought. "I've considered the nearest prides, but I don't know that he'd settle down else where. Why leave home only to find another right away?" The pride scattered atop a cliff had come to mind nearly immediately and the idea of his brother living there plagued his mind. Surely that hadn't been the case, but truthfully anything could have happened. Ali could be victim to a temptress much like any other lion. Finding a permanent home with a promise of a female.. well it was damn near gold. "He had wanted to explore the world from the moment we were born. Questions about the maze, the forests, the pride itself and what other prides might be out there." Bani babbled a little bit, but when he looked back to Idun he saw she was gobbling it up.
Idun didn't dare speak, even well into silence between her and Bani. He had a lot on his mind and she understood how overwhelming this might be. Or at least she was feeling it. Ali had left at an undetermined time, with a tendency for wandering.. her own thoughts pointed out the obvious. Why was he a maze runner? Her eyes rolled as she considered this clearly over looked aspect of the situation and realized that it may not have come up because why? Focusing on the past wouldn't bring him home any sooner.
"Did you ever consider leaving, Uncle?" Breaking the silence wasn't anticipated, but as soon as Idun formed the question in her mind she immediately asked it. "I just mean that there is no way only Ali considered life outside of our walls." Nice save.. She rolled her eyes at herself and grew silent again. Bani had remained silent the entire time and didn't react to her question beyond a small, unnoticeable twitch.
Of course. The answer echoed around his mind like a ball. I've wanted to leave for many moons, travel the world, and learn about different places. He was still silent, still debating about what to share with his wanderlust niece. She would sooner stay away from the pride she was heir too - she and her eventual pride mates. This felt like a moment where he needed to be a little more elegant in his response. "No, I've never been curious to leave." The answer was rigid, firm, and a lie. "The pride gives us all that we need." Fortunately that wasn't a lie, and speaking this truth warmed his very being. Skiringssal was a sturdy home that had out lived it's generations time after time. The lands were generous, their beliefs provided a sense of safety, and their strong devotion to each house brought fortunes. Protection was without a doubt present. Nysno ensured that while houses like their own families, Dido, brought constant food. If the world was entirely based on survival of the fittest.. their home would be successful.
They weren't far, still within the prides outer most reach. He stopped and turned to gaze back at the maze which protected their family members within. "Imagine for a moment that others wanted to leave." He embraced the sense of pride that his words had inspired. "We wouldn't have your Uncle Svafnir bringing food to the market so that others may thrive. We wouldn't have the warriors the Nysno house provides, and we certainly wouldn't have the Norns to hold the entire pride together. Everyone would want to wander until they couldn't wander any longer. We would always welcome them back with open arms, but the pride would suffer for it." He rambled, again, but his chest puffed up a little and he was reminded of the reasons why he had stayed all those moons ago when he had considered leaving himself. He made a mental note to remember as much of this as he could for his speech to Ali.
"That makes sense Uncle." Idun had to wonder why had been so focused on those two houses primarily, but the truth was they had worked together for as long as she could remember, of course he would reference them. "So if others left more frequently then the pride wouldn't have a solid foundation save for a few of the older generation." She bobbed her head lightly at the end of her clarification as if to firmly agree with what he had said. "One day my sisters and I will be part of that foundation." She spoke quietly to herself about her future. She and two others, who would basically be sisters by the time it was all said and done (even if not by blood) would be leading the pride into its future. The thought sent a shiver down her spine, but she welcomed the challenge.
First they would have to leave the prides lands and figure out where to start in their goal to find Ali.