Ruaka peered up at the strikingly blue sky, watching white fluffy clouds roll by without a care in the world. She herself was completely colorless, just as the clouds were, and she wondered if she could float in the air like that if she fluffed up her fur a bit. Probaly not, the reasonable side of her said as she shifted under the tree she had found some shade in. Although she was completely white she wasn't albino which kept the sun from burning her, she still didn't like being in direct sunlight when she was up and about during the daytime.

Rolling onto her back, she lifted her paws in the air and slowly swatted at the clouds as they passed by. What did they feel like? Maybe like her tuft of fur, really soft and fluffy. Or perhaps like fluffy seeds of the plants in the grass. How did they stay up there? They didn't have wings like the bugs or the birds. Very strange....




Keoyi was having a very busy day. There had been a birth and someone with an illness near her part of the pride, which left her hurrying from one end to the other, tending to the labor and the sick. When one seemed stable and the crisis over, she would rush to the other, also assisting with the crisis. And once both parties had reached stableness, it was up to her to check up on both periodically.

She was finally having a few moments of breath. A break from the hustle. Sighing, she walked underneath the trees, welcoming the shade and the peace. She would have to return to check up on the patients but for now, it was nice, this silence.

Keoyi circled past a tree and nearly stepped on a cloud on the ground. Except, it was a cub. She blinked, staring down at the pretty cub, before giving a gentle smile. "What are you doing, my dear?" she murmured, sitting down. She loved talking to cubs. It was bittersweet. She doubted she would ever have another cub again. She would need another mate and her heart just wasn't ready. And so, she took joy from speaking to the young ones of the pride, quenching her own desire for more children.




Pale blue eyes tracked the movements of the clouds through the branches of the trees, little paws swatting methodically in the air, one after the other. Her eyes widened and tiny claws poked out of her fuzzy toes as a lioness' face appeared in her line of vision, the sudden intrusion a bit of a surprise. She seemed to have startled the other female as well, but they both recovered gracefully.

"Watching the clouds," she said, turning her gaze back up to the sky. "And wondering what they feel like. They look very soft," she added, stretching out her legs and spreading her toes eagerly. "And trying to figure out how they fly with no wings."




Innocence. How she loved a child's innocence. Smiling softly, she laid down next to the cub before also rolling on her back, eyes moving to the cloud. "I hope you don't mind me watching the clouds with you for a bit," she murmured, tension running out of her body. The stress she had been feeling was temporary relieved.

Her own paw reached into the air, reaching for a cloud. "They're probably lighter than downy feathers," Keoyi remarked, watching the white fluffs float lazily in the sky. "Like a leaf on top of the water. They're too light to be down here," Keoyi pointed out before tilting her head to the side to look at the cub. She didn't mention that fog was also a cloud. There was no reason to crush a cub's imagination. "They do look very soft, though. I think I would like to touch a cloud one day," she said decidedly with a small smile at the cub. She was glad for the privacy. This blissful serene... if it wasn't with a cub, she wouldn't feel it. It was bittersweet moments, rather than the usual bitterness she usually felt.




"No, I don't mind," Ruaka said as the lioness laid down with her. Although she was still quite young, she often would distance herself from her rambunctious brothers who were always looking to play and rough house. While she enjoyed doing that on occasion, Ruaka much preffered to talk with adults. It was a good thing since younger lions seemed to be in short supply around here, she and her brothers being the only cubs she had yet to encounter.

"Too light...lighter than feathers?" she asked, watching as a few birds flew overhead. Perhaps that was the trick...you simply had to weigh as much as a feather or less. Birds had lots of feathers which let them fly. But bugs didn't have feathers...bugs didn't also fly as high as birds and they were much smaller, too. Hm...

"Me too," she agreed, glancing over at the lioness. "What's your name? I'm Ruaka," she supplied, remembering her manners a bit belatedly.




"Yes, lighter than a feather," she replied. She watched the cub consider this, process this. It was interesting, seeing how cubs processed things differently than adults. Their world uncorrupted yet. Keoyi let out a sigh, eyes moving back to the clouds. She wondered if Ihe would have liked to watch the clouds with her, had he'd been given the chance.

"Ruaka is a beautiful name," Keoyi complimented, smiling over at the youth. "I'm Keoyi, an Enyi. I'll make sure you live a healthy and happy life," Keoyi promised.




Ah, a healer. Ruaka was just staring to learn about the pride she called home now that she was allowed to roam further from her mother's side. So far she had come to learn that there were many different families - she belonged to Uju but that was all she could really remember - and that there were a few special ranks, but most lions in the pride fell under the catch-all rank of Ezinulo.

"Thank you," she said solomnly for she knew that health and happiness were two of lifes biggest things to achieve. "I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe a cloud," she said, glancing back up at the sky. "They're the same color as me. I just have to figure out how to become lighter than a feather."




Keoyi turned her attention back to the sky as well. "Well," she began, considering the white clouds for a moment. "Perhaps... live your life happy. Worries and fears will only make you heavier. And one day, when you've had a full and happy life without a single regret, you could become one. Keoyi knew this was nonsense. But it was a nice idea. A life without worry or fears was blissful. And impossible. But it was a goal to strive for. And if the goal wasn't met, at least one could be halfway there.

But Keoyi wasn't naive. Life was full of joy and pain. She just hoped this cub, and all the other cubs, had more joy in their life than they did pain. "I think you would be the fluffiest and softest cloud in the sky."




Something within Ruaka tugged her expression into a frown, brows furrowed just a bit as she turned over Keoyi's words. Something about what she said didn't sit right with the little cub, but she couldn't put her paw on what or why it had done so. All she knew was there was a tightness in her stomach usually reserved for when her brothers startled her or she woke up from one of the painful, terrifying nightmares she suffered from. Fear, her mother had called it. Dread. But why? Clouds weren't something to fear and neither was death.

The follow-up pulled the little cub from her strange thoughts and she glanced over at Keoyi once more, a hesitant smile on her face. "I hope so. But I think if I were a cloud I'd come down here so others could see what clouds felt like. Then we wouldn't have to wonder anymore."




The silence gave Keoyi paused and she glanced over at the cub. What she saw gripped her heart; such an expression on a face so young. It was wrong. She wanted it to stop. But knew nothing of what lurked behind that frown. And knew that prying could cause pain.

"You're a kind darling, aren't you?" Keoyi remarked with a soft laugh. "I think everyone here would love that," Keoyi sighed before rolling onto her feet, pushing herself up into standing. It was about time to head back to her duties. "Before you become a cloud, I hope we can become friends and talk some more, Ruaka." Keoyi glanced up at the sky once more before reaching over to gently tousle the cub's tuft of hair. "I think this is what a cloud would feel like," Keoyi murmured, remarking at the softness. "I have to get back to my work, dear. Can we watch the clouds again sometime?"




Ruaka watched as Keoyi pushed herself up to her feet and shifted slightly, rolling onto her stomach. The paw ruffling her tuft made her smile and a little giggle escaped her, all trace of her momentary frown gone. She glanced up at the other lioness once the ruffling stopped, the grin still on her lips.

"Sure," she said agreeably, glad that she had a potential cloud watching buddy. "Next time we can make shapes out of them." That was another favorite passtime of hers when she struck out on her own to escape the loud and rough play her brothers enjoyed. "Have a good time making everyone feel better," she added. She wasn't too sure how the Enyi helped the lions in the pride stay healthy, but she knew they were very important regardless. Hopefully helping others made Keoyi happy, too.




Keoyi nodded with a smile. "That sounds like a fun time. Thank you for letting me watch clouds with you, Ruaka," the widow murmured, stretching for a moment to ease her tired joints.

"Stay out of trouble, dear. And stay healthy. I'd rather our time together be fun," Keoyi said, only half teasing. She lifted a paw in a wave before wandering away, pace picking up once business was once again on her mind.


Fin