Despite her decision to improve herself, Naani would probably continue to do this. She had found that slipping away to be by herself was a good way to collect her thoughts. That said, today she found herself sort of almost wishing that she had someone to, well...bounce her thoughts off of. To... talk to.
And wasn't that a strange concept, she thought with a tilt of her head. All this time, she'd just wanted to get away from other people, even her own brother, and now her feelings chose to yearn for that? It seemed a little too late, what with how she'd pushed everyone away.
The lioness mused over that as she made her way down the slope and into the fields. This was... a lesser known area to her pride, at least as far as she could tell. It was further away from the main hub of their home, nestled just out of sight of where the hunters normally went, and that worked perfectly for her. She saved journeying to here for when she really wanted to get away though. It was a little too far for her normal tastes.
With a sigh, Naani padded lightly to the shade of a slightly dead tree - not the best cover, but well enough - and then dropped herself down in it, sending plums of dust and dirt into the air.
Today was one of those days; a tiring one, where she'd done nothing tiring but just felt so tired. It was a day where her body felt heavy, she didn't think even her tail could move freely, and all she wanted to do was sleep and dream and bliss out from the world. Not that that always worked, and she knew better than to cave into it by this point. As she'd learned, standing around and hoping for something would solve nothing.
Which lead her to her current problem. What to do about this whole... lack of contact with others? She didn't think she was ready to really open up to anyone, if she ever would.
Naani groaned and dropped her head to the ground, listlessly staring at a nearby rock before reaching over to roll it about with her paw.
"Why must everything be so hard?" she muttered quietly to herself, "I just...." she closed her eyes, "... wish I could turn back time. Back to when everything was good and pure. Oh, mom, dad... I wish you were here to tell me what to do." It was a rare moment indeed where she would mention either of her parents out loud, but here, in the safety and solitude of this tree, she muttered it. Perhaps it was a sign that she was recovering, at least a little bit, but the statement still brought tears to her eyes.
She certainly wasn't expecting something to swipe them away.
Naani jolted backwards and snapped her eyes wide open to stare at what had done that. There was no one here, last she'd checked, and she hadn't smelled nor heard anyone approaching. The beginnings of a growl was growing in her throat before what she now registered was a little snake started speaking.
She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, really, but when someone plops themselves over your home and starts crying, you notice. It was the crying bit in particular that drove her from her home to investigate.
And that's how Cydonia found herself trying to comfort this strange lioness.
It was probably a bizarre sight to anyone else, but Cydonia had never been the most... snake-like of snakes. She was soft-spoken, rarely spoke in fact, and had a gentle nature to match. Even hunting was done swiftly by her, to prevent having to hear her meals cry.
She simply watched with an unconcerned air as the lioness moved away from her and started barring her teeth. "The world is cruel," her voice was quiet, almost like a faint breeze, "but it's also ours to shape."
Her small tongue flicked out briefly, before she continued, "It'll be okay."
There was a moment of silence, before Naani scoffed and dropped her gaze to the ground.
"How is it okay? How is ANY OF THIS OKAY?" The tears were coming back down, and she was hunching forward as she started yelling vehemently, though whether she was yelling at the snake or at herself, she wasn't sure. "My parents are DEAD. My brother is practically a GHOST, for all the times HE'S AROUND. Lions are DYING in our pride. And Ebere, the IDIOT, WHAT WAS HE- WHY DID HE-" she hiccuped, "Why would he, I swear I didn't mean for that to happen," she was shrinking into herself now, head sinking to the floor. Her voice, too, was fading into a whisper, "I didn't think he'd do it."
Honestly, she'd thought she was over this, had moved on and was moving forward, but unbeknownst to her, these things took time. They wouldn't just fade after a few days. At least now, she'd had the chance to scream out her frustrations, though it left her feeling empty and timid. After all, the last time she'd done so, it had ended in Ebere's blinding.
Cydonia was an adult though, not a love-struck young teen looking to prove himself, and she calmly waited for this one to let out her anger. It seemed like she needed it.
As Naani wound down from her fury, the snake was expecting, well, something other than deflating in front of her. She blinked at the adolescent, silent in her gazing, before deciding that it was okay to move closer. Slithering next to the lioness' head, she nudged their noses together and hummed a soft tone. It was a song passed down through her line, and something she hadn't thought she'd get the chance to comfort someone else with.
"Shh," she said in between hums, "Life can be as cruel as the world, but you can learn from it, grow from it." She folded herself over Naani's paw, closing her eyes and resting her head down on a claw, all the while continuing her song,
"Things will never be perfect, but it will be okay, because you'll move forward."
Her eyes were misted over by this point, and she could do nothing but stare in shock at this tiny little creature so at peace with everything. The song was new to her, yet at the same time reminded her of happier times, and strangely, times to come.
Her mouth opened to say something, anything, but in the end, her lip just wobbled before she dropped her head with a thump to the dirt, and just... started sobbing right then and there. In the end, both she and the little blue snake fell asleep beneath the shade of a dead tree.
The world was cruel, but she would move forward.