(Backlogged)

"Are you certain its this way?"

Lamkana's soft, bell like voice rang out as she trotted carefully after her loyal vulture, smiling as he swooped and rose, then dove again and fell into a twirl mid-air. It had been a long time since she had seen him so over the moon about something and if she were being perfectly honest she would have done anything under the sun to make sure he stayed this happy.

"Yes," he offered, circling back and only steadying his flight as he saw the laughter written in her eyes. "What is so funny, Kana?"

The pet name made her heart soar and the laughter broke at last, bubbling out of her maw uncontained.

"It is just that you are so happy, Kota, I have not seen you this overjoyed since before-" she stopped her sentence and a familiar sadness swelled in her midnight blues. "Since before."

Kota turned away from her as he saw the sign of her looming sadness and wondered if he was doing the right thing by leading her to this pride. His lady friend, that beautiful vulturess, had told him that she would be at home here - safe, cared for, protected and happy. He could not stand to see Lamkana's heart (or body) broken even one more time and if he could lead her somewhere that they would both be happy then that was all he could ever wish for his oldest friend. He loved Lamkana nearly more than himself.

"Are you sure you want to go?"

He circled back at last, pleased that she had schooled her face back to its gentle neutral. His voice was steady, it didn't break with worry like he had feared it might if he had looked back to find her sorrows shining brightly. It had been a long time since she had broken down entirely over all the things she had lost, that they had lost, but even he knew some wounds never completely healed. Not really.

"Of course, darling," her words were soft now and her smile was true as she turned her deep blues up to watch him circle above her while she trotted. "I will not always be able to wander, I know that, and I would like very much to find a place for us before I am simply doomed to stay where I fall. If they will care for you here too then that is enough for me."

Kota found himself smiling as he circled and headed forward again, scoping out the land that was visible for miles beyond her sight. There was.. something in the distance that resembled a lion but it was well camoflouged and too hard for him to tell. It was too far yet to know.

"Sometimes I wish you worried about yourself as much as you did everyone else," his words were almost too gentle for her to hear but she got enough of it to scoff at him from below. As he dove down again she swatted at his tail feathers, missing him apurpose but still sending him zooming back up into the sky as a laugh trailed in his wake.

"I mean it, my girl."

For all that he had not been happy since before, Lamkana had only been pretending to be ever since the last time she laid eyes on Umoja. She still wouldn't speak his name, not even to Kota, and he knew that the loss of her first love would never truly leave her. She just smiled through it every time she was reminded and changed the subject to something else. He didn't know what it would take for her to heal from that wound - maybe nothing ever would?

"I know you do," she answered gently, turning her eyes forward to their path, "hopefully this path is the way to home. That's all we need." Then, after a breath, she looked up at him with a smile devoid of any sadness - too much a mask, he thought, and too forced. She didn't want to have this conversation with him right now, or ever probably. "Why don't you scout ahead a little ways and see if we are close? I really don't know that we are allowed to just.. walk in."

Kota didn't want to leave her behind but he obliged; she wanted to be alone, he wasn't an idiot, so he parted her with an agreeable caw and soared higher, to the point that she could see him but would no longer be able to truly speak with him. Forward he flew, and up, until the land beyond him stretched for miles unbroken. The lands were not unusual except that he could not pinpoint a single area that looked like a pride's heart - most prides all gathered in one spot, congregated in an area that smelled so keenly of their scent that a fool could not wander in without knowing.

She had said they were nomadic though - perhaps this area was just not where they occupied at the moment?

He barrelled forward with great flaps of his wings, listening as the wind whistled by his head and straining to hear anything beyond the howl of the gusts. It was only chance that he saw the female at a distance and, he thought, a familiar body trailing in the air low beside her.

Yes, this had to be it! What were the chances that such a familiar vulture would be in a place so consistent with her description of where to find her? Was she here because she was waiting? No, it had been too long, that was a fool's dream. Perhaps, though..

He fought the urge to dive forward and greet them alone; he never left Lamkana behind even for a moment. Instead he turned and circled back in the direction he had come, memorizing the path of the land that lead back to his oldest friend in the world so that he could guide her through it and hopefully towards what would be their new home..

(1,009 words)