What if? [open]

[Safia]

S A F I A

This day was just not going her way. She hadn't been able to find even a small source of water for days, and by this point she was practically dying from the thirst. She could hardly swallow without it paining her at least a little bit. And the heat. She had spent at least half the day in the shade of a tree, which, to be honest, wasn't exactly large to begin with. But, after a while, her hunger had gotten the best of her, and she had been forced to leave.

And that was where she found herself now. She kept her body low, belly gently scraping against the dirt as she stalked forward through the stalks of grass, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Step. The creature didn't even notice the danger coming so near to it, her steps so silent there was no way it could hear her. Step. Ears perked as it's head lifted slightly, nose twitching as it searched for any scents on the air. Her tail twitched ever so slightly, and in a moment she sprang, claws outstretched, teeth bared.

But the small antelope had heard her approach just in time. Her claws only found empty air, paws landing in the dirt as the creature bounded away before she even had time to react. She growled, stamping her paw in frustration as she retracted her claws, eyes narrowed as her head lowered some, tail flicking even more than before. "Darn it! That's the third time this week!" She groaned, sighing as she shook her head.

She just wanted a break, just one. So why couldn't she just catch this beast when she needed to? She sighed softly, lifting her head as she turned and began to trot away, her steps quick, precise, easy. Her thoughts wandered as she began to search for a place to take shelter from the sun's gaze once again, wondering if it was this difficult to take on the lack of anything in a pride. Would it have been different for her too? What if she did still have a family, a pride to call her own? What if she wasn't stuck out here by herself?

What if?

What if. The question that had haunted her day in and day out. She liked to tell herself she didn't mind being alone so much, but she knew that she was only lying to herself. She knew she had a family of her own, once. That much was obvious. But it was more the need to have one again that caused the question to pop into her head. "One day...I can't be alone forever." She sighed softly. The statement had to be true. She couldn't live alone for the rest of her days. Besides, due to today's results, well....she probably wouldn't last long hunting by herself either.

[Nami]

Zora had been wandering, like she always did. It had been a week since Maliki had offered her some hint of desperation. He had taken her aside and asked her to do some help looking for food. As a king, it was his job to protect the pride and make sure it was healthy. But this drought and having a son to look after, it was more then he could handle. Zora was glad to help and her search had brought her here, among all places.

It had been her first time entering the neutral lands. She felt a little exposed as she trotted across these lands and that's when she spotted a young wandered. She looked weak and too thin for any healthy lions liking. Zora bent down to the ground, watching the young lioness leap towards a small antelope, but it was too aware of the lioness's presence and went bounding off. The dark lioness frowned and waited for it to gallop over to where she was. Zora leaped into action and over took the small creature by surprise. She killed it quickly and looked up, seeing that the lioness had moved on, although Zora felt the tug in her heart to return this prize back to her lands, she realized that this lioness needed more then her pride did.

The lioness pulled the antelope up and carried a ways off, looking for the young wander. When the lioness came into view, Zora walked boldly up to her, the gift in her mouth. The dark lioness caught at bit of what the other lioness was saying, obviously to herself. "One day...I can't be alone forever."

Zora dropped the kill down at her feet and said kindly, "Well today your not alone." she hoped she didn't startle to wandered. She sat down on her haunches and smiled at female. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but..." She paused and pushed the meal over to the stranger, "I saw you hunting back there. I just thought I'd help you out a little." She smiled standing up, wondering if the lioness would except it. She hated lions and all creatures who were prideful. Pride filled animals are always the first to die. There was no shame in excepting help, everyone needs throughout their life time. She nodded towards the antelope, backing a ways up.