Bidii shook out her wings as she landed, folding them up neatly against her back before letting them and her golden horn shimmer away, giving her the appearance of a mortal. A large, fluffy mortal, but a mortal all the same. She seemed to have a better time with the smaller creatures when she didn't have her god-like features distracting them. There were times when she left them be, of course, but today she wanted to blend in and just watch and interact with them as a 'normal' lion, and this was one of them!

She had noticed the Pridelands many years ago, a strong pride with a good sense of who they were and what they did. A mostly peaceful pride, she figured it would be a good place to visit to just mingle. Shaking her long blue mane, she headed into the main area of the pride, hoping to find someone to chat to.

Halisi was heading to the area of the pride where the cubs played in the shadow of Pride Rock. Another day, another pawful of cubs to watch while their parents worked or rested. She loved cubs, of course. It was kind of a requirement to be a nanny! She had been thinking about having some of her own, but it was also a rather daunting task. The cubs that she worked with during the day were always returned at the end of their time there to their parents. If she were a mother she'd have to deal with them all the time. There would be no breaks especially given her job!

As she walked a strange lioness caught her eye, huge and striped and not anyone she had ever seen before. Tilting her head, she headed over in the direction of the giant lioness.

Bidii noticed the blue lioness heading her way and she turned to face her with a wide grin. What a cute little lady! "Hello," she said cheerfully, tossing her head a bit again to her long mane out of her face.

"Hi," Halisi said, a bit surprised that the lioness had been the first one to speak. She was quiet for a moment, unsure of how to go on from there. Bidii took pity on the mortal and chuckled softly before stepping forward.

"First time here," she said with a hum. "Nice pride you've got here, miss.'

Ah, so she was a rogue. Perhaps a bit more than that? Halisi knew that gods existed but she had yet to see one in person. She did know they generally stood out even if they hid their god-like features, and this lioness before her was huge and had abnormally long fur...hm.

"Oh, thank you," she finally said as she realized she was staring. She looked away, mildly embarrassed by that fact. "It is quite a nice place to live."

The lioness' reaction made Bidii laugh, throwing her head back a bit in the process. She moved forward, looking down at the lioness with a friendly expression. "Don't be shy. I know I'm a sight to behold," she teased, flicking her fluffy tail back and forth in amusement. "So, what's your name? I'm Bidii."

"It's nice to meet you, Bidii," Halisi said. "I'm Halisi. And welcome to the Pridelands," she added quickly, finally smiling a bit.

"Ah, the Pridelands. What a lovely name," Bidii said with a hum. "What is your job here, Halisi?"

"I'm a Nanny," she said, a bit proudly. "I watch over the cubs while their parents are busy."

"Oh, what a job!" Bidii said with delight. She loved cubs quite a bit. They had a natural zeal for just about everything that endeared them to her. "Do you have cubs of your own?" she added, tilting her head.

"Ah...not yet. But hopefully soon," Halisi said with a shy smile. "I do love them quite a bit and being around cubs all day makes me want them more. But...it's a bit daunting. To be in charge of something so tiny all day long and all night long. At least with the cubs I watch now they go home to their parents eventually. But having some of my own..."

"You'll get to watch them grow up and learn and explore," Bidii went on, turning a positive spin on the idea of having cubs. "And they're resilient little things, cubs. They can get bounced around and take some minor mistakes from their parents. And if you're already watching cubs there's plenty of parents around here that you can ask for advice from."

"Oh...that's very true," Halisi said, a bit surprised that she hadn't thought about that. Heck, she could ask her own mother or her own siblings, all of whom had cubs! That was just her nature, though. To worry and to worry about silly things.

Seeing realization dawn on Halisi's face made Bidii chuckle again. She approached the small lioness and had to stop herself from reaching out with her invisible wing to rest it on her back. Instead she lifted a fluffy paw to do that instead, patting the smaller female on the back. "Sometimes you need a second pair of eyes to see what's right in front of you," she said with a little wink. "I bet you'd be a great mom."

"Yeah...I do know a lot of silly things that parents sometime ask me about. Lots of ways to get rowdy cubs to sleep during nap time, ways to make picky cubs eat new food...there were lots of tricks in the book. Looking up at Bidii, Halisi smiled thankfully.

"Thanks for the pep talk, Bidii," she said as he large lioness pulled her paw down. "I think I'm more ready for cubs than I thought."

"Well don't go rushing in just because a stranger says you're ready," Bidii teased as she swished her tail again and shifted to keep walking. "But definitely think on it!" She trotted off after that with a little laugh, pale eyes shining as she walked off. Halisi watched her go, a smile on her face as well. Hopefully she'd have cubs soon so she could practice everything that she had learned up until now.

FIN
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