Maditah had seen the grey shape of the lioness as she had raced into view from somewhere. She hadn’t headed directly for the large group of lionesses all sleeping around an outcropping of rocks, but instead she had made a beeline for a separate outcropping, smaller than the one currently shading the pride, and off to one side. Maditah had noticed Amakhaza doing this before, but had thus far honoured the grey female’s apparent wish for solitude. But there was something about her that had bothered Maditah for some time now.

This time her concern got the better of her and she stood, leaving the group of sleeping pride sisters she had been resting among, to walk across to the rock where Amakhaza had gone.

Her breathe was rasping in her throat, her heart hammering so loudly it made her entire body rock slightly back and forth where she lay, half collapsed on the dry earth. Her pulse was so loud it blocked out all other sounds as it thundered away inside her ears. She had run flat out for a goodly distance after having forced herself to sit out near that damned tree. The same tree she had managed to reach yesterday before fleeing back here. This time she had stayed put for so long she had thought she had finally slipped over the edge into outright madness, but finally she had fled the tree and its hideous mocking emptiness, her heart doing its uttermost to pound its way out of her chest.

The race back to the pride had been the same panicked dash as it always was. Her legs shook with the effort she had put into them, muscles over-used after having sat frozen in terror. She didn’t hear the approach of one of the pride, her ears still full of the sounds of her own body’s laboured recovery. So when the creamy fur and warm gaze of Maditah poked out from around the rock she hid behind, it nearly scared Amakhaza back into flight. As it was she let out a truly undignified squeak of fear and had shot sideways, tripping over her own weakened limbs and sprawling flat on her back.

Maditah was surprised when the grey female squealed like a struck cub and toppled over in apparent fright. “Oh dear!” She exclaimed, her own startled expression evident in her voice. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.” She offered apologetically as she watched the other lioness gather herself back up. “Are you alright?” She asked worriedly, her expression full of gentle concern. Maditah was an older lioness, mature in age and a mother-figure among her pridemates despite her busisa rank and her lack of cubs. She had been a mother several times before though, so maybe it wasn’t such a stretch. Amakhaza wondered at the random thought as it wandered through her still-distracted mind as she tried to recover her composure after both the fright that Maditah had given her and the adrenalin-laced fear of earlier. Gathering her legs under her in a more appropriate pose she remained on her belly, knowing that it would be some time yet before she was able or ready to stand. Her body felt as weak as a newborn cub and just as shaky.

“It’s fine.” She offered, her tone more clipped than she had intended. Upon seeing the concern on the older lionesses features she sighed. Maditah was a sweet female, and was one of those few that was always kind to Amakhaza despite her self-acknowledged abrasive attitude. “I was… out there..” She motioned in the direction of the tree where she had been earlier, even though it was out of sight. At Maditah’s blank look she remembered that this lioness didn’t know about her little problem. Cursing inwardly she looked away, then sighed heavily. She was so very tired of being alone, of being shunned for her strangeness. Maditah had always been kind to her…

“I’m phobic. I hate it out there..” She looked back at the lioness, trying to judge weather or not she had just made a huge mistake. To her surprise, Maditah’s expression was sympathetic, though she thought she saw a hint of confusion there as well. She could hardly blame the older female, her sickness wasn’t rational or common. Maditah moved from where she had been stood, partly visible around the large rock. She padded over, and lay down beside Amakhaza, causing the grey lioness to show her own version of confused.

“I’m sorry.” The busisa offered as she settled, her warmth penetrating the chill that had clung to Amakhaza’s grey fur like the proverbial frost she resembled. “It must be hard.” The soothing words were less inane and more comforting than Amakhaza was used to. She gave the other female a second, confused look and Maditah smiled gently in return. “Did you want to talk about it?” She asked in response, and for a moment Amakhaza shook her head hard, but then she paused and studied her paws for a long, silent moment. Finally she sighed heavily and started to speak, beginning with how she was terrified of being out of sight of the pride, and then trying to explain what it felt like, to be that scared, and that convinced that if she didn’t cling to the ground as tight as she could, she would fly up into the sky, never to return to the earth. Maditah didn’t interrupt throughout her explanation, instead the older female stayed close, her warm fur pressed against Amakhaza’s side, her presence strangely soothing where most lions grated on Amakhaza’s nerves just by being nearby.

Eventually she ran out of words and sighed deeply, tired and drained by the day’s stresses, and the reliving of them for Maditah. The cream busisa shifted, curling her tail around Amakhaza and resting her chin over the grey female’s back. It should have been uncomfortable, but she found it oddly comforting. “Sleep now.” Maditah said softly, yawning herself. “I’m here.” Amakhaza wanted to ask what that meant, but exhaustion washed over her and before she even realised it, she was fast asleep.





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