Arusha had made it through the rebellion and the following civil war with little affect on her overall personally. She was still a slave, but at least she had not been one of the foolish saps who had been suckered into Shangyue's so called royal guard scheme. Her paws had remained clean and for that she was thankful. She was affiliated immediately with the rebellion thanks to her family, but it was what she would have chosen for herself anyway. Her twin had attended more of the meetings than she had, but she was ever hungry for any update that she could get. But even better yet, it was all over now. Arusha could go to bed each nice in peace and without fear that there would be the same leader when she woke up in the morning and no murdered bodies discovered. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed to the brown lioness that even the lands of the Mwezi'Johari were healthier and happier. It was a perfect season for the new beginnings. Kimondo had waited before changing much of anything, but Arusha silently agreed with the ongoing decision. It was probably easier to begin to heal the deepest wounds without being forced to adjust to more things at once. No, at least as far as the day to day was concerned, for Arusha, things in the pride were pretty good. She was walking through the territory now, on her way for a quick drink or perhaps to do a small hunt after to satiate the twinge of hunger she was beginning to feel, but she was doing well. Maybe she would seek out Manyara or Kizev.
Therefore, the pride member that she did find was rather unexpected.
The brown bone-backed lioness walked to side a green splotchy one who was already bent over and drinking water. The green one was looking a little scraggly and thin, and she flinched and quickly looked away after making eye contact with Arusha. The brown lioness was confused by this but tried to be nice and offered the former royal guard a polite smile. "Nice day we are having." She lowered her head down also to lap up the crystal clear water next to Mabichi while she waited for an answer. Mabichi kept her waiting, though. She just... kept drinking water.. She was not even that thirsty anymore. She just did not want to have a conversation with anyone, least of all one who had been on the other side from her during the civil war. Mabichi renounced any and all ties and loyalties she had once had to Shangyue and the loyalists once it was all said and done. She had been grateful for the opportunity to do so and to remain in the pride. And besides, she had no cause to be loyal to anymore. Shangyue had been killed. And, she supposed, it was probably for the best. Everyone seemed to go back to trusting each other just a little more and the unease that had once gripped the pride was fading away. Mabichi was now mostly ruled by guilt and shame. She avoided eye contact with Arusha but could drink no more. She straightened up and took a few hesitant steps away from the brown lioness. Truthfully she did not know if it was Manyara or not. She was not even clear on if Manyara had a twin or not but she thought that the lioness did. Not that it hardly mattered much. Mabichi just would not call her by name that way she would not be wrong. But did she have to speak to her at all...?
Arusha was looking at her quite confused. Why was Mabichi being so awkward? As far as the brown lioness was concerned, they were both just pride members and both slaves. She continued smiling at Mabichi but the length of time that she had been trying to keep it up turned her small, polite smile into a weird and shaky grimace or smirk. She decided just to drink some more water while Mabichi considered what to do.
"Uhm." She nodded but words apparently failed the splotchy green lioness. She tried to return Arusha's smile but found the look on the brown lioness' face to be a little bit off-putting and weird.
"I was just about to go try and catch a hare or something for a little bite to eat, would you like to join me?" Arusha did not know why she had invited Mabichi along and regretted it as soon as the words had left her mouth. Why did she even care to bother so much? Mabichi did not seem interested in her company. The brown lioness did not even know what the ex royal guard was called. Probably not "ex royal guard" but she did not want to ask now.
Mabichi shuffled her feet awkwardly and looked down at her toes, as if they were suddenly fascinating. Instead, she just became all the more painfully aware of the absence of the royal guard pendant that she used to wear with such pride. She gulped, hard, and tried to stall, but all she could manage were some "uhh" noises. Maybe she could wear the other lioness down and get her to move on already and leave her alone. The splotchy green lioness was not interested. She was not falling over her feet to make friends with a rebel today. Maybe some other time in the future the lionesses could get along more comfortable and easily, but at least they were trying.
"That's okay. If you change your mind, you know where to find me." Arusha nodded as she spoke and turned to leave. Well, she had done her best. No one could say otherwise. She figured the other lioness was probably fine but just stressed out. Mabichi watched her walk away until she was no more than a speck. Only then did she turn to go back home.
the end
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