Run Like You Do

They had been running for a long time now, the sky was pitch black which made the teen assume it was around midnight. The only light was from the moon which was covered by large black clouds. Upendo wondered if the rains were to come again soon and he knew that he would thank the Great Spirits for it later. Even though it seemed the duo had been running for hours they hadn't made it that much farther than losing the Lowlands in the distance. He found that talking with Giza distracted him so the male was silent most of the trip, especially after admitting that he'd rather have her as a mate than the princess. Even though Giza was technically a princess in now two kingdoms, Upendo couldn't see her as one. When he had found her scared to death he saw her as nothing more than a lost cub. She had no family, no friends, nothing. And now Upendo had found out much more than he ever planned on finding out about Giza, and through that he had become closer to the female than ever before. Now thinking back on what his queen had told him earlier that night, he finally realized that maybe there was a reason that he and Giza had met. It was crazy for the teen to think about that, but he truly wondered if he was actually supposed to end up with Giza. No that was impossible right? Giza was his best friend, almost his sister in his eyes, it would never work out would it? Giza was so nice to him, she was unique and had an amazing personality, and Upendo? He was just him.

But after thinking about this for a long while his eyes closed and the adolescent failed to see the upcoming rock in the way of his paw. His paw hit it and sent the dark tan male tumbling forward, somersaulting twice on the ground before landing on his stomach. However Upendo couldn't get up, not from pain or anything being broken but out of pure exhaustion. His adrenaline had long since run out and now he had been running on the remainder of his strength. And now that his stride had run out he didn't want to get up and move any longer. He groaned slightly and moved his paws to try to get the movement back in them but they refused to move. Upendo knew better than anyone else that being alone in the neutral lands were dangerous, even if you had someone else like Giza with you. Out in the open was an instant thing that said, 'Hey I'm vulnerable, come eat me!' for many animals, even the lions who ruled the lands. Even in the night the neutral lands were full of threats for even the strongest of lions. It had been the cause of death for his mother who died in these very same neutral lands. Upendo silently wondered if she was watching over him at that moment, making sure his and Giza's journey to go find Tasa, Ziko and Jabari would turn out well. What of his father? Was he watching over as well? He knew that it was highly impossible for his father to be a Great Spirit, but he knew he still had some good within his heart, he had to be with his mother wherever she was at the moment in time.

Breathing in a deep breath Upendo rested for a moment before lifting his head up. His shaggy teenage mane was seemingly growing by the minute, slightly falling into his right crimson eye but Upendo quickly blew it away. He was sure Giza was probably upon him making sure that he was alright. Chuckling a bit he smiled and spoke, "Yeah, maybe we should stop for the night, I can't move much more," But then he got slightly serious and narrowed his eyes on the horizon, "We have to find a den though, we're easy pickings for ones like the ones who killed my parents,"

The scarred lioness still felt awkward about their earlier conversation, and in her embarrassment, Giza found it impossible to shut her mouth. She rambled on and on as they traveled, through deep breaths as she tried to keep up with Upendo’s long stride. Giza was months older than the almost-adult lion, but he had grown taller and stronger long ago. All the while, Upendo was relatively quiet, instead letting Giza embarrass herself as she prattled on about nothing in particular. She talked about the dark clouds the hid the moon away, making it harder to see. She talked about introducing Upendo to her mother and her brother, and about how nice it would be to see Tasa, who she had always been quietly fond of. Basically, Giza talked about everything that wasn’t their relationship, which had evolved into something inexplicable in the course of one day. She wanted him to talk about it again, but the sensitive topic had been swiftly dismissed hours ago and neither traveler seemed willing to broach the subject again.

In Giza’s mind, which had always tended towards the dark and the negative, it was she who was unworthy. Giza, who had never been loved by her natal pride. The cub that no one had wanted was now an adult who found it impossible to understand why another would desire her now. She had sometimes wondered to herself if she was even capable of love, let alone deserving of it. The moment Upendo faltered, Giza froze in her tracks, bright eyes wide with concern as she turned sharply to see what had caused him to tumble and fall. It hadn’t been in her nature to care as a cub, but after all of the time they had spent together, she knew she would be lost without the lion – both figuratively and literally. She nudged Upendo's shoulder with her muzzle. "Are you okay?" She panted softly as she spoke, her lungs burning from exertion.

Now that momentum had been lost, her exhaustion hit her full force, and she slipped slowly to the ground beside her fallen friend, lying next to him while they both had a minute to recover. She nodded, grateful to hear that Upendo was as spent for the night as she was. His voice lowered when he spoke again and it caused her to frown. The last thing she wanted to think about was the dangers that lurked in the night, but she knew Upendo was correct. "I don’t know where we will find a den out here that isn’t already claimed for the night." She had been in neutral territory before, and she could still recall the terror of it all before she found the jungle and Upendo. An unconscious shiver traced its way along Giza’s spine, and she inched closer to Upendo without realizing what she was doing. "Maybe we should just keep moving."

When Upendo hit the ground he hit the ground hard, finding himself out of breath for more than a minute. But it wasn't the fact that his breath was gone from the hit that he couldn't breath, it was the fact that Giza was right next to him, so close that when she pushed his shoulder with her muzzle that the breath from his nose made his skin tingle. Her cerulean eyes seemed to be filled with worry and Upendo marveled at them as they shined in the dark night sky. They were almost like stars, beacons for him to follow wherever they may go. But now he was getting too into it and quickly stopped his thoughts. No, this was his best friend, he couldn't think of her like that... Could he? She asked if he was okay and it took a few moments for him to focus back on the matter at hand. He brought his paw up and rubbed the back of his neck, the paw itself meeting with loads of hair that would make up his mane. Had his mane grown that much that it was almost full? It shocked him for a moment and delayed his response longer but finally the adolescent chuckled and sarcasm filled his voice, "Yeah, never better," But then seriousness filled his voice and the chuckles vanished, "Really I'm fine, but that fall took a hit on me, I'm starting to feel all that running that we just did," He brought his paw down and it hit the ground with a thump, not wanting to move anymore and just rest. He would be happy to oblige his paw, but in reality there was nowhere safe at the moment where they could rest.

And then Giza slipped down next to him, the space between the two was decreasing fast, it made his heart race. Why now of all times? The two had laid close together on other nights, but why was this night different? Why was he getting these strange feelings? No, he wasn't falling for her was he?! It was absurd, the thought of it was outrageous. Giza was like his sister, his best friend, and now his hormones were telling him otherwise? Maybe it wasn't just his hormones, but maybe this is what his mother and father had felt when they first met? But he had known Giza for most of his life, she was his first true encounter with someone outside the queens and his birth family. He hadn't really met his pride before he had met Giza. They had matured greatly over the past three years together and maybe this was just more than a simple hormone imbalance. But Upendo would think about that later. For now he listened to Giza state that there was probably no open dens, suggesting that maybe they should keep moving. The teen gave his friend a look as if he was asking her if she was serious, but he knew that they couldn't stay out here for long. They should at least find somewhere that would be considered safe. "You're right, but next time we stop we're stopping for the night. My paws are literally about to fall off Giza, well at least that's what they feel like," With a grunt the teen stood up, slowly and with shaking legs, showing his fatigue which was growing larger with every second.

He padded slowly, waiting for Giza to catch up not realizing what he had done. He was now confidant that his friend was going to be mad at him, very annoyed for what he had just done, but right now he didn't care. It was only a few moments before the teen had caught the shape of something large within his peripheral vision. Thankfully he realized what it was and sped up, turning his head to Giza who should only be a few feet away from where they were last sitting. "Come on, there's a tree right up ahead, I can't see anyone else by there, we should be a tad bit safer there," The teen quickly trotted over and made it before Giza would, he sniffed around and was thankful that no one had been around the foliage recently to claim it as theirs. The tree wasn't as full as the ones in his homelands were, but it was still larger than what was living in the lands where Giza came from. Now not wanting to move another inch the teen fell to the ground with a plop. This time since he prepared for the movement he didn't hurt himself and found himself within an area of sand. It felt soft underneath his belly and it would be nice to use as sort of a pillow. It then finally hit him, he had just left the Lowlands, he left his sisters and his queens, he left his home. His eyes filled with tears but they couldn't fall, they hadn't been able to fall since his mother died, "What am I doing?" he voiced this to no one in particular, "They're all alone as it is, and I just left them. I couldn't, I couldn't even tell them goodbye," But they would be back, with at least one more lion in tow. Hopefully three, but there was now going to be a possibility of four, and figuratively eight.

Upendo’s response was slow to come, and in the darkness Giza wondered if he had hurt himself as she remained close beside him. An injury now would be a death sentence for the both of them, but she said nothing. Finally the lion seemed to come to his senses, and his companion could not guess what else was on his mind as he spoke of the toll their hours of running was beginning to take on his form. Her own thoughts were still racing wildly across the grasslands, and she was unable to catch up. After all of her babbling that evening, Giza now had nothing to say. She stared at his afflicted paw blankly. Even her breathing was beyond her, though the longer they rest there, the easier it felt. It had not even occurred to her to feel completely drained just yet, despite her screaming muscles, despite her growing thirst and her gnawing hunger. Giza was a lioness with a goal, and like her father, it was difficult to stop her once she had her mind set on something. She had never cared so much in her life as she did now, and perhaps that was why she wanted to continue on.

In the silence that followed, Giza became suddenly aware of the closeness between the two, realizing also that it was she who had put them there. In their younger years, intimacy had been taken for granted – once it had been discovered, anyway. Giza had struggled at first to open up to Upendo, but his genuine and compassionate nature and eventually warmed up her icy heart. After trust had been gained, the two were inseparable. They had spent many nights dreaming next to each other, even had a special place to call their own. She could feel her own pulse quicken; a heart that had once been cold now beat in double time. Still, she said nothing and instead nodded in agreement with Upendo’s comment about stopping soon. She wasn’t in any mood to argue. "If your paws fall off, don’t you worry, I’ll pick them up," she said, trying to lighten the mood as Upendo stood on quivering, unsteady legs. A frown appeared but she rose as well and followed him to the tree.

Promptly, Upendo hit the ground in a tired heap, and Giza sat a fair distance away. Her eyes searched the night again, uncertain how the tree would protect them now but still unwilling to disagree with her friend’s judgement. She heard his voice again and her ears swiveled in his direction, but from his tone she couldn’t tell if he was speaking to her or to himself aloud. The emotion in his voice caused Giza to remain silent for a moment or two. Without turning to look at him, she responded quietly. "They will understand when we return. And we will return," she said lowly, but with emphasis. "They would never be mad at you for doing the right thing. We just have to find them." On the move, she had ignored her fears of being away from the jungle. Only now that they had stopped did she begin to grow more nervous. The night was still, save for the melodic humming and clicks of tiny insects and the haggard, exhausted breathing of the lioness and her friend. But the mind could play tricks in the darkness, and Giza startled herself by imagining what could be out there, unseen. Nothing seemed safe now, but she was still quite certain that they would be successful, as long as they stayed together.