Chapter 8

"So that was why we had to go to the pridelands then?" Kam asked.

Sharra nodded. "Yes, Mai didn't want to talk about it, merely to forget. So I let her forget,"

Kam nodded. "I see, well, even though the reason was bad, I'm glad we got to go, it was fun either way,"

Kieji let out a long sigh. "I don't know Sharra," he shook his head. Watching his cubs play just outside the den, he had to think. Thought about what it felt the day before when they thought they'd lost Kamira. How it had hurt, how it had seemed like the world had exploded and been left only in pieces. He couldn't' imagine what Memmai was going through, or Katu for that matter. He turned to look at Sharra, eyeing her. "You can't go alone," he said.

Sharra shook her head.

"and you can't very well take the cubs with you because I refuse to miss them growing up…" He sighed. He couldn't believe what he was about to suggest, but he knew, somehow he knew, that it was right. "Send Dahlia out to see if Katu would allow our pride to stay in the pridelands for a few moons. We'll stay close to the border so I can keep an eye on our lands and you and the cubs will stay in pride rock and be there for Memmai,"

Sharra looked up, a smile playing over her lips. "Oh Kieji! Thank you!" She yelped, attacking him with a pounce and nuzzling him. She laughed, licked his cheek and then let him up to go find Dahlia, their meerkat majordomo.

__

She was curled up in the shade, blending so well with her surroundings that Sharra almost missed her. If Sharra didn't know the places Dahlia liked to rest, she probably never would've found the meerkat. That, along with Sharra's superb hunting skills, made it easier for her to see what the ordinary eye missed.

Moving her feet a little clumsily so as to make noise and warn the meerkat, Sharra approached. At the soft rustle of the grass, an ear twitched and Dahlia opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly, quietly so as to look at her surroundings. It wasn't by luck that she had survived the harsh savannah for many years. Her eyes zeroed in on Sharra and she stood, bowing immediately. "My queen," she said. "A pleasure to see you this morning, and as always I thank you for waking me without scaring me,"

Sharra nodded. "It's no problem Dahlia,"

"To what do I owe the company?"

Smiling, Sharra explained the situation with Memmai. "So, Kieji and I would like if you would go to the pridelands and ask King Katu to allow us to stay and help out," Sharra's gaze fixed on the distant horizon, the border of the pridelands. "The cubs and I would stay in the den and Kieji and the pride would stay near the borders, so Kieji can keep an eye on our lands,"

Dahlia nodded as all this was said. "Of course your highness, and I would be more than happy to help his majesty with news of the land as well while you're gone,"

"Thank you, report back to us once you find out?" The meerkat nodded and then scurried off toward the pridelands.

"Dahlia was cool, I liked her a lot," Kam said, smiling.

"Yes, me too. Although I will admit it took quite a while to get used to being called 'majesty' and 'highness'. I'm still not used to it, and I've been called it for years," Sharra shook her head. Her daughter merely laughed. "She's still around, enjoying her retirement. Sometimes we see her, or she'll come and see how we're doing. Her son Makalo is doing a pretty good job though,"

Kam nodded. "Yeah, but he's still learning, that's evident."

The white lioness laughed. "Well, to be a good majordomo takes a while to achieve,"

"I know, well..I think I do anyway. So, obviously uncle Katu agreed,"

"Yes, of course he did…Memmai was the one who wanted me to go," Sharra laughed.

The pride was excited at the prospect of staying in the pridelands for a while. A few lionesses had come from there and liked the idea of going back for a visit. Others had heard all the stories, but had never traveled through, so were curious about the land they'd heard only in stories.

Though she wasn't sure of the idea, it had been decided that Sharra and the cubs would go first, and Keiji and the pride would make their way in the days to follow. Kasoni and Kamira were overjoyed at the idea of traveling somewhere new.

As Sharra held Kam in her paws, bathing her, the two chatted nonstop about the journey to come.

"Momma, why do we have to have baths before we go? I mean, we're just gonna get dirty again on the way aren't we?" Kasoni asked, watching his sister as Sharra ran her tongue along the back of Kam's head.

"Yeah Momma, you'll have to give us another bath once we get there…" Kam whined.

Sharra smiled. "Because you want to look clean, and hopefully you wont' be too dirty when we get there, but if I clean you now, you won't be nearly as dirty as you would be if I didn't bathe you,"

The two whined.
"So Momma, what are we gonna do in the pridelands?" Kasoni asked.

"Are we gonna have to stay in the den all the time?" Kam threw a question in.

Sighing, Sharra lifted Kam up and put her aside and then pulled Kasoni forward and began bathing him. "You wont' have to stay in the den," she answered Kam. "And there will be a lot for you to do once we get there. You'll have a tour, and you'll have another cub your age to play with," That statement brought on a whole other spurt of questions.

What color was the cub? Was it a male or female? Was he or she friendly? Would he/she like them?

Shaking her head, Sharra ruffled the fur on their heads. "I don't know you guys, I haven't met the cub and Memmai hasn't told me whether it's a boy or girl. I'm just as curious as you, but I am sure that he or she will be friendly and will be overjoyed at the idea of having playmates," Satisfied, the cubs sat in front of Sharra, both stifling yawns.

"All right you two, bed time. We have a long day ahead of us,"

"But Momma..the sun is still out! We don't go to sleep before the sun does…" Kamira frowned.

"Not usually sweetie, but we'll be getting up while the sun is still asleep and traveling, so it's important that we get as much sleep as we can, ok?" Sharra explained.

They nodded and then lay down, curling around each other. "Okay Momma, we'll try," Kasoni yawned, resting his head on his sister's shoulder blades. Smiling down at them, Sharra quietly rose and walked out to sit on the edge of the den.

__

Miles away on the other side of the border, young Milly was asking her mother just as many questions as Sharra's had.

"Do you think they'll like me Mama?"

Memmai was staring out at the horizon, her mind across the border. She turned toward her daughter, trying to focus. "Oh baby, I'm sure they will,"

"Have you met them Mama? What do they look like?" Milly asked, sitting in front of her mother with eyes as big as saucers, her curiousity leaking out of her.

"No sweetie, I didn't meet them. But I'm sure they'll love you as much as I do. Just think, in a day or so you'll have two cubs to play with," her voice choked a bit on the last few words, for had she not lost Milly's siblings, she would have two cubs to play with. She pushed the thought from her mind, what was it Ashka had said? To focus on the fact that Sharra was coming and would help her through this. Out of bad can come good. Though she had lost her cubs, that loss had brought her best friend back to the pridelands, if only for a short period of time.

A/N: I know this one isn't all that long, and I'm sorry. I also know that I named Memmai's remaining cub 'Taye' and that it was a boy in the last chapter…I changed my mind and decided it would better suit my story if it were a girl. Hope you all are ok with that and are continuing to enjoy the story. Please review and let me know what your thoughts are!! =)