Tsavo had grown tired. 

Fatigue seeped deep into her bones, her mind, her heart.  Nothing had been easy since the fall.  However she still couldn’t bring herself to regret it and her part in it.  Perhaps that made her a fool.  Had she not had status and power while the government stood?  

From the outside, she had a privileged life. She was of high birth and high rank in government.  Now she was the subject of scornful stares and whispered words.  Now she was nothing in terms of status and power.  Now she had no family to speak of. She had nothing.  But she did not regret because they all had fallen.   

But she was tired of their eyes.  She could feel every set of eyes on her as she passed. The scorn burning her flesh worse than any summer sun.  She walked past as if she did not see them.  She walked as if she could walk through the fires of hell themselves and they could not touch her. But the lioness is not fireproof.  On the inside she burned.  On the inside flames tore away of what remained of the strong, prideful woman that has survived for so long on determination and will.  She could feel the flames licking away at her resolve, slowly turning her dreams and desire to ash.

She’d grown tired of this life.  Watching her future blow away like ash on the summer wind was not how she wanted her fate to unfold.  Control was slipping away which was both unsettling and uncomfortable to the woman who had become a master of control.  She gritted her teeth as dust kicked up around her dark hooves.  Something had to change.  Dorobo had fallen.  She had fallen. 

But she would rise again. 

Opportunity came more quickly than she could have imagined and from the most unlikely of places.  Kiuaji. She wasn’t expecting to see him and certainly not headed away from Dorobo.  Figuring she had absolutely nothing to lose, the lioness fell into pursuit of the poisonous fellow making well sure to keep herself out of sight and only follow his tracks if necessary.   When the border of Dorobo fell away, it did not keep her from her pursuit.  Kiuaji was headed somewhere  - all she could do was hope that he was headed somewhere better than here. 

Tsavo spent her days following tracks into the distance taking great comfort in the fact that now only the sun was beating down upon her back.  There were no uncomfortable stares from the clouds.  No rush to judgment from the suns rays.  No slurs whispered on the wind.  The lioness felt only liberation in her solitary trek into the unknown.  No fear. 

Though the hesitation settled in her stomach when the land before her spread into a vast forest and the smell of other equines burned strong in her nostrils.  She slowed her step and allowed her gaze to wander over the strange trees that grew in this place.  Thick greenery brushed against her fetlocks.  Her blue eyes couldn’t rest on one thing in particular, too overwhelmed with all there was to see here.  What was this place?  

There was nothing like the company of old friends to pass away the time, the sands as well as distance seemed to disappear and be washed away in the tide of their grand laughter and even grander tales. It made the distance between their forested home and the threshold that much smaller, if only he had had this when he was traveling to Helovia, the journey would of been a much brighter affair and shorter for it.

They had many good memories, before the blackened shadow had fallen on Dorobo. Kiuaji remembered them all as though they had happened yesterday, entertained thoroughly by the Elephants choice of memories to bring up and repeat. Ah, to have warriors flushed in the heat of determination all over his delicate visage, only to have their resolve shatter when the curtain was pulled on his charade, those were the days that he longed for again. Hasovir, dear haughty Hasovir, had been a source of constant misfortune when the effeminate stud turned his attention to him. Served him right, Kiuaji had responded when Tembovu had told the tale, at the time his words had been much more colourful that spilled from his lips, watching with glittered amethyst's as Hasovir had tumbled head first into the mud.

And Tembovu, the great oaf, he had warned him that it was a bad idea. Did he listen? No. Of course he hadn't, and Kiuaji had watched the men heave their great weight pull Tembovu's greater weight from the bottom of the River. He had given the elephant a colourful barrage of words as well once he was safe and warmed. Now as they walked, further and further into the thickened trees and sprawled roots, he had wondered why he had come back here, had it been hope that others had stole away to follow in their hoofsteps? Dorobo was not a breath away from Helovia, it would take it's toll on those that were not prepared for the vastness that lay between the Great Plains and the lush land filled with promise. Would anymore have dared to leave?

The poisoners lithe body easily fitted between the tree's, he wove like a great serpent over and around each obstacle. He found himself fortunate that he had not filled out as the others had in their tribe, fine warriors they had made with their robust frames and thick necks but a warriors life had not been for him, he preferred the shadowed path and had grown to suit it like the precious gems that had often sat in their shimmering glory around his person.


Kiuaji had not expected the name that had fallen from Tembovu's lips. Tsavo that lioness had made her way to Helovia? Had she come to spread her own brand of delight and inflict it upon himself and his old friend? Seemed likely to the more effeminate stallion. She looked as ruined as the governments shattered remains and the light in her eye seemed much more dulled, overwhelmed and tired, much to the sleuth's delight. They had often engaged in verbal battles in the council chambers time and time again, and Kiuaji was not above taking simple pleasure at her apparent misfortune.

While Tembovu's words were of surprise and questioned intentions, his own that fell were decidedly more him. "Tsavo — is that you?" He half-sang behind a veil of a smirk and a sly glance. "I had thought I'd smelled Makutano's entire perfume market, you are as pungent as ever, my dear." Finally he appeared out from behind Tembovu and came to stand beside him, golden and white tail settled between his hocks. Kiuaji didn't say anything after that, instead he let himself be eased into a comfortable silence as he waited for her to speak.

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Notes;;

It’s strange here.  The air isn’t dry and arid as she’s been accustomed to her entire life.  The earth doesn’t kick up into clouds of dust with each and every step.  It’s strangely damp.  Not just the earth, but everything.  The air is humid and feels heavy in her lungs. The earth itself clings to her hooves when she walks.  Everything about this place seems oppressive in the most literal sense – pressing down upon her like a giant weight, clinging to her body and refusing to let go.  Not to mention the fact that it was dark.  The thick trees did a good job of stamping out all but the most stubborn of sunrays. This was decidedly not Dorobo.  Under normal circumstances, this may have unsettled the lioness.  But even though this place was dark and oppressive in comparison to the wide, dry savannas of her homeland, Tsavo was not deterred. 

Quite the opposite, really. 

The lioness had found deliverance.  She could feel the weight of the chains and shackles that had kept her bound to Dorobo and all of its politics and traditions – those overt and thos that had only ever been implied – begin to loosen their stranglehold.  She could be free here.  She could be anything here.  The very thought tore through her like an infection, burning away reason and decorum and leaving only passion and want in its place. 

The flood of emotions – of possibilities – was overwhelming.  Everything here was overwhelming.  As a function, the lioness remained rooted to the spot, equal parts excited and uncertain but still unable to move. 

It would have been easy for Tsavo to simply disappear into these strange shadows and begin her life anew in this place with none the wiser.  It was a tempting prospect after the months of ridicule that had word down the defenses that had taken her a lifetime to build.  The lioness was well in control of a great many things.  Fate, as it turned out, was not one of them. 

Before any decision could be made – before she could even begin to soothe the angry ocean of thoughts churning inside her skull – her attentions were diverted entirely.  The rustling branches and the unmistakable sound of footfalls were more than enough to drag her from her own mind.  She immediately drew herself up to her full height and hardened her gaze, unwilling to appear weak before a stranger.  But when the figure broke the shelter of the trees, her decorum uncharacteristically broke.  Surprise flickered across her features completely unchecked. 

She held his gaze for a heartbeat.  Then another.   She tore her gaze away, staring at her own hooves for a moment, frustrated at herself for not even considering the possibility that Kiuaji would seek out Tembovu.  How could I have been so foolish. The thoughts came hot and fast.  Had she made a mistake in coming here?  Or perhaps this was an opportunity to finally put to rest some of the questions that kept her awake at night.  She was so distracted by the new wave of emotion that had all but buried her. 

She looked back to Tembovu when she heard her name hanging in the air.  She didn’t speak though.  Not yet.  “Well.  I certainly didn’t fly,” she said, with a small, humorless smile.  “I walked.  Same as you I presume.” Walked.  Fled. Followed.  Same thing, right?

And as expected, Kiuaji was there too.  There was some comfort in familiar faces, but Tsavo didn’t have words for everything bubbling inside at this moment.  “Kiuaji,” she said simply, in greeting to the infamous stallion, with a little bob of her sculpted head.  “Well, you would be intimately familiar with the perfume markets, wouldn’t you Kiuaji?” she said, dryly, with her lips forming the hint of a smirk. 

She allowed the silence to creep back for a few moments before trying to formulate how best to continue.  ”What is this place? Have you been here …ever since?” she posed, to no one in particular.  She knew they both would answer.