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So this was home? The pink cub had been dreaming of the day almost every evening in the weeks leading up to finally travelling to the Myrsky Syntynyt. There hadn't been a point in asking her father anymore questions since the answer was 'you'll see' nearly everytime. The cub had begun to grow impatient at about the same time that the border seemed to appear. There were pride members along the border itself. Most appeared to be waiting for something. Lief-dido had considered asking what they might be waiting for, but remained silent instead. There was no point.

"Look." She gasped quietly as she spied other cubs. Then there were lions sparring as they got deeper in. Lions did fight other lions! Even if they were from the same pride. She was bewildered by this still and found herself gawking. In the time of her gawking she realized that her father had left her to deal with something and so she was on her own. In final moments she spied his pelt wandering away. Then she recalled 'when we get there you will be safe, the pride will watch out for you'. She hadn't really thought on it, but recalled her time in the Nchi and Mwezi. There she had gone on her own as well. Why would here be any different?

So she began her wandering.

: Hel watched the sparring with a smirk, absorbing as much as he could about the workings of the winners and the losers. His mother usually rolled her eyes at how much he adored watching them, picking up on the faults and dreaming of a time that would come when he too could join in and show his strength. Even now, he really wasn't supposed to be here, but his mother had taken a nap and his grandmother had spotted him peering out of the den and encouraged him to go. Why mother didn't like her, he'd never know, she seemed perfectly normal to him.

He was perfectly content sitting still most days, but a rather regrettable battle was going on between two very drunk lions and Hel grinned viciously. This was going to get ugly very, very fast. He inched closer to see what would become of it all when a glint of pink swam past his peripheral, and his attention focused on it in a heartbeat. Who was that? Deciding rather quickly, he gave up the wrestling lions. They would rumble again, maybe next time it would even be an actual battle rather than a poorly-constructed spar between two very hot-headed males. He could easily watch them next time.

"It is a good day to die." He greeted good naturedly, giving the other a once-over quickly. Yup, she was entirely new to him.

The pink cub nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice interrupted her thoughts. "No it's not." Lief-dido whipped around to stare down the soul that had suggested that she die today. Never in her life had she heard something so foul. They fight each other and they hope others die? The source of the voice was a cub, a dark cub. She was baffled that he had said the string of words to her in an almost greeting like fashion. "Hello or hi would have been fine." She stated plainly and even risked rolling her eyes at him.

"Where did you come from anyway?" She'd seen some cubs when she had first entered the prides lands and even wanted to point some out to her father, but instead they had gone deeper. She guessed, based on his direction, that he'd been watching the fights.

He smiled charmingly, her attitude adorable to him in her tiny form, though he wasn't far off from being the same size. "But it IS a good day to die. The weather is kind." He couldn't help but try to tease her, especially with that eye roll he was all too used to seeing. "But hello anyway." He nodded off towards the fighting, no shame in him as he answered bluntly, "I was learning. You never know when it might be necessary to defend yourself, its good to see what works and what doesn't." He laughed, "You should watch, some of them think they can win and they are entirely too drunk to be sparring." He glanced back at her, "You're not exactly from around here, are you?"

The charming smile didn't escape her and yet she still scowled. "I agree to disagree. Though the weather is nice." She admitted with a roll of her shoulders in a half shrug. "In my experience you caan never be ready for what might be out there." Lief was tempted by another shrug, but decided against repeating her actions. "It's always good to learn. The more you know."

"I've never seen a drunk lion before." Her youthful eyes widened with curiosity as she peered in the direction he had pointed too. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she looked nonetheless. "I'm not from around here, but on the contrary this is my home." Her gaze returned to him when she began to answer his question. "My Dad talked about here a lot when I was much younger, but we were out and travelling."

"Have you ever left here before?" Based on his size she couldn't gauge his age. She was sure she might be older than him, but maybe not by much?

"Ready? No, I agree with you. The stories that come through are always death and death. But you can hope to be a little stronger to be something they might see and turn tail from, rather than something that is easy pickins'."

He blinked a few times, but looked over at the rough bunch and nodded a few in particular, "You'll be able to see them by how they walk.... up close, it's the smell. Mint is very hard to miss, it's very sweet and... fresh." He squinted, remembering all too well that smell when he'd gotten underfoot of a passing drunk a few nights ago and nearly lost his tail. Though he DID manage to lose a few precious hairs in it in the process...

As she mentioned leaving, he pouted: the topic was a sore one for him. "No, I'm not allowed to leave until I'm older. Here, the cubs are protected and can grow up into proper lions, and when we come of age we can go out and salvage goods for the pride." The speech from his mother from his own lips was much duller and lacking the enthusiasm she liked to fill it with, but he supposed if the point got across it was well enough.

: She scoffed slightly at him. "Based on your greeting dying isn't such a bad thing around here." Lief-dido chuckled at her own little joke and then continued her pace forward. The cub wasn't wrong though. Preparing oneself for the outside world should be important - it certainly explained the fighting one another a more.

"Oh!" The smell of mint didn't have the same horrible memories attached to the smell. "They walk funny?" She asked him curiously. It was odd that their walking would be effected. As though timing was on their side she spotted a bumbling lion that was stumbling about nearby. "Like that?" She pointd at the individual in almost disgust. The stumbling looked incredibly unbecoming.

Lief-dido gasped. "You're not allowed to leave?" Little did she know that her father would be leaving soon and she would be stuck in the same situation. When he left she would be left here to grow up before she could make her own choices. "I've been to several prides and met several individuals already. Staying in one place would be so boring." She shuffled forward a little forward as she realized they were directly in the path of the drunk she'd spotted.

He laughed, quickly trying to cover it with a cough, his expression apologetic, "Sorry it's just... you were raised your own way. The way they see it, if you are fighting and die in battle, you died facing your enemy, rather than running from them. It's honored to die fighting for our home and families." He easily kept stride with her, watching the drunken lions with the ease of being around them fairly too often at his age.

He followed her gaze to the wobbling fool and shook his head with a sigh, "Exactly like that. And by the looks of it, he's been at it for a while." His nose wrinkled, never fond of the idea of being unable to focus, but he supposed some had their ideals and own conduct to live by, and that was entirely up to them.

He cringed, but his attention was drawn to her when she gasped, expecting the worst and relaxing in an instant, "I guess if I'm sneaky enough I could try. " He chuckled, "My mother might kill me, but my grandmother might throw a party in my honor for being bold." He gazed at the ground, cursing his small size. He would be large enough to adventure soon enough, maybe she'd even want to come for the trip, since she was so so much more well travelled.

The soft sound of her shuffling, and he saw the drunkard had been headed for them. He quickly stepped in front of her, nudging her out of the way as gently as he could while still moving them fast enough to be out of the way when the lion stumbled on his feet, kneeling in the spot they had been standing in mere moments ago. His anger got the better of him and he puffed up slightly, "OY, WATCH IT YA GREAT OAF." He highly doubted the lion would heed him, much less care if a pair of cubs spoke at all, but it had to be said all the same for Hel to calm himself down. Once squished was enough.

"Pffbt." Another sound. She was running out them! There was no way dying would be seen as the positive outcome in any scenario, but the cub raised here couldn't possibly be wrong. Lief-dido argued internally with herself about that, but decided not to insult or attack the culture. Her father had always been so open minded, why was she stuggling with it? Perhaps it was how she was raised. Being outside of this culture had really put a damper on what could be appreciated in her opinion.

She remained quiet as the pair watched the drunk stumble about like a captivated audience. "My goodness.. that's awful!" She remarked with wide, golden eyes. She didn't know why a lion would ever resort to such foolishness. "That's just a past time?" She turned her head towards her companion in disgust and shock. A lion could lose track of time bumbling about in such a state! Time was precious!

: Lief watched him cringe at her gasp - realizing partially that it was possible she was over dramatizing things. "Ooooh sneaking is fun!" A wicked grin grew on the lioness' face and she suddenly seemed to become a picture perfect viking cub. "I used to sneak out all the time! That's how I met some of my other friends in the prides. My Dad never liked when I did it.. so I'm not surprised your Mom doesn't. But your Grandma?" Curiosity grew on her face. She had never known a grandparent and hadn't paused for a moment to think on things. She figured that grandparents might be out there, whoever they might be, but she didn't have the drive to find them.

"Oof!" She bellowed as she stumbled over her own paws with the nudge. The action hadn't been violent, but she was clumsy enough on her own. "Yeah, you GREAT OAF." She yelled as she whipped her head back around at the drunk lion that had nearly squished the pair of cubs. In that moment she caught sight of her Dad. He wasn't headed the right way. Where was he going with out her! Without her sisters! "That's my Dad, I have to go catch him!" She proclaimed to her new friend. "Will you watch the fighting with me tomorrow?" She paused briefly she turn back and look at him for her answer.

He shook his head, but he made no further comment on the beliefs of the pride. His own mother still struggled with the concept, and gods above if his "aunt" Astrid was able to be un-flowery blooded for a minute long enough to show a little back bone like the rest of them did with ease. He could see it being strange to some while all natural to others to accept.

He offered a slight nod, his expression a dark one of disgust, "Past, current... some of them, even constantly prefer that state to reality." He made an internal vow to never try it, with the current state of the other lion being proof enough that it doesn't look to be worth it. If age brought him anything closer to that state, he might actually not want to grow as fast as he'd been previously wishing.

"Well.... Grandma is a bit more.... fiery." He tried to put the woman into words, but it was hard work, considering he felt he barely knew her as it was. Mother made it quite clear to avoid her, but he knew he was her favorite, and he couldn't help but seek her out from time to time. "She likes when I'm a spitfire... whatever that means. And that includes wandering off or doing anything without permission and showing my own personality." He shrugged, not sure why stuff like that caught her attention.

He laughed when she yelled right alongside him, but when her attention fled to another lion, he perked up, "Your dad?" He took into detail the far off male and he noticed the resemblance, making a note of it in the back of his mind before nodding at Lief, "I'm always here, it's boring otherwise. But you can always ask around for Helvegr." He grinned mischievously, his eyes twinkling,

Drunk. Not good. Family. Not known. The lioness made note of the way he spoke about both things to ask about later. She'd care to know how the situations improve. Family was important, her father had instilled that, and so to hear that a family wasn't fuctioning quite right made her brows raise, but she held back her further questioning in favor of a silent nod. It wasn't her place to say anything. Family was personal.

"Until then." She smiled fondly at him. His company was enjoyable and she'd learned alot in her time with him. Tomorrow she'd learn a little more. Without hesitating, following her confirmation of meeting up again, she scampered off in the direction of her father.