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Dastan had given the male a job. Find more members for the pride. The lands were slowly rebuilding itself and already herds were beginning to reestablish themselves. The golden lion had created a new rank to make sure the life would not be over hunted again, nor would the herds overgraze. Few had taken up that rank. Tycho only believed not many chose it due to the fact it was separated from the rest of the pride. He shrugged. That really wasn't his concern though. He was a warrior, or whatever the pride wanted to call them. And he was loyal to one lion.

And right now, that meant following his current duty and finding more members for the pride. The lion looked around, his curly mane falling into his face. He mentally cursed, shaking his head to rid the hair from it's current location.

Once he had clear view again, he sighed. Was Impisi have a hard time finding others too?


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Elysia's life had, thus far, been relatively uneventful - and that irked her. She had once belonged to a great pride, full of life and stories and laughter, until it had altered itself in the blink of an eye and left her feeling lost and homeless. Was that even possible? To feel homeless while still at home?

The dusty girl sighed, staring up at the sky overhead and studying the clouds like they might give her the answer she so desperately sought. She wanted to belong somewhere, to go home, but the lands of the Kizingo no longer felt like a place that she fit. She was not a ruffian or a thief. She was Elysia, the gentle heart that felt at peace with nature, who had once spoken with the wind as it rustled through the leaves. When would she know such comfort and peace again?

As her sigh died on the air, she curled herself tighter upon the warm boulder she had taken up for the time being, lazing beneath the late afternoon sun.


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Just ahead, Tycho spotted a few boulders that surrounded a small water hole. Well, if one could call it that. With the lack of rain, the source could likely be considered a mud pit, at best. But what was intriguing for the male, was the form of a lioness above one of the boulders. He couldn't make out her features, she was still pretty far away from him, but that didn't mean the spotted male wouldn't take time to observe her. Once he found his fill, he moved in.

"Greetings!" The curly maned lion called out. "By chance, do you know the quickest way to get to those mountains over there," He bobbed his head in the direction of the peaks. "The quicker the better." The male flashed a toothy grin as his eyes lit when he spoke.


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Elysia rolled over to her side to get a good look at the male - the voice had been alarming, at first, until she heard the jovial tone that rolled off of his tongue. If he was a threat then he was also a damn good liar and at least she had the high ground. That was something.

"There's a stream a bit East of here, I think if you follow it that you should reach the mountain pass. There's a pretty thick span of trees between here and there directly so it's not as straight of a shot as it seems."

Then, because her curiosity did always get the better of her storyteller's heart:

"Is there something important near the mountains for you?"


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Tycho listened as she spoke, making note. Having wandered the rogue lands for awhile, he knew of some short cuts to certain places. However, the mountain peaks were a place he had never gone before. He'd try it, unless something more of interest stumbled in his path.

Elysia seemed to be that interest right now.

"Oh, not really," he shrugged a bit. "To be honest I'd rather stay on flat lands, but it was the direction my friend had told me to go. He wants to see if there is anyone out there that is prideless, or looking for a place to call home." Tycho did not know if he could even call that land a home yet, but what Dastan wanted, Dastan normally got. He usually did not have a say, not that it really mattered. As long as the white lion was fed, and was fine doing whatever bidding the male had wanted.

The male looked around, noting that the lioness seemed to be by herself. "You are out here alone?" He asked, feigning astonishment.


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What a peculiar coincidence, she thought. Here she was, homesick for something she didn't understand, and here he had come looking for a soul like her own. If the rogue lands had taught her anything, though, it was not to bite a line too quickly lest she be reeled in to face something she did not like.

"Oh, yes," she offered honestly to his question, "I've been on my own for a long time. My pride... changed and I couldn't bear to stay." It was only a half truth. She was alone, for now, but her mother had made a den close by. They never strayed too far from one another now that they were the only things that reminded one another of a home at all. Elysia wasn't content to sit still but her mother was not brave enough to face the world unknown.

"Is there some reason you have for gathering homeless rogues? That seems.. peculiar."


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Her pride changed? His head tilted as she spoke. That's just what Dastan was trying to do with these new lands they had settled in. Perhaps that was how other's were feeling who were original members of the pride? Ah, nonetheless, that was likely the reason for recruiting. Besides, if those did not like change, they did not need to stay.

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that. Did no others care to join you from these changes? or were you the only one that was...affected by them?" Her answer would give Tycho a sense of who this lioness was.

...maybe... The curly maned lion wasn't the brightest bulb in the box.

"Personally? I am doing it because I have been asked. I would much rather have those come on their own, but said friend is trying to woo this girl, who absolutely adores the lands that have been vacant for so long that. I guess he thinks if we can bring in some new members, she would fall for him? Modern day love story?" Tycho assumed.



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A modern day love story. Elysia felt that wistful stirring in the pit of her stomach over the prospect of a true, grandiose story. In a time before now, she had loved them. The wind whispered songs about romance and fate to her in sweet nothings and she had passed them on to her pride, sharing their wonder to a rapt audience.

"It's not that," she said gently, "but it's complicated to explain. A lot of us left to.. exile ourselves? The change has shaken us all so deeply that some of us just can't stand to be around others we knew before. It reminds us too much of what we have lost."

She pushed herself up on the rock at last, sitting atop it now that they had begun to engage in a full conversation. It wouldn't do to lounge about like a ninny, nor was that very respectful.

"We're all looking for what fits into the hole but I don't think many of us have figured it out yet."


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The term exile. Tycho was use to it from his old pride. It was how he met Impisi, and in turn, Dastan. A quaint little group of travelers, all sharing the same past. It was funny how the world worked sometimes.

He nodded in understanding, although he did not voice anything. He watched her sit herself up, his eyes scanning her once again.

Her next comment made his ears perk forward. "And what is it you are looking for?" Tycho asked, staring right into the other's bright blue eyes. "Perhaps if it not too bold to say, but the lands I have recently called home may fit the space that is missing?"

What did she have to lose in seeing? A few days travel perhaps?


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For a long moment, Elysia was silent.

It was too much to hope, almost, that these mysterious lands could be the part of her that she was looking for but then again, what was she doing here if not aimlessly looking for that? At least if she gave this a shot, whether or not it was ultimately where her heart belonged, then she had done a little bit of mindful looking. Not all who wandered were lost, it was true, but it was until this moment that she felt like she could apply that to herself.

"It is bold," she said at first, slowly speaking the words as the wheels of her mind turned over and over, "but then again I have not found what I am looking for on my own, have I?"

With a sigh, she pushed herself up onto all fours and stretched, unfurling her spine and letting her muscles pull ease. Then she stepped lightly down from her perch so that she could stand with him on equal footing.

"I don't have anything to lose by visiting, at least."



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A small chuckle emitted from his throat. Point one Tycho! His friends would be impressed.

"This is true! Besides, if you choose not to stay, at least the lands will welcome you with a nice meal, and a place to rest until you are ready to leave." He said with a nodded. He looked towards the sky for a moment, then in the direction of the mountains. Surely that trip could wait? If he brought this female....Oh. Right. Names were an important thing.


"By the way, I'm Tycho," he bobbed his head in the introduction. "Sometimes I get so carried away with conversation I forget we have not properly introduced ourselves to each other. If you'd like, I can take you to the pridelands now? Or, you are welcomed to accompany me further north before we head home. The company would definitely be a blessing."




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What an interesting end to her day.

"Elysia," she offered with a genuine smile, nodding at him as he rambled a bit, sealing his deal. She wondered how many others like herself would come flocking to the lands to find what they wanted? She wondered, really, what the lands were like in the first place. "It's wonderful to meet you, Tycho."

At least she knew that he was kind and approachable if nothing else. They couldn't be so bad if this was the sort of soul that was sent out to find loyalists, could they?

"I wouldn't mind a journey North, truly. What's another couple of weeks waiting after so many years?" At the very least, it would give her time to really get to know him and to ask questions about the pride and who they were. That seemed important. "I'm in!"



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Tycho wasn't expecting her name to be so pretty. His eyes widened. "That is a beautiful name, Elysia." He purred.

"That's the spirit! Sounds like a plan then. If you are ready, I say we can head out now then! Burn more ground that way. Sooner we get there, the soon we can back!" The lion pawed the land. at least now the lion could say he was successful in his trip. Even if he only managed to bring back one new member, it was a start. He could always go on more recruiting missions in the future.

It was time to think of the present time, not future! Elysia was willing to go with him now. That was all the mattered at this point.

With a smile, Tycho headed in the direction Elysia had told him. He hummed a tune as he walked, his spirits lifted from earlier.