I'm Calling, Hear Me Calling

The sounds of the winds silently sweeping through the swampy marshes was the only comfort that both felines had as they journeyed through their home territory. The sun had yet to truly make an appearance before the two felines, and as the icy wind continued it's longing tugs at their fur. Ayanna knew it was a silly thing to think, but there were times when she wondered if the wind wanted to pull the two cats with it, forcing them to be forever stuck in it's grasp like dead and falling leaves. It certainly did feel as if the two cats had been stuck in a sort of free fall since the conflict with the hunters, though their problems were as far apart as night and day.

The leopard quietly made her way behind Evander as she kept her eyes open for prey. On occassion, she would take note of the wind rustling her leader's long fur as he padded up ahead. Occasionally she even mistook it for prey out of the corner of her eye, but that was only because she was so focused on other things. A lot was weighing her down at that moment. The territory was uncharacteristically silent as the two felines made their way through the marshes, looking for any sign of food on the cold winter morning. Occasionally, when they two would stop and change course, Ayanna would quietly study the cat before her. Worry kneaded at her stomach as she thought about how long the past month and a half had been for him.

It had been a month and a half and yet there was still no sign of his sister. Some felines were beginning to give up hope while others began to give Evander even more space. He was still trying to stay strong, but Ayanna knew he was ready to take some type of further action. What that was, she wasn't certain -- nor was she certain she wanted to know, for that matter. Yet, she could feel it in her bones. Something was stirring underneath the feline's stoic and calm face. Every time she saw him, whatever it was seemed to become a bit more prominent. She didn't ask, though. She had told him enough times that she didn't believe that he was okay, so if he didn't feel like sharing at this point, she figured she would leave him too it. 

There had been a few times where she had even wanted to go up to his den and see how he was doing, late at night when all other felines had fallen asleep. On the nights where she couldn't sleep on the tree branch she had claimed as her own it was especially hard to fight off the want to do so. She had managed to stave it off so far, though there had been times where she had checked up on Theseus instead. 

Ayanna was lost in thought as they continued their walk. They were both going on yet another patrol towards the city while taking the time to hunt for the empire, though there was a reason why Ayanna had wanted to accompany her leader.

She had been in a rather sour mood for the past few weeks, mostly because her own apprentice was too busy avoiding her training to care about her own safetly. She felt that at this point in time, if she couldn't convince Sara to show up and learn how to fight, maybe Evander would be able to do so. The problem was trying to find the right time to broach the subject with her leader. 

Sara's avoidance of training was beginning to be seen as a problem in Ayanna's mind. After all, she had been on the patrol when Shadow Empire had been attacked by hunters, and yet she didn't even know how to fight. At any other point in time, Ayanna probably would have turned and told her leader that he needed to put competent fighters on his border patrols, but the group hadn't expected to come across such a fight... Not when the hunters seemed to be more focused on the northern empires. After Avita's capture, Ayanna had personally expected the hunters to keep to themselves for some time, but they seemed to have other plans.

They were getting too bold in their moves. First by killing Abiola so long ago and now by taking the empire's life blood slowly. They were getting bolder once more... much like they had been during the time of Venari, though Ayanna hadn't been a part of the empire when he was alive. She had merely heard about it from other felines. The history of the Empire's was definitely a spoken one, and because of that, Ayanna always felt the need to listen to what other cats had to say...

Though, she also felt more comfortable not talking at all. 

That was when Evander quietly stopped before her. Ayanna would have bumped into him if she hadn't glanced up in time. They were on a small hill, overlooking the road between Massilia and Julii. He was silent for a few moments before turning back to see her. She wanted to hide her face, knowing full well that he could see the weight of whatever was bothering her in her eyes, but she didn't. They exchanged a glance for what felt like forever, making Ayanna's gut twist even more into a ball than it already was. She didn't know what to say. 

Evander, though, seemed to have some idea. "You okay?" He asked. They were two small words, but the weight of the world was held there as he looked at her.

The leopard shrugged and walked up through the snow to stand beside the leader. They were silent for some time before she finally felt it would be wise to speak up. At first her words were choppy, but after a time, they began to flow together until she was explaining everything in full detail. Her frustration over Sara not wanting to be trained in the ways of fighting, her worry over him, the concern she had for Theseus now that Thalia hadn't returned, and the strange bond that he had formed with her and Evander. There were so many problems that had been laying heavily upon her shoulders that by the time she was finished, she felt as if she had only added a mountain onto the problems Evander already held. She sighed and looked down. 

"Sorry. My problems aren't something you need to deal with." She said softly before sneaking a glance at her leader.

In that moment, when she looked up at the feline before her, she noticed a very pain filled expression. The guilt of putting his own problems before his empiremate's showed plainly in his face, and it only caused Ayanna's stomach to twist even more. She wanted to tell him it was okay, that she understood and didn't expect anything else... not when he had lost a feline so close to him. She wanted to say it'd be okay, but she knew it wouldn't be

Not until Thalia was back in Shadow Empire where she belonged. Not until Evander marched into Massilia on his own and rescued the feline he loved more than anything else in his empire. Not until things fell back into place for him. 

Not until he realized that he wasn't able to do everything on his own.

Ayanna sighed loudly and pressed against his side for a moment, feeling terrible that her own problems had caused him to feel this way, but she needed him to be her leader for a moment... if only a brief one. 

"I'll talk to Sara as soon as I can." He finally managed. 

Ayanna nodded, though she really had nothing else to say on the matter. She still felt pretty bad about bringing it up in the first place. Yes, it needed to be done, but her own worries about Evander had kept her from doing so sooner. She wanted what was best for him as much as she wanted what was best for Sara.

The feline smiled halfheartedly. She was glad that he was going to talk to her apprentice, but she couldn't help but feel as if there was so much more that needed to be said. She couldn't find the words to help him, though. 

For once, she just stood there before taking a short step forward. "We should continue looking for something to bring back to camp..." She said after a moment, taking a few steps ahead of the feline before looking back at him.

Evander was looking down at the ground, slowly trying to regain control of himself... or so it felt. The leopardess went to take a step back towards him before he straightened.

"Evander..." She said softly as he looked at her. She couldn't bring herself to tell him that she didn't want to stress him out any more than he already was, so instead she uttered two short words. "Thank you."

The two felines continued into the frozen landscape, searching for prey... and for their solace.