Kiro-Vei

Name: .Kiro-Vei, pronounced 'Kih-Roe-Vay'

Joining the pride: Wooed in the shrublands,
6th lioness to join Ichika's pride.


Story:

The winds of the Vei-Shur plains were calm. Calm, but purposeful, as they carried the seeds of new life to distant lands. That is what her mother had told her anyway, and Kiro-Vei had watched the seed pods of the dandelions drift off with the summer breeze with fascination. Where were the going? Where would their journey end?
When she was just a cub, she liked to pretend that some little lioness in some far-away place was gazing at one of these same pods as it landed in the dirt between her paws, also wondering about the tiny thing's journey. Kiro-Vei felt united with this other cub, and dreamed the two might someday meet.
Kiro-Vei, daughter of Miko-Vei and Vei-Kir, king of the Vei-Shur plains, would someday have to leave her homeland to join a pride of her own, so perhaps her dreams would come true?

Some years later
"Where did you come from?"
The other lioness was around Kiro-Vei's age, though her darker fur clearly made her a stranger. How far had the Vei-Shur lioness come? This new land was hotter, less fertile. The winds were unforgiving, not calm in nature like the ones she was used to.
"I hail from the Vei-Shur plains to the east. Do you know of nearby water? Would you show me?"
The brown lioness slowly approached, a curious look in her eyes. "You're calm - too calm. Most lionesses are more wary"
"What should I be wary of?"
"Well, how did you know I would not attack you?"
"I suppose I did not. I fear though that dehydration is a greater concern, you see"
The other lioness seemed to relax her posture somewhat. "I know of water, yes, but the sandstorm rages in our path. I've known many lions to lose their way and fall prey to death within them. It would be best we steer clear"
"Nothing else? Are you quite certain?"
"I may know, and I may guide you, but if we are to travel together, I must know your name"
"It is Kiro-Vei. Who are you?"
"Shiohn" the lioness answered. "Kiro-Vei, this is no place to rest. I will show you water, and then perhaps you will come with me to a more hospitable land. My family is no more, annihilated by this cruel climate. It is time I moved on, and if you stay, you will surely die"
Kiro-Vei couldn't see reason to disagree, so nodded her head in acceptance. "I will go with you, Shiohn"
"Good" Shiohn nodded. "I have waited for a visitor like you, Kiro-Vei. I have waited for a companion to make the long journey with me. I knew you would come from another land, like the seed pods I watched when I was but a cub. Do you believe in fate, lion of the Vei-Shur plains?"
"Yes. I believe I do"