Ah, June. A wonderful month, full of... heat. And water. And more water. It had gotten to the point where cubs were now in danger of being washed away from their dens, and King Gilbert--after hastily pulling one of his own from the raging waters--had decided to just put his paw down. The Sangomas were not doing enough to help this, and whatever lion spirits that controlled these waters needed someone to tell them what exactly they were causing.

Gilbert padded quickly through the muddied savanna, letting out a loud roar when the Sangomas came into view. He chuffed under his breath, obviously agitated, looking for the queen Sangoma.

His roars had attracted attention from the other, working Sangomas, and they looked up at him, murmuring to each other in a tongue Gilbert didn't understand. He chuffed at them, letting out a low groan, trying to bring out the one in charge.

Finally, she emerged, looking... less intimidating in the daylight. She blinked down at him and he lifted up one of his front paws and pounded the ground with it, baring his teeth in frustration until she led him to a small hut, away from the worker's hut. She sat on the earth, bringing an odd-smelling root to her face and eating it, closing her eyes. King Gilbert swiveled his ears towards her, waiting, knowing she would understand him if he just waited.

A few moments passed, and Gilbert lowered himself onto his haunches, his eyes wide and fixed on the Sangoma. Her eyes suddenly shot open, the orbs looking much more... lion-like than before. "Why have you come to me?" she suddenly said, in a tongue he could understand.

"You need to tell me where to find the spirits that control the floods lie," he immediately said, looking her in the eye, desperate. "They are destroying everything, animals are dying! I need to do something or my pride will be in danger for this entire season."

The Sangoma hesitated, looking... concerned? scared? Gilbert could never exactly pinpoint human expressions. He held his breath, thinking she would just immediately turn him down with some cryptic shit the Sangomas usually say and send him home. However... "The spirits lie with Apedemak," she said softly, keeping her eyes trained on the fire between the two. "To find them, you must speak through him, into the Celestial Planes."

"Where do I... find Apedemak?" he said. He'd heard the name before, but never had a face to put to it.

"He will be closest to the stars at night, when the moon is brightest in the sky." She looked up at him, her eyes looking like embers in the bright fire before her.

He nodded, rolling the information over in his head, turning his back, ready to leave. So... a very large cliff, probably. I hope.

"Oh, and Gilbert?" she said, stopping him in his tracks. "You will make an acquaintance on the way."

-----

Gilbert had been travelling for approximately two days, now. He'd stopped for water and hunted for food when needed, but besides that, he was on his own. The Sangoma's words rang in his head, and he kept an eye out just in case someone turned out to be following him without him knowing.

He hadn't slept in the two days he'd been travelling, and the heat was getting to him.

He kept hallucinating the roar of an attacking lion, and constantly he would put on a large burst of speed, sprinting until it stopped. This went on for several hours, until the sun was very high in the sky.

Gilbert finally couldn't take much more and lowered himself to the ground, not even bothering to move to the shade of a nearby clump of trees or find dry ground, or even make a nest. He just lay down and allowed himself to slumber.

What he didn't know was his 'acquaintance' was much closer than he'd anticipated.