Clouded Mind part 3 #9

Path of hope

What's up my gators! (I don't know why I say that. LOL 😅)
It's fun Friday and you know what that means, ANOTHER CHAPTER! This is a bit of a heat warming chapter (to me at least) and we get to see a very special character return but still not a real lot of action. If you will be patient for another week more, you'll get to read something a little more exciting next Friday.

I think I've rambled for long enough now. Enjoy the chapter!

It's been at least a week since Fuli had seen Badili and Aina. After travelling past the tree arch, it didn't take Fuli long to find the flowery hill. The hill was covered in flowers and although pretty, the pollen made Fuli sneeze and she got chased by a swarm of bees. She was lucky to escape them.

And now Fuli is travelling on a dirt path through a grassland biome that stretched as far as the eye could see. Fuli could see a large number of rabbits and mice around the area but she didn't want to risk losing the path and getting lost. Her muscles ached from all of the running and she was desperate for food, water and rest but she had to keep moving. Fuli walked until she couldn't move anymore. The moon shined brightly in the twinkling sky. It was very beautiful; Fuli had it give it that. Her eyelids began to feel heavy and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

Fuli's ear twitches and her eyes fling open.

'Why is it so much brighter?' She asks herself.

Fuli looks in front of her to see the glowing spirit of her mother.

"Mum? What are doing here?" She asks.

"I sense you want to give up." Her mother replies.

Fuli nods. "I've been traveling for so long. I've been on my own for too long. I miss the others. Bunga is dying because of me! He risked his life to save me and the Pridelands."

"I know, dear. That is why you must keep going. If you give up now, everything you have done will be in vain."

Fuli knew her mother was right. She can't give up now but all she wanted was to get out of this stupid grassland.

"Do you know how much further these grasslands are?" Asks Fuli.

Her mother smiles. "It's not that much further. An hours walk, a 15 minute run."

"Can you come with me?" Asks Fuli.

Her mother places a paw in the dirt, claws extended. She flicks the dirt, preparing to run. Fuli's mother gives her daughter a smirk. Fuli returns the smile and gets into a running position.

"Ready mum?"

"You bet I am."

The two cheetahs run down the dirt path, journeying to whatever awaited them next. Being with her mother, Fuli felt a new surge of energy flow through her. They ran and ran and neither of them felt tired. The grass and fireflies flew past them at high speed. The clouds above them casted a shadow beneath from the moon and Fuli's mother gets an idea.

"Want to cloud race, Fuli?" She asks.

"Mum, you know I'm up for the challenge." Replies Fuli.

They slow down so that the clouds were moving at the same pace as them.

"Ready..." Fuli's mother says.

"Set..." Continues Fuli.

"GO!" They say together.

They run faster with the clouds hot on their tails. The wind hits Fuli's face as she ran at high speed. She felt like she was flying. She hadn't run this fast while having so much fun in a long time.

"Fuli! We've almost made it to the end of the path. We can beat the clouds!" Yells her mother.

From the look in her eye, Fuli could tell that her mother was having fun while being a bit competitive too.

"Come on mum! HUWEZI!"

Fuli takes the lead. She runs until she had made it to the end of the grassland.

"Congratulations Fuli. I always knew you'd be the fastest one day." Says her mother, coming in second.

"Thanks mum." Fuli replies.

Fuli nuzzles her mother as the clouds take third place. Her mother shows Fuli a little pond filled with water. Fuli takes a drink and looks back up at her mother.

"This is nice." She says referring to herself and her mother.

"Yes, it is." Her mother replies.

Fuli's mother looks at two rocky mountains. She sees a path of sand winding through between the mountains.

"See those mountains? That's were you must go next." Says her mother.

"You're not coming with me?" Asks Fuli, her expression saddening.

"No Fuli. I cannot accompany you through the desert. This is the last of your journey to find Kion and only you can convince him to come home." Replies her mother.

"How far is the desert?" Fuli asks.

"It's a 4 day walk to the nearest oasis. That's where Kion is."

Fuli felt her legs turn to jelly. 4 days?! That is longer than the grassland path!

"4 days?!" Asks Fuli.

Her mother nods. "Don't lose hope, my dear Fuli. Believe you can make it and you will make it. Don't give up. I know you can do it. Till the Pridelands end..."

"Lion guard defends." Fuli continues the last part of the lion guard motto.

"I love you Fuli. I always have and I will always be in your heart."

Fuli hugs her mother tightly. "I love you too, mum."

Her mother fades away and disappears. Fuli looks up at the sky, the great kings and queens of the past shining above her. She hoped that her mother was in the sky. If there was someone as special as Fuli's mother, they deserved a place in the sky.

Fuli hunts herself a meal and drinks her fill from the pond. It might be a while until she got to the oasis that she would have something to eat. When her strength was replenished, Fuli continues her journey to the oasis. She hoped that the desert wasn't as big as she thought.