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Nala looked at Enu's bulk as they walked down the narrow street on a high tier of the slanted town. Something about the way the flesh rocked at either side of his wide waist and on top of his plump, wide hips prevented the lioness from looking away. 'Surely it is the sheer novelty of it,' thought Nala, 'It is one thing for a female to be so large around the middle, but a male?' And surely, Enu was the fattest male Nala had ever seen, but the lion seemed to think nothing about his engorged figure and more, he did not draw any strange looks from the humans or other lions they passed as they walked towards this 'temple' that Uzuri had mentioned.

Not that Enu did not draw any looks at all. Most of the humans lowered their head reverently to the cat as they walked by. More offerings of milk came as well from the dark doors and openings they past built out of stone. Enu did not pass many opportunities for a lap or three, Nala noticed, but then Uzuri had stolen his lunch. Nala was already used to the custom from walking with Uzuri, but Enu did do more than simply accept the offerings. More than once, Nala observed him performing an odd little ritual after receiving milk or a sliver of freshly carved meat.

Enu would begin by turning in a tight circle, or at least as tight a circle as his plump body could manage. This seemed to draw the attention of humans nearby, who would pause in their arcane activities to watch. What Enu did after this varied from location to location. Sometimes, the heavyset cat would enter the stone dwelling of the person who had made the offering and select some bauble, bringing it out gently clasped in his mouth. The human from whom he had taken the bauble would then take it back form Enu and act very excited about the exchange though for reasons Nala could not fathom. Another time, Enu reared up against a wooden beam and made a single claw mark on it alongside other older looking marks. And another time he simply sat on his rump and seemed to have a staring contest with an older looking human; this ritual was especially boring for Nala who had to sit by and wait impatiently for it to be over.

"What is the meaning of these behaviors?" asked Nala when Enu finally began to move again. It was not clear at all if they were in fact making any progress towards the temple.

"It's just the habits of a priest, my lovely young maiden." said Enu, who turned his head to grin at her. "There are various reasons for the stops I make and I make my decisions on what I should do on instinct. It takes years of practice and watching to decide what is needed and when."

Nala chuffed at Enu, who as Uzuri had mentioned seemed to be barking up her tree as it were. He was certainly kinder than Fauzi, and Nala was not yet sure she was attracted to or repulsed by his corpulent figure. It was simply too strange and too soon to have any kind of familiar emotions. "Are you sure you are not simply stopping for whoever has a morsel to hand out?" asked Nala while raising an eyebrow. From her end, his stops were all largely initiated by that first and foremost.

"Well..." laughed Enu, "It is only appropriate that us priests receive appropriate offerings for the good we do." Nala looked away from the heavy fat sliding left and right over Enu's buried tail head and back to his face as he looked back at her. "We bring good luck and the attention of the spirits wherever we go."

Nala quickened her pace to catch up and walk alongside Enu, which was quite easy. She was now much closer to his swinging flanks, however and sometimes he brushed against her unintentionally. He felt ridiculously smooth and soft. "This good fortune you bring..." said Nala to take her mind off of Enu's body, "Is it solely by virtue of being a lion?" When Enu assented, Nala added, "Don't you think that is rather self-centered of us, to think we above other creatures are special?"

But the fattened lion only grinned back at her, displaying his stunningly perfect white fangs. "You only say that because you haven't heard our stories, though I expect they might bore you regardless. But I think you would have a fair point if we lions considered ourselves above all others in a spiritual manner. However, I tend to think of it more as being a relative thing."

"How so?" asked Nala as they turned onto a broader street leading uphill away from the creek.

"Our stories tell us that humans, in return for their knowledge and power gave up their innocence as beasts of the plain. This has put them at odds with the spirits and lain a curse upon them. We, who are still innocent, have an easier connection with the spirits and are able to intermediate with them on behalf of humans."

"In return for favors and boons?" pressed Nala, who still thought that it was not the place of mortals to request things from their spiritual betters.

Enu laughed again. It seemed that laughter came easily to him. "I have studied the old ways, Nala, and I can see how you might get that impression. Let me assure you there is more to it than that. The Ancestors are among the spirits, I can assure you and they may bring their own blessings as they will. What we do is more to stave off the harm ill-tempered or unsatisfied spirits may do in their capriciousness."

Nala sighed, looking off to the side. She was already getting more comfortable being around Enu, and males in general at this rate; even though the way his softened hide pressed against her own boney flank was distracting. "I'm not sure I am convinced, but I can admit you seem to make the humans around you happier."

Enu grinned broadly, even as his pace slowed slighted as the gradient they were walking increased. "That is really what I love in life, to spread joy in the folk that I meet and to see them living their lives in peace and harmony."

"Does it matter that you seem mostly to interact with humans? What about the joy of other lions? Your kin?" asked Nala, again turning back to him.

Enu cocked his head in thought. "I had not considered that really. But I don't really consider us apart from humans at all. We are all one big community. The skins we wear hardly matter."

Nala nodded and kept walking on, slowing down even more for Enu who began to puff lightly as they approached the top of the hill. She thought that despite his seemingly tranquil existence that Enu was still probably missing something for not being out on the plain and not knowing what it was to run and chase and kill your own prey. Enu was in fact, not really participating in the Circle of Life from Nala's point of view. "What is that big building at the crest of this hill?" asked Nala as they neared it.

Enu took a few breaths to recover and said, "That is the Temple, my darling outlander. Let's go inside."

Enu led the way and Nala again found herself following his tail and thick haunches. They passed through a wide opening in the stone and found themselves in a wide, open chamber that smelled of perfumed smoke, something that Nala had never tasted before and made her sneeze at first. "You get used to that." said Enu and led the way further in.

Inside, Nala saw more lions, mostly lying upon woven mats. Some were sleeping. Those that were not eyed Nala intently, but said nothing. Humans milled about, either genuflecting towards stone or wooden idols or tending to the lions, either grooming them, which Nala did not think she would enjoy, or delivering bowls of hot, steaming meat and broth.

"This is called cooking." Enu explained as Nala's nose drew her close to one of the bowels an older lioness was ignoring. "Humans control fire so that it roasts the meat. You should try it sometime." Nala, after a few more sniffs of the delicious smelling meal inside the bowl thought she would agree with that.

"Who are the lions in here?" asked Nala as they passed the main atrium and found a little more privacy closer to one of the walls.

"Mostly they are retired priests, but we all tend to cycle in and out of the Temple. Oh thank you..." Enu purred in pleasure as a man stopped and dropped a bowl of steaming meat in front of Enu. The heavyset lion devoured half in a single bite, then nudged the bowl towards Nala. "Want to try?"

Nala sniffed at the proffered bowl, but the heat washing off of it was so intense, she thought it might burn her tongue. "Maybe later." Nala said, "I'm still rather full."

"Excellent." said Enu, who then proceeded to down the rest and lick the wooden bowl clean of broth. "The spirits often reward those who have self control."

Nala could not help but snicker a bit at that, coming from Enu and his largely expanded frame. "I believe the matriarch of the pride was said to be here?" asked Nala, who already was turning her head to look around the lounging lions.

"Oh yes, our mother, though in reality, she is my great aunt." said Enu good-naturedly. "She should be here, probably inside the cloister at the back. She loves the theatrics of a formal ceremony."

"Should I meet her?" Nala felt more apprehensive about the meeting than she had upon entering the Temple. The place had an air about it that seemed both mysterious and powerful.

"I don't see why not." said Enu and he left around a corner that Nala had not even noticed was there, her eyes so unused to artificial architecture He left the bowl behind on the floor, but Nala saw that it was quickly picked up by a young boy and taken to a stone basin to wash.

"How should I address your mother... or great aunt when I meet her?" Nala could not stifle a small laugh.

"Oh, Mother usually suffices, even for strangers such as yourself. Her name is Yamikani, by the way, but hardly anyone calls her that."

"Very well," said Nala, but her body grew more tense as they walked down the short, narrow passage and turned another sharp corner.

"Quiet now." said Enu and he began to walk softly as she had not seen him do before. Nala walked silently behind, it was much easier than actually stalking. Ahead, she began to hear the sounds of human voices speaking rhythmically. "They are in the middle of a divining. Let's watch." Enu said when they reached a passage which was blocked by hanging fabric. The air was especially dense with that scented smoke. Nala put a paw to her nose to keep from sneezing again.

Enu carefully padded past the hanging cloth, pushing it aside. Nala followed gingerly, feeling as though one misstep would bring ruin down on her head. Nala emerged and saw Enu seated just a short distance away. He gestured with his paw and Nala sat beside him on the cool stone, observing the ritual taking place in the center of the hazy room.

The smoke was so thick that it make Nala feel more than a little light headed and the only light was provided by buying braziers which frightened Nala, but she forced herself to remain calm as no one else thought the fire was in danger of spreading. The room was circular and heavily decorated in tones of pearl and blue. The floor sank in concentric circles in the middle and there were men dressed either in robes or bare chested. There was one other lion in the room who sat on a large padded cushion. She watched the men who danced around her, spreading more smoke from metal canistered they carried or else sang in the human tongue. The lioness's tail lashed back and forth as she watched them with a keen intent. Enu said nothing during the proceedings and Nala herself was afraid to move in fear of disrupting the ritual. Despite her lack of belief in such things, the retribution of spirits seemed oddly real and close in this room. Perhaps it was only the smoke which made her head swim and her eyes redden.

The lioness sat still on the cushion for a long while and Nala could see that she too was quite old, though not as ancient as the male pride leader was. Her whiskers had gone grey as well as the tufts of fur along her chin and jaw. but unlike the patriarch, her body seemed still thick was muscle, and only a little heavy. Her nipples lay distended on the cushion she sat on, flat and devoid of milk, but having apparently served many litters in the past. Nala lowered her head slightly as she waited for something new to happen. It was not as hard waiting as she would have expected, however. In fact, time had taken on an odd quality and seemed to slip forwards in bursts.

Then finally the chanting stopped and Nala noticed that Yamikani was swaying slightly in her seat, as if in some sort of trance, or perhaps from inhaling too much of the strange smoke. The humans darted away and others, who had been standing back quickly stepped forward and placed on the ground around the lioness several figures made either form stone or wood.

Yamikani seemed to suddenly snap out of her reverie as the humans stepped back and began to watch her. She stood up with a start, tail lashing and began to yowl and hiss. She jumped into the air, snatching at things that Nala could not see and landed a short distance away. It was truly disturbing behavior for Nala to witness and when Yamikani looked in her direction, it was as if the lioness were not seeing anything which was there at all. It was as if she were peering into another world entirely. She opened her jaws and emitted a noise which was not speech in lion tongue, or as far as Nala could tell any tongue and then spun rapidly in a circle around the central cushion. She suddenly leaped outwards, catching one of the idols on the ground in her teeth and claws. This causes a great murmuring to rise from the humans and several of them began to make marks upon paper.

Enu rose and the humans began to clean up the idols and clear the air by flapping fabric rugs around. That seemed to be the end of the ritual. Yamikani walked towards Enu, still carrying the idol in her mouth. "So the missing child has drowned then?" Enu asked the elderly lioness.

She spat out the idol and it was carefully picked up by a nearby man. "Yes, I saw it. She was carried away far down river and her poor body was devoured by crocodiles already fat with other drowned beasts."

Nala had no idea what the two of them were speaking about, but she stepped forward alongside Enu.

"Who is this straggly looking stranger?" asked the keen eyed lioness.

"This is Nala." said Enu. "She comes to us from up river. Uzuri tells me that she survived the flood by clinging to an old floating log."

"How fortunate for you then, young lass." said Yamikani. "You clearly have the spirits' favor upon you."

After the long ritual display, Nala did not feel that now was the time to debate theology. "Thank you. I've certain received much fortune and the generosity of your pride."

The old lioness chuckled softly. "It is not my pride, child, but you are welcome."

Nala cocked her head. Around her the humans were vacating the room, leaving the three lions alone. "But are you not the matriarch of the pride?"

Yamikani grinned and began to rise, joints creaking. "Some call me that. Me, I prefer to think of myself as a servant of the spirits." She ambled around the small round room, looking up at the mosaic images printed on the walls and the little shrines. "If you would stay with us, stranger, you had best leave behind old notions of alpha male and alpha female. We do things differently here."

"I have begun to see." Nala began to say, but the old lioness cut her off sharply.

"If you think that, then you see nothing! It takes a lifetime to understand the niceties of our community." The fur on the back of Yamikani rose, but then smoothed just as quickly. "But then again, I see something in you. Yes, you are touched by the spirits. You have some destiny which must unfold itself."

"I can't imagine..." started Nala only to be interrupted again.

"You may go now. Enjoy our hospitality as long as you like. You may find a home here, or not. I have not yet seen your path child." said Yamikani and brushed both her and Enu away with a swish of her greyed tail, turning her back on them.

Enu ushered Nala back the way they had come. "Come Nala." he said quietly and she could not resist the mass of his body as he guided them out. In the passage way beyond he smirked at her. "I think she liked you."

Nala stuck her tongue out at him and batted his nose playfully. "I assume she is not as 'nice' to all new comers."

Enu chuckled as they walked back into the temple atrium. "I've seen her foretell the death of many a lion on their first meeting with her. I say you got off lightly."

"Do you believe this 'destiny' stuff she was talking about?" Nala asked as they both sat down on a rather comfortable rug. Someone brought milk in a saucer and Nala lapped at it.

"Well..." Enu started but was interrupted by a massive yawn which showed his long, sharp fangs, clearly unused, "Mother has never been wrong yet as far as I know. So I expect you will become entangled in some grand affair sooner or later." Enu laid his head down and closed his eyes. Nala lifted her head up and stared at his head where the rolls of his neck piled behind his ears in a becoming way.

Nala opened her mouth to speak, but could not bring herself to wake Enu. She looked around for a little while, but began to feel drowsy herself. That smoke had left her still feeling light headed and a little dizzy, but not in an unpleasant way. She laid down beside enu so that his generous round belly pressed warmly into her back. It was not long at all after she had closed her eyes that she fell into a deep sleep.