[PRP] Border Dreams

[mouselet]

After the fall of the Ukuucha'Wafalme - and good riddance to any pride that thought lionesses were chattel to be owned, abused, and traded at will - Aibu had wandered again. She did, on reflection, feel somewhat bad for the cubs that she'd helped kidnap, but they were young. They'd get over it. After all, she had.

The thought brought a sardonic smile to Aibu's face, a twist of the lips that could hardly be called happy.

The expression faded instantly as the black lioness heard words on the wind. Not loud enough for her to understand, but enough to know she was no longer alone. The lioness didn't bother to conceal herself as she headed towards the source of the sounds - a rusty and black lioness clawing furrows into the ground. Aibu raised an eyebrow at the sight. This sleek and well-fed female didn't seem to be in want, so why the clear evidence of frustration?

"I doubt the ground's done anything to hurt you," she observed dryly.  

[mouselet]

"The ground holds you back." Aibu repeated the sentence with a slight note of disbelief in her voice, and didn't bother hiding the disdain in her red eyes. She could take such a statement at face value if they were in the mountains. Or a swamp. Any place where the actual terrain was a potential threat. In these softly rolling plains...the other lioness' statement was a blatant excuse.

"No, I am not," the black lioness answered with a glint in her eye. If the other female thought to challenge her, she had another thing coming. Aibu had no qualms about rending the other to bloody sthreds.  

[mouselet]

What the ground meant to her, whether she believed it or not. Now that was a very strange way to describe it. It seemed to Aibu that the other lioness had invisible shackles of tradition, birth, and duty tying her to this place. It had to be a pride, as few rogues were as particular about a location as a pride tended to be. Which was good to know.

"If I am lucky," the dark lioness said at last, "it is because I am free of all the ties that once bound me." She hadn't decided yet if the other female was really worth her time, but anyone who could recognize the bonds denying their freedom for what they were deserved a chance to break them. If the rusty lioness actually had it in her to leave, well and good. If not, then she could scratch at the dirt until her claws went dull for all Aibu cared.  

[mouselet]

It seemed she'd struck a chord. Good. It couldn't be certain whether the seeds she planted today would sprout and grow or wither and die, but they had been planted regardless. Not that Aibu really cared what happened to this lioness.

"Regrets?" she repeated aloud, musing. On some days she would say that she had none. On others she'd call her whole life one big regret. Today the black lioness felt...violent.

"Only that I never bothered to eviscerate those who made it a living hell," Aibu replied nastily, a bloodthirsty gleam in her red eyes.  

[mouselet]

Well, this was promising indeed. There was something worthwhile in the other lioness if she could take such a statement so calmly. Perhaps she was now considering applying such a solution to her own case. That would be nice, though Aibu didn't hold out that much hope for her.

"You're welcome," the black female replied pleasantly enough. "Just don't leave it too long, or you'll forget there's a world outside." She'd seen that before too, in that gods-be-damned harem pride where far too many lionesses were too beat down to even consider that they could one day be free.

With that, Aibu turned and went on her way. Now that she knew there was a pride in the area, she'd avoid it wholeheartedly. She wasn't some crusader, bent on freeing captives from their traps, but she was only one lioness and not stupid enough to take on a pride of idiots willing to defend their status quo.