What? No it wasn't this pond! (Maua X Kivuli)(FIN)

[JetAlmeara]

It had been a good deal of time since Maua had returned to the pride after her spat with the Wild Dog, and so far she had lived up to her promise to Kivuli about going back to 'look' for trouble as he put it. Maua snorted slightly - look for trouble! She never looked for trouble, she just up held her beliefs. She had warned the wild dog not to return but thanks to her promise to Kivuli she hadn't been able to go and make sure the dog had listened.

...Of course if she found a way to make Kivuli go to the pond with her, then that certainly wouldn't break her promise and it had been long enough now that she didn't think he would be all that suspicious. He didn't even know exactly which watering hole she had been talking about she realized with a grin...and turning she bounded into their home to prod Kivuli out of his nap. "Kivuli..Kivuli wake up" She pestered him making sure to add a bit of a whine to her voice while she reached out with a paw to poke him in the shoulder.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kvuli's ears swiveled about as Maua tried to wake him. Slowly his eyes opened and focused on his mate. Shaking out his mane Kivuli let out a yawn before starting to rise to his feet. "I'm up, I'm up." He told her attempting to get the last shreds of sleep out of his mind. When he cleared his mind he thought about the tone of her voice, the hint of whine in it. His head snapped about. "What is it?"

Had that Wild Dog come to the pride lands in search for Maua. Well he doubted that. You would have to be pretty stupid to walk into a lions pride all by yourself looking for revenge over something that happened several days ago. No it must be something else. "Has the King summoned us?" One could never be too sure when the King would call the Nobles to attend a meeting.  

[JetAlmeara]

"What?" She looked at him semi-astonished, the king summoning them - well she wished she was waking him for that reason. Maua often dreamed of catching the kings attention in one way or another - advancing their positions and all that, but that was hardly the reason she was waking him up now "No..no nothing like that" She chirped at him suddenly cheerful now that he was awake.

"I..thought you might like to go for a walk" She told him slyly, butting her head under his chin and giving a slight rumble to further encourage him to agreeing to this 'walk'. Tail twitching she made her way to the entrence, turning once she reached the door to cast a look at him back over her shoulder "Well?" she asked after a few moments "Are you coming? Or shall I ask someone else to take a walk with me?" She concluded..yes that was it, apply to his jealous side, sure he might not get angry often but everyone had at least a bit of a jealous streak didn't they?  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

"Oh," He replied, well if the King hadn't summoned them why the urgency for waking him up. Maua knew he liked to sleep in when they didn't have any duties to attend to. Watching her go towards the entrance of their home he shook his head a little, a smile on his maw. "Let someone else take my beautiful mate for a walk...I don't think so." He rose to his feet and padded over to her.

Stopping to nuzzle her softly then proceeded to leave the spot they called home. "So do you have a particular destination in mind or was this just a random lets see where our paws take us walk?" Well either way he would follow her. He was awake now and Kivuli knew she wouldn't let him go back to sleep so easily. And honestly what kind of mate would he be if he let some other lion go for a walk with Maua. Besides their busy lives sometimes kept them apart between the meetings and other various expectations of those with their rank, so he was willing to take advantage of every single moment they spent together.  

[JetAlmeara]

Maua preened silently under Kivuli's attentions she really hadn't expected anything else from him, for whatever faults he might have Maua could always count on him wanting to spend time with her - he even put up with her temper which she knew could be quite a challenge, one that not everyone was up to.

"I thought we'd just wander some" she said as they stepped along, Maua made sure to subtly steer them in the direction of the water hole - once they were close enough she would tell him she was parched and he would agree to head towards the water without really thinking about any ulterior motives. Lions get thirsty like every other animal, nothing suspicious at all about that she assured herself. Stepping along at a lively pace Maua reached out to bat playfully at Kivuli - sure it was a kittenish behavior, but she didn't much care.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

"Then let us wander." He said as they moved along. Kivuli's tail swung back and forth in wide strokes and he walked, mane bouncing slightly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Maua's paw reaching out for him, he decided to ignore it until it actually made contact with then. As her paw touched him he did a little side step, a low growl escaping his maw and turned so that he was walking sideways. "Oh it's that kind of walk huh?" Kivuli teased her. "Of course you know when we were cubs I would always win these little battles."

His smile grew bigger as he thought back to those times when Maua and him were just young cubs. Everything was so carefree back then, even though they were born into their status. Kivuli remembered the first time he went to play with the little cub, he was so nervous because of her already obvious beauty at such a young age. He counted himself lucky that their friendship eventually blossomed into something much more.  

[JetAlmeara]

Maua paused as he turned to face her, crouching low to the ground like she was stalking him, tail flicking side to side as she pretended to stare him down the way a huntress stared down her prey. "Oh but that was then...and this is now" she told him in a saucy tone "I've learned a allot since those days" she concluded with of her head. She was no longer the little kitten he could bowl over in a heartbeat, he could still bowl her over of course - but now he at least had to work a little bit more to do so. She had fond memories of their younger years together - they'd caused their families all sorts of grief with their antics and she was pretty sure both sides had blown out huge sighs of relief when the two of them had settled down as mates.

But of course now was not the time for such walks down memory lane, now she had to concentrate on getting Kivuli to the watering hole - well...and not letting him win too easily of course. Leaping forward from her crouch Maua play batted at his head with her paws - claws safely pulled in of course - before bounding sideways and away down the trail.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you learned a lot since then." Watching her as she pretended to stalk him until she finally launched herself at him. Well he would let her win the first punches of his battle. So as her paws connected lightly to his thick mane he fell over onto his back. Laughing her rolled back onto his stomach and got to his feet as she ran off.

Maua may be the faster of the two but this was a game and was not running at full speed. He would catch up easily to her. Letting out a roar that would normally be interpreted as a lion meaning business he took off after her. His paws carried him quickly towards her retreating form. Lowering his head he put on a final burst of speed and ran past her. Then hitting the brakes he spun around to face her coming to a stop in the dead center of the path. His eyes sparkled, he knew that she would either need to run into him or jump into the thick bushes to get past him.
 

[JetAlmeara]

Maua let out a small giggle as she head Kivuli roar behind her, for a few moments seeming to forget just why they had gone on this walk and the fact that she was now a proud adult lion..not a bumbling cub. Even noble lions needed to let go once in a while she told herself. She yelped when he suddenly darted about in front of her, his large form blocking the path. She didn't have very long to come up with a plan here, she could try to leap over him sure but Maua doubted she'd make the jump and crashing down on top of him - while amusing - certainly wouldn't be winning.

On second thought she realized they were getting closer to the watering hole and without any further thought she leapt into the brush "Find me if you can!" She challenged Kivuli before landing in the thick brush and flattening herself to the ground to creep along in the underbrush and 'hide' from her burly mate.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

There was a grin of satisfaction of Kivuli's face when Maua let out a yelp of surprise. But that grin faded quickly as she turned and dove into the thick bushes. Kivuli really hadn't expected her to do so, after all it would get her fur ruffled up and likely a few leaves would stick to her as well. With a shrug he turned and dove into the bushes as well.

At first he just pushed his way through the bushes with brute strength. But then as they got thicker and more intertwine he was forced to hunker down and attempt to crawl through. It wasn't easy for a lion his size to do so. Maua would surely have made it out of the bushes by now. "I do believe the bushes are on your side." He called out to her as he struggled to push through the last bit of foliage. Kivuli let out a low rumble as he spotted Maua just ahead. "Ah there's my prey." He reached out with his one paw hoping to get a hold on her somehow.  

[JetAlmeara]

Maua cast a look behind her as Kivuli spoke - he sounded fairly close and when she looked back she saw that to be exactly the case. Letting out a slight squeal Maua shoved off with her hind legs to dart forward - if she was right they should be almost on top of the watering hole by no - it had to be just ahead through...Maua tumbled out of the brush to regain her feet at the waterside. just as she thought! she grinned inwardly before wheeling about to face the spot she assumed Kivuli would come out as well. Tail twitching as she waited for him. "Your prey is simply parched!" She told the bushes, her eyes darting about for any signs of the Dog...none that she could see - had the beast actually been smart enough to listen to her? Well that was good - and slightly disappointing. She had sorta hoped to find the beast here - and sic Kivuli on her. Alas it was not to be so - well at least she'd had a bit of fun getting Kivuli here she thought to herself, letting her thoughts wander somewhat.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Drat so close, he thought as Maua pushed away just as his paw was about to reach her. Now he had to battle through more bushes to get to where she was. He sunk down against the ground and with a one large burst of power he forced his way out of the bush in an impressive display of leaves and branches flying out around him. Landing just out of the bushes he looked upon Maua with his head tilted to the side. Leaves and twigs stuck out of his mane and a few pesky vines were still wrapped around his legs and tail.

"We my parched prey, it seems you are lucky enough to have stumbled upon this small watering hole." He took a few steps forward to get close to her and then shook his body hard to free himself of the debris. "I suppose I will allow my prey to drink before I continue to pursue her." Kivuli said with a smile on his maw.  

[JetAlmeara]

Maua's attention snapped back to the present when Kivuli came bursting from the brush, true she had expected it, but she hadn't expected him to make such a display out of it and she skittered backwards to avoid the flying leaves and branches. not that she didn't already have some in her own fur - but she had decided that was an alright by-product of getting what she wanted. At least the leaves didn't stick to her short hair the way it did to his longer mane.

"How very kind of you" She responded with a smug look. Clearly insinuating that she had won this little game by eluding him up to this point. Padding to the waterside she followed the edge around the pond as though looking for a decent place to settle in and drink though her eyes scanned the ground for dog tracks and she scented the air to see f she smelled any trace of the beast. Nothing - well nothing except the old scent. How disappointing.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli watched with a critical eye as Maua began walking around the edge of the pond. Why couldn't she just pick a spot and drink. His eyes narrowed a bit. Wsa she looking for something? Then he put two and two together and a low rumble escaped his maw. "Maua!" He said in a stern tone, much the same way a parent would talk to a cub who was misbehaving. "Is this where you ran into that wild dog?" He couldn't believe she would have stooped so low to get a chance to get out here. No, he corrected himself, he did believe it. Maua could be quite the deceptive lion when she wanted to be.

His tail flicked back and forth in anger. She had promised him that she would not come out here looking for that dog. He moved closer to her. "You made a promise to me Maua." His voice was tinged with anger. It was clear that Maua had this on her mind when she woke him up this morning but he was too stupid to have noticed it right away.  

[JetAlmeara]

Maua had been paying so much attention to searching for signs of the dog that she hadn't noticed Kivuli's critique of her action right off the bat and so when he suddenly spoke in a rather stern tone she jumped a little bit, whipping her head about to look at him - her expression somewhat guilty until she managed to wipe it off her face, ears flattening slightly, she hated it when he use that parental like tone with her. "So what if it is?" She challenged him. She had been pondering actually getting that drink but rather then do so now she simply sat by the waters edge.

"I promised I wouldn't go out looking for her" she continued after a few moments " And I didn't..I went out with you, we just happened to end up in the same place" She stated firmly with a slight nod of her head "It's not like I can avoid this particular spot forever, just because your afraid I'll run into her again" she continued.