Rekhet had just finished eating with his new friend, Yai, and they had opted to find a watering hole so they could bathe and relax in the shade of some of the trees and rocks around it. There were nice areas in the pride, like little oasis', but they were not as few and far between as Rekhet was used to in his previous home. This place was lush and beautiful by comparison. Not to say that the sands had not been beautiful: they were, but this was wholly different and would probably take him some more time to get used to than what he had invested so far.

Yai, on the other hand, knew nothing but this place. The green grass, the Savannah nearby, the tall mountain that loomed over them all. It was a beautiful place, but it was the kind of beauty one might take for granted, if it was all they saw. Yai yearned to see these other lands, the ones that Rekhet spoke of, or others beyond it. She had never seen another place, always remaining here, not even venturing into the rogue lands beyond what she needed to in order to hunt. And that did not really change the scenery much. One day, she imagined, she would go out there and she would see what there was to see.

One day soon, maybe.

Rekhet sat down heavily at the water's edge, looking at the clear pool before bending to take a drink of the cool water. He was not too concerned about the water, if others had been swimming in it or what had you. He was not the type of lion who was too concerned with hygiene matters, though some seemed to be particularly squeamish and could not suffer being dirty, or eating dirty food, or drinking dirty water. That was a little far fetched in his mind. Of course most of what they ate or drank was dirty. It was always on the floor.

"Do you," he was saying, turning to look at Yai as these thoughts occurred to him, but she interrupted him by racing into the water with a large splash. He watched her in wonder, soaking wet now and not having stepped a paw in the water himself. She grinned at him from the water, bobbing up and down in the shallow pool, her feet touching the bottom but just barely. She could stand but had to keep her head craned up to keep it from slipping under the water level.

"Do I... want to go swimming? Yes, yes I do." She laughed, kicking her paws and doing a small circle. That was about as much of a swim as she would get at this point, because the pool was small. It fed into a run off from one of the larger rivers, but it was just a trickle at this point. When there were rains it was probably a bit stronger, though not much bigger. She watched him keenly as he shook himself off, promptly splashing him with water once she saw he was satisfied with what he had managed to shake off.

"That's just mean," he pointed out, though he was smiling.

"Well, maybe I'm a mean lioness."

"I don't buy that."

She laughed and paddled to the opposite side of the water, moving out of it and looking over her shoulder to see him standing on the bank still, his expression set. He did not look amused any more, just like a wet rat that was very put out by the whole situation that had gotten him so soaked in the first place. She grinned at him and he wrinkled his nose, not entirely sure he agree with himself. She was not a mean lioness, no, but getting him all wet, twice, was certainly not nice. He was only put out, though, because he did not have a good way to get back at her for it.

Yet, at least.

"Try not to pout too much, Rekhet, your face is not made for it," Yai said, swishing her tail behind her. Rekhet huffed and shook his head, but he could no more argue with her than he could continue to be upset. He smiled at her and then he decided to make a move. He ran, seeing her shaking off the water that was clinging to her coat now that she was in the shallow end of the water. Turn around was fair play, and all that: he was going to make her suffer the same fate he had.

Except she saw him coming. She laughed once he started to move and was out of the way of the splash by the time Rekhet hit the water. And he had made an impressive splash, but it was just not enough to get to her after she had run up the bank and into the grass. She grinned at the water as it swirled around, wild for a moment before it settled back into its usual calm. Save the one disturbance that remained in the water, which caused little rings to spread out over the water once it had quieted. He stood there, taller than her so able to stand with no trouble, staring at her with a grumpy look on his face.

"What?" She asked, grinning, "you're the one that did it. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"I hate that you're right about that."

Rekhet slowly moved from the water, his tail dripping, his whole body feeling water logged and weighed down. He flopped onto his side once he was in the grass, taking a breath and smiling as he rolled onto his back to let the sun warm his belly and dry him off. Yai joined him a short distance away, resting on top of a rock to get the warmth it had absorbed on her back and the suns rays on her belly.

All told, it had been a very lovely outing, and she was glad to be making friends. If this kept up, she might not actually be so lonely any more. Imagine that.

( Word Count: 1,024 in Word )