Shou had nestled him self on top of Ke'ala's head. Mostly, the bird was just along for the ride while the lioness patrolled. He sat and preened his tail feathers as the lioness strolled the border.
All day there had been nothing more than maybe a few hares here and there. Nothing worth fretting about in both the friends opinions. This sort of slow day was the norm. Most were not stupid enough to get close to the proud pride lands of lions. There had been a few times that Ke'ala had come across rogues with interest in joining the pride but never had she run in to any real threats.
Well, there had been a few feisty prey beasts. That was different. They had been delicious as far as Ke'ala was concerned and could come around any time they liked.
Shou was finishing up his daily tail feather preen. The bird fluffed up quite satisfied with a days worth of preen. His foot was up comfortably and if a beak could grin, he'd be grinning, quite content with him self.
"Sooooooo that Albus." He chirped.
"Why are you brining up Albus? That's a strange topic to bring up." Ke'ala chuckled. "What about Haja?"
Shou went quiet for a moment. His posture and face stayed the same, but the bird was in deep thought.
"What about Haja?"
Shou finally chirped.
"Well, you brought up Albus. I know what you're getting on about. Trying to tease me and get me flustered or something? You're a cheeky bird." Ke'ala felt like she told him. Her head was held up with pride feeling quite in the right.
Shou merely stayed as he was and listened with great interest.
"Who says that was what I was getting on about. The words came from your own maw. I didn't place them there. I just mentioned Albus. You jumped to conclusions as to why." Shou fluffed up some more and made him self more comfortable as if he was nesting.
Ke'ala's facial expression changed to something a bit more annoyed. Was Shou really doing this right now? They were on patrol.
Shou on the other claw didn't seem to take notice that his partner was annoyed with him.
"As for Haja. That, miss, is none of your business. I will refrain from making a comment."
Ke'ala kept her maw shut but she smiled. So it was true. Shou had a thing for Haja. That was cute as far as Ke'ala was concerned. For a while longer the two strolled with no words exchanged. They had both already said to much and neither of the two were really ready to talk more about the previous topic. But it was true they each were a little sweet on Albus and Haja how ever subtle it was. Or none subtle about it.
Finally Shou chirped up. The silence had gotten to much for the bird.
"You know there is no shame in having a crush. I mean it just means your emotions are working. There is no shame." Shou began, "It isn't like most creatures don't experience crushes. Why are we embarrassed?"
Shou did have a point. There was no reason that either of the duo should feel any shame in their crushes. If anything, it just made the two more normal than abnormal. Ke'ala stopped walking and took a seat to gather just what it was she was so embarrassed about. It wasn't like either Albus or Haja were there listening in to this conversation. That would just be silly.
"I guess you're right Shou. You're no poet of words but you make a heck of a lot of sense when you want to." The lioness hated to admit that Shou was right but there was no denying it. He was right.
"Course I'm right you know me. I'm Shou the wise."
"Not sure I'd go that for," Despite the annoyed tone there was a grin firmly across the lionesses maw. Shou actually was a pretty wise bird but Ke'ala would knock down any over ego the bird would get.
"Hey!" Shou's feathers flattened.
"Just calling them as I see them." Ke'ala yawned and got back up on all fours. There was still plenty more patrolling her and Shou needed to get done. "Besides I complimented you. You should be happy."
"Hrmph," Shou managed. At the very least he'd gotten a bit of a compliment out of Ke'ala and that was good enough for the bird.
"Shou, why don't you make your self useful and fly over head. We can get a better scope of the area that way and see if there aren't any threats along the border." Ke'ala instructed.
Shou made another sound that could have been a whine before stretching his wings out and taking off. The avian flew up high in to the sky and soared over head with Ke'ala trailing behind his shadow. His eyes focused on each side of him on the look out for anything shady. This was the routine for the two. Usually, Shou would swoop back down with nothing too out of the ordinary. But this time the avian let out a strange call. before swooping down.
"What is it Shou? What did you see while you were up there?" Ke'ala couldn't help but be concerned with a sound such as that.
"There appears to be a herd of prey beasts gathered near the border of the pride. A large group just waiting to be hunted down. You know, that violent stuff you big cats like to do." There was a hint of smugness in the birds voice. "Why don't you go alert the hunting parties?"
This was good news and the typical news that Ke'ala found. Traveling herds were always a welcomed treat.
"Sounds like a plan Shou." Ke'ala pivoted mid stride and headed back towards the heart of the pride. This was important news for the good of the pride. This meant there would be plenty of good eats in the foreseeable future for the pride. Always good news.
Shou took off and soared quickly over head while Ke'ala followed closely by.
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