[PRP] A Wanderer Comes (Koyu, Nyeusi)

[Talencia]

His paws had come far. One step at a time, in no hurry to get to the destination that was as yet unknown to him. He had grown as he had traveled, his mane coming in thick and dark. The pads on his paws were tough now, both from travel and from hunting. Hunting for himself had been an experience, but one he'd absorbed in thoughtful slowness. In the end, he'd decided it was a necessity he could feasibly provide for himself, and then dismissed any further thought on the subject.

There weren't many things that stirred much of a reaction from him. He was too steady, too slow to jump to conclusions. Life would go on regardless, so he took his time with things. They meant more that way, or at least made less of a ruckus. He despised flurry and fuss and fretting. There was no point to it, and it often led to important things being overlooked and missed. No, his way was much better. He didn't worry over anything until and unless that worrying actually had a benefit. Which wasn't often, to be perfectly honest. Worrying was a very passive thing, and if one had something to worry over, then why didn't they simply do something about it? He simply did not understand the concept.

Today was a calm, normal, worry-less day, filled with putting one paw in front of the other. He didn't keep himself to a painfully straight line... he'd discovered long ago that this led him to scrapes, bruises, and wasted energy. Instead he chose to flow with the land, going where his paws led him, which was rarely in any sort of straight line. He'd brushed a few prides, and had to backtrack once to avoid going through one. Today's path was taking him between two low hills. It looked like it might be some sort of run-off during the monsoons. Currently it was quite dry, however, and made an excellent pathway. His mind blank and empty, he plodded on.  

[mouselet]

She'd come out farther than usual on the hunt. Or maybe it had become usual...she hadn't come out nearly this far before. Maybe because she'd been younger. Or because now she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to even be related to her own parents.

Hell, Spiralia had left. Left the pride entirely, once Shangyue took charge. Suntail had made it damned clear that she didn't approve of their mother's attitudes...and that didn't even take into account the fact that their father had joined the Royal Guards.

Nyeusi didn't really know how she felt about any of it. It was easier to just pretend that everything was the same as it had been, except for her age of course. And the pride had gone back to normal for the most part, which made her part easier every day.

She just wished she had something else to think about, so that she didn't have to spend every night and every hunt tormenting herself with thoughts of how messed up things had gotten. So when the young lioness looked up to see a black form coming closer, she focused on it, eager to leave aside her maunderings.

It was early morning, and the reason Nyeusi wasn't back in her den sleeping was because she hadn't yet caught anything to bring back with her. But who cared about a meal when the form she'd spotted resolved itself into a totally unknown lion? Someone she didn't have to watch what she said around?

"Hello there!" she called out excitedly.  

[Talencia]

Koyu looked up at the voice, blinking owlishly as his brain came back on. Perhaps someone else might have thought it odd that he simply turned off his cognitive functions when they weren't required, but to him, it was just normal. No use in wasting mental energy when it wasn't needed, right? So it took him a moment to get the braincells firing again, during which he kept plodding along as before. Eventually though he seemed to process that he was being spoken to, and altered his path to aim towards her.

She was a dark lioness, with pale ears and forelegs. She didn't look distressed, which was a huge plus in Koyu's book. He disliked melodrama or heightened female emotions. He never saw the point. But cheerful he could deal with, in his ever stolid manner. Bobbing his head a little in politeness, he spoke finally, his voice a deep but unremarkable rumble. "Greetings." He pondered her a bit more as he continued padding towards her. Was she rogue, or a member of a pride? Best way to figure it out was to ask, obviously. "Am I near a pride? I can turn aside if need be." Ever practical, ever unimaginative.  

[mouselet]

Nyeusi blinked at the...less than thrilled reaction she'd garnered. Well, not everyone got excited the way she could. Not that she'd thought she'd been quite that energetic...but certainly more than this lion seemed to be. Still, she should answer his question.

"Yes, these are the lands of the Mwezi'Johari," the black lioness explained. "But we've never turned away a lion who just wanted to spend a day or two here." She didn't think she was lying, but she knew that some of the old rules might have been suspended...at least where the royal guards were concerned.

Thank the Great Lion this stranger knew nothing of that. If he didn't know that this was a pride, he couldn't know it was the Mwezi. And if he didn't know the Mwezi, he couldn't know or care about what had happened here.

"Where are you traveling to?" she asked, wanting to focus the conversation on him.  

[Talencia]

Koyu ruminated on the information provided for a bit. It was a pride, who allowed visitors for a short time. Did he want to visit? He wasn't entirely certain. How could one decide such a thing when one knew nothing about the pride itself?! He gave a soft huff of frustration before turning his mind to her question. He blinked owlishly at her, considering how best to answer.

"I'm not really traveling anywhere specific," he finally admitted. "I'm just... going." He shrugged lightly, clearly not bothered by this lack of a goal. Apathy was very easy for him to fall into, and that was exactly what he'd done. Running into this feisty female was the most exciting thing to happen to him in a while. He considered her thoughtfully, ears moving in slow conjunction with his mind's gears. "You are a member of this pride, then? What is it like? What is it about?" He sat himself down and clearly was prepared to listen as long as it took for her to describe Mwezi to him. Patience, for Koyu, was an easy commodity.  

[mouselet]

Just...going. Huh. Okay then...if that was how he wanted to play this, fine. She wasn't going to pry too much into why this stranger was so...weird. She didn't really want to hear someone's long, boring, and sad life story. Not when there was so much to worry about in her own life.

"Well...the Mwezi'Johari is a nocturnal pride. We're divided into classes based on the favor shown us by the Great Lion," Nyeusi explained, wondering if she was going into too much detail or not. She'd never been asked to tell someone about the pride before, and was grasping at straws based on things she'd heard former rogue lions saying in passing.

"Does...does that answer your questions?" she asked uncertainly.  

[Talencia]

Koyu blinked slowly, oblivious to the conclusion that he was weird. Though truthfully, he probably would have just shrugged had she spoken her thoughts aloud. Admittedly he would have reassured her there was no long, sad story, aside from his pride disbanding. That really wasn't all that big a deal to him, though. It just meant he had no one place he called home, that's all. If he stopped to consider really hard, he might conclude that he did miss his family, but beyond that, he just had no feelings on the matter whatsoever.

"I suppose," he answered her slowly, his tail swishing lethargically back and forth. "Though it does make me wonder," he continued, which was pretty amazing, considering his lack of interest in most things, "how your Great Lion shows his favor?" He peered at her in curiosity that was as slow as tree sap. "And who is this Great Lion? Does he rule you?" Koyu had difficulty thinking of anything beyond the tangible. It just was not something he could conceptualize. It went without saying that he had very little imagination.  

[mouselet]

Nyeusi brightened at the questions that she could actually - and easily! - answer. At last something she understood how to deal with from the stranger!

"His favor is shown by how wide open His eye is when you're born, or when you awaken, if you join the pride later. You can see it now, up in the sky," the dark lioness explained, gesturing to the still-visible moon hanging in the morning sky above them.

"He's not our King, that's Shangyue," Nyeusi said more slowly. "The Great Lion is a god."  

[Talencia]

A god? Finally an expression came across his face, one of greatly dubious skepticism. He glanced up at the moon and arched a brow, frowning at the 'eye' of the god this strange girl followed. He returned his gaze to her and took a few shuffling steps backwards. "So... you think he controls when cubs are born? And when newcomers arrive at your pride?" This was not sounding good at all. This whole pride was crazy!

He edged a couple steps sideways. What would the class be for when the 'eye' was 'shut', he wondered? It wasn't really a question he dared ask, though. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer! "Well.. then...," he mumbled, glancing to the side and thinking perhaps it was best to go around this pride after all. "I probably should be moving on," he said after clearing his throat. "Don't want to waste your time more than I have." It was an unimaginative way to try and extricate himself, but was the best he could manage.  

[mouselet]

The lioness was, frankly, unsure whether she should be dismayed or overjoyed by the strange lion's hasty departure. She, of course, didn't see anything wrong with the way the pride lived, but then again she'd been born and raised here, and found it difficult to imagine any life other htan the one she had. She supposed that for the dark lion it must be the complete opposite, but Nyeusi didn't have the experience to even begin to comprehend what that total opposite could be.

"Well, it was nice meeting you!" she called out to the retreating male. "Maybe you'll come back some time!"

Maybe, and maybe not. But with him on his way, there was absolutely no reason for the lioness to delay any further in getting back to her own den and some well-earned sleep. It was getting far too bright out to still be awake.