Vumbi was used to being alone, and so far he had not found anything to indicate that things would be changing any time soon. Sure, he ran into other wild dogs sometimes, or other creatures of the plains, but for the most part he just walked, alone, and he missed the days of closeness and companionship in his old home. But that was gone, well and truly, and there was nothing for him to do about it. He was not usually the type to sit and dwell on something, or rather walk while dwelling on something, but it was very strange what loneliness was doing to him.
He needed some company.
He was not expecting that company to come in the form of a nervous looking lioness, who was walking toward him and must have spotted him from a short distance off. Randar padded slowly, eying the Wild Dog and wondering if he was any kind of threat. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a fight, as she did not know if she was able to defend herself. At least, not to the highest degree. She had some insight into her own instincts, just from hunting and chasing off hyena trying to poach her meal, but so far she had avoided any direct contact with anyone. Though she knew she was much larger than the dog in question, she was also sure she was far more timid and unsure of herself, which would probably not work in her favor. Tail between her legs, ears back but not flat, she approached slowly, bowing her head a bit.
Vumbi blinked at the lioness, easily twice his size if not well over that. Did she think he was going to attack her? Her paws were the size of his head, and the claws attached would easily remove said head right from his shoulders, maybe leaving the stump of his neck behind if he was lucky. There was no way he would ever attack her, even if she was limping and bleeding, and he thought he could win. There was always that very good chance that he would not, in fact, be the victor and that was just one chance too many for the mostly carefree and zealous wild dog. He was too friendly for it, anyway, and he wagged his tail encouragingly as he nodded at her. They were close enough now for him to speak to her without it seeming like a challenge or a warning, or so he hoped. He had let her get this close, after all.
"Hello there. The day finds you well, I hope?" He said, pleasantly.
She glanced up at him, then down at his paws again.
"It does. Thank you. Uhm. I was just passing through here, unless this is your territory. I can go around."
Randar had learned that being nonconfrontational was probably the best way for her to get through life, now that half of it was missing. She could not remember her cubhood, or growing up, or even any part of her adult life beyond just a few weeks ago, when she seemed to have woken up in a new place, unfamiliar with everything around her. She knew how to operate, how to walk and talk and eat, and all the things she needed to survive, but she could not remember a thing about herself. Even the bones that hung around her neck, or the blood like paw print on her hind, were complete mysteries to her. And she felt like, judging by how creepy they were, that was probably a good thing.
"What? Oh! No, this isn't my land. You're free to walk here all you want. You're kind of quiet and shy for a lion, don't you think? If you wanted something from me, you could just take it. You look like you're more than capable of it!" He did not mean anything by the comment beyond exactly what it sounded like. A comment on her appearance and how fearsome she looked, and the knowledge that lions were sometimes bullies. He was not hoping she was like those other ones, but still, it might have been a bit less odd for the both of them if she were. Vumbi was not really sure how to treat her, as he used to spend a lot of his time simply avoiding lions, and it had worked out pretty well.
She shook her head bashfully and scuffed her paws on the floor, but refused to look up at him. She did not want him to think she was challenging him in anyway, so staring at the floor instead of his eyes or face was a better choice for her. She took a breath, her sides heaving with the force of it, and she let it out in a slow sigh. An effort to calm her nerves, and to give herself a chance to clear her head. Sometimes, if she was too anxious or thinking too hard, it got a little foggy and that left her confused. It was not a very fun feeling, and she had developed this little calming method in an effort to avoid it. It was working so far, and she hoped that trend would continue. She nodded her head at the ground as she explained herself, mostly in a nervous sort of way.
"No, I mean. I don't think so. I was hurt, I think. Something must have happened, but I can't remember. I can't remember much of anything really, before a little while ago. But it doesn't feel right to try and take something that's not mine, so I don't want to trouble you at all. That's why... I asked." She glanced up at him and he gave her an encouraging smile. Her eyes did not drop immediately downward, but instead lingered on him for a short moment before dropping downward after a moment. But it was a moment better than he had gotten before, so it worked for him.
"Well, you're welcome where ever I am! I have no home, so these lands are as much mine as they are yours. You lost your memory, huh? That has to suck." He shook his head and frowned at her, wondering what could have happened. She did not seem to have any scars or injuries, at least none that were appreciable, and that seemed the most obvious choice when something like this happened. One got bumped on the head and forgot who they were. He had never seen it before, but it seemed to follow from all the lectures he had gotten as a pup about being safe. Since she said it was recently, he would have thought she'd still be bearing a wound of some sort, but that was not the case. He was staring at her, he realized, but at least she was not looking up at him to catch it. This was the closest he had been to a lion, so it was rather interesting.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, after a beat. "I could go for something big, and if you want to help me we could split it?"
She looked at him, then nodded her head timidly. It wasn't like she had anything better to do at the moment.
(Word Count: 1,218 in Word)
