[PRP] Something Amiss

[Kimaria]

Something was amiss. The tracker could feel it in her bones, turning electric through her fur until it stood on end. She had been passing by, like any other day, her eyes down to follow tracks back and forth, to take note of any shifting of the land or anything out of place. And yet, though something was wrong, it didn't make itself apparent in the landscape.

Not until she spied two figures hurrying back from the borders. Only then did she give pause, moving over to the rocks in an attempt to hide herself from view.

Good. They passed on by.

She recognised the figures, though. Two guards well renowned. Azar'bijan and his successful apprentice, Shula.

Her head tilted quizzically, her hackles still up as she hunkered down to the rocks, peering at them as they moved across to the dens. The regent's dens. Naar did not think they would find the pair home, but it seemed her instincts had proven correct. Something was going on and it probably wasn't good.

Although, to be fair, this was a feeling that Naar-ehuka was well versed in. Things did always seem to be going wrong.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Eld was also heading back to the pride, but he was not in any real hurry. He'd finished a rotation at the Bonelands outpost, and had enjoyed sparring with the locals on his time off. The first lion he sparred against did his best, but Eld never doubted he'd win. The male fought bravely, but he lacked the training and discipline of a Firekin soldier. Next he'd tried a fight with a pair of lionesses, and that had been really interesting. They had worked together as a team in ways he'd never seen before, and he was eager to discuss it with Chaka and the other members of Team Wildfire.

It had been a good fight, and while it was a little bit embarassing, he had learned much from losing it. Next time he'd have ways to counter those tactics, or so he hoped. At the very least, the others would get a good laugh when he told them he'd been bested by two small lionesses.

Eld had no way of knowing, but he was currently following the tracks of the two lions that had hurried home from the border some time earler. More and more tracks littered the ground as one drew closer to the center of the pride, and it was simply easier to walk where someone else had walked before.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Annchen

So wrapped up in her thoughts, she jumped at the sound of heavy paws, turning her head back to see a further lion coming in. Dark of pelt with a splash of bold colour. Even at this distance she could tell he was one of the relatives of the regents, though which one, she did not know. There were many of them now, thanks to a number of large litters amongst the generations. Her family was a reasonable size, but nothing in comparison.

Naar-ehuka hesitated for just a moment before shuffling forwards on awkward paws, raising her head to give a low call, hoping to attract his attention. She felt strangely embarrassed and sheepish coming out from behind the rocks as if she had been spying...

Or hiding...

"Uh...u-uh, excuse me." Her ears twitched with the signs of being nervous. "Are you with the other two?"  

[Annchen]

Eld was surprised, but not too alarmed when Naar-ehuka emerged from behind the rocks. He did tense up a bit at first, before he registered familiar colors and patterns. She was a fellow firekin on firekin lands so he had no reason to see her as a threat. He relaxed and smiled at her. It was another story if someone snuck up on him in a patrol situation or when he was training... There was a fine line between good fighting instincts and walking around being a danger to playful cubs. He'd been advised as a cub that you simply did not sneak up on certain members of the pride unless you wanted flesh wounds, but Eld was satisfied with being a good enough soldier and had no desire to develop super-lion killer instincts.

"With who?" he asked, "I just came back from the Bonelands outpost."

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Annchen

"Oh..." her ears flattened instinctively, eyes skipping from stone to stone so that she didn't accidentally catch his eye. "Sorry...I just thought..." her eyes drifted, unthinkingly, in the direction the two guards had gone and with a soft sigh, she dropped her hindquarters down until she was sitting in the sand.

"Was...everything ok...? Out at the outpost, I mean. No...trouble?"

Her fur prickled and in her social ineptness, she had forgotten quite utterly that she might need to introduce herself. "I saw two guards just now. They looked...rattled."  

[Annchen]

There was something she wanted, but Eld wasn't sure what. If he heard her out he might understand, so he mirrored her motions and sat down too. He wasn't really in a hurry after all.

"No, no trouble," he said, but he didn't have time to say much more before she told him about the guards. Eld frowned. What could make a couple of guards look rattled? Well, probably lots of things, depending on the guard in question. His features smoothened out again. If it was important for him to know what it was, he'd hear about it sooner or later. If it was something he didn't need to know, he wouldn't... Eld had long since accepted that he wouldn't always be told everything, and he truly didn't mind.

"I guess we'll find out eventually if it's something important," he said. "Hey, have you ever been out at the outpost? Whatever you do, don't let those Bonelands lionesses gang up on you in a spar."

He was grinning now, excited again at the thought of the new moves he'd seen.

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Annchen

"I guess so..." she trailed, feeling a little miserable. Even as an adult with a good rank to her name, she often felt out of place and more than a little useless. Still, if it showed, the male lion clearly did not let it bother him. Her eyes skipped up to meet his and his grin had a strange, contagious affect that she had not had much experience with.

Despite herself, she smiled back, a crooked grin that seemed strangely awkward and unpractised.

"Yes, yes, I have been there before. N-not recently but...it is a lively place at times." She dropped an ear, "did they gang up on you...? That's not the way of the fight! Did you win?" She loved to watch the sparring, the clash of two strong lions circling, assessing, debating on which move would work best. "Or were they forced to increase their number because you proved yourself too strong?"

She smiled, "you are one of the Regents' blood, I think? You have the look."  

[Annchen]

There, she was smiling! Eld liked what he was seeing, and wondered what he could do to coax her to smile like that again.

"I sparred against one of their Inse... Inslelelo?" he said, "But he wasn't particularly well versed in fighting. I guess he could be decent at it with proper training."

Jasiri had been a good sport about it at least. Yes, it had been a good fight. He had tried to spar against pairs of females too, with one loss and on draw to show for it. It was interesting to try that kind of fighting for a change, but if he could pick he'd rather take on one opponent at the time.

"The females are so small you need two of them to make up one opponent," he joked, before letting his voice become more serious, "But they are good at what they do. It was good practice, and two of the ones I sparred with actually bested me."

For a moment he wondered if she asked out of curiosity or if she asked to make sure they weren't too closely related. It was always good to get that out of the way before getting too invested, so to speak. He'd accidentally tried to hit on a couple of hot but a bit too close relatives before. It happened and he'd just shook it off. Nah, she was probably just curious.

"Ah yes," he said and smiled back, "Kidondo and No are my grandparents. I'm Vlam and Ea's son, well... One of them."

Kimaria

Sorry! Not sure how I could miss this emotion_facepalm

 

[Kimaria]

"I...haven't seen too much of them myself. Tend to keep away from outsiders, even if they are allies of sorts. By the sounds of it, they have some good fighters, though. Especially if they are to best some of our military."

She wasn't sure why she had asked about bloodlines, in all honesty. Perhaps it was because she was a little intimidated by the royal line of the current pride leaders. It wouldn't do to make a fool of herself in front of the leading family and she had been known to be haphazard at times.

"Vlam and Ea have many children. They must be very in love," she smiled a little at that. Love, quite often, was not too deeply embedded in their way of life and it was nice to see a couple so devoted and with such a large family to raise. "Uh...I was thinking of heading for some shade before the sun got too hot. You...are welcome to come with me if you have nothing else to do."

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

"Next time they will need new tricks to beat me," he said, furrowing his brow. He had actually thought a lot about how he could counter the attacks they've used, but he wasn't sure his ideas would work. It was different than fighting against Firekin... He had to discuss it with Chaka, and maybe it'd lead to good things for the entire team down the line. His normal approach had always been to try (or attack) again, and again, but he'd started to see the point in taking in another point of view.

"I guess," he said, tracing patterns in the sand. It was weird to talk about his parents love for each other. To him they were just normal parents, but by firekin standards he guessed they'd stuck with each other for a long time. In any case he was not old enough to be able to discuss his parents love for each other without feeling a bit uncomfortable. Her change of subject was very welcome!

"I'd like that," he said, smiling again, "You know, I got heatstroke once. Once! My adult mane hadn't even grown in yet, but I'll never hear the end of it. EVERY time I stick my nose into the medical wards someone will tease me for it. Better keep my head cool, because I'll never live it down if it'd happen again..."

Kimaria

The end?