The sun was slowly rising just over the horizon of the pridelands. A grey body slunk out of the den, her golden eyes turning towards the inside noting the sleeping form still lingering in there. She gave a smile, stretching at the entrance before loping off into the lands. She wanted to explore on her own! The ‘vision of nightmares’ lioness followed a dirt path, passing by the various shrubs and grasses the Pridelands had to offer. She blinked, looking back towards the cave now inches before the horizon. She’d have to remember how to get back, but how. She thought for a moment, a small grimace on her maw, before a grin replaced it. Just…place an x every so often! That’s it! And that’s what Ruya had done, she placed an x at a base of the shrub, trotting along added her mark to the lands here and there.
She gazed to the left, noting the herd of gazelle grazing happily on the grass. To the right, the grevy Zebras were playing and eating. Her eyes nearly crossed, so many stripes, she never wondered why she could never couldn’t catch even the sickliest of prey from those hooved beasts. She had tried many a times before, but decided after she hit adolescence, the gazelles and antelopes were just so much easier and less confusing for a lioness on her own. Such lives flourish in these lands, even at the earliest of times in the morning.
Golden eyes turned to face straight ahead, moving towards the water hole her and Obidiah had slept at the first night she had stayed in these lands. Still, even as no animals had seemed to touch the liquid this morning, the water was as murky as ever. Frowning, she didn’t quite want to drink from dirty water, so instead, she settled for a little more traveling, getting to know the lands more with every step she took.
She guessed Obi was staying more towards the grazing lands of prey, as herds upon herds of animals were in sight. She smiled, there were even youngsters in the herds, frolicking and intermingling with the other species as if nothing were wrong. When the leaders however spotted the lioness, they stood their ground, watching and waiting to see what Ruya would do. When she did nothing except walk past the characters, they continued to graze, frolic and play.
”Now, where is it…” She murmured to herself, watching the sun began to rise slowly, turning the dark purple sky to a warm orangey glow. She would need to head back soon so her den mate wouldn’t worry. Though, she didn’t know if he would actually worry or not. She shook her head, that other water hole had to be around her somewhere!
And somewhere it was. As Ru seemed to be daydreaming, she heard a splash, and instantly found something wet underneath her. Looking down, she rolled her eyes, “That was stupid of me.” She giggled, taking a step back, shaking the water off her paws and tail. Now she needed to clean herself! But first, she lowered her nose to the water gazing into it. Well, it was slightly better, but not by much. Perhaps her den mate could show her other water holes later. After all, it wasn’t like it was a dire emergency to find one, she would just like…clean water to drink. Was that so much to ask?
She lapped up some of the murky water, turning her gaze back to the area where the den was. She marked this water hole with an x on a patch of hard dirt, before turning her attention to back home. With her eyes focused on the ground, she noted each marking on the ground, passing the herds, the murky water hole and eventually leading back to the den. Sure enough, Obi’s form was still there, snoring away as Apollo’s chariot rose greater into the sky.
She sighed, better yet the male sleep, she thought to herself, moving past the entrance to a slight stairlike pattern in the rocks of Obi’s den. She climbed the rocked, each foot catching on another rock, to stable herself as she lifted up onto the roof of the cave. The sun had risen a lot since she had left, but there still was more to watch as it wasn’t completely in the sky. She sat on top of the den, her tail occasionally flicking back and forth and in a calm manner. The pridelands was such a beautiful land, so much life in such a big land it had been on, but something told her that she couldn’t stay too much longer. Not unless there was a reason for them to stay longer. She liked Obi, but was that a good enough reason? Can you change your ways after a few weeks of living a certain life.
It was hard, especially having lived as a rogue for so long, and even when she stayed in the lands with the tall grasses with the lions that worshipped the harvest diety, Ruya still felt out of place. Though, the female must admit, she liked feeling needed, she liked feeling not hungry every second of the day. Those were the perks of pride life, but those perks just…weren’t for Ruya.
Perhaps Obi would go with her if she wanted to leave. Perhaps they could go exploring somewhere, and maybe, just maybe they could return to the life of a pride. That way, Ru’s sense of exploring would be out of her system, and Obi would be happy that he was back home. The grey Nyek spawn knew that he loved his home a lot, and probably would never leave it entirely.
Maybe…
[[Word Count - 958 ]]
