Kamau's roaming had taken him many places in his rogue life, and always of the goal of keeping it that way. Rogue. He skirted past pride edges without much conflict, and shied away from any rumors of the mighty red lions to the north, or of the cannibals that clad themselves in skulls and pelts of fellow beasts. Just as bad as either of these rumors were the whispers of a demon pride. Lions possessed and crazed, just as bad as the Firekin or Mizuma, or worse. Instead of long-standing tradition or religion, their sacrifices were gory and pointless. Just thinking about the pride made Kamau's skin crawl. But he'd also heard well enough to keep away from their lands. He was convinced of his safety.However, the tan lion didn't account for the pride's name quest. And it just so happened a purple adolescent was on such a journey. Phlegyas hadn't left long after maturing to his present size, and the break from the pride was a welcome one. As he crossed the pride's borders, something within him screamed at him to run. That voice left from his cub-hood. The same one and the same words when Iar came to take him from his mother. Until then it had fallen silent. A dull hum in his head. But he couldn't take flight yet. There were still others watching one of the king's sons leave. Bored demons just trying to entertain themselves, and a higher up or two that bid him good luck on his journey. Even now as he remembered it, Phlegyas glanced back in the knee-high grass, paranoia from being alone, or developed from his time in the pride. But he shouldn't have been worried about what he left behind.
Instead, from the front, the tan lion sauntered on. He was a little less than well-fed today, and his senses were alert for any sort of meal that may lay on the horizon. But he was good natured, too, his green eyes eager and ears pricked forward. However, it hadn't been a good day for a hunt. Or even a week. A rabbit the afternoon before was hardly enough to tide over an adult lion. Even if it was a smaller specimen. A stray breeze brought something to his nose, a new scent! He stopped in his tracks to inhale a lung full for further analysis. But his heart dropped a little when it was that of another lion. Another whiff told him it wasn't any sort of hormonal, raging male out to conquer himself some lioness and land, but regardless. They weren't consumable. Kamau stood still a while longer, hoping they were headed in a direction away from him.
His red eyes cast to the ground, Phlegyas drew a heavy sigh. As much as he wanted to in his younger days, he knew he would return to the pride of his father. It meant security, family, and a high rank. Plus, he couldn't leave Tuc behind. She was his only true friend in the pride. Or Sol. The poor little slave that he couldn't help but feel for. The feeling being pity, though he'd never tell or, or admit it to himself. Abandoned as a cub, he could relate to the feeling. The heartbreak of a mother's rejection. Without thinking, a growl escaped his throat. If he saw Posca... Or Giza, he didn't know what he would do. Though he already had, in a vision from his youth. Shilo, maybe would be different. Had she not run, she would have died. But certainly a goddess of all beings should be able to protect her cubs from their father. His expression soured further.
Kamau saw the purple form crest from a hill before him, and grow bigger with its approach. Even from a distance, he could see the male lacked the full-mane of a peer, but the wind carried a distinct growl. His ears flattened against his skull, and he turned a bright eye to face him, sizing him up. The stranger wasn't running towards a fight, but was he looking for one? Building up with a dramatic approach? The lion flattened himself to the ground, hoping the purple lion would miss him and pass by. He laid his head on his paws and flopped his tail, a sign of his anxiety. Although, chances are he could take him. A growl from his stomach, however, signaled it might be harder than normal.
Phelgyas caught movement from the corner of his eye, and he stopped dead where he stood, his fur bristling and his body tense. No flash of color crossed his vision, but that still didn't eliminate his mother or sister as a possibility. Or second best, a meal. The adolescent's hunger was gnawing away at him. Though he'd been taught to hunt, and the practices that followed, it had never been a pressing or particularly engrossing activity for him. Instead he usually shared in communal meals, using his status as a dinner setting. Though he had not been gone for long from his pride, his meals were less than the days he had spent in the rogue lands. Frowning still, he worked his chops, also noticing disdainfully his mouth was quite dry. He sunk low, his stomach barely touching the grasses under his belly, but his head drooped. His shoulders rocked forward as they descended a hill closer and closer to the last sighting. His eyes hadn't moved from the spot, nor was he even sure he had blinked. But the wind told him it wasn't dinner. Instead, a lion. And with another draw of the wind - male at that. He straightened, his posture looming and domineering even for his size and bellowed (a trick he'd adopted as a juvenile from his father).
"Who goes there?"
Kamau picked his body up, skin twitching as files and grasses fell from his frame. He shook for another good measure. This was definitely not an adult, which confirmed his thoughts, but that didn't mean he was to be taken lightly. The lion responded with throwing out his chest and exercising the slight edge he had over the stranger's size and called back, "Who's asking?" He narrowed his eyes and threw his head up a little higher so that he looked down on the strange male, eyeing him up. His colors weren't a clear indicator of any pride he may be from, or that he belonged to a pride. The lavender mane, the light purple body. The all suggested a softer sort of lion. But the dark purple that crested his back and shot from beneath a red eye coupled with a paw mark, bloody either from wound or birth, gave him a tougher exterior. Especially when compared to the delicate antelope with which Kamau shared his colors. For added effect, he scoffed and drew up his lip at one corner, a sort of sneer at this insolent youth. Hopefully this act would be enough to scare him away.
