Yaretzi smiled to herself, making her way through the pride lands, looking for him specifically, looking for a certain adol of the pride. Xi~ She smiled when she found him and in a graceful leap, and seemingly out of nowhere, jumped at Xi, prancing away lightly a smile on her face. "Guess who's your mentor now~"


Xi dodges the lioness, having heard her sneaking up. Since his last encounter with the Yaretzi he's been on edge, more like when he had to defend himself from his brother's random attacks, but his brother had usually attacked him head on. He's wary when he gets up from his crouch, ears flat against his head, his expression annoyed that she seems to be in such a good mood, at least she isn't sulky and pitying today. Xi raises an eyebrow at the lioness's sing song manner. "They've chosen one for me then...?" Then realization hit him.


Yaretzi is in a good mood today actually, though a little hungry~ maybe that would be the first lesson. Hunting, sure he probably already knew how to hunt, but it would be a good way her to get him to trust her. She smiled at him, happy to see that he'd dodged her pounce. "Good job of being aware of your surroundings~" She complimented him walking up closer to him now and looking to the side towards the grassy area where most of the prey was. "Yeah~ they chose! or rather I chose you! so you should feel good about that. It's better then finding you were just dumped on someone right?" she asked him honestly. "and wipe that look off your face Xi~ I'll make a great mentor!!"


Xi didn't smile in return, his shocked expression slid into dumbfoundedness, he didn't know what to say in return. The compliment wasn't snarky at least. He found that he was, glad, that he had a mentor now, his lessons with Hakuna were something but he did need to focus on his chosen rank. "So you've chosen Defender... and me. Is that why you're so, cheerful." The final word was almost sneered, Xi didn't do cheerful either. "Alright then," he agreed to it for now, less she start her helpless nonsense, "Now what?"


Yaretzi couldn't help but laugh and shake her head as she began to move towards the grasslands and the outer reaches of the pride. "nope~ I'm cheerful because now you have to listen to me~" She told him bluntly, smiling at his sneer; she wondered what was going through is mind at the news... she hoped he wasn't too terribly disappointed. "Now~" She started in a still cheerful tone, "We're going to go on a little hunt. To be honest, I'm hungry, and I feel that hunting is an excellent way to start off our time together."


Xiang moved to follow, hunting he knew, the taste of prey blood always raised his mood, being full, they were good things, he nodded. "I -have to- listen, I don't have to agree with you. Hunting is fine though, I assume you want a test of what I can do, excellent." His stride became more confident, as he paced along side of her, maybe after this she would see that he wasn't a -child-. He knew he wasn't an adult yet, not by age nor by his pride. He didn't want to hear from her again how much a kid she thought he was, he was sure with this that she would see.


Yaretzi was happy that he seemed to be in a better mood as he kept up with her pace, and she smiled a sneaky sort of smile. "It's not really, WHAT you do, or that you even got your prey, it's how you got your prey. The body movement, the prey you pick out, they way you hide yourself, how close you get to the herd, the way you get what you want. That's what I want to see. The way you hunt, is very similar to the way you fight, or at least that's what I believe. once I see how you hunt, I'll know what I'll need to work on with you." she picked up her pace a bit and then broke out into a run taunting him with a "Keep up if you can!"


Xi snorted at her words, rolling his eyes, she had told him before that she was watching him, so if she liked to watch so much, he'd show her what he knew. Instead of rising to the taunting, racing after her and exhausting himself, he trotted towards the open savannah at even pace. Xi had had to learn to hunt for himself, the pride wasn't big on taking care of the weak, and so he had learned to not be weak. His first unofficial hunt with his brother Hiam had been a disaster, juvenile cubs were just too small to take down grown antelope, but he had since learned a lot. He smiled to himself, once they were out from the pride into the tall grasses he lowered his form, slinking along, times like these he was happy that his pelt blended with the dry grasses so well. He looked to see where Yaretzi had gone, if she was going to do some hunting of her own, or if she was just going to watch.


Yaretzi made it to some ways away from Xi before she noticed he wasn't chasing after her. Well... that was actually what she'd expected. So when she was done with running, she just sort of sat down, her head sticking up out of the grass. She didn't look for Xi, she didn't have to. She knew he would be coming to her shortly, so she just sat and waited. This was probably one of her favorite things to do, sit out in the grasslands and watch the day go by. It was nice out here, calming almost, and there was almost always a breeze. She'd watch the buzzards blow by in their threatening ways, as if they were sizing her up. She wasn't dead yet, and neither her nor her demon panned on dying any time soon. She'd spotted some Gazelle grazing in a herd a few yards away from them, she could smell them, and it made her mouth water. She sat a bit straighter, taking in a few more sniffs before Xi arrived. She could already point out the strongest and the weakest, as well as the males. "Alright Xi~ let's see what you've got."


Xi didn't go straight towards Yare when he did spot her, she could see him that was enough, he went past her through the grasses slowly, being sure to stay low and down wind, "You stay here, I don't want you startling them and me getting a face full of hooves, it wouldn't be a pretty sight," he commented in a low tone. With that he vanished into the grasses, Yare could probably catch glimpses of him as he made his way toward the herd, he took his time, advancing slowly and carefully, completely focused on the task. Low in the grasses, he watch the animals grazing and took his time, he knew which animal he wanted, a plump male, but he was young and healthy and though he stayed slightly apart from the herd he was watchful, the large ears constantly twitching, listening for sound of approaching predators. Xi let him and the head pass, mindful of the wind, and watched for stragglers.


Yaretzi watched him carefully, She wondered if he knew that there was a slightly injured bigger male hiding in the middle of a group of females? She didn't say anything though, she would just watch him and let him do what it was that he was doing. For right now she liked the way he was moving, she could hardly see him if not for the red on his head. She wondered what he would do if she DID make them all start to stampede? She almost felt slightly insulted that he would think she would mes sup hunt. But, she'd said she wanted to watch him hunt, and that was what she was going to do.


Xi sat and waited, his tail tip twitching behind him. He knew it was best to wait, wait for the right moment, rushing in would only cause his catch to get away, and he wasn't having that happen. A clot of female moved forward, he was disappointed that there were no obviously young or hurt ones among the herd- but wait, that one, yesssss~ Xi had spotted the male that Yare had scoped out, and set his sights on it, the herd was moving on and he moved with it, taking his time, no matter how much he wanted to get up and race across the grass, that never worked. Except for with cheetahs... He's watched them nearly flying across the savannah, but he knew he couldn't hunt the same. His tail had frozen along with the rest of his form, then he moved in slow motion, stalking the injured male, waiting for the mass of the herd to move on without it, creeping closer and closer until he was feet from the beast. Then he lunged, raking the beast as it startled and tried to run away, he had not taken it down, so now he raced to follow it, the rest of the herd rushing and bounding to get away.


Yaretzi was up on her feet when Xi started to move in closer to the prey, and she was moving with him, to watch him, watch his movements, watch his body language. She clucked her tongue when she watched him make his first move at the male gazelle, and when the herd began to move so did she. He should have gotten in closer, gone from the side, gone for it's knee's or neck. but other than that he was doing extremely well in her opinion. Now she just needed to keep up with him to see how he saved the day. and if he didn't, if he couldn't, she would swoop in and kill it.


Xi ran after the beast, raking at its legs, it dodged and zig zagged and just when he thought it might get away, not for good, just for the moment, it stumbled and went down. He lept upon it, closing his jaws around neck at the base of the head and holding on tightly as it tried to kick at him and struggled uselessly.


Yaretzi watched him carefully and picked up her speed when she thought was going to not get what it was that they'd come out here for in the first place, he wasted a lot of his movements just simply scratching at the things legs, if he would have even used the lightest of hits, he would have been able to knock the thing off balance. But when he finally did bring it down, she watched him jump on top of it and close his jaws around the neck. But he didn't snap it. Yaretzi came to a stop, breathing lightly, not as young as she used to be. "You're wasting time Xi, snap it's neck and get it over with."


Xi growled at her when she started to order him around, he still wasn't used to the idea that she was going to be his mentor, and what did it matter if he strangled it, or snapped it's neck, it wasn't getting back up again in the end either way. He bit down, tasted blood and waited for a little longer, the beast breathed its last and died, he let the limp neck fall from his mouth, he stood and without a word to her, slashed his claws across the flank and belly, spilling blood and viscera, dipping his head to drink of it and then stepping aside so that she could eat. "Why are you worried about time, it's still dead either way. Not my best hunt, but we'll still sleep with a full belly today."


Yaretzi snarled at him when he growled at her but she was happy to see that he at least did PART of what she'd told him to do. She watched him drink the blood, and remembered that it was a part of the prides beliefs, otherwise she would have raised a brow. She moved around the body to sit closer to him rather than across and dipped her head down to do the same, before placing a paw on the hind leg, and tearing a chunk of meat out of it's ribs to chew on that. nose covered in blood she looked up at Xi, "Tell me Xi, when you die, how would you like it to be?"


Xi rolled his eyes at her snarl, and waited for her to drink of the blood as well. He wonder if she was only doing so because he had, she probably didn't on her own, he sneered a little at her when she wasn't looking, he vividly remembered her saying that she thought the pride's belief were ridiculous, this wasn't something he ever faltered on. Even his own blood he didn't let seep into the ground. He sat back to watch her eat, he wasn't in a hurry to nestle in beside her and blinked at what she said. "I'm not a beast," he wrinkled his nose, he got what she meant, he'd just never thought on it before. "I understand your meaning ... " He looked away.


Yaretzi continued to eat, not looking up at Xi, she could feel him making a face at her, but she didn't mind, it didn't hurt her after all. She was happy to hear that at least he got what she was trying to say. All of her prey, she always put it out of it's misery as fast as possible. She couldn't stand to hear it screaming, it just... made her feel.... 'demonic~' her demon cooed into her ear. But Yaretzi shook it from her mind, giving her head a little twitch. She rubbed at her face and looked back up at Xi. "You did a good job for a male. And don't take that the wrong way, I just mean, for not having to be a main one to hunt, you did good. However~" she continued licking at her paw to wipe at her face. "Hunting, in my opinion, is just like a fight. you never know how it's going to end out, the most calculated moves can be used against you. Next time you hunt, I want you to bring your prey down as fast as possible. The less time you take to immobilize your prey, the less of a chance it has to get away, or to kick you in the face. Just like an opponent. But don't be reckless, I really liked how you stalked the herd and picked out your target."


Xi gazed out across the grasslands as he listened to her appraisal of his hunt, he eyed the scavengers that waited for them to finish, poor them, Xi planned on taking what he could back to his den with him, he'd killed it after all. "For a male?" Xi bit his tongue, thinking 'I -am- the main one that hunts for me', and continued to listen. "Well thank you, I guess coming from a female, your praise is quite an honor, huh?" He knew all this stuff that she was saying, but he nodded and attempted to keep the snappiness from his tone and words. "Next time I'll be more careful. Like I said, I know this wasn't my best hunt, but I do know what I'm doing out here."


Yaretzi raised an eyebrow at his comment. And thought about the reaction he'd given, she smiled and laughed, her shoulders moving slightly as she continued to clean at her face, having already gotten her fill. "It must be killing you on the inside, to have me as your mentor isn't it? I've gotta admit, I can feel it. how it's killing you to not make a comment, or a witty remark. But would you believe me when I say, that I honestly did want to be your mentor from the moment I found out that I could be? I look at you, and I see so much more strength and will then I see in any of the other lions your age. I look at you, and I see potential. It's a shame all the others seem to see is your pelt."


Xi shook his head and lowered it just a little bit, "I said thank you," his voice was a still a bit snappish, "I meant it. It isn't 'killing me' inside," when she did this, it made him feel like she wanted it to be killing him, that she wanted to get on his nerves. He really wanted a mentor, so that he could take a place in the pride and prove that he was just as good as anyone else, that was why he kept from saying things, why he wanted to show her his skills as hunter, why he had not denied her when she first told him that she was his mentor, wanted to be his mentor . . . he had a terrible feeling suddenly- Her words, he wanted to believe them, but was she just messing with him? She'd laughed... He bent his head and tore into the meat, it was still warm, but he couldn't really taste it.


Yaretzi continued to watch him, her tail lazily flipping back and forth. Her breathing was regular again, and she had to admit, today was starting off rather nice. She still had her rounds to do though of the pride lands, as was her duty as a defender, that never really bothered her though. It gave her time to herself away from the pride, and that was always nice. She had after all, been on her own for quite some time. Sometimes she missed the quietness. Though she did have to admit, she didn't miss sleeping in unknown and potentially dangerous places. She let him continue to eat, not really bothering to say more. but the look on his face, she wondered if he was still eating because he was hungry? "I have to start my rounds of the pride soon, if you want you can join me."


Xi knew that you ate what you killed, he was hungry enough to eat, but the feeling, the thought that she wanted to toy with him was nagging at his mind. His demon was ever silent, not even surfacing now, sometimes he wished it was more active, that it spoke to him as his mother's did her. Maybe though, if it did, he wouldn't understand what it had to say. He tore off another chunk and swallowed it, licking his lips and raising his face to look at her again. "I still don't know if I trust you, Yaretzi, what do you gain I have to wonder from molding me into a useful member of the pride. Is it a bet, a task or something you want to prove to yourself, to someone else, the kings?" He looked down at the remains of the carcass, he'd wanted to take it to his den, but he didn't want to drag it home to have to make the journey out to the borders again, so the scavengers were lucky today... "I'll come, because I want to believe you."


Yaretzi rolled her eyes and stood up, stretching out her front legs and raising her butt into the air, yawning, opening her mouth ridiculously wide and turning her head slightly to crack her neck before returning to a regular standing position. "You've heard what I have to say about this pride. Why would I want to prove myself to any of them? I have nothing to prove to myself, and if I did, I wouldn't need you to accomplish it. And as far as a bet goes~ No one has anything I want or need." She shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant sort of a way. She smiled slightly, "I suppose~ as your mentor, I should tell you some dribble about you needing to believe in yourself before you can believes in other. But that's just too soft for me!" She smiled wide and laughed lightly at her own joke. "And besides~ I'm pretty certain you don't want anything sugar coated."


"I do want the truth though, I don't have to agree with what you think, and the same goes for you, I suppose, though I still think it foolish..." He shook his head, "I believe in my demon. I believe in your demon. You still haven't said what you'll get out of it. One doesn't give of themselves for no reason. Not that I've seen." He bent over the carcass again, continuing his meal, wanting to finish swiftly so that the day could continue.


Yaretzi looked thoughtful for a minute. "To be honest, I don't even know what it is I'd be gaining from this. Maybe I want something to pass the time, a bit of companionship, maybe even the challenge that you give me when we talk who knows~." To be honest though, Yaretzi was just lonely. She'd been with her mother most of her child hood, and when she left, she'd always had someone to talk to, be it her demon or someone she's met a long the way, even if only for a day. But here, in this pride, she found herself talking to others less and less, and driving her crazy. she really just craved a bit of companionship.


Xi swallowed the last bit that he wanted, not stuffing himself and stood, stretching and burping. "Hmm." He murmured, filing that away, whether it was true or she was still keeping something from him, he couldn't tell. "So you -are- just trying to get on my nerves sometimes," He raised an eyebrow at her, almost smiling, "Really mature, Yaretzi~" there was humor in his voice, something he's been seriously lacking in his life.


Yaretzi smiled and pushed her body into Xi's, pushing him playfully of course. "Now you're getting it kid~" She chided, laughing lightly, happy to see a more cheerful side of him, and determined to see more of it. "Now come on~ let's go catch some intruders!"