Tonight there was a full moon out shinning brightly overhead, lighting the vast grasslands and all the creatures that roamed within it. The white beams reflected quite well off of Reth's bright coat especially, although even on the darkest nights he stood out.The Leopard didn't mind this much though, sure it was a pain during hunts, but other than that he didn't much mind when he ran into other creatures (...as long as they where not a pack of dogs).
On full moons, the nights where usually more eventfull than usual. However.. it seemed to be rather quiet so far, dull might be a better discription. But even on the slowest of nights, something (or someone) would always make it's way into his area and keep him entertained. It was just a matter of waiting from the males experience.
Sukanya was usually against travelling during full moons, her coat usually blending in easily with the darkness and making it safe for her to move around unbothered. When the moon was full, the blue on her paws and tail standing out brightly because of the beams of light hitting them. She was travelling that night because she had slept the day away and was needing something, anything to do. Intending to only travel a little way and find a den or a tree to camp the rest of the night, the leopardess was already tiring as she walked.
She was not bubbly or overly enthusiastic, more quiet and reserved when it came to most things. The silence of the night grew irritating as she moved further throughout the landscape. Her music talents, as lacking as they were, filled the silence as she began to hum a nonsensical tune as she moved.
The males ears twitched at an unusual sound filling the air. Whatever creature it was making this noise wasn't completely tone deaf, so this was a good indication that he was dealing with another cat in the area. His purple eyes glanced around as the sound was gradually inching closer, and the moons light not not helping much in his search. The male made his way to a nearby tree to get a better view, and instantly he spotted the glowing patterns of what looked to be another leopard. He hopped down from the tree and made his way towards the blue specks.
"Well excuse me... miss." Now up-close he could tell it was a female, his favorite kind of company. "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I was very much enjoying your little tune." He had learned the hard way that not everyone liked to be apporched in the middle of the night, so Reth tried his best to keep things as casual and friendly as possible.
Sukanya had not been expecting to run into company that night, content to spend yet another night on her own. She was use to it, she decided, squishing the feelings of lonliness welling up inside her. When she heard someone else making their way towards her, she immediately began to tense, preparing for a scolding on being on pridal territory, or maybe even just private territory.When she saw the light pelt come from the darkness, she was momentarily surprised by the colour and her guard dropped slightly. When he spoke, sounding kind, she couldn't help but relax a little.
She shifted in embaressement at his comment over her tune, knowing she was not the most musical sort.
"Thank you, sir," she responded, her voice quiet and a little husky from lack of use, "but you don't need to lie. My tunes are not inventive, not like the musicians I have seen." She smiled lightly at him, her eyes kind but slightly sad.
Reth's head tilted as the female spoke. Sure it wasn't spectacular humming, but it was almost as if she was talking down to herself. "Maybe you roam more musical lands than the ones I do- but I didn't think your tune was bad at all, really." If anything their small conversation seemed to have calmed the females nerves, which was a relief to Reth. The last thing he wanted tonight was any sort of confrontation.
Looking up at her, the male could definintly see that this was the face of a leopard that was, if anything, trying to avoid trouble, and a soul who had a lot on her mind.
"You look tired.." The male chose his words carefully, hoping she didn't get the wrong idea of him. "I know of a rather cozy cave you can rest in tonight. I usually stay there so you shouldn't have much trouble with other creatures wandering in. It's not to far from here, if your interested I can show you there."
She looked at him, try to see malice in his eyes or deception in his tone as he spoke of her humming. He had to be lying, her humming was poor but he seemed honest enough. "Thank you," she told him, almost shyly as she finally concended to his compliment. "I...am not the most musical leopardess, so I was surprised at your comment." She glanced down at her feet, stiffling a yawn.
Her eyes widened at his comments, her nervousness returning. She lifted her gaze to him and tried to see what he wanted. Was he propersitioning her, or planning to hurt her with his offer? No...she realised, he didn't seem the sort. Hesitating, she said, "I don't want to put you out, sir. It is your cave, I'm sure you wouldn't want me crowding it up. I...would be able to find my own rest tonight, fear not," she smiled, trying to soften her refusal. She would hate to annoy him with her prescence, especially in his own cave.
"I see..." She seemed to withdraw momentarily, Reth tried to quickly lighten the mood once again. "Around here I appericate any sort of musical talent, it's a breath of fresh air from all the annoying canine howls... I can't even stand the sound of their voices, much less their annoying calls." He grumbled, there wasn't much he could stand about those creatures.
Leopards though, he could always find something to talk about with them and recive an intelligent answer back. Females he enjoyed talking to moreso, they just seemed to communicate vocally better than males. Some girls like the one before him took awhile to gain their trust, but evenso they opened up far more than most stubborn testosterone driven males Reth had encountered in the past.
When the female declined his offer on his favorite cave, he let out a vocal sigh. "I'm sorry, but you see I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew a lady was wandering around out here by herself. Look, there is another cave I can stay in not very much further from the one I've told you about. It really isn't that big of an inconvience."
She couldn't help but let out a low, soft laugh at his grumble about the dogs. She could hear them most nights while she travelled, and they usually made her nervous because that meant they were far too close, but when she was safely up a tree, it was different.
"They can be quite haunting," she remarked, almost wistfully thinking of the howls she had heard many times, "but, I must agree, I prefer the sounds of cats over dogs." She tilted her head to the side, regarding him curiously. She would usually have walked away, too nervous to talk, but he was kind and he seemed eager for company.
She felt a pang of guilt at his sigh and she glanced down at her paws, shifting nervously. "Okay," she agreed, hearing of the other cave, "but you must take the best of the two caves for yourself. I can sleep wherever," she assured him. She was use to sleeping up trees, or even in small dens she had scavaged from other creatures. She just hated disappointing him by saying no.
"Haunting indeed" Reth let out a chuckle as his white ears twitched at the sounds of the females laughter. Not noticing he was being stared at, his eyes wandered away into the distance in the direction of his cave... still the night was quiet, which he was now thankful for. It was one thing to try and keep himself out of trouble, but another entirely to protect someone else too.
However, when he realized the female had accepted his offer Reth quickly turned around with a relieved look on his face. He listend to her other conditions and agreed to them quickly. "Alright, that's fine. They are only a short walk away from here, we should be there in no time." He streached, realizing he was tired himself and started walking towards the direction of the caves, turning his head to make sure the female was following him.
"So whats your name miss?" He didn't want her changing her mind halfway there, so Reth hoped keeping the converstaion alive would be his best bet of perventing that from happening.
Sukanya quietly followed him his he began to move, glad to hear that it was no far away. She had not realised how tired she was, but it was fast creeping up on her. Perhaps because she was with other people, she was getting tired quicker, or maybe because she hadn't slept well recently. Either way, she was looking forward to the cave he promised. Most people would watch where they were going, just incase he was leading her somewhere bad, but she trusted him. She probably shouldn't have, she realised, not knowing him, but she did.
She lifted her head in surprise as he spoke again, the moments of silence between their talks leading her to believe that he was finished talking to her.
"Sukanya," she said, her voice lightly accented as she pronounced her name. She moved a little quicker, so she was walking beside him, rather than behind him as she had been before. This meant that the conversation could be spoken face to face, rather than awkardly behind. "What is your name?" She asked, somewhat uncertainly trying to keep the conversation flowing.
Reth slowed his pace some as the female caught up with him. "Sukanya." He repeated it, the leopard found it was easier to remember names right off the bat if you spoke it while looking at the creature whom the name belongs to. "That's a very lovely name, suites you well." The continued on at a steady pace which was comfortable for both of them as he gave her his name. "It's Reth... I'm not very fond of it to be quite honest, but it's better than just being called leopard I suppose." His ears folded back somewhat embarassed, he couldn't explain why he was so unfond of his name.
The pair quickly arrived at Reth's favorite cave, it was much closer than he had realized. He signaled for the female to stay back, while he made sure nothing had wandered into the cave while he was gone. "Everything clear, so... this is where you'll be staying for the night. I'll be in that cave over there if you need anything." He looked twoards a small hill that housed a small cove, he used mostly used as a hiding spot.. it looked rather big from a distance, so he wasn't about to tell the female leopard he was giving her his favorite spot. "If everything is good for you here... I believe this is where I say goodnight, Sukanya." He tried his best to mimic the accent she had used when saying it the first time, and failing quite misseribly at it.
