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 Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:05 pm
 Scruffy, somewhat bulky Ka'ohu.
It was hard to believe she was a descendant from the delicate, beautiful line of the Mistweavers. In fact, she didn't even believe it herself. Nor did she care. She was a rogue, and dammit, she was proud of that! She wasn't sure where the rest of her family was now. Unaware that they most likely had joined prides, found mates, had children. In fact, it might have upset her to realise she was the only one who hadn't ever grown up. Who had stayed the same person through thick and thin.
She had stayed true to herself, something that most would find difficult. But had that made her happy? The question was hard to answer. Try some easier ones, then:
Was she lonely? Yes. Was she bored? Yes.
She paused upon a crest of rock and sniffed at the breeze - her muzzle poking out beneath straggling, dusty, matted bangs of fur that also covered her eyes. Her dusty pelt looked dull and matted in places. But Ka didn't care much for appearances. She never had done.
With a grunt, she pushed off from the rock and landed down onto the hard, compacted earth. Then, mumbling to herself, she continued onwards.
"Bloody lions, thinkin' they own the whole joint! Ah'll teach 'em a lesson...won' forge' it neither...."
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:21 pm
Grumble grumble grumble.
Ahnik had finally done it. He didn't even know why he did it but he did it anyway. He was tired of being angry about everything, but mostly because his anger never amounted to anything. He was better off out on his own. He was learning quickly that being a rogue wasn't as easy as it sounded, though. Hunting was harder, especially since he had been a guard his entire life and had major help. It was also very pointless seeming, just wandering around. He was some distance from home by now and the new and different just didn't catch his interest. He hadn't had time to really stop, calm down and appreciate what had happened. More so, he didn't let himself stop, calm down and appreciate what had happened.
So he just walked and grumble to himself, waiting for an idea or a good place to stop. He had no idea the only rogue he had ever met before would ever just happen to be nearby.
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:26 pm
Which of course...could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you looked at it. And seeing as how these two hadn't exactly seen eye to eye on their previous meetings, it was highly likely that seeing her was going to bring a smile to his face.
Nevertheless, Ka'ohu was doing what she did best.
Scavenging. Well actually, today, stealing might be the more correct term. She'd gotten into this fight with a couple of rogues who had refused to share their meal with her - despite the fact that they had plent to go around! So, being who she was, she had watched them eat and then followed quietly as they had dragged their kill out of sight and sun where it would keep a little while longer and hopefully out of sight of vultures. So that's where she was heading now. And she was going to eat herself to bursting point and then eat some more, just to show them that they shouldn't have messed with her.
Besides that, she was a little on the thin side - slim pickings as of late - and she really was in desperate need of a good meal.
However, movement in the corner of her eye briefly distracted her and she whipped her head around, jumping to conclusions immediately. "I know wha' yer thinkin' an' yer wrong! I ain't gonna touch yer stupid food. Dun e'en know where it is!"
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:32 pm
Ahnik saw Ka'ohu before she caught sight of him and he stopped dead in his tracks. He recognized her- or he thought he did- almost immediately. It had been long enough he couldn't immediately remember her name or the entirety of their interaction but he definitely knew her. And knowing he didn't have many meaningful relationships in his life, he didn't figure this was going to be that great-- but then she turned on him, yelling.. something about food?
"Ka'ohu," he said, even before he was aware he remembered her name, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Suddenly he wasn't looking so angry, more.. surprised. Certainly not happy but not downright angry either.
What were the odds he'd find her, of all lions?
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:39 pm
What--? Who--? How--? How did the lion know her name? She was pretty sure she hadn't told them. It was hard to introduce yourself during an argument after all and-- oh, wait, it wasn't the lion she thought it was. In fact, it was a whole lot better than she had expected! She hadn't been caught and better yet, there was a familiar face! A grin broke out across her maw, lighting the colours in her eyes.
"It's you, isn't it, Grump-face?" A pause. "It is you!"
"So yoos did remember me." She replied smoothly. "E'en af'er all this time, eh? Well Grump-Face, what're yah doin' all the way out 'ere, eh? Lost?" She shrugged, dismissing the question the moment it had left her mouth. "Ne'er mind abou' that, anyhoo, twos be'er than one, yoos oughta come with me."
She bounded towards him, full of energy. "I got this thing I gotta do, righ'. There's food and no work needed tah get it. Wha' could be be'er than tha', eh? Nothin', tha's wha!"
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Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:47 pm
Immediately he regretted not turning around and walking away. No, he just had to say hi. Or acknowledge her existence or whatever he had done by addressing her. He was frowning again, but he didn't actually make a move to run off.
"Can't explain why you stuck, you're the only rogue I know and you're very, ah, unique," he muttered the last part, leaning back a bit when she came bounding toward him rambling about food.
"Food?" he repeated, suddenly paying attention. He wasn't an idiot and he was hungry. A quick shuffle of pros and cons went through his mind and the worst part of it was that he had to hang out with her. The good things were food and perhaps some insight on survival as a rogue. She obviously survived. He might have to ... improve some of the techniques but it was better than the nothing he knew.
"OK.."
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:59 am
She grinned at that. Her? Unique? How fantastic was that! She was unforgettable! She didn't seem to sense that this could also be a bad thing. To her, being remembered was definitely something to be happy about.
"Yes, yes, foods! Listen up, Grump-Face! We gotta do this righ' else migh' lose our chance, see?" Her eyes darted from side to side for a moment and then she moved a little closer. "Righ', yoos follow me. Ah knows where the food is. Not far. But we need tah be quiet, 'kay? Else the bad lions will come and chase us and we'll be hungry, okay? Okay?"
She was bouncing with excited impatience now, and with a flick of her head, turned and moved off in the direction of the 'abandoned' meal. She didn't both to ask Ahnik whether he'd be okay with stealing someone else's food, or whether he minded a little risk. This was pretty much a daily occurance for her. Guilt didn't come into it. This was living!
"Not far, not far at all."
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:32 pm
Ahnik might have been lowering his standards on some level but he wasn't stupid. He agreed knowing they were probably going to be stealing, she hadn't sounded much like she was talking about them hunting. And besides, he really didn't care who they were stealing from. That was a bonus.
"OK, I got it," he muttered when she explained the situation and then he simply followed along after her. He glanced around them, not anxiously but curiously. He could probably handle a fight for the food, or so his ego told him. But it would be much better to avoid the mess.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:22 pm
"Soooo, how've yah been anyhoo, Grump-Face? How comes yoos ain't in yer ol' pride, eh? They chuck yoos out fer bein' such a misery?" She grinned at him, her scraggly fur still unkempt and dusty. She was generally a friendly girl, if a bit rough around the edges and slightly overbearing at times. There wasn't a bad bone in her. She just...seemed to be great at bad first impressions with others. Not surprising really. Bad talker, terrible grooming habits...Her excuse for poor hygiene? She blended in better with the wilds that way, or that's what she liked to believe. That and she just didn't really see the point.
The bulky female moved swiftly across the ground, hardened paws not minding the rough terrain beneath them. "Or did yah jes' fancy a change a scene?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:29 pm
Grumble.
He didn't respond immediately to her questions, though he recognized they were perfectly valid. Their last meeting, he had tried to chase her away from the pride's land. And he hadn't really made it a secret he was in the pride. And now, of course, they were quite the distance from it. Still, he paused and sighed before he finally answered, sounded as displeased as he looked.
"I left, change of scene is a good way to put it," he said, adding with slight annoyance, "And my name is Ahnik."
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:36 pm
She blinked, casting a somewhat confused gaze up at him. She wondered whether that was the whole truth or whether something else had happened. Either way she didn't think he would tell her. He wasn't very open about himself.
However, when he told her his name she inwardly beamed with joy. She knew he'd wear down eventually and tell her! It had only been a matter of time before he broke, irritated by her rather unflattering nickname for him. Unflattering but totally justifiable as far as she was concerned.
"Ahnik!" She replied. "Well, shh, now, we're almost there. Okay, plan time. Yoos keep a look out fer troubles whilst I go drag the food over. Then, yoos can 'elp me get it far enough away tha' we won' ge' caught." She grinned at him, not really waiting for a response as she moved off towards the kill, lying mostly hidden out of view.
She liked to think she was the sneakiest lioness there ever was. Yes indeed.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:41 pm
He nodded when she repeated his name, glad to hear it instead of the 'grump-face' nonsense, though he felt much the same way she did. He deserved it, and he really didn't care about that part. And then he nodded his way through her plan, narrowing his blue eyes and taking a cursory look around the area. Looked OK so far.
"OK, I can handle that," he agreed, looking back to see her already on her way. He shook his head, shrugged and went back to looking around. It didn't look to him like they needed to be very sneaky at this exact moment.
"Hm."
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:47 pm
She cast him one look over her shoulder before focusing totally on the job at paw. She lowered her body and stalked forwards through the grass, moving over to where the concealed carcass lay hidden in the shade.
Trusting that Ahnik was being a good look out, she grabbed the carcass by the neck and, with a few sharp tugs, pulled it free. Ka'ohu was a big, strong lioness despite the fact that she was a little thin at the waist. She was mostly muscle with a strong neck, strong jaw and powerful limbs. She made short work of freeing the prey and made steady progress as she dragged it back to where her new partner-in-crime waited.
And, as she reached the spot where he waited she released the half-eaten prey-beast and lifted her head, grinning at Ahnik like the cat who'd got the cream.
"An' tha' is how yoos survive out here, Ahnik!" She wrinkled her snout a little. "Okays, wanna 'elp me ge' this outta sight, jus' incase those two decide tah come back?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:56 pm
Turning his attention to Ka once she had the beast free, he stopped looking out for the proper owners to return and just watched her. He even cracked a slight smile when she beamed over the half-eaten prize she had stolen away.
"Very nice," he said, taking a quick look around again before positioning himself to help carry it away quickly, "OK, let's go."
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:27 pm
Nodding, she fixed her teeth back into the carcass and, between them, shifted it across the grass out of sight. She was pretty sure that with Ahnik with her, they'd be able to defend this kill in any case. He was quite a big, scary lion. And heck, she was pretty scary, too! Even still, Ka never liked actually looking for a fight she could get hurt in. No, no, no. Injury could mean death in this place!
Better to be sneaky!
And when she felt they were far enough away, she let the carcass drop and let out a loud yawn, curling her lips back over her teeth. The yawn ended, she shook her head and then dropped to the ground, crossing her forepaws. Only then did she look up at Ahnik and speak again.
"Wanna eat firs'?"
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