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 Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:44 pm
Last night had been...interesting.
Anwar prowled along the edges of a territory he'd never seen before, which was hardly surprising considering that he'd never seen any place outside his pride's borders before. Most were frightened by such things, a lot of the others had been obviously nervous at the ceremony. But they didn't have access to what he knew. They hadn't studdied the world around them the way he had, they didn't have a means to tap into the unknown...but he did.
If nothing else, he knew how to plan ahead. Which was part of why he was hoping to meet that dark lioness again. He'd laid the foundations of...something at least. But he wasn't sure...this felt like his pride's borders had. Only this wasn't his pride.
It had seemed she'd gone this way after leaving, could he have been mistaken? He'd no desire to trespass in hostile territory, that was for certain...but if there was a threat he'd better learn what it was.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:28 pm
After the two of them had finished talking the night before, Rhaen had faded off into the darkness ... and yet, she'd been careful not to be too sneaky. After all, she wanted to keep the young male's interest. So she took some care that he saw which way she went.
If he was stupid enough to come wandering into the pride lands, he might get a rude surprise, but she could always claim she was from somewhere else. Or come to his rescue perhaps. Wouldn't that be fun?
As luck would have it, though, nothing like that happened, at least that she heard of... and she found herself padding toward the pride's borders - curious as to whether he might have followed her or not.
She was quite pleased, then, to note his scent on the wind - as she was being sneaky now. She wanted to know if he was even there before going outside the lands. But it seemed that he was, so out she went. She circled around him, however, to come from a different direction. If he had found out anything about the pride, she didn't want him getting the wrong idea about her.
"Hi!" she called then, stepping into the open.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:36 pm
Let it be known that while he could 'keep himself fed' without too much difficulty...Anwar was not the most accomplished hunter. He'd made sure he caught her scent the night before, and he certainly could remember what it was. But there were numerous scents here, and he was experiencing great difficulty in picking out which one was hers...if hers was even here. There were enough that he knew he wasn't going to just wander in uninvited, but... well, they were just scents. It was hard to learn a good deal about a pride from that. Or at least, as far as he knew. Numbers yes, and how often the borders were patrolled...but not much else.
And so he didn't quite notice that the very lioness he was searching for was behind him, the wind being in her favor rather than his. He startled when she greeted him suddenly, not yelping or jumping, but his muscles did all go tense at once before relaxing as he turned towards her, that same friendly innocent expression on his features.
"Well, hello my Queen of the Night," he chuckled, "I was wondering if I might see you again..." So she wasn't a part of the pride then? Or was she? Surely she at least knew of them, living so close by...well, if she traveled without fear there was probably little reason for him to be nervous. Unless she was part of this pride... hm.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:42 pm
"Hello, Dark Adviser..." she purred in return. "Did I startle you?" She knew very well that she had, so the question was teasing, playful. It said something that he hadn't instantly tried to fight her or run away. His muscles had tensed, yes ... but he'd waited to see what the 'threat' was before deciding what to do. Smart.
"I see you found the pride's lands..." she murmured then, seeing no reason to lie about that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:47 pm
Startle him? Well...he supposed a sheepish admission would be best suited for his character. He was supposed to have solved the pesky pride issue, any emotion was only in the way of logic and rational thinking. Even pride...though that was so difficult to release...
"You move so quietly," Anwar replied, "You weren't kidding when you said you were the best!" A little praise wouldn't hurt anything, or flattery. Whichever word was more accurate...pride's lands?
"Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was yours, I couldn't tell...but I know it's big..." he said, scuffling a paw in the dirt as though he were embarrassed. Because he probably should be in this sort of situation. Shown up by a female...most of his brothers would laugh at him. Certainly he would never permit his father to be told... "I didn't realize there was a pride so close."
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:55 pm
She nodded at that. "I didn't either, when I first came here. But the hunting is good... and as you've seen, I can be very sneaky." She laughed softly. There, that was good. None of it was exactly lies. But it very clearly implied that she was not a part of this large pride.
Which would be all to the good if Anwar ran into anyone else from the area - either from the pride or from outside it. Just about any other creatures he met would be perfectly willing to tell him all about how bloodthirsty and dangerous the demons were. By demonstration, most likely, if it was a demon he ran into.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:03 pm
"Yes, you certainly can be," Anwar chuckled, apparently letting go of the pride discussion for now. Curiosity ate at him though. He needed to know! He needed to know everything! What was this pride? Who was in it? What were their customs, their beliefs? How were they different from his pride? What did they know that he didn't? He needed to know!
"So, my fair lady, how has your evening been?" he asked. It seemed to work well enough as a conversation-starter last time...
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:07 pm
"Oh, boring so far..." Rhaen said with a sigh. "All that I've done is sneak about the borders a bit. Perhaps you could suggest something more ... interesting?" She grinned.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:17 pm
Suggest something more...interesting?
Well, wasn't that the question of the week? He knew what he'd been planning on and working towards, sure. But was this too soon? Honestly, he didn't know. That was why he'd decided he had to find out. And he certainly didn't want to find out from someone who would hold it against him forever. Better to find some stranger.
"...well..." he started, hesitantly, "We...we could..." What did she want him to say? If it were Pari he'd suggest a game, or take her to a patch of flowers, he knew his half-sister loved them...half-sisters and sisters all seemed to. If it were Zarha, he'd say they could do whatever she wanted to do, that always seemed to satisfy her. Suha would want to trade stories, Zoey would suit a polite conversation since their fathers were on such poor terms. But Rhaen...she he knew too little about. She was an excellent huntress, liked dark colors and strength, and felt red to be a color of royalty...
...hadn't he seen a patch of red blooms down by the edge of that tiny little stream? Perhaps that would work? Red flowers... Color-specific to demonstrate he remembered what she said, and flowers because a significant number of the females he was familiar with seemed to like them. Specifically the ones who she was reminding him of most strongly.
"Actually, I do have an idea," Anwar grinned, "Come, I'll show you."
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:24 pm
Rhaen waited patiently for him to figure out something to say - secretly amused by how difficult it seemed to be. Gods, he was so funny. She could almost tell from watching what he really wanted. But she kept an expectant look on her face - acting like this kind of thing was normal.
"Of course!" she answered readily, when he said he would show her something. She wondered what in the world he'd finally come up with.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:33 pm
Well, at least he had something now. With a flick of his tail, a sort of 'come on' gesture that was probably utterly unnecessary save for keeping with the character he wished to portray, Anwar turned and padded away from the border of the strange pride. He'd seen the flowers when he'd gone to get a drink only that morning, and he knew it wasn't far...he'd just have to lead her a bit of a roundabout way. Just because his brother had been asleep again when Anwar had left didn't mean he wouldn't be awake now.
"Here," he announced finally, stepping around to the side so she could clearly see the delicate little red flowers. He wasn't certain what type they were, but their scent was pleasant and their color was dark. "Royal red for the Queen."
Hopefully this would work...
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:47 pm
For a moment, Rhaen wasn't quite sure what to do, or how to react. Flowers? Seriously? Flowers? Normally, this was about the LOWEST on the list of thing that might impress or please her. A freshly-killed prey-beast? Sure. A dying prey-beast... even better. A willing slave, even a not-so-willing slave that she would have to train. Those were the types of things she liked.
But of course, Anwar knew nothing of her normal 'self'. She had to keep the charade going. So she smiled quickly and leaned down as if to sniff at the flowers, trying to hide the moment of hesitation. "These are quite lovely..." she purred then, hoping he hadn't noticed.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:55 pm
...ah. There. He'd made a mistake. Maybe it was only his silly family that did the flower-thing. His mother liked them, his sisters and half-sisters loved them, and even some of his other mothers enjoyed them. Mother Orah wore some. Maybe not all girls who seemed like his sisters liked the same things. Flowers had seemed as safe and generic as he could think of... She seemed to be humoring him, and perhaps the sort of person he was letting her think he was wouldn't have noticed the hesitation.
But he'd spent too many days watching his siblings and their friends to miss something like that.
"My sisters love them," he murmured, "They are forever making things from them...I could show you if you'd like?" Now that was painfully emasculating, even for his tolerance. His body language would betray hesitation, though the hopeful note in his voice would lend a desire to please to his words. Maybe that could help make up for the way he'd evidently chosen poorly.
What should he have done? He'd seen his little brother give the girl he'd liked a pretty stone...but a rock seemed even less likely to please someone than a flower. At least flowers smelled pretty. Rocks just...sat there. Being rocks.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:04 pm
Making things? Out of flowers? Wasn't that a bit... silly? Flowers died, when they were picked out of the ground. But ... at the same time, things dying wasn't really a bad thing. Hmmn.
"It's just... no one's ever done this kind of thing with me before," Rhaen finally said, contriving to sound slightly embarrassed. It would explain the hesitation. "I do like their color, but flowers are kind of ... useless? I guess."
She sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you're trying to be nice. What kinds of things do your sisters make?" Try to sound interested now....
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:11 pm
Ohhh, great. Now she was going to think he had no experience with girls other than his sister. Which while untrue, wasn't exactly a bad analogy. That had been the point of this exercise, but it wasn't as if he planned on sharing that.
"Ah, well...I sort of...thought it was a girl...thing..." he muttered, scuffling a paw as if embarrassed while his mind worked furiously towards a solution of some kind. Think! There had to be something else she would want! She said she was a good huntress, so offering to catch her a zebra or something probably wouldn't work either, and he was pretty sure he'd only make a fool of himself trying to impress her by going after something big.
"Oh, they make...bracelets and such. The stems wrap together, and then stay together if it's done properly. They'd wear them until the things fell off...I guess I don't really know why." Actually he did. They were pretty, and his sisters enjoyed the pretty colors and scents, and loved to make them because most of the fun seemed to be in creating the bracelets.
"So then, since I suppose your tastes run in a different direction, what would you enjoy?" Great, now he was just trying to salvage this...well. If all ended badly, he'd just find some other girl somewhere else and try again. This were merely a learning experience, he felt no emotional attachments to this lioness whatsoever...but then, he had very little emotional attachment to anything really.
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