She'd waited half a day before going after Wahadi. There were a couple of times where she'd ALMOST caught up with him...but she always stayed out of sight and downwind. He'd be so mad at her for following. But...she didn't want to risk him dying in this venture. She knew he was strong, but she knew strength wasn't everything. And when it came time for him to need someone else...She'd be there.
The quarter-demon wrinkled her nose as she caught the scent of border markings. Huh. Figures she'd run across a pride. She looked over it, then frowned. Nope. Not Wahadi's home pride. No swamp, as he'd described it. She....was a little curious though. She'd never had much exposure to prides growing up. She yelped as a hare ran right past her, obviously running from something.
The hare wasn't running from 'something', but 'someone'. Gaelle had decided to indulge in a bit of hare-hunting, and it had lead her to the borders...and now outside the borders. But she was a determined Duchess, and she was going to CATCH that damned hare. Or not. She barely avoided a head-to-side collision with a much larger lioness, stopping just short. She stared at the other with wide violet eyes a moment before backing up.
"Oh my! I do apologize! I'm afraid I get rather single-minded when hunting." A rogue. It would figure she would run into a rogue. A very large, unladylike one at that. Hopefully, the rogue wasn't hostile.
Lhach stared at the purple and blue lioness, a brow raised and mouth skewed in a 'what the hell' expression. "Uh...right. I would think most halfway decent hunters are that way." Wow. This girl...was definitely not like any rogue she'd encountered. For one thing, she was SMALL. Not insanely small but...MAYBE Lhach's size at the BEGINNING of her adolescence. And then there was something...
Delicate about her. Like if Lhach touched her, she might accidentally break her. "Er...are you from in there?" She motioned to the pridal borders with a nod of her head.
Oh good! The rogue didn't seem offended. That was good, very good. The last thing Gaelle needed was needing to run from some giant rogue female. "I am indeed from inside there. I am the Duchess Gaelle Isaie, only cub of Perrin and Bibi Isaie."
She looked over the rogue now, since she wasn't a threat. The other was large, nearly half-again as large as Gaelle. And she was definitely a fighter. She'd seen enough soldiers to recognize such. And her color was most intriguing...like fire and ashes.
Lhach sat, blinking. Okay...odd girl. Maybe priders were a little odd. Aside from Wahadi's pride, of course. She liked the sound of Wahadi's pride. Very much. "Er...I'm Lhach. Older daughter of Lith'elen and Betta, twin to Canicus?" Yeah...she hoped she wouldn't have to say that again. It...sounded weird. And stuffy. Lhach wasn't one for stuffy.
"So...As you may have guessed, I'm not from around here. Or anywhere, really. I'm kinda curious about prides. What's yours like?" Hopefully not as stuffy as Gaelle. Well...not stuffy just...FORMAL. Gaelle herself seemed like she'd be nice if she dropped the formalities.
Gaelle giggled, smiling demurely. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lhach." She sat as well. "Hm? Ah...it is a good pride. Everything runs well, runs smoothly. We have the mainland, and then we have the colony-islands. And then there's the Sanc. The mainland is for those like my family and I, the aristocracy. And the colony-islands are for rogues that join, or non-aristocracy. And the Sanc is...odd. Full of creatures that don't believe in fighting at all." She wrinkled her nose. "Would you believe that. I'm not a fighter myself, but if one does not fight back when the time comes, one cannot survive."
Lhach blinked. Then tried to choke back a laugh. And failed. "Seriously?" She didn't really understand the rest of the other lioness' speal...But she understood the bit about the 'Sanc'. "That's foolish. Fighting is a part of life. How else are you going to proect yourself from threats? Please tell me they at least hunt..."
Gaelle nodded. "That they do. It's about as violent as they get. Odd bunch. They do have some nice creatures, though." She giggled. "They aren't exactly a threat, so the Prime Minister lets them stay."
Lhach tilted her head. "Prime Minister? Is that like...your leader?" Guh...this was making her head hurt. Maybe...it would be best if she broke this conversation off soon. Before her head exploded with confusion.
This dark lioness was full of all sorts of odd questions! Gaelle giggled, standing up. "Of course. He's a good leader, too, knows what's important."
"Like what? What's important to you guys?" She knew what was important to HER family...family, love, freedom...The ability to choose one's path in life. The ability to defend oneself and those one cared about. And the ability to support oneself and not burden others. Lhach had taken to the lessons of her mother and father like a fish to water.
"Tradition. And order. That things run well, and that the coalition is safe, inside and out." Gaelle nodded sagely. "Those are important things. And then everyone has smaller things important to them. Like...I think it's important that I'm at least friends with whoever I end up mated to. I refuse to marry a Duke that I can't get along with."
Lhach blinked. And frowned. "At least friends? Why not 'in love'? I mean...it's good if you're friends with the guy, too...but don't you only mate to a lion that you're in love with?" Like her parents. There was no mistaking how in love her parents were when one looked at them.
Gaelle raised a brow. "I only have some choice in who I am mated to. My parents are the ones who ultimately have the choice...'preservation of the bloodline' and all. But they love me, and I know they wouldn't force me to marry a Duke I don't get along with."
That...was horrible. Lhach's surprise showed, and she shook her head. "I can't imagine my parents doing something like that to me. I ought to go..." She needed to keep moving, until Wahadi stopped for the night. "It was...interesting meeting you, Gaelle." She nodded to the other lioness, then turned to leave.
Gaelle sighed. It would figure a rogue wouldn't understand. "It was nice meeting you as well, Lhach." She moved to leave, shaking her head. Ah well...no hare. She'd have to go hare hunting the next chance she got.
