Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long time since Iola reached the very edge of the continent in which SOA lay. Coming to the beachside brought about a flood of memories of old faces that were long gone. In her youth the female’s ties always drew her towards the ocean until one day… it all ended. Time seemed to fast forward to the present, and Iola was left with a bit of shell-shock. It’s true as they say… you grow up so quickly. It occurs in the blink of an eye.

The lilac lioness walked down the slope of the hill that lead to the beach side. Beneath her paws the dirt steadily grew more grainy with sand and before long her paws were sinking into the sand on the beach. She winced slightly as she walked along the hot surface, padding up to the water’s edge allowing the waves to slosh up and cool her paws. The female let out a content sigh, giggling abit as thoughts from year’s past resurfaced. “If only I had someone to play with like before.” The female quietly mused, staring out towards the ocean. Even when she was feeling particularly nostalgic, the female had ‘playing’ on the mind.

Surges of wind caused the fur on her head to billow. The salty sea wind getting relished as well as the sight of the glimmering waters. The waves which crashed caused foam to bubble up among the rocks. The mixture of dark and whites reminding her of the pelt of her childhood friend. The prince of a certain pride. “Hmm~ Mikilo.” Iola murred, eyes half lidded. “If only you were here to play with me.”

Iola had long since halted in her traveling along the waterside and now sat comfortably in front of a pile of sand of her own crafting. The lioness had dug her paws into the ground scooping up the wet sand to then plop and smooth over making a large… something. Iola was bored. And this proved more entertaining than walking. That’s all the female ever seemed to do. And she hadn’t come all this way just to do more of it. Her tail flicked side to side in snake like motions, only revealing her amusement. The lioness batted her paw towards the side of her face as she scratched at an itch, only smearing some sand onto her cheek. Her face was twisted into a cute pout, her features a mask of childish transfixion as she worked on her little ‘mound’. But now matter how much leeway Iola got in building up a pile, the waves just came in and stole it away. Shrinking her work. The female wasn’t too put off from such events and merely continued to rehash her mound only to have it swept away again and redo the cycle. The female hummed a bit of a tune as she worked, her ears flickering to match her wriggling tail. The mop of fur which dangled down the side of her face waved and flopped in the wind, rushing back which caused her hair to whisk back as well. Not that she noticed… Iola was far too drawn into her work. “Hmm, hmmm hmmmmm~.” She mummed to herself, as she worked.

’Hello…’ Well, wasn’t that a shock. Iola twisted her neck around to get a look at the source of the sneaky sound. It couldn’t have been an adult male, the voice didn’t have base to it. And while it was soft, by no means was an adult female’s voice as… sweet. Only a youngster’s voice held such a tone. But it’s always hard to differentiate between boy and girl cubs. They sound so close!
Iola was shocked to see how large of a male the source of the greeting had come from. While the male was most definitely not a cub, he was no adult either. He was just growing into one however, which was clear in the fluff of his filling out mane. She was sure this boy would become far more handsome once his mane cradled his face more pronouncedly. The fact Iola even bothered to distinguish physical appearance to such a degree meant something of the boy’s looks.
But because she merely thought of the boy as just that… a boy, she wasn’t threatened by his hasty and heavy steps towards her. Iola smiled welcomingly, and suddenly jolted to her feet. She play bowed at the male, her torso pressed to the sand as her rear swayed briefly as she threatened to lunge. Iola’s eyes were alight with a glimmer of playfulness, it was clear she was just messing around. “Not another step stranger~!” She joked, her voice quivering as she tried to maintain a straight face. “You mustn’t save the princess of the pride which I’ve trapped away in my sand dune…” She motioned towards the pile of sand besides her. In her own way, Iola was detailing her game of ‘keep away’. “Coming closer will be your folly~.” She said in sing song. Preparing for a pounce.

Iola’s eyebrows knitted once the male made that commonly place frown… He was going to be like the others. Iola knew as much, creating a frown to match his own. Though the female’s frown was of disappointment. Not confused bewilderment. Plush ears folded back as she looked down in disappointment. Silently she wondered if she ought to bother to continue with the male… Iola couldn’t take much disappointment wise. “It’s a game.” Iola explained, sighing in exasperation. “I wanted to play… with you.” The lilac lioness wasn’t much of a threat in her current positioning, seated and slightly deflated from Gonen’s unsatisfactory response to her offer of play. “Don’t you play? You can’t be much older than a cub… I’d thought you would be able to understand better than other males.” Iola seemed to hold such high esteem to the adolescent male. “What are you doing out here if you aren’t going to play?”

The fact her age was significantly older than other lions hardly accounted for much. The lands of SOA had an effect on it’s inhabitants. Once growing to a fully adult age, all creatures seemed to cease growth altogether. Sure, they aged by number, but there never seemed to be any other distinction beyond that. Iola didn’t know her age by number, but knew she’d been wandering alone for a long time, and longer still the female was in her dream-like state. Slumbering in some cave for ages. Coming back to a world that was different, but ever much the same.

Strangely enough, for all of her encounters, with all of the strange looks and rude gestures… no one had yet to account her age as something to be brought up. Were they just being polite? That must have meant this male was being anything but. “Playing games…? There’s an age limit?” Iola now looked at Gonen queerly. “I can do whatever I want~ if I wanna play.. it shouldn’t matter how old I am. It makes me happy.” She broke into a fit of giggles, as if his question was just so funny. “Unless you suggest I ought to be unhappy and boooored?” Her drawl on the final word was almost childlike, as was her entire argument.

“Well, what are you so busy doing, then?” Iola inspected Gonen, “You don’t seem to be doing much of anything.” The statement was frank, her tail flicking listlessly behind her. “So you’re saying how I spend my time is ‘wasted’ because it’s different from how you handle yours?” Iola blinked, finding the other’s argument… well, silly. She pitied the other, not only was he younger than her… but he was just so far gone. Why was he in a hurry to be an adult and dry? “So much for playing….”