Tropiki =
Pole =
Tropiki'baa moved through the brush quickly, gracefully dodging limbs of bushes and trees that stuck out and would snag on him. He was very proud of himself lately. He had snagged himself a woman, one that would be his and only his; she was a possession almost as important to him as the pelt he currently wore. Taking a moment to settle and catch his breath, Tropiki meandered out into a clearing, shaking himself of any small remnants of debris that had managed to fall and stick to him. He needed to quiet his head for a moment, too many things were going on at once in there.
"With silence, comes peace," Tropiki muttered to himself, keeping his ears up and alert as he took the the small respite to himself.
Pole'jitu had been dozing in the shade of the forest, sprawled out amongst the underbrush. His golden sides rose and fell gently with his breath, but it soon caught as he awakened. He'd been wandering about for some time now, with no exact destination and no exact purpose. He was simply lost in the woods. He yawned and stretched himself into a kind of half-awake state, satisfied with his nap. It was time to move on, maybe find some way out of the woods or maybe stay lost forever. He didn't particularly care. So he drifted dazily for a few minutes until he saw the light of a clearing up ahead. He figured he might as well go towards it, if it meant the edge of the forest. Something new to see, in the very least. But before he took another step, he noticed a peculiar black shape already standing there. It was relatively large, but what could it be? Pole couldn't think of any pitch-black animals like that. Suddenly he was almost scared, and cautiously fell into a crouch. What on earth could this black creature be? And what on earth could it possibly want with him - as that was the only reason he could think of as to why a strange black creature would appear - could it mean something?
Tropiki's ears flicked about when he heard the brush moving off in the distance. His purple eyes opened slightly to catch a glimmer of what was coming towards him when he heard it stop, as if waiting, observing. His ears flicks up in alert and he opened his one eye, the one closest to where the sound was coming from. Orange muzzle moved as he spoke openly, allowing the other creature to know he knew they were there, "Silence has found a visitor. Hello."
He did not move from where he sat, he merely waited. He wanted the other creature to come to him, to observe him and where he was. Curiosity was a tempting mistress and the other creature had stopped long enough to observe him out of curiosity, so perhaps it would also strike up a conversation out of curiosity. It's how Tropiki managed to make acquaintances thus far.
"Quietly, he comes a stalking, unwilling in his talking," Tropiki mused aloud, a slight sing-song tone to his voice.
A cold shiver of fear ran through Pole's body as he listened to the hauntingly musical rhyme. It was like this mysterious creature was reading his mind - and aloud, no less. And no one rhymed so articulately in everyday speech. But Pole knew that he couldn't turn back now. The phrase "curiosity killed the cat" played in his head as he took a few steps forward. This creature was growing stranger and stranger and Pole inched closer - beneath its jet-black pelt it glowed with the color of the sun. What on earth could this being be? His mouth was dry, his still-bleary eyes blurring the form of the creature together and further distorting the already peculiar apparition - if that's what it was, some kind of spirit here to give him a message. But if that was the case, then Pole knew he had to hear the message. He stepped into the clearing and faced the beast, though he trembled slightly. They say curiosity killed the cat - but satisfaction brought it back.
"There's no reason to be weary," Tropiki said, a grin coming across his muzzle as he lifted his head from his paws, revealing the orange and yellow of his neck and the green of his mane. It was mostly hidden beneath the black pelt he wore, but it didn't cover everything, which could be unsettling to some and amusing to others when they saw the full extent of his coloring.
"I have no intention of harming you. I'm To'ir, who might you be curious lion?" Tropiki asked, shifting from where he laid to face the stranger before him politely. "Did you wander here too? It's a pretty place, isn't it?"
Pole just blinked, awestruck. This creature - it called itself To'ir - didn't just glow the color of the sun. It had a mane like grass - but, a very strange and brightly colored grass. The more he looked, the more shocked he became - it almost looked, well, lion-like. But surely it was something more than that? This unnatural being, black as night yet bright as day. He blinked some more, trying earnestly to get the sleepiness out of his eyes. "P-pole'jitu," was all he could say. It was his name of course. It was only polite to match the politeness of this being, which had given its own name, To'ir. It claimed not to want to hurt him, but Pole, in his confusion, ignored the last question and simply blurted out, "Are you a god?"
