There were newcomers to the pride. Well, not precisely new, but Siri Za’Mbele certainly had not encountered any of them yet. And why should she? She had better things to do, more important things, things that did not involve socializing with others, particularly those outside of her rank. She had heard that two of the new members were high class! But that.... uh, didn’t interest her. Not in the least. Hmph. Siri tossed her head and stalked off to find a place to rest her paws for a little while. She had been busy training for hours now, and quite frankly she was exhausted.If she wanted to be a true huntress though – no, not a true huntress, the best huntress – then she couldn’t afford to rest very much. Rather, she needed to push past exhaustion and keep going, for if she could make it so that she could keep working while others rested, then that would give her a distinct step forward in the direction of her goal. Still, the body had limitations, and Siri needed to rest, if just for a short time. Panting slightly with exhaustion, she found a soft patch of grass, tinted a silvery sheen under the moon’s light, and all but collapsed into a sitting position before further folding her body down.
Yes, a short nap would be nice. A brief, but uninterrupted nap would refuel her for more practice afterward. However, just as she was about to let her eyes close and drift off into her well-earned rest, she heard the sound of approaching pawsteps. Whoever it was lacked subtlety, or just felt it to be unnecessary, as she was sure a charging elephant couldn’t have been louder. Lifting her head, Siri blinked and looked around, trying to identify the intruder.
”Hello?”
Ina’Kupigwa wasn’t expecting to run into anyone out here – he had actually gone for a walk to be alone with his thoughts for a little while. It hadn’t been so long ago, now, that he had been brought into this pride, and given a high status to boot. It was all so very complicated and confusing to the poor lion. He had come here looking for a new family – that was what a pride was, wasn’t it? A giant family with lots of lions? – only ... families didn’t have rank systems, right? And what did it mean that he was high class?
He had been told that he didn’t have to work, but that seemed silly and unfair – he didn’t want to play the spoiled cub, taking from the mouths of those more in need. He wanted to contribute, to help out and feed everybody! He had been relieved when he was told that he actually could do that, despite the high rank. But still, this place was so... different, it wasn’t like life in the rogue lands had been, and while he supposed it was better... it was just all so confusing!
Nervous now, and anxious about the many changes taking place in his life, Ina flopped to the ground and tried to calm himself, only then hearing the ‘hello’ from the nearby lioness – looking in that direction, it was obvious why he hadn’t seen her – she blended into the grass around her eerily well, and... she looked.... upset? Why?
Oh. Great. He was sucking his paw again wasn’t he?
This was one of the new members; he had to be. But what was he doing? Surely he couldn’t have been one of those blessed by the Great Lion, not a great pawsucker like that! Getting to her paws, Siri strode over and tilted her head, inspecting him from head to tailtip. He was large, though a fair amount of his size seemed to be an illusion caused by his very fluffy fur. Stripes, but in tones that might make it possible for him to be a decent hunter... a vacant, slightly-stupid look in his eyes and one great paw stuck in his mouth being suckled.
Oh, wonderful.
One of the newest members of the high class was an imbecile.
Well, maybe that explained why he had been blessed, then – the Great Lion had taken pity on him, had seen that he wouldn’t make it far and had decided to give him His full protection.
Still, she had to ask. “What are you doing out here?”
Ina looked up at the question and dropped his paw out of his mouth. “Me? Ah, I was just here to think. I’m not bothering you, am I?” he asked, wilting like a thoroughly chastised cub. He had invaded someone else’s thinking spot, hadn’t he? He was making a nuisance of himself again! Just what he’d vowed never to do in his new home!
This was terrible, terrible. With a jolt, and a motion that seemed much to fast for a bulky lion to manage, h was up on his paws, and offered a shaky smile to the lioness he had interrupted. “Sorry, miss, so sorry, I didn’t know this was your spot. I can find another place to think, it will be no problem!”
“Don’t bother,” Siri said, narrowing her eyes even as she ducked her head a little. “I was about to leave anyway.” Maybe that wasn’t quite true, but it was true enough. Apparently she was not supposed to take a nap just now – maybe this was a sign that she needed to go and practice more before she rested.
Yes, that was probably it. She had been lazy, daring to stop to rest for a few minutes. She couldn’t afford to slack off like that, not if she wanted to be the best at her work. “You can relax,” she added again, her voice cold despite her attempts to be reassuring. “Like I said, I’m leaving, so you can go ahead and sit back down.”
Turning to walk away, she blinked, and thought to offer her name at the last moment. “And I’m not a ‘miss’. My name is Siri Za’Mbele, if you must call me anything.” Then, without waiting for a response, she padded off into the night. She had hunting to do.
Ina blinked, watching the young female walk away for a moment as he tried to process everything that she had just said. When it had finally filtered through his mind enough to be understood, he waved a paw after her retreating form and called “Goodbye, then! My name is Ina’Kupigwa!”
He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, but he felt better knowing that he had tried. Now, however, freed of prying eyes and strange lionesses, he returned to his thoughts, unaware that, in his distress and confusion, he had started to suck on his paw again.
Word Count: 1124
