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 Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:40 am
Nanu was crouching near a small herd of gemsboks that she’d stalked all the way to the edge of her pride. If someone from the Dawnwalkers asked her what she was doing, she’d merrily reply that she was simply working to improve her skills as a huntress. That is, she would lie. It were not the herbivores that held the young lioness’ attention, on the contrary, they served only as a well-timed distraction. The beasts were nervous and rightly so, Nanu decided. She would be nervous too she’d caught the scent of a predator she couldn’t see.
But she needed something to take her mind off what was going on in her life and this was the best opportunity she could have hoped for.
Rinh, too, was stalking the exact same herd though she was a much more recent arrival. The animals were clearly agitated but she assumed that was due to the fact that they had spotted her or caught her scent. The idea that someone else was targeting the herd didn’t even cross her mind as she ran at full speed towards one of the closest animals that seemed to be focusing on an entirely different direction.
She’d gone too deep into the desert so she couldn’t afford to let this chance pass. They were a little too big for her but it was risk she’d have to take.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:43 am
Nanu’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of another lioness who dashed into view and ran through the dunes until she caught a gemsbok by the throat. Even though it was one of the smallest of the herd, it was obvious the other lioness was having some trouble taking down her prey. After the initial surprise, the patched lioness ran to the struggling creature and jumped on its back. Nanu was pretty sure the brown lioness wasn’t from her pride but she looked like she needed help and a passing stranger seemed to be an infinitely superior distraction to “hunting practice”.
---
Rinh groaned as the gemsbok fought to free itself, kicking in every direction. When she realized there was another lioness running in her direction, she almost released the hold on the beast’s throat. However, when it quickly became apparent she was being helped and not attacked, Rinh held on harder as the gemsbok struggled until it fell to the side. Even after her prey had stopped moving, the brown lioness did not open her mouth and her gaze was steadily fixed on the newcomer. She assumed the younger lioness would ask to share the meal – and that was more than acceptable as far as she was concerned.
---
“Eh, it was a feisty one.” Nanu said cheerfully when it was clear they had succeeded. She shook the sand of her coat sat down, watching the other lioness with an amused expression. “It’s already dead, you know?”
She almost giggled and she would’ve had she been talking to someone from the pride. But this was a stranger who seemed a little older and stronger than Nanu so that tiny part of herself that didn’t ignore caution and tried to keep her from saying stupid things won this battle.
---
“I know.” Rinh finally let go of the gemsbok and smiled a little. It seemed the other lioness was friendly enough. “Thanks for the help. You can eat with me, of course.” Licking the blood from her maw, the brown lioness finally took a moment to catch her breath and take a look at her surroundings.
“Where did you come from? All I can see is sand everywhere.” Rinh said at last, looking somewhat confused. The younger lioness didn’t appear to be lost or in malnourished. On the contrary, she looked healthy and lively.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:29 pm
Nanu did giggle this time, happy to have found someone she didn’t know who was obviously willing to chat for a little while.
“Oh, I’m not hungry, thank you.” Obviously she did deserve a share of the kill but it was still nice of the other lioness to ask. “It’s a bit off a waste though… are you alone? There will be a lot of leftovers for the scavengers.” She almost didn’t register the last question as she thought about all the lucky small predators of the desert.
“Mmm…? Oh! I’m from a desert pride. It’s… that way. Are you lost? You really shouldn’t be alone in the desert especially if you’re not used to it.” Actually, she was quite certain the lioness was either lost or looking for the Dawnwalkers. There just wasn’t any other explanation she could think of.
---
“Oh… maybe I can help you drag the leftovers back to your pride then…? How do you survive out here? I can’t find any water and everything looks the same!” Rinh said with a heavy frown looking around as if she was angry at the desert itself. “Is your pride friendly to strangers?”
She paused briefly to take in the other’s words, trying to imagine how an entire pride could survive in such a harsh environment.
“Why are you alone then?” Rinh looked somewhat alarmed now as if she expected one of the unknown dangers of the desert to suddenly appear out of nowhere and attack the two lionesses.
---
“I’m just taking a walk to get my head straight on something. I’ve lived here all my life so it’s no problem for me.” Which wasn’t entirely true, if Nanu were to be completely honest. She’d heard many cautionary tales of how quickly a sandstorm could change the landscape, how easily a careless paw could end up being stung by a scorpion and how dangerous rogues ended up near the borders. But she was young and not really that cautious.
“Oh yeah, we’re friendly. Don’t worry about that.” She laughed, looking somewhat amused. “And we live near a big oasis so we have plenty of water there. If you want you can rest for a bit before you get out of the desert.”
---
“That sounds… nice.” Rinh said quietly looking relieved as she licked the blood of her chops. The idea that there was water nearby and that this young lioness could take her there was enough to put her instantly at ease. Except she wasn’t sure what to say now and there was a strange – awkward - silence forming between the two near strangers. She would like to repay the patched lioness’ help and kindness but it wasn’t easy when they knew so little about one another. “So… huh… do you have a problem you need to work out?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 3:52 pm
Nanu smiled when it seemed she was winning the stranger over. The question did catch her off guard though and the patched lioness cocked her head the side, wondering if she should answer it. It was a private matter but chances of finding a random friendly rogue surely didn’t come by too often.
“Well, it’s not… it’s just this guy…” she started tentatively. It was a conversation she didn’t want to have with anyone from her family or even her pride so this was definitely a good thing. “We’ve been friends for a long time and now we’re always together and everyone is saying we should get married, I mean, become mates. And I really like him and he’s really nice and handsome and he has these really deep dark eyes and… Well, aren’t we a little young though… I mean, marriage is forever! And we change all the time and I don’t know if he’ll always put-up-with-my-crazy-moods-and-I-don’t-even-know-if-he’s-proposing-anytime-soon...” In the end she’d ended up blurting out her deepest concerns to this near stranger. It was too embarrassing to think about.
---
“Oh. Oooooooh.” Rinh said after a rather cruel pause. “Boy troubles.”
She smiled, kindly at first but the gentle smile quickly turned into a good-natured laugh.
“You’re all jittery, you must like him a lot. And he seems nice. It’s good that you’re such good friends.” She tried to look a little more serious lest Nanu think she was mocking her. “So… you live in a friendly pride and you have someone you like who might ask you to be his mate soon. So what’s the big problem? If you really like him and don’t want someone else to snatch him up, become his mate. If you feel it’s too soon, ask him to wait. If he's a good guy, he'll do it. And if you don’t really like him like that, dump him. You can do anything you want.”
---
Nanu waited anxiously for the other lioness’ reply and then stared in silence for a very long until after she got it. The brown lioness was right! Why was she even getting so worked up?! Life was good and she had all the choices in the world. Why was she fretting over whether or not she was going to get married soon when she could accept it, decline it or ask Obi to wait a little longer (she was certain he would)? Gah, she needed more level-headed friends that didn’t disrupt her so carelessly!
“Hey, what’s your name? I’m Nanu.” Rinh might not know this but it was rather rare for Nanu to ask for someone’s name because she was usually too self-absorbed to care enough to address others by anything other than funny nicknames. So there was a great hidden meaning in her introduction. “Let’s carry this back now… maybe… maybe we can talk so more back home?”
---
Rinh swallowed nervously as she was pierced by the bright blue eyes of the younger lioness. She only managed to take a decent breath when the tension dissipated.
“For a moment there, I thought you were angry at me.” She said with visibly relief before she laughed again. “I’m Rinh’Kofi but you can just call me Rinh. And sure, why not?”
Silently, she grabbed the gemsbok by the throat and waited until Nanu had grabbed a leg before she started pulling. To the desert pride it was, then! - FIN -
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