Aureo walked around looking for a meal. He wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings though. He was more concerned with the prey in front of him. A healthy young gazelle was in front of him. That would make an excellent meal for him. He quietly stalked the prey in the tall grass. As he was about to pounce he heard the steps of another. He turned around and there was a lioness with a wing marking on her back. She was much smaller than him, but had an air of confidence.
Bedeinka had watched the brightly colored lion from a distance. She was amused by how gracefully he was and how large he was. He would be a great father for her cubs. Quietly she followed him as he prepared to hunt. So far he seemed to be a natural hunter. She got closer and closer until crack! She stepped on a twig. What would she do now? Stay calm of course. He should be honored that a member of the royal family was stalking him.
“Hello there.” She said with a confident smile. “I promise I’ll be quiet. Please finish your hunt.” She sat down and watched him to see what he would do. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare him off. It would be a shame to scare such a handsome lion.
Aureo grinned. It was often he had an audience. He would be sure to make sure he hunted with the top of his skills. Than he ran for it and pounced on the beast. He tackled him to the ground and killed him swiftly, not wanting to make him suffer. When he was done he saw the lioness come to him with a grin.
“Very impressive hunting skills. I am impressed. My name is Bedeinka and I am part of the royal family of the Mazu.” She smiled at him and hoped he would know of Mazu. If not it didn’t matter. She was sure she just found the male she would like to father her cubs.
He smiled at her. It was a rare treat for someone to come talk to him like this. Sometimes he thought himself over bearing to others because of his size and because of his colors. They were like a warning sign to others to stay away. “It’s nice to meet you your royalty.” He said with a bow. It didn’t really matter to him wether or not she was royal. He would be sure to treat her the same way he treated others. “My name is Aureo.”
She nodded her head and walked around him. “Aureo, how would you like to do me a favor?” This would be fun. How could he not say yes to what she wanted, especially now that he knew she was of nobel blood. “I need a strong male to travel with me for some time. Would you be willing to do that for this old lady.”
Aureo laugh. “I would hardly say you were old, but I would love to keep you company as you travel. Why don’t we eat and discuss our travel arrangements?” He loved to travel and it would be fun having some company on the way. It would make the dull areas more entertaining. He went over and laid by his catch and started taking bites from it.
Bedeinka sat next to him. “I was wondering do you have any noble blood in you? You are such a great lion you would think that you had some amazing linage.” She said looking him over again. “I would be surprised if you had common blood.”
He sighed. “I come from a warrior pride. My family was highly honored. Time and again they would produce amazing warriors, the strongest in the pride. The pride has fallen since then though. It is no longer around.” He hated talking about his old life. It was something he wished he would sooner forget. “I’m no longer part of the pride though. For all I know it is now destroyed.”
Bedeinka awed over the pride. It sounded like a powerful pride, much like Mazu once was. “I hope it isn’t destroyed. It sounds like a magnificent pride to me. I would very much like to visit it one day. Perhaps you could take me there. That would give you a chance to see your family again.”
He started to dislike Bedeinka. “I would rather not. My family thinks I am dead and I would like to keep it that way. Plus if I return they will just disown me. It would put dishonor onto the family name. They would prefer if I was dead.”
“I would agree with them. I would disown any son of mine who would leave the pride for his own selfish reasons.” She couldn’t understand why anyone would want to leave such an amazing pride. “If I were your parents I would probably hit you the moment I saw your betraying face.”
Aureo growled. How could this outsider know how he felt? Why did he have to talk to her? He should have just ignored her and kept the meat to himself. “I am than thankful that you are not my mother and you are not the one giving out punishments. And I feel sorry for any of your offsprings. I hope they have the sense to run away from you the moment they realize how horrid you truly are.”
She was everything the pride was like. Everything he hated. He got up and headed away from her. She was not suitable company. He would rather find someone else who shared common interest and didn’t remind him of his home he left.
Bedeinka watched him leave with a mix of anger and regret. He was the perfect male to bare her cubs and she screwed it up. She should have been more sensitive to him, though she had no idea how to do such a thing. He was weak anyways. She would find someone who was stronger. Hopefully her search for the perfect lion wouldn’t take too long. Talking of home made her a little home sick herself.
WC: 1,038
