Ulozi was very used to being alone. In fact, it was how she preferred to be, ever since she came to understand that this was how she was. Alone. She could not remember her parents, or traveling with them much. They were black shadows, killers, and she had slipped away from them when she was younger. Though their habits were with her, she had not formed a direct bond with either of them and thus she did not miss what she could not recall.
That is what she felt of it, anyway.
She was surprised when a lioness walked just in front of her, coming from the side, and did not seem to notice Ulozi’s presence. Blinking, the black lioness followed her simply because she could. The night was heavy, and there were few stars out to light the grass, the moon missing from the sky this evening. She was not stalking prey, but it was almost as fun. Maybe more so, hunting a fellow predator, even without the will to kill or eat it. Simply to follow behind and see how long she could go before she was noticed.
It was a strange kind of thrill, but it was one nonetheless.
For about half an hour, and then she realized the lioness was not going to notice her.
The thrill that had made it fun had been the danger, and once that was gone she immediately felt herself deflate a bit. She shuddered and sighed, picking up her pace to catch up to the lioness without much thought in the matter. The other was much younger than Ulozi, smaller, and with a red pelt with some spots of other colors. She was pretty, in her way, though Ulozi rarely thought of such thinks and certainly never wasted the time in giving someone a compliment.
“I have been following behind you for some distance,” she said plainly, making the lioness nearly jump out of her pelt.
“Geez! By Mkodi, you scared me!” Scatha looked at the other in shock. She could not believe another lion had gotten so close to her without her even beginning to notice it! She had not even turned her head before the other had started to speak, and nearly bumped right into her as she reeled. No, Scatha could not bear this turn of events: she could not bear. She had been startled quite enough recently and was really beginning to doubt her own awareness. She felt the skin under her fur heating up with embarrassment and would be a burning red color if not for her cover. Which was also red, but she tried not to think of it being able to turn brighter from her embarrassment
“Yes, well. I could see you did not know I was behind you, and I thought I would let you know. You should keep your guard up: it is not hard to hear footfalls in your shadow, if you listen correctly.”
Scatha fizzled and bit her tongue, trying not to snap back at this piece of unwanted, and soon to be unheeded, advice. But she nodded stiffly instead, since the lioness had gotten the drop on her and it was only polite to accept whatever this impromptu lesson was. Clearly Ulozi was not there to attack, or she would have done so already. Right?
Ulozi would not have agreed there. Just because she was being civil now, or as close to it as she could come, did not guarantee she would continue civil later. No, in fact, it only made her even more keen on pressing her luck and pushing this lioness. If she was so content to just wander in a daze, Ulozi had to wonder how she managed to survive for so long. It occurred to her that she might not actually be from around these parts, or from the rogue lands at all. Maybe she was one of the coddled little folks from a pride.
The idea made Ulozi want to roll her eyes.
“Are you heading this way?” Scatha was asking, by the time Ulozi checked back in to the real world from her thoughts. She shrugged her shoulders by way of response, indicating that it mattered very little to her which directions he was heading in at any given time. She was a wanderer, and never set a goal for herself. Where ever her feet took her, in the end, was where she wanted to go. Usually she found something of interest.
The red lioness looked hesitant.
“Do you want to go to my pride with me?” Scatha was not much for recruiting, and she wished she had not made the offer to someone who was messing with her. But she was going back toward the pride anyway, and she did not want to seem rude… not that this lion had made the same effort with her, now that she was thinking about it. It would have been just fair of her to walk off without even mentioning her pride. Luckily, Ulozi did not seem too interested, if her expression was anything to go off of.
Her words confirmed it.
“I have no use for prides. And your pride will have no use for you if you let yourself be attacked in the rogue lands.”
Another lesson. Scatha bristled and nodded her head tightly.
“I guess you’re right,” she said through her teeth. Ulozi watched her with her dangerous eyes, and Scatha was not sure what she was supposed to do now. She hesitated, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again and blinked at the other. They were standing still, watching each other, though Ulozi was completely still and Scatha was bouncing back and forth on her paws in an attempt to vent some of her nervous energy.
Ulozi blinked, and then abruptly turned. She walked away from the lioness without another word, as if they had not just been speaking. No exchanged of names, no indication that they would meet again. Which was fine for Scatha: if she never saw the black lioness again it would be too soon. She finally let out a petulant huff and stuck her tongue out at Ulozi’s back, before glancing around to see if she had been seen and then turning to run off as fast as her legs could carry her.
The last thing she wanted to do was stick around and get attacked.
(Word Count: 1,073 in Word)
