The sun was hot. The sky was bright and cloudless and the sun, straight above, cast short shadows directly beneath the large, dark lion that wandered the plains. Imriy Hayyim walked, his head talk and face solemn, with what seemed to be an intent purpose. His steps were pointed and strong and each step came in the form of a long, powerful stride.
His form was deceptive, though. Imriy himself would claim that he had no purpose. That he wandered, lost, with nothing pulling his step. He would be mostly true. For as long as he could remember, Imriy wandered. For as long as he could remember, he remained purposeless. And today was no exception.
The lighter grey lion moved through the savanna with a much different air than his counterpart. Bakari smiled, his steps slow and lax with occasional pause as the lion pulled his front legs forward in a stretch, head lulling back and forth and his black mane wisping around his face. He was a gentler creature who, though he himself also wandered alone through the lands, claimed something was pulling him. He didn't know exactly what, per say, but there was something.
Bakari paused once more, but this time not to stretch. Against the grass he spotted the stark black, large figure. His eyebrows raised for a moment, inspecting the lion in the near distance before a characteristic smile crept onto his maw and he raised his head as tall as he could before calling. "Hello!"
The sudden call made Imriy's muscles freeze. Instinctively, his body grew low to the ground and his lip curled into a snarl, bright green eyes tracing the grass for the source of the voice. As his gaze fell upon the stranger lion, his eyes furrowed. It took a few moments of looking the lion over—his cheerful expression, the lax way his body moved—before he determined that this stranger was indeed no threat. At the deduction, his muscles relaxed. Imriy didn't move towards the stranger as he neared, only waited until the lion bumbled towards him before giving a grunting "Greetings."
Bakari smiled as he stopped before the large lion. It had been a while since he had met someone else in his travels. Regardless of how unhappy the stranger seemed, the company was refreshing. "This is a rather quiet part of the lands, you know." His head lopped to the side as he spoke, his made puffing around his form. "What brings you out here, alone?" He was one to talk.
At first, Imriy didn't respond. He only looked the lion over, examining the particular details that he couldn't see from a distance, everything down to the dot on his forehead and the lion's strange bi-colored eyes. Only then did he really think about the question he was asked. What was he doing out there? He chuffed, at first, as his only response. After a few more moments, he sighed and shook his head, rolling his shoulders as he did so. "Wandering," he said briefly. He took a moment to think over what he had said and opened his mouth to say more, but decided not to at the last moment. His jaws made a snapping noise as they pulled back shut.
At the lion's words, Bakari raised a brow and let his head fall to the other side, inquisitively. "Wandering, huh?" His head fell back and he looked to the sky. "Searching? That's what most people say when they say they wander. They wander and they search." The grey lion traced the clear sky before letting his gaze fall to the horizon, then back to the lion before him. "What are you searching for?" He paused after speaking, realizing that his words were probably intrusive. Bakari blinked a few times before shaking his head. "I, er, don't mean to intrude." He smiled cheekily before nodding his head. "I'm Bakari, by the way."
Imriy snorted as Bakari spoke. Searching. Is that what most lions did? His gaze fell to the ground. "My family." He said, once more short and brief. After the words left his mouth, his eyes widening. The lion didn't know why he said what he had said, but after thinking about it for a while he determined that it was probably true. It had been a while since he'd seen his mother. His brothers. Let along his father, but that was a whole other situation that he wasn't going to get anywhere near dealing with right now. He sighed, shaking his head and raising his gaze once more. "Bakari," he repeated, matching the feeling of the name to the face, "Irmiy. My name is Imriy Hayyim." He paused, tilting his head back and to the side as he looked at the lion with his bright green eyes. "And you? What do you search for?"
Bakari smiled, looking pleased with the lion's answer. He shrugged, rolling his head back once more as he thought. "What do I search for?" the lion yawned, shifting his paws as he waded through his thoughts. "Well, I can't really say for myself." He shrugged again, looking back to Imriy with a bright smile. "Searching for something to search for, ya know?" He laughed, at that, and sat with his tail curled around his legs. "It's nice to meet you, Imriy. I can't say how pleasant it is to see another face out here. It's been… well. Too long since I've seen another… And you must be in the same sort of situation, if you wander."
Imriy thought over Bakari's words for another long moment. Searching for searching. What a strange concept. He didn't address the first words the lion spoke, only shrugged at the last. "I suppose. I can't be one to complain, though. The quiet has been rather pleasant." It was unsure if that was a lie or not. True, Imriy had grown accustom to the wandering lifestyle, but whether or not he enjoyed it was something that could be debatable.
Bakari merely shrugged, twitching his tail back and forth before standing once more. "Well," he started, yawning before moving away. "If I were to give advice, Imriy Hayyim, it would be to search with a smile." He looking back at Imriy, grinning at the disgruntled look the larger lion gave. "You'll never find what you're searching for if your heart isn't trying!" He called, before trotting into the distance.
Imriy only snorted, brushing the lion off before continuing in the opposite direction. The stranger, undoubtedly, was crazy.
(WC: 1,089)
