Not a day went by that the starry-pelted lioness did not think of her home and all that she had left behind in her youth in favor of a taste of freedom. Had it been the right thing to leave her mother behind with her nephew and the monster that she dared to even call her sire. He was no father. All he was to her was the male that had helped give life to her. Nothing more than that. With a huff, O'ros sat herself down by the water's edge. Her life was nearly perfect by now despite belonging to a pride. She was doing better then how she was outside of it and recovering finally from her sire's controlling ways. So why did she feel so angry about it still? Was it just built up anger towards her sire that was just now being released or was it something else she hadn't exactly discovered yet?
The day was already waning as Nirav finally left his family's den in hopes of seeing Talasi, a lioness who had only joined a few months back but she already had a grip on the young adult's heart. The mute male kept a large smile across his face as he moved through the grounds of the Ela'wadiyi towards their agreed meeting area. He had not even gone that far when he stopped, his violet eyes seeing something to his right that almost matched their color. Another lioness? He had not seen her before, at least not that his mind had recalled. That needed to be remedied! And without another thought Nirav altered his course and made way towards the purple lioness.
O'ros' ears swiveled around as she heard something approaching. Could no one just leave her be to her own self-pity? Surely enough of it would lead to some kind of self-realization and she would pull herself out of it. But no, no one could just leave her be. She turned her head, about to say something as she expected a rogue of some kind to be approaching her but the feather dangling from the male's ear and the tattoos covering his body said otherwise. He was a member of the same pride she had joined and by the look of it, he was born into it since his entire body was covered in intricate black decal. "Who are you?" She asked hesitantly despite him still being a distance away.
Nirav's gait came to a halt as he saw her head turn and silver eyes stare back at him. How could he possibly convey that he was just curious who she was without his ability to speak? Even if he could suddenly talk it would likely just come out as squeaks and light exhaling noises. His smile still stuck as he sat on the short, obviously grazed grass. Luckily for him there was at least some bits of exposed dirt near him. With one unsheathed claw he drew a stylized cloud, with small birdlike markings around it and a curved line far beneath it all. Nirav looked up from his drawing, then down and back up again before waving his paw, beckoning her over.
What in the world could this strange lion want from her? O'ros thought to herself as she rose onto her paws. Why could he simply not just say who he was and what he wanted? A sigh managed to escape the confines of her mouth and she quickly regretted it. Here he was, a possibly friend and she was acting like a complete a** to him. As she sat herself down on the other side of his drawing, she gasped. It was...the sky? Or at least it looked like it would be what with the soaring birds, the clouds above and the earth below. "Do you belong to Sky Clan?" She asked more cautiously than before as she looked up from the crude drawing to the male's face.
A nod came in reply to her second question. He was indeed from the clan she spoke of and the fact that she knew of it and guessed it over Bird Clan gave him the assumption that she likely belonged to it as well. It was always nice to meet others in his birth pride but even more-so those who belonged to his clan for his clan was a small one and dwindling in numbers. Regardless though, he was happy within his birth clan and was glad to befriend another lioness in it.
"I see! I belong to Sky Clan as well!" And there was the confirmation to Nirav's speculation. O'ros was well beyond excited and the thoughts of her sire and her troubles were pushed well out of mind by that point. She had only met a few others within the pride and even fewer of those with her clan. To meet one out in the open rather then someone of Bird or another of the larger clans was something special in her mind. "So what brings you all the way out here?"
With a large paw, he smeared the sky drawing before him to make another blank canvas. It took him a moment to answer but Nirav finally did in the form of another drawing. There in the dirt was what could either be a cub or a bald lioness with stripes along the legs similar to those on Nirav's. After it's completion he looked up at O'ros with a smile and then looked to the side where he was originally to have supposed to go to meet her again.
"Oooh, a lady friend him?" O'ros teased, giggling slightly as she spoke. "You know it's bad to keep a lady waiting right? You should probably get going before you upset her." That bit of advice was the least she could do for the male for brightening her day just with him sitting down with her and drawing a bit, despite the fact she had to do all the talking in their chat.
Nirav's eyes widened at the words. Had he really spent that long just sitting there?! His violet eyes rose to the sky and sure enough the sun had moved even closer to the horizon. With a great deal of haste, he rose onto his feet, nearly tripping over himself as he did so. He bowed his head to the lioness in front of him for only a few seconds before darting off as quickly as he could towards his and Talasi's meeting spot.
Another giggle came from O'ros' mouth as she watched the silent lion leave rather quickly. Her eyes fell back to the little drawing in front of her. She was obviously something very special to him and without really thinking about it, O'ros unsheathed one of her own claws and drew what could only be a mane around the dirt drawing. Some day she would have her own special someone in her life, but today was not the day. The sun was already setting by the time she was done thinking small thoughts about her own future. Without waiting too much longer, she rose to her paws and made her way back towards the dens of her clan.
[Word Count: 1,227]
