The God was used to being followed, and spied on, and watched to see what and who he really was. The creatures he ran in to out here in the rogue lands were often more clever than he gave them credit for, which was saying a lot as he was very generous with his opinions of strangers until proven wrong.
He watched the lioness this time, though, spotting her from a short distance away. Somewhere behind him, he knew, his current stalker was chasing after him. Thus why he needed to stay on the ground, at least when she was within eye sight or he assumed she would be able to see him if he took off into the air, just to keep her confused about him. It was fun to play with the mortals some times, and the lioness wandering around after him was harmless. Probably nice, but he had only talked to her for a short period of time.
Enough to get her interested in him, but not enough for either of them to learn about the other.
This time he would do things better, and introduce himself. Maybe if he acted more like a normal lion, and tried to not remain as aloof as he had been before, he could get away with just being a strange, large lion with a kingly air about him, and not be called out for being a God immediately. But probably not. Folks were very observant. He smiled as he approached the lioness, who looked up from her small meal of rabbit.
It was interesting, seeing her eyes widening a bit more with each step he took. He slowed and blinked at her, then cleared his throat.
"I am not here to hurt you, miss," he said in his deep, smooth voice. He bowed his mighty head, mane fluffing around his face and falling in clumps of fur in front of his eyes as he pulled his head back up. He shook it and his mane returned, mostly, to its proper resting places. He smiled at her and she was smiling back very timidly.
She did not get up though, crouching at his feet and staring at him for a long moment. Ben Zi was not one to take the chance with strangers, or to initiate fights. She was not strong or large and she was not going to get herself hurt by an enemy she did not need to make if she could do anything in her power to avoid it. And she was doing everything just to that end. No move was threatening or challenging in any way. In fact, she looked like a sad cub who had just been yelled at by both of its parents, and perhaps an aunt and uncle or two.
No chances taken.
"I am sorry... I ate most of it already, there is not much left for you to take."
"Is it common, out here, for creatures to think every lion they see is out for their food?" He asked, smiling softly at her. His look was reassuring, when she hazard a chance to look up at it. Her fur heated up and she looked right back down at his paws. They were safer. This lion was strange to her and more than a little intimidated.
He saw her shaking and tilted his head to the side at it. What had happened in her past that made her scared of strangers? Or was it simply because she had no past with them, and this was her natural instinct? He could not tell, he did not know her well enough to guess and the few minutes he had spent watching her were not exactly enough to write up a report. If he could do such a thing, any way.
Not that he would want to.
He was a lion.
And a God.
"Please, do not look so scared, I promise you: I am not here to hurt you, and I have eaten well recently. I do not need to steal your rabbit from you, nor do I wish to. It must have been a hard catch, as they are quite fast, and I would not like to take your victory away."
She laughed a little at that, pulling away from the ground enough to look up at him again and this time hold his gaze for a little bit longer than before. She took a breath and breathed it out in a slow sigh, feeling relief wash away most of her anxiety. Not all of it, but enough to allow her to relax. After all, he was being nice to her, and that was either a very elaborate trap that he had practiced over a few years or she was being paranoid and he was actually just a nice lion.
As much as she hated finding enemies, she was desperate to find nice ones so she decided to risk a little and trust him. She would not fight him if he did try to steal from her, but hopefully it would not come to that.
"Are you just passing through?" She ventured to ask. He nodded.
"I am being pursued, actually, and just going in circles until I lose the shadow behind me. It is a silly venture, but I am rather enjoying it. If you see a lioness come here after me, you may tell her truly which way I went. Or... you may play with her a bit." He grinned teasingly, and she laughed. It seemed like harmless fun and she found herself wishing she could play, but then, she was not very good with other lions.
Still, to get better she would just have to hang out with more, right? It was kind of a circle she could not get out of, because she was so uncomfortable hanging out with them. She would figure it out eventually.
"I'll... if I see her, I'll... point her in a direction."
He laughed at that and grinned, nodding his head in understanding. It was a fun and harmless little game, and he would circle back and let his pursuer catch a glimpse of him, to renew the chase, as it was keeping him well entertained.
"I will be off, then. Enjoy the last of your meal, my dear. Oh, and my name is Talfrid. It was nice to meet you..."
"Ben Zi."
"Ben Zi," he bowed again, this time lowering his front half gallantly, before he got up and walked off to the east. She would remember that, just in case whoever was chasing him did come up and ask her where he had gone. So she could say the opposite way.
If she did not feel too guilty about it.
(Word Count: 1,127 in Word)
