Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sky was such a piercing blue she thought her eyes would burst taking in the color; the sun was high and raining its light over the savannah. She was in a relatively good mood without any real reason, so the grass seemed greener (or browner, depending) and the earth seemed sweeter. There was just a bit of a breeze wafting through the tree tops, ruffling her fur and sending a bit of relief from the heat through her backbone. Sansa took a deep breath through her flared delicately pink nostrils, realizing her sister was bound to ruin the mood any moment now.

Or she could make it better. Arya came around a particularly thorny looking bush with her mouth full of meat and fur. Her pale eyes trailed up the low rock to find her sister lounging carelessly across the stone, and she dropped the carcass with a bit of a sigh, "Your dinner is served, madam." She smirked a bit, clearing bits of flesh from her mouth with a swiped of her thick tongue. Feeling at least mildly more charitable than usual, she shoved the haunch of meat with one paw before sitting nearly by with her tail curled around her toes. She contemplated cleaning her paws before deciding against it, spreading her jaws in a gracious yawn.

Sansa leapt easily down from the flat tableau she had been perched upon, not particularly hungry but not full enough to turn down an offered snack as she wandered her way over to her sister. Her lips curled in a bemused smirk in response to the paler female's own expression, shaking her mane tuft, "It's not my fault you disappeared earlier. I could've caught something, or helped bring something down at least. What is this?"

Her sibling laughed brightly, shaking her own head as she did so, "You wouldn't wake when I tried to get you to come along. You nap too deeply, you're lucky no one else came upon you while you slept – lured by your snoring." She giggled again, interrupted by the snap of dry tinder under someone's paw. Her yellow eyes widened and her ears swiveled towards where she thought the source might lie. Turning her head as she extended her claws, expecting to have to chase off carrion birds or jackals, she was surprised when her eyes fell upon a male lion, the sunlight glinting off his black mane. She froze, but her sister relaxed into cordial manners.

In absence of a direct threat, she rather fall back on polite intrigue. "Hello!" She hoped that suitable to lure him in but continued, "We don't bite." She cast a glance at her sister with her bloody maw and gore covered paws, "Well, she might."

Despite her better judgment, Arya had enough sense to notice this male was in need of something. He looked weak, a fault that her instincts confirmed. Her typical reaction to strangers, especially of the male persuasion, was to shut them out and chase them off, but this was a new predicament. She was not sure she had ever run into someone who looked quite so unthreatening before. "I'm Arya," she ventured, settling her haunches down as she flicked her tail anxiously.

Her sister was far more at ease, ears swiveling to and fro with little more than interest as she, too, took a seat. Her body leaned towards the stranger as she spoke, "And I'm her sister, Sansa. Were you hungry?" She reached out to swipe the meat with her claws, batting at it gently before sitting back again. Flicking an ear, she smiled as reassuringly as she could manage, "You're not intruding at all, actually. We're just … relaxing."


(ooc: terrible, i'm sorry)

It was against Arya's character to be worried about an individual outside of her family unit – which had, unfortunately, been reduced to just she and her sister – so she was unaccustomed to the bitter sensation of concern that furrowed her brow and stamped out any opposition she might have harbored against sharing her hard caught meal. Her yellow gaze swept from her paws to the meat and back to the male, surprised when he opted not to take the meat when she thought he so obviously needed it. "A pleasure to meet you, Niyol, you are welcome to join us." She was uncharacteristically worried her own unwillingness to be quite as gracious as her sister had put him off taking advantage of the meat.

Sansa's own brow creased as well, though she nodded absently in response to his greeting and to her sister's assurances. She looked a bit grim as her smile faltered and she attempted to retain some sort of polite cheer. Slipping her tongue across her lips, she nodded with a brief glance over her shoulder as her sister, "No, it's okay, if he's not hungry." When he spoke again, her blue eyes darted to him and she stared for a moment.

Etiquette won out over curiosity and she nodded empathetically, "No, no; of course we don't mind, rest as long as you need." She assumed that was his reason for refusing the meat: this mysterious illness, but she was aware her sister had stiffened beside her and shot the tan lioness a glance while adding for the benefit of their acquaintance, "Is there anything we can help you with?"

It was a strange thing that the two of them were as thick as thieves almost from birth. Despite all their bickering and differences, they were inseparable. Their mother had made some attempt to encourage friendship with other cubs in the litter – all boys – but they had had little interest. Their mother had learned to ignore the raucous of their squabbles and enjoy the quieter moments rather than expect the two of them to go any more against their characters. They slept together in the den, and argued through most of the day, but were the best of friends all the same. Nothing had changed from cubs to adulthood, except their size.

Arya glanced over at Niyol before bumping her sister with her shoulder absent mindedly. Something was very inherently sad about this stranger, but she had always been more perceptive than Sansa. Her eyes were lidded as she watched the fatigued male, swinging her eyes up to her sister quietly and pressing her lips in a thin line. Weakness made her uncomfortable as it was against her nature to coddle, though her sister had a bit more finesse.

"Rest as long as you like," Sansa casually reassured, poking at the haunch of meat with one claw before arching her brows and turning her attention back to him. She was not particularly distressed by his silence, but was willing to answer his inquiry as best as she was able, "Some distance from here, though we've been traveling long enough now I don't think that either of us could tell you for sure." She sought confirmation from her sister, who nodded slightly as she shifted to lay in the dirt. Sansa shrugged, "Our parents were not part of a pride besides our family."

The sisters had no idea if their parents were still alive, or where their siblings had ended up if they, too, had left the den. The two of them had left in their adolescence to strike out on their own, eager to start their own lives and fulfill dreams half-formed in their young minds. Eventually wandering became second nature and it was harder to settle down than to keep moving. They supposed their parents were still alive somewhere, they had been young and healthy, but one never knew.

Arya nodded, frowning slightly as he took their leave of them. She was worried by his illness, and glad he had not come too close, but she did not want to appear ungrateful or rude so she smiled as warmly as she could manage, "It was a pleasure, again, Niyol. I hope you recover well." She knew he was likely over the worst of it if he was up and about wander the plains, but it never hurt to be kind.

The darker sister smiled broadly and dipped her head in farewell, flicking her tail and settling down so as to start into her meal as soon as he was out of sight. "Get well soon, Niyol! I hope we meet again soon." It felt impolite to tear into the meat until he was away, so she watched and then split the skin of the beast with some level of relish. Conversation made her hungry.