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It wasn't anything in particular that brought Sjurd out of the pride into the rogue lands. One of the many perks of being a reaver amongst the Stormborn was the capability to leave and wander on a whim. So when the lion found that his paws started to itch for a good walk, he simply made for the borders and continued on his way. He didn't expect to find something in particular to bring back, or anything. Sjurd wasn't really in the mood for a confrontation and just the idea of hunting or any sort seemed, quite frankly, exhausting.

The lion stretched, looking thoughtfully at the sky. He had left the pride soon after midday, so he still had plenty of sunlight to spare. The lands had proved to be unfortunately uneventful, thus far. Which Sjurd guess was disappointing. Or not. Whatever, he didn't really seem to care, anyway.

Rakesh was giving Na'an her space, which she seemed to require more and more often lately. He didn't quite mind, since that meant he got to return to her when she was in a better mood and more open to him. But, it made his little treks alone rather... boring. Yes, Rakesh was definitely bored. The dark blue lion looked over his shoulder, and almost pouted as he thought of the beauty who had nearly snapped at him earlier this morning. He had been forcing her attention onto him lately, but he could hardly help it. He had finally made progress with her! He wanted to make sure he didn't lose any of it.

The lion wasn't familiar with these lands, he and Na'an just tended to travel where whimsy took them. Really, Na'an made those decisions, and Rakesh followed her because it was hard to picture the lioness away from his side. Perhaps he should go back to her and try to be less obnoxious with his attention, but as that thought came to his mind he noticed a figure in the distance. Well, perhaps this would be interesting!

"Hello!" Rakesh called out from a safe distance, and made his way towards Sjurd. Once close enough, he was downright disappointed that it was a male lion and not some pretty female he could flirt with. Sigh.

The sound of a voice shook Sjurd from his quiet stupor. His head raised and he looked to the sound of the voice, muscles tensing out of habit. A male, he noted. Average age with rather extravagant markings, and he seemed to be alone. Brown eyes narrowed as he took the other lion into consideration. The prospect of attempting to capture him came to mind, but that seemed entirely too laborious at the moment. Besides, he found that the more attractively marked lions could make absolutely frustrating thralls. So he shook the thought out of his head with a little sigh and blinked back to the stranger.

"Hello," he greeted, his voice curt (if not a little gruff). This was an outlander. A stranger. There wasn't really any purpose to treating him with any kindness. Then again, if this was one to get easily offended by a seemingly off-put encounter, Sjurd didn't want to start anything. He was in no mood to fight. "My name is Sjurd, of the Stormborn," he spoke again, a little bit more life in his voice, this time. If anything, the company could be a little entertaining, right?

Rakesh was not familiar with many of the prides that roamed the lands. He heard rumors of some, but never really enough to connect a name with any certain deed. If he knew that Stormborn meant 'lions who raid' he likely would've just wandered off in the opposite direction to avoid trouble entirely. However, all he got from Sjurd's introduction was that this was a pride lion, and probably unaccostomed to having to deal with rogues because of it. "I'm Rakesh, once of the Mizimu'tungika," he returned the lion's favor of sharing his name. Of course, he hardly expected Sjurd to know of his old pride that had been thoroughly torn apart.

There was nothing left of the Mizimu, just a few lions scattered about now trying to move on with their lives. Rakesh was young enough that the pride's influence didn't have an astounding effect on him, and that he adjusted to rogue life well enough because of it. "If you're from a pride, what brings you all the way out here?" Rakesh sat down in front of Sjurd, content to linger and chit chat for a while. He supposed he needed some male company to distract him from Na'an.

When the male—Rakesh—sat before him, Sjurd responded with a raised brow. So, company it was, then. He guess there wasn't really any reason to complain about that. Some of his pride-mates, he found, had a habit of getting their tails in knots over nothing. It was a waste of energy, to be frank.

"Rakesh, the pleasure is mine. Though I have to admit that the name of your pride does not ring any bells. I suppose I'm sortof out of touch with many of the prides, around here." Sjurd had been born to the Stormborn and only left to enter the rogue lands, never to meet any other prides, or anything of that sort.

The question made Sjurd flick his ears. "I'm…" A reaver? It was probably best not to go explaining to nature of his position in the pride. It was somewhat likely that it could get a more… aggressive response, "a little bored, I guess you could say. You know pride life, know how it can be, yeah? So much of the same every day, it's hard to keep going without getting bored out of your mind." Sjurd smiled. It was a sly, toothy grin. His best to come off as friendly.

"That's well and good, though. The pride I grew up in is no longer. I wouldn't dare venture back to those lands in case something bad happened to me while I was there." He certainly didn't know what the Stormborn was, so he hardly expected this lion to know of his own origins. He never did like talking about his pride, and he was thankful enough that they were going to skip over that hurdle in the course of their conversation.

The young male arched a brow at Sjurd's response, finding his answer to be a little unusual and oddly spoken, but he had no real reason to discredit the lion's words. So, he accepted the reply for what it was, and mostly because he doubted he'd get anything else out of this male. "Ah, same here. My company has tired of my presence, so I'm giving them a welcome reprieve from me for a little bit." Rakesh did skim on the details of who he was travelling with, and how many of them there were. It was better to make strangers think he was travelling with more lions than he actually was. Though, this lion did look particularly lazy, and Rakesh was confident he could take him in a fight.

"See, that's why I'm a rogue. Travelling around with no set goal in mind is quite more interesting than being tied down to one pride," Rakesh remarked with an amused smile.

So he wasn't traveling alone. It was probably a good decision that Sjurd hadn't tried to make any moves, then. He noted that Rakesh hadn't said exactly how much company he kept—a tactic the lion imagined wasn't accidental—but it was better to assume the most. The truth that Rakesh's company consisted of one lithe (albeit resourcefully feisty, when in a pinch) female would have drawn a laugh from the Stormborn.

Sjurd responded with a chuckle. "Oh, I know how that can be. My pridemates can tend to be a little… well. Rough around the edges. Other Reavers especially." Did he say Reavers? Whoops. He continued on casually, hoping Rakesh wouldn't question it. "And I must admit that rogue life sounds appealing, sometimes. Though being a Stormborn does have its perks." The company of the pride wasn't all that bad. There was pride, and freedom and ladies (if that sort of thing was appealing which, Sjurd guessed, was somewhere up Rakesh's alley.

Rakesh had found Na'an to be quite intimidating when she was in the right mood, though he was now knowledgable enough of her to be able to avoid pushing her into such a mood. The lioness could be a handful, but she was interesting and definitely worth it. Rakesh could rekon that very few lions were accompanied by such a unique and beautiful lioness. He'd count his blessings in that department, especially now that it seemed like he had won her over in some small way.

"Reavers?" Of course, Sjurd's luck wouldn't play out in his favor, since Rakesh definitely heard Reavers. His curiosity was sparked, and though he still had no idea what the Stormborn was, the term Reavers sounded a little more familiar. "I'm sure a pride offers protection and the like, but that's not... as thrilling, in my opinion. Besides, I'd get tired of seeing the same faces every day." God, and being in the company of the same females again and again would be a small nightmare once they figured out he was flirting with them all.

Sjurd opened his mouth to speak, and closed it again, finding there to be no words that immediately seemed appropriate for the situation. The lion gave a faint, hardly noticeable sigh. He didn't really want to go explaining the whole interworkings of his pride, or anything. "Raiders, I guess you could call them. Us. Whatever." He paused at Rakesh's second statement before giving a little grin, "Oh, the Stormborn offers more than just protection. What some may consider a thrill. Fights. Treasure. Women." He shrugged.

The pride was his home. It had been all his life and he didn't really know a life any different. It was less thrilling and more just the way things were. Sure, it had its perks. But it had its downfalls, as well. Luckily for him, he hadn't grown bored of it, yet. His companions in the pride made well sure of that; uneventful conversation was starting to bore him. He could do with a venture with Bruten at a time like this.

Raiders was a word that Rakesh was more familiar with, and he had to admit that the lifestyle definitely sounded interesting. But, he could also recognize that such a life wasn't quite for him, not yet. "Sounds like you've got yourself set up pretty nice," Rakesh commented with a lazy grin. Treasure was nice, and women were definitely nice, but Rakesh was far from ready for pride life. He was a rogue at heart, a constant wanderer. That Na'an seemed to be the same was the best situation for him. He would continue to travel with her, and if she ever happened to become bored of him, he was sure they'd part ways. But, he'd always keep an eye out for her. She was far too interesting to just let go.

"Well, I should leave you to your pride life, then," Rakesh commented. Maybe it was good sense that was telling him to leave now, because the lion turned away and walked back off to find Na'an and continue his own adventures.