Areli frowned harshly, glaring daggers at the ground. Tracks! Her guard route today was one of those further out, where sand and dirt mixed to become a strange salt-and-pepper-like clumpy mess. It held tracks better than pure sand though, which of course was why she'd stopped dead still, eying the pattern of low dips and bumps in the ground.
Someone's been here! Trespassers were rare, but they did happen. The last major incident she could think of was that involving the Kizi lions. That, of course, had ended up more or less alright in the end. Next time might not be so lucky. She bent down to catch what scent she could—definitely another lion!—and slunk off, eyes fixed to the ground, moving silent as she prowled.
It had only been a few days since Dnay had stumbled upon the ocean-side lions of the Bahari and decided to join up with them. He was still adjusting to the salt in the air and the sound of waves crashing against the shore, but the feel of the sand under his paws was almost like the feel of the snow of his home. Just... Warmer. And he had a feeling that would take quite a bit of adjusting to. Hopefully a good shed would take care of most of his undercoat and allow him to live in the heat more comfortably.
The thought made him sigh softly, and he paused briefly on the edge of his patrol route. At least, what he thought was the edge of it. Truth be told he was still figuring out his route, and he thought he might have wandered a bit... Off.
The sound of a sigh only a little ways off made Areli freeze in her tracks. There WAS someone here! She knew it! It only sounded like one—no talking, no footsteps from people moving around each other. A rogue? Probably. She lowered to her belly and began to creep forwards, years of practice making her quite stealthy, and the soft sandy dirt under her muffling her paws.
Up and through the brush she spotted him...a big fellow by the look of it! Excitement thrilled through her; she'd never actually FOUND anyone on her patrol before! Without much thought she sprang out of her hiding space, aiming to tackle whomever it was. At the last second before colliding though, she realized something that really was rather important.
She recognized the lion she was about to pounce—!
It was just his misfortune that Dnay didn't suspect a thing. Oh, he was plenty alert. And he was normally very good about noticing anyone trying to sneak up on him! Well, at least he was good about it in the snow. It was hard to sneak up on anyone with fresh snow crunching under your paws. So maybe he wasn't that good about noticing anyone sneaking up on him.
But luckily for him, he didn't need to be that good. In no time at all, he was startled rather suddenly by a lioness leaping out of the minimal underbrush. It was so sudden he had no time to dodge, and it ended with her colliding rather solidly into his side, sending the two of them sprawling in a tangle of fur and limbs. He groaned when they finally tumbled to a stop, shoving a paw into the other lion's face and shoving her back with an annoyed growl.
"What in the gods' names were you thinking!?"
What began as a low curl of sheepish embarrassment in her belly was stoked into matching irritation when a foot to the face was the first thing she realized after crashing into the other lion. "What—! What was I thinking?! I was thinking someone'd left tracks in my part of the patrol, and that the pride might be in trouble, what were you thinking leaving your area?" She shoved his paw out of her face and spat sand back into the dirt.
She rounded on him then, glaring...and a little surprised at the intensity of those blue eyes up close. She'd met Dnay, of course. New members were rare, and everyone made time to welcome them. They hadn't seemed that blue before though. Or maybe it was just because she was up close and personal this time. "And hey, I pulled my claws when I realized who you were!" Pretty eyes didn't mean she wasn't ruffled now though, of course. "Or did I bruise you, mister delicate flower?"
On another day, Dnay might have been less irritated. Hell, he might have even been downright cheerful. But being shoved out on patrol on his own in still unfamiliar territory and the persistent itch of salt in his fur was making him just a little bit irritable. So he glared right back when she shoved her face right towards his, his ears pressing down into his fluffy mane. "I'm still learning my patrol route!"
He growled in a clear display of irritation, resisting the almost overwhelming temptation to shove her face away from his again. Her breath smelled like fish. It was kind of gross. But the mockery made his fur bristle, and speaking of his fur... "There's sand in my fur."
And that didn't sound at all petulant.
Ohhh, there was sand in his fur?? How tragic! Maybe he hadn't noticed when he decided to make the pride his home, but there was SAND EVERYWHERE! He didn't hear her complaining, did he? Only cubs complained about the sand, honestly! "Oh, the precious flower has yucky sand all between its petals! Go take a dunk in the sea—after your patrol's done!—and get grooming. In case you'd not noticed, this pride's beside the sea."
She shoved herself up and away from the male, grumbling and snorting and trying to calm down. He'd gotten under her skin right quick, and it bothered her that she'd reacted so strongly a little. He WAS still new, and could be forgiven for the lapse. Heck, even she sometime spaced out and slipped outside her patrol area. But still! He didn't need to be so rude! "Your patrol ends by the big palm, that one with three trunks," She eventually huffed. "And if you're going to be a baby about it, I guess I'll help with your stupid sandy fur." She did feel bad for tackling him. Even if he was being an over dramatic butt about it.
"Wouldn't that just replace the sand with salt?" His nose wrinkled at the thought. Honestly, he didn't think it'd be so bad if he could just shed his undercoat. That's where all the sand kept getting stuck, and no amount of swimming seemed to dislodge it, and grooming... Well, he didn't particularly fancy having a mouth full of sand.
He sighed softly, rolling to his feet when Areli finally saw fit to climb off of him. A quick shake did little to dislodge the granules that had been forced into his coat by her tackle, and he winced as a patch of it rubbed against his skin uncomfortably. Ugh. He'd be grooming all night trying to get that out. But he brightened considerably at the offer of help. "You will?"
She nearly rolled her eyes at him now. "At least salt doesn't crunch?" Grit in the teeth wasn't a super thing, even if you were used to it. Salt, in her opinion, was the lesser of two evils. She huffed at him, shaking her head. "If I don't, it's gonna take you all night, right? And I guess it's like, maybe half my fault, so I'll do half your fur, or something." Of course, she had her own fur to tidy, but she had been born on the beach, and was used to it to the point of being able to tend it only now and then. Plus, she didn't mind the taste of salt. Her fur'd shed the sand easy enough after an hour of paddling around.
Come on then. I'm not gonna sit here and groom you. I've got about an hour's patrol left, and I know you've got at least that. Meet me along the tideline when you're done, and we'll straighten out your petals, little flower." She'd make him take a swim first, of course. He might prefer grit to brine, but she sure didn't.
"No, but it's salty," Dnay said bluntly, as if that explained everything. But he didn't deny her assessment. It most definitely would take him all night. And possibly well into tomorrow. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. He didn't need to give her any more reason to find another nickname for him. He had the distinct feeling the one she'd picked out for him already was going to stick for the rest of his life.
He sighed and shook his head, turning before heading back inside his own patrol area now that the boundary had been pointed out to him. Hopefully he didn't repeat this mess on the other side of his patrol.
