Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was amazing how much difference a day's walk could make. Brasa's first adventure into the rogue lands was proving to be quite educational. The lioness had been born and raised in the desert and, although she had heard stories from joining rogues about the lands beyond her home, she really couldn't have envisioned just what they might look or feel like. Now there was grass under her paws and a breeze on her cheek that didn't burn with sand. It was almost as if she was dreaming. How could this exist so close to her home?

Trees were another thing that she couldn't seem to get enough of. She'd stop at every one she came across to inspect it. The trees in the desert were scrawny and scarce and they never had any leaves on them. The trees here were tall and strong and many had thick canopies overhead that provided decent shade from the sun. She paused under one to get her bearings before setting off in an easterly direction, continuing away from her pride. Usually she'd be looking for water in the desert, but she had always had the urge to wander away from home, so she had decided to indulge herself finally. She wouldn't go much further, though, perhaps a day or two more. Then she'd return.

Brasa squinted a bit, a common practice that the Firekin employed to keep their eyes from being burnt out by the harsh rays. At least, that's what she had always envisioned as a cub. The glare wasn't nearly as bad here as it was in the desert, but the sun was the sun. It would always be bright. The mirage illusions weren't as bad out here either but the distance was all wobbly and difficult to make out. She was sure she could see something moving a bit more than everything else, though, indicating life.

She hadn't anticipated running into anyone out here, but the prospect of talking to a rogue had her all in a tizzy. She trotted forward and was glad to see a dark lion taking a solid shape. He had a bit of red on him and some white, which was a little disappointing as she was hoping to see some colorful lions out here, but she didn't let it show on her face.

"Hello," she said as she got closer, a little smile on her face. She wasn't afraid of strangers having been raised in the Firekin lands. From a young age she was taught how to fight and defend herself and her natural large size made her a formidable opponent, just as it made all of her kin. The smile on her face almost didn't seem to fit the muscled, well-oiled machine of a feline.

"Sorry, I've never met a rogue before. This is so exciting! I'm Brasa, it's nice to meet you."

"Mircea," Brasa repeated, a fond smile still on her face. She found she remembered names better if she said them after the other lion gave them. Mircea had a very distinct pattern on his face, plus interesting eyes, so she doubted she'd forget him.

"Oh...well. I mean I've met rogues before, but only after they joined my pride, so they weren't technically rogues anymore. But they always have lots of stories to share," she corrected, nodding a bit. "I've never met a rogue that's still a rogue! First time for everything, though," she added with a little laugh.

"My pride doesn't really let those that wander stick around. You either are there to join or are chased off. I'm from the Firekin," she added, proudly lifting her head in the air a bit. "We're pretty selective in who we let in, too. You have to be strong and smart and have fiery colors...you'd fit right in," she added with a little wink. "Whites blacks and greys are allowed too."

Brasa nodded, a mildly grim look on her face where it was once pleasant and happy. "To the outsider it's not a very kind place, both the landscape and the inhabitants are...rough. It's a desert, you see. Always hot and sandy, except at night when it's cold and sandy. And the lions there...well. We're all trained to fight from a young age. I suppose being raised that way makes the majority of our kin rather...grumpy. But there's some like me that aren't," she added, not wanting to paint the Firekin in a bad light. She loved her home dearly, after all, and didn't want to sell it short.

"I wouldn't say there's a lot within the pride," she went on. "But to get in you need to fight. Everyone is taught how to survive on their own, even those that take more peaceful rolls. But it's not as if we're tussling with each other day and night." She laughed at the idea of that. "Some like to spar, but there's very rarely actual fighting among the ranks."

"Mm. This is the farthest I've ever come," Brasa admitted. "I'm a Water-seeker. I check the various water holes to make sure they're still full of water and, if they're not, I report back to the leaders to let them know. Occasionally they'll send us out into the rogue lands if the usual water holes are getting low. They're fine right now," she added quickly. "I was just curious about what was outside of the desert."

As Mircea spoke Brasa's eyes grew wider and wider. Some of those things she'd heard about, like the grass lands and the areas with trees, but snow? What was snow? Cold sand?

"That all sounds so interesting," she said with awe in her voice. "I'm not sure I'd ever go far enough to see those things but..." She trailed off, her mind already making pictures of what snowy mountains might look and feel like. The desert got pretty cold at night, but she doubted that counted as 'cold' like what Mircea was speaking of.

Shaking her head to clear it, she smiled at the male. "It sounds like you've done a lot of traveling. I have to head back to my pride, but if you don't mind some company I'd love if you could walk with me and tell me about some of things you've seen. I'll make sure you don't get too close," she added, nodding back in the direction of the Firekin. "Then no one will challenge you to a battle."

Brasa waited with baited breath as the male considered her offer and when he took it, she grinned. "Great! I want to hear all about this 'snow'," she said as she turned back in the direction she had come from. "Is it like sand? But cold rather than hot? It does get very chilly when the sun goes down, is that called snow?"

She pestered him with questions about his travel as they headed back in the direction of home. This was surely an educational expedition outside of her normal stomping grounds.