Welcome to Gaia! ::

Akia was lounging in the shade of a tree not far away, his vibrant eyes only half-open. He had already exhausted himself today, running for the sake of running and for the sake of feeling the burn in his muscles, the health in his young body. He'd had to collapse in the shade afterwards for a much-needed nap.

But the thundering hooves had woken him, and at first he'd been alarmed. His mother, Zakiya, had told him many times that anything big enough to hunt and chase zebra was also big enough to hunt and chase him. But after they'd passed, he'd seen the one responsible. She wasn't much bigger than him, if at all; he was rather lanky, even for a cheetah, having rather unusual height for his age.

The juvenile pushed himself slowly to his feet, stretching out his long legs with a yawn. He supposed he'd better go say hello. To not would be ride, and he was never that. He prided himself on his manners, taking after his mother in that respect. He'd yet to meet a lion, and though his mother and Korou did not seem to like them much, he would make his own decisions. Besides, if she did turn out to be horrible, he could always walk away again - or run, as might be necessary. As a cheetah, he felt sure he could run faster than she could, especially after her recent chase. He'd replenished the energy from his, after all.

"Hello!" Akia called in reply as he picked up his pace to a trot. There had been a greeting, not a warning. This was encouraging. Perhaps lions were not as bad as his mother thought. Not that she hated them, and had met a few in her time that she had liked, but she was wary of them, preferring to avoid those meetings if she could. But Akia wanted to find out what they were like for himself, and this female seemed to not be mean and cruel, as he'd heard some were. It didn't seem so dangerous to talk to her.

He stopped by the water, crouching his lanky body to take a slow drink. Then he moved backwards a few paces, standing with his forepaws almost crossed, one over the over, his back legs close together, his tail swishing behind him, his head tilted. It was a more feminine stance than masculine, though obvious from his tone of voice that he was, in fact, male.

"My name is Akia," he ventures. "And... yours is...?"

He had arched an eyebrow at the first thing she said, though returned the smile when she offered it. A smile was always a good thing. He had a smile for everyone, even the ones who were mean to him, or rude, like Uhaya had been. He'd never lost his smile during that meeting, although others might have hit her for her attitude. Never this cheetah, though. He was all kindness and politeness.

"If you were a hungry and vicious lion, I'd imagine you wouldn't have greeted me with hello. But if you were... I would be preparing to run." His smile widens, and he lets his lanky self drop to a seated position. "It's nice to meet you, though, Aziri. I live not far from here, actually, though; I just went for a run this morning, and here I am." A slight pause, before he adds, "And yourself?"

The lanky cheetah laughed softly at that, flicking his tail behind him. "I can hardly believe such a pretty lioness could be vicious." He had a slightly pause at the comment, not sure why he had said it. She reminded him of Uhaya, actually, with dark silver-grey fur, white markings, yellow eyes. That little femme's attitude had been far from pretty, though.

"Yes, the den I share with my mothers and brothers is not far from here," he continued, deciding to let his prior odd statement just pass. "This is also my first time to meet a lion," he says, nodding his head in agreement. "My mother likes to keep my away from them, if she can. We can keep each other company during the first meeting of the unknown; I have nowhere to go right now, and you need to rest."

He takes a moment of silence, thinking of something to ask her. Finally, he settles on, "Do you belong to one of those big groups of lions that live in certain areas? The... prides?" He hesitates on the word, not quite sure if it is the correct term for them.