Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mez was almost home. He had been gone for about a moon and he was aching to see his mate and the little brood of cubs he had come to call his own. This part of his outing to the rouge lands was the most important, though. This was where any lions needed to be warned about the dangers of his home pride. He kept his eyes sharp and his ears alert for any noise or sight that might lead him to an unsuspecting lion.

Sure enough, not far from the border of his pride, he spotted a lone male lion. Thankfully he wasn't moving in the direction of the K'A, but Mez didn't want to take any chances. He turned his paws in the course of the larger feline, putting a grin on his face to hopefully make him a bit more welcoming than terrifying.

"Hello!" he called out to get the male's attention. "Hello there, could I bother you for just a moment?"

Mez, who was used to being flinched at, held his ground as the lion turned and stepped away from him. He quickly ceased his grinning and lowered his ears, trying to put off a calming signal.

"Me either," he called out, still a little bit too far to speak at a normal tone. "Sorry, I know...big teeth," he said with a weak laugh, his large, fluffy tail swishing back and forth. As far as leopons went, Mez was pretty small, but his fluffy fur and spiked mane made him look bigger than he actually was.

"I'm Mez," he offered, tilting his head to the side. "I just wanted to come talk to you for a moment. Is that all right? I promise, I'm not here to pick a fight." Fighting was just about the worst thing Mez could do with another creature. He would if he had to, but for the most part he was a peace-loving fluffball that enjoyed talking and laughing rather than snarling and clawing.

Mez let out a mental sight of relief as the lion relaxed as well. Phew! For a second there he thought he'd have to high-tail it to the pride and hope the lion got tired of chasing him. But no, he was moving forward enough to speak and seemed as though he were interested in what Mez had to say.

"Oh no, I completely understand," the blue leopon sympathized. "The rouge lands can be dangerous, especially when traveling alone." He had his looks to thank for being left alone on his travels. When he wanted to be alone, all he had to do was stare at whoever was trying to get close and they'd back off very, very quickly.

He nodded and sat as well, wanting to continue to foster the calm atmosphere they had going on. "I just wanted to tell you that you're rather close to the border of my pride. We're welcoming to weary travelers, but the lions that live there carry a dangerous disease that make the pride a bit unsuitable for any lions who wish to remain uninfected."

Of course, there was more to it than that, but it was generally the best to gloss over the details. Rouges got bored with his stories when he dragged them out.

Mez tried very hard not to laugh at the other male as his expression went from pleasant to terrified in about one blink of an eye. He shook his head a the question, adopting a comforting tone of voice.

"No, don't worry. The only way you can catch it is if you're exposed to the blood of another lion that is infected, and it gets into your bloodstream. I also don't have any of the symptoms, nor have I swapped blood with anyone in the pride that might have it, so you're very much safe. My job is to simple steer wandering lions like yourself from the borders of our pride, and to warn them of the dangers they carry."

He paused and tilted his head. "Of course, there are lions in the pride that don't have the illness. It's not as if the moment you put a paw in or decide to live there you're doomed to be ill. It happens...but not very often."

"It is," Mez agreed with a little nod. The question made him flick his tail back and forth, though, unsure of how to answer. The lions in the pride saw it as a blessing, really, but he had told that to passing rouges before and they had passed him and the whole pride off as mad. Since then, he'd learned to twist the truth just a bit to keep the minds of those that didn't know how the pride felt at peace.

"There are herbal remedies that help with the illness, but there's no cure that's been found yet," Mez said with a little nod. "But many lions live to their full life expectancy with little more than a cough. The illness manifests in many different ways, and the majority of the pride really don't have life-threatening symptoms. Just...runny noses and difficulty breathing a bit through their whole lives."

There was truth in his statements...just not the whole truth. And that was fine, he reassured himself. The poor lion before him didn't need to worry.

The thanks made Mez smile again, but he made sure to keep it at a non-threatening level. He bobbed his head in agreement: any outsider that accidentally stumbled upon the pride was in for a huge shock. While the illness didn't affect all the lions that badly, there were those that looked like walking skeletons they were so badly infected. It really was disturbing to the unaware eye, and the hacking, rattling coughs that plagued nearly every lion that had the disease were the stuff of nightmares.

Well. He assumed they were. To him they were a normal occurrence, part of life, and he had learned to tune it out.

"You're more than welcome. I do hope you continue your journey safely and soundly to wherever you're going," he said, lifting his head from the bow, the friendly smile still on his face. "I'm Mezlijin, by the way. It's been a pleasure to meet you."

"Bahati," Mez repeated with a little bow of his head in return. He'd remember it, he was sure. He doubted he'd ever see the lion again, but hey, you never knew! With a friendly grin he watched 'Bahati' walk off, glad he was moving in the opposite direction of the pride. He knew the disease was not the burden for all lions to bear.

Feeling as though he had done well, he turned to head home himself. There were friendly and happy faces there he hadn't seen in a long time, and he was eager to re-aquatint himself with them.

FIN