Hadaya was sitting near the borders of the pride, looking out over the rogue lands and remembering the time he used to spend out there. He had come to this pride because he was drawn by family, and the promise of a new start. he did not regret his decision to come here, as it had brought him happiness he had not been able to find when he was out on his own. But now it seemed like he was back to his roots, alone and wondering about his future. If he was meant to leave, or to stay, or if there was more out there that he just did not understand. Even his visions were quiet, and he had not gotten one at all while he was sick. Now, he was waiting to be told something, to see something. While his visions were not always reliable, at least he could shake up his own life with them, and they helped him to make new decisions. As it stood, he just did not know what he was meant to do now. He had been sick for so long, and it certainly had taken its toll on him, but now that the weakness and pain had gone and he was back on his feet, he was eager to catch up on the life he was missing. Like finding some of his kids in the pride, and seeing what they were up to. He was sure there was a lot to learn, at this point.
Jeshi was feeling odd, thinking about that female he met in his den, the one that helped him with the bunny. She was so nice to him, and to the little rabbit, and he owed her so much. He did not see Hadaya sitting nearby, walking slowly and with his head down as he pondered these new feelings that he had never experienced before. She wanted to see him again, to spend time together away from that weird situation that caused them to meet. And he was actually looking forward to it, though he had no experience with hanging out with others, and would not know where to begin to seem interesting to her. Maybe she only liked him because she thought he was silly about that rabbit. What if she found he was actually pretty boring, otherwise? He had a soft heart but was that enough to actually be considered worthwhile by someone? He just did not know, and these questions were plaguing him as he walked blindly, until he bumped right into Hadaya and the two of them fell over in a heap of fluffy male lions.
“I-I’m sorry,” Hadaya said, though he had just been sitting there and not moving at all, so was in no way responsible for their collision. He was still very used to apologizing for everything because, as a fail face, it usually was his fault. He could not help how clumsy he had always been, and even though he had come leaps and bounds from his cub days, he was still… not exactly… graceful.
“No, I’m sorry,” Jeshi said, trying to extricate himself from the other lion, while Hadaya was doing the same thing. It resulted in a lot of flopping around and getting even more caught up than they had started as their paws and legs got all crossed up.
“You both look pretty sorry, if you ask me,” Rizardon said from nearby, tilting his head at the strange scene and wondering what sort of a pride he had come to, where the lions were so… silly. He had to say, if these two were guards for this pride, they were not very intimidating at all. If everyone in the pride was like this, Rizardon imagined he could take the place over all on his own. Not that he was that kind of a lion, or had any sort of ambition toward power. Other prides were not really interesting to him, save only in his duties to help his own home grow. If someone here wanted to come back with him to his home, so much the better.
The red lion had come from his mountain home in search of some new faces to bring back to his pride, as well as some fresh air for the cold and snow. WIth the weather changing, it was time to get prepared for winter, and that meant gathering supplies and doing what he could to help make sure everyone managed through the cold season. He was a very loyal lion, and since no one was in need of his actual job, as a den digger and ice carver, he was out here looking to bring back those that would need him. He doubted he would get anyone here, since this place looked like a very active pride. Usually, he expected he would have the most luck out in the rogue lands. Anyway, with a first impression like this…
Hadaya finally managed to move himself out from under the other male lion, climbing back to his feet and looking back at Jeshi to make sure he was alright. He helped the younger male back to his feet, offering him a timid smile before he looked at Rizardon and chuckled.
“Yeah, I bet we did. Hello there. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before?” Not that he had ever seen Jeshi, either, but he was pretty sure the markings were familiar, which told him that there was family here in the pridelands. This red lion, though, was a completely new fave, and Hadaya was always glad to welcome visitors to the pride, even if they did not intend to stay. He was a nice guy, and just wanted to offer them help and a safe place if they needed it. He had, once upon a time, and would never forget the kindness he was shown when he was most in need of it. Jeshi shook out his fur and got his feet under him, standing up and looking at the stranger with a frown on his face. He was not as happy about the embarrassment as the older male seemed to be, and not so quick to brush it off.
“It was just an accident. I was not watching where I was going. I apologize, for my negligence,” Jeshi nodded his head at Hadaya, then frowned at Rizardon. “You do not smell like you’re from here. Where are you from? Why are you here?”
“So what, you guys are guards? I was making a joke in my head about it, but oh man…”
“No, no,” Hadaya said, looking nervous, “we’re not. Well, I’m not. I’m a hunter, I was just… looking out over the rogue lands. I used to be a rogue, you know, just like you, I imagine. But this is my home now, and it’s a very nice place.”
Jeshi snorted and said nothing, frowning in his embarrassment. It sometimes took him a little while to get over things like this. Especially when he was thinking about trying to be an impressive lion toward a pretty lady! What if she was around and seeing all of this? On top of the rabbit thing, seeing him falling all over another lion was just not something he was happy about. He growled at the rogue lion and Hadaya looked at him in surprise. This was supposed to be a nice and peaceful place, but Jeshi seemed aggressive. He did not know the motivation behind that anger.
“Well,” Rizardon said, looking at Jeshi and offering him a smile. It was actually friendly, as he could see that he embarrassed the other, but he was not a mean guy. Just a competitive one.
“Do you want to settle this issue you seem to have with me with a fight? This guy here can judge it. We’ll battle, but no death, just until one gives in or he calls the fight. What do you think? Might win you back some pride.”
“Fine,” Jeshi said, and Hadaya looked mortified, not sure if he had a choice in any of this any more, “we’ll meet here tomorrow.”
“Sounds good!” Rizardon laughed, and Hadaya let out an eep, but Jeshi was already walking away. He looked at Rizardon for help instead, who just smiled at him and shrugged leisurely. “The guy is young and he was clearly upset about being embarrassed. Let him stew and then blow off steam tomorrow, it’ll do him good.”
Hadaya was not too sure about that logic, but the red lion did not seem worried at all about his own safety, so he could only assume this was not an uncommon thing. He sighed profoundly.
“I guess I’ll have to be here tomorrow, then, to judge this fight. I hope no one gets hurt…”
“Nah, just call the match before that happens. It’s easy.”
“Right. And that’s easy for you to say.” But he had a feeling that Rizardon was not a fail face.
Word Count: 1,503 in Google Docs
