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 Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:51 am
The rainy season had only recently passed through the mountains: streams gushed to overflowing, and all manner of vegetation blossomed in the rugged highlands. The color seen everywhere was green: varying shades of green, but mostly a healthy, vibrant, deep color, offset by the brilliant blue of the sky and the welcoming hues of soft brown and gray of rock.
The wind is a living thing up here, whistling through crevices and howling over the mountainsides. It buffets into the face of a black lioness sitting on a mound of rock, tossing her 'fluff' of hair into her purple eyes and making her crow aloud in delight. She certainly knows how to create a picture: behind her, a waterfall roars down a cliffside, casting up a magnificant spray as it tumbles into the pool below.
It was a hard land to live on, not necessarily one she would have chosen a year ago ... but the sheer beauty of the area was enough to compel her to stay. This was wild country, unlike the tame savannahs below, and a dizzying enough experience to make one believe they were the height of the world. It had prey, too; different types than she was used to, but eventually they would be experts at catching them. Here she would start a new life, making up for all the mistakes she had made with her first attempts.
The lioness throws her head back and roars.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:03 am
This place was.. To say the least, extremely odd. The wind blew here, flying through obstacles such as mounds of rocks-- like the very one the lioness sat on-- trees, not freely like over the savanna.. Yet it was still strong, and rather nice.
However, for a lion, it would perhaps get annoying at times, especially one with a large mane. It blew over his head and ruffled his mane, throwing a good amount into his face. Yet, the lion had learned to live with his large mane, and merely shook his head, pushing it out of the way.
Orange eyes look up to the lioness, then soon the lion bounds up onto the mound, carefully at first, as if testing his weight on it, then more calmly. Being large sometimes was annoying. Yet he'd never trade it.
The lion moved to the black female's side, sitting there and looking around, glad for this vantage point. It was a nice view; although he wasn't the sort that normally enjoyed views. He did enjoy this one, however. In his mind, he too reflected what life might be like here-- no zebra, buffalo, wildebeest.. But there would be food, yes. He'd have to live with it, and he wouldn't complain. It would be worth it.
"What do you think, Afu? " He asked, though this was probably rhetorical. It was kind of obvious, wasn't it?
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:14 am
The lioness turned at the sudden arrival of another on her little 'throne,' quite unperturbed to see Ahali there, watching his caution for a moment. The mane probably doesn't help, she considers in silent amusement, eyeing him sidelong.
"Mmmm, I think it'll work. Don't you?" She purrs, offering him up a quick nuzzle in reply. "It'll be an adjustment, but," Here, she rolls her shoulders back into a graceful shrug. "That's hardly unexpected. It would have been the same anywhere ... it's just more, here." Absently, she looks out across the lands, or what she can see, at any rate. Most of it is obscured by mountains or cliffs, and her eyes narrow. "Intruders might become a problem, there are too many hiding places there. You'll have to train up lions for patrolling."
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:27 am
The lion nodded, curling his tail a bit then resting it at his side, the tip hidden behind a paw, as if to keep it away from the wind. "Yes. The prey is harder to catch here. " He said, looking around. When they'd first arrived, he'd moved off to see the land a bit, and had seen an odd creature. "They know the rocks much better. "
He snorted. It'd maybe take a while till they could handle taking on those goats, first they needed to get used to hunting on all these drops and hills, especially as the goats seemed to know how to move through it so well. "But we can learn. " He nodded quietly.
He pondered a bit. They'd acquired a group of lions, maybe they should round them soon. "What about the others? " He asked, tilting his head a bit to look at Afu, and growing slightly annoyed as the wind once more shoved mane at him, and he had to shake it away.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:41 am
"Well, they've grown up here all their lives," she pointed out. "We just got here. But I'm sure we'll get used to it; we might want to get some leopards, really, for hunters. Their tree-climbing can't be that different than rock-climbing,' she muses. Lions, unfortunately, were not built for such things. "We'll make our home base here, I think." The scenery is impressive, which is what Afu is going for, even though the place will be treacherous for cubs. They'll just have to figure out that particular hurdle later ... Afu's not going to waste the backdrop.
She shakes her head at his last question. "Leave them, for the moment. I'd rather explore with you first." While it would be nice to have added protection in case they stumble across something (or someone) dangerous, the black lioness wants to have a look around without the added pressure of anyone potentially watching her every move.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:48 am
"Yes. " He nodded, and pondered a bit over leopards. "Leopards would be useful. There are many trees here, also. Maybe they could find more stuff up there as well. " He shrugged. Maybe there wasn't just ground-prey here. Perhaps there were those annoying, skinny things known as monkeys.
He was slightly unsure why Afu wouldn't want him to fetch the others also, but decided not to complain. It wouldn't be so bad to explore a bit with her. "Alright. Where should we head? " He partially wanted to go against the wind, so that it wouldn't throw his mane into his face, but he could live with either way.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:56 am
Afu rolls her eyes at this slightly. "If there was, I think we would have seen it by now." It was, after all, difficult to hide in trees for an extended period of time. The lioness shifts her gaze to the waterfall, absently lost in thought, before being abruptly pulled back by his next question.
Oddly enough, she doesn't demand to be in the front this time, perhaps considering that Ahali's considerable bulk would protect her from most attacks. This seemed like a land without predators, but ... one never knew. "Pick a direction and start walking," she suggests, getting to all fours and stretching delicately, before jumping down to the ground below in two short bounds. There are some naturally-made paths, here ... presumably by the prey, but there's another smell, too, one she doesn't know. It's very faint, though, which suggests that the owner passed here weeks ago, and the trail will probably be lost further on.
Still. She'll keep a wary eye out.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:05 am
"Never know. " He shrugged, and leaped down to the ground as well. He was slightly amused by Afu's decision not to lead, and smiled slightly at that. Usually -she- went first. However, he best not complain, and scented the air.
He also felt that odd one scent, strange and new. For once, Ahali wished he had a hyena or wild dog here, their noses were much more sensitive, perhaps they'd recognize something. But such was not the case.
He looked at one of the paths, and started in its direction, glad that it wasn't making him turn his head away from the wind. "Do you recognize that scent?
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:21 am
Surprised that he had picked it up, she quietly follows him, picking her way among fallen rocks and debris from the cliffs above. "No," she calls up to him, and there's a frown upon her face, although he won't be able to see it from his leader's position unless he glances back. "It's something, but I can't ... quite ... " She trails off, then shakes her head. It's gone already. "Nevermind. We'll pick it up later if it's owner's still around, or if he comes back. There's going to be a lot of new smells here, we'll just have to take the time to actually learn them all."
As she continues up the trail, she considers. It makes her uneasy, that she can't pinpoint the smell and that the owner may still be around. It certainly wasn't a preybeast, whatever it was.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:31 am
"Yes. " He frowns quietly as the wind blows his scent trail away, and moves among the rocks and paths, always aware of the scent coming back. He partially wanted to follow it, but.. it seemed too old to really follow.
It curved a bit along the land, and sometimes there were rocks that had to be jumped over, but Ahali has a feeling it was actually going down. Perhaps it led to that waterfall's end, and a lake, or perhaps river to follow from it. They'd been too up-high to really get to the water just yet, but he welcomed a drink.
Much to Ahali's displeasure, however, a goat-creature jumps out among the rocks, clearly started by a lion suddenly arriving here, and in the process, surprising Ahali, who let out a snarl as the creature bounded up the stones, moving away from the path.
"Dumb thing. " He snorted, folding his ears back. He hadn't seen it until it popped up, it'd been lying down very still, blending slightly with the rocks. Though, he could kind of smell water. Then again, this place was humid.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:07 am
Afu carefully wind and weaves her way among the path, her soft pawpads drowned out by the wind. The rock, precarious trail makes it slow going, and a distance they would normally cover in fifteen minutes takes them the good part of an hour. She doesn't really care where they're going: she has to get used to the lands, and the only way she's going to do that is if they explore it, preferably on casual terms. Every now and again she stops to take a good look around, all senses on the alert. She's often looking so hard at where she's going to step next that she needs to take time just to observe.
It's during one of these pauses that the goat jumps out, startling her completely: she had been looking out between two natural rock pillars into a rather picturesque little valley. Her hackles raise and she has to force herself not to jump up, glaring at the goat as it scrambles off. Clever feet, those things. She'll have to do quite a bit of practice being graceful.
She casts an amused look at Ahali. "Hope it's dumber than it looks, it might end up being dinner once we get back. Where to now, oh hunter?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:15 am
"Well, if they keep jumping out like that, " Ahali said, looking back at Afu and allowing her to catch up, as he'd been a bit further ahead. "It'll be easy! " He chuckled in amusement. Imagine if prey just jumped out at you! Life would be easier.
"I think we're getting close to water. " He said, lifting his nose to scent the air. Unfortunately, the more they went down the path, the more things got into view, once they weren't in a high vantage point. He was, however, quite sure it wouldn't take them too long to reach the water now.
Here, however, the scent of that whatever had started coming back a bit. Still rather stale, but he supposed it made sense. There was water here. Whatever it was, it would have needed to drink water, surely? So far, things were still going rather well. He doubted this thing was something that needed to be taken care of immediately. It was so stale, he wouldn't need to worry anytime soon.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:31 am
She snickers, imagining it. "Yes, and then I'd have to find myself a new mate, since you'd be after it like a shot and end up running straight off a cliff. I think I prefer the ones I can sneak up on." She tries to grab onto his tail with her teeth and playfully tug it, but is distracted mid-way by his next statement and perks her ears and sniffing the air.
"Hmm," she sas, picking up on the scent as he had. "Seems like our little guest was here, too, but a long time ago ... several weeks. Lead on to water, your grace." She uses the title mockingly; but, in a sense, she's being dead serious. The dark lioness waits for him to continue, having no plans to leave the trail, which was hazardous enough to negotiate already.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:41 am
"Well, one must eat. " He grinned, crouching a bit when she grabbed at his tail, as if ready to turn and retaliate, when she seemed to give up on it. Pity, he hadn't played in a while. As much as Ahali wasn't extremely playful, sometimes it was fun, and he was kind of energetic right now.
"Yeah, I smelled it too. " He nodded quietly, looking around almost as if he could find the owner of the scent, swishing his ears to try and drown out some sounds, as the waterfall had grown louder with their descent.
He kept going, then, leaping over a large-ish rock that'd fallen on the path, probably long ago. When he landed, he quietly mused over -not- doing that again, remembering how he wasn't sure what he'd land on after the jump. He continued on, though, interested in finding the water, as this trail had left him even more thirsty.
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:49 am
She chuckles, feeling surprisingly good-natured, which rarely ever happens unless she's done something particularly clever. But out here she feels rather free from her parents and siblings and the rest of her past life; not that she'd like it forever, but it was nice to have a vacation. She's smart enough to realize she'd get bored of it in short order, however. The new pride will ensure that she won't.
The dark lioness cautiously follows her mate, scrambling to find a purchase atop the rock rather than leaping over it, and peering down. No, still no sight of the water, although from what she'd seen, the water up here was more pure than the water down on the savannah, which was often clogged with mud or worse. Here, though, the streams ran frigidly cold and clear.
She drops down onto the trail again, following.
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