Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been some time since that fateful day when Horowai, Sanuye's special heroine, had rescued her from the boughs of a particularly evil tree. The red lioness was much taller and much larger than she had been then. Time and practice had wasted away the fat of her youth. Now, she was strong and fit; big for her age and for her gender. If Sanuye had cared enough about where she'd come from to consider genetics or if she understood them at all, this fact would have inspired a series of confusing questions. Baala, her mother, had not been a very big lioness. In fact, if her memory served her correctly, Sanuye was quite certain that she'd been rather small. It was fortunate, then, due to her life's goals and aspirations, that she had inherited her massive size from her father, whom she would never meet. Nor did she care to. She knew nothing about him, and cared even less.

The bright red adolescent travelled along the borders of the Kunanda pride lands with her head held high. She had an ambitious soul, but she was also incredibly loyal to the place where she'd grown up. She'd grown so used to the jungle and the heat that she felt, at times, that it was a part of her. The young lioness would never wander very far from the shelter and security it provided, unless prompted to by something entirely out of her control. This place was her home. She loved it, in much the same way that she loved her sister, whom she had not spoken to in awhile. Nuksani, it seemed, did not have much time for her these days.

That was just as well. Sanuye had training, and all her dreams about someday becoming a fearsome warrior to keep her occupied. This thought brought on a sudden burst of energy and she broke out into a run, sailing over fallen logs and darting around trees as she pushed her lungs to the limit.

Sanuye understood that the longer and harder she pushed herself, the more likely she would be to fulfill her dreams. She knew that she was young still, and that she would not be completely eligible for the role of a warrior until she'd grown into an adult, but Sanuye didn't care. Other young ladies her age, with aspirations similar to her own, still liked to play amongst each other every now and then. She didn't have time for them. To her, training and working hard were fun. When the time finally came to meet her destiny, she would be ready. That was the most important thing.

So, she ran; as fast and as far as her limbs would carry her. It was a long while before her body complained enough for her to slow down and, even then, when her lungs shook with the effort of breathing and painfully demanded more air, she didn't stop completely. There was an unfamiliar scent on the air that kept her on her toes; her ears and eyes were alert for any sign of the body that belonged to the smell. Sanuye couldn't be sure, but she guessed that it was a stranger; an intruder. She had spent enough time traveling along the borders of the pride and within the pride lands themselves to at least recognize the scent of a pride member. They were all slightly familiar to her, even if she had not spoken to many of them.

Curiosity pushed her towards the source. The bright red lioness was as silent as a ghost as she cruised through the trees, crouched as low to the ground as it was possible for her to be. She was getting closer.

If there was one disadvantage to being so brilliantly red it was the lack of any suitable camouflage. There wasn't anywhere in the world where she could go and just disappear, especially because of her unusual size, and that sometimes made hunting a little more difficult than she would have liked to admit. It was necessary for her to be fast, and she worked just as much on being swift as she did on being strong, in order for her to eat.

In practically no time at all, Sanuye came to a stop right in front of the purple intruder. She was too young and impulsive to wait, just in case there was some kind of danger nearby, and didn't bother to look around for any sign of company. With the exception of the familiar odors and aromas of the jungle that surrounded them, there was only one scent that stood out- and it belonged to a smallish, though very striking, lioness. The other female was older, but she was alone. As far as she could tell, there wasn't anything for Sanuye to be worried about.

"Hello," was all that she said. Her tone wasn't unkind, but it wasn't friendly either. It was simply a voice; nothing more.

Attack was the farthest thing from her mind. Sanuye may have been particularly inclined towards violence, but this stranger hadn't done anything to warrant any anger yet. The pretty purple lioness simply stood there. She didn't look surprised at her sudden appearance there, which made Sanuye wonder if she'd spotted her within the trees beforehand. It was likely.

Damn. She would have worked to improve her stalking skills anyways, but now there was new drive behind the ambition.

When the other female didn't speak, Sanuye's blank expression twisted into a disapproving frown. The purple lady was very nice looking and older than she was, but the adolescent didn't believe that those things gave the stranger any kind of authority over her- especially when she was invading her pride lands. This behavior was very rude, but the obvious gentleness of the other lioness kept her calm.

"You don't speak?" she inquired suspiciously, with one eyebrow raised.

If Sanuye wasn't so wildly controlled by her own desires and ambitions she would have asked why the purple lioness preferred silence to speech. The only reasons she did anything was because she wanted to- the rationales very rarely went much deeper than that. As far as she'd been able to tell, everybody was similar to her in this fashion. Didn't everybody behave according to what they wanted; to what they needed? It did not occur to her that the other lady's decision had anything to do with some kind of traumatic experience or secret, personal vow. Though, she did think the nature of her choice was a little strange. Talking was easy.

"How shall I know what to call you, if you do not tell me your name?"

This question, she thought, could not be answered with a simple nod or shake of the head. The stranger would have to speak, or continue to frustrate her.

The other lioness's continued silence did, surprisingly, not get on her nerves. It confused and frustrated her, but those emotions did not elevate into anything more profound. She was more amused than she was angry and there was a tentative, if slightly twisted, smile on her face. The red lioness supposed that this stranger was simply stubborn, but her opposition was not lost on Sanuye. She did not think that the other lady was trying to piss her off, especially because she was so calm and apparently gently and, therefore, interpreted this new challenge as a fun, little game.

The adolescent was determined to hear the older girl speak someday, and would push her at all costs. She had no inhibitions, so it didn't occur to her that this stranger might.

It was good that the purple lady did not bother to sketch her name into the jungle floor. Sanuye couldn't read and, probably, would never care to.

Sanuye gave a bit of a start and took a step back when the male's voice tickled suddenly at her ears. Words, coming from the throat of another, seemed almost foreign after the short stint of time she'd spent with the mysterious, pretty purple lady. Her brown eyes flashed as she took in the appearance of the male, who was bigger than her, and she did her best to reign in her instincts. Usually, Sanuye had no problems with males. They couldn't help their genders, after all, even if something in their past lives had warranted such a punishment. This one, however, had startled her. She bristled slightly, aware of the careful way that he moved, and then was comforted by his apology and explanation. He was her family; his presence there made sense now.

"I am called Sanuye'Kiuma," she informed the pair of them proudly, watching in fascination as Kagami treated him so affectionately and then, with a quick shake of her head, turned to look at the brother, "What is your name?"

The adolescent sounded neither grateful nor upset. At the most, she seemed to be curious.

It wasn't in her to be observant. That particular personality trait and Sanuye just weren't compatible. Usually, she was too self absorbed to notice much, unless she was hunting or darting around the jungle, about her surroundings and the other lions around her. Now, however, as she watched the subtle exchanges between brother and sister, observing seemed to be the only thing she could do. Kagami thought her name was pretty? The flattery was not lost on her, but it was trumped easily by suspicion. How had he known, if she couldn't speak? This male couldn't possibly be so foolish as to lie to her, could he? The bright red lioness scrutinized the pair in front of her carefully, through narrowed eyes. The gears in her head were working faster than they ever had before and, though she would never admit it, the effort was a little exhausting. With a sigh, Sanuye gave up trying to figure out the solution on her own.

"She doesn't really think that, does she?" It was hard for her to keep the annoyance out of her tone, "How could you know?"

Unless Akira could read minds, it seemed to be impossible. Was he being sneaky on purpose? What was going on? Sanuye did not like to be confused. It was only slightly less irritating than losing- and that was terribly frustrating.

"These are pridal lands," she informed them breezily, and managed to reign in her temper as the other lioness stepped closer. There was something about the purple lady that helped her to relax. Sanuye did not care enough to consider what it was, exactly. She knew that she liked Kagami, whose silence was strangely refreshing, and that was enough. After all, people who did not speak could not lie.

"You've never heard of the Kunanda'Nakhun?"

It had never taken much to ignite her temper. Anger had always been the emotion easiest for her to express and, as Akira continued to speak, the nature of his tone simply added more fuel to the hungry flames. Sanuye couldn't believe his reaction. She was unaware of the fact that her own words might have offended either of them, as it hadn't occurred to her soon enough to care. It was difficult for her to imagine that other people experienced the same thoughts and feelings as she did, and the bright red adolescent struggled to comprehend what all of this meant.

Her first instincts were either to attack him or to leave. However, after a quick glance in Kagami's direction, Sanuye sucked in a deep breath and started counting to ten; it was a trick she'd learned a very long time ago, but never managed to accomplish properly. There wasn't anything in the world more difficult for her than controlling her swift and unpredictable reactions. The physical effort, just like before when she'd been trying to figure out how Akira could possibly know what Kagami wanted to say, was exhausting. Sanuye had always fancied that the relationship she shared with her own sister, while not the most loving, was the strongest type out there. Now, she wasn't so sure.

"Do you really think my name is pretty?" she turned to the purple lioness after a moment, deciding that it was best if she just ignore the brother for the time being. Her voice was tentative, unsure and full of surprise. It pleased her, to think that Kagami thought something about her was pretty- which was odd, considering how fiercely Sanuye fought to be seen as a warrior. Warriors weren't pretty.

...were they?

It annoyed her that they had never heard of her homelands before, but she tried not to concentrate too much on that. They were outsiders. Their ignorance was, therefore, acceptable. She could tell them all about it later.