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 Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:02 pm
The hunt was on. A green and blue form stalked through the grasses, silent and deadly. The lioness was intent on her prey...a male gazelle. She grinned. No matter where she was, old pride or new, hunting was always the same. And it was something she was good at, as well as healing.
With a roar, she launched herself at the gazelle and took it down. Once it finished dying, she looked about. She wasn't afraid of anyone stealing from her, since she was large for a female. But...well, one couldn't be too careful with some of the things lurking out there.
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:13 pm
 Hadaya wandered aimlessly. It was what he often did, so he did not consider himself lost. After all, he almost never knew where he was, because he was so busy passing through he just forgot all the places he should remember. He knew landmarks and dens of the few he called friends, as well as the lands Thili and that pride belonged to, but not by sight. He navigated by feeling, and almost always found his way to where he wanted to go.
Almost.
Humming to himself, he kept his body low in the yellow grass of the savannah, nearly disappearing against the similar colors. He was lost in his own little world, reflecting on the events that had happened to him recently, and had little time to react to the explosion of activity that sudden roared in front of him. There was a green streak and a terrible cry, then a thud and the sounds of struggling.
Hadaya, of course, hadn't seen what happened. He dropped to the ground and covered his face with his paws, only looking up when the sounds had stopped. He was only a few feet away, well hidden, and he bit his tongue as he tried to back his way slowly from what he now recognized as an intimidating lioness.
He stepped on a twig, which knocked a rock into another rock. He froze as the sounds betrayed him.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:08 pm
Na'ima heard him before she saw him. And when she saw him, she realized why she hadn't in the first place...
He blended in MUCH better than she and her kin. He also seemed to be rather harmless. She sighed and shook her head as she placed her kill down. "Is there something I can help you with? If you're lost, I can direct you to someone who can get you where you need to go." He had to have been lost...he wasn't full-grown. His mane was incomplete, and he certainly didn't have her size.
Then again, she was a joka'simba. Large ran in her veins.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:17 pm
Hadaya coughed and straightened up, trying to look as if he had meant to make himself known. Scuffing his paws in the grass, he shook his head and offered a lopsided smile. It was supposed to be confident and decisive, but fell short on both counts, leaving him looking uncomfortable and vaguely confused.
"I'm not lost," he said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and tried it again from a lower starting point, "I'm not lost. I wander around all the time, so I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm sorry to have disturbed your hunt, though. Uhm. You uh. You caught it, and, uh. That's... cool."
He frowned. He wasn't sure what he was trying to say there, but he hadn't said it. Clearing his throat again, though there was nothing to clear so he was mostly just humming loudly. Intimidated by her size, the lanky lion did not make eye contact with her, staring at her paws.
"I was just... watching."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:10 pm
Na'ima blinked. What. The. Heck? She'd never met a lion who acted like this one.
"A wanderer, hm? Uhm...do you have something stuck in your throat? You sound a bit sick..." The healer in her was rather worried, the thrill of the hunt gone from her veins. "And you needn't look at my paws." She chuckled. "I'm not some great lady." No...despite her blood, she was but a paladin.
"Do you have family you travel with? You don't look quite old enough to be on your own."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:22 pm
Hadaya frowned even more furiously at her paws when she commented on his sounding sick. He certainly felt sick, but not in the way he imagined she thought. Swallowing hard, consciously avoiding clearing his throat again, he very briefly glanced up at her before looking back down and speaking.
"I'm sorry," he said, though he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for exactly. He had interrupted her kill, and he was being annoying, and he was still looking at her feet even though she told him he didn't have to. Sighing, he looked up at her with a great effort, only looking at her from under his eyebrows.
"No, I don't have any family, and I've been on my own since I was very little. Even though I don't look like it, I'm really used to being on my own. I'm sorry about the paw thing. I'm... uhm... anyway, you... have... nice paws?" He sighed again, shaking his head and dropping his gaze once more.
This wasn't going very well.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:38 pm
Na'ima had no idea how to react. The adolescent was...confusing. Only slightly annoying because of it, but still confusing nonetheless. How did one deal with such a strange lion? He wasn't evil. Just...strange. And no family? Na'ima couldn't imagine having grown up without her beloved brothers and sister.
"I...You have no need to apologize. I am the one who was rather ignorant." She smiled nervously. "And...thank you? I never really noticed, I suppose..." She lift a paw up to her face. Her paws could be...pretty, she supposed.
"Perhaps this would be less awkward with names and food? I'm always willing to share with someone else, so long as they mean no trouble. I'm Na'ima."
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:46 pm
The yellowish young lion looked up at the mention of food, always glad to have a meal. He was a terrible hunter, most of the time, and it was a welcomed reprieve to not have to catch his own food. It usually ended up with him hurting himself, or making a mess of the kill. Or, more often than not, with the prey getting away.
"I'm Hadaya," he said, nodding slowly, making sure that he had, in fact, said his name right. More than once he had stuttered through an introduction, only to gain a new name for it. Smiling sheepishly, he supposed her paws were pretty, but only because the rest of her was a color unlike any he had ever seen before.
"And if it's not too much of a bother... I know you just killed it, and I sort of... distracted you. I didn't mean to, either, so if you want to share with me out of pity then I'd rather not. I mean, not that I don't appreciate the offer, because I do, I really do. It's just... er..." he sniffed, taking a moment to gather himself.
Females always gave him the jitters, but his intimidation from her size and skill at hunting also were also contributing to his miserable attempts at conversation, "did I mention my name is Hadaya?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:57 pm
Pity? Na'ima was rather...unfamiliar with that word. "Well, awkward Hadaya...I'm have no idea what pity is...But I'm certain my offer doesn't involve it. And I don't mind the distraction." She motioned to the carcass. "Company is a good thing. And you're...interesting." Best to be honest.
"And confusing. Never met anyone like you. Jittery, certainly...though not in the way you are." She scratched her chin carefully.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:08 pm
Hadaya's ears drooped when he was addressed directly as awkward. He knew he used that word to describe himself a lot, but it seemed to hold more weight, and shame, when someone else said it. Frowning, almost pouting, he chewed his bottom lip and tilted his head at her.
Not know what pity was? Now it was Hadaya's turn to find his company strange. He thought pity was a universal term, something that everyone understood. It was like being happy or sad to him, and how someone could be unfamiliar with it was beyond him. He couldn't figure out if it was a good trait to have, or a negative one: to not know what pity was when one felt it, or to simple not feel it at all.
"You're interesting, too," Hadaya said, suddenly eager, "I've never seen anything like you. I mean any one. Not that you're weird. I just meant... you have nice fur." He looked puzzled, shaking his head and moving carefully toward the carcass. His stomach growled so loudly he thought the entire savannah could hear him, and was absolutely certain his new acquaintance had.
"Er. My stomach is complimenting and thanking you," he said with a goofy grin.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:06 am
It wasn't surprising he hadn't seen one like her before. "Thank you...Most like me choose to stay in my birth-pride. So...they aren't seen often." At his stomach's growling, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Well...I suppose my offer was made just in time!"
The boy was...strange. More awkward and prone to little accidents in the way he did things than any other she had ever met. But he was also just a boy still. Even her joka'kiota's hard expectations allowed for such things, and didn't expect one to be an adult before they were full grown. "Bon appetite!"
With that, she picked a section of the gazelle and started eating.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:41 am
Hadaya joined her in eating, though he was careful to pick a spot as far from hers as he could manage. It left him gnawing on an ankle, but he was thankful for even that. Plus, he needed to work his jaw muscles a bit, if he was ever to become an intimidating creature, and this was as good an exercise as any. He looked up at her as they ate, swallowing hard.
"Your birth pride?" he asked vaguely, not knowing if it was a touchy subject or not. She had obviously left the pride, after all, and it might not have been on good terms. But his curiosity got the better of him once again. "How come they aren't seen? Do they not like outsiders? Were you kicked out, or did you leave?"
He blinked, then lowered his head and began chewing at the leg again, trying not to look up at her. He didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he was being blunt and nosy, though he imagined just have asked those stupid questions was more than enough to do just that.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:00 am
Na'ima chuckled and swallowed her current mouthful. She didn't mind the questions at all. In fact, she rather liked telling others about the joka'simba. Perhaps if more outsiders knew of them, they would be forced to see past their own noses.
"There's only one sect that doesn't like outsiders at all. The other two...the other two are too busy fighting each other to see the true evils of the world. I could see past ancient rivalries, and chose to leave and find where my skills would be needed. And I found a new place to call home, with others who wish to see evil gone from the world just as I do." She smiled kindly at the curious adolescent.
"I left on good terms. Those in charge of my sect and the priestly sect understood I had to follow my own path."
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:28 am
Hadaya smiled, "that sounds cool," he said, impressed, "there are some pretty evil things in the world." He sighed, his memories turning to his encounter with a strange lion, and a vision that had almost traumatized him. Shaking his head, he chased the ideas away and chewed on the leg again.
"I don't think I could do anything against the evil," he said, mouth full, "I mean, I want to, because I met this lion that I'm pretty sure is going to do something awful, but I'm... not made for helping people. I try, but it seems impossible a lot of the time. I'm glad they allowed you out to do things for yourself, though."
Sighing, he lowered himself to the ground in order to get a better angle on the leg. He spoke with his mouth full still, not just of flesh but the actual limb, "I get these visions, 'gifts from the gods' according to my friend, but I don't know who they're supposed to belong to. So I know these things that are going to happen, but if I meant to warn people I don't know how. I normally can't even tell -when- these things are happening."
He sighed, chewing on the leg.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:52 pm
Visions? Well now...that was something that was rather rare outside of Io's priests. "I'm sure you'll find your path soon enough. Perhaps you'll even see it in a vision." He reminded her of the brother that had left with her...no manners when it came to food. But it was comforting, in a strange way.
"Just remember...the past is just as important as the present or future. It is from the mistakes and happenings of the past that we learn and prepare for today and beyond." She smiled. "Perhaps...rather than worrying about the 'when', look at the 'why'. And never think something is trivial." Na'ima chuckled. "After all, the smallest of bugs can cause the greatest of plagues, and an ant can save a lion's life."
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