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 Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:05 am
Where had Koth gone now? Badru grumbled softly to himself, scouring the grass before him for the lithe purple-blue colour that would indicate his snake. He knew that Koth liked to get away sometimes, to meet with other snakes and talk and stuff. And Badru didn't mind that. But it was irritating when he couldn't find Koth, especially when he needed him. Badru was bored - he wanted to talk to someone.
Pausing in his stride, Badru dropped his hind onto the ground with a loud 'THUMP', wincing at the sound. he was a rather large lion by size, and it could make him seem intimidating to strangers, even when he had the best intentions in mind. He wasn't a violent lion - just a little rough around the edges. Gruff, was what Koth said he was. Gruff and Old-fashioned.
And speaking of the snake, where was he!?
Gaelia rolled and pushed herself onto her back, laying in the grasses and looking up at the sky. Today was so boring that she had been forced to think up something to do, and the first thing that had hit her mind was to cloud-gaze. She was bored; you can't blame her. But the more she took the time to sit there and just watch the clouds move, the more relaxed and accepting she became. Now she actually had a smile on her face, watching this really big butterfly come crashing apart onto that lion. Her smile grew.
A slithering and the sound of grasses moving to her left caused her ear to flicker in that direction. The sound surprised her, as her nose hadn't picked up anything unusual nearby. The slither happened again, and she turned her head slightly to the side to peek around. She didn't see anything. The grasses of the savannah were tall and good at hiding the brown lioness from view. That's what she had been counting on in the first place when she picked this spot to cloud-gaze.
She finally rolled onto her side, still laying on her stomach, but crouching and tense to spring just in case. She heard the slither again, and she stuck her nose and eyes close to the opening of a little hole in the grasses, curious.
Koth was enjoying the fresh air - Badru was lovely, yes, but sometimes the snake needed a little more intellectual conversation, and the space to breath. He'd left that morning without telling Badru, and had been wandering aimlessly when he'd suddenly realized that it was nearly midday - Badru would certainly be up and looking for him by now.
Completely unaware of the camoflagued lionness just to his right, the purple-blue snake slid effortlessly through the grass, weaving between them in a direction he thought - he hoped - was where he and Badru had camped last night. Well, at any rate, he'd probably be able to hear Badru growling and grumbling when he got close.
Speaking of which, the large lion had continued moving again, actually getting quite close to where his snake was. But the grass was so tall, and even with Koth's contrasting colours he feared the snake would be hidden in the grass. What if he never found Koth again?
Gaelia couldn't believe her eyes as a small, light purple snake slithered past the area she was watching with keen eyes. A snake? What was it doing out here? She completely bypassed the entire knowledge that yes, snakes live out in the grasses just as much as lions and other creatures did. She ignored the more logical side of her mind at the moment.
"Hey," she called out softly, hoping to attract the snake's attention. "What are you doing slithering and snaking through my little spot, hm?" If anything, she wanted to know where it was going in such a hurry. She was a curious lion, if anything.
Koth blinked, pausing as he lifted his head from the ground, glancing around for the source of the voice. Who was speaking - was this badru playing a trick? But Badru wasn't the type to play jokes - he was a much more serious lion. Eventually the snake spotted the lionness, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he watched her for several moments. Last time he'd been alone and met a lion, it had tried to eat him. ...Luckily, this one didn't seem to be as hungry.
"Who said this was your spot?" Koth finally replied, although in more of a curious fashion that anything else, "I'm just heading back to my lion, is all. M'name's Koth. ...Who might you be, young lionness?"
She grinned at the snake, tail delightfully whipping back and forth behind her slowly. "I did. I was here first, after all. Have been all morning, just lazing around with nothing better to do. A pleasure, Koth. I'm Gaelia." For the most part, this snake appeared to be a very polite one, albeit just as curious as she. Not a bad thing. And she liked the little creatures a lot better than her normal ones. The lions, leopards, cheetahs and such. The snakes were her favorite. They were nice most of the time.
"Back to your lion?" she repeated, frowning. Funny, Gaelia hadn't smelled anyone else around here. He must be a good distance away then. "Fancy he'd take to an introduction, perhaps? I'm so bored I could care less what happened from it, but I'd think it be fun to do right about now."
Koth had a smile stretched over his face at gaelia's reply, inclining his head a little as a polite greeting. What a pleasant lionness - she seemed a nice, polite girl. Much better than that brute who'd tried to eat it. Ah, it restored his faith to meet nice women such as she. If only she'd been a snake...
"Yes. I left for a walk this morning, and can't seem to find my way back to him. And I'm sure he'd love to meet you - but would you mind helping me find him first?" Koth spoke, cheeks flushing a pale pink in mild embarrassment as he admitted to loosing Badru. Oh, what a horrible friend he was.
She couldn't help but giggle when the snake said he had left for a walk this morning. "You mean, you left to take a slither, or a trip, or a little escape this morning. Unless you're hiding a pair of legs under your belly, I highly doubt that you could have walked around earlier today." She was an interesting character, to be sure. Highly sarcastic and finding fun in taking the absolute simplistic meaning with something, like when Koth said 'walked.'
Gaelia's grin softened and she nodded. "Sure, what's he look like? I haven't seen anyone else around here all day." Then again, she hadn't been looking. The lioness stood and emerged magically from the tall grasses and she glanced around. Then her gaze alighted on a grumpy-looking lion who was facing the opposite direction; she could see his profile. She grinned.
"Is your lion of the black, grey, grumpy-looking sort?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:38 am
Oh, and she was funny too! Koth chuckled at the joke, shaking his head a little as he shuffled forwards, straining a little to look up at Gaelia, although his smile was warm and sincere. She was young and full of life - Badru could learn something from her. Perhaps even...no, he shouldn't be thinking of such things! Especially when the pair hadn't even met! They might hate each other - although he hoped not. He was warming to the lionness quite quickly.
"Thank you, Gaelia. Well, he's quite big. A swampy-green colour with a black mane. Probably looks a little grumpy..." he began to explain, before frowning as he looked up at Gaelia once more - she'd just repeated what he said? Oh, or not, as it seemed. Slithering forwards so he was between Gaelia's legs, his expression brightened as he spotted his friend. "Ah, yes, that's him! Badru, I'm over here!"
The lion turned around at the sound of his friend's voice, but instead of Koth he was met with a lionness. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at her - had Koth grown into a lionness? Surely that wasn't possible? Koth was a snake...and male. His eyes travelled south, however, and he soon spotted his friend, the confused look also brightening into a grateful, relieved one as he took a step forwards, before pausing to look at Gaelia again with a confused expression. "...You're not gonna eat 'im, are you?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:56 am
Gaelia nodded. Yup, she saw him alright. "A swampy-looking grumpy boy, that's what I see. He's just over that way," she repeated, nodding again. The brown lioness looked back down at Koth and grinned. And then the two were spotted, by none other than Badru himself.
She laughed at his question and eyed Koth teasingly.
"No, I try to not make it a habit of eating new friends unless I made friends with them for specifically that reason. But snakes are just not my cup of tea, so he's safe for now."
She eyed the lion. He did look grumpy, but she noticed that his facial expression sure did lighten up when he saw his snake friend again. She wondered what had happened between them to make them so close. Gaelia half-wished that she had a friend like that. But she shook her head and pushed those thoughts back.
"I'm Gaelia," she introduced herself. "And you must be Badru, whom Koth was worrying about so much."
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:17 am
His confused expression softened, Badru looking almost relieved as Gaelia confirmed that she didn't want to eat Koth. The snake himself chuckled lightly, slithering forwards until he was underneath Badru, coiling himself around the male's front paw in a fond way. He smiled up at Badru, giving his paw a reassuring squeeze as he looked back to Gaelia with a polite nod.
"No, Badru. This is Gaelia - she was helping me look for you. You should thank her."
Another squeeze from the snake prompted Badru to nod, looking a little embarrassed and flustered as he did. Big boys weren't supposed to thank anyone, were they? "I...yeah, thanks." he grumbled softly, looking to the ground before up at Gaelia, with the best smile he could muster. Which...wasn't great. "So, what's yer name?"
Koth chuckled again, shaking his head slightly, "Badru, I just told you, silly~ It's Gaelia."
Badru frowned, looking down at Koth before up at gaelia again with the same embarrassed expression. "Oh...right. Sorry. It's a, uh...pretty name."
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:37 am
A big ol' grumpy swamp lion with a bad memory, perhaps? Poor Koth.
"Sure. Thanks." She answered simply. And, now that her curiosity was just gnawing at her more and more, Gaelia couldn't help the question that spilled from her mouth next.
"How did you two meet?" It sounded like one of those...couple things to say, like when a male and a female just became mates and everyone was gushing over them, and then someone asks exactly the question she just asked. And then the story is told, and everyone gushes some more over the sweetness and romanticism of it, etc.
"I mean, I'm just curious. If it's simple, I'd like to find a little snake friend for myself as well."
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 9:49 am
Badru's large eyebrows furrowed at Gaelia's question, as he looked down to Koth again. How did they meet? He hadn't...been asked that before. Koth gave his friend a reassuring nod, and another squeeze of his paw, which caused Badru to smile fondly at his companion, and then look up to Gaelia, now looking thoughtful.
"We...we met when I was a cub." he started, before pausing again, clearly struggling to remember. Koth smiled, eventually injecting to continue where Badru left off, to save his friend some more embarrassment. "I was only young. Badru saved me from being eaten by a hawk. We've been together ever since."
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:14 am
Oh. That made sense. Perhaps all it took, then, was for her to save a little helpless creature of her own? And then that little helpless creature would think of her as a hero. A savior! And then follow her for the rest of their days, to be her friend or guide? How quaint.
But she wanted it.
"Lucky for you then, Koth, that Badru was there to save you," she smiled approvingly at the lion. Perhaps he wasn't so bad after all.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:27 am
Her smile prompted one of Badru's own, the male smiling sincerely back at the female. This was odd - he didn't meet many others too often. Well, apart from Koth. He was always talking to Koth. Speaking of the snake, he nodded, chuckling lightly once again. He was a fan of chuckling.
"Oh yes, indeed I was! I would've been bird-food otherwise," he joked lightly, smiling.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:34 am
"Of course. I don't think you would have been too happy about being bird-food." She would have to look out for some vultures or hawks or anything, then, and see what they were picking at. If it was a little leftover, or prey that was already dead, then she would leave it alone.
But if it was a snake like Koth, then she would do her best to save it. Not only did she now want for the same companionship the two before her shared, but it had been a while before today that she had done such a good deed, and though she refused to admit it, the yearning to do so was eating up inside of her.
"Well, I should get going. It was nice meeting you both; glad I could help you out before." She winked at Koth and grinned at both of them.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:42 am
Koth smiled brightly, nodding to Gaelia at her parting comment. He squeezed Badru's paw once more, looking up at his friend expectantly, to which Badru replied with a frown, followed by an, "Oh, right! I, uh...you too, G-...Gaelia?"
He smiled sincerely, trying to look happy. Koth, however, shook his head, before looking up to his new friend and giving her a polite nod, "It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we have the joy of seeing you again."
Koth finished with a warm smile, before nodding to Badru. And with that, the pair turned, departing from the grassy lands on another adventure.
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