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 Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:50 pm
 There was something distinctly off putting about reality not living up to the fantasy of a dream. Not that this was something particularly profound, but still, the let down was striking and put Rahani in a bad mood. She had spent most of her life imagining life on her own in these fathomless, exciting lands and, as it turned out, things were far less entertaining and awesome than she had expected. Now that she was living on her own she was beginning to realize the difference between her ideas of life, and the effort actually required to stay alive.
For example: hunting was hard. In her mind she was always full, never wanting for a meal. Maybe that was because at the time of her dreaming these things up she was being fed by her family, and didn't have to worry about catching a living, running, terrified prey beast. In her dreams she was never kicked in the gut by a flailing hoof, and she never had to limp back to a make-shift, poorly constructed den inside a bush empty-handed.
Reality, however, played out exactly like that.
In a bad mood, sore from the surprise kick and thankful it had only been a glancing blown struck in panic rather than something aimed, Rahani heaved a sigh and kicked up a cloud of dust in front of her as she rested her head on her paws. In no way concealed, she felt exposed and in danger and yet her fear did not trump her bad mood.
Let someone come up on her. She didn't care. Today couldn't get any worse, anyway.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:01 pm
Al-Hattal was all too aware of the realities of life as a rogue; it was far from glamorous, and he'd been living it since his adolescence. Still, despite all the trials and tribulations - not to mention the boredom - he wouldn't have traded it for anything. He doubted he even could. Staying in one place held absolutely no appeal to him, especially after so long wandering. Besides, he got to meet a wider variety of lionesses this way...and never had to stay with them for more than a night or two.
As he ambled along, a cloud of dust caught his attention. Curious as to what had kicked it up, he headed in that direction.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:07 pm
She sighed again, more to make the little cloud again than to vent her mounting frustrations, she took a breath too soon and got some dust in her nose. Sneezing, she lifted her head, thinking it had gone away. Then she sneezed again, and again, turning her head and huffing through her nose as it continued to tickle.
Even the dirt was out to get her.
She hated this place. Every last inch of it.
Rubbing her nose with her paw furiously, she opened her eyes and saw a form moving toward her from across the way. Panic still her first instinct whenever she saw something new and bigger than her, she bounced to her feet, paws close together, fur bristled and back arched.
It didn't occur to her that trying to appear threatening was probably a bad idea out here. At home, however, it always worked wonders on her siblings.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:50 pm
While at first he was delighted to see that what had kicked up the dirt was a young lioness, that faded very quickly when she took on an aggressive posture. He promptly stopped where he was and sat, doing his best to look nonthreatening, and called out in an attempt to be amiable, "Hello! I'm sorry if I startled you."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:57 pm
Oh. It was another lion. She was worried it might be a species she didn't recognize, considering all she had known so far were lions. This made her a bit more comfortable, and she sighed in relief, then sneezed again out of what had to be spite from her nose.
She relaxed her posture, donning a forced expression of geniality that was tainted by the nervousness that still remained in her eyes. Sure, she knew he was a lion, but she didn't know what he would be like.
Though, he wouldn't say hi if he wanted to eat her, right?
"That's okay. I'm... I'm easy startle... able. I'm sorry about almost but not really attacking you," she offered a smile.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:06 pm
Though she seemed to relax a little, Al-Hattal remained where he was. He would leave it to her to come closer if she liked, or to invite him to do so. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this if he continued to frighten her, even if it was unintentional.
"It's nothing to apologize for," he assured. "It's completely understandable, after all. Not everyone is friendly."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:19 pm
"I'm starting to learn that," she sighed, sounding more irritated than upset by this fact. Though most of the lions she had met out here were nice enough, she had run away from a number already. That very may well have had something to do with her initial impulse to panic first, then assess the situation.
She'd get the handle of it eventually.
"Not that you're not friendly," she said quickly, smiling. She did venture closer a step or two, sitting down with a little wince in front of, at a little distance. It felt nice to be talking to someone, after being along for a few days, "I'm Rahani, by the way. It's nice to meet you."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:26 pm
As young as she was, there was a good chance she hadn't been a rogue for long. From the way she spoke, she'd probably been born into a pride, or at least a group of some kind. He could certainly sympathize; he'd had his fair share of trouble when he'd been starting out.
"And I am Al-Hattal," he replied, with a courteous dip of his head, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"May I ask what has you out here on your own?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:34 pm
Rahani nodded, smiling at him when he introduced himself. She was glad he continued the conversation, because she wasn't sure she knew what to say next.
And then she found herself laughing ruefully.
"Oh, not much. I really don't have a good reason for being out in this miserable place. Not a good enough one, anyway," she didn't even try to not sound bitter, though a voice in her head was telling her to watch her words. She didn't want to give herself any more bad karma, or something like that. Whatever it was she could blame her as of yet ridiculously bad time on.
"I just thought it was time to get away from the family, since we were always together and I didn't really get to experience anything. I thought it would be fun and new and exciting. Zero for three isn't too bad, right? Oh wait, yeah it is." She sighed.
"Sorry, if you live around here... or something. I'm sure it's... a lovely place. You know, for someone that isn't me."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:51 pm
She had a very nice smile, even if she sounded bitter - and probably rightfully so. Who knew what she'd run into so far on her little adventure? If her initial defensiveness was anything to go by, he was guessing quite a bit, although she didn't look too much the worse for wear.
"It can be a lot harder than it seems," he agreed, "Getting by on your own. It's not for everyone."
"Nah, I don't live here. I'm just passing through."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:18 pm
"Oh good," she said with a big sigh, as if she was now totally free to say whatever she wanted about these lands without being made to feel guilty about it. Which was exactly how she did feel, "is it just me, or does this place always smell? Not like a good smell, either. Just every bad smell that happens here stays in the air, or something. I don't kno where we were living before, but it never smelled like this."
She took a deep breath, steadying herself.
"I think I left too soon," she confessed, though she looked a bit shamed and she scuffed her paws at the earth, "I don't know anything about anything, and I thought I did. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be whining at you about this. I only just met you! And you were probably having a good day. So. Uh. What are you up to, anyway? That I'm currently interrupting."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:38 pm
"I had noticed that," he replied with a nod, "But I wasn't sure if it was just me or not. It's not the worst thing I've ever smelled, but...I won't miss it at all when I leave." The male wrinkled his nose.
"I don't mind," Al-Ha assured her gently, "And you're not interrupting at all. I wasn't doing anything but walking."
"Perhaps you should go home, if this life doesn't suit you?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:45 pm
"I don't really know if home would still be there, if I went back," Rahani said, looking thoughtful, but not too worried. She shook her head. No, she couldn't go back home. That would be even worse than bearing all the irritating and exhausting things out here in these lands. Because then she would have failed at being her own lioness, so completely that no one would be able to argue it.
She didn't want that.
"Anyway, I'm sure there's a home out here for me, somewhere. I've been hearing about prides, and I'm trying to find one I heard about in particular. They're supposed to be really strong, and they favor lighter coats like mine. I don't know, though. I have to find it. It sounds like another stupid dream that'll be lame when I really get there."
She sighed.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:50 pm
Aah, so it was like that? Well, it happened that way sometimes. "Do you know the name of the pride?" he inquired helpfully. "I may be able to point you in the right direction, if you do."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:54 pm
Rahani frowned. She should probably know the name of the pride she wanted to check out.
"It, uh..." she looked around, like a hint would come to her from the grasses, "I think it starts with a B? I'm pretty sure it's in that direction," she motioned with her paw. It was, in fact, the complete opposite way she wanted to go to reach the Binadamu lands.
"But I don't think I'm in a rush. I'd like to just... explore a bit, and find a place that really fits. I guess I should probably be getting back to that. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, though. It's... kind of lonely out here, for all the lions around."
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