Alaia hadn't ventured out of the mountains before.

It was all much flatter, down here. Less rocky cliffs to climb, less harsh on the pads of her paws, and much, much more sandy. She wasn't a fan of the sand, she had to admit, but she was happy to deal with it for a few more days, for the good of her pride. Alaia hadn't ventured far - if she looked behind her she could still see the mountains, her home. Currently in a grassy plain, stretching as far in front of her as the eye could see, Alaia was reluctant to leave. Her vision had showed her grass - grass and a dark, handsome stranger. She was pale, and as such her cubs were much needed/revered in the Intaba'Umbikezeli lands. It was her duty to bare them, even if the somewhat...young, naive, inexperienced lionness was a little less than certain. But that was Alaia - something had said something in passing, and she'd felt compelled to. She didn't want to upset anyone.

Standing still, the pale lionness caught her breath, glancing around. She couldn't see anyone, but there were plenty of hiding places - the grass itself was up to her shoulders, so by crouching she could hide within it. There were numerous trees and rocky outcrops to hide behind, but Alaia certainly hoped there weren't any unsavoury characters hiding behind them. She couldn't fight very well.

Sighing softly, she turned and began to trot backwards - not homeward, but back to the small lake she'd passed not long ago. She could do with a drink.


Seventy-eight...wildebeest...

/Yawn.../

Seventy-nine...

A dark-maned male was lying curled beneath a very long patch of grass, paws cupped about his face like a cub. His body seemed perfectly relaxed, but the way his ears kept twitching was a sheer sign that the male was not asleep. In fact, he was far from sleep. If anything he was merely in a completely calm state of being, but sleep was being rather sour and would not come to him that day. It was all he could do to count wildebeest in his head, but judging how the number got higher and higher, it didn't seem to help.

"Eighty...--" the lion whispered in a near inaudible breath, but stopped short before he could say "wildebeest." He had heard a noise. Blue eyes flexing open, the male gazed at the tree he was lying beside, not moving a muscle. His ears swiveled backwards and he listened. The sounds of the water trickling over the surface of the lake had been soothing his mind, but now a new sound accompanied it--pawsteps. They were headed towards the lake. A little longer and a scent entered the male's nose. A little longer, and a smirk followed.

It was a female...


She soon located the lake, trotting up to it carefully, not taking the precautions an experienced rogue lionness might. She didn't stop, look around for danger, scent the air for any sign of intruders. No, Alaia just walked right up, lowered her head, and began drinking. It was such cool, crystalline water, and she couldn't help the few quiet purrs that rumbled in her throat as she began drinking. She took her good sweet time, lapping up enough water to last her until the next watering hole she found, not lifting her head until her belly was bloated and her thirst quenched.

Standing up, she shook herself briefly. And then the wind changed. The lionness didn't have to do anything, the stench of lion was suddenly shoved in her fce and she'd have to be blind not to notice it. Her eyes suddenly widened, muscles tensing. Whilst those experienced in such circumstances perhaps knew best to just turn and run, Alaia instead remained exactly where she was, head darting around to find the stranger. She didn't think to look up, not until she'd already made a fool of herself.

Gray eyes finally settled upon Durion, her back arching a little as if she was hissing, yet her lips didn't move. Instead she just watched him, not even blinking. ...Yeah, Alaia really wasn't the best at this.


Now Durion, who had been lying perfectly still in the same position he had been, only with his head lifted to see better, was probably one of the most non-threatening images a lion could behold in Africa.

At the sight of the frightened girl sort of sneering in surprise at him, Durion laughed out loud for several moments.

Rolling to his stomach, the male rested his face on his forelimbs, grinning up at the girl. The tall blades of grass were strewn around him, most bent, some poking him, others hiding him.

"Don't worry your little head, sweetheart. I ain't gonna hurt ya." the male rumbled, tail tip twitching. "I was just--" He yawned and closed his eyes for a second. "takin' a little nap." His eyes opened again and rested themselves on the female's black ones. What was she doing out here, anyway? He had half a mind to ask her. But he was so damned tired...

"What's a pretty thing like you doin' all the way out here?" he asked, adjusting his position.


He was laughing...at her? Wait, she was confused. Why was he laughing?

Now he was grinning at her. The pale lionness was clearly confused as she looked at the strange dark lion, forehead furrowing and eyes clouded as she tried to work out if she'd missed something. Was this a joke? Was this something rogue creatures did to each other? Perhaps she should have asked one of the previously rogue members about travelling before she'd set off.

"I never said you were going to hurt me," she retaliated quietly, not wanting to upset the lion. Not for fear of provoking him, nothing of the sort - Alaia didn't like to upset anyone, she was always eager to please. She offered a small smile, hoping to appear more friendly, as she took a step towards him so she could hear him better. He was taking a nap? Well, see, that was perfectly normal. Perhaps rogue lions were a mixture of normal and not-normal. DId that make sense?

Why was she out here? Alaia blinked, surprised by such a question. It seemed quite intrusive, verging on rude...but again, perhaps it was a sensible question to be asking a stranger. She cleared her throat a little before responding honestly, as she always did, "I come from the mountains, from the Intaba'umbikezeli pride. I've been sent with the task of falling pregnant, and hence bringing new blood to the pride."

She smiled, assuming what she'd said was perfectly normal. Heck, Alaia still wasn't completely certain that new cubs weren't brought by the stork - after all, it certainly seemed more hygenic that way...


Durion's jaw dropped.

She was WHAT, NOW?!

Eyes wide and wavering over her face in shock, the male remained completely dumbfounded and silent for what seemed like ages to him, but were mere seconds. Finally, he shook himself out of his stupor, putting on a mask of I-don't-REALLY-care...

Standing slowly, the male stretched his limbs. He had just been lying down for a long time, after all. It wasn't like he was trying to show off his body or anything...

"Ahhh," he answered her, teeth clenching in his stretch. He stood himself up and shook his dark mane, hair falling about on his face. He looked back to the female with a friendly grin, brow quirking. "A pridal task, huh?" he asked, then glanced away at the tree tops, eyes wandering around carelessly. "Anyone, uh...in particular you have in mind?" he ventured, feeling as though he were treading on sharp stones.

"What's it like in your pride?" he asked as a follow-up question, suddenly realizing the whole thing could turn sour if she grew angry with him for...whatever reason. You could never tell with females...


Alaia continued with her naive smile, sweet as always. Anyone who knew the lionness knew her getting angry was very rare, and only happened in times of extreme stress. So extreme, that no-one had actually found them yet. He seemed surprised, and she momentarily found herself wondering if she'd said the wrong thing - she'd only spoken the truth, and nothing was better than the truth, right? She watched him with brief confusion until he seemed to compose himself, before the same sweet, trusting smile returned.

She nodded in response, as he repeated what she'd said. The pride encouraged those blessed with white coats to reproduce, and her coat was all but white apart from the few small markings on her hind. She was a strong Seer, too - Alaia hoped to pass those gifts on to her children. Children. The idea still frightened the young lionness a little, but she did so want to make her pride happy...

Anyone in mind? She shook her head, sighing a little, "I had a vision, which showed me grasslands and a dark stranger, but nothing more," she explained, clearly not having picked up on the fact that Durion was a) dark and b) a stranger. I didn't mention that she's a bit oblivious, did I? Alaia merely continued to smile, not a trace of ill-intent or anger in her posture or expression. Which was, obviously, because she didn't have a trace of it in her body. Her whole body was relaxed, clearly trusting the strange lion already having spoken to him for all of five minutes.

"It's amazing," she gasped, seeming to enjoy the subject, "I'm a Priestess, having been blessed with the Sight. Certain members of our pride are able to See things - I'm one of the stronger ones, able to See much."


Well, that, uh...that went well, he thought. What a strange girl.

Not to say he didn't LIKE it...

Durion took a few steps, watching for any bad reaction the lioness may have had towards his movement. He continued forward to the lake's edge and bent, taking a few laps. While he drank, he thought.

This lioness was A) gorgeous as well as interesting, and B)...Well, WILLING to, uh...well, HE was a dark...Okay, maybe she would...Oh, damnit--

Durion took an off-sip of water and it scratched down his throat, burning the breath in his neck. He coughed and choked, sputtering like a fool for a moment. Panic seized him at having lost control of his persona and the situation--two things he always loved, no, needed to have control over wherever he went. Now things were spinning and he was hobbling through the grass, coughing rather violently right beside the pretty little thing he was trying to seduce.

His plans were suddenly unraveling...

"S-," he choked and swallowed, recovering. "Sorry about that, I--" He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He sighed and tried to twitch a handsome smile onto his maw, but it looked more apologetic than cool--something he hadn't planned. He shook a lock of black hair away from his blue eyes and caught the female's gaze, caught off guard by how nice she looked. He always thought of pridal girls as...stuck-ups.

Maybe it was because she was a priestess, and they were all...peace-preaching and...god-loving...


Alaia merely remained where she was, as per usual, watching him with the samel sweet smile as he went to drink, before seeming to have trouble, and the pale lionness rushed forwards to try and help, but she didn't have a clue what to do. She'd never apprenticed as a healer, she didn't know things like this. She tried reaching a paw up to pat his back, but she was a fair bit shorter than he was and couldn't reach properly.

Oh no, what if he died because of her!? She gave a small whine, taking a step back to give him room as he spluttered, before hobbling towards the grass with several very violent coughs. "Are you okay, sir? I-I'm sorry, I don't know how to help!" she herself spluttered out, eyes shining with honesty - she was clearly ready to do anything he asked of her, if she thought it would help him in any way. He soon seemed to recover, though concern still shone through Alaia's expression.

He smiled, and she responded. He had quite pretty blue eyes. Suddenly Alaia's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open a little, as if she was surprised. She stayed like that for a few moments, before suddenly gasping.

"...You're dark!"


Oh, hell yes he was--

Wait, what?

Swallowing one last uncomfortable time, the male felt his ears move on their own, blue eyes still locked with the female's. For a moment, he had no idea what he was supposed to say...

Was she basically noticing this fact out loud to say that she didn't have anyone in particular in mind even though she saw a dark, exceedingly handsome stranger in the tall grass in a vision or some s**t and she basically wanted to, uh...get pregnant?

"Yeah, I am..." he said awkwardly, almost proudly. Then he twitched his head in a strange shake, seeming to wake himself out of his thoughts. "My name's Durion." he said, feeling honest for once.

Hell, if she was willing to get with him on her own, why would he have to play the actor?


She watched him with the same expression of realization, as if it had suddenly just dawned on her. Which it had, the lionness honestly having only just noticed how much this lion resembled the one in her vision. After several long, perhaps tense moments, she finally smiled again, eyes ever watching his. She liked those blue eyes - she'd like it if her children had those eyes...

"I'm Alaia," she finally responded, introducing herself at long last. About time, really, she'd always thought introductions came at the start of a conversation. She left it there, though, eagerly awaiting Durion's next move. Alaia didn't have a clue what to do, and since her vision had shown who she believed now to be Durion, she assumed he'd take the lead and tell her what to do.


Hn...nice name, Durion thought. He regarded her face for a few seconds, wondering about her pride and where she came from, who her family and friends were, wondering what types of thoughts were coursing through her smiling face right now...

Hell, what did it matter?

"Well...Alaia," Durion started, seeming to test her name on his tongue. He liked the feel. "Why don't we go..." he glanced around the area, surveying it for something. His gaze final rested on a darker pathway deeper into the brush, away from the lake. "...someplace a little quieter, and you can tell me more about that, uh...vision you had. Sound good?" he offered, looking back to the female with a kind smirk.

Then, like a dark shepherd, he herded the white lioness into the brush and away from watching eyes. The grasses and trees filled the air with their fresh scent as the lions walked away, and soon the two were enveloped in distance and shadow, vanishing from sight.

Fin