Joscelin yawned slightly as he stretched... staring up at the mountain range before him. He'd been wandering for some time now ... almost as if he was looking for something, without being sure what it was. The place he'd grown up ... was far away and long ago by this point. And even had he wanted to, he couldn't go back - since most of the pride was scattered, or dead. Sighing softly, the tan male glanced up at the sun, then padded forward - figuring that there must at least be a stream or something in those mountains. Perhaps he could find a nice place to den in for a while.
Kilala was new to this...patrolling the pass. But she rather liked it. Calm, peaceful, nothing like when she was training. And the SCENTS! And the SIGHTS! It just fueled her daydreams. She grinned and giggled, leaning down to pounce at an imaginary intruder. "HALT!" She growled mockingly. "You enter the lands of the Aali'makabila, intruder! What brings you this way?" Her imagining was interrupted as an unfamiliar scent reached her nose and she perked up. Eh? A REAL intruder? She took to the rocks like only a mountain-born-and-raised lioness could and stalked towards the scent. And narrowed her eyes at the blonde-maned lion. Yup. Definitely not one of the pride.
"I wouldn't go further than that, stranger." She stood to her full height, not yet grown but large for her age nonetheless, perched on a rock above him.
Joscelin hadn't been at all aware that anyone lived here. So when a sudden voice called out above him, the large male darted to one side and crouched down, eyes narrowing. He'd also gotten halfway behind a clump of bushes that should be trouble for anyone pouncing after him. Even if he was no longer in his own pride ... certain instincts remained. Only then did he look up, spotting the female. "Why not...?"
Dark blue eyes stayed trained on the male, despite him taking cover. "Beyond that pass lies a pride. And we aren't fond of strangers." Well...others weren't. She rather liked the thought of new lions to meet! More fuel for the dreams that were trying to fade. She didn't move from the higher perch, knowing it gave her the advantage. That, and the fact she knew the mountains far better than any outsider.
At that, Joscelin blinked and relaxed just fractionally. Oh ... well, if this place was claimed, he wasn't about to intrude. Bowing his head just a bit, he called up to her, "My apologies, in that case. I was unaware these lands belonged to any pride. I certainly wouldn't wish to intrude unwelcomed."
Kilala blinked. And blinked again. She'd...never been told an outsider would be so....NICE! He was very well-mannered! She frowned, then smiled slightly and jumped down to the ground far enough from him to show she wasn't going to attack him. "I can point you to a place where you can stay for the night. But it'd be best if you were gone by morning."
Joscelin nodded at that. "I would be very grateful for that..." he started, then trailed off as he realized he didn't have any idea what to call her. "Ah ... I am Joscelin."
The green lioness started towards the area she spoke of, making sure he followed. She nodded at his introduction. "I am Kilalanungu. Though...Kilala is less of a mouthful." She chuckled. "It was hard to say when I was a cub."
Joscelin blinked slightly. "That does seem ... rather a lot of syllables for a cub to get out," he admitted with a little smile. "Kilala it is then. If I may ask ... what is your pride like? If it isn't forbidden to tell..."
She blinked. Was it forbidden to tell? She...wasn't really sure. It might not hurt to tell a LITTLE...Just a little, though. "Well...we aren't much for strangers. And we're divided into 'tribes' by what we do for the pride." She puffed up a bit. "I'm an Ushujaa. We protect the entrance to the pride, make sure no bad outsiders get in."
Joscelin smiled a bit at the way she obviously puffed up. Oh my, she was quite young, hm..? But he didn't mind, really. "That seems like an important job. What about good outsiders, though? Ones that mean no harm. Why still chase those off...?" Not that he wanted to go inside the lands, -himself-, but he was curious.
Kilala blinked again and thought a moment. "I...suppose because word travels." She looked back to him. "We don't really mind if someone seeks us to join. But...others...well, we don't want anyone thinking we're easy pickings." She frowned. "You can't always tell who's good and who's bad." Even among her own pride.
"Hmmn... well, that makes sense I suppose," Joscelin mused, almost to himself. He hadn't had experience with any sort of spies and the like himself. But even without meaning to ... he could see how a visitor could perhaps reveal information that would make a place easier to attack. "I don't think it would be easy to get over these mountains anyway... " he commented, glancing up toward the rocky peaks.
Kilala nodded brightly. "Yup! It's pretty hard, learning to climb 'em when you're little. But once you learn...you NEVER forget." She grinned. "Mostly because forgetting means a bad bump on the head, or a possible broken bone. All sorts of nasty stuff."
"Ech ... I can see that..." Joscelin muttered, staring up at the rocky cliffs above. "But in any case... I don't think that you have to worry about anyone thinking that you'd be easy pickings. And certainly not from anything I would tell."
The lioness stopped, now a good distance from the pass' entrance, in an area with a spring and small patches of mountain brush. "Here we are! And yeah..." She smiled widely. "We're a hardy bunch. Built to survive. Built to overcome."
Joscelin nodded. "I can certainly tell that... this area looks nice, though. Thank you for showing it to me." The paths she'd led him down ... he probably never would have found on his own.
Kilala nodded and perked. "No problem! Thank you for being so nice, Joscelin!" She bounced a bit, then took back to the rocks. "I hope you have a good night, and exciting dreams!" She started back, humming. Perhaps outsiders weren't all that bad! Joscelin had certainly been nice and polite.
He smiled at that, and lifted a paw to wave a little after her. "I hope that you have a good night as well, Kilala." Then he turned to get a drink at that spring before finding a place to curl up for the night.
