(( Daizell: Manda
Kilala: Das Tor ))
Daizell wondered what sort of place this was. He'd been climbing higher and higher up into the foothills over the past few days - heading for what looked like a mountain range in the distance. He didn't really have any particular reason for going there. Just... it looked cool. And he wondered if there were any damsels in distress up there. Or princesses! Or both. Both would be even better...
It had been a few days since Joscelin had left...and Kilala had been thinking. A lot. She was starting to realize that maybe...just maybe...she really didn't belong where she was. She did love the beauty of her home but...
What lay beyond it? What sort of places were beyond the mountains that she couldn't dream of, because she'd never seen them? She wanted to know! But...she wasn't sure she could leave. Could she? The green lioness sighed and flopped on top of one of her favorite rocks on the entrance to the pass, just above eye level for a full grown lion.
Being a hybrid, Daizell was just a bit shorter than a male lion would be ... so he couldn't quite see over those rocks. And so, he had no idea anyone was there. Humming softly to himself as he padded along, the dark male suddenly started singing. It was something he'd heard his mother sing now and again while he was growing up ... just a simple little melody, really. And his voice wasn't bad, either.
Kilala watched the male carefully, her thinking of such things stopping as soon as she caught his scent. And when he got too close...She had been about to speak up until he started singing. Ooooo...such a pretty sound. Even if he did look a little odd for a lion. Something was just...off about him. And odd. There was an odd sort of beauty to him. She wrinkled her nose, then decided to speak up. "What're you doing around here?"
Daizell stopped singing at that, and blinked - looking up. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you up there!" he called, bobbing his head a bit. "I'm Daizell. And I'm just kind of ...exploring. What about you?"
Kilala blinked, then sat up. "Guarding. You're treading near pridal lands. So...unless you're seeking this place, it'd be best if you continued on." She stood and jumped to the ground. "But...before you go...Why do you look so odd? You've got a mane but...your tail is all wrong. And you're...fluffy in the wrong places."
Daizell tilted his head slightly at her, and then laughed softly - but in a kind fashion. "Oh ... haven't you ever seen a hybrid before?" he asked, teasingly. "My mom ... is a leopard. I've never met my father, but she told me that he was a big, scarred white lion. But she says he was very nice."
Kilala blinked. His mother was a...leopard? A dhaifu? "I...didn't know lions and dhaifu could have cubs together." He didn't look weak though. Just...different. She tilted her head at him.
"What's a daifu?" Daizell asked then, blinking at her. He'd never heard the term before, but maybe... it was this pride's word for leopard? Or something? And she hadn't told him her name yet... but she seemed friendly enough.
Kilala raised a brow. "A....non-lion." Duh. But...well, she didn't know a dhaifu and a lion could have cubs. So...she guessed it was fair. Her tail swished behind her. "Oh! Uh...I'm Kilalanungu." He gave his name...so it was only fair.
"Oooh," he said at that, nodding - as if learning weird new terms was a part of everyday life. "Nice to meet'cha! But yea ... I'm here, so it must be possible, right? You don't have any hybrids at all in your pride, I guess?"
Kilala shook her head. "None. Lions and dhaifu don't mix. Dhaifu..." She frowned. "Dhaifu are supposed to do what we want them to." But...she never really wanted to order a dhaifu around. Something about it just...didn't seem right to her. "I've never had a dhaifu though."
Waaait a minute. He'd heard of this before. "Hold on ..." he said, with a slight frown. "This ... dhaifu, it doesn't only mean a non-lion, does it? They're slaves ... aren't they?" Not that he could really -argue-. It wasn't his pride. But that still kinda rubbed him the wrong way.
"Slave?" That...was a word she didn't recognize. "What's a slave?" She blinked, utterly confused. She murred, ears back. Great. Now she looked like a doofus.
"Uhm..." How could she not know what a slave was, when she'd pretty much just described them?! "It's ... someone you can order around, like you were saying," he said slowly. "And they have to do what you say. I've heard in some places that ... they're treated pretty badly."
"Oh." Kilala kneaded the ground a bit. "Yeah....dhaifu aren't treated very well." She sighed. "I...I never thought it was a good idea." But it was how things were done. How things happened.
Daizell nodded at that, and smiled slightly. "That's good. I hope... if you ever have a ... a dhaifu, that you'll treat them well." He liked Kilala already ... wouldn't want to think of her hurting someone else.
"I don't think I'll ever have one." She wrinkled her nose. "I...I'm not sure I even wanna stay here, anymore." She looked back towards the pride. "It's hard to dream when you're growing up and confined to one place..."
Daizell nodded then. "That's true. I've been allll over the place, and I'm pretty young, still. My mom's a wanderer too." He looked up at the mountains above, wrinkling his nose a little. "You're not supposed to go outside your lands..? Then what are you doing here?"
Wandering...how did one do that? "I'm guarding. It's what the Ushujaa do. I'm technically on the borders right now." She looked rather unsure of herself. "How do you wander? Is it any different from being in a pride?"
"Oh, well that makes sense," Daizell replied with a nod. Of course a pride that didn't want outsider to come in would need guards. "Well, wandering is ... you just kinda go from place to place. Wherever you want, whenever you want." He smiled. "It's fun sometimes, and sometimes you can't find food and you're hungry for a while, but then a rabbit will jump out from right under your paws and ..." he paused and pounced on a tuft of grass. "Dinner!"
She perked up a bit. It sounded like a grand story! "Do you see villains? Heroes? Meet foreign creatures?" She was curious now. And the bright, curious look she had fit her far better than the uncertain, pensive one she'd had only seconds ago.
Daizell grinned at that. "I guess some people I've met could be called that... I've heard... that there's a whole pride somewhere of lions that think they're -demons-. And that they're really dangerous."
Kilala's eyes widened. She'd heard stories of demons before. Some were grotesque creatures that could tear a lion in half. Others were seducers, seeking to tempt your soul away. "Really? That..." She snorted and her hackles rose. "I hope someone puts 'em in their place." She blinked, calming. "Well...someones. One lion can't go against an entire pride, after all..." As nice as the fantasy was.
Daizell nodded at that. "Yea, I think there's a whole pride of demon -hunters- too. But from what I've heard they're not fighting a war or anything." Not yet, anyway. He suspected that both prides were trying to build up numbers. And at some point .... y-ea.
Kilala nodded and sat, silent a moment. "Hey Daizell...can you teach me more? About the world outside?" Maybe...she'd found how to leave! How to hold onto her dreams a little longer, and make them bigger!
"Sure!" he glanced up at the sky, noticing that the sun was getting kind of low. "But should you getting back..? I can find a place to sleep around here and meet you tomorrow."
Kilala looked back a moment, thinking again. Then nodded. "Yeah." That sounded like a good idea. And she could say goodbye. Well...goodbye to the siblings that would understand. "I'll see you here tomorrow, Daizell."
