The rogue lands. Haramu had spent most of her life wandering them, Jibril teaching her how to survive and fight and what it meant to follow Sparda. And though she would always follow Sparda...She just could not stay in the Aikanaro'hini. Not when doing so would damn those of her blood who ended up PALE. Like her. Like poor Olumiji. Like those three cubs from her first litter. And so...she'd left.
Left like her daughter Windeleer. Left with her lover, one of her sons, and a pale grandcub. They weren't used to rogue life like she was. They were still asleep, while the sun set. But Haramu-chanua had awakened shortly before the sun had begun its descent. There would be hunting to do. At least she didn't have to go searching for the plant she had chewed at first, to get her body to produce milk for the cub. Her body was doing that on its own now.
The scarred lioness sighed and shook herself as she set out to find good hunting for her and Sira to take down later.
It had been hard to leave the lands of her birth ... hard to strike out on her own, trying to find her place in the world. Trying to find her purpose, and her name. It was a difficult journey for a variety of reasons, really... none of which Aamira particularly wanted to think about now. She should be concentrating on hunting. The young lioness was hungry - had been for quite some time now. Hunting outside the swamps was completely different from hunting within them. There were no huge trees out here to clamber up into and drop down onto unsuspecting prey ... no reeds to hide, no murky water to sink herself into and lie in wait. Just endless dusty fields of dry gass and the hot sun overhead. She missed home... but ... she couldn't go back, not until she found her name.
Haramu had found a small group of antelope settling in for the night. Perfect. She and Sira would easily take down such prey, get enough to feed themselves and Nonnodi and start introducing Olumiji to meat. She was about to head back for where the others were when a scent caught her attention. Eh? She sniffed at the air carefully...then lowered to the ground again, ears going back.
Another lioness. She couldn't tell the age, but they had to have been around her size at least. Not that that was hard, considering she was built small like her mother and damned crazy half-sister. She carefully made her way towards the scent, intent on finding out whether the other was a danger, or simply another rogue looking for a meal.
Aamira had also spotted those same antelope - though she had no idea anyone else was hunting in the area. The wind was all wrong at the moment to carry anything of Haramu's scent to her. Flexing her shoulders a bit, the young lioness considered whether to creep a little closer first, or try to attack from here. She was so hungry ... couldn't mess this up. But this method of hunting was completely unfamiliar to her... biting at her lip a little, Aamira tried to decide what to do. Maybe she should just go home and say her name was 'hungry a lot' or something like that. It seemed to be all she was learning out here.
Haramu was surprised by the lioness' appearance. She couldn't have been all that old, and she didn't look comfortable in the area at all. The lioness sighed and cleared her throat, to get the other's attention. "You're not going to catch one of those like that."
Aamira jumped slightly at that, and her head whipped around to see another lioness standing there. She was paler colored, and covered with various scars... obviously older, though she didn't look much larger than Aamira. Quickly backing away a bit, Aamira deferred to the older female. "I'm sorry I ... are these your hunting grounds? I don't mean to intrude..." she said quickly - hoping the other wasn't mad. She looked like she could take care of herself...
Haramu shook her head. "I had my eye on those so my mate and I could hunt later, but these are not my lands. They're not anyone's." She motioned for the younger lioness to follow her. "They'll scent us and run away if we stay here too long." She trotted off a bit, so their scent wouldn't carry to the antelope. No use in scaring off EITHER of their dinners.
Aamira blinked at that, frowning a bit ... but she followed the older female. She'd thought ... that she was in a good spot - but she already knew she wasn't very good at hunting out here. Maybe it would be best to take advice where it was offered. "How can you tell ...?" she asked after a moment, glancing back over her shoulder.
"Tell if they would be able to scent us? I could scent you from where I'd originally been. I take it you're new to being a rogue? Or recently separated from your family?" While most demons would have ignored the adolescent or attacked her, Haramu was of the more...'look after the non-demons' sort. Likely because of Jibril's lessons.
Aamira felt her face heat up a bit and was glad that she had dark fur. Still, the embarrasement came through in her tone when she answered. "Not ... really. I mean. I am new to this area and ... everything. But I'm not really a Rogue..." It wasn't all that hard to explain, but somehow she found herself stumbling over words.
Not a rogue? Haramu blinked, suddenly curious. How could one be wandering about and not a rogue? Especially when she didn't really seem LOST. "Then what are you doing in the rogue lands? You don't really seem lost...just inexperienced."
"Sorry ... I ... I'm not explaining this well at all," Aamira fumbled a bit, at a loss for a moment. Finally, she stopped walking and sat down, grooming her shoulder to gain herself a moment to think. "I come from a pride... not too far from here. When any of us ... come of age, we're sent outside, to find our purpose and our name. So, that's what I'm doing. Though I haven't managed to learn much of anything except that I'm a terrible hunter outside the swamps..."
Haramu nodded as she listened...and then blinked. "Swamps? I...I passed by a swamp-based pride many moons ago." She'd left her cubs on the edges, since she'd smelled recent, strong scents, in hopes someone would take them in. Perhaps...they HAD been taken in. "That sounds like an...interesting tradition, though." A little like finding one's demon name, though with obvious differences. "Perhaps you have just not met the right creatures yet."
"Maybe," Aamira conceded with a little bob of her head. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find my ... purpose in life if I'm just hungry all the time, though," she went on ruefully, glancing back toward the antelope herd. "No one really ever ... taught me very much about how to hunt out here."
Haramu frowned slightly, then sighed and nodded. "Why don't I give you a lesson? At the very least, you'll get a meal out of it." She didn't want such a young one to go hungry, not on her watch. And she was sure Sira would agree with what she was doing. He had as much of a hidden soft heart as she did.
Aamira's ears pricked forward at that, as she gazed hopefully at the older female. "Oh, would you? That would be ... really great," she blurted, out, then ducked her head a bit. "I'm Aamira ... or at least, I am right now, until I find my true name."
Haramu smiled slightly and nodded. "I shall. It is good to meet you, Aamira. I am Haramu-chanua. But you may call me Haramu." She motioned for Aamira to follow her, going into 'teaching' mode. She hoped the girl learned well on the fly.
Aamira bobbed her head slightly at that, and moved to follow the older lioness. Despite all the scars and her somewhat 'tough' appearance, there was a kind of gentleness about Haramu that appealed to the younger lioness.
