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With nightfall fast approaching, Zuraya’s mind was on finding shelter for the night. The perk of being a rogue was not having to answer to anyone… the downside? Not having a place to come back to every night. She supposed she could secure a den and return to it, but what was the point? There was no security in being alone, even if it was in the same place all the time. She may as well go anywhere, and was more comfortable that way, anyway.

Even though the light was now fading, movement caught Zuraya’s eye not far away. A closer look revealed a sky-blue leopardess fighting her way through a thorn bush. The lioness stifled a grin at her expense for a moment, before she called out, “Need help?”

Zuraya grinned s the saw the leopardess pull herself free; she seemed quite capable, so Zuraya held her ground instead of coming forward to assist. Honestly, she hadn’t really been keen on getting to close to those thorns, anyway.

“It’s no trouble. I’d want someone to help me if I needed it.” Zuraya answered truthfully, looking the leopard up and down and considering her accented words. The next gave her pause.

“Title?” Zuraya sounded bewildered, “Title for what? A pride?” She’d heard of ranks before, but she rarely associated with pride goers these days. But then, recalling her manners, she added hastily, “I’m Zuraya. It’s nice to meet you. Umm… do you live near here?” As it was still growing dark, the thought of someone who knew the area was suddenly interesting.

Zuraya heard the rustle of branches, but she didn’t realize what it was from. The sound made her startle and glance around quickly, but she didn’t recognize the source. Ah, well. There weren’t a lot of things out here that would sneak up on two grown cats in the dark, anyway. So she put her mind at ease again, and when Celile came forward, Zuraya sat, folding her tail over her forepaws neatly.

“That’s a shame you forgot it. Then again, I suppose the only thing that really matters is the name itself. You could just make up a title, if you wanted it.” This coming from Zuraya, who had no clue about the significance of such things, and maybe never would. Right now she was really considering introducing herself to the next cat she met as a Queen, just for kicks.

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about the area, either. I was kind of hoping you would,” Zuraya told her bluntly, though still kindly. But then she added, “Wait though, you’re a leopard! You can just climb a tree or something, can’t you?” Zuraya, though always happy to converse, also failed at being tactful.

“Celile the Lion?” Zuraya repeated, clearly amused. She didn’t say it, but she was thinking that it made sense; sure, why wouldn’t a non-lion want to be a lion? They were pretty great. But she merely nodded and grinned, taking it as a joke, which it was surely intended to be. “Not sure it suits you,” She replied in turn, winking, “But it has a nice ring to it.”

Gazing out over the savannah, now dark as night had fallen upon it, Zuraya couldn’t help but agree that it might be nice to have company when wandering around out there. It helped o be a big predator, but that didn’t mean there was nothing she should be afraid of out there. “I like that approach… alright. I had been heading to the south some, I thought earlier I saw some rock outcropping that might still be sun-warm. But I’m not sure, it could be I’m mistaken.” And even if they were they, Zuraya thought, that didn’t mean they’d be good shelter, either. “Want to go that way?” She offered, eyeing the teal-blue leopard and searching for injuries, related to her previous comment.

“Sorry trees won’t work… That’s a shame. Tons of them out there. Easy to find.” Zuraya was being tactless again, but just the same, her words echoed her own disappointment at being unable to climb them easily.

“In that case…” Zuraya mused, thinking up something appropriate, “I’d like to be Zuraya the Goddess.” Blasphemies about this aside, Zuraya really did like this name. Well, of course she did, for a lioness who thought so highly of herself. She laughed just the same, shaking her head at the silly notion. “I wonder how many lions I could seriously annoy, introducing myself like that.”

At Celile’s next words, however, Zuraya sighed. “Oh, pity then. Well, I suppose I’m lucky I met you, I’d have been looking in the dark for things that weren’t there.” She got up to follow the leopardess, and it was then she noticed her awkward gait. And because she couldn’t help herself, she had to ask, “What’s going on with your legs? A cramp?” Zuraya didn’t really think this was the issue, but she was way too curious to let it go now. She was looking Celile over quite blatantly, looking for scars or faults that would explain the problem.

Oh yes, Zuraya could definitely be that insensitive. It wasn’t that she was ignorant, though; she was just self-centered, plain and simple. The aggravations and moods of others could often be lost on her if she wasn’t in a perceptive mood. Like now.

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Zuraya replied, suitably sympathetic sounding. And truly she had sympathy, since she liked this leopardess so far, she just had a poor way of expressing it. But she did seem satisfied with the explanation, and didn’t question her further on it. With darkness now surrounding them both, she also had other things on her mind.

Ahead, the waning light showed a barely visible stand of brush, run through with obvious prey trails to it’s center. It wouldn’t be hard to get into, but it’d be far from a comfortable resting place. Still, Zuraya considered the possibility of not finding anything better in a timely fashion. “Is that something you’d give a try?” She asked Celile, gesturing with a tilt of her head.

Zuraya looked upwards as Celile did, but she didn’t see anything up there that might be helpful in her decision-making. She chalked it up to something else she didn’t really understand about the leopardess - religious, maybe?

“Sure… I’ll go for it. Better than winding around the plains in the dark.” The trick, it seemed, was getting into one of those brush-tunnels without getting caught in it. Zuraya was pretty big for this kind of maneuver. She crept forward, scenting the air for signs of other creatures; there was nothing, right now. So she hunkered down with her belly flat against the ground, and crawled forward into the brush. She was still so big that her back scraped the branches, causing sticks and leaves to shower down upon her. She growled a little but kept going.

“How stupid do I look right now?” She called back over her shoulder, though she could no longer see Celile through the bracken. All Celile might see, if she was looking, would be Zuraya’s colorful butt.