The sun was rising slowly over the horizon and the pale lioness had perched herself to watch it amongst a cluster of boulders. It was one of the few things she took pleasure in now, her usual sunny moods brought down for quite a while by her recent encounters. The world was not the place it had seemed to be as a cub, and she felt as if she had lost her place when she had lost her sister. It was a shame, the sunrise truly was beautiful and she would have enjoyed it more had less been weighing on her mind.
Mkhai had spotted the flash of white in between the rocks and felt himself inexplicably drawn to it. There was a strange humming noise that seemed to be coming from nowhere, and he was curious. Was whatever it was ill? Perhaps an easy meal then. There was something familiar about the shape though, something that made him reluctant to approach it as prey. “Hello?”
Misae did not respond, because she did not hear him. In fact, the lioness could not even hear the noise she herself was making, though she did feel the vibration in her throat. She had been deaf from birth, and she found the feeling an odd comfort though she did not realize its meaning. She shifted on the rocks, exposing a small paw.
The male paused, staring intently at this new projection. A cub perhaps? No, it did not appear oversized or disproportionate, merely very small. “Hello?” he tried again, louder this time. Deciding perhaps the paw’s owner was sleeping, he lumbered toward it slowly, as quietly as his heavy frame could manage.
Though the lioness could not hear his approach she did notice a significant shift in the shadows that played across the grass. She stiffened, unsure how to react. It was a large creature, she wasn’t sure what it could be other than another lion. But larger than she had seen before. She panicked and leapt forward, tumbling over her paws to land on top of an irritated ants’ nest. Facing him now she froze, not noticing the hordes of insects that had begun to crawl over her fur.
Mkhai however, obviously not realizing the real cause of her unease, reached a paw forward to brush some of the critters from her side with a bit of a thump. Surely she didn’t want them there, he was helping her out. “You’ve got some, ah, bugs on you,” he told her, adding another thump on her other side. There, most of them were gone now.
Misae hadn’t realized that she was covered, and as such didn’t realize what he was doing. She could see his mouth moving but it wasn’t in any recognizable way. Her mind raced, he hit her. Did he want to fight? No, that wouldn’t be far no matter how you looked at it. She backed up a bit, shuddering her shoulders where his paw had touched. Her sister had always warned against males, the way she always used to draw those big maned figures in the dirt with sinister faces. He couldn’t want anything good. A grumble began to rise out of her throat, an unnatural sound that bore only a faint resemblance to a snarl or a growl.
What was wrong with her? Mkhai scowled now, ungrateful brat whatever she was. Clearly she didn’t appreciate his help, but to not even answer him? That was just rude. Even in his home, where the females greatly outnumbered the males, it wasn’t acceptable to ignore and offend another. It was unfortunate that he had never encountered a disabled lion before, as the thought now never crossed his mind. Nothing could be wrong with her that a good smack wouldn’t fix. “Listen up, I don’t know what your kin are like but mine would tell you how disgraceful you’re being,” he snapped, puffing himself up.
The lioness laid her ears back in irritation, there he was moving his mouth again. Couldn’t he see it wasn’t going to work? Was he threatening her now? She bristled, dragging her paw against the ground in a repeating slash motion. Stop, just stop. That was the symbol she and her sister had always used, perhaps he would understand the message. It was frustrating. She attempted to form the word, though she had no real notion how it was supposed to sound and what emerged from her was nothing more than a few odd whines.
Maybe she was stupid, Mkhai decided, pondering the meaning of the marks on the ground. Was she testing her claws? Surely she wasn’t that bold. He locked eyes with her for a moment, sinking into the sea of blue that seemed to overtake them. Odd, she didn’t seem the aggressive sort. She made him uncomfortable, almost as if she were a cub teasing him with some code that he did not know. Becoming more agitated he swiped the other direction, erasing her marks and nearly batting her paw.
He didn’t get it. The lioness was frightened now, backing away a little more. Was he angry? She couldn’t tell, she had never been a very good judge of emotions that weren’t communicated with her. He certainly seemed it. She whimpered again, tilting her head at him as she tried to figure out how to tell him she just wanted to leave. Maybe she could just turn and run. No, she’d be exposing her back to him, her sister had always told her not to do that. Instead she simply continued to stare at him, immobile but for a subtle quaking.
She was stupid, he decided, yawning as he realized he had long since tired of this stand off. She wasn’t going to try anything and he certainly didn’t care to pick an unfair fight, not that she seemed to realize this. “Well, go on,” he told her, beginning to turn around, “Scamper off, do whatever it is you’re wanting to do.” With this he settled facing the opposite direction, though he still listened closely for what she would do.
Misae did not need to be given the chance twice. He had made the mistake of turning his back on her and she wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. Gathering up all her strength she bolted diagonally away from him, hoping to make it to another hiding spot before he would realize she had gone.
As he heard her run Mkhai grinned to himself. There were certainly weird creatures around here, he’d be happy when he had finally made it back home. For now, he decided, he would rest. The rocks had certainly seemed a comfortable cradle as she had made them. He felt a slight pang of guilt as he settled into the hollow, realizing that he had in essence just stolen her sleeping place. She should have said something.
