Ment = Red
Sabbia = Sea Green
Ment was out and about once again, gathering things for his craft. He had been scouring the shores of his pride for hours, or so he thought. Unbeknownst to Ment, he had managed to wander off pridal lands and was close to that of another pride who live along the sea's shores. Normally this wouldn't happen, as he would have his bird companion, Chopoa, by his side; however, today she was nowhere to be found. It crossed his mind that maybe Chopoa had finally decided to up and bolt the white and red lion, but considering Chopoa left her favorite shiny object he'd found for her behind, she was probably just wandering around herself.
Ment sat by where the ocean would normally break and starred out at it. The tide had receded some and there were things left in the sands that he wanted to collect. The thing was that the water was cold, really cold, and Ment was a complete p***y about such low water temperatures. Right now he wished Chopoa was there with him, so she could go fetch the shells and the things he wanted to use to craft his items.
"Damn bird, having a life..." Ment said to himself as he got up and put one paw after another in the frigid sand, making the most hilariously uncomfortable face anyone had ever seen.
Sabbia wanted to collect different things for her crafting. In order to do that, she had to venture away from the comfort of her pride. Why she didn't ask her mate to come along was beyond her, but she wanted to do it alone. She stayed low, moved slow and looked like she would be ready to bolt at any sign of trouble. In reality, however, she was simply low looking for feathers or bits of fur; something small that she'd miss if she was just walking. She probably made a funny picture.
Somehow or nother, she got turned around and head for the salt air of the beach again. But this wasn't the beach she was used too. Either way, it looked ripe for the picking. With the enthusiasm of a cub, she raced to the white sand and straight into the water, unaware of another upon the shores. Cold water didn't affect this lioness!
Sabbia had caught Ment off guard. When he heard the great splash made when Sabbia made her way into the water, he had jumped and slipped in the slick sand onto his belly. He looked around frantically to see if perhaps the splash had come from one of those great ocean beasts he had been told about, ones so big they could eat a lion like him whole, but there was none. Instead he found himself looking on at a mint green lioness with curly tail hair and a brown patch on her nose. How embarrassing. He probably made himself look like a fool with his mini freak-out. Thankfully it seemed as if this lioness didn't even notice he was there.
Pulling himself up off the water sand, he shook himself, attempting with vain to get the wet sand from his coat before it began to itch his skin horribly. Deciding it would be better to let her know now that he was around than her find out in a surprise. He knew exactly what would happen if by some odd coincidence her mate or boyfriend or whatever was nearby and he didn't make his presence known. Things got misconstrued greatly whenever there was a female involved. The scar on his backside was proof of that.
"Hello!" Ment called out, putting on a grin. Remember Ment, friendly.
She hadn't been paying much attention to her surroundings, just what was on the ocean floor. She nosed a starfish around until it attached itself to just above her nose. Giggling, she looked up at the voice and stared wide eyed and squirmed with the starfish moved. Pawing it off her nose, Sabbia made sure it was in the water before she moved out of it and tilted her head. "Hello... "She shifted from paw to paw before. Trying to recall if she'd ever seen the red and white male before, sthe decided she hadn't. Ahah, strangers. Right. "Uhm... How are you?" What else was she supposed to say to a stranger?
She slowly settled herself in a comfortable spot in the sand, but held herself in such away she could bolt if anything went bad.
Ment smiled at the fact she had had a starfish on her nose. She was much braver than he was when ti came to the sea creatures in the ocean. He found the idea of making himself accessible to even the smallest creatures a little frightening. You never knew what was poisonous and what wasn't. At least in the Rogue Lands, when he still lived there, the possibility of running into something poisonous was on the low side. You'd have to be is the jungled parts to usually come in contact with one.
"Uhm, I'm ok. My name's Ment," He said plainly, looking her over. She seemed tense, maybe she was shy. He'd met a couple shy people in his time, and it always ended up awkward, "What brings you out to the ocean today? The water's freezing."
Seeing that he wasn't going to attack her or anything, Sabbia relaxed a bit more and thumped her tail in the sand. "I'm from the ocean. I mean.. I live right next to it and I'm in it all the time. ...It's not that cold." She felt so lame everytime she spoke. Oh, wait, he'd introduced himself. Manners took over this time around.
"I'm Sabbia. It's nice to meet you, Ment! ....Are... you from around here?" Where here was, she wasn't sure. Near her pride, but far enough. Sabbia had learned which creatures were poisonous and which weren't. She'd studied the tide pools, after all!
"From here?" Ment reiterated, looking about some. He realized that he did not recognize these lands very well. He knew they looked like his home, but they definitely were not his home. He looked behind him noting which direction his paw prints had come from and pointed that way with a free paw, "I come from down that way. My pride lives by the shore. I must have wandered off the lands looking for crafting supplies."
He gave Sabbia a small embarrassed smile and scratched by one of his ears. Sometimes he wondered if the sand was really living creatures, because no matter what he did it managed to get everywhere; even in places that hadn't been exposed to sand previously.
"Do you live around here?" Ment asked, wondering if she was a pridal lion or perhaps a Rogue like he once was. She didn't seem like she was a Rogue.
"Here? I live over that way... I.. also came looking for new types of supplies for my crafts..." It was odd meeting another crafter. Especially a male, and one who thought the same way she did about wandering around. "My pride is... by the shore. The Bahari'mtoto..." The smiliarities were not lost on this female, not at all.
She shifted a bit more, paws starting to itch to move or do something. "I make necklaces, racelets... earrings... name it and I've either made it or am working on it right now." She smiled. They could talk about what materials were the best!
"I don't think I've heard of the Bahari'mtoto before. I mean, I knew there were other prides along the shoreline, but I didn't know their specific names. I come from the Simbafutaji. We're seekers of information," He said with a slight nod. It was good he found out about the pride that lived up the shore from them, he was sure that it was a valuable piece of information the pride should know. Especially if they were to ever need allies.
Ment was pleasantly surprised to find another crafter like himself. He never anticipated that he'd run into another one that wasn't simply another wandering crafter from his pride. It was a good find for him. He could compare techniques with her, as well as supplies and perhaps do trades between the pride's crafters. What fortune!
"I make many of the same things. I've had a couple requests for items to protect some of my pride members when they go out seeking information. Spikey rings for their tails, and some clawed things for some of the girls to defend themselves from rogue males. The Rogue lands are a tough place to go seeking, after all, whether male or female. Have you ever been there?"
She shook her head. "I've only been just outside the pride lines.. This is as far as I've gone. I was hoping to find new types of grasses to weave with. Maybe some bits of pelts from animals. I learned their skins make wonderful straps for a lot of things..." The objects he made... she could never do that kind of thing. "We... are a peaceful pride. We've no use for items like that! We worship our Mother Ocean and offer her items in return fort he life she provides!"
Her chest puffed out proudly and her head raised a bit straighter. "Tell me... do you use bits of broken shells and sand glass as highlights? Or are they the main focus?" She used them as highlights; letting the shell she used in the center be what really drew the eye. Her bracelet, however, was just a piece of sandglass buffed and shaped into a heart on a leather thong.
"I use whatever I can find," Ment admitted. Sometimes it was shells, sometimes it was sand glass, often times he found bones and colored beads left in spots he could only describe as odd. They held make-shift dens that didn't hold against the elements very well, but they always had such interesting things in them. He had found an odd shiny and hard thing there once, which had these prongs on the end, like a crab. He made a necklace with that once.
"Well, our pride is also peaceful, but in our hopes to gain knowledge we're brought to people or prides that are not so peaceful. It's best we keep ourselves protected in some way, even if we're not happy about doing it," Ment said, nodding sagely, though he was not as sagely as he sounded.
"Who is Mother Ocean?" He asked, quirking his head to the side. Was she perhaps a God? He had heard of Gods. He had even seen one once, though he kept his distance out of fear, which he was sure many other felines did. You never wanted to piss off a god. They could kill you pretty easily if they wanted to.
She looked astonished that he had to ask who the Mother Ocean was. With her mouth hanging open, she motioned to the ocean before them. "This is our Mother Ocean! She's given us everthing we could ever want! Protection, food, a source of water, decorations... We keep her happy and she keeps us very safe and protected!" How could he live by the ocean and never know the Mother? That was so strange.
Truely, it baffled her. She frowned a little bit and then shrugged. "Information is useful. I can understand why some might not bee so friendly toward it..." She'd seen many dramas unfold in the pride from getting information and using it against someone.
"Oh," Ment said plainly. He'd have to keep that in the back of his mind as well. The pride Bahari'mtoto regards the ocean as Mother Ocean, and that she is their god. Wow, that was kind of awkward for him. He does his business in their god... Yeah, he should probably feel ashamed shouldn't he?
"Do you always travel alone, Sabbia? It's dangerous alone. I lived most of my life alone out in the Rogue Lands. It's a really harsh place. Now I usually travel with my companion, Chopoa, but it seems she took off on me today to go do her own thing," He said with a sigh, but smiled anyway.
"This... is only the second time outside of the pridelands. I like sticking close to home.." It was sad, but very true. The mint colored lioness liked being home. It was comfortable, and calm, and relaxing, but every once in a while, she wanted to just get out and gather new supplies. Maybe get a fresh look on life, or even run into a new friend.
She knew nothing of what he did in the ocean, and that was probably for the best. "I actually... should probably be getting back soon. I've found a few things I can use." She found some nuts, a few shiny objects that birds probably dropped and a few new types of flowers. All of her items were waiting for her in a hidey hole she'd made for them. That, and meeting new lions was always a mess for her. She'd get comfortable with them, then feel the need to rush home and not leave again for a few days.
"Well, hey. Maybe if I stumble upon your pride sometime, we could trade materials? I always find some really interesting things went I go wandering, especially from the baboons. They drop really neat stuff," Ment said with an excited grin.
He hoped he did see her again soon. She seemed very sweet, despite being a little on the shy side, and he could use more friends. This would definitely be a story him to tell Chopoa, that was if she ever returned home to him. Where did you go Chopoa?
"I'd love to material trade with you! I'll be looking forward to your visit, Ment! Maybe we can exchange more tha materials! Like... the secrets of the art." She gave him a bright smile before she started back the way she came. Her step was lighter than when it had been. It seemed fate smiled upon her today!
Even if it was a brief meeting, Sabbia's little world was slowly expanding. She was excited to expand it more as she grew more confident in her steps.
Word Count: 2374, give or take some color tags.
