Ygraine was on her way to find her friend, a lioness she had known for some time. Since they had been cubs, before their worlds had been turned upside down, and she had been separated from her mate. The two females, at least, had stayed in touch. Ygraine would not admit that she was seeking Kilgharrah out, however, as she was too proud to admit she needed friendship, or the words of others to help her. She was a proud, strong female, and she had been alone since being separated from her mate, and doing just fine. Sure, she felt a bit depressed, but that did not make her weak.
Poromoko, on the other paw, was not out for any purpose but to be out. She loved exploring, running, and always had. She had settled down for a little while there when her cub was born, but now that he was an adult and out on his own, she found her wandering, fun loving spirit returning to her. So long as she didn’t think about him, and miss him, and wish she had a cub again to raise and be proud of, because it had been so wonderful the first time. She knew her boy would be just fine on his own, but she couldn’t help but worry. Was he eating? Keeping himself safe? He was a hybrid, after all, so what if that got him into trouble?
No, no. She was out here having fun. Wild and free, like it was before she had met that leopard. She couldn’t bog herself down in parental worry.
She was padding along the savannah, trotting more than running, enjoying the heat of the day and trying not to strain herself. She liked to run at night, even more so than during the day, particularly when it was hot. She didn’t know what was around here, or when she might find some good water or shade, so she had to keep conserving her energy. Once she found the essentials, she would be able to hunker down and check the place out a bit more, without worry on that regard, either. She frowned for a moment as she padded along, wondering when she had started to worry about everything. Very not fun.
Ygraine looked up from where she was sitting, squatted down against the brown grasses, hiding in plain site because her fur was so light, and she blended right in. As one was supposed to, she thought. Spotting the form moving toward her, though, she realized that this concept was lost on some creatures. True, they couldn’t help what color fur they were born with, and she had seen some strange and rather garish ones in her time, but this? This was surprising and rather ridiculous. She watched the cheetah, she recognized at length once she saw her long legs and tail, shaking her head in wonder.
A walking waterfall? That was new.
“Good evening, cheetah,” the lioness said regally. She sat up, shaking out her fur and tilting her head at the cheetah, who came to a skidding stop. She had not been on the look out for other predators, and was stunned to see a brown lioness pop out of no where. Or seemingly so, but of course she had to have been there from before… Poromoko eyed her critically, suspicious in a childish way, thinking the lioness was, perhaps, made of magic and had used that to spring her surprise. After all, Poro liked to pride herself on pretty much everything, and at the moment she decided her sight was too good to miss a lion sitting in the grass.
“Hello there, pretty lioness. What can I do you for?” She smiled brightly, coming to a stop near the lioness, her eyes taking the look of the other in. A handsome female, with soft looking fur, a simple color to her coat, and a regal air about her. The way she sat, the way she spoke, even if she had only said three words, told Poro all she needed to know about this lioness. Or at least, for a start. She smiled, purring softly. Ygraine nodded her head in reply, though she seemed a bit confused by the cheetah’s question. Her tail flicked as she stared at the younger, smaller animal with a similar kind of interest.
They were sizing each other up, they couldn’t help it. They were both predators.
“I need nothing from you. I simply wanted to take a look at your fur. I’ve not seen something quite like that before. The waterfall on your flank, it could almost be real. How fascinating.” Ygraine didn’t actually sound fascinated, actually coming across as rather bored, now that she had gotten the cheetah to stop and her curiosity was sated. She even waved her paw languidly before she laid back down, yawning as she daintily crossed her paws in front of her, ankles together. She continued to stare at the cheetah, though now her air seemed pompous: silently asking her to leave.
Poro frowned.
“So you made me stop just to look at me? I appreciate the compliment, at least. I’m glad you thought I was interesting enough to at least take a glance at. I get the feeling you’re not the kind of lady who likes to talk to anyone unless she has to. What are you? Some noble from some pride? You’re haughty enough, I think.” Poro was not exactly shy about voicing her thoughts, though generally they were positive and flirtatious. In fact, even though she was pointing out a character flaw, she bore an expression that seemed to be attracted rather than repulsed. She flicked her tail slowly, thoughtfully.
“You do go on, you impertinent little thing. Get out of here, I’m done looking at you,” Ygraine snapped, reacting exactly the way Poro thought she might. The lioness charged in warning, snapping at the cheetah, who bounded backwards to avoid the teeth and the flash of a paw swiping at her. She chuckled, shaking her head, but Ygraine let out a long, low growl of warning. She was not interested in playing with the other, and would rather they simply parted ways and never spoke to each other again. That, or snap the cheetah’s scrawny neck for her rudeness, and leave her for the carrion birds and hyena to scavenge on.
Poro sighed, padding away.
“I did think you were pretty, at least! If not your attitude, certainly your fur and face. You should work on trying to smile more, and being at least a little more social. You’ll never get anywhere with an attitude like that.”
“Be gone!”
Poromoko sighed, then chuckled and bounded off, kicking up to full running speed in a matter of seconds. She didn’t like running in the heat of the day, but she did like staying unhurt and unattacked. So running was a good option, to leave the angry, regal lioness behind her.
(Word Count: 1164 in Word)
