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Although Gunnar loved the company of his fellow reavers, his brothers and sisters, he was happy for the chance to get away from them. As embarrassing as it was, Gunnar really wasn't very good at some of the, er, pastimes of the marauding band. He was a good warrior - a GREAT warrior, so he thought - but he was hardly the greatest lover. So he had taken some time to himself, away from them, to seek out conquests on his own. If he succeeded, he would be able to brag. If he failed, there would be no one near by to laugh at him. Stormborn were supposed to take what they wanted if it wasn't given freely, but Gunnar had never quiet been able to do that. Why, his own cubs were born of a female who had felt sorry for him, as humiliating as that was to admit!

The blonde-maned lion prowled through the tall grasses, keeping alert for any sign or scent of a female. If appearing aggressive and manly would not work, he would at least try to appear dignified. Flirting made him uncomfortable, but he would try it. He would try anything, really. Gunnar was determined to return from this raid with a good tale of a saucy foreign lioness, and fabricating such an encounter entirely was unthinkable for the honest lion.

Ahava crouched in the grasses waiting for the right moment to strike. Unfortunately a russle in the grass made her preys head jerk up and the suddenly it was off. She frowned deeply at the time stalking now waisted. She would have to try again later, but at least laterbshe could hunt larger prey with the other hunters.

She rose with a sigh and stretched figuring she could take a break, but frowned a moment later feeling homesick for the santuary of the ruins that once housed EnGedi. She turned intent on making her way out of the rogue lands and back home to the pride.

She made it a few steps before the rustling made her stop and look around feeling maybe she wasn't alone. Something had spooked the prey, but she thought nothing off it, now she wandered.

The blond lion was growing frustrated. It seemed so easy for the other reavers, who had tales of conquest after conquest. For Gunnar, even finding a female was difficult.

But it seemed as though his luck was turning. Hearing a rustling himself, he froze, peering through the grass. That was no prey animal startling up and away. That was something large, and confident, like himself. Unable to see through the grass, the blond lion straightened up, blue eyes narrowed.

It was a female. At last! Gunnar felt immensely relieved that his search had not been in vain. But, he reminded himself, he hadn't had his way with her yet. Another reaver might have pounced on her, tried to overpower her, but the thought of doing that made Gunnar feel terribly uncomfortable. The last female he had tried that on had turned it around on him, had pitied him. It was too much for his dignity.

Summoning up all of the charm he (hopefully) possessed, Gunnar forced a smile. It felt much too friendly and open on his face. "Hello, lovely lioness," Gunnar said. Was this how to be charming? It seemed to work for other lions.

Ahava turned to see a male, one of interesting marking and a blonde mane, who greeted her with a smile.

"Hello," she said in a dignified tone, but she a smiled.

"Are you from a around here," she asked in a even tone, "a new comer to the pride perhaps? I have not had time to meet everyone since the pride moved here, but I do not think a lion with your markings was mentioned."

Ahava sat back on her hunches and looked out over the grasses, "you scared off my prey," she said matter of factly.

Well, at least she was friendly. She could be laughing at him or spitting in his face. This was a promising start. The horrible smile wanted to slip from his face when she mentioned a pride, but Gunnar remained smiling with an effort. A pride sounded like bad news. Gunnar did not much want to meet a pride without his brothers at his back to fight. If this female's pride showed up, he would have to run. There would be no dignity at all in that.

"No, I'm not a newcomer," Gunnar said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I'm just wandering." Okay, that wasn't entirely true, but he wasn't about to tell her that he was a warrior out looking for fights. And females. She probably wouldn't like that. Unless of course she was a warrior herself ... all of this thinking about females made his head hurt. Gunnar tried to smile as seductively as possible, straightening up a bit so that she could see his handsome physique better. "I'm glad to have some company, especially company as pretty as you are." He was growing tired of this seduction business already, and he had only just started.

Ahava nodded when he said he was wandering, "you are very near to the En Gedi, but we are a peaceful pride. Offer up no trouble and we will do the same."

She was about to leave, but he spoke about having her company and her being pretty and she raised a eyebrow at him. "Thank you," she said, feeling flattered, but nothing more. She was going to rest anyway, so she guessed she had time for a chat.

"I am Ahava and you name is," she said with slight, very slight curiousity.

Gunnar couldn't tell if she was warning him or just informing him of her pride's ways. He shrugged and nodded. "I'm not here to make war," Gunnar said. Well ... he had left home to seek battles and plunder, but not here. Not in this place.

The female - Ahava - seemed pleased with his advances so far, which was encouraging. He was tired of flirting, though. When did they move on? "Ahava, a lovely name," he said, disguising his impatience. "I am Gunnar." He didn't tell her where he had come from. She didn't need to know anything about his homeland. Gunnar took a step closer towards her, smiling so as not to appear threatening. "I haven't seen such a lovely lioness in a long time. Perhaps not ever," Gunnar said, purring seductively. Maybe that was laying it on a little thick, but he wanted her to hurry up and get seduced already. She was just a silly female, surely she was succumbing to his manly charms by now.

Ahava was happy to here the other wasn't here to make war because En Gedi did not want it. The statment made her loosen just a bit, not noticable, but more comfortable for her anyway.

When he introduced himself she went to say it was nice to meet him, but the words did not make it out of her mouth. Instead she stepped back at Gunnar's next words blinking. 'Was he serious' she thought, not really entirely realizing just yet what he wanted.

She felt a bit annoyed and frowned, "are you trying to make me vain," she asked.

Gunnar was no expert at reading females, but he thought this one now seemed annoyed. Good grief. He had thought she would be an easy conquest, but now he could see that she was going to be just as flighty and difficult as all the other females.

"No, I'm not trying to make you vain," he said, parroting the question back at her as he tried to think of something to say that would appeal to her and make her act sweet again. If she was from his own pride, he might have swaggered and bragged about himself to attempt to seduce her, but females from outside the pride tended not to care about the accomplishments of true warriors. Gunnar was at a loss. "I'm an honest lion, and I can't help but comment." He drew himself up a bit, striking a bit of a pose. "I think we would make a very good match." There, that was blunter. Now she would swoon and fall into his arms and they could get this over with.

Ahava sat back once more, but her frown remained. If he wasn't trying to make her vain the why was he saying such things.

Ahava smiled slightly at his comment on honesty, but the smile gave way to a frown when she realized what she meant, what he wanted.

She stood and turned to leave, "find another female to be your match I am far to busy for such things." She started to walk away trying to ignore the words of her brother knowing he wanted her to settle down, but really with a random rogue who declared them a good match, no she didn't think so.

Besides she still hadn't achieved the rank of head huntress and a male most certainly wouldn't help. "You are not apart of my plan," she said walking away at a leisurely pace.

Now the lioness really was annoyed with him. Gunnar frowned as she stood and began to walk away. Okay, so he wasn't the smoothest talker, but she should be flattered! He was strong, brave, and handsome, and he was a warrior. Why wasn't this lioness fainting at his feet already? Gunnar was tempted to smack her. Another reaver might have, but Gunnar didn't really want to fight this female, even though she had hurt his pride.

The blond-maned lion hurried after her, catching up to her and going to stand in front of her, blocking her way. He really didn't care for snooty females with their confusing emotional outbursts, but he was damned if he was going to let the only female he had seen in days just get up and walk away. "I doubt you'll find another male as good as me," Gunnar said, attempting to persuade her. "I am a warrior, among my people. No one can best me!" He drew himself up pridefully. Some could definitely best him, but it wouldn't be boasting if it was completely true, would it? "You should be glad that I have found you!"

Ahava growled slightly at be blocked, but stopped none the less. She waited for him to speak, but what came out of his mouth made her frown deepen. This lion seemed ver full of himself and annoyingly determined.

'Why her', she thought to herself sitting back on her haunches in front of the 'warrior'.

"You insistance is flattering and you persistane admirable, but warrior I am certain you can be bested. My brother is a warrior as well, so I can tell, but I will give you a chance to prove youself and the maybe I shall consider whether you are a good match."

The female was still balking, but at least she seemed a bit impressed now. Gunnar felt his irritation fade a bit. Maybe he should have started out by telling her about his greatness. Even though her pride was peaceful, it seemed that she was ready to be wooed by a warrior.

Feeling more confident now that he would succeed in winning this female over, Gunnar smiled. "Of course! I will prove myself at anything you ask, lovely Ahava." It was good to throw that bit of flattery in there. Females liked that sort of thing.

Ahava nodded and set him an nearly immpossible task. To retrieve an item from the ruins she once lived in. She told him about her homeland, how the hunter had found them, how to get there and warned him off the danger, the smiled. She was certain he would not undertake the task that could take weeks, so waited patiently for him to decline so she could be on her way.

She did not know what she would do if he excepted, but she would definitely be impressed.

Gunnar was still smiling, but it grew harder to smile as the female began outlining her ridiculous plan. He wasn't sure if he wanted to put that much effort into this fling. It wasn't as though he wanted to stay with this female permanently. He had a home to go to, and friends, and cubs, and ... well ... he just wanted a good story to tell, dammit, something to brag about!

Well, he supposed he could agree with her silly request. If he decided not to do it, what was she going to do? Track him down? Not likely. Gunnar didn't want to take that much time away from his band, but if the group of warriors happened to pass close by this 'En Gedi' place, he would stop by and pick something up for Ahava. He nodded. "All right. I'll go get this thing for you." The lion's voice was very brisk, businesslike. "I would rather fight a battle, but if this simple chore will please you..." he shrugged. It was a bit annoying to be assigned this tedious task instead of being asked to do something brave and manly, like battle for her affections.

Ahava smiled rather surprised that the male had actually agreed to her quest and it made her wonder if maybe he was actually worthy. She nodded and turned to head back to her home, "remember the hunters are likely to still be their. When we left they were raiding the ruins. Those two leggers they are a scary bunch. Try not to come back with a whole in you. Not all of our members survived the encounter with them."

For all that he had fought many kinds of beasts in many battles, Gunnar had never encountered a two-legged hunter. Not up close. They had never seemed like very interesting or worthy opponents. They looked like big fleshy storks. He nodded, watching as the lioness prepared to leave. "They won't survive the encounter with me," Gunnar said boastfully, looking forward now to the challenge.

Even though he bragged, he WOULD be careful around the odd-looking stork beasts. He did not, as Ahava put it, want to come back with a hole in him.