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 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:16 pm
 Fenja was watching the sunset with smug expression.
It hadn’t been easy but it seemed she’d finally ditched that persistent young leopard. Her tail danced playfully behind her and she’d allowed herself to forget the usual caution. The lioness had climbed up a small rock formation and she was now enjoying the warmth of the sleepy sun and the beautiful orange tones that soaked her bright coat and the vast savannah that stretched in front of her prism-colored eyes.
She hadn’t seen Hantan in a few days and it would be a lie to say she didn’t miss him a little but the lioness was happier when she was alone even if she had grown accustomed to the leopard's presence. She did hope he was alright - not that she’d ever seen anything that could indicate otherwise. The lioness sighed, content. Soon, she’d have to leave her perch and go find a tree she could climb but she lazily decided she could wait a little bit longer. The young lioness stood perfectly still, an orange beacon of light facing the facing the dying sun.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:36 am
 Hantan was thinking of Fenja too, but a run-in with a demented hyena had made him lose his tracks. The hyena had apparently met Fenja and claimed she was injured, but he wasn't sure what to think about that, really. I mean, there weren't a lot of things that had made sense, and then Sesso had turned around to attack him for stealing his grubs... No, it did not make sense at all. His mother was right to warn him about hyenas, and he vowed to try to avoid them in the future.
Being forced to tough out a rainstorm on a unfamiliar pride's territory had also been an interesting experience, but it had left him with little hope to find Fenja's tracks again. It was a pity, because he wanted to tell her about the lion he had met, and see what she thought about it. But he wasn't sure where to start to look, since she seemed to move a lot. At least the savannah was nice after the rain. All colours seemed brighter somehow.
But then, who didn't? Hantan'gang was perfectly content to wander until he found a territory worth defending. His mother had a good one, and stayed put, letting the males come to her instead. That was the way it was supposed to be in his world. He'd wander and meet a nice leopardess with a good territory and then stay with her for a while. And then? His mother didn't keep her male friends around all the time, and he didn't even know if it was the same one visiting or if a new male different from his father had been the one "encouraging" him to leave the nest. Not that it mattered, because he hadn't wanted to stay there forever either.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:48 pm
Her coat was glowing brightly in a reddish hue when the lioness finally decided to leave her perch. Fenja was not happy with what she saw when she turned.
It couldn’t be. No, it was impossible. Another leopard, certainly. Another striped leopard. He couldn’t possibly have found her again. She’d covered her tracks, crossed rivers and double tracked innumerous times. He couldn’t possibly…
Oh, but it was him. Even in the distance and even though he looked a little bigger, Fenja recognized him, Hantan. There was no point in hiding or running. The leopard had obviously caught her scent and she wasn’t in the mood for running, anyway. She waited, silently, for him to spot her. The lioness now sat rigidly eyeing the approaching feline from her little perch, utterly bemused as to how the crafty leopard had managed to track her once again.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:07 am
The wind turned and carried a familiar scent. At first Hantan thought his head was playing tricks on him, and he just imagined the scent. After all, who knew if that blasted hyena had the kind of crazy that was catching? But as he lifted his gaze he saw Fenja standing there like a bright beacon in the glowing sunset. Hey! What are the odds for that? Hantan started trotting towards her, but couldn't resist starting to run.
"Wow," he said, a little bit out of breath, "How did you find me? After the storm and the hyenas and everything I thought I wouldn't see you again."
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:12 am
“Find you?” She asked with disbelief as the leopard came to a stop. Oh, the irony was painfully humorous. “As I see it, you found me.” And I tried so hard to ditch you…
She paused, eyeing Hantan from head to tail. There was something different about him but she couldn’t quite figure out what. He was… bigger? And his features more adult-like. Yes, he’d grown, hadn’t he? Funny how she still couldn’t quite think of him as just any other male, a potential threat. It was Hantan, after all. Just Hantan, the leopard kid.
“Why are you here?” she asked after one discreet sigh.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 9:34 am
Hantan could sense that Fenja was a bit tense about something, but he didn't know it was his own fault. He was just happy to see her after thinking they had been separated for good.
"Ha, ha, that's funny," Hantan said, grinning, "We ran into each other at random. What are the odds for that? Why I'm here? Just trying to stay away from hyenas and storms I guess... Need to find a tree or something for the night."
It was a strange question. Hantan rarely had a reason for being anywhere. Well, nothing beyond the usual at least. He wandered to find food, interesting things, a territory he could hold on to, and perhaps a lady leopard somewhere down the line. It was a pity Fenja was not a real leopard. If it wasn't for the lion thing she seemed like the kind of female his mother would approve of. Not that he was about to... Had that hyena really said that she'd said she really loved someone? He was still confused by the encounter and wasn't sure if Sesso had met Fenja or just someone that looked like her. And he'd also said...
"You aren't hurt, are you," he said, just to make sure.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 10:09 am
“Yeah… I need to find a tree, too. I was just enjoying the sunset.” Which was not an invitation to share a tree again, even if it might sound that way. She moved down from her perch gracefully – or perhaps not so gracefully considering the leopard’s last words.
“Hurt? No, why would I be?” there was no smell of blood or disease in the area as far as she could tell. And she hadn’t tripped or anything on her way down so the bright lioness’ eyes dropped to her legs and paws before returning to Hantan. “Why would you ask that?”
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 6:01 am
"A hyena said you were," he said, wincing a little bit at how dumb it sounded. "And then later on he tried to attack me, so I guess he wasn't very trustworthy in the first place."
Hantan wasn't dumb, and while he couldn't figure out why, he was aware that Fenja seemed more distant than usual. Something was wrong and he couldn't figure out a way to ask what it was without sounding really blunt. His ears lowered a little, and he hunkered down ever so slightly, trying to figure out if he had somehow wronged her without realising. He had many things he wanted to tell her, but he didn't know how to start because of this strange mood.
"Yeah," he said, in order to say something, "Really nice sunset."
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 9:15 pm
Fenja laughed at the way Hantan had phrased his encounter with the hyena.
“No, it doesn’t sound like a very honest fellow.” She was rather biased on the subject, she had to admit. “Though, to be honest, I’m not particularly fond of hyenas in general.”
“Anyway, it’s getting dark. Maybe we should go look for a tree to spend the night.” She wasn't aware as she said it but Fenja quickly realized the many possible meanings of her words. “I mean! You should find one tree and I’ll find another.” Was it rude to make it sound like she was already saying goodbye? “Or we could look for trees that are close together.” She was rather conflicted at that moment. Hantan was someone she knew well – more than she liked perhaps – and that was a rare feeling. Knowing someone, being recognized. She was used to living amongst strangers and sneakily disappearing in the cover of the night. Fenja didn’t really want or know how to bluntly express her opinion regarding their recurrent encounters in a clear and direct manner. Probably because she wasn't sure about how she truly felt about it herself.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:24 am
Hantan smiled, silently pleased that he had made Fenja laugh, and nodded in agreement. After his recent encounter he was willing to consider all hyenas bad until proven otherwise. There might be exceptions to the rule, just like it had turned out that lions weren't all bad, but he was not going to seek out hyenas to test this theory. Staying away from them had worked in the past, so he might as well go back to that policy. Much of his mother's wisdom had turned out to be useful out in the rogue lands, even if she had never taught him to hunt fish, or told him about hybrids and winged lions.
"It's funny, really," Hantan mused, "You're one of the few persons I'd consider sharing a tree with. And you're the only lion, that's for sure."
When he thought about it she was the only person outside of his family he had shared a tree with. He preferred to keep to himself when resting and eating, but who didn't? Well, maybe not lions. He'd often seen groups of lions nap together or eat together. The group-eating didn't seem very peaceful so he liked his way better. Sharing a tree with Fenja hadn't been all that bad, so he secretly hoped that they would only find one suitable tree, or perhaps two close together as she had said.
"Have you ever been in a group or pride," he asked, wondering if Fenja knew more about why lions liked to eat and nap together.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:57 pm
“Trust me, I haven’t shared a tree with anything larger than a bird either.” She gave out a rather feminine – childish even – giggle this time, visibly amused.
“I was born in a pride… but it’s gone now. I’m the only one left.” her smile faded even if only a little. “I really don’t want to join another one but I might in the future. It’s a little dangerous to be alone out here… especially for girls. I’ve heard of an interesting place though. I can’t remember the name of the pride but they call themselves mermaids. It seems like an interesting place. Safe, too.” she paused, eyeing the reddish sun with narrowed eyes.
“Well, let’s go find something then.” She said after a brief moment, placing herself on Hantan’s side with a few bouncy steps. Fenja wasn’t aware at the time that she was actually quite happy to have met the young leopard again but she certainly would later. Had she noticed, the bright lioness’ smile wouldn’t have widened quite as much.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 1:46 am
"Mermaids," Hantan repeated, not sure if he should ask about the pride that was now gone, "I've always wondered about prides... So many creatures in the same place, I'm not sure I would like it. Did you like it at the time?"
He thought about the dangers she mentioned, and he supposed she had a point. He knew all to well what it was like to lose a kill to a larger feline, or even a pack of wild dogs that one time. But he wasn't sure it would be worth sacrificing his privacy and independence for a safety in numbers. It took a while for him to figure out why it would be more dangerous for girls. Not all girls were smaller or weaker than their male counterparts so it had to be... Ahem. Yes. Tree, find a tree. He fell into the same pace as Fenja and started looking for promising silhouettes in the distance.
"I like being a wanderer," he said, not using the term rogue even if he had heard it before. Wanderer sounded more like what he was, "I can come and go as I wish, and there are always new people to meet."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:27 am
“I… did. I don’t like talking about it.” She admitted, hoping this would be the end of that subject. Bringing out the past was never a pleasant experience as far as Fenja was concerned so he was always quick to redirect the focus of the conversation. “Some prides are nice. You don’t need to worry about watching your back all the time and you always have someone to talk to. A lot of prides allow all sorts of felines to join and I do know there is at least one leopard pride. There might be more, I’m not sure.”
She smiled gently when he said he liked being a wanderer. She had to agree on that. There really was nothing like being able to choose where to go, what to do, who to talk do without having to worry about anyone’s opinion but your own. The things she’d seen! The creatures she’d met! The most amazing landscapes unfolded in front of her eyes every day. Yes, the mermaid pride was tempting in many way – if what she’d heard was to be believed – but Fenja was still very fond of her freedom (absolute freedom!) and that was something she wasn’t willing to give up that easily.
“Being a rogue is the best, isn’t it?” she leaned to the side to give the young leopard a friendly bump on his ribcage, a genuinely bright smile gracing her features. Her prism-colored eyes turned to meet the sun one last time before she turned to look at a small cluster of trees in the distance. “Oh, look. Those might work.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:17 pm
"You don't have to," Hantan said, deciding to drop the subject. The only one left, she had said. Perhaps something really bad had happened, but at least she had been happy before then.
It sounded as if Fenja had thought a lot about prides, and Hantan wondered if she was serious about the mermaid one. Perhaps. She had always seemed like a wanderer to him, but perhaps she wanted a change. He tried to imagine a leopard pride, with a lot of leopards together, but it was hard. The image of his mother and him hanging out in their tree. More leopards than that? The thought made him feel slightly uncomfortable. And mixed prides... Weird, but perhaps not stranger than the fact that he was hunting for night quarters together with a lioness.
"Were there leopards in your pride," he asked before thinking, "Sorry! I didn't think... Let's look at those trees."
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Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:00 pm
“Mmm…? Yes, let’s look at those.” Fenja said as her gaze locked on a target, unsure on whether or not to address the last question. It was getting increasingly easy to discuss the touchy subject with the young leopard but the bright girl wasn’t sure she actually liked that. Quietly, in a whisper that Hantan could miss if he wasn’t paying enough attention, Fenja spoke again but her gaze didn’t move. “Mostly lions. But felines of all kinds were welcomed.”
She kept walking at a steady pace, quiet up until the point she glanced at the leopard. “It was a very accepting place. Carefree. Full of music and dance and beauty… Felines of all kinds were welcomed.” Her eyes rose again towards the small cluster of trees ahead. Her voice was very low now. “Maybe I can tell you about it tonight...” She wouldn’t dance though. No. That was something she did when she simply couldn’t hold it in any longer and she would only do it when no one was watching. Absolutely no one.
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