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Kuhesh snarled at the hare, which lay cowering in a ball at his feet. His growl rose to a roar, and he raised a paw with claws bared. The hare cried out and bolted away into the brush, likely into a hole to cower out of sight. The black and cyan lion dropped his paw and snorted after the runt. The loss of the possible meal didn't bother him; he hadn't been hunting. The pitiful creature had simply had the bad luck to be sitting in his way when he was in a hurry. And rather than do the sensible thing and move, it had cowered. Pathetic.
Amuxiahd had been hunting for a vast majority of the day, and had found that most of the prey seemed to have moved outside of the mountain range she called home. It was irritating to need to venture so close to the rogue lands to simply obtain food, but she found she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She was almost gleeful when a hare bolted in her direction through some underbrush and was quick to snap the creature up in her jaws. The poor, unwitting creature hadn't stood a chance against her. She purred as she stepped through the underbrush, checking to see if perhaps the hare had any friends about, only to pause midstep at the sight of the male before her.
A rogue. Wonderful. Just what she'd been hoping to see.
Kuhesh had stared after the hare for a moment only before picking up his trail again. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, and that was a large part of what upset him. Things had NOT been going his way lately. His brother had run off, the coward, he'd failed to do his duty in finding and killing him, and now he couldn't even find the way home to accept his own sacrifice for failing. Could it get any worse? Ah, yes. It could. A lioness stepped out before him, with the very same hare clenched dead in her jaws. He scoffed at it. A fitting end for such a cowardly creature.
As for the lion? He probably couldn't just scare her off. In a low growl of a voice that hadn't been used in ages, he murmured, "...Excuse me."
Amuxiahd's lip curled slightly around the body dangling from her jaws at the other's tone, and after a moment she settled the dead hare between her front paws. The tip of her tail flicked in mild annoyance, and her eyes narrowed slightly. Just who did this lion think he was, to be so close to a pride and act as if he owned the place? Such arrogance would likely be the death of him if he kept it up. She settled down, carefully licking the blood from the fur of her lips before replying.
"Excuse yourself. You are close to pridal territory and would do well to remember your manners."
A slow whining growl built up in the male's chest. Who was SHE to lecture him on manners? "I know where I am." He firmly intoned. "I don't want any budiness with your pride." He spat the last word out, his own teeth showing through, white and sharp. "You just happen to be in my way. You and the damned hare. It ran, at least. Though I see it didn't do him any good." His tail lashed, thumping his sides. "Manners. Puh! Tell me your name and I'll tell you mine, oh mistress of manners." His sneer was quite wide by now.
The growl was returning with a low rumbling one from the lioness, a noise that built slowly within her chest before vibrating low in her throat. Her ears pressed backwards, lips curling up to display teeth currently stained red with the blood of the hare. Such disrespect would do nothing to earn the lion before her any politeness on her part, although she would at least grant him a single request. Even one who would become an enemy deserved to know a name to cry out in fear and disgust. "My name is Amuxiahd, and it would do you well to remember it."
He could have laughed! Was she trying to threaten HIM? He cocked his head to one side, brow raising, the sneer on his face quivering with near-silent laughter. "Well you've got spirit, at least, Amuxiahd. If not sense." His laugh turned to a deafening roar, and he swiped one paw through the air between them as a warning shot. "Take your hare, and be welcome for it. Don't bite off more than you can chew, little lady." He huffed one last time and simply walked around her. He never gave his name.
Amuxiahd snarled when the lion brushed past her, and quickly turned to face him. It was fairly obvious he was underestimating her, and she was not a lioness who took well to being underestimated. Without thinking she lowered herself, coiling her muscles before launching herself onto the other lion's back. It took little effort for her to maneuver him onto his back in his unsuspecting state, and she pressed a paw down to his chest, claws curling into the thick fur of his mane. They didn't pose a threat just yet, barely touching his skin, but the unspoken threat was there. "Do not underestimate me. Just because I am female, does not mean I am weak."
Kuhesh was a little surprised and more than a bit impressed when the female tacked him. He wasn't too large, but he was stocky, and powerfully built. She managed to get him onto his back, and though he snarled and snaped he wasn't really fighting back. To be honest her rough treatment, her pride, her raw strength packed into that slim frame, it was appealing to him. He looked up at her, that same ugly smirk on his face. "Good job. Did I ever say I underestimated you?" The smirk for a brief moment almost looked like a genuine smile, but no, wait, it was definitely a sly smirk.
"...My name is Kuhesh."
Amuxiahd's eyes narrowed slightly at the male's words, and she gave an annoyed huff. Even if he hadn't explicitly stated it, she had seen it in the way he interacted with her. He had not been expecting a lioness willing to tackle him to the ground for an insult, let alone one that could tackle him period. But she was more than used to taking on lions much larger than herself - she had always been fairly small and petite, but knew exactly how to use it to her advantage. After a long moment, she drew back, lifting her paw and standing next to the lion.
"Kuhesh, then. It would be wise if you stayed clear of the guards. They may not be as inclined to forgive a slight as I am."
