Elpis had seen the blue lion off after a little rest and food. He'd been a bit of a downer, and certainly not was she was looking for in any sense of the word looking. He was thin, scraggly, and seemed ill in a way that was mental. And he was NOT crazy like anyone in the pride she'd met. Apparently he'd been love struck. Huh. She chuckled a bit at that idea. Love took time and sense. She had plenty of sense, but not enough time. In a bit of a grouchy mood she set off, aiming towards the borders of the pride. This time for SURE she'd get what she was after!
His paws hurt. His limbs ached. He was wet. He was cold. He was hungry...
And most importantly- he was going to kill Viktor when he got his paws on him.
It had been a decent enough mission- look into rumors of vampires towards the rainforest. Innocent. Their troupe was composed of many individuals who had sour relations with the vampires in the past. Just a few months prior, a mysterious pale lioness had warned them of an infamous vampire lord- Neclord -that had resurfaced. The fiend had slaughtered Viktor's pride, including his young sister and his mother, before his very eyes. Flik had no love for the blood-suckers, and their leader, Taban, had seen yet another pride of the leeches emerge on the savanna. The quicker the blight was purged the better.
Alongside his fellow Tengou, Flik had been investigating a pridal marker along the edge of the rainforest...then no Viktor. No where to be seen. Only after the first feminazi had come tearing through the brush had Flik realized that he'd been set up as the bait so his companion could dig in further.
No vampires. Only angry, delusional lionesses sick with jungle fever and no doubt infested with a thousand parasites. At least- that's the impression he got. No sane pride would go charging after a lone lion simply because he was a male.
The salty sea air meant he was close. Hopefully. He'd not eaten for nearly a week and it was beginning to show. His proud, glossy coat was growing dull, his muscular frame was growing thinner, and his head wasn't exactly clear. But...if he followed the sea, he was bound to find the stronghold. It was as good a plan as any.
Of course, you should always be careful what you wished for. Elpis would learn that lesson the hard way, but not quite yet. She stomped through the brush like a beast on a mission-which she was, and then halted, staring at the plodding lion like he looked half dead-which he did. What was with rogues and looking half dead these days? The one Amefungwa had shacked up with the other night had been big, groomed, and glossy. Almost like a pridal lion. And Elpis? Well she got to find all the dregs.
She was by no means a healer, but she knew how to make a body comfortable. This one at least looked better than the last. A bit. He was nicer to look at at least. With sandy fur. She liked that color.
"Excuse me, sir!" She mustered the courage and shoved away her perennial gloomy could of anti-social behavior long enough to call out to him. "You look a little lost, and worse for ware. And hungry." She eyed him as she stepped closer. Yup. Hungry, thin, and there were twigs and things stuck in his mane. What a mess.
The voice had him tensing up, his posture straightening, and his chest puffing out. A stark contrast to the wet blanket she had met before. Flik stood looking alert and ready. With his record- it was a damn good thing.
"Who goes!?" He called back, his voice soft but firm, his tone nothing short of demanding. "I've no strife with you if you've none with me! I'm not here for your food or lands. Let me pass."
Oho. Now that was a look she more rather liked. Alert, poised. He still looked scraggly and hungry, but less like a lump and more like a lion. Out of respect she slipped out of the brush, halting just in view. He seemed sort of pushy. Not like her, like he almost was ready to fight. That was odd. She'd never seen a fight before, and would be helpless if he decided to come after her. That didn't really bother her though. No one ever fought on Kizingo lands...why would they suddenly start now, even if they were rogues? No rogue had fought here before, ever.
She peered at him, deep blue eyes meeting his own paler ones. "I didn't say you were. But you look terrible. Your body says you're hungry, even if your mouth says otherwise." She shrugged. She wasn't going to force him to go with her, of course. "You're the second half-starved rogue I've seen in as many days. Is there a famine, out in those lands?" She peered at the dirt at his feet. It looked enough like her home dirt. How odd. Prey was abundant in the pride. If it wasn't outside, maybe it was because they fought there. Peaceful land made the prey feel safe. Usually.
He did look terrible. It was a small bruise on his already battered ego. Generally, he kept himself well fed, well groomed, and ready for anything. It was little wonder he had the troubles he had with the oppisate sex- unlike Viktor who tended to keep himself gruff, less-than-groomed, and looked more or less like a boulder on legs.
"I didn't say I wans't hungry, I said I wasn't here for your food." He corrected her, raising a brow.
A famine? Hardly. He snorted. "No famine. Just a surplus of cutthroats." He cleared his throat, remembering his manners. "My name is Flik. Tengou of the Chokwe troupe, leader of the Blitzkrieg unit- and I'm on my way home. If this pride is willing, I would like to restore myself just enough for the journey home."
She wanted to sigh and just go back to her duties. This guy...he was wordy. She didn't know what half the things he said were. At least she'd gathered he was from a pride, and on his way home. And he wanted food. "Why 'if this pride is willing'? Didn't I just say you looked hungry? Why would I say that if I didn't plan to feed you. That would be cruel, and possibly provoking. We don't fight on these lands, and I won't be the first to break our cardinal rule over someone I've never met."
She tilted her head. Amefungwa was rubbing off on her, making her say exactly what was on her mind. And talking more. And being social. And the markings on his legs were stunning, weren't they? Hmm. "It's this way. You'll have a rest while you eat, I think. Come on then, mister Flik. I'm Elpis, by the way...an Usher. I tend the dead and dying."
"You could have been making an observation." He said frankly, daring a few more steps forward. "I would be making an assumption to conclude that an observation was an indirect offer, now wouldn't I?"
Mister Flik? MISTER? He was a commander! A general! A warrior, not...some dusty old lion. Okay- dusty yes, old no. Mister Flik would have been his father. Mister indeed.
"That would be app- wait. I'm not dying!"
"Oh, I know. I just meant that you...you kill people. Or make them dying. And I tend them, make them comfortable, send them into the next world without fear or stress. I meant that I know how to make peopel comfortable, and to tend them even when they can't, or won't say what they need. I'm not a healer though. You seem hale, thank goodness. If a bit thin. And needing a bath. I can do that too for you, once you'v got something to chew on."
She padded along, leading a strange male back to her den once more. As with the last one, she told him to stay put, and went off to gather food. She returned some time later with part of the side of a freshly killed zebra. The hunters had been lucky today, and there was ample to spare. She dropped it in front of him, and looked him over.
He killed people!? Another assumption. Sadly, a correct one in this case. But the individuals he'd brought down had been vile, cruel creatures with innocent blood on their paws....
Odessia....
The lion swallowed a lump in his throat and followed along after her, too distracted to protest his need of a bath.
Flik had settled himself in the back of the cave, laying upright and proud as he licked his dusty fur clean. By the time she returned, he'd managed to clean himself up and think over a few things. As always, his thoughts returned to her. He'd been gone... what if trouble befell his troupe? What if Viktor had been wounded?
Elpis just stood back and observed him for a time. Yup. He was sad. Or lonely. Something. She was good at reading body language, you had to be when some of the lions yo tended were too old or weak or sick to talk. Making a guess, she shifted to lie beside him. Not pressing, or insistent, but there. A source of comfort or warmth if he chose to accept it.
"You are a long way from home, Flik. Why not spend some time here? I'll take care of you, and then when you're ready to leave, you'll be fed, rested, and have directions. I've not been out of the pride, but some here have. can ask around for shortcuts on your behalf."
