[PRP] Sanctuary? (Bahati & Ishekhesi)

[Epine de Rose]

She was lost, there was no two ways about it. At some point in time she had taken a wrong turn and gotten herself turned around. She didn't recognise these lands and no matter which way she looked and no matter how long she listened, there was no sense of familiarity about anything. As peculiar as it mind have sounded, the black lioness would have gone so far as to claim that even the wind sounded different. The resulting consequences of this state of confusion should have come at no surprise - lost and alone, the lioness was very upset and very frightened.

Suffice to say that Baha'ti had never been a lioness who strayed from her routines. What was familiar to her was safe, it didn't lead her wrong and as such, she favoured it. A lack of familiarity almost guaranteed that she would go hungry and she would even go so far as to assume she wouldn't be welcomed either. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't detected the scent of lions nearby; after all, if there were no strangers around then they couldn't cast a look of distaste towards her.

Truth be told, this lack of familiarity was more terrifying to the tiny feline in comparison to most normal lions. She was of meagre size, a runt who had been stunted in growth ever since she had run from her pride as a child. She'd never learnt how to hunt properly and as such, survived on smaller prey that was easily fooled. This in mind, there was no way that her meagre form would be able to defend against a hyena, let alone a full grown lion!

Thus, the feline gave a small quiver of fear, her tail slowly swaying from side to side, and crept as quietly as she could through the claimed territory. If she didn't attract attention to herself then maybe she'd get out safely again, right?  

[Mtorolite]

Ishekhesi had just finished the big shift for the water shrine, and was taking a much needed break before the day cooled again and they finished the smaller stones. He found himself wandering along one of the border streams for a while, until he departed from that path and set off across the grasses of the savannah at a trot, just to stretch his legs.

He wasn't expecting to meet a lioness out there - the lands around the pride were fairly empty of large felines, wilddogs, or hyenas, except those that were on a pilgrimage to see the shrines. If she was on some kind, though, her bearings were off. He decided to go say hello, thinking that even if she wasn't planning on visiting the shrines, word of mouth was always nice.

Ishekhesi was a big lion, and it only took a moment for him to catch up with her at a trot. And he had to be close in order to talk, what with his damaged voice.

"Hello, miss. Are you planning on seeing the shrines, or are you just passing through?"  

[Epine de Rose]

Bahati was not a lioness who coped well with people who crept up on her - admittedly his footsteps had been relatively audible and if she'd been more skilled she would have detected them properly, but as such, he wasn't as well received he might have liked. In response to Ishekhesi's greeting, harmless as it might have been, his voice was enough to cause the little lioness to release a horrified shriek and bolt. She hadn't gone very far of course, stumbling across the unfamiliar ground until she reached a low lying shrub that she could slink behind - what followed next, was a considerable delay.

...One that caused the bushes to quiver a little as she slipped further inside and hid herself from immediate view.

Suffice to say that it wasn't the best method of flight, if she'd wanted to survive she would have kept running, but Bahati had always been naive in this respect and didn't know any better. This in mind, she could have been related to a possom, if she pretended not to be there maybe he'd go away! Of course this was no guarantee and the response was not something that the large, green male deserved at all. Alas, eventually she did slowly poke her head a little through the shrubbery, her striking green eyes and white, masked face becoming visible between the leaves of the bush.

Well, it was certainly one way to say hello!  

[Mtorolite]

Ishekhesi backed up when she shrieked and ran for the shrub, the followed her slowly and sat waiting until her head popped back out. He wasn't used to lions running from him, not since he had stopped fighting for fun, and he was concerned about the female that had fled.

When her face came back out, Ishekhesi spoke again. "I didn't mean to frighten you - are you ok? Do you need help?"

He was hoping if she was hurt, she would be able to walk as far as the pridelands proper; his muscles were so sore he wasn't up to carrying a full grown lion right now.  

[Epine de Rose]

Okay so he wasn't going away, she really shouldn't have been surprised as she'd clearly stumbled upon a region that belonged to a pride. It had been unintentional, but it was just her luck that she would bump into one of the residents. Suffice to say that she was suitably unsettled and remained silent for a considerable amount of time despite his attempts to converse. After all, what was she meant to say first... What did etiquette indicate? Should she apologise first or should she answer his questions first, she simply didn't know.

She elected to answer his questions first, even if she didn't completely trust what he had said. No one intended to 'frighten' anyone, that didn't mean they weren't going to hurt her anyway!

"I'm okay," she replied back in a rather timid fashion, her ears flattening against her head while she remained hidden in the bush. "I just got a little lost, that's all... didn't know this wasn't free land anymore, I missed the signs," she explained.  

[Mtorolite]

"It's alright; we encourage visitors. It's a peaceful pride, and as long as anyone doesn't want to make trouble we are happy to have them."

Ishekhesi came around the bush to look at her. He wasn't sure what was going on here, but he didn't want to leave without making sure she was really ok.

"Would you like to come out of the bush? I can escort you back to the main pride and find you some thing to eat and someplace cozy to sleep, if you want. I'm sure you'd be more comfortable there then trying to sleep beneath the bush like that."  

[Epine de Rose]

Even Bahati had to admit that the bush was exceedingly uncomfortable to hide in. This didn't mean that she would necessarily come out from under it, but it was a little cramped and was making good progress at making her back and neck ache. It was at times like these when the tiny lioness had to wonder how on earth larger lions managed to hide in places like this - surely it just didn't work? Alas, she had no time to question that thought as she was faced with a lion who was drawing ever closer. Instinctually she knew that Ishekhesi meant no harm, his body language seemed to reinforce this, but it still didn't mean she could resist the urge to cower.

...Especially when he got closer, the damn male was huge!

"I..." she tried to speak, faltered and then fell silent for a period. Biting on her lower lip, she looked to the side and remained this way for a considerable amount of time. It was only after she had managed to drum up some courage that she very slowly wiggled free of the bush and slunk out into view, keeping low to the ground and away from the male as she did so. When she finally stood at full height it would be evident that she was very tiny and one could have even assumed she'd been a runt in the litter - well, either that or malnourished.

"I don't want to take anyone's food, it's mean and it's their's...they caught it," she murmured hesitantly.  

[Mtorolite]

Ishekhesi sat down as the small lioness came out from the bush She looked unharmed- maybe she was just scared, or had had some bad run ins? He knew all too well that not every lion was friendly - or even was vicious with cause. He hadn't been. He had just been cruel.

He didn't remember a lioness like her, and hoped sincerely she hadn't been one of his victims at some point or another. Not that he usually attacked females, but still . . .

"Almost all the lions eat food they didn't catch in the pride. Most of our hunters are wild dogs, and they bring in enough to feed everyone. They seem to have much better luck with their hunting strategies then we do."

Ishekhesi had given this a lot of thought, and written a song inspired by the way they hunted, but also decided that lions didn't have the requirements to hunt the way the small painted dogs did. They didn't have the endurance or the temperament for it - although more lion cubs would live if they could get the food the wild dog pups had coming in.  

[Epine de Rose]

This puzzled her a little. The lions ate food provided to them by dogs? Even in her former pride she recalled the lionesses hunting regularly, it had been them that had sustained the large number of individuals. To think that a wild dog or even a pack of them would be responsible for the sustenance of an entire pride of lions was surprising - call her naive, but even Bahati suspected that lions needed to eat much more than the dogs. As an individual who was unable to hide any of her emotions, her confusion should have been evident on her features...especially when she creased her brow.

"But if Wild Dogs bring in the food then surely they can't carry much..." she murmured uncertaintly, casting her eyes to the side as she gazed at the larger lion. "Food would be limited, you might share but there would only be enough for your pride," she continued. Clearing her throat, she backed away slightly and took a seat beside the bush, her tail batting lightly against the leaves.

"I can't take rations, it would be wrong..."  

[Mtorolite]

"The wild dogs have a much better kill rate then lions, and there are always helpers to bring it back. They catch two to three more times the prey then lions do. It's more efficient for them to focus just on killing, and helpers bring the food back. We're a well fed pride, and we would be happy to share with you."

Ishekhesi was proud of his pride, and thought it ran along a very efficient model, and wanted to sing it's praises - but more then that he wanted the small female to find a safe place to stay for a while. She seemed sad and unhappy. If the pride could offer her shelter and safety, Ishekhesi would feel much better about her.  

[Epine de Rose]

Mtorolite

She'd never really watched wild dogs hunt... The second a crowd of anything appeared, she typically made a swift exit to avoid confrontation. Thus, the most she could do was take his word for it whenever he gave his explanation of how the pride operated. It might not have made immediate sense to her but he seemed adamant that the system worked and given his size, could she really argue with him? After all, a lion of his stature would require a lot of food and if the wild dogs could feed him then maybe they could feed a whole pride...

Regardless of what her immediate stance might have been on the whole think, Ishekhesi was insistant and despite her nerves, there was one overriding issue that prevented her from denying his offer outright. Nervous and uncertain as she was, she was also exceedingly hungry and given how hard it was for her to catch prey that would be regarded as a sufficient meal, was it really intelligent to say no to his offer for at least one meal?

No, of course it wasn't.

Even she knew that.

"If... If you're sure they won't mind, then I would be grateful for even a little bit," she conceded at last, though she did make a promise not to eat mountains of food, that would be rude.  

[Mtorolite]

"I'm positive, really. Part of the reason we exist is to give succor to travelers. I promise, we won't make you gorge yourself. I just ask you stay until you feel that you're ready to move on and your healthy enough to move on. I don't know what you've been through, and I'm not prying, but you look like you've had quite a few days."

Ishekhesi gestured for her to follow him back to the pride and smiled, hoping she would follow. But he would not force it.  

[Epine de Rose]

Mtorolite

'Quite a few days' was the understatement of the year for the lioness. As depressing as it might have been to onlookers, her life was never easy and while some might have pitied her, others often claimed it was her own fault. She might have been a child when she made her choices but they were still her decisions and as such, she had to live by them. Consequently, she always looked a little worse for wear and she'd heard much worse observations than others. In addition to that, she'd been shooed away more times than she could count as well.

Thus, it was with tentative steps that she began to follow after the lumbering lion, her head bowed and ears flicked back submissively. She had no desire to intrude upon this pride, but Ishekhesi had been adamant that they wouldn't mind. In fact, he had declared it was their purpose (or at least that's what she thought 'succour' meant) and as such, it would be rude to reject them. Of course, one could never be too careful and as a result of this she made note to treat lightly.

She would not outstay her welcome, she promised herself this.