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 Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:52 am
She'd been away from home for quite some time now and while she may have met a number of very colourful individuals, nothing about the roguelands was quite like her jungle. The sounds, sights and smells were all different and although she might have appreciated them, she still felt that tiny niggle in her stomach that indicated that deep down, she wanted to go back. The only problem with this, was that the leopardess had since gotten herself turned around and lost during her travels. Her decision to wander only in a straight line had fallen into jeopardy during a number of encounters and as such, she couldn't quite place where she was.
Consequently, the only thing the female could do was wander idly from pillar to post in the hopes that she would recognise something or someone. Unfortunately this hadn't happened as of yet and she was beginning to doubt that it would. It made for a rather awkward state of affairs and her positivity was beginning to wane. Alas, the gods had turned their favour upon her and while her hope might have been beginning to wane, they were about to send her a assistance in the form of another wandering soul...
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:53 am
Two weeks. It had taken him two weeks to get to this point and no sooner had he reached it than he was overwhelmed by a sense of dread. It was a foreign notion and one in which he had never experienced before, particularly in this region. It made for an awkward state of affairs, especially when he had quite a bit of distance to make up between his current location and exactly where he needed to be. Alas, such were the consequences of his actions - the day he had decided to prolong his visit in the Bahari had been the day he had sealed his fate. The preybeasts had moved on without him and he was very behind.
Of course, this didn't explain the sense of dread... As a hunter he was accustomed to falling behind on occasions and one could make up for this with swift travel, so what in the name of the gods was the trouble? It was an exasperating situation to be in, especially when you were a male who was so comfortable with who and what he was. Well, up until this point he had been comfortable of who and what he was, now he wasn't so sure - whatever had happened to him in the Bahari had changed him to a certain degree, he might even have said he'd grown soft.
Rather than dwell any further on the issue he pushed the discomfort to the back of his mind and pressed onwards. He had a great deal of distance to cover and now was not the time to dwell on this sort of thing. Once he reached the preybeasts he could examine it more closely and draw his conclusions. Thus, he sucked in a breath and walked forward, his head partially bowed to shield his eyes from the sun's rays as he walked towards it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:54 am
Something big and fluffy was approaching - she knew it wasn't a waterbuck (despite their fluff) by gait alone, but it took a further few moments to recognise that it was a big cat similar to herself. Slowly her pace, the leopardess allowed the individual to approach and it was only as he drew nearer that she took heed of the mane and recognised that he was, in fact, a lion. Fortunately for her he didn't seem particularly grumpy or hungry and as such, he didn't seem to pose any threat to her. Admittedly she had been wrong on this sort of thing before but today she would go with her gut...he wasn't going to eat her for breakfast.
Coming to a halt, the feline finally took a seat and waited patiently for him to get within a reasonable distance for her to converse. She wasn't inclined towards chit chat at this precise moment in time, but when you needed information it typically came with the territory. As a result, she readied herself and finally spoke, her lips parting as she cast her question across the gap between herself and the lion.
"Ho thar, I don't suppose you know much about these lands, do you?" she enquired.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:55 am
He wasn't the most observant sort when he was distracted, but her voice did catch his ears and as a result, Xenon promptly lifted his head to regard whatever individual had stumbled upon his path. Much to his surprise he was greeted by a rather dishevelled and wry leopardess who seemed neither threatening nor overly exasperating. He could be thankful for small favours in this respect, particularly when she was seeking out information. Well, it had been a while since he had wandered these parts but his memory often served him well and he could probably discern where she needed to go provided it was somewhere he had passed through before. With this in mind, he drew himself to a halt and regarded the female politely for a few moments before responding.
"I know a reasonable amount," he replied hoarsely, his voice unaccustomed to speaking for any long period of time. It would have been safe to assume that Xenon was an individual who preferred to be the observer as opposed to the social butterfly! "Depending on the sort of knowledge you require, I may or may not be able to help you," he concluded, coiling his tail around his hindleg. It was at this point that he took a seat, his rump flumping heavily against the soil beneath him. Well, if he was going to be delayed for a considerable period of time then he might as well rest where he could!
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:58 am
"I need directions," she replied, electing to bite the bullet and cut to the chase. Small talk was clearly not this lion's strong point and she wasn't about to push the buttons of something so large. That and it was rare that anyone would take time out of their day to respond, particularly when they seemed to be in a hurry. Rather than waste his time (an oddity for the sloth who often preferred to laze about), she would instead get her information and depart as quickly as possible. It was logical, it was appropriate and more importantly, it seemed like the politest thing to do in the given circumstances.
"I need to get home," she said at last and sucked in a breath, her eyes closing for a brief moment as she gathered her thoughts. "I got myself turned around and can't find my way back to one of the areas I would recognise," she confessed. She did have the decency to look sheepish in these moments, appreciating that her naivity shone through like a beacon, however, this wasn't necessarily something she cared about, given that she rather missed her jungle and would like to get back to it as quickly as possible. Sometimes when you were desperate for a piece of information, you simply had to swallow your pride and show your weaknesses...
"If you would happen to know of one of these features then I would be very much obliged if you could point it out to me."
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:00 am
So she was lost? Well, that made for an interesting twist in the proceedings! At least she was honest about her circumstances and this served to benefit her. Xenon was more inclined to help those who were genuine, a fact that had been proved time and time again in recent weeks. Tia'moyo may not have lost or broken any limbs, she may not have been devastated by a Tsunami or mauled by a beast, but she was in need of some care. It was with this in mind that a small smile crept up onto his lips and eventually he broke the silence that had fallen when she had finished her explanation.
"You would need to be more specific about the feature you were speaking of," Xenon replied gently, his voice softening as the muscles in his throat relaxed and settled into the routine of conversing. "If it's a place that I recognise then I will certainly give you the directions you seek," he continued before shaking his head. A grimace formed on his features at this point and he sucked in a breath before expressing a small word of caution. "However if it is too far south then I don't believe I will be able to help - I follow the preybeasts, where they stop, I stop... They tend to avoid certain regions."
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:02 am
He was going to help! If she could have squealed from the tree tops then she would have... Unfortunately (or was it fortunately?) for them both, there were no trees in the immediate vicinity for her to do so. As such, she could only provide him with a radiate smile to express her appreciation. Her tail gave a whip of delight and swept round her paws and then she settled back into a more relaxed pose. Now the real question of where she should request directions had arisen - there were a number of features she could recognise but how would she know which were too 'far south' for preybeasts? As far as she was aware, the preybeasts occasionally skirted around her home but that was only for a brief instance before they continued on...
"The banyu," she spoke up after she had pictured one of the interesting landmarks she had stumbled upon. It had been a pretty sight with a wide reaching river and a yawning chasm off to the north east of it. She'd witnessed preybeasts walk across that before and she knew that if she kept her back to the chasm then she was bound to find her way back home again. "It's a big river with a massive chasm nearby, the preybeasts cross it every year," she clarified and pursed her lips, a touch hesitant that he may not know it's location.
"Do you know where that is...?" she hazarded.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:03 am
She could get home from there? She must have lived in a rather bizarre place as that was fairly late on into the preybeast migration. Alas, rather than question her choice of home, he merely provided her with a curt nod to indicate that he was aware of its whereabouts. Unfortunately for Tia, what she sought was a considerable distance away and he didn't know of any shortcuts that might be of use. Still, if that was the direction she needed to go in then at least he could provide her with that service - who was he to refuse someone's chance to return home? If he had a true home to return to then he certainly wouldn't stay away from it for any longer than necessary, he'd have like to think that if he were lost then somebody would help him too!
...Wishful thinking in the roguelands, but it was the thought that counted.
"It's going to be a very long walk," he said warned after a few moments. He'd taken a minute or two to visualise the best route before providing her with the details, better to know what he was talking about rather than to stumble over his words and confuse them both. "But you need to head to the south west, you're actually on the other side of it..." he murmured. Using his tail, he pointed in the correct direction just in case she wasn't certain of where that might be and then hazarded a wry smile. "You're talking about a month of travel, but you'll know it when you see it, of that I have no doubt..."
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:05 am
She was a month away from her jungle? The leopardess was positively flabberghasted by how far she had wandered in such a short space of time. She had only intended to go for a spontaneous wander for a day or two and then return, instead she'd taken a massive break! For all intents and purposes, she was well within her rights to worry about whether or not another feline had wandered into her jungle and taken it as part of their territory! Urgh, fighting really wasn't her thing but she had to think positively and if she really though about it, the only staple diet in her jungle was for fishers and those who could hunt through the trees...with this in mind, the number of individuals who could possibly claim it were fairly slim.
"A month?" she croaked at last, if only to clarify it in her own head. It was only when this news had finally settled that she gave a very slow and controlled nod to indicate she had accepted and absorbed his directions. In essence, she just had to keep walking in a straight line until she hit the river, then she just had to cross it and she should theoretically know exactly where she was.
It seemed simple enough.
She could do this.
"Okay, thank you," she said a touch breathlessly and gave another nod. "That's very much appreciated. I think I can follow those directions easily enough, you have my gratitude, Sir," she added. It was with that in mind that she pulled herself to all four paws, offered a warm smile and looped around him. "I'm sorry to have taken time out of your day but you've saved be a great deal of hassle!" she continued as an after thought and chuckled, "But I'll let you escape now, looks like we're heading in the opposite direction, no?"
Thus, it was with that farewell that the leopard quickened her pace and lopped off, obediently heading in the direction that he had provided...Now she just had to last out for a month, it shouldn't have been too hard, right...?
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:09 am
And just like that, the leopardess was gone. She absorbed his directions in mere minutes and with an appreciative nod she'd taken her leave. All in all, it had been one of the most efficient meetings he'd ever had and that was saying something, given the roles he had had in his former pride! He could do nothing more than provide her with a nod of his own in farewell and after that, he simply watched her leave. She remained in his line of sight for a short while and then finally immersed herself in the long grasses that lay beyond, leaving the lion to his own devices once more.
Alas, as comfortable as he was, he couldn't delay his journey any further and with a sigh he readied himself. It was with a heave and a grunt that he pulled himself to all four paws and nudged himself forward again. He didn't progress at a terribly quick lop, but his pace was reasonable enough and he would cover a decent distance at this rate. Suffice to say that he had done enough running for one day and he was entitled to at least some respite.
"All right," he murmured to himself, his gaze flicking towards the horizon and his own specified destination. "Let's get cracking, if we don't reach the damn beasts now, we may as well just turn round," he mumbled and with that, returned to his pursuit of the preybeasts.
Well, for now at least...
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