Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tichaona had been watching his lands from a post of sorts, an outcropping of rocks and dirt framed with scrub and brush at the bottom. His head tilted a fraction of an angle and his eyes narrowed to make out the dark figure that was waltzing through. They seemed to move without much of a purpose, or maybe it was just the waves of heat coming off the ground that distorted this.

He hopped from his perch and slunk towards the figure, a lion- he could now see. Hmm, he was set on edge. It was a smaller lion, probably not much of a threat even if it was a male, and so, Tichaona relaxed some. He finally now was close enough to detect that it was a female. Hmm, always made for an interesting encounter. "Hello, young lady." He called out to her in greeting.

Tichaona gave the girl a smile. So she was trying to be clever. He bobbed his head in a further greeting. "I'm Tichaona. Welcome to my lands." He waved a paw in gesture to insinuate his territory. "Do you mind if I ask what brings you here on your travels? Out of curiosity, really, we have no problem with rogues crossing through our lands." He tilted his head, "Also, are you a rogue?"

His questions had purpose to them. Tichaona was always curious about the ladies. He had a bit of a competition going on with the other king of his pride over who would be a successor. He'd had one litter not too long ago to a consort of sorts that he shared with this other king, but if he could also overwhelm Mweyne's genetics with his own, well, then all the better. He sized Sara up. Young, but that had its advantages.

Tichaona shook his head. "No, no. I don't mind. I don't bar passage for rogues. As long as you don't cause any trouble - and you don't look like the kind to cause trouble - you're free to pass." He sized her up. Rather absent-minded, wasn't she? Or maybe that's just how she was coming off. This was a first impression, he could be wrong. He watched her watch the butterfly. She seemed more like a cub in an adolescent's body than a young adult lioness. He shrugged. Well there went that idea.

"Thank you, Sara. That's kind of you to say." He offered a small smile, and sat down. "Well, my pride is more of a loose banding of families and some single individuals who have come together and seen benefit from living in a group. We don't have all those ranks and rules most prides have, but I am one of two kings. I was there when the families banded together initially and I've helped us grow and live comfortably in these lands." He sounded so noble, so altruistic. He really just did it for the power and recognition, but he wasn't so cruel or desperate to change the ideas the pride was bound together by. "So your mother is from a nearby pride? Which one?"

She was capable of causing trouble? He cocked a smile. Fat chance. No offense to her of course. She didn't really seem to be the kind to even want to cause trouble. He sat back on his haunches and pretended to be polishing his claws on his fur, then inspecting them. "Kingship is pretty awesome, but it comes with a lot of trouble and responsibility, too. When I was on my own, that's all I was responsible for - myself. But now I have a family and a pride to satisfy needs for. It's a heavy weight, but I'm able to bear it." He shrugged, playing down just how cool he totally was.

He tapped his chin with a claw, "Night pride?" He tilted his head. "I don't think I've ever heard of it, at least not by that name." Tichaona then shrugged. There were new prides popping up all the time, and old, well-founded ones that seemed to disappear with little warning. That was just the nature of Africa. She was quite the fickle place to live. He bobbed his head in return. "It's very nice for me to meet you as well. I welcome any chance to meet a rogue and expand my horizons by hearing about theirs." Any attempt to flirt was beyond him now that he'd evaluated her and judged her to be too young.

Tichaona smiled and bowed his head. "Well thank you, Sara. I wish you all the best in your journey to reunite with your mother." He watched her on her journey until she was out of sight from where they had had their conversation. She seemed like a nice young lioness. If not for her age, he might have worried for her safety on her journey, but he trusted that she would be able enough to find her own way.

Once she was gone, he lingered for a little bit longer, watching his pride lands, but eventually he considered it time to return to his family and his pride.