He was very pleased that day, what with the change in career. Now he didn’t have to feel so weird about hanging around at the borders so much, because it was actually his job! He was quite happily doing his job (this was his second day as an official scout!) that day, just making his rounds and making sure to keep an eye out for any possible rogues.
This far out, he would probably approach any lion that appeared. And maybe hyenas, granted they weren’t in great enough numbers to overpower him. In that case, he’d probably seek help, because, noble as it may seem, charging into a fight when outnumbered was just stupid. He would do the Pridelands any good simply getting himself killed for no reason. Sure, maybe if he got killed during an actual war. But just out on the borders? Nope!
But sometimes pridelanders wandered to the borders too. If he recognized them, Kialio normally wouldn’t bother interrupting them, they may just be out enjoying a walk. Or searching for game, and if they felt comfortable hunting outside of pridal lands… well, it wasn’t up to him to stop them. Unless they were cubs, running away from their parents. Then, of course it was his duty to stop them and take them home!
Like that little red cub over there. Honestly, how had she even gotten this far? With a sigh and a somewhat amused smile, the black and blue male trotted over. The cub in question wasn’t even running, more simply wandering towards the border. Though the way she glanced back made it clear she knew she was going a bit far. “Hello there!”
The little female turned and blinked up at him, large ears perked up. She didn’t look at all guilty, amusingly enough. Not like a kid getting caught doing something wrong! “Hi.” She answered calmly.
This was the first time he had actually caught a cub out so far, and Kialio didn’t even often deal with cubs. He liked them, though! Assuming her parents had told her to beware of parents, the lion laid down once close enough, so as to not appear intimidating. “What are you doing all the way out here? Do your parents know?” He asked.
The cub shrugged. “I dunno. Kinda wanted to see how far I could get. Pretty far! And no, my parents don’t know.” He huffed in amusement, that was a rather silly reason to go out on her own! But somehow the way she said it, so calmly and confidently… it made it sound like something to do every day. Kialio decided he liked this kid, if only because she had a strong head.
“That’s a very dangerous idea, then. There could be rogues here, and hyenas. Don’t you know that?” The red cub nodded in response to his question, which made him frown. It was so much easier to deal with these situations when cubs were actually scared of the consequences!
“I know that, and I was a little worried. But I just thought you gotta be brave sometimes. Besides, I knew someone would catch me before I got too far! And if I got too far, and no one caught me, I’d turn back myself.” She nodded firmly, which made him grin.
But he couldn’t be too nice, after all, this cub was doing something very irresponsible. “I guess I can understand that, er… what is your name?”
She frowned slightly and considered this. “You first.”
At least she knew not to trust strangers! Somewhat. “Kialio.” He supplied helpfully.
“Okay. I’m Tala.”
Tala, he nodded. Okay, he’d remember that one for later. “As I was saying, Tala. I can understand your curiosity, I really do! Otherwise I wouldn’t be a scout. But what you’re doing now is wrong, and irresponsible. Your parents are probably very worried about you!” Now at least the red cub’s ears drooped, and she looked somewhat remorseful.
“I know…” She admitted. “But I was really curious! I wanted to know what the border looked like. And what stuff outside of it looks like.”
Fair enough. “The border and the stuff immediately outside doesn’t look very different, in most places! You have to go a bit farther to see things really begin to change.” Kialio nodded. Well, it wasn’t entirely true, of course. The border with the elephant graveyard could be a little more dramatic, but at least this cub had the sense not to go that way.
She tilted her head at that, curious. He hoped she wasn’t curious about the elephant graveyard. “Ah, anyways. You shouldn’t be out here. I’m going to have to take you home and tell your parents!” She looked absolutely crestfallen at that, and Kialio did feel a little bad for the cub. The black lion couldn’t help it; he was a sympathizer. Curiosity over the outside and the promise of adventure! What wasn’t to love?
But kids didn’t learn if there were never consequences. Her parents should probably ground her for a while, perhaps give her a bit of a scolding. That was up to them, of course, and all he would do was deliver her home and let them know what happened! He stood up. “Come on, now.”
With a sigh, the cub obediently followed as he led her back towards pride rock. “By the way, how did you get away from your parents, or caretakers, or nannies?” Maybe caretakers and nannies would be the same thing, but he wasn’t sure. Best just go with them all.
The cub shrugged nonchalantly. “I had my friend snake startle a cub, then hide. That distracted them.” …She ha a pet snake scare a cub. Well, that was different then the more normal ‘I just snuck off while they were busy with other kids!’
“I… see. Uh, what if they killed your friend snake?” He frowned, because that could be an unfortunate outcome of such a prank.
The red cub didn’t seem worried. “Nah! Tezcacoatl is very fast, and he had a place to hide. And he’s venomous, no one would mess with him. Besides, he’s got good manners, could probably just claim it was all a misunderstanding.” She nodded, and Kialio had to admit he was somewhat impressed. Yes, pridelanders could be fairly reasonable with other species, he wouldn’t doubt they could accept a misunderstanding.
“You’re pretty smart, Tala. Just don’t use your powers for evil.” He chuckled.
Tala grinned. “Alright! I won’t.”
