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 Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 4:56 pm
 It was good to be out again. Out on the borders, away from the kids, away from having to watch his mouth, away from that damned bird. Oh yes, he knew Latitare was up there, somewhere, soaring on the thermals and watching but damnit, he knew the eagle was too high up to hear anything. Which was just the way Yareha wanted it. He didn't really need to be out this far, but right now the entire pride seemed somewhat stifling and the white lion just needed to get away. Here, where the pride's lands ended and the rogue lands began and the border was just an imaginary line. He knew where it went, of course, but the lion was choosing to ignore that for the moment. Still, he had oriented himself so that he faced outward, into the lands that were still relatively unknown to him. It was from out there that Ieiunium had come, and Gharzaala as well. Sometimes Yareha thought about going out there himself. But...there were periodically those who came in to the pride. Many joined, but not all. It was, for Yareha, those who didn't stay that held the most attraction - they weren't here long enough for him to get bored of them.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:13 pm
'Out there' wasn't all that it was cut out to be sometimes and as a seasoned veteran within the roguelands, Chessa could attest to this. She'd seen her fair share of tragedy and chaos, and in amongst it had been smattered periods of solace and rest. Suffice to say that drama, intrigue, politics and so forth were rife regardless of where an individual went...but it did seem to be suitably more intense in prides. In the roguelands another individual could be murdered during a disagreement and this would be accepted for the most part, in a pride... well, things were a little different.
Yes, Chessa knew about that too, she had seen it first hand and been responsible for it. Her only saving grace was that the pride who had sat in to cast judgement on the unfortunate female had been reasonable and not leapt to conclusions.
Alas, as fate would have it the lioness was once again on the move. Her paws had itched and she had followed them obediently, drifting here and there until something of interest caught her sight, or...until fate unveiled it's purpose to her. Suffice to say that her mother had always been quiet about her 'purpose' and had left her largely to her own devices which unfortunately tended to translate to 'chaos' if she was unlucky enough to be swept away by a vision!
She could only up that today would be less eventful...
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:44 pm
Yareha groaned inwardly as the figure on the horizon resolved itself into a lioness. Not that she was difficult to look at or anything - far to the contrary! But the God seemed to love testing his willpower and it took a stronger lion than Yareha to resist the call. The grey lioness approaching was, all in all, rather attractive despite the odd thing around her neck. As she came closer he decided it looked like a bone, which was rather ominous.
Still, he refused to judge a lady by her appearance and was perfectly prepared to be warm and welcoming.
"Hello there!" the white lion called out, taking a few steps in the stranger's direction.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:52 pm
Male.
Well, these meetings never went well for her - something about the doomsday remarks and the inherent ability to foretell their doom. She never tried to be intimidating (she didn't have that kind of bone in her body) but males just didn't seem to take it well when her expression became vacant and she uttered incoherent words regarding their impending doom to them. She could never remember what she said but generally speaking her remarks were accurate and suffice to say that word had gotten out within the roguelands that she was not to be trifled with.
...It made making friends ever so slightly difficult if she was honest but she had gotten used to it, she wasn't a young buck by any means and she had been through the ringer a bit!
Thus, it should have come at no surprise that she had her usual wistful smile upon her lips as she regarded the lion before her. He seemed pleasant enough, but then again, they always did... time would tell how long that lasted for.
She gave him five minutes - tops.
"Hello," she replied with a small nod of her head, though she said no more. It was better for her to keep herself in check for the time being.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:58 pm
Politeness was always a good start to anything and, if the lioness didn't seem extremely friendly, at least she wasn't overtly hostile. Small things, but they sure made a difference. He couldn't quite fathom what sort of expression she was wearing, but hey, she was a rogue whose experiences he knew nothing about and so how could he expect to understand what thoughts and emotions led to the look on her face?
"Welcome to the lands of the Mwezi'Johari," the white lion pressed on when it became clear that the stranger was volunteering nothing. "I'm Yareha Afaer."
Sometimes he asked their name. Not always. He got the feeling that if this lioness wanted him to know her name, she'd tell it. He wouldn't ask it of her if she didn't want to though.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:03 pm
"Chessa," she replied smoothly, without missing a single beat in the conversation. She had no qualms with anyone knowing her name as if they didn't, they were bound to know of her eventually. Eventually her memory came back to haunt individual creatures in some form or another, even if she didn't necessarily wish this fate upon them! With that in mind it was always better to have a name for a face as she knew how awkward it could be to look back and wonder who on earth you'd met that may or may not have caused any impending awkwardness!
"And it is a pleasure to have entered your lands, I suppose," she added after a few moments, taking a second or two to gather her wits and her bearings. She was in an area she had never walked in before, perhaps for good reason, but she had yet to place her paw on exactly why this might be! Alas, no use dwelling on it and she eventually gave a shrug as she returned her attention to Yareha, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
"Scout, I take it?" she enquired curiously.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:14 pm
"Hunter, actually," he replied cheerfully. No need to mention that he wasn't actually hunting, that he wasn't on regular hunts at the moment due to the kids, that his personal life was a mess and he was desperately afraid that Laelia might already be lost to him...
No, no need to mention any of that to the passing stranger. Well, the hopefully passing stranger. Not that the pride wouldn't welcome her, or that he wouldn't welcome her...it was just his track record wasn't so good when the lionesses stayed. Or came back. Really, more of "came back" than "stay" now that he thought about it...and this was a mental track he really shouldn't be going down right now.
"I'm not usually out here on the border like this," Yareha went on, "but I think today might be my lucky day," the lion added with a crooked grin.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:18 pm
Now there was a phrase she never thought she'd hear! Her eyebrows instantly shot up at the mention of 'lucky' and she regarded him as though he had gone positively mad. He would live to regret those words, they all did and deep down in her gut she knew that he would be no different. That being said, she was acutely aware that he was smooth, a little too smooth and she quickly concluded he was a charmer...especially whenever he shouldn't technically be on the border.
She reserved further comment in that respect, at least for now.
"So you're sight seeing," she stated smoothly, glancing over her shoulder to the way she had come. Frankly she didn't see anything of note or interest on the horizon, then again, she had always found this particular region a little bland... it was deeper into the pridelands that things became more interesting. "You may wish to head a little further out if you're looking for anything visually stunning, everything in the immediate radius is a little flat."
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:33 pm
"Now why would I go further out when it's perfectly wonderful right here?" the white lion replied, still smiling. He didn't do anything so obvious as wink at Chessa or compliment her directly. By the God, it was bad enough that he was doing so much already! But...Yareha simply couldn't help himself. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten himself into trouble with a pretty lioness.
And it almost certainly wouldn't be the last.
He'd been good - he really had! - when he'd been together with Laelia. But without a constant to keep his attention, Yareha had found himself prone to flirting with any and every lioness that crossed his path. Rogues, of course, were the best, as they had experiences far beyond the norm of the pride. Not to mention that they didn't usually come back afterwards. Two small (but very very noticeable) exceptions to that rule, but he'd learned to live with it. Sort of. Kind of. The biggest lie of his life but it was working out...right?
"Will you be in the area for long?" he asked wistfully, forcing his attention back to the conversation at hand.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:47 pm
Charmer, flirt, another notch on the bedpost as it were.
Chessa immediately drew her conclusions and highly doubted she was wrong as she surveyed the lion, both eyebrows remaining raised. She didn't know much about this particular pride but she was beginning to hazard a guess that the females weren't 'easy' and as such, he had to find his pleasures elsewhere. Alternatively, the females could have been incredibly easy but the drama that came with them wasn't... She could only imagine what fabulous politics and drama there would be when everyone lived in such close quarters.
Ah, but to be a fly on the wall (sometimes)!
"I have no intention of remaining here long," she replied honestly, shaking her head ever so slightly. She had never managed to last very long in a particular region. Her doomsayer ways often caused her to outstay her welcome very quickly and as such, she had no inclinations to remain! Nevertheless, every now and then she could hold off, provided that she saw a reason for it.
She fell silent as she regarded Yareha.
It had been a while - quite a while actually and it might be nice to have a little bit of fun. He probably consisted entirely of hot air and bravado but she would bet she'd had worse. Plus, he wasn't terribly bad looking if she overlooked the dimples...
"Why, are your pride inclined towards visitors?" she enquired, slipping back into the conversation without difficulty. "I hear some are quite hostile."
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:52 pm
Genuine surprise on his face. He knew there were prides out there that disagreed, but to not welcome visitors? That just seemed...stupid. Shortsighted. He already knew he was related to a third or even half of the pride. The pride that didn't even allow visiting rogues to stay long enough to determine whether they'd be interested in joining or not was the one that was going to have problems with inbreeding in a generation or two. It just wasn't practical to be so exclusive.
"Not at all! I mean, they generally don't like it if you stay more than a couple days and you don't want to join...but we've never turned away a traveler who needed a good night's rest and a full belly." There was usually some extra food to be found, and always a place for the stranger to rest their head.
And if that rest wasn't found alone, well, that was nobody's business but those involved.
"I'd be happy to show you around," Yareha offered.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 6:57 pm
"I've been well fed, rest assured," Chessa responded with an amiable smile, noting that she explored far more than he did and as such, required more sustenance. She always ensured that she was well kept otherwise she would quickly lose strength and life would become very difficult. However, it would be rather refreshing to have a safe (and reasonably quiet) place to rest for the evening, it had been a long time since she wasn't in a region where the hyenas kept her up at night - good gods could they make a racket when they wanted to!
"Well, you only live once," she mused, recognising the potential irony of her own remarks. She then shook her head and motioned to the region behind him, her gaze flicking towards what should have been pridelands. "It never hurts to broaden one's horizons, it could be interesting to see how your kind function as a society," she continued and offered a loose smile. Strangely enough she was being honest, while she preferred to keep a distance in the long term, she was curious as to how other individual prides operated, some were truly fascinating.
...Others needed their heads tested.
"So, why don't you show me what this pride of yours has to offer, hm?"
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