The kill was brought back to the waiting lion, a small trail of blood on the ground. Harith grew more nervous as she drew closer, wondering if she was going to quiz him to see whether he had truly watched her or not. Truth was he had, but the whole thing had happened so quickly, he was afraid he hadn’t caught any of it. It was about as knowledgeable about hunting as before he left his pride. This was to say he knew you had to run prey down and kill it. The fine details between were lost. Since being out on his own, this had been the first and only kill he had seen happen before his eyes. He had so many questions about the process that he was too masculine to allow himself to speak out loud.
So as she drew nearer, Eli could see the nervousness just as easily as if he had spoken them to her. He sat there with his tail as stiff as a stalk of grass fallen over onto the ground. She swore she could see his mane hairs standing just as rigidly from his neck and chest and the bright blue eyes that watched the gazelle being dragged on the ground held no merriment or understanding. On the contrary, it seemed as if he’d rather just turn tail than face her coming towards him. The whole thing almost had Eli laughing, but she had more tact than that. What kind of a pride had he left to be feeling this way over her? Or was he some delicate lion who didn’t like the sight of the kill, but had no problem devouring the meat?
Setting it down near him, the red lioness took a place a few respectful feet away, waiting to see who would make the first move. After a few moments silence, it seemed it would have to be her.
Sighing, she cleared her throat.
“You mute, boy?” Or just stupid? The last comment, of course, was kept to herself. Whichever one was the true question, there was no need to offend the young male.
Harith shook his head, still feeling his throat closed off around any advances towards sound. It was making him feel so ashamed. What kind of male didn’t speak towards a female first? He was sure if this wasn’t a strange lioness from a different land or he wasn’t out on his quest, he would do better at speaking to her. The pressure of finding a Banu was always on his mind. And to get it done as fast as possible.
“So why don’t you speak? Taking a vow of silence?” This was something she had heard more spiritual and religious prides did. She couldn’t imagine how they did it. Eli found it difficult to go in any social situation without opening her mouth. Oh, it got on the nerves of others, but she liked to remind them she, at least, wasn’t a gossip. That when she opened her mouth it was usually to be helpful or friendly to another.
Not everyone could agree Eli was a friendly lioness. It was true she took her time to get to know all the creatures she came across, which is a very friendly action. But they would argue Eli lost her patience too much. She was bossy and opinionated, never shy to say how she felt about something. Or about you. Her heart, however, was in the right place. Which was enough to most to not call her rude. She just…Had a different method of going about things. She believed in tough love.
Another shake of the head. Besides finding a lioness to take back with him, if Harith wanted any of that gazelle, it would need to speak up soon.
As that thought crossed his mind, he opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. The red lioness merely shook her own head sadly.
“I don’t wish to be here all day, boy,” she told him firmly, a stern look on her face like she would give to a misbehaving youngster who was afraid to fess up to a crime. “I’m not going to turn on you and make you my dinner.” As much as she was pretty confident she could take him down. Eli had always been a rather large lioness. She could-and did-wrestle with the toughest of lions before joining a pride. Being in a pride calmed her. Being out in the roguelands made her senses come alive. If one wasn’t careful, one could more easily loose their meal or life out here. A pride worked together. Rogueland predators were rivals. “I don’t like the taste of lion meat.” As a joke.
The face of the male adolescent slowly turned into one of shock until he realized she had been joking. Not that he would put anything past these rogueland lions. If food was scarce and you were hungry, why not eat one of your own? Go after someone weaker than you and catch them by surprise.
Eli sighed visibly, deciding on the stupid option of earlier. Harith’s ears went flat against the sides of his head in shame, trying to look more dangerous than he was feeling. It didn’t seem like she was buying it. If anything, the corners of her mouth seemed in more danger-of cracking a smile.
“Well, if you aren’t yet going to talk, you can at least get something to eat,” she told him, moving out of the way of the carcass to let him go first. Maybe once his belly was fully, he’d feel more like talking.
It was a start, anyway. At the end of it, Eli got a thank you for the help, despite his previous lack of a tongue. She even managed to get from him where he came from and what he was doing out here, mentioning without hesitation how obvious it was that he wasn’t a rogueland-born lion. She was a little surprised to learn about the kind of pride he was from, but she figured she couldn’t go judging it before she even saw it. This kid came from it and he seemed nice enough. Anything but the kind of dominate male she would expect to encounter.
In return, Eli shared where she came from. When she mentioned the pride, he seemed a little sad, but she ignored it and continued on until his mood changed.
Harith was enjoying the few hours long talk with the lioness too much to care about his quest at the moment. Or that she wasn’t a candidate for him to take home and finish this blasted quest quickly. He was thinking, if he could meet her often while he was out here, maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he first thought.
Wordcount: 1,138
