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Haziel stretched and got up form her nap. Her exploring was bringing her farther and farther from her home pride, but with the war going on, she was just enjoying her time away. She had managed to slip away from her captors, as had her siblings captured with her. But unlike her siblings that had wanted to find their parents right away, she wanted a break from the pride. A break from the war had sounded so nice, so different than her whole life had been. The rogue lands were proving to be an interesting place too. Many different terrains and many different species out here.

Haziel padded forward and watched around her. The one thing war taught her was that at any time someone could be sneaking up on you to try to capture you or worse. She was not about to be taken unaware out here. Apparently, not everyone thought that way, though. Her silent creeping brought Haziel upon a very dark male with bright colorful markings. The lioness watched the lion for a few moments, as he seemed lost in thought. He did not look like he was much different in age than she and this put her a little at ease. The fact that she knew she was a good ways away from her pride also put her at ease a bit. This male was not likely to be dangerous.

Haziel decided to make a move and speak to the male rather than just pass him by. "Hello." She gave him a smile that was a bit more world weary than it probably should have been at her age. She figured leaving her greeting could remain simple for now. She could get to an actual introduction later. Of course she was already getting distracted by his bright spots on his coat. She liked how he had such bright eyes and markings, but the rest of him was so dark. It was such a neat contrast, rather like her own dark and light coloring.

Haziel tilted her head to the side and watched the male. He had not responded when she spoke. Apparently he had not heard her, which made her wonder if he might be deaf. She had heard of such things before, but usually that was in older lions and lionesses whom lost their hearing over time. She guessed that younger ones could probably have this problem as well. That would be horrible if one asked her, but who knew. If this male that looked about her age DID have that problem, why was he out here alone, though? That made no sense at all. One would think that someone would stay around him to make sure he was safe if he had such a flaw.

Haziel was just about to say something more and poke the male to get his attention if she had to, when a big bug flew toward her and landed on her nose. She stayed still and looked at the bug. The bug was interesting enough, but she did wish it had not landed ON her. Oh well, she would have to gently remove it. Maybe it was a tasty bug? Eh, she would find out another time because now the male had finally acknowledged her. "Hello, you can have your bug back... I really do not need it." She gently removed the bug and put it on the ground, keeping a paw half over it so it could not escape. "I am Haziel."

Haziel could not help but giggle at the male. He was so cute with his nervousness and everything. He could not even pronounce her name correctly, and she was sure it was because of the nervousness written all over him. She wondered if this was what most of the adults had meant when they talked about younger felines having difficulty talking to the opposite gender? She could not really say for sure since she had not had very long discussions about that kind of thing with those that had captured her. Most of her interactions with the adults that had held her had not been so positive and a lot of what she knew was overheard of their conversations among themselves or with their own side's cubs.

Haziel smiled softly at the male to show that she did not mean anything bad by the giggle and thought how best to correct him. She figured that it was best to be direct but gentle. "My name does sound like a Hazel nut doesn't it? it is Haz-i-el, if you say it slowly. I think my mother liked it because her own name is Yof-i-el... makes her feel like she passed something on to me, maybe?" She grinned at the male and let the bug go finally. He had indicated her did not want it, so no use keeping it. She might catch one later to see if it was tasty, or ask someone that might have eaten one. Most people she knew did not eat bugs at all.

Haziel felt a little twinge at his ears drooping. She hoped he was not too hurt over the name correction. Most of the time she would have been more apathetic over a stranger's feelings, but this male was very cute and seemed quite sweet. The young lioness giggled as the male finally seemed to get over his nerves only to state that he was hungry. The timing of his stomach grumble was perfect.

Haziel wondered how the male had missed her standing there that whole time, but then he had seemed very lost in thought. She just could not understand being so distracted from one's surroundings. She had gotten nabbed as a cub even while trying to be very aware of everything around her! She gave a wicked grin before answering the male's questions. "I am very sneaky. I got right up to you while you were thinking about something... you never even heard me. Although that is a good thing for hunting..."

Haziel's stomach did not rumble loudly, but she still felt it. She probably should go find something to eat, but it would be rude to do so without offering to such a nice male. "Ghubari, since you are hungry anyway, would you like to go for a hunt? Hunting is usually easier with more than one." The lioness waited until Ghubari was right behind her to jump, turn completely around in the air and managed to land with one paw on his tail. Why she had done it, she was not sure, but it certainly had been fun.

Haziel giggled a little at the look on the male's face when she pounced his tail. It was just so adorable that she had to giggle at that expression. She was really starting to like this guy. Although she was going to apologize for scaring the hell out of him. It had been a little cruel to do such a thing to the male even if it was amusing for her. The lioness stuck her nose out to the male and touched his with hers. "I am sorry that I scared you. I really did not mean to do so... I just was having a bit of fun."

Haziel was a little confused that the male could not hunt. Yes, things were out of sorts in her pride with the war going on, but other lions had to learn to hunt so they could eat as well, not just her pride or any other. It was usually something one learned from their parents if the had no pride. Perhaps that was the problem that he had no parents or pride to teach him? This thought made Haziel feel even worse for scaring the male. She would just have to teach him to hunt... or attempt to. "Then let us try to make a lesson for you... and if I am a horrible teacher, I will just hunt for us both."

Haziel giggled at the male's attempt to hide his being scared and gave him a lick on the cheek. "Of course you weren't scared... just startled, no shame in that." She watched him put his tail back into perfect order and chuckled. Once he was done grooming it, she motioned for him to follow her. If they were going to hunt, they needed to get going. Prey was hard enough to catch without wasting time. She thought perhaps they should start with something like a rabbit or a bird, but eh, she would see what was out there, if there was something a little bigger she might just have the male watch while she tried to get it.

"It sounds like you really could use the meal... I usually hunt rabbits... but maybe we can find something a little bigger that I can hunt for us... Come on, we best get moving if we are going to find something to fill our bellies." Haziel waited for the male to follow before making her way off toward where she had come from. She was sure she had seen some game signs out that way, and it would be a good way to start, by showing the male signs to look for when trying to find prey.