After hearing so much about prides from Lorne, Quinlan was feeling a little like he needed to explore things for himself. Maybe he could find a pride to visit- seemed a better idea than wandering around doing nothing all the time. Even if he loved his rogue lands, new experiences were good to. Anyway, it wasn’t like he was going be moving in- he only wanted to look around a bit and see what pride life was like.
That was fine.
The pride he had found looked very interesting. A tall mountainous cliffside in front of a large clearing. All around the clearing, a thick forest, which he was currently just making his way out of. He had already been met by a guard and, after explaining what he was doing, had been allowed to venture in for a look around. That was how he knew he had actually found a real pride, and wasn’t just in the territory of some over-protective thug. Thus pride was called the Skua’Fumo. He wondered if it was like the pride Lorne had lost, or if it was something entirely different. There was only one way to find out.
He smiled and looked around, almost immediately approached by a purple and white-maned lion. The moment the other had spotted him, he was rushing over with a smile on his face. “Hello!” the male hummed, “my name is Borachio! Are you a new member to the pride?”
“No, just passing through,” replied the dark lion, “my name is Quinlan. I just wanted to see how prides were, and yours was the closest to where I was. I hope you don’t mind me snooping around.”
“you’ve come to the right pride for snooping,” laughed Borachio, “we’re a bunch of entertainers here at the ground level- we love performing for other lions. Stick around and see one of our shows, alright? You might enjoy a bit of entertainment before you head back out! And if you have any questions about the pride, you’re free to ask me!” And the lion was good on his word, too. It seemed like he was willing to answer any question Quinlan had. He asked to have a bit of a tour of the place, and Borachio obliged, starting with the lower level of the area.
“The forest is kind of an unknown area,” he explained, “the groundlings live there, and it’s all very mysterious. Most of the upper class avoid the place like the plague, but we down here aren’t so afraid of venturing inside and looking around. I’ve been in countless times, and I’ve never had a problem. The groundlings are nice!” He chuckled and motioned for Quinlan to follow, explaining the other classes. Quinlan soon understood that the higher up you lived, the more important you were in the pride. But you couldn’t just move into a higher spot- you had to have a purple coat to qualify. Strange rule, but he supposed that was one thing that made prides different from the rogue lands. They had rules. Out in the open, you were free to do whatever the hell you wanted. No one could stop you. No one would.
No one cared enough to.
“So you’re happy here?” Quinlan asked, once their tour was finished and they had settled back in the clearing once more. Borachio chuckled.
“I couldn’t call another place home,” he replied.
“Well… that must be nice. Having a proper place to call home. But I don’t know if I would be able to deal with living in just one place all the time. Might get under my fur, if you know what I mean!” He laughed, and the thespian laughed along with him.
“It’s not for everyone, I admit, but for me I don’t think I would last very long outside the pride- I think it would probably kick the crap out of me the moment night fell, if I managed to live that long at all.”
They were happy to joke about their homes, but they both seemed to understand the love the other had for their respective place of birth. Neither seemed too willing to step over any lines and say anything really offensive about the other’s home. Good thing- Quinlan liked this Borachio fellow, and he didn’t want to end up mad at him. Nor did he want to offend him, either. So he was glad they were both on the same page.
Might have been awkward otherwise.
“Well, I don’t know how long you plan on sticking around,” Borachio said lightly, “but you should look around some on your own and maybe meet with some of the locals. You might enjoy learning how they all like the pride, too. As much as I want to think that they all love and cherish this place as much as I do, I’m sure that’s… not really the full case. But I suppose that’s to be expected, right? Not everyone is going to love this place. The rules are weird, to many.”
“Speaking of rules- you said nobles are purple, right? But you live down here. So you’re not a noble, then?” Quinlan asked, tilting his head to one side.
Borachio laughed. “You don’t HAVE to live as a noble if you don’t want to- I thought it would be nice to have my own life, away from the somewhat… close-minded views of the noble class. For me, being a player and having fun with my friends is far more fulfilling then acting like I’m better than everyone else just because I have a specific color in my coat.”
‘That sounds like a good way to think,” Quinlan chuckled, though really it all still had him very confused, “I think I will look around a little more. This place is clearly very interesting! Magical, really.”
“Well, let me know if you need anything!”
“Thanks! I’ll be seeing you again, at least once more before I leave. Take care, Borachio.”
“Enjoy your stay, Quinlan.” With that, the two parted ways, Borachio off to rehearse with his friends, while Quinlan moved to find someone else to talk to. This pride was going to prove very interesting after all, and it wasn’t even about magic!
