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The white lion was running, paws hitting the ground with multiple thuds before powerful muscles propelled them upwards once more. He was on the hunt, but not paying any real attention. Probably scaring off most of the game anyway. Not that he really cared. He was still pissed about that whole encounter with Princess Andama. It had only taken a couple questions to his far-too-open spy to figure out who she was.

Latitare was somewhere above him even now, doing his job, keeping track of Yareha's every movement. Not that he even cared what the damned bird was doing right now. He just needed to be out in the open.

A little voice in the back of his head wondered what would happen if he just kept running. Away from the pride. Yareha squashed it resolutely. He might not always agree with the rulers of the Mwezi'Johari, but he loved his pride and his family and wouldn't leave them willingly. He'd heard from passing rogues that no one else seemed to believe in the Great Lion and that was completely foreign to him.

Yareha caught a glimpse of something big and black as he ran and that was enough to get him to slow down. The lion panted, slightly out of breath, as he took stock of where he was. This area was a watery border of the Mwezi, lands that the pride technically claimed but didn't always patrol. Good hunting territory. It wasn't unusual at all to find rogues here because of that.

And that black shape was unlikely to be anything else. The terrain hereabouts didn't lend itself to caves and he couldn't think of anything else it could be.

He was torn. Should he call out? Or should he simply wait? He wasn't a guard, so this wasn't something he usually did. Unless if one counted the ah...many lionesses he'd kept company with on the borders.

Today he decided in favor of patience. Let himself have a bit more time after that nearly disastrous encounter with the Princess.

A lioness. A big one too, Yareha didn't think he'd ever seen a lioness quite as big as he was. It was an intriguing concept. But he let that track of thought go to focus on her words. And had to grin with a resigned snort.

"Personal problems," he answered shortly to the first question. "And a personal spy," the white lion added with a laugh. He gave the lioness a smile - a real one. "For some reason," Yareha told her, "they don't trust me."

He felt like he could. At least for the short time they were likely to know one another. This lioness didn't look like the sort who would settle down in the Mwezi. Which made her safe and utterly trustworthy in a way a pridemember wasn't.

He snorted again. "Naw, learned my lesson ages ago - never chase tail within the pride. Had everything nearly set, then up comes this rogue I knew with cubs - mine, and dumps them on me." Perhaps that was a bit edited, but it summarized the situation well enough. He watched the stranger try to lure Latitare down to eat. Not that he'd miss being spied on, but the eagle deserved (slightly) better than that.

"He's cannier than he looks. Never comes down if he's not sure of his welcome," the white lion told the black. "I'm Yareha," he added. Sure he'd probably never see her again, but no need to be rude while they were having such a good conversation.

"I'm not the most popular guy in the pride," Yareha admitted. "But at least the women I consort with out here know what they're getting into," he told the lioness with an appreciative glance.

"You'll never get him to come down," the white lion spoke with no little disgust. "Too smart for his own good. But I know there's some good hunting around here..." he offered, leaving the sentence dangling.

It was quite possible that a bit of hunting could lead to...more. If she was so inclined. If not, he'd still be able to spend some time in attractive company.

"The bird's luckier than he knows," was Yareha's only comment on the subject. Truth in far more ways than the obvious. He perked up at Jua's introduction as she spoke about her pride.

"Firekin? I've never heard of you, but you sound like a proud pride. It's an honor to meet you," he told Jua. It seemed fitting that there would be a pride out there that held for the sun as the Mwezi did the moon. Appropriate. Odd that one of theirs should be here, but he certainly wouldn't object.

"Oh, I'd say there were a few other things to do," the white lion offered slyly.