Welcome to Gaia! ::

Akhekhu kept her head low, her body poised for flight at any given moment. She had wandered into the graveyard quite by mistake, but staying had been deliberate. The bones had fascinated her. She had seen skeletons before, of course, the bones of her prey after she tore their flesh away, or even the occasional unfortunate lion or cheetah out on the savannah whose tissues had been lost to time. Elephant bones, however, were new to her, and she found quite the morbid beauty to her.

Not long after entering, however, she had scented hyenas, and although her muscles rolled easily beneath her coat and she was usually up for a scrap, she was not feeling it at the moment. No, the beauty of her surroundings had sparked a different emotion in her, something almost... wistful. So while the green lioness had no intention of leaving just yet, she had altered her pace to be careful, hoping not to betray her location to any hyenas nearby. Akhekhu wound her body across a long tusk, rubbing against it like a domestic cat might. What a fine place to make a home, she thought, if only the territory wasn't already occupied.

It was the whimper that alerted Akhekhu, although because it was hardly a threatening noise, she took her time reacting. The lioness twitched an ear in the wild dog's direction as she wound her way back over the tusk, her gait more confident as she eyed the dog's cowering form. Her lip curled the slightest bit with distaste; she had little time for cringing fools. Still, perhaps the creature could tell her more about the area.

The lioness was a rogue and took full advantage of it, travelling far and wide, so she had no concept of any war going on in the area. She'd never even been here before, much less heard of the Mava'Bunda or the Pridelands. As such she seemed perfectly at ease as she strolled over to Kelello, stopping several paces away. Far from trying to respect the wild dog's space to make her comfortable, Akhekhu was simply trying to protect her own personal space that she valued so much. "Greetings. You live here?"

Akhekhu raised a brow at the wild dog's behavior; she had known many cowards, but there was something about the wild dog that told her that this wasn't simply cowardice. There was something deeper here, some awful hurt that caused the striped dog to behave this way. That told her that there was some interesting story, one that Akhekhu was keen to hear. She was not a social lioness but any means but she did enjoy keeping tabs on what was going on around her. If she was going to stay in this area, it would be to her benefit to learn more about this dog, these Pridelanders, and this Mafa she spoke of.

"I am not a Pridelander," she said smoothly, her tone neither condescending nor particularly friendly or concerned. If anything, it was simply casual, as though there was no war being fought - nor a burning curiosity in her belly. "I am a rogue, a traveler. I have never been to this part of the world before." Her lips split into a grin, exposing her shiny teeth. "I could not even tell you what a Pridelander is. I assume they are a pride near here?"

She swished her tail and sat down, hoping to put the dog a bit more at ease; after all, if she scared her or intimidated her too much, she would never get the information she suddenly wanted. Still, there was confidence in the set of her shoulders and in her cunning brown eyes. "Nor do I know of this Mafa." Akhekhu assumed that Mafa, and her kin, were likely the hyenas whose scent permeated the area, but that did not tell her much. "I am here because I was drawn to the elephant bones. There is something elegant and beautiful in their morbidity. I assure you, I mean you no harm by being here." She chose her words carefully. She did not intend to hurt this wild dog because she was confident that Kelello was not any sort of threat to her, but she would not hesitate to stand her ground if anyone challenged her.

"My name is Akhekhu," she said. Normally she did not partake in the niceties of conversation, including trading her name, but she felt it prudent now to loosen the wild dog's tongue. "You say you serve this pack?"

"Kelello," she said, dipping her head in greeting before listening to the wild dog.

"The Mava'Bunda," Akhekhu repeated quietly, seemingly to herself. She focused on Kelello as she spoke, nodding her head once or twice. So the pack's previous leader had died - when, the dog had not specified - and now they were at war. This was interesting information indeed. Perhaps she would stick around the area for a while yet; though the lioness had no interest in getting personally involved, it could be worth her time to stay and observe. It was, after all, free entertainment, and entertainment could be hard for a rogue to come by.

Her ears swiveled forward and perked at Kelello's final words. "A slave?" she said quietly, tilting her head just slightly. "A slave to the pack leader. Interesting. The matron slave... so, you help care for the pack's pups? Or is it the other slaves? Is this a large pack?" The hyena smell had been strong, but whether it was from many, or simple one that had just recently passed through, she hadn't bothered to investigate.

Akhekhu's mind was buzzing. She had heard of prides and packs taking slaves, but she had never actually met one before. The lioness flicked her tail as Kelello took a bit of a tone with her, hiding her amusement. So, the dog had a little attitude left in her after all!

"I see." She cast another gaze around the graveyard, brown eyes taking in all the information it had to offer. If it was a large pack, then perhaps she shouldn't stick around for too much longer. She was confident in her ability to take one hyena in a fight, and to be able to get away from two while leaving a few good blows, but more than that and she wasn't sure.

Something about what Kelello had said nagged at her until she finally identified it and was able to put it into words. "So, why don't you just... leave?" Akhekhu looked around again. "You seem to be alone right now. If you're a slave, what keeps you here if you're not being guarded?"

The lioness's eyes widened at her response, not having expected it at all. Somehow, it had never occurred to her that a slave might have children of her own, and especially not that those children would also be slaves.

"I'm... sorry," she said, and there was an honesty behind it that was unusual for the lioness. Akhekhu had never experienced motherhood nor truly understood it; she valued her freedom far too much, and was much too independent a creature to even think about having cubs of her own. But something about the wild dog's words - no, perhaps not even that, it was the way she said it - really struck something in her.

"That must be... difficult." Akhekhu shook her head suddenly, curling a lip at her own words. "Listen to me. I'm speaking like a fool. Of course it's horrible, and as I don't have offspring, I don't understand. My apologies." She paused for a moment, thinking how rare it was for those words to ever leave her mouth; Akhekhu did not often give apologies.

"And now I am rattling on. Well." She narrowed her eyes at Kelello for a moment before giving the tiniest dip of her head in respect. "That is an amazingly selfless thing, Kelello. I have traveled more than most lions and have not often seen that sort of devotion to the well-being of others."

"Cubs of my own?" Akhekhu let out a quick laugh, although it wasn't derisive in any way. "I can't imagine that happening. Perhaps someday, long from now, but I imagine that by the time I'm ready to settle down, I'll be too old to bear cubs anyway." She tilted her head again, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment. "Besides, I am far too selfish. I live my life as my own with nothing to tie me down, no burdens, no ties to bind my paws to one place." There was a spark of pride in her voice, as there always was when she spoke of her life as a wanderer, although given Kelello's situation it was toned down a bit this time.

"For me, the wind in my fur is as natural as breathing. I am not sure I could ever give that up. But to do so is admirable. Without it, our species could not continue to survive."

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "You say that this pack is at war with the Pridelands. Can you tell me why?" Wars were interesting; fighting in one would surely be even more interesting.

Instinctively, based on Kelello's response, Akhekhu stiffened and glanced around warily, as though hyenas were going to come skulking out of the shadows right then. She shook herself lightly when she realized that her reaction was foolish and flicked her tail with annoyance; she could understand the wild dog's reaction, but she was not a slave, nor was she bound to these lands.

"So they started this confrontation simply based on... not liking them?" It really wasn't much of a stretch, since so many rivalries across the lands were petty, but she was curious if there was more substance, a specific incident even. "Well, regardless, I may not have any interest in settling down anywhere, but I have been known to stick around for a bit if something peaks my interest. Perhaps I will lend a paw."

"Tell me, Kelello," she said, her voice strong but not commanding; she had no interest in pushing the wild dog around anymore. Akhekhu leaned in close, assuming that she was treading dangerous ground with Kelello and wanting to reassure her they would not be overhead. "Do you support the Pridelanders?"