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 Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:25 pm
The sky was cloudy and increasingly dark. Asante was leading the way through the grass as she and her mate hunted for a place to hide from the rain that seemed sure to start falling at any moment. She was humming as they went along, not letting the gloomy weather get her down. "Hurry, Thaddaeus," she said in a sing-song voice, "I'm not getting rained on just because you can't keep up." Thaddaeus was not in nearly as much of a hurry as Asante, he trailed behind her, chuckling at her song and glancing around to see how the other creatures around them were handling the impending change in weather.
"Nobody else is in a panic yet," he called back to her, jogging to catch up with her- even if she was just going to get ahead again, "There aren't very many trees around here."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:31 pm
 Murky yellow eyes watched the sky gleefully as it continued to darken. Rain was such a wonderful event in the course of the world - it ensured that the rivers ran strong and deep, filled the streambeds, and encouraged the fish to spawn. It was the last bit that made Arundo particularly happy. Fish was something of a delicacy in this area, so far from the ocean. He'd heard of it, the ocean. Water as far as the eye could see, filled with fish that came even bigger than a lion! But you couldn't drink it. Which the leopard didn't particularly care for. Give him a river any day and he'd be a happy cat. Speaking of cats...he heard voices. That wasn't entirely unusual, but he didn't recognize them at all, and he'd thought he'd met most of the locals in this area. Not that the leopard lived here. He was simply here for the time being. Curious now, he padded in the direction of the unknown voices.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:36 pm
"That just means we'll get the best spot," she said, brushing off his initial point about nobody else hurrying around looking for shelter but unable to refute his point on the absence of trees. She stopped, turned and looked at him, opening her mouth to comment but not finding an answer. No, there weren't any trees but that's why they were moving quickly.
And then she spotted a strange colored leopard headed their way.
"Oh!"
Thaddaeus stopped a few feet short of his mate when she stopped to initiate a staring contest while she came up with a counter-point about the trees- but none came, and then she was very obviously distracted by something behind him.
"What?" he asked, looking over each shoulder before realizing he saw a leopard over the first. Shaking his head, he turned himself around.
"Hello!" Asante called, taking a few steps forward so she was beside Thaddaeus.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:42 pm
"Hello there," he replied, approaching the pair of lions more closely. Definitely new to the area. Not that that was a bad thing. Male and female, clearly traveling together, probably a mated pair. Nothing exceptionally new or different about them.
"Haven't seen either of you around here before," he stated the obvious, unsure of what to say. "Going to watch the rain?" Yes, that was more than just manners, something relevant and current. Right?
He really wasn't very good at this.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:49 pm
"Hi," he added his greeting politely, though he was briefly distracted by the interesting markings on the leopard- particularly the mark on his leg and on his face. It was hard to tell at first if he was showing his teeth or what.
"We're just traveling through the area," he explained, smiling and glancing to Asante.
Asante was less concerned with admiring the unique markings on the leopard, though she did spare a glance to take it all in. They didn't get to talk to leopards very often, though they never really actively avoided them. She smiled but then shook her head when asked about the rain.
"We were just trying to work out way back to where we might get out of the rain," she said, "But I think we got a bit too far any useful shelter." She glanced over to Thaddaeus, who couldn't hide a small smile that suggested he'd just won an argument.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:54 pm
"Ahhhh, you've no wish to get wet?" Arundo grinned at the pair, his expression making it clear that he thought getting drenched to be half the fun of the coming weather. Water was, in many ways, his most beloved mistress. Perhaps it went back to learning how to fish as a cub under his father's tutelage, perhaps it was that the rivers and streams had never failed to provide him with food. Whatever the reason, the lavender leopard loved liquid.
He reviewed his mental map of the area, trying to think what he could offer to the lion pair. At last he nodded sharply.
"There's a rocky outcropping a few hills over to the west," Arundo gestured a paw helpfully in that direction, "which may serve somewhat. You should be able to sit in the lee and at least avoid the full force of the winds."
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:14 pm
Thaddaeus shrugged. He was indifferent on the idea of getting rained on, it was more fun when Asante tried so enthusiastically to find a way to get away from it.. but he suspected she did that for fun, too. He'd never seen her genuinely upset about something as trivial as the weather before.
"Oho?" he murmured, looking off where Arundo suggested.
Asante didn't necessarily like getting drenched in the rain but she wasn't going to make a (serious) fuss over if it happened- but she also liked to be prepared and protected from the worst of it. And sometimes storms could be rougher than you first expect, though they were probably safe so far from the ocean.
She, too, glanced off where the leopard gestured but looked back quickly with a grateful smile.
"You must live around here to know it so well," she said, "What's your name?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 3:03 pm
"Arundo," he answered easily. He probably should have introduced himself sooner, stupid leopard. Not the best conversationalist in the world, but oh well, what were you going to do.
And the lioness had made an assumption that he should correct.
"I've only been 'round here a season or two," the lavender leopard went on. "I don't care to stay in one place forever, but I like to know where I am...you know?" He wasn't entirely certain these two did, they struck him as the type to move on after a day or two, but perhaps they would understand.
He did wander. Just...slowly.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:27 pm
"Pleased to meet you, Arundo!" she responded brightly, listening as he explained how he wandered more slowly than the two of them. They didn't always move so quickly, but when they stopped, a whole season seemed like a long time!
"She's Asante, and I'm Thaddaeus," he jumped in when his mate paused and it became apparent she wasn't going to return the introduction despite having started it.
"Oh, yes," she said, startled, "Sorry! We travel around a lot, I don't know if we've found anywhere worth staying for a whole season. What's so special about this place?"
Thaddaeus smiled at Asante and then looked back to Arundo when she asked her question. He had once lived in a pride, he could imagine staying in one place forever.. but wandering just seemed to make more sense if you kept going. Maybe it was because he had been a part of a pride but it seemed too easy to get attached or comfortable if you stayed too long.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:31 pm
The leopard nodded to each in turn as they introduced themselves. Or rather, as Thaddeus introduced them. He was getting the idea that the male was the more down-to-earth of the pair and the female more outgoing and esoteric.
Even so, her question threw him completely off balance.
"N-nothing really," he stammered slightly as he answered the question. "Oh, sure, I could tell you how many fish I've caught nearby, the smell of the dirt when it's wet, but none of that makes it special. I just don't see the need to leave so soon," the leopard explained. Even once he left, he would remember those things and more, just as he did about every place he wandered through.
Why wouldn't they want to give each place a chance to speak for itself?
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:40 pm
She tilted her head as she considered his response, glancing over to Thaddaeus and back again. She could understand that, she didn't always have concrete reasons for why she liked the places she liked best. You didn't really need one. His interest was enough to make her more curious, though, and she glanced around like an answer might be waiting for her if she just took the time to look.
"Looks like we'll get a taste of all that soon," he mused, looking up to the dark sky, "I bet the fish will like the rain." And, of course, the rain would make everything wet. They may have arrived at a good time, then.
When Thaddaeus commented on the weather, Asante turned her eyes upward. It was quiet and the wind was slowly picking up.. it was definitely going to start any minute now.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:43 pm
The leopard grinned crookedly. "Not quite what I meant. Most of this will either drown the soil or get washed away under its own weight. I may not have been here for the rains before, but I have seen them in all their fury," Arundo explained.
"If the weather's not to your liking, better get on to those rocks now."
As for him, well, he fully intended to stay out in the open until it started getting hard to walk. Then he'd find a rough shelter.
What was the use of being a wild animal if you didn't revel in it?
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:55 pm
"Yeah, we better get going," he said, looking back down to Arundo- and then over to Asante. They might have refreshed curiosity about the area but it didn't change their opinions on the weather.
Asante looked back down to Thaddaeus and smiled.
"It was nice chatting with you, Arundo," she said, "Thank you for the directions."
"Yes, thank you," he agreed, and then nodded to Asante and started them off in the direction Arundo had suggested. He barely took three steps and the first raindrop hit him square on the nose.
"Goodbye!" she said, and hurried her mate along.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:56 pm
"You're welcome!" Arundo called after the quickly retreating pair before turning his full attention to the rain that was just starting to patter all around. There was, he decided, nothing more refreshing than water trying to knock you around. Not that he intended to let this storm have its way. But it could certainly try.
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