Ankou had always been a lioness who could get along with almost anyone. However there was rare moments when she felt anger toward others. She glanced at the pond and looked at her reflection. Her once flawless face was now covered up with scars. Deep scars that would never fade away. With a quick slash of her paw she attacked the pond, causing ripples in the water.

She had gotten herself in a fight with a cheetah. A crazy cheetah who lacked any self control. The hatred she felt toward the cheetah fueled her hatred. Right now she couldn't even look at a cheetah without getting disgusted.

This was the first time she had ever hated someone so much. Usually she would have gotten over it, but as long as there were scars on her face, she would never forgive that cheetah or any cheetah.

Ekaitz was walking through the jungle, enjoying the new scents. It interesting being above ground. It was much different then he remembered. He could remember the time that he went tree diving. That had been so much fun. Of course his father had to drag him away. It was a dangerous sport for a young cub to do.

He was older now, more responsible.

So of course the first thing he wanted to do once he reached the jungle was to jump from some trees. He found one that was decently high and climbed up it. As he climbed he made the decision not to go too far up. Instead he stopped at one of he middle branches and headed away from the trunk.

He took a deep breath in, hoped for the best, then jumped down.

Ankou stopped and rested. She glanced up at the sky to see what time of day it was. However she saw an odd site. A leopard coming down from the tree, falling toward her. She quickly got up and moved away and watched as the leopard fell down and rolled. He then stood up, proud of his fall.

She just watched in horror. “What the hell do you think you're doing?” She asked, her hair sticking up. “You could have hurt yourself or me! You should watch what you are doing.”

She stopped yelling for a moment. For a second she felt like she sounded like her nagging mother. She glanced at the leopard. He was a kind looking young leopard, very handsome and strong looking. She liked what she saw.

“I'm sorry I should tell you what to do. It's just I don't like seeing others get hurt. Please forgive me for yelling at you.” She gave a smile apologetic smile.

As Ekaitz fell, he failed to notice the lioness who moved in on his landing spot. However she quickly moved out of the way and he was able to roll out. He stood up gracefully, and whipped his hair out of his eyes. “Sorry about-” He started to say before the lioness started yelling at him. For the most part he zoned it out, but then grinned when she stopped. “Sorry ma'am. Wasn't my intention of getting hurt or getting you hurt. Things just happen you know?”

He shrugged off her apology. “Dude, no sweat. I was being an idiot and not looking where I was going. You're okay though right. Cause if I did hurt you, then I'll stick around till you're better. It's the least I can do after all.”

If she could, she would laugh for joy. The young leopard was practically eating out of her paw now. “I think I might of hurt my ankle when I moved out of the way.” She said with a frown. “I must have twisted it while I was moving out of the way. But it's fine. I should be healed soon. You don't need to worry about me.” She gave a smile.

“I am a lot stronger then I look. I can hunt even if my paw hurts. It just might take a little longer.”

Ekaitz shook his head. “Ma'am, as I said, I feel responsible so I will take care of you until you get better. Why don't you rest here and I'll go hunting.” He said, leading her over to the den. “If you were to hunt now you might hurt yourself more. I cannot have that on my conscious.” He pushed some leaves in a spot.

“I'll be back in a moment.”

Her tail grabbed wrapped around his leg. “Don't leave me. I'm not hungry right now. I just want to rest and have company.” It was nice that he was playing house with her, but she really didn't need him to hunt for her. She was hungry only for company right now. “If you want to make be better then please just stay by my side. I don't often get company because of the way I look.”

Ekaitz frowned. “People shouldn't do that. So far you've been pretty awesome. I mean you yelled at me for a little bit. But I'm used to it. I just space it off.” He laid down next to her. “My name is Ekaitz by the way. What's your name?” He wasn't the best at sitting still, but he would do his best to keep her company.

“My name is Ankou. It's nice to meet you Ekaitz. Hopefully we'll become good friends.” Her tail let go of his leg and went to her side. “Are you from around here? Or are you a traveler like me?”

“A little of both I guess.” he said with a laugh. “I come from a pride called Mazunguko. However I decided to take a break from pride life and explore the rogue lands. I'm not too far away from my pride though.” Ekaitz wasn't able to stray too far away from his home. He felt that he might get missed, someone might look for him. So far nothing though. Eventually he would go further away, he told himself.

“It's good to spread your wings, so the saying goes, to see the world and meet others. I enjoying traveling. There is so much to see and do. I would be interested in traveling with you, if you're interested. You seem like a kind leopard. I feel like it's about time I found a companion to travel with. It's been so lonely lately.”

Ekaitz thought about it for a moment. He wasn't sure if he should travel with the lioness. She seemed nice enough. But he was afraid that if he traveled too far from home, he would end up never finding it again. “Is it okay if I think about it? I want to make the right decision and not rush into any commitments.”

Ankou nodded her head. “Of course darling. Take as long as you need. I am in no hurry anyway. I am sure it will take some time for my leg to heal up. Once it is fix, I will be going though. So I will let you my your choice by then.”

WC: 1,180