Anii'Samra
Sagasu walked in a slow and steady pace, gracefully making her way through a yellow plain that seemed to stretch for miles. It was landscape she’d seen many times before but far from the one she’d grown up in. The blue-eyed lioness was curious and enjoyed new sights but she already missed her pride sisters, the beautiful island where she lived and the immense sea that surrounded it. Still, she’d taken to the Priestess life by her choice alone and nature would never have permitted her to remain in the confined pride lands for too long. She was happy to be returning home.
Sagasu stopped and lifted her nose to the air, catching the faint scent of blood. She followed it with no hesitation, wondering if she’d be able to get a free meal out of some unfortunate chump.
Unfortunately for Sagasu, there wasn’t much of a meal awaiting her. A beautiful wild dog female was hidden in the tall grasses, gnawing on the bones of the hare she’d caught a good while before. The rogue was relaxed, enjoying the cleaning task with a languid disposition when the lioness came into view.
“Well, hello.” The feline didn’t look threatening and Anii didn’t even have anything worth stealing anyway so fear wasn’t her first reaction. From one female to another, she had to admit the lioness was rather beautiful even if she was from a different species. Anii wasn’t about to say it aloud though. She was used to receiving compliments not giving them.
Sagasu spared a quick and somewhat sad look at the small collection of clean bones that decorated the ground before looking slightly up at the grey-eyed wild dog. From the mermaid’s point of view, had she’d been born a lioness this female would’ve been beautiful. Her eyes, in particular, were quite striking and for a brief moment Sagasu stared into them with a curious expression. The greeting reminded her of both her manners and basic social etiquette.
“Hello, I’m sorry for staring. You have lovely eyes.” She smiled, speaking softly in her musical voice.
A little tremor showed that Anii wasn’t entirely comfortable with the long stare of the much larger creature but her suspicion was tamed by the lioness’ smile.
“Yes, they are quite pretty, are they not? Well, I’m all pretty in general…” she replied cheekily with a good natured chuckle. “I guess you’re kind of pretty yourself. Is it safe for you to walk around alone? We’re not that far from the lions in the rocky lands. They’re no fun, you know.”
Sagasu laughed, finding the notion of a wild dog worrying about her safety to be somewhat amusing.
“I can take care of myself, thankfully.” She was confident in her ability to at the very least escape a threat but she wasn’t that bad at facing one either. She’d blinded and drowned enough rotten males to consider herself quite proficient at it though the Stormborn and their tendency to hunt females in groups was something she’d rather not deal with. Some considered mermaids to be bad luck but others welcomed the challenge, after all. “I could ask you the same thing. A small thing like you… don’t you usually live in big packs?”
Anii tilteld her head to side and chuckled, her pale grey eyes watching the beautiful coat of the lioness, fascinated by the way it glittered in the sunlight.
“I appreciate some company from time to time but I prefer to travel alone.” The wild dog chuckled and then grinned mischievously, standing up. “Most creatures can’t resist my charms anyway. Even felines… and they aren’t interested in mounting me.”
“I am quite beautiful, you see.” She concluded in the same mischievous tone with a bit of added conviction.
Sagasu lifted one playful eyebrow in disbelief, a small sign she didn’t entirely agree with the wild dog’s words but she didn’t say anything for a few moments. And then, she had an idea.
“Oh… maybe you haven’t many that many cats then.” She was very obviously unconvinced. She considered non-lions to be weaker and usually unworthy of her time and could not conceive the notion that a lion might do a wild dog’s bidding simply because she was a little prettier than most. “But let’s test that out, shall we?” Sagasu’s eyes narrowed and she grinned widely. “Let’s find a couple of chumps and put that theory to the test. You and I will need to find a way to get a meal out of a lion. How does that sound?”
Now that was an interesting proposition. Anii was eager to test out her charms against the pretty lioness and immediately opened her mouth in a wide grin that mirrored Sagasu’s.
“Alright, sound good. But you will need to get a meal out of a wild dog.” She winked, knowing full well that both challenges might prove difficult. The lioness might have trouble approaching a weaker creature that might fear her size (and her stomach) and Arii might have to deal with an aggressive lion that might try to kill her simply for getting too close. A dangerous game but that was part of the fun. “Where can we find some males then?”
Sagasu pondered on the wild dog’s words for a few moments before nodding her acceptance. She supposed it made sense that the challenges were balanced on both sides. Difficult on her end, dangerous on Anii’s. Maybe the wild dog was getting the worse bargain and Sagasu wondered if she’d bother to help Anii if she got in trouble because of her idea.
“Well, as long as we stay away from the sons of the storm, we’ll be fine.” The last thing she planned on doing was to get close to the Stormborn lions. “If we keep walking in one direction we’re bound to run into someone. Maybe even a wild dog firs-… What’s that?”
“Yes, I don’t want to spend my life living as a slave in a cold, wet place filled with rocks.” Anii agreed quickly. She followed the lioness’ gaze before kicking the remaining bones to the side, ears pushing forward as a creature moved closer in the distance. A lion. Well, that sealed the deal.
“I guess I’ll go first.” Eager to start, Anii laughed and winked again. She started trotting in the lion’s direction, stopping only for a brief moment to give the lioness a few last words over her shoulder. “You have to hide.” And the she was off without even giving her name first, already concocting a plan that would allow her to win the challenge.
Sagasu lowered her body to the grass after confirming the identity of the feline ahead. Well, it seemed Anii would be the first one. That was good. It would give her some time to think of how she would earn the trust of a foolish canine.
- FIN -
