Welcome to Gaia! ::

Roshan's paws felt a bit heavy as he wondered about, and he was not sure why. Perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of failure that he had lately. There was just so much he regretted about how long his banu quest was taking. The biggest thing was he was starting to miss his sister Rosha. He missed the rest of his family, sure, but Rosha had always stuck out as the one to listen to what he had to say when they were growing up. She talked to their sisters more, but he always talked to her. They looked so much alike and even had similar names, and that had created a bond in the male's mind that was stronger than with the rest of the family.

Roshan wondered how she was, what she was up to, and whether or not she had found a Pad to put in a good word to their father about. Their father did try to keep in mind his daughter's happiness just as his father had before him. They were a very loving family and well respected in their pride. Well respected, and yet Roshan was taking far too long to find a banu and return. They likely thought him dead by now, and he was a little disappointed with himself about all this. He should have been back with his family by now. The male kicked up sand and grumbled at himself. He was such an idiot.

Roshan hated being out here so long, and for nothing. It just made no sense that he could not find a perfect banu to take home. He had been with many females in his time out here, even gave one a litter. That all meant nothing if he could not get himself a female to take home. He did not want to settle for just any feline either. No, he wanted a lioness. If he came back with any other female at this point it would look like he settled for something just to get back home. He did not want to bring shame to the female he chose or to his family by giving others in the pride that impression.

Maybe later he would think about bringing in others, but for now Roshan had to find a perfect lioness. It was not an easy task, and he had started to wonder if staying in the roguelands might not be such a bad thing. It was a horrible thought, but one that had been creeping in more and more often lately. The male looked up from his sand kicking and blinked at the female just... staring at him. Why was she staring at him? She looked a little worried. "Excuse me, miss... are you well? Do you need help?" The whole deer in headlights appearance always made him worry.

Roshan got as close as he could to the female and reached out to stroke her cheek with his paw. "Calm down, beautiful. You do not look ill, I just wanted to make sure you were well. You were looking at me like a hare between a rock and a lion." He hoped she was not scared of him. Really how could anybody find his bright a** scary? He might be taken for a doofus, but not scary. But he worried what the female might think of him anyway.

"Do you need any assistance... I can help you if you do." The desert was not a kind place and he new there was a water hole not far back the way he had come from. The female might need to go there depending on how long it had been since she got a drink. Water was a hard thing to come by in these lands, and if you did not know where the water holes were, it was VERY hard to travel through and survive. So many lions and other creatures seemed to be unaware of this danger until it was too late.

Roshan sat down in front of the lioness and smiled softly. "I know that feeling, beautiful. I am missing my family as well. I am Roshan'Parveneh." He lowered himself down until he was laying on the ground as well, almost nose to nose with the female. "You know if you lay out here too long you will not be well for long. We should head for a watering hole to laze at." Laying in the heat in the open sands was not going to do either of them any good and the male worried for this female.

Being upset could addle ones brain, so Roshan wanted to make sure this female was well. "I know where there is a watering hole not too far from here, nice big rock to lay under at it too." Which would mean a good source of water AND some shade. Shade was good, and he would have bet that this female could use some shade about now. Wallowing was best done in comfort or so he would have thought.

Roshan stretched himself out to touch the female's nose with his own. It was probably a bit rude to get so close to her and even touch her without asking, but he just could not resist. She was beautiful and he rather wanted to make sure she was not a vision. He pulled back again and rose, shaking the sand from his fur. "You have a glorious name Jalouzi'nan'Syel. I was raised not too far from here, on the edge of the desert. It is not so bad a place to be, if you know the way to water." She was such a pretty creature. He wondered how she could possibly be out here by herself. Why would her family let her leave?

"A forest girl hmm? I have traveled and seen a bit of forest, but it was not something I really thought about living in. I did not really think about lions living among the trees." Roshan waited for the female to rise before starting off toward where he knew there was water and some rocks to find shade under. He could use a break from travel for now, he supposed. Why not? He had already taken far too long on his banu quest, what would another day be? "My family... Is big. I have many sisters, a proud father, and my two mothers... my actual mother and father's other banu."

Roshan stopped and turned to look at the lioness. The tone of her voice made him wonder if he had done something wrong. "I am from the Ukuchaa'Wafalme, but I am surprised you have heard of it. Encountered someone else on their banu quest perhaps? I have been away a very long time... too long all because I am searching for the perfect mate to take home as my banu." He hoped that she would go back to talking about the forest or something happy since this seemed to be a bad topic. He wondered if perhaps she had encountered one of the less pleasant members of his pride. There were plenty of them.

Roshan looked in front of them again and could see the watering hole not far away so he took a few steps forward again. "The watering hole I spoke of is just up there..." He wanted to distract the lioness from any bad thought she might have because of his pride. He did hate the fact that there were those among his pride that had gotten them such a bad reputation, but unfortunately it was the way things were. It was part of the reason that finding a willing perfect banu was so hard for him and many others.

Roshan sighed in relief at that news. He had thought she would run away at the name of his pride with how horrible some of the members had been on their banu quests and even later when they visited the roguelands and other prides. To hear that this lioness was actually FROM his pride and had been left go free by her father, was much better news than he had expected. It made him smile and think of the cubs he had blessed that Prideland lioness with. Those daughters could be spirited and have wonderful lives without any male telling them they could not do something.

Roshan did not have to be there to make sure it happened that way, but he still had visited them and enjoyed watching them grow up. He had gotten a little distracted with visiting them so much that he had wasted more time on his banu search too. Ah well, such was the way of things. "Yes, wondering because I have wasted so much time... but such is life." He lead the way to the water and while he made sure to drink and made sure Jalouzi drank as well, he quickly retreated under the rock overhang's shade. The sun was much too hot.