Nia sighed a heavy sigh as she marched on across the savannah. She'd been following this path for a while, the one that weird pink lioness had mentioned. But so far, she still hadn't heard anything about this pride she spoke of. Come to think of it, she had been a little weird, so perhaps there was no pride? As much as she didn't want to believe that, her luck was stacked against it her lately. Not only had she allowed a sweet and adoring male to slip through her paws, but now she was lost. Things probably couldn't get any worse for her.

Could they?



Dragomir was spending his time sniffing the ground, investigating the possibility of food in the area. He didn't normally huff about like some kind of wild dog, but he was curious to see if it made much of a difference from sniffing the air. Was it really more effective? It certainly didn't seem that way- all he could smell was dirt and that was getting all in his nostrils making him sneeze.

wiggling his snout, he raised his head, looking around when he heard someone near him. But he couldn't shake the sensation in his nose- he let out a fairly big sneeze, his mane bouncing energetically.



The sneeze brought the female right out of her thoughts and back to the present. Looking around her, she jerked her head left and right in search of the culprit, not expecting it to be another lion. Well, maybe she had? She didn't know ... well she didn't know anythign anymore.

Tilting her head to the side, she tried to hide the slight amusement on her face. Though she really wasn't doing all that good of a job at all. "May the gods bless you." She mumbled, her head remaning tilted as she tried to determine whether the male was safe to approach.



The male turned his salmon-colored head towards the female who had spoken, his embarrassment written all over his face. "Oh, um, thank you," he said awkwardly, annoyed that it had to have been a female in the same area as him. Couldn't they show up when he was saving a cub or fighting off ten other lions single pawedly? Why were they always around when he was sneezing? It was probably going to always remain a mystery. Smiling, he straightened himself.

"I'm sorry, I uh, was a little busy and I failed to introduce myself! My name is Dragomir- it's nice to see someone else out here! Though I admit I'm a little surprised! What brings you around these parts? Do you live here?" Maybe he was asking too many questions, he was just eager to try and get past the sneezing thing.



Alright, she couldn't hold her amusement in any longer. The male's face had pretty much given her permission to giggle at his expense. "Hehe, sorry your face is just priceless right now." Covering a paw to her lips, she listened as he finally spoke up. "Oh you shouldn't worry with such things, passing strangers aren't expected to have the best manners." Nodding her head, she continued, "Though it is nice to meet you Dragomir, I am Nia'Dubkau." Dipping her head she went on.

"Ah no so much, though I had hoped I could find a pride here that I could make my own. But it seems the information I was given wasn't entirely accurate. What about you Dragomir? Come here often?



Dragomir didn't mind she was laughing at him. She had caught him in an embarrassing moment, so she might as well make the best of it. Otherwise, it would have been a waste, right? He smiled faintly and left it at that, nodding as she apologized so she knew he wasn't really mad about it.

When she introduced herself, he smiled a bit less like he was completely humiliated, and a bit more like he was actually happy to be there. "That's a nice name," he commented, though he was sure, if they met again, he would not remember it. Nia, perhaps, but not the rest of it. He had never been very good with names.

Not long ones, anyway.

"Actually, I live pretty close to here," Dragomir replied, "though I'm afraid I try to keep to myself, so I don't know too much about the prides in the area. I wish I could be of some use to you." He sighed lightly and shifted his paws in the dirt. He really didn't like prides much, so he tried not to know much about them.



"Thank you." Nia blushed lightly at his adorable smile, but tried to shake the feelings away. Why was she always like this? Being swept off her feet by the simplest of remarks?! She really needed to take a step back and realize that not every male was coming on to her. He simply thought her name was nice, just as she had liked his. It really was as simple as that.

"Oh do you now?" Her hopes got a little dashed though as Dragomir continued his conversation. "Oh, that's a shame, - I mean - Not that part about you keeping to yourself. I'm sort of the same way!" Nia paused and tried to take her own advice; take a step back.

Inhaling a deep breath she cleared her mind and blurted out. "I only meant its a shame you don't more of the pride in the area. Though to be truthful, I haven't come across even the slightest hint of a pride, so perhaps there are none for you to worry with anyway." Nia shrugged her shoulders and pulled her hind legs under her. "So is there anything noteable about this area we're in, anything I should know about for my stay here?"



Dragomir chuckled. She didn't seem like she was completely used to chatting with someone like him- he hoped he wasn't making her too uncomfortable. She seemed to like the compliment earlier, so that was a good sign in his favor all things considered. He smiled and decided not to worry too much about it- it wasn't like they were likely to see each other again or anything, he just didn't like anyone walking away from him angry no matter what.

"Not really," he hummed when she asked him if there was anything worth noting in the area. "There's not a lot of herds that come this way, so if you're looking to hunt it might not be as simple as sniffing something out. Other than that, this place is a little... boring."



Nia's perked ears, fell again at his words. No beasts here either huh? She hadn't eaten in a few days, and was starving. At first she'd thought herself to blame, but now hearing these words she wondered if she wasn't to blame. "I think I noticed that myself actually ... its been a couple of days since i've seen anything living." Again she shrugged her shoulders. "Boring huh? Well I guess I was just what you needed to spice up your day then, wasn't I?" Nia's tail flicked happily behind her as she smiled at her own joke. Even if she wasn't the shining point of his day, she'd like to go on thinking she was.



"Oh dear!" Dragomir frowned. "A couple of days and nothing to eat? Now that's has to be difficult." He couldn't go nearly as long without food- his stomach pretty much operated his entire existence. Without being properly fed, he tended to get very cranky. He smiled at her, chuckle lightly as she continued. "Yes, you brightened it up very well!" He looked over his shoulder, before bringing his eyes back towards the female.

"Do you want something to eat, then? It's not super fresh, but I do have a kill in my den from this afternoon. It should still be good, and I haven't had a lot of it. If you want, of course."



"It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise!" Laughing once again, she didn't even try to hide it. His reactions really were priceless! "I travel quite a bit, so my stomach is very agreeable to lengths between meals. So long as I don't go overboard, I will be fine." Nodding her head in a polite manner, she was soon beaming at his response. "I'm so happy to hear that Dragomir, everyone needs a little brightness in their days." Looking down at her paws, and back up at Dragomir she noticed his glance just as he turned back to her.

"Oh no, your actions are admirable, but I will be fine. Food is scarce here, you should save it for yourself." Nia raised a paw and waved Dragomir's offer away. She wouldn't dare take away his dinner. "Though I probably should be going soon, perhaps i'll find some food along the way."



"You're lucky," chuckled Dragomir, "I tend to need food every couple of hours or I start to act like a spoiled cub." But he supposed he was just used to hunting when he wanted to, living in one area. He didn't do a lot of traveling, and he never had to worry about wandering into areas where he didn't know where the food was. If he explored more, maybe that would be different.

Not bad, though. Even if he would be hungry, it seemed like it would be fun.

"Well, alright," he said lightly, "I'm not going to try and force you! But I hope you do find some food soon. Eating is always better, even if you are used to not having anything for a while." He nodded his head, happy his sneeze had led to a nice conversation. "It was nice to meet you, Nia! I'll let you be on your way!"



Nia dipped her head in appreciation to her new friend. Even if he wouldn't think of her as one, she would definitely consider him one. "I will most definitely begin my search once I leave your territory Dragomir." Nodding her head stiffly, she stood on her paws once more. "It was my pleasure friend, may the rest of your day be as pleasant as the time we've spent together was."

Smiling softly to herself, she offered him one last dip of the head before turning and heading away from him. Perhaps that lioness' directions hadn't been so bad after all.