Baridi took her time walking to the Pridelands. If she had really pushed herself it would have taken perhaps two days, but she was in no rush. She wanted to find a male to fling with, after all. During her few days of walking she ran into quite a few different animals, but none of them were male felines. She was growing a bit discouraged, but as Pride Rock loomed on the horizon, she knew she couldn't beat herself up over it. Some things were meant to be and some others weren't. Besides, this was only one way. She'd stay for a day or so on the outskirts of the Pridelands before heading home, giving some males more time to walk between the two prides.
She paused for a drink at a little watering hole, chatting with another passing rouge. This one was male, but he didn't seem interested in females, nor helping her out. Which was fine, of course, but a bit sad since he had been very handsome. He had also been a leopard, though, and Baridi was really pulling for hybrids this time around. Not that she didn't love her leopard children, of course. She loved them dearly. She just knew that the pride favored hybrids for the games that they played, and she wanted her children to be able to make a well-balanced team should they all want to play together.
...that and she had found male lions to be quite attractive for some time. It was something about their manes, she was sure! She loved being able to nuzzle in to them. Shaking her head and splashing water everywhere, she pulled herself from her daydream and continued on into the Pridelands. Surely someone would see her and stop to chat for a bit.
Mindra stretched as she rolled around in her den. Adulthood was suiting her very well. It was nice to be so big and strong! She was still a cub at heart, though, and enjoyed stretching and rolling around like a goof before she actually got up to help the other females with the hunt. She was surprisingly good at chasing down prey, although not very skilled at tackling, so she was often the one sent out before the others, or to chase the prey into waiting paws. She loved being able to run so fast! It was lots of fun. Sometime she wondered if she were really part cheetah, even though her mother insisted that she wasn't.
Still, it was fun to dream. Or daydream, in this case, because she was very much awake. Mindra sighed and finally pushed herself to her feet. After a bit of wandering around she realized it was her 'day off', so to speak. There had been a large kill yesterday and everyone was still full and happy from it. Grinning at the fact that she now had a free day to do as she pleased, the young lioness pranced off towards the rouge lands. There were always lots of interesting creatures coming and going around the Pridelands since they offered such a safe haven. She enjoyed talking to those that walked by and hearing about what was out beyond the horizon.
Today she spotted a leopard walking into the lands before she saw anything else. The green stood out nicely against the slightly brown grass - they hadn't had rain in a few weeks - and the grey lioness made a beeline for the new face. "Hello!" she called out happily as she pranced forward, ears up and tail swaying back and forth. "Hello, welcome to the Pridelands! I'm Mindra, who are you?"
The bubbly greeting took Baridi by surprise, but soon she located where the voice was coming from. A young lioness was making her way towards her through the grass, hopping along happily. The leopardess smiled and paused where she was so they wouldn't accidentally run into one another trying to find each other in the grass.
"I'm Baridi. Thank you for the warm welcome," she added with a little laugh as Mindra pounced out of the grass to land before her. Mindra quickly stood up straight and grinned again, leaning in just a bit to sniff the air around Baridi.
"Ooh, you haven't been traveling very far, have you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. There was no sign of exhaustion and there were scents of other animals on her. Fairly fresh, even!
"Ah...no, I haven't," Baridi admitted, surprised that Mindra could tell. "I'm from the Kwa Kikombe and decided to take a little vacation to wander around the rouge lands between here and my pride. I grew up in them, you see, so it's a bit like going home. That and I'm on a bit of a mission."
"Ooh! A mission!" Mindra said, an excited look on her face. She quickly plopped down in front of Baridi, grey eyes wide with excitement. "Can you tell me what? Or is it secret?"
The eager look on the young female's face made Baridi lift a paw to her muzzle to hide her chuckle. Ah, how sweet! She was a bit like an overgrown cub. She had so much vim and vigor in her! "Oh, I can tell you. My whole pride knew what I was doing before I left, so what's the harm in one more?" She paused for a moment to sit as well, deciding to make a bit of a story out of it.
"When I joined the Kikombe, I had a litter of cubs. They've grown now, and have been for a while. While I love them dearly I do miss being able to mother them, so I decided it was time to have another litter. The only problem is I don't have a mate, so I have to find a male willing to fling with no strings attached. In all honesty, it's not that hard to do...but I'm a bit picky this time around."
She paused for effect, smiling slightly as she watched Mindra nod. "Picky for what?"
FIN
WC: 1010
