Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aaliyah'muna watched as her breath formed a soft cloud of smoke against the rising sun. It lasted a few seconds before the crisp breeze carried it away into oblivion. It was almost peaceful in the early morning. This was a time when she could count on the closest of her neighbors to still be sound asleep. It meant that she didn't have to shield her self from whispers or practice indifference in the face of suspicion.

Happily, the lioness took a deep breath and puffed out several clouds of her breath, taking a moment to softly bat at them playfully. Watching as the last of the clouds disappeared and the darkness of night recede as the sun painted the sky, Aaliyah got off her hunches. She needed to forage. The lioness could get her food and supplies from other members of the pride, but due to past events, she found it easier to save her finds to trade with travelers that visited the pride lands.

Breaking the perfection of newly fallen snow, Aaliyah made towards the rogue lands. It wasn't long into her journey, she had barely made it a third of the way, that she noticed a dark figure. She couldn't place the lion which meant he must have joined the pride after the snow. Hesitant, she slowed her pace, trying to avoid drawing attention. With members new and old, Aaliyah had grown to be wary if she wanted to avoid conflict. Her pace a near crawl, she hoped that the dark lion would let her pass without as so much of a glance.

Aaliyah froze at the greeting. It had sounded friendly, a tone that had become nearly foreign to the lioness. Taking a cautious step backwards, she tried to determine if there had been any hidden malice or teasing in the word. She knew she was being paranoid, but life had changed so much after the storm.

It took effort for Aaliyah not to cast her eyes to the ground, but it had become near habit. It helped if she appeared a little submissive to some of the pride. However, she made sure she could see the lion peripherally, before shrinking slightly into herself, her muscles tensed and ready to bolt, as she responded hesitantly, "Hello..."

The old Aaliyah would have wretched at how timid the current Aaliyah was, but she held in her disgust. She nearly followed up on the weak greeting with a snap of anger, taking her distress and negative emotions from the prejudice of the rest of the pride on this stranger, but she refrained. He was not at fault. At least not yet.

Still, she felt like she needed to explain herself to the lion, before he demanded an explanation as others had done in the past. "Forage. Rogue lands," Aaliyah failed to form a coherent phrase and felt her brain explode from the stupidity of her words. Oh, gods, she thought, why couldn't she just say what was on her mind.