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 Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 7:42 pm
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Their farewells had been said and the march had begun.
What Tethys had anticipated would be a small and very select band of elite Vikings had become far more than he anticipated. It had complicated matters to a certain extent, but he knew that everything would fall in to place. If he'd ever wanted a real challenge, this would definitely be the biggest he would ever encounter. If he was to survive this, everything else was going to seem like childsplay... to his warband, it would probably be the same.
Thus when they had set off, Tethys had deliberately separated his allies so that they would move to specific points via different routes. It would ensure that they didn't give cause for suspicion... Thought they might have all left at the same time, that didn't necessarily mean they were going to the same place, at least not yet anyway.
His own band was no exception as they trudged their way into the lowlands. Camp had already been set for this particular day, but he took the opportunity to explore just a touch. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, just gathering his bearings for the time being...
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:08 pm
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 Golden eyes watched from a tall patch of grass as the white lion moved away from the camp the others had set up. Why he was striking off alone was unknown, but Asubuhi was going to find out. She had never seen such a large group of lions striding purposefully in a certain direction before and she was curious as to what the great occasion was. There had been no great migrations of herds as of late, so what could these rather rough-and-tumble looking group be doing?
Keeping low and using her coloration to her advantage, the leopard slunk along behind the lion, staying down wind and out of ear shot. He didn't seem to be hunting, nor looking for anything in particular. Just wandering...how strange.
Her grassy coverage was coming to an end, so rather than stay hidden she finally stood and began to follow him as if she knew him, keeping a good distance so he couldn't turn and attacking, giving her enough room to dart away if need be. Otherwise she remained silent, golden eyes unblinking as she trailed him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 7:09 am
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He'd known that something was 'off' for a while - he hadn't been able to put his paw on it, but it had been exactly the same feeling he had gotten in those caves. He'd already been subjected to far too many sneak attacks to be completely oblivious to his surroundings and while he was still learning to be more precise with them, he was all too aware of the fact that he wasn't alone. He was being followed, she might have been walking very quietly and her scent may not have reached his nose, but she was still there.
She might have found some surprise when he stopped so suddenly.
"I know you're there," he said without turning his head and raised his eyes heavenwards. He surmised that if she had wanted to harm him, she would have done so by now. With or without grass to shroud her from view, she still would have had to close enough of a gap and she simply hadn't attempted to do so.
It was then that he cocked his head to the side, just a touch so that he could catch a glimpse of the individual stood behind him. In the corner of his eyes he noted it was feline and of natural colouring, but the rest of the detail was vague... it would remain as such until he turned round.
"Is there something you needed?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:38 pm
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Asubuhi kept her distance, but it was clear enough in the way the lion held himself that he had noticed her. She didn't bother slinking away or pressing closer, though. She held her distance, not giving up the pursuit. She did want to be seen, after all.
The abrupt stop had her pull up as well, tail twitching behind her as she observed him. She didn't seem terribly pleased about being followed, but he wasn't being openly hostile towards her either. She remained where she was, watching him turn his head just a bit to catch sight of her at last.
"Not really," she said, her voice clear and calm. "I simply call this area home and I've never seen such a large group of lions on the move before. Just wondering why, if you're in the mood to tell me."
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 4:27 am
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"You are a brave one," Tethys murmured admiringly. She had chosen to stand her ground and was answering his queries without even a quiver in her voice. She had his interest for that, while he was used to meeting strong lionesses in his home, it wasn't often that he met them out here, at least not ones so eloquently spoken when directly approached. Generally it took a female a moment or two to gather her wits and work out what she wanted to say.
Nevertheless, her queries were ones he expected to hear frequently and he provided her with his answer. It came in the form of a loose shrug of his shoulders and a half smile. It seemed that he was going to be a touch non-committal, but eventually he did provide her with clarification.
"We're just looking for a large number of individuals," he replied. "Much easier to find quarry in that number with greater numbers of your own," he pointed out. He'd planned for this, he had contingencies in place, but he'd already promised himself to be deliberately vague unless pried anyway.
"You are, however, completely safe. So if this is your home then you don't have to worry about us destroying it," he added. "We can be a tidy sort when we have to be."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:38 pm
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Asubuhi gave the lion a little grin as he murmured quietly. Her mother had called her reckless, but she preferred brave. Over the years she had learned that to be brave you didn't need to go looking for trouble, but rather have the courage to confront it before it became a problem. That's exactly what she was doing now, although it seemed this lion and his group were simply passing through. That was a relief, at least. She didn't mind company, but having a whole bunch of lions moving into her territory wasn't something she particularly enjoyed the idea of.
"Good. I don't mind visitors, but this isn't an ideal place for more than one or two hunters to call home." Herds didn't congregate here and she lived mostly off of small game. There were a few watering holes to drink from and the trees provided a safe place to sleep, but once others got her idea of hanging out here she was sure she'd have to move on.
"Haven't seen any other groups your size," she added helpfully. "Not for a while, at least. Had a group of...well, I don't really know what to call it. Lots of mixed hunters moving through. Wild dogs, hyenas, lions, cheetahs, leopards...it was a strange sight. But that was back when I first settled here."
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:50 am
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He offered a smile of gratitude at her attempts to help - he wouldn't go in to detail to avoid causing any paranoia, but at least she hadn't detected any unusual disturbances in her time out here. Based on how she looked she would be perfectly safe anyway, or so he thought she would be, she wasn't a lion and she wasn't white so in theory that meant she should be fine, right?
He'd assume as much anyway, she was the 'wrong' colour, or in this case right colour. She really had no reason to be concerned and he wasn't about to make that change overnight.
"Out of interest, how long have you been out here?" he asked curiously. If she had been here for a considerable amount of time then he was going to take that as good news. If she had been here for only a short period then he and his reavers might have to be a pain in her a** for just a touch longer. He assumed she'd been in this region for quite some time, she gave off that vibe, but one couldn't be too sure until they asked...
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:47 am
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"I see," Tethys paused momentarily to consider her response and then smiled. Perhaps she could afford them some of her time, she might have knowledge he could use, even if she didn't necessarily think it was relevant. She had in a way already answered one of his queries, making unknown reassurances that probably hadn't seen anything unusual. After all, the scourge were really quite distinct and if she had noticed them, she'd no doubt have remembered... Quite frankly if she had noticed them he'd probably want to borrow her eyes!
"So nothing really interesting ever happens, I guess," he remarked casually and turned to gaze out across the savanna, they could see for miles out here and no doubt his own band stood out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, this was the fastest route to their next destination and he'd be naive to assume that they wouldn't be spotted. "Unless I'm wrong and secretly this place is a real hotspot for parties," he glanced over his shoulder back towards the leopard and smiled.
"But it strikes me as a little quiet; we're probably the most dramatic thing you've seen..." he trailed off, but he was confident she would probably confirm his suspicions. If that was the case, then he'd have no issue reassuring her that they'd be out of her hair soon!
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:09 am
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"Nothing out of the ordinary...at least not often," the leopardess said with a nod and a grin. "You and your little traveling party are the most exciting thing in a while." Although there had been that herd of elephants not too long ago...they had been fun to watch. Elephants were far too large to even dream about bringing down, so they knew not to fear her as she had walked among them. It was fascinating to see such huge creatures.
"Oh, during the day, sure," she added, her tail flicking back and forth. "At night it can be quite entertaining. There are other predators in the area that hunt then. I hunt whenever there is prey, day or night, but once the sun sets it turns into quite the little party." For the predators, of course. Often times she would lay in the branch of one of the trees and watch the other creatures hunt. Passing lions, packs of hyena or wild dogs, even smaller things like badgers or servals.
"It's never dull, that's for sure." Asubuhi tilted her head just a bit, finally really looking at the lion. She cocked her head to the side, her smile turning from friendly to mildly predatory.
"If you want, I can show you around a bit. Ever tried to climb a tree?"
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