They'd had several new arrivals in recent weeks, some of which had been so young that they were too vulnerable to be left on their own. These younger souls had been placed with willing families of course, but that didn't mean that some of the Bahari'mtoto were left rather curious as to their origins. Unfortunately it seemed that those origins wouldn't come to light for a considerable amount of time either, particularly now that boundaries were to be respected and the cubs would not be questioned further. Until they had reached maturity, no one would receive any answers regarding where they came from and who their parents might be... But the other visitors...
Well, one in particular had caused a bit of a stir when he had returned with Durama. It had been him who had brought the younglings with him, and it was he who possessed the peculiar accent and the rather strange proportions. He was a large lion, but despite his height, he was rather sleek. It was as if his muscles had been concentrated in to the most important regions and the rest... well, it was safe to say that wherever he lived, the sleeker and more narrow frame seemed to be of benefit. Zephyranthes wasn't entirely sure she knew of a region where this would be regarded as particularly useful, but then again she'd never been in a region where being that narrow would have been needed.
The Bahari'mtoto had always been open with very few obstacles to attempt to slip through, so it should have come at no surprise that the bulky, and very fluffy lions, looked just a touch odd against the gleaming and very soft coat of the foreign male.
Alas, like all who entered their lands he had been granted the opportunity to remain here for a time. He had made his intentions clear though, now that he had delivered the hare home, he would also return to his own. With little desire to remain here for very long, he'd left many wondering just where 'home' was. Zephyr was no exception to this curiosity and given that he now appeared to be suitably settled by the shore, she had deemed it an appropriate time to intrude upon him. Initial observations had indicated that he was open to being approached and capable of holding a conversation, so she had confidence he wouldn't shoo her away immediately.
Still...
"You have been staring at me for a considerable amount of time," The male interrupted her thoughts and lifted a brow quizzically towards the pink lioness. Despite her best intentions she had already wandered in to his radius and hadn't even been subtle about it, it wasn't really like her to be quite so crass.
"Ah," she replied.
"Do I have something on my face?" he added and shook his head. "The sand here appears to stick to everything, despite my best efforts I may have missed several clumps."
"There's nothing on your face," she said finally and gave her own head a quick shake, if only to bring herself back in to the present and collect her thoughts. "I simply thought that I should come and introduce myself," she continued and cleared her throat. "You arrived recently and despite the fact I assisted in checking over the lost souls you brought with them, I didn't have the opportunity to greet you."
"Or inspect me?" he offered helpfully.
"Were you wounded during your excursion?" she asked with a puzzled tilt of her head.
"No but healers of any discipline are remarkably good at interrogating their patients through innocent queries," His smile was knowing, but warm, and he finally gave the ground a pat. It was an official invitation for her to join him and he released a sigh. "It's generally why any who enter our lands are subjected to their gentle ministrations," he pointed out.
"Everyone?"
"I imagine they would be, visitors are exceedingly rare for us," he explained. "My name is Gus, and you are?"
"Zephyranthes," she took a seat, coiling her tail around her paws and pursed her lips. "Am I right in assuming you live in a rather difficult to reach area, if visitors are rare that is..."
"Restricted, not difficult to reach," he replied. However, he did pause briefly to consider his own answer and eventually shook his head. "Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that the entrance is not immediately visible and is heavily guarded, but the region itself is easy to get to."
"Guarded," she clucked her tongue. "We're not that bad out here you know."
"We're not trying to keep anyone out," he replied smoothly, though he refrained from going in to any further details. "They're all well, I assume? The little one didn't seem to be in any ill health and the adolescent was without injury. Murmur and Purah, wasn't it?"
"They're both fine," Zephyr smiled. "The youngest is a little shy, possibly overwhelmed by everything around here, but the eldest seemed to have been looking for us on purpose so he's happy to be here," she pursed her lips and glanced at the male again, he really did look strange and she couldn't really describe why. "How do you make yourself look that...shiny," she said finally as she waved at his fur. "I've never seen something gleam quite so much, it looks unnatural," she confessed.
"How do you make your fur so wiry and full of curls?" he returned her query with one of his own and shrugged. "We all look like this, just as your fur is curled and coarse. We are sleek and gleam in the light, par for the course in our home."
"So you all look that..." she searched for a word that wouldn't be too offensive. "Skinny...?" she ultimately gave up.
"Yes," He didn't seem offended. "We're all slight in form, it aids in speed and agility," he pointed out.
"Last time I check -"
"You lived in a paradise," he interrupted and raised a brow. "Therefore you have no need of a form that's built for war," he finished and gave a nod to the islands on the horizon. "So, are those yours as well or do you have neighbours?" he asked curiously. Zephyr was left to blink rapidly for a few seconds before she turned to look towards the islands.
"Oh, those are a part of our home," she confirmed. "There are a small number of colonies who live out there rather on the mainland."
"Any particular reason why?"
"Not really, I think it's just preference at this point..."
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