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Another day, another night, another storm. Baridi was once again out on her own during the rainy seasons and although she did love the life that the water brought, she wasn't very fond of hiding out in dead trees and caves all the time. As with most leopards, Baridi didn't mind swimming or getting wet...as long as it was on her terms. Having the heavens open up and dump torrential rain on her head while she was hunting was not her idea of a fun evening.

And so she found herself once again wet, hungry, and alone. At least she had found a rather spacious cave to hunker down in. The lightning illuminated the rocky outcropping every so often as she groomed herself, trying to help fluff up her fur to encourage it to dry faster. So far it seemed to be working, although it was going to take a while.

Honestly, Kiwi wasn't sure what awful hell he had found himself in but he was damned near tired of it. It felt like days of mud were caked about his hackles and his once vibrant, green fur was drenched through so deeply that he had turned nearly the color of a swamp. He supposed it was his fault for seeking out new, untested hunting grounds but how was he supposed to know that some malicious rain god was going to try and drown an entire part of the world.

Of course, he admitted (to himself) that he might be a bit over dramatic.

It was some dumb luck that he stumbled through the thick downpour and set his eyes on what appeared to be a cave. Cold, dusty outcroppings weren't usually his first choice of shelter but he didn't really have any other choice in that moment. Without a second's thought, he lowered his head and barreled the last through paces into the open mouth, trailing a fresh pool of water inside as he went.

It was only as the water finally dripped free of his vision that he saw her - immediately, he froze, if only because of the rather unexepcted proximity.

"Ah, excuse me. I didn't realize anyone would be here -" but even he realized the foolishness. In a storm like this there was no place else locals were likely to be.

Baridi was struggling to reach a rather difficult spot on her back when it seemed the storm itself came barging into the cave. She gasped softly and pressed herself up against the rocky wall of the cave as a rather small lion stood dripping water everywhere in the otherwise dry shelter. Her heart was hammering in her chest, everything telling her to run run run run-

But then he noticed her and she knew it would be too late to do anything else. He stood between her and the exit and even though he was small, she was sure he could fight. She herself wasn't a fighter by any means and knew it would be far better to appear as small and un-threatening as possible, and she was just about to crouch lower to the ground when he spoke.

Oh...he didn't seem intimidating when he sounded so pleasant! Perking her ears up in surprise, Baridi slowly took more of the soaking wet male in and was surprised but also delighted to see the fluffy un-tufted tail. A leopon!

"On no, that's quite all right," she said as he stood up once more, relief clear in her voice. "This cave is big enough for four or five, let alone two. I don't mind sharing."

Koya felt the smile creeping across his mug as each of her too-tight muscles unwound with her inspection. He wasn't foolish, he knew what he looked like. At times it was a blessing and others, a curse. He didn't have a fighter's heart but he did have lion's blood all the same.

"Only if you're sure," he added politely, dipping his head in a thankful bow. He needn't be told twice, though. He moved farther from the door and the bit of rain that still pelted at his backside every time a sideways gust blew past and farther into the dry, if still chilly, cave. When he finally sat and busied himself with rubbing the worst of the mud off of his paws, he offered her another pleased smile.

"I'm Koya, by the way. I suppose it would be fair to introduce myself if you're going to let me wait this storm out here, right?"

"Very sure," Baridi said with a little nod which urged the leopon into the cave and out of what remained of the rain. He was dripping everywhere but the ground soaked up most of what he had to offer, leaving very little mud inside the cave at all.

"I'm Baridi," she said, giving the male a warm smile. "I have to admit, I'm quite glad you're not a lion. I always find it a little more comforting to share close quarters with someone more my size." There were small lions out there of course but the thought of potentially being trapped in a cave with a huge lion wasn't something she was fond of. She knew many lions that would be wonderful to share a space like this with, but unfortunately none of those lions were around anymore. The pride she had belonged to had broken up, leaving her to roam the lands alone.

"Hopefully we won't get any other shelter-seekers," she added, dipping her head in mild embarrassment at her own wish. Although she was glad Koya had made an appearance as she didn't have to be alone, she knew they might not get so lucky a second time and have a rather grumpy cave mate.

"It's a pleasure," he offered with another dip of his head, causing his dark, short mane to waver a bit with the gesture as the drenched locks swung with the heavy weight of the water they had soaked up. Being out of the rain was already helping to dry some of his fur but he knew it would be a long, damp night ahead of him.

He was rubbing his damp, muddy paws on a particularly abrasive part of the rock wall when she admitted to her pleasure that he was a leapon and he broke out in a jovial laugh that echoed too loudly in their little space. For a moment he looked abashed, letting it fade to a muted chuckle, but the smile remained on his face regardless.

"I understand that. I don't much like being in close proximity with most lions myself, it makes me uneasy to be so outclassed. If we're lucky, no one else will show up, but even if they do," he shrugged, "I'm sure two leopards are enough to dissuade even a lion."

Though he sincerely hoped that it didn't come to that - Koya had always been much more of a lover than a fighter.

"Are you from around this area?"

"Oh, here and there," Baridi said with a wave of her paw. "For a while I was in a pride that wasn't far from here, but unfortunately it fell apart. I know there's a few others from that pride that are still around here...the lands are quite fertile so there's no reason to go too far."

It was easy enough to hunt on her own here. The prey were plentiful and varied and she never was too hungry for too long. The way she saw it, even though the pride had moved on didn't mean she had to. Although she hadn't been born here, she could say she had spent most of her life in the general area.

"What about you?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Me? No," he turned his bright eyes upon her with a wistful smile, wondering what it must have been like to belong to something for so long that one felt loyalty to the lands themselves.

"I have belonged to a couple of different groups over the years, one in particular that was rather.. peculiar." He cracked a pleasant laugh around the emphasis on the word but did not seem like he was going to elaborate overmuch without prompting. "I belong nowhere and everywhere, I think. Sometimes I stay in one place for a while but never forever. There's just too much of the world to see to stop anywhere for long."

He shrugged his shoulders, but the smile was still there.

"I can see the appeal of staying somewhere where my belly would always be full, though. Some places are only for the foolish travellers."

Baridi nodded, knowing what it was like to have been nowhere and everywhere. She had been quite the traveler before settling down with the Kwa Kikombe, stretching her paws from the desert to the snow covered mountains to the sea. And yet here she was, in the middle of it all. While all of those places had been wonderful, it was familiarity that comforted her most, and so she stayed.

"It's nice when it's not like this," she said with a little nod outside, a soft laugh leaving her. "Although I realize rain is important. I just wish I had more notice before the skies opened." Then she could have stayed dry and enjoyed the storm from the safety of a smaller den. Although now she really didn't regret coming here as Koya was quite good company.

"Oh, I believe you," he offered with a laugh, turning his bright eyes to look out at the heavy sheets of rain that beat down beyond the comfort of the cave they shared, "most places that have rain so intensely are beautiful to see when the skies are clear."

The tone of his voice was wistful and distant, spoken from a place of knowledge and wonder. He had only just entered the lands as the storm ran him down and the cave, and the pleasant dweller he had found, were about all that he had been given the chance to see thus far.

"I can agree with a little warning - though, I must say, if all I get to see of the lands is a pretty leopardess and a dusty cave then it's not been so bad a trip." The smile plastered on his mug was charming as he glanced back at her, though even he seemed aware he was being a goof. He laughed at himself and reclined comfortably where he was, ignoring the small pool of water dripping from his coat as he air dried.

Baridi laughed and looked away, a flush staining her skin under her fur. She glanced at the male out of the corner of her eye, still smiling, and let her tail twitch slightly over to bat at his paws.

"Once the rains are over I can show you around if you'd like," she offered, nodding out to the soaking wet savanna. "But...until then I'm afraid we'll have to stay in here." There was absolutely no regret in her voice, only a hint of teasing and a little wink making her expression as flirty as she could make it. She really wasn't one to put herself out there, but he was charming and kind and quite easy on the eyes. Plus he was a leopon so nothing would come of a little fling on a rainy night.

The female's laugh was pleasant and contagious and he had to admit that he wasn't having so hard a time forgetting about the muck he had dug his way through or the torrential rain outside. Instead, he just found himself smiling at the other, mossy coated leopard he had the pleasure of encountering.

"I would be delighted," a coy, rogue's smirk pulled as his jowls, "on both accounts."

He was chuckling under his breath as he picked himself up and dropped back to his belly, this time a little closer, more inside her 'bubble'. Hours ago he had been hoping the storm passed quickly and now, with that flirt on her voice and the privacy of their little cave, he was hoping the maelstrom raged on.