It had been several moons since Sitha, as he was calling himself now a days, had left Stormborn territory. It had been a good ride, and comfortable, but he had gotten into some trouble with a reaver's wife and well... it was leave or die in a homlgang at that point. Sitha had chosen to run, and leave the life of 'Vaenn' behind. His old name hadn't really suited him anyway, he supposed with a shrug. And Sitha, well, he was still getting use to it. It had been common practice for the painted lion to change names with the seasons, ever since he was young, to avoid whatever trouble he had gotten himself into at the time. Most of that trouble happened to be with wooing and sleeping with the mates of other males, or sisters that just so happened to have protective older brothers. Such was his luck. Now the handsome male had joined up with the mercenary band, the Tani'Ajiri, as a way to rid himself of whatever trouble still waited for him in the stormborn. The work itself was pretty satisfying, as he was able to rely on charismatic ability to get close to someone, and he typically didn't have to lift a claw to get what he wanted. It was all rather easy for him.
Next to Sitha sat Jua'kali, formerly Kauplif of the Stormborn. He had adopted the name after some prompting from Sitha, something about leaving the past behind them and starting fresh or whatever. It honestly didn't bother him. The two had left the pride together, though Jua hadn't been in such a rush to do so, Sitha had convinced him to make the rash decision to leave rather suddenly. The white pelted lion wasn't sure if he regretted it yet, but there were times he missed stormborn territory and comfort he had been able to live in as a freeborn. Here in the Tani'Ajiri, they had constantly been on the move and he had almost always run out of the herbs he needed for his healing duties. At least now the band of mercenaries had seemed to be settling into a territory, and Jua couldn't be happier about that. Finally, he wouldn't be on his paws constantly. "You're lucky it didn't go any deeper," Jua commented off-handedly as he finished examining a cut on Sitha's leg. "Keep it clean, and it should heal up nicely with minimal to no scarring." He took his healing rather seriously, as he knew Sitha took his vanity just as seriously.
Sitha sniffed at that, glad that it wasn't going to cause serious amounts of damage to his looks. "What a relief," he sighed, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. That was the last time he tried sparring with one of the mercenaries. They were simply too rough for him! Sitha flexed his toes and scratched at the dirt with the tips of his claws as he pondered over his next move. He was a bard of the Tani'Ajiri, and he would need to complete whatever contracts came his way, but he hoped he'd have a few days of free time to allow his leg to heal up. If not completely, then at least to the point where it wouldn't be an eye-catcher to any potential target he would need to woo. "Be honest, is this the best gig or what?" He was rather pleased that he had convinced a healer to come with him on his flight away from the stormborn, as something had told him he would be needing the individual's expertise along the way.
Jua raised a brow at Sitha for that one. "Its not bad, but at least the Stormborn stayed in one place," he commented with a huff. Ugh, he had not liked the nomadic lifestyle of the mercenary band, and thankfully that seemed to be over with. Otherwise, well it wasn't half bad he supposed. At least here he didn't have to worry about all that 'glory' and 'laws'... thing that pride had seemed to be obsessed with. It was much better to be free to do as one wished, Jua thought. "What exactly had you been running from?" Jua questioned, his piercing blue eyes flickering over to Sitha. He had known all along that Sitha had been on the run from something, but he hadn't bothered to ask him about it. Jua simply had not cared, and now he just wanted to sate his morbid curiosity.
Sitha was about to be on his way, not really caring for Jua's response or how the other lion might have felt about their current situation. However, the lean lion did stop in his tracks with Jua's last question, caught completely off guard by it. The hair on the back of his neck began to rise, but Sitha simply rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Certain death, I'm sure," Sitha stated off-handedly. He didn't really like discussing his past or anything he might have done. Without anything else for an explanation, Sitha made a move to leave once again, not really caring to continue the current discussion.
Jua'kali wasn't very fond of that answer, or the way that Sitha brushed him off so easily. In all honesty, if he hadn't have left with Sitha he probably would have left Stormborn territory on his own in time, as that had been his way for most of his life. Always drifting from the life of a rogue to spending a few seasons with a pride so he could use their resources to gain herbs and healing knowledge before moving on again. 'Sitha' had no idea who he was truly dealing with, and Jua aimed to teach him some respect. In one quick movement Jua had stood and slammed his paw down on the tip of Sitha's tail. He heard the other male yelp in surprise, and Jua snarled at him. "Let's try that again," he rumbled. "What were you running from?" And more importantly, could it bite them in the a** later.
Sitha was galled at Jua's sudden turn to violence, and even more so that the other lion seemed intent to bury his nose into his personal business. With a snarl of his own Sitha unsheathed his claws in a clear threat. "Let go of me, old man, and maybe I'll tell you," Sitha growled, his magenta eyes turning fierce. The sheer nerve of stepping on his tail! When neither made a move against the other, and Jua showed no signs of letting up, Sitha sneered in disgust. "If you must know, I'd slept with a reaver's wife and he was out to get my hide," he grumbled, the tips of his fangs showing past his lips.
Oh, was that all? Jua scoffed at that explanation, clearly thinking Sitha was foolish. "You threw away a cushy position in a pride like that over a female? How ridiculous," Jua huffed as he lifted his paw from the other male's tail. He didn't believe Sitha would attack him, even with all of his bluster, the other male was simply too vain to attempt it. "Get out of my sight," the older male rumbled as he turned his back to make his leave. He would need to gather more healing herbs soon, and he didn't fancy any more nonsense with Sitha.
Sitha lashed his tail once it was free, just to make sure it was still intact. "You're one to talk. If you hadn't left when you did I'm sure they would have run you out for stealing from priestesses, sooner or later," Sitha spat, his tone venomous. He had done the old man a favor by insisting he come with him, but perhaps he should have just turned the old fool in to a lawspeaker before he left. Whatever, Sitha was done with the whole exchange, and 'Jua' would get what was coming to him sooner or later. If not by Sitha's claws, then surely someone else would do them all the favor. With his pride injured and his ego bruised, Sitha left without another word to the white lion. He would get his, he was certain of it.
Jua'kali could feel his fur standing on end as Sitha revealed he knew the truth. So, the fool had figured it out? Maybe it had just been a matter of time before one of the priestesses caught on, but he had managed to get away with stealing their herbs for so long. Jua's lips peeled back into an ugly grimace as he was forced to realize that Sitha could have turned him in at any time, and didn't. Instead, he had offered him an out from the pride that surely would have punished him. Unable to take back his past actions or words, and unwilling to admit he was wrong, Jua let Sitha go without another word. He had much to think about.
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