by Gemini » July 15th, 2014, 6:05 am
Skauti's ears pricked at the opportunity to do something of importance. He nodded and followed the lead of the other, foreign lion... but found that he couldn't suppress a confident smirk once Rav told him what he wanted him to do.
"I can handle this... they didn't name me 'scout' for nothing, after all..." he trailed off, before adding, rather acerbically: "... about the only thing my old pride got right..."
His tail flicked and he nodded at the group behind him, who were were all huddled together in a little alcove and looked very eager as he met each of their gazes.
"I'll be back soon."
And with that he was off, prepared to do what he was good at. He sped down the slope of a hill, keeping in mind the direction the other lion had pointed in to direct him to the waterhole. The young, dark male loped for a few paces before slowing and scanning his surroundings, making sure that nobody and nothing of importance was around.
He looked behind him, and saw that the hiding spot the group had used was already out of sight, the grotto's surface indistinguishable from the dusty surface of the hill he had descended. And then, with no concealed amount of determination, he soldiered forward, searching for a very particular something. The lion rooted around for several moments, and then...
Aha! There it was. Skauti approached with caution and then sniffed the plant he had found. Perfect. Grabbing it with his teeth, he pulled it up out of the ground and set it down, before taking a moment and rolling in it, covering his normally sleek, groomed fur with a layer of dust and musty odor. As much as he hated it, he knew that it would help him blend in by diluting his natural scent. If the wind changed direction and was no longer in his favor, then this would be of paramount importance. Too many tales circulated the desert of lions who were too careless, and were killed by unknown intruders because their scent had wafted through a gentle breeze that they hadn't even known about...
Thus, he was determined not to let the same happen to him, and licked the first digit of his paw. He paused for a moment, lifting it up, feeling the slight ripple of the wind against his saliva as the gust quickly cooled his skin.
Perfect. The wind was in his favor. He crept a little to the right, not moving further down the hill because he was hoping to use his elevation as an advantage. He didn't blend in so well with the foliage, though the dirt made it better, not to mention that he was still quite far away.
The young lion lifted his nose to the breeze, still keeping his eyes focused on the surroundings. Hmm... he smelled something.
He dropped down and snaked through the grass, his belly almost kissing the ground. Slowly but surely, he slid forwards a bit more, still not wanting to approach the waterhole too close, at least before he was sure the way was safe.
Two big rocks formed a 'V', making it hard for him to see far beyond the bottom of the hill... but suddenly he was at just the right angle to see the water hole - a dappled, turquoise expanse of glimmering water that shone in the sun, as though stocked to the brim with schools of silvery fish. It reminded him, very vaguely, of the oases that dotted the desert at intervals. Surely enough, he could see the spotted forms of giraffes, bending their long necks down to drink... as well as hippopotami, ostriches, gazelles, gerenuks, zebra...
And... he could smell them... but he couldn't see them yet. Lions. More than one. He grimaced and moved forwards a bit more, the grass crumpling around his lithe figure as it tunneled through the increasingly-thick layer of vegetation. Cautiously, he craned his head upwards to see, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of these lions. Perhaps the others he smelled were lionesses...
His eyes poked above the grass, two narrowed yellow orbs honing in on their targets. But what he noticed both surprised and disappointed him, for it seemed as though Rav's goal was suddenly harder than they had thought. What he saw...
... was that all three males - and there was no mistaking them, as big as they were and as full as their manes were - had decided to drink at the waterhole together. He noticed them stay close by each other, demonstrating that they were, perhaps, smarter than Rav and his mother had thought, and more wily than Muroki, Marini, and Zuyu had given them credit for...
The trio bent down, their muzzles lapping at the water with perfect synchronization. Yes, this would be harder than expected. And suddenly he was bit with the urge, barely suppressible, to run as fast as he could up the hill and return. As it was, he could barely keep his fidgeting to himself.
He had to tell Rav!