"Either run from it, or learn from it" [Private: DGF & TW]

[UncoordinatedPisces]

The past always comes back to bite.

Characters: more characters soon
Amira: Amy
Muroki: TheWhisterlify
Delano: DGFone
Mjuvi: TheWhistlerify
Kosa: Amy

Map:

Spoiler: show

Ask me if you need anything explained to you!

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Amira was beginning to get bored. It was understandable; nothing but grass and trees and rocks and her own thoughts. Although, there had been a rather conversational mother leopard she passed earlier that afternoon who told her that a herd of antelope had moved west. Which was interesting Amira thought, as it was the direction back to Tambara, her homeland – though she judged that it would take about half a full moon to get back from her location, as she had passed through the Northern Jungle on her last departure from the Tambara.

She knew she’d have to follow food, so West she went. It was just a shame there was nobody else to talk to. Amira wasn’t ungrateful for the time alone; she had visited the small pride beyond the Northern Jungle a moon ago, sending regards from the Tambara and to socialise. Still, she thought, a bit of company never does me any harm. For now though, she had to keep preoccupied otherwise following those antelope would become tedious, and there was no sign of them yet. The occasional ant hill along her way provided some entertainment. She’d change the path of the marching ants with her paw and watch how they’d manage the situation. She always wondered how they were able to adapt so quickly.

As she moved on across the plains, she began to notice the tracks left by the antelope. They were near. Relieved that the leopardess was right, she pushed on. The heat of the day would have tired the antelope, and they wouldn’t see her cream coat against the lighter grass. The wind was in her favour; everything was pointing to a successful hunt.

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The crunch of antelope bones was a satisfying sound to Kosa. It was a reward of a successful hunt. Not everyone enjoyed the kill; but she did. Not in a cruel, twisted way as some of her former pride did, but she knew she was a good huntress. She worried, when she left a couple of moons ago, that her grey fur would not fare well against the more luscious areas she passed through compared the mountainous and fairly barren areas she grew up in; but it was a wonder what a good knowledge of how these creates work does.

She could not enjoy her kill for long. The panic of it being taken by a larger creature kicked in, and soon she was spending more time staring madly over her shoulder than trying to eat. Kosa had learnt the error of her ways with not paying attention, especially with cheetahs and hyeans, both of which were bigger than her and capable of harm. She positioned her adolescent form upon a rock beneath a low hanging tree, offering her shade after the exhaustion. She had been successful on every hunt. Kosa allowed herself to smile, and they said a lone hunter never succeeds for long.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi wasn't quite used to this. Not to being a rogue. He's lived as a rogue ever since he could remember himself with his mother. Even if the two of them had occasionally taken a break from traveling with the prides they came across, especially during the times when he was younger, not being part of a group or a kingdom was something he was familiar with. What he was unfamiliar with was being entirely on his own. Not as in not being a member of a pride, but as in literally being alone.

The young lion was no longer traveling with his mother. He definitely was not a cub anymore or a momma's boy, in a manner of speaking, but the lioness was the one who had always been there for him while he, in turn, was always by her side. This loneliness was entirely new to Mjuvi and yet, despite him not liking it in the slightest, he couldn't get himself to even consider going back. His decision had been made for a reason. Although, he maybe wouldn't have had to make such a choice if it weren't for his father not being there.

His mother's 2nd mate has never wanted anything to do with their son and he, in turn, never got to so much as meet the lion that had sired him. Perhaps if he was there this whole pressure of having to take care of 2 cubs and not being able to provide for both them and Mjuvi at the same time wouldn't exist to begin with. It always struck him as odd and even repulsive how his father didn't want anything to do with his own cub and yet he still wondered what it would be like to get to know him. Maybe now he yearned for that more than ever because it could potentially provide him with a way out of his new solitude.

The problem with being a male his age was that it was very difficult to enter a pride. Even if he felt as though no company could possibly replace his mother and 2 younger siblings, Mjuvi still wished it were easier to find someone who would take him in. Back when he and his mother had stayed with prides in the past, they'd agreed to help the two of them out because he was younger and could therefore pose no threat. Also, a lioness with an offspring to look after was far less likely to cause any trouble. Not unless she wanted to condemn not only herself.

Perhaps one day he would be lucky enough to find a place to call home. But he was having a fairly difficult time being optimistic about the future. Still, the only thing he could do right now was to keep going forward. It would certainly increase his chances in comparison to just sulking about all day and occasionally getting up just to hunt. Speaking of hunting, as the young male carried on in his way, he suddenly noticed several signs as to the presence of another predator nearby.

There was trampled grass in the direction he was going in a rather wide scale; which could only be an indication of a rushed fleeing attempt of a herd of antelope, by the smell of it. There was also the smell of another feline present, which was definitely far better than hyenas. The reason Mjuvi hadn't caught onto these scents earlier was because the direction he's been walking in for the past hour or so was also the one the wind was blowing towards, meaning that any odors were being blown away from him along with the wind. Now that he was at the spot where the herd had been before the hunter appeared, though, he was able to notice these.

Going after this herd for food could be very difficult because the wind would carry Mjuvi's scent towards the antelope, but he'd eaten just earlier that day and was therefore not searching for any food at the moment. Besides, he hasn't come across any water since his last meal, and if a herd was nearby then there was bound to be some sort of water source in the area as well. He hasn't caught onto anything that might indicate he was about to enter a pride's territory, so what he was now heading towards was most likely the doing of a sole hunter.

Even if he were to end up coming across another male lion, it's not like there was any reason for the two of them to end up confronting one another in an aggressive way. Neither one of them would be trespassing and fighting over nothing would be pointless as well as stupid, seeing how getting injured when living on your own was hardly an ideal situation. Also, because he was not hungry, there would be no trying to steal anyone's kill. That aside, Mjuvi was also hoping that this feline, if proven to be one of his own kind, could maybe even so much as give him the opportunity of having a simple, proper conversation. He hasn't had one of those for quite a while now...

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Amira had failed, despite conditions being on her side. The birds gave her away; they fired up into a choir of warning calls as soon as they saw her and the antelope would scatter. She tried to proceed with her target, a young female antelope, but it was too quick and had already had the advantage. Oh well, she thought, I’m not starving. The antelope had been huddled around a small pool of water, hardly worthy of being called a waterhole. Perhaps it was one once, as the ground felt more sandy than earthy as she approached the water’s edge, the antelope long gone.

She hadn't even seen the water on her approach, but was glad she had come across it. She had walked through the heat of the day and now was able to wade into the water. It only came up to half way up her legs. Back home, she often played in the many streams and rivers that led down and out of the waterhole in the Tambara; most of her pride-mates grew accustomed to swimming although it was not natural lion behaviour.

Amira was oblivious to any foreign eyes that had found her at this point. Especially not one’s that belonged to a grey adolescent had managed to fixate the cream lioness in her sight. Kosa started to grow wary. She had seen the failed hunt, and naturally had many criticisms. The older lioness could have switched target for example, or predicted the birds and go in for the ambush sooner. She worried how hungry the lioness might be, and whether her kill was at risk.

Kosa instinctively drew her kill closer to her body. She hadn't eaten too much of it; mainly because it was too big to finish off on her own. She felt a sense of waste; in a pride, nothing went to waste. Kosa watched the lioness drink, wondering how she could be so relaxed. A sixth sense caused her to turn her head to look behind her. A young male lion was approaching. She couldn't really pinpoint any details about him, apart from knowing he was older than her, from this distance. He had not spotted her as she lay against the rock. Hopefully he’d leave her in peace; she wouldn't know how to handle the interaction.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi carried on his way, still rather deep in his own thoughts but not as much as earlier as he tried to clear his mind with this new found hope of finally getting to see someone (anyone, really). The air around him was pretty hot, despite it being late afternoon, and the lack of clouds up in the sky meant the sun was still quite effective in heating things up even at this hour. This obviously made traveling all the more unpleasant to the lion; while it wasn't the main thing bothering him right now, it was still an unwelcome addition to the mix.

The sight of a flock of birds as they flew over the young male's head as well as the very unpleasant and detestable sound of their screeches soon caught his attention. Something had obviously caused them to make all this ruckus, and Mjuvi had a feeling that the feline he was looking for could be the cause. It was a possibility that the herd of antelope had startled them as it ran away, but he was anything but aware of the details so he didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

It's not like that it mattered like, at all, though. The birds were flying from the exact direction in which Mjuvi was going, which was simply an extra indication that he needed to keep going that way. Even though he'd calculated this earlier and the chances he was heading towards danger were low, he still hoped that he wouldn't regret doing this. At the end of the day, curiosity has been a main characteristic of his ever since cubhood and, while he definitely wasn't a cub anymore, some things just never change.

The very small "waterhole" Amira was currently in (or at least partially had her legs in) was obscured from his view by some tall grass that surrounded it, but the slight sound which was emitted as the lioness rested in the water informed him that he'd found something to drink. It was rare for him to not be thirsty on such an occasion but, even if he'd last drank 30 minutes ago, which wasn't the case, any water couldn't be taken for granted because one could never know just how long it would take to find more.

Mjuvi failed to notice Kosa as the grey adolescent huddled closely to a rock in the shade with her kill, mainly because he wasn't paying attention but also because the teen lioness's fur made her far less noticeable in her current location. Instead, the lion kept walking forward and began making his way through the tall grass, still oblivious as to Amira's presence at the end of it. As a result, seeing how he wasn't being as quiet as he would when trying to hunt, the lioness was bound to hear him come closer, so he emerged from within the greenery and was rather surprised to see a pair of blue eyes staring directly into his.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Amira had been keeping relatively still in the water, watching some small fish swim around her paws. She was surprised that there were any in this small body of water. These little guys and girls were no harm to anything, except maybe the pond-skaters that scooted along the surface of the water. Intrigued by these mysterious little skating creatures, she tried to catch one between her paws in a cubbish attempt. They led her further towards the tall grass on the other side of the water, having crossed it fairly quickly due to it's small scale and lack of depth.

It was then she noticed the rustling in the grass. Between the blades she could see a figure, and before she could call out, a brown eyed brown furred lion, her age at least, was standing at the water's edge with her less than a metre away. The lion did not startle her, but a natural look of surprise and bewilderment washed over her face, soon replaced with a wide smile.

"Good afternoon". Gaaah, she thought, that was too formal. She blamed it entirely upon her upbringing. Even her voice sounded formal. She was taught to be polite, but she couldn't exactly be 'proper' with a foot of water surrounding her. She decided to wade over, closer to the male who seemed to pose no threat whatsoever. Once all four paws were on dry land, she shook herself dry. The afternoon sun would soon fix the damp, although her fur would probably be difficult to groom.

Beyond the tall grass and atop the rocks, Kosa was keeping her sea green eyes focused on the pair. She could not hear any conversation from her position, but she assumed they hadn't met. Assessing the area around her once more, she continued eating. They would be distracted by each other for a while.

[TheWhistlerify]

With the wind blowing in the exact same direction Mjuvi was going, it was no wonder that it hasn't occurred to him that the slight noise from the water was being caused by another lion or lioness as it was impossible for him to catch onto any scents he was heading towards. The fact that he ended up spotting Amira only when they were less than a meter away from one another also added to the surprise of it all, and the young male found himself simply staring back at the lioness as she smiled and greeted him.

What lovely eyes, he thought, although that struck him as slightly odd. The last time he'd ended up only spotting another lion at such a distance that lion tried to kill him. Well, it's not like he was to blame for having wanted to ask if he could approach a waterhole in order to have some water. That guy had some serious issues. His eyes were blue too, now that he was thinking about it, but he'd thought that lion's eyes were anything but lovely at the time. There was something about this female's smile too that Mjuvi couldn't quite put his paw on. Perhaps it was the fact that she was smiling after having seen him just one second ago, because he was still rather unsure about what to make of the situation.

The lion soon snapped out of his little daze when Amira, now standing outside of the water and more closely to him, suddenly shook herself dry, causing an ever so small amount of water to get his attention. "Uh... Hey..." he said, slightly withdrawing his head out of instinct until she finished. Like most lions out there, he wasn't a big fan of water unless he was drinking it. It struck him as quite odd how this lioness had been inside this tiny waterhole just a few moments ago. Regardless of that, he felt a little foolish at having taken more than a second or two to answer and for responding the way he had. But this all still seemed awkward to him.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Amira had taken little notice of his lack of a quick response. The lion before her seemed familiar and she couldn't think why. Surely they hadn't met before? No, Amira was quite good at remembering a face. She took notice of his size; he was quite tall for his age, and there was a notable size difference as she sat near him. "I'm Amira" she said with a grin, though it felt odd not to continue the name with any titles. It had been a while since she had made an introduction of any sort though.

The last time had been to a group of rogue males outside of the Northern Jungle. Four brothers, all too old to stay in their pride. The leader found them a menace and she could see way. They behaved like a bunch of crazy cubs, but they were fun to be around. Though they had plans where to go next and Amira didn't fancy having to cross through the Northern Desert to get there, so they parted ways. Amira wasn't too reluctant to let them go, they'd have a bright future ahead of them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi blinked a few times as the lioness by his side told him her name, finding himself repeating it several times in his head as he did. Amira... He couldn't recall having heard it before (obviously they've never met, but there could be others with the same name). His mother often used to tell him about the meaning of names and would almost always identify one to him whenever they'd come across a name he hasn't heart yet. The young lion knew his own name stood for 'cheeky' (It was as if his mother just knew what he would be like the moment he was born), but he was clueless as to what Amira's name meant.

Perhaps it was because of how fond his mother was of names and their meanings that the subject briefly popped up in his head in Amira's regard, but at the end of the day it wasn't as though it was crucial for him to know the answer. "Nice to meet you, Amira." he said, finally offering her a smile of his own in return. He was definitely going to remember that name. Now that the whole confusion of almost bumping into the female was starting to finally disappear, Mjuvi realized that this was what he'd been hoping and looking for for quite some time now.

"My name's Mjuvi." He knew nothing about this lioness aside from her name, but she seemed nice. And, having accidentally entered the territory of several prides in the past, he's had the chance to meet more than a few individuals who were the exact opposite. They'd probably only wanted to protect themselves and their families at the end of the day, but that didn't really justify being chased even after making it more than clear that he was leaving. Geez... Sometime he felt as though there were members of his species out there who shouldn't have neither talons nor teeth while being capable of some magical way of eating their food. For good reason, too; they could seriously hurt someone with these things.

But this all didn't matter. Mjuvi had gotten out of all of these fixes unharmed and that was the important thing at the end of the day. It's not like he was emotionally offended and traumatized to a point where he couldn't get on with his life. Right now the male was more focused on what was clearly an absolutely non-violent interaction between him and Amira. He liked thinking about another lion or lioness's claws when the thought was something along the lines of "they're actually sheathed for a change". "I'm sorry if I've startled you just now." he added. It certainly didn't look like he had, but he still felt somewhat rude of just showing up completely out of the blue like that.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

"Pleasure's all mine" Amira responded, flicking her tail to one side. Unbeknownst to Mjuvi, Amira also knew name meanings. She was taught some of the ancient language as part of her lessons on how to manage the Tambara lands. She had always found in interesting, especially how it was used mainly for names, now that very few used it in communication. Mjuvi had two meanings she knew of, 'rude' and 'cheeky'. She decided to go with the latter as this lion certainly didn't come across as rude. Not yet anyway.

"Oh, you didn't startle me" she replied, "I heard you coming just before you appeared". She gazed out to the water's surface for a moment, it looked inviting but with an acquaintance at hand, it would be rude to leap into a pond, not that it stopped her before when she was younger. She often escaped boring talks with her father and his council to play with other cubs near streams. "So, is there a pride near here or are you a rogue?" she asked, meaning to be direct.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi continued to smile as Amira went ahead and informed him that he hadn't startled her. That would have made for a bad first impression so he was glad that she had heard him in advance. It's not like it would have been the end of the world otherwise but, seeing how the lioness was the first friendly face he's seen in a while now, the young male felt more comfortable that way.

She was certainly very cheerful and energetic, by the looks of things, which was great. Mjuvi always liked seeing someone smile (while not fantasizing about having a go at his throat, of course). It was also far more pleasant to talk to someone who wasn't feeling down or upset. The interaction between them so far seemed to easily allow him to forget the depressing thoughts from earlier for some reason.

Upon being asked as to the potential presence of a pride nearby as well as whether he belonged to one, Mjuvi shook his head. "There isn't one around as far as I'm concerned." In a way, while he wanted to be able to settle down somewhere, there were also times like this where he simply wasn't in the mood of coming across a pride, which was rather ironic.

"I'm a rogue." he continued, although Amira might have figured that out in her own judging by his previous answer. "I've been one all my life." After all, there wouldn't be much of a reason for a lion his age to be wondering about in the middle of nowhere like this if he already belonged to a pride. The same could be said about Amira because of her question as to whether there was a pride in the area. "Judging by what you're saying, I'm guessing you're a rogue as well?"