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

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Watching Mjuvi's reaction made Amira smile even more. She couldn't imagine what it was like to have been alone for a long time, or just travelling with one lion. It must have got lonely sometimes, not having any lion his age - assuming his mother was the only lion he travelled with, he may have siblings. Amira decided not to dwell on his past; it wasn't important that she knew. "I'm sure we won't be around here too long though" she assured him.

Once she had located a suitable tree, she flopped beside the trunk with a huff. There were dead leaves beneath, making a crunching noise that made her smile when she rolled onto one side. While it was drawing closer to evening, the sun was still warm and the coolness of the shade was welcoming. Amira wondered when the antelope heard would be back, or if any zebra or wildebeest would wander through as she had seen them before in the area. Her stomach was docile for now though; and Mjuvi's company took her mind off food.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Kosa was still positioned on her rock with her kill. She had been more interested in what was happening with the pair of lions. She could not hear a word they said but she assumed they had become friendly. She was tempted to go and greet them, but she was afraid of rejection. She wasn't exactly appealing to be around, as much as she wanted a friendly face, something she rarely had. Wound up in her curiosity and turmoil over whether to approach the pair, she failed to notice sleek spotted creatures snake their way through the lighter grass behind the tree. They had been close to silent.

The cheetah brothers emerged from the grass, startling young Kosa. They both grinned; they had found an easy target. An adolescent lion was no match to fight over a kill. Kosa let out a low, rumbling growl despite her evident fear. She didn't want to loose the kill, she could've come back to it, it was enough to last a couple of days. The brothers laughed. "There's no point in you trying", one said. "You're about as skinny and lanky as us" the other chimed in as the edged closer. "Look, just leave now and there'll be no need for a fight". The other cheetah seemed to disagree. "Come now brother, she'd be amazing food for the vultures".

Kosa refused to speak back, but a snarl escaped from her and she swiped at the brother who had made the vulture comment, missing entirely but intentionally so. Cheetahs would never act like this if she was an adult, or if she was male. Amira sat up slowly from her lying position, the snarl had been loud. "Mjuvi, did you here that?". Enraged by Kosa's action to even think to strike, the cheetah snarled back, though both parties were reluctant to make the first move. Upon hearing the second snarl, Amira hesitated about whether to investigate. They could not see the confrontation from their location, but whatever was happening could be dangerous.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi heaved out a calm sigh and lay down a small distance from Amira, enjoying the feeling of finally escaping the rays of the sun, even if the evening was drawing near. And, now that he knew he wasn't going to be on his own for at least the time being, he was able to actually relax and not let his mind drift off to negative, depressing thoughts like usual. "Sounds good to me." The male really could care less about where they would be staying or going and for how long at the moment.

Although it seemed as though the peace wasn't going to last long because, after no longer than perhaps a minute since he and Amira had lay down, a snarl reached Mjuvi's ears. Quickly sitting up out of instinct, he could tell that the lioness had heard it too. Not that it was difficult to not notice it, as it was loud despite coming from some distance away, behind several more trees.

The 2nd snarl clearly indicated that the source of first one wasn't heading towards them and that this was 2 other felines trying to deter the other for whatever reason. These could be lions, but there was no telling just from listening. The noise might be coming from even leopards, tigers and cheetahs. Now, whatever it was, the first thought that entered Mjuvi's mind when Amira spoke to him was that he didn't want her to go and investigate.

This could obviously be dangerous, meaning that leaving just might be the smartest thing to do as they could get dragged into the fight that just might start any second now. On the other paw, there could be another lion who was in need of help. Either way, Mjuvi strongly desired that Amira stayed behind while he took a quick look. She had to stay safe. "Wait here..." he said quietly, his tone serious for a change and maybe even somewhat commanding as he slowly walked towards the source of the snarls.

It was a pretty short walk through the trees and some more grass before he coule see them. Two cheetahs, males by the looks of it, confronting an adolescent lioness who was trying to protect her kill from the two thieves. She looked very strong willed about standing her ground and keeping her catch to herself. But it was for that reason that she was in danger, as the two cheetahs were bound to lose their patience sooner of later.

Mjuvi was definitely not going to just stand idly by and let this adolescent get hurt or even killed, especially when considering the fact that this was her kill at the end of the day. Rushing forward, the lion let out an angry roar as he leapt and stood at Kosa's side. She seemed a little bit startled at his sudden appearance, but she was probably smart enough to realize that the young adult was there to help her. Glaring at the cheetahs, he continued to snarl, daring them to act now that they weren't two adults against one adolescent.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Kosa had panicked completely, she should have just ran. The cheetahs realised she would not step down, so murmured amongst themselves, probably planning an attack. Kosa wanted to give up, the grey lioness actually letting go of the kill, but it was far too late for that. When the brown furred lion she had been watching appeared by her side, she was immediately . He let out an impressive roar. Though she was startled by his appearance, she allowed herself to retreat somewhat behind him. If they wanted to fight, she would fight.

However, the cheetahs seemed wary of this new appearance. He was a fairly big lion, and the cheetah brothers knew the situation had changed to not be in their favour. The brothers shared a glance. One slunk away; the other hesitated for a moment, matching Mjuvi's snarls. "Come on, brother" the cheetah called. Reluctantly, the second cheetah turned and followed. "You're lucky you have bigger friends" he said, looking back to speak to Kosa.

Amira had rushed up and followed Mjuvi's path after she heard the roar, not knowing if it was his or not but fearing for his safety. She had watched events unfold, tempted to join in. She would have joined Mjuvi's side beside this new lioness if a fight had broken out. The cheetahs walked past her, she gave them angered look, before smiling to poke fun in the way that said 'you were defeated'. "Don't know what your smiling at, doe eyes" the more callous brother huffed, presuming she was with the male and not a total stranger to the scene. The cheetahs walked away through the tall grass, and Amira watched them leave.

Once they had gone a good distance, she rushed over to the pair of lions on the rock. "Mjuvi, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. She averted her glance to the young female, fairly younger than her. "What about you?" Kosa had been fairly entranced by the overwhelming feeling to actually fight the cheetahs, and was brought back to earth by the lioness. "I'm fine" Kosa replied quietly. She hadn't meant to sound dismissive. She looked up at the male beside her. "Oh...thanks for stepping in there" she added, not wanting to appear rude. Amira turned to stare at the direction the cheetahs had walked off towards. "Doe eyes? I don't know who that cheetah thought he was" she said with disbelief, before turning her concern back to the lions, Mjuvi especially.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi very seriously doubted the cheetahs would attempt to attack now. He's had his share of encounters with the likes of them, and they definitely weren't the ones to take risks. It had been easy with only Kosa protecting her kill earlier, but having an almost fully grown lion show up was quite the difference maker. As the two brothers began to make their retreat, the male continued to glare at them until they disappeared entirely.

Once they were finally gone, he turned his attention to Amira and smiled, slightly nodding his head to inform her that yes, he was alright. Although, he was actually feeling more relieved that there hadn't been any need for her to get involved. Looking at Kosa, he allowed himself to sit down. "Don't mention it." he said, smiling reassuringly. "You're pretty determined for an adolescent. But a kill isn't worth losing your life for..."

As Amira spoke up again, the young male looked at her rather obliviously. "Doe eyes?" Just what was that supposed to even mean? Did one of the cheetahs say that? "What's that?" Oh well, it probably didn't matter. "What's your name?" he asked, looking at the grey adolescent female next to him. She seemed rather young, and yet that kill clearly belong to her. She was probably a very skilled huntress.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Mjuvi had a nice smile Kosa thought, something she saw rarely. The lioness, whom she was yet to learn the name of, seemed friendly too. When the male described her as determined she was almost attempted to crack a smile; they had no idea how much determination was needed to leave her pride. A kill isn't worth losing your life for...it was, sometimes. Especially when she was in the Barren Lands of the south. Survival was tough out there, and kills were far and few between.

Amira chuckled at Mjuvi. "It's just a phrase for an innocent wide-eyed female. Probably said it because I didn't get involved. I would've though, if those cheetahs had been silly enough to attack" she explained. She was capable of a fight, she had been in one before with a passing trio of hyenas. It didn't take much to scare them off, a few bites and scratches and they didn't see it worth continuing.

The adolescent seemed reluctant to answer the question; she had been taught to keep identity to herself and that everyone was a threat. These two seemed nice though, and she thought she'd interact while she could, seeing as she hadn't spoken to anyone since she left. "I'm Kosa" she said, facial expression softening but not quite forming a smile. Kosa, Amira thought, didn't that mean mistake? Oh well, probably wrong. "Nice to meet you, I'm Amira. As you probably heard, that's Mjuvi" she said, nodding at the male.

[TheWhistlerify]

Mjuvi didn't really know what to make of Amira's explanation to his question. He'd only asked out of curiosity and, having gotten an answer, didn't think much of it. Instead, he turned his attention back to the adolescent. "Nice to meet you, Kosa." he said, finding it unnecessary to introduce himself after Amira had already done it.

What happened with the two cheetahs must have been mostly bad luck of having them come across her and her kill like that, but he was rather curious as to what someone Kosa's age was doing by herself. She seemed to be somewhat weary of him and Amira, who were two strangers to her at the end of the day. "What are you doing out here all on your own, if you don't mind me asking?" The first thing that came to his mind was that she was a rogue because some tragedy had struck her pride and family. Why else would an adolescent female not be with her pride or at least her parents?

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Kosa frowned somewhat at Mjuvi's question. She had come to realise her past was quite complicated, and she had made the assumption that the way her pride worked wasn't normal from observing other prides. The Mlima was a strict environment, where every one had to make a contribution. Only the most skilled were welcomed and if someone went against the rules, punishments were dished out. It was her harsh upbringing that made her stronger, but it did nothing for her happiness.

"I left my pride" she murmured. Amira judged, from the younger lion's tone of voice, that it wasn't just leaving. "Well, ran away is a better choice of words" she added begrudgingly. They'd only know that much, she thought, they needn't know any more. Amira felt the need to comfort Kosa, though she looked sturdy and unemotional. "Where are you from roughly?" Amira asked. Kosa gazed up at the older lioness, who had a soft voice. She almost refused to say, but she thought it wouldn't do much harm. "The South".

Amira blinked. The lands of the south were barren and mountainous, and she only knew of one pride there. The Mlima pride. Odd bunch, her father said to her once. Come to think of it, Kosa's colours matched those typically seen in the pride. She could tell the lioness did not expect her to know of the pride in the south so kept quiet. "Ah right" Amira responded with a smile that boosted Kosa's confidence. "I'm from the Tambara lands" Amira followed up with, watching Kosa's reaction. The grey lioness became bewildered for a moment, had heard of them before, the pride in the East, not in a particularly kind light, but the lioness knew better than to mouth off about someone's pride.

"Well, you're free to join us for the next few days" Amira chimed. Kosa was taken by surprise; why did she want her around? "I mean, those cheetahs might come back. They looked pretty ticked off, and it would be better for you to have acquaintances around you". The grey lioness finally smiled, that made sense. "You don't mind, Mjuvi?" Amira said, looking up to male friend.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

I just had to re write this whole post. On my cellphone. I'm angry right now.

Mjuvi must have never come across the Milma pride in the past with his mother because he couldn't recall its name. Also, as far as he was concerned, the south was an area he hasn't really been to in his entire life. That aside, the young adult could quickly tell that Kosa wasn't going to tell them anything else about herself aside from this very basic information. Since he knew how much he himself wouldn't want to keep being questioned about things he didn't want to talk about, he wasn't going to put her through that exact same discomfort.

Smiling at Amira, he nodded and then looked at the grey adolescent once more. "Of course I don't mind." It was much safer for anyone to not travel on their own, especially at her age. Also, having company always made things so much better. Mjuvi and Amira have known each other for less than an hour, but he was already in much better spirits compared to before he'd walked through the tall grass earlier and unintentionally ended up staring right into her eyes. Those beautiful, sapphire blue eyes... Wait, what?

Snapping out of it, Mjuvi seemed rather pleased to see Kosa smile. This was the first time he was seeing her like that. Even if they'd just met, it was very cheering in comparison to her rather melancholy attitude up until that point. How could he possibly say no to her? "So is that a yes, Kosa?" Her smile definitely made the answer quite predictable, but still.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Spoiler: show

I don't think I have the patience for writing replies on my phone aha. I'm also just going to go ahead and do the time skip in this post. This is a bloody long post as well lol

Kosa couldn't quite believe she was having this conversation. Lions to stay with for a few days? It sounded idealistic. This pair of felines were the first friendly interaction she had ever had outside of the Mlima. Her Aunt had been a source of kind words occasionally back home, and when she was a cub there was always others to play fight with, and as she got older her peers often asked her for help with hunting. None of them were ever really friends though.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, giving into her positivity. These two could offer protection, and she could finally relax. Even if this doesn't last long, she thought, at least I know I can actually communicate with other lions. Her own thoughts made her think herself silly for even worrying, but she knew that Amira and Mjuvi were only a minority. Most passing rogues would not have offered. "Thank you, both". Amira found her change in attitude quite pleasing, she assumed Kosa was just warming up to them.

The evening had finally set in, the sky getting darker every few minutes. Amira found herself fairly tired, the adolescent next to her yawned which made Amira sense that everyone was feeling it. Perhaps the incident with the cheetahs masked their tiredness before. "Where were you guys resting for the night?" Kosa asked. Amira motioned between the tall grass to the low hanging tree. "Under that tree, it's pretty comfortable". The adolescent jumped off the rock. "We can leave the kill here" she said. "I'm a light sleeper, I'll hear if anyone tries to take it" she assured. "You can help yourselves, by all means" Kosa said with a small smile.

Amira nodded, and watched the young lioness make her retreat to the area her and Mjuvi found. The cream furred lioness turned to Mjuvi briefly. "I wonder why she ran away..." she said quietly so that Kosa could not here. She hoped the adolescent hadn't been hurt, but the reality was that she probably suffered. "Oh well, it's not important" Amira affirmed. She began to walk away, parting the tall grass. She looked back to Mjuvi for a moment, a soft, pleasent smile etched across her face, and continued back to her place under the tree. Kosa is nice, she thought to herself, but Mjuvi is lovely.

----------

It had been a whole week since their encounter. None of them had expected Kosa to stick around that long, but the adolescent found herself growing fond of Amira and Mjuvi's company. She had placed a level of trust in them that she had never done before with any lion, and she was enjoying being able to wake up and there being someone there to talk to.

Amira was surprised by Kosa's hunting ability. She was sure Mjuvi felt the same. They had hunted twice since they had joined together, both attempts were successful and the planning and work was mostly done by Kosa. In fact, Amira believed she could hunt for the three of them by herself perfectly well. Obviously though, the lioness felt like she had to help. She had learnt a couple of things from Kosa that she never knew before, and the adolescent was proving to be an intelligent asset to the trio.

She had been more surprised however, at Kosa herself. She hadn't exactly opened up to Amira, but after eating one night, after Mjuvi left to check the area for any threats to the kill they had brought down, Kosa started to speak. She didn't go into detail, but Amira learnt that her mother and father had been particularly strict with her, and that she didn't want to be a disappointment much longer. Amira felt heartache for Kosa, for she was clearly anything but a disappointment. Other than that, the past was something neither three of them had delved into, or wanted to delve into.

Other than developments with Kosa, Amira found there had been developments with Mjuvi. She hadn't really found out about his mother, or his previous travels, but she enjoyed his company immensely. He always made her laugh, and she had grown fond of him. She found his presence comforting, and she beginning to think of him a handsome lion, something that she didn't pay much attention to a week ago.

It was nearing midday, where the heat was growing and lions were beginning to feel it. The three of them had gone to the pond for a drink, but naturally, Amira soon found herself submerged. The water was cooling and she'd wish the others would give it a try. It was just deep enough to lie down and have her head above surface. Kosa and Mjuvi were sat by the waters edge, and Amira did a belly crawl in the water. "I think she's mad" Kosa said to Mjuvi with a grin. "I wouldn't dream of getting in there".

[TheWhistlerify]

Having spent his entire life as a rogue, Mjuvi's has had his experience with all sorts of different sleeping spots. Calling it a night on the soft grass, especially now that the nights weren't all that cold. The chances of it raining were very slim, too, making Amira's choice a pretty good one. The lion didn't have any plans of arguing, and was already fantasizing about what was looking to be a good night's rest.

Quietly nodding his head as the cream lioness expressed her interest about Kosa's past, he figured he didn't have anything important to say on the matter. Although, he did wonder whether she was also curious about him in a similar way. Much like with the adolescent, she knew very little about his history too. As Amira began to follow the grey lioness through the grass, Mjuvi didn't waste any time in following, unable to stop himself from smiling back at her when she looked at him over her shoulder.

●●●●●●●●●●

A week has gone by and, despite having intially agreed to travel together (at least he and Amira had before Kosa joined the group), the three were still at the exact same spot where they had all met up in the first place. Mjuvi didn't mind that at all, though. He didn't have any particular destination decided upon anyway. Also, finally having some company was what made him disregard the fact that they weren't going anywhere.

They could be travelling and they could be staying perfectly still, but Mjuvi seriously doubted that that would affect the way they acted as a group. Having Amira and Kosa around was what made the days actually pass and not just drag on one after another. The grey adolescent has definitely opened up to them since they'd first met, and the young lion really enjoyed seeing her loosen up and become more relaxed. She was clearly a more skilled huntress than him and Amira, and he felt as though he was learning a lot from her.

Then there was Amira... To Mjuvi, she was the first friendly face he saw when he needed it the most; not because he was a cub whose mother was pleading for help from another pride, but because she was kind. Even though he was generally in higher spirits ever since they met, her smile always made him smile in return, and talking to her always made it feel like the time could fly. Actually, just being around her was enough for that.

Sometimes, when he either woke up early or took longer than her and Kosa in falling asleep, Mjuvi found himself staring at the female as she slept. Over the course of the past few days he found himself having a fairly difficult time in stopping that and closing his eyes and, even when he did, he founded even harder to take his mind off of her. As weird and unexplainable as it was, he also liked that strange feeling she always gave him. It was the first time in his life that looking at a lioness made him think that, but Amira was beautiful.

As he sat next to Kosa at the edge of the waterhole and watched Amira rest in the water (again), he once more found her behavior to be quite odd. He himself wasn't a big fan of water, like Kosa probably wasn't as well given by what she was saying about the cream lioness being "mad". It was just really difficult for him to explain what was so great about what she was doing.

At the same time, though, because Amira kept telling him and Kosa to give it all a try as well, it had to be enjoyable. In some way... Allowing Kosa to see him roll his eyes in a playful manner, the male stood up and stared at the pond as if it was fire. This went on for a few seconds before he slowly reached out with one of his paws and touched the surface, quickly withdrawing it upon making contact. Amira must have noticed and found it quite amusing because Mjuvi soon heard her giggle.

Looking at her with a fake frown, he decided to show her what he was made off and forced himself to take the first few steps inside so that his legs were underwater. An odd expression appeared on his face as he stood there for a few seconds and, as soon as he tried to take another step forward, he slipped on one of the rocks at the bottom and was soon entirely soaked, much to the lionesses' "amusement", to put it mildly. He would have told them to stop laughing, but found himself distracted by trying to get his wet mane out of his eyes. Boy, he probably looked ridiculous with his mane all wet like that.