Private: DGFone and VitanisMate

[VitanisMate]

Nzuri delicately listened to Delano's 'advice' as she was was looking around. She again tried to make small talk with the male, "Hunting is quite dangerous isn't it? I am sure you know that. Tell me...Delano what has been the hardest animal you have hunted?" She awaited his answer and hope he wouldn't go into another long boring rant on the topic of hunting. Nzuri held back a sigh and started to formulate ideas in her head, but this time not selfish ones.

The male was handsome she gave him that, not the best male lion she had seen, but not the worst either. The male also had more experience out here which she saw as a plus and for some reason gave a small hint of admiration towards the male from her. What are you doing Nzuri? This male is simply for your purposes! she thought to herself.

As he mentioned learning more about his past Nzuri looked at him and told him, "Delano I have already told you a bit about mine but you know...did I tell you I enjoy learning? I am excited to learn about hunting from you. I believe it is a good experience. When I was younger and all the way to the present I have always loved learning new things." Nzuri quickly added as an afterthought to Delano, "If only my father would have given me the opportunity to learn..." She quickly dropped that subject and continued to watch the male and his body language. She would do whatever it would take to get this male to trust her.

[DGFone]

"The hardest thing I have ever hunted?" Delano thought hard about the question. He didn't want to come off as bragging, but living own his own did mean that he had several instances where he was forced to go up against prey that he normally would stay clear from. Most of the time, it would end in failure, with one particular instance that he didn't like thinking about nearly costing him his life. But on the very rare occasion, when the stars aligned just right, he was able to pull off feats that left him amazed at how he had ever managed. "Well, I did get a buffalo on my own once," Delano finally admitted with some hesitation, "although to be clear, I didn't do all the work. It was alone and someone else got to it first, so it was wounded badly. I guess that really I should say that I finished the inevitable."

He looked at Nzuri, feeling silly for some reason. "I must put emphasis on that I do not recommend ever going after buffaloes. They are big, strong, and they know it, with a temper to match. I was hungry, desperate, and like I said, someone else got to him first."

Letting out a loud yawn, Delano started to feel the effects of a good meal, specifically, the very enticing call of sleep. "As for teaching you other things, I'm afraid I don't know much about that. Living alone allows you to learn how to hunt, hide, and survive in general. But I can't say it teaches one how to be good at conversation." Closing his eyes, he hoped to get a little bit of rest before the two of them would inevitably have to get up and go somewhere else.

[VitanisMate]

Nzuri said this to Delano about him killing a buffalo: "Oh no Delano. It does not matter if the animal was wounded before by someone else. Just taking the creature down makes you a male with skills better than other males I have seen, I promise you." She insisted on complimenting him, to make the male think she was interested in him and also, to stroke his male ego. She quickly said to him, "I promise I would never hunt buffalos on my own. I am aware it is way too dangerous. I like my life too much," she said with a giggle trying to start a normal conversation with this male with some humour. As she noticed him looking at her she said, "I uh...would like to just tell you so we are honest with each other and start off on the right paw that I have never been around other males too much, besides my nasty father, so if I don't act normal around you, I apologise." As she finished her statement she began to bathe herself some more with her tongue, still feeling so dirty, wondering if her cruel thoughts had anything to do with that before deciding that was not it.

As she noticed Delano let out a yawn she quickly said, "I just want to say I am glad we have met Delano. You seem like such an interesting lion to get to know and I thank you for helping me out here." As she noticed him close his eyes she too began to close hers, dreaming of future power and glory this male would bring her by the murder of her father. She quickly relished in those dreams.

As she finally woke up she noticed it had been several hours since her sleep and, like most males, Delano was already awake. She gave him peace of mind and pretended to be asleep for one more hour before finally showing herself to be awake with a loud yawn. She quickly stretched out and looked towards him saying, "Do we need to go ahead and get moving Delano?" Before he answered she went ahead and got herself up thinking for once normally about other small things in her life: the need to get a drink of water in the next couple of minutes, Delano and the need of further sleep when Delano's next task was done.

[DGFone]

Delano didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep until he woke up. Glancing around, he was surprised to see a lioness sleeping nearby. His mind catching up to him, he remembered that it was Nzuri, whom he had just met. Deciding not to interrupt her rest, Delano stayed where he was, deep in thought. Truth be told, now that the "newness" of meeting someone else had some time to wear off, he was seriously considering whether or not joining up with her was a good idea or not. No, he really shouldn't think like that, Delano decided. It was always safer to be in a group than alone, so he really had no reason to consider Nzuri as unwanted baggage.

He was alerted to her wakefulness when she yawned loudly, startling him a little. Was he really so used to being alone that someone's else yawn was enough to get his alertness up? Calming himself down, he almost missed her question. "Yeah, we really should get going," he answered, "with just the two of us, there's not enough of us to be able to fight off anyone attracted by the smell of our kill. It's actually rather surprising no one showed up yet, but it won't be a good idea to stick around and wait for that to happen."

Normally, Delano wouldn't even have fallen asleep next to a kill like that, for exactly the same reason, he thought with a slight frown. Had he really let his guard down that quickly after running into Nzuri? That was very sloppy of him.

[VitanisMate]

Nzuri nodded at his answer to her question as she got done stretching and decided to head off with Delano. She started to agree with him that it was surprising that no one had not tried to scavenge their kill yet but, her lack of experience showing, did not see that Delano sleeping could have put them in great danger. As they continued to walk Nzui grew tired of the silence and said to Delano, "I must say, Delano I was curious if you trust me enough to tell me about your parents. If you do not I understand and I will keep quiet, I promise." As she awaited his answer she noticed the blaring sun stretch across the savanna and she looked away from it to shield her beautiful eyes from its brightness.

As Nzuri continued to wait she heard lion growls in the distance, which made her feel nervous for the first time as this was not part of her plan. The idea of extra males here would possibly hurt Delano and did not suit her plans at all. For the first time since she met Delano she gave him a worried and concerned look and said, "Delano we should pick up the pace. We don't want to meet any rogue males out here." She herself also picked up the pace and walked faster, even though her feet started to hurt and ache.

She quickly hoped that that growling would cease and for the first time also since they met, Nzuri did not have any future plans or plans at all in that brilliant mind of hers.

[DGFone]

Delano shrugged at what Nzuri told him. "Trust you with that information?" he hesitated, not actually sure if he should tell her or not what he was thinking. But then again, he though, what did he have to lose? "It's not that I trust or don't trust you," he finally continued, "although I guess I can say that I do, if only hesitantly. No offence, but we did only just meet." He shrugged, "but as for what happened to my parents, well, it's not like I was in a position to do anything. These things happen, you know? Why should I be ashamed over something that I had no control over? Which is why I didn't bother to try and hide it from you."

He glanced at Nzuri, flashing her a rather playful grin. "So you can also say it in not quite so many words like this: I just don't care." His grin faded as his mood turned more serous. "Plus, this is the way I see it: Either we stay together and you will find out eventually, or we don't in which case I will have greater things to worry about than what you know or don't know about me. It's not like you'll be able to use this information against me. Like I said: I don't care."

Giving himself a quick shake, Delano stood up in order to get ready to head out into the savanna. "What I do care about is not having to fight for my life when I don't need to. So come on! Let's get a move on before someone unfriendly we won't like shows up to scavenge over the rest of these bones." What he didn't mention was that when he was hungry and desperate, he was one of those 'unfriendlies' who would fight just for a chance to gnaw on some remains.

[VitanisMate]

Nzuri seemed caught off-guard by Delano's remarks about trust and she had to quickly hide a rather scary-looking glare towards the male, angry at him for daring to talk to her in that disrespectful tone. As he said to pick up the pace however she immediately returned to her feigning herself as a 'whipped cub' again as she said, "Of course Delano. We will pick up the pace. I apologise about all of that. I am just stupid and an idiot, what can I say?" After saying all of that Nzuri paused as she heard the growling getting closer and did indeed pick up the pace herself, going faster than Delano. She feared whatever rogue males were out there would ruin her plans of tempting Delano, as she told herself earlier.

As Nzuri continued to pick up the pace she tried to put as much distance between herself and those noises rather quickly. Again her mind drifted to Delano. Delano said he didn't care about talks of his parents yet he blew her off rather quickly talking about that subject. Nzuri figured it would be a painful subject for him and decided to gain his trust enough so that he would be able to tell her later, to be used against him at a later date. Her mind wondered how cruel Nzuri could be with this information before Nzuri silenced that mind.

Nzuri told her mind, No it is not cruel you fool! It is doing what is necessary to get this idiot to kill my father! How is it cruel if he and I get the rewards of having my father's pride? That is a good thing for both him and I! As she stopped thinking for a moment her body suddenly noticed she had indeed moved a little faster than Delano and slowed down for him for a few seconds for him to catch up. When he did she kept at his pace before complaining to him, "How long will we need to keep running? My legs hurt really bad."

[DGFone]

It didn't take long for Delano to realize that he most certainly made a mistake at what he told Nzuri. His worries were only confirmed when he found himself struggling to keep up with her as she suddenly took the lead. Sure, he meant it when he said that there might be trouble heading over, but she was almost running. He even thought of trying to call out to her in order to slow her down, but changed his mind when he realized that the noise might draw some unwanted attention. Besides, Nzuri seemed to also realize that she was rushing as she finally did slow down and the two continued at a more manageable pace.

When she finally did complain about their going, he slowed down to a stop. "I can't actually blame you too much for that, you really did run off there initially," he admitted, "was it something I said?" He was almost certain that it was, but it never hurt to check. "If you were in a pride not long ago, then constantly moving will be something you will have to get used to," he then explained, "I also had to deal with constant aches and pains after I was on my own for quite the while. Then you just get used to it." It was true: he had already recovered from Nzuri's initial burst of speed, and was feeling like he can continue going for the rest of the day, but the lioness, on the other paw, didn't. "I think we're far enough from our kill that no one would bother to chase us all the way here. We can stop and rest for a bit," he said, hoping that he wasn't unintentionally expressing that Nzuri was weak or incapable of being on her own.

[VitanisMate]

When Delano asked her whether it was something he said she immediately used this to her advantage. Nzuri said, "Oh no Delano it wasn't something you said. I just didn't want to do anything else stupid or idiotic so when I heard those growls I tried to run away as fast as I could from them." She paused before saying, "My father called me stupid a lot too so I know I am probably the dumbest lioness around. Please forgive me of that Delano." Even Nzuri laughed inwardly at her outward comment, priding herself on her vast intelligence and she figured that she was more intelligent than Delano. As she noticed that he kept talking she decided to tune out some of his nonsense he was jabbering about.

As he offered for her to stop and rest for a bit Nzuri immediately shook her head and said, "I appreciate the offer Delano but I would feel more comfortable if we kept moving. I would hate to rest and any rogue males come upon us. My legs will be fine don't worry." Nzuri smiled to give him a look of reassurance, showing her pearly-white fangs and teeth to him. As they decided to keep moving Nzuri kept glancing over at Delano and decided to tell him, "Delano, I thank you for caring for my concern and well-being. Most males do not do that. You truly are one of a kind. Don't worry though- I will have to learn to adapt out here or die and I intent to live, with your help of course Delano." As she finished her remarks she felt more relaxed as she noticed that they kept moving and, even more, there was no sounds of growling like they heard before. As she got more comfortable she stopped looking at Delano and looked ahead, enjoying the scenery of the savanna. She truly would love land like this- all to herself! Her mind again focused on all of the land her father owned and how she would need to redouble her efforts to really get Delano interested in pulverising her father for good.

[DGFone]

To be honest, Delano was surprised that Nzuri chose to keep moving. Perhaps it was how she always kept talking about herself and how bad she was, or maybe he simply overestimated how tired she was, but he had fully expected her to insist on taking a break. Still, it wasn't like he was going to complain, especially because it had been his instance that they get going in the first place.

Walking along side the lioness, he eventually decided that it wasn't such a bad idea to try and get to know her a little better. "Listen, so you kept mentioning how your father... didn't treat you too well," Delano wasn't sure if he was representing what she told him properly or now, but he didn't want to risk angering her again. Despite her insistence that it was to the contrary, he was certain that he already had in fact said something earlier to get her anger up, and he wasn't looking forward to seeing that again, at least not so soon. "What about the rest of your pride? Surely they were not so careless as well?"

Delano glanced at the lioness, glancing her over without looking too hard and appearing rude. Nzuri didn't look like she got into too many fights or anything like that. Perhaps a little short in terms of muscle, but other than that, he had to admit, she did look rather good. Realizing that he was in fact staring, Delano quickly glanced away and back to the savanna where they were going, hoping that Nzuri didn't notice what he was just doing.