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 Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:35 am
Hektor settled himself down in the grass, it was midday and the sun had dictated a break in his journeying. The blue and yellow male rolled onto his back, sunning himself lazily. It was a nice day with a gentle breeze, the wind was coming across the large watering hole, cooling the air a bit. He stretched lazily, rolling onto his side and yawning. Mayhap it was time for a short nap before continuing onward. Yes, a nap would be nice. Hektor fell into a light doze, eyes half closed, tail twitching back and forth to discourage any annoying beasts that might approach.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:33 am
 Not an annoying beast (not usually, at least) but a young spotted lioness was nearing the same watering hole where Hektor had chosen to rest. She had already started trotting forward, tongue peeking out of her smiling mouth as if yearning to taste the fresh water when the scent of another lion froze her in place. Even as an inexperienced rogue, Hinyari was well aware than it wasn’t a good idea to carelessly approach most strangers and being this close to the Kutumbakam Tribe, the pride she’d been watching for a few days now in hopes of one day joining, this could very well be a member who had strayed a little too far for the pride’s territories.
She was confident enough in her ability to outrun a possible threat but she knew she was no fighter (her light smallish frame evidence enough of that) so at each cautious step she took forward, her nose sniffed around for danger and her eyes sought the shape of the lion she hadn’t seen yet. For a brief moment she considered leaving quietly but… oh, she was so thirsty...
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:28 pm
Hektor's ears perked at the faint sound of something crunching through the grass not too far off. He opened an eye to try and discern how close the sound was. Unable to get a good measure he reluctantly sat up and having a good big yawn before taking a more through look around. His tail stilled in the grass, not wanting to immediately draw attention to himself. Not much could take down a lion of his size, but if it was something he wanted the advantage of surprise.
He sniffed the air. Another lion? Well, this was an open watering hole, even if it was close to someone else's territory. The blue and yellow male would give the stranger trouble if they troubled him, but he would try to be peaceful first.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:14 pm
It was a childish reaction – though an instinctive one nonetheless – but as soon as the massive head of a male lion began to pop up, the spotted lioness crouched down and tried to hide in the tall grass. It was a silly thing to do, she was well aware. He’d probably already caught her scent by now… and he hardly looked aggressive. But there were some crazy lions out there and she didn’t want to be caught unprepared by one of them.
So she decided to wait. Just a little bit… to see what the blue and yellow lion would do next.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:15 pm
"That might've worked, if I hadn't smelled you first." Truth be told Hektor hadn't seen the other lion, but the telltale crunch of grass from a short distance away was obvious enough. "You can come out, I doubt you would have anything to fear from me." His ears twitched from side to side, eyes scanning the grass in the general direction the noises had come from before.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:22 pm
Great, now she felt stupid. It would be ridiculously easy for the lion to find her if he wanted.
“Ah well, it never hurts to be careful…” she said, her body rising slowly. She eyed Hektor, taking in his bright colors in silence. He sounded friendly enough and her ears, lowered at first, rose quickly making the lioness seem less cautious and more curious. “Hi there, stranger. Are you part of the pride?”
He wasn’t, Hinyari was almost sure of it. Maybe she was trying to catch him on a lie, maybe she wanted him to believe she belonged to the Kutumbakam… truth be told, she wasn’t even sure. But the spotted female moved closer to the water’s edge, making a not-so-discrete circle around the yellow-maned lion. She tried to look confident but her eyes never left Hektor and it was clear she’d like to keep a safe distance from him.
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:34 am
"No, I am not." Hektor's gaze snapped to the section of grass where the lioness rose from. "I go where I please, most others don't consider me enough of a threat to be worth pursuing." He chuckled, watching her circle. "You have nothing to fear dear lady, I'm too old..." Too lazy, more likely. "to chase you."
He rose too, heading to the waters edge but making sure to give her the space she so desired. If the female bothered to notice there was some truth to his words; Hektor was an older lion though he was in better shape than he would admit.
"Are these lands the place you call home?" The blue and yellow male bent his head, lapping at the water. It couldn't hurt to try and make polite conversation.
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:04 pm
She answered with a chuckle of her own but followed his movements keenly. Finally her expression settled on a pleasant smile when she decided that the male seemed nice enough.
“Oh please, you don’t look that old to me. But I assure you I’m pretty fast myself…” if you’re feeling tempted. Even if there was a hint of a tease on her tone, she kept that last part for herself as the lion looked like the thought hadn’t really crossed his mind. The spotted girl lowered her head slowly and took a few short sips of water – pretending she wasn’t dead thirsty - while she pondered on how best to answer the male.
“No, not really. But soon, I hope.” Her eyes travelled to a distant tree before she elaborated. “I’m hoping to join the Kutumbakam Tribe… if they’ll have me. I’m Hinyari, by the way. But you can call me Nya or Nyari or Ari. Everyone does… did.” She laughed but she sounded a little more nervous this time.
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:08 pm
"My name is Hektor, dear Hinyari." Hektor turned to her, doing his best lion bow. "I have a few places I call home, depending on the season." He looked her over, she seemed very lean and toned in muscle, she likely was quite quick especially when she had it in mind to run from something."
He rumbled appreciatively, she seemed quite the lovely lioness once he got close enough to actually look at her. "I can escort you into their lands if you wish. I have a few tentative friendships there." The blue and yellow male bent is head, lapping at the cool water again. "It may give you a paw in the cave, so to speak."
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:53 pm
Hinyari stopped drinking, mixed feelings suddenly jumbled inside her head. Should she really let a complete stranger accompany her to the Kutumbakam lands? Could she trust him enough?
She was rather small and obviously inexperienced … there was a chance the pride wouldn’t even accept her and the possibility often brought a lump to her throat. Her deep insecurities immediately were whispered that a little bit of help couldn’t hurt, right? And yet…
She started drinking again, narrowed eyes revealing some of her worry. When she finally gathered her thoughts (and drank her fill), she turned to face the male again.
“That’s very tempting. But I think I want to have a shot at them on my own. I’ve been in the area for a while now…” looking for the guts to do something, not that she’d admit it of course… “They’ve probably caught my scent by now and are wondering why I’m circling the pride. I have the feeling I should do this alone. But, you know…” her head tilted, her eyes glimmered and there was mischievous smile hanging on her lips. “I can always drop your name if things go wrong, right Hektor?”
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:41 am
"I don't imagine things would go badly for you, dear lady." Hektor settled back onto his haunches, watching her again. "You can drop my name or not, as you choose." He shook his head, tossing a bit of dirt and dust out of his mane. "I wouldn't offer such a thing so freely, if I believe you didn't stand a chance in the first place."
The blue and yellow male chuckled, his tail flicking lazily from side to side. "I mean no disrespect by that of course." He stood again and stretched, closing the gap between them a little bit. "You seem to have a good head on your shoulders." Hektor was always up front with compliments or criticism; he always found it was better to be honest from the get go more often than not.
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 8:50 pm
“No offense taken… but you know…” the spotted girl edged a little closer to the male, head slightly lowered and eyes shooting upward to meet his gaze. “ You could come with me… for a little while. Just for part of the way. I think I might need a little push to get things started.”
That was one way of putting things. Saying she’d been chickening out of every possible encounter, dreading the first meeting with the pride was perhaps a more truthful way of describing the past few weeks of her life. It wasn’t long before Hinyari realized how selfish she might’ve sounded. She suddenly jerked up and managed to pull a small smile as she tried to look relaxed and cheerful – though probably failing at it – and it was clear she could use the company… as well as the courage.
“I mean! Only if you don’t have anything to do. I just thought you could tell me a few things about the pride that I may not know about…? Were you going somewhere? “
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:07 pm
"No, I wasn't going anywhere in particular so I am free to accompany you wherever you need to go." Hektor smiled, hoping to soothe a bit of her uneasiness. "I'll offer you what information I have. It isn't a large amount, but it could be something useful." He chuckled to himself, being a rogue had its conveniences sometimes; it let roam where you please for the most part and pick up information.
He turned and walked past her, reducing the space between them further since she seemed a little bit more comfortable. "Lead the way, dear Hinyari."
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 6:33 pm
The lithe spotted female matched the older lion’s smile and pace almost instantly, apparently not minding the closer proximity quite as much. In fact, her whole body seemed more relaxed as she hop-stepped just a little ahead of Hektor, sniffing the air in front of the lion pair. True, there was a good chance she’d chicken out at the last moment – after the comforting presence of the older, more experienced male had left her – but right now she was feeling very confident and excited albeit slightly anxious.
“Well then, do try to keep up, old man.” she shot at the blue and yellow male, remembering his previous comment, taking the first steps towards the Kutumbakam Tribe’s border.
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