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Today was not one of Cor's better days. It was too hot and the heat was making her sluggish and short-tempered as well as giving her a miserable headache. She had already snapped at two kitlings for being too loud in her vicinity and even gone so far as to seek out their parent and inform them that their cubs were improperly controlled. At least that had been her intention until she realized that the parent was in the advanced stages of the pride's plague and was really in no condition to watch her own cubs. Cor had felt ashamed of herself then and left with an easy lie about having places to go and all that.

Cor was a very good liar. She could tell lies that were completely outrageous and unbelievable without batting an eye because as soon as she uttered a lie, she more or less believed it, and so as far as she was concerned she wasn't telling lies at all. It had gotten her into trouble a lot as a cub. Now, though, she was working very hard to convince herself that she had not grown up into a crotchety old grouch, despite her sluggishness, short temper, and headache.

She went to the pride's borders in hopes of seeing someone new and interesting. Meeting new people was one of her favorite things and would surely cheer her up. They provided her with fresh audiences for her tales.

Asper had always considered himself a healthy, robust sort of lion. However, the constant travels that were required of him as of late were starting to wear on him, and he found himself constantly annoyed with the band of lions that he traveled with. Because of this, Asper spent as much time as he could far from the group.

It helped clear his mind. He missed his family, missed his sons, his pride. It was frustrating, and at times this quest seemed hopeless. He'd never been a short-tempered lion. His family all looked to him for advice, and Asper was frustrated with himself for leaving them behind. At the time it had seemed the best choice to make - but now, a small piece of him was regretting that choice.

An unrecognizable scent was heavy on the air, and for lack of anything else to do, Asper followed his nose. When he came upon the female, he slowed, eyes narrowing just slightly as he grew closer. The last thing he wanted to do was startle the female, and so he kept his gestures very precise and non-threatening.

"Greetings to you," he called out. He'd never been keen on taking a thrall against their will, and this was no different. It wasn't as if he could drag her back with him. What would they do with someone who didn't want to be there, after all? Perhaps she would just allow him to sit near her, and they could swap stories. Two strangers, no ties to bind them. Simple.

"Hello there," Cor called, smiling when she was rewarded for her cleverness and patience with a new lion to interact with. "You should take thirty steps in my direction so that we can talk without shouting."

Thirty steps in her direction would place him within the pridal boundaries of the Kitwana'antara. It was an invisible border she was not allowed to cross because the pride's healers could not say one way or the other whether she was truly immune to their disease or just a carrier. She knew she wasn't a carrier and she wasn't infected, but they wouldn't take her word for it. It was incredibly frustrating.

"What's your name, stranger, and where do you hail from?" she asked as she looked him over. The nice thing about him keeping his distance somewhat was that she could look him over and see all of him at once. He was certainly a well put together lion. It would be a pleasure getting to know him.

Asper couldn't fight the smile that curved his muzzle. Thirty steps in her direction? He took thirty-one at a quick trot that brought him close to her - but not too close. Asper respected the boundaries of those around him, and so it was done mostly out of respect than anything else.

"I am Asper. My home is far from here - the Stormborn - but I am traveling with a small group of warriors. Our leader has been given a series of nearly impossible tasks."

He offered her a smile, genuine and warm, "And you? What is your name?"

He wanted to ask more, but he fell silent, biding his time. This could prove to be just exactly what he'd needed. A small social break. She was a lovely little thing, which made this happenstance meeting even more enticing.

"I'm Cor Oxidat, and those thirty one strides of yours just brought you into the Kitwana'antara. We're cursed. Blighted, even." She sounded very cheerful as she made the announcement that she was part of a cursed, even blighted pride.

Having grown up in the pride made her somewhat less inclined to see it as a horrible, tragic place to be, although it could certainly be both of those things on occasion. That was not really the main reason behind her cheeriness though. She was cheery because feigning indifference would make being from the Kitwana as interesting as traveling in a warrior band on an impossible quest.

"What's it like to be on an impossible quest? How does one even get suckered into going on one of those?" she asked. She assumed he had not known it was an impossible quest when he agreed to take part. Unless he was some sort of glory-seeker. She imagined warriors probably tended to be like that.

"A pretty name for a pretty female," Asper remarked harmlessly, seating himself - only to move back to his feet at her mention of a blighted pride. Was she jesting? It didn't appear that she was, but perhaps she was one of those hard-to-read females like so many of the ladies back home.

"Cursed? Blighted?" He narrowed his eyes, gracing Cor with a skeptically concerned look.

"Do you kid? And.. an impossible quest is given to those who are accused of impregnating the warlord's daughter, or some other ridiculous thing." He hadn't agreed on Aesir's decision to send Ru into the wilds with a veritable shopping list of impossibilities - and that had been why Asper had decided to come along.

"Yes," she agreed. "Cursed. Blighted. There's a plague that's been on the lions here for, oh, ages. Not really anything to worry about though." Just a spot of plague. Nothing to worry about. Nope!

She giggled at the ridiculous cause for his leader's quest. "Is that such a common offense that there's a standard punishment for it? What happens if the quest proves less than impossible? Are they absolved of the crime? Isn't the girl still pregnant?"

She was really beginning to get worked up and have lots of great idea for questions to ask to let him know how funny she found the whole thing. But then she remembered that he was on this quest, too, and perhaps there was a reason for that. She cleared her throat to get rid of the giggles and asked more seriously, "So why are you on this quest? Don't tell me you knocked up one of the warlord's other daughters?"

There was a oddness to the conversation at hand. Part of him found her idle chatter and questions completely charming, her sense of humor refreshing. That was the part that he wanted to give in to. Spending time with a pretty little thing, forgetting the idle loneliness that had tucked up against his ribs, cold and constant.

Then there was the other part of him, the one that worried about this blighty plague thing that apparently infected her pride.

"No, no," Asper fought the urge to laugh. "Nothing so dramatic as that. This impossible quest required the help of other strong, able-bodied members of the pride. I'm merely tagging along to help in whatever way I can."

He was silent for a moment.

"What are the chances that I might find myself .. ah, sick?"

"I see," Cor said. "Well they do seem to have found someone suitable to that task in you if those were the requirements for helping out."

She grinned so that he would know not to take what she said too seriously, even though she meant it. He definitely looked strong and able-bodied to her. But then, she was used to the wasted figures of the sick. Even those who weren't sick tended not to be especially fit. They just weren't fat. Cor considered herself an exception to this rule.

"That was pretty brave of you to go on a quest like that. I guess there's no one waiting for you at home?" Nosy much?

"As for getting sick...as long as you keep away from my food and you'll be fine," Cor assured Asper. It was the truth, but the way she said it made it sound as if the whole plague thing might be a joke she was pulling on him.

Asper relaxed, flashing Cor a rather boyish grin. So she thought him strong and able-bodied? That grin grew in breadth when she asked about anyone waiting at home for him.

"No. Only family. I have sons there, and a brother. Cousins."

He still couldn't tell if she was kidding about the whole plague thing. She didn't seem unfit, and if he was reading the signs right, she might have even seemed a bit interested in him.

His smile turned a little wolfish, predatory.

"And you? Surely a lioness as lovely as yourself has a special someone waiting for her to return home to him?"

Sons. A brother. Cousins. It sounded as if his family was blessed with fertility, unlike many families in the Kitwana. Those who were fertile also tended to die in childbirth though, so maybe that was a mixed blessing. Not that Cor was thinking of having a stranger's cubs just because he was handsome and told the best story she'd heard in a very long while, and it wasn't even fully explained. Just hinted at.

"I haven't. Everyone here is boring," she pouted. "Seriously. Boring. Or sick, and I...well I've seen what it's like to love someone who's sick. I won't put myself through that."

But that was getting a bit heavy and Cor didn't want to do that. She'd wanted to meet a rogue to cheer herself up. So she flicked her tail and shook out her whiskers. "Why don't you tell me about your quest so far?"

Asper was a keen enough lion, and so when the topic change rolled around, he gave a good-natured laugh and watched her shake out her whiskers. Once she was finished, he met her eyes before shrugging.

"Ahh, well. I met not one - not two - but three Gods. One fishy God, and two Goddesses. One of them - Humor, I think, helped me play a grand prank on the rest of the group. We were sitting around, telling stories. It was my turn and, well." Asper gave her a sheepish smile. "I said that I'd been intimate with a goddess. A complete untruth, and I couldn't stop myself at that point. Must have been my lucky day - just so happened that this Goddess had overheard and found it rather hilarious, so she joined in."

It had been both the most hilarious and the most mortifying moment of his life.

"Now we've to find a jewel of some sort. I think that's our next destination."

"Sounds like you got pretty lucky," Cor admitted a little grudgingly, but with a smile. It had never occurred to her to claim to have met a goddess or slept with a god. "Does that happen a lot with you?"

The next part sounded a lot more boring, and made her more inclined to like Asper. His life wasn't all gods and fights it seemed. "Hm. As far as I know there isn't one in the entire pride. My mother has a whole necklace made out of jewels, but only my dad knows where she lives and he died a while ago. So I can't help you with jewels, I'm afraid."

She shrugged philosophically. She had always kind of resented her mother the princess for not keeping her and bringing her up as a princess, too. She would have told Asper how to steal that necklace if she'd known, just to be spiteful.

"Now that you know that there are no jewels here, I suppose you'll be leaving," she probed. Her tone said he didn't have to leave if he didn't want to. Not right away anyway.

He gave that some thought.

"I think what I'd like to do, if you don't mind, is spend more time with you." He grinned slightly, tilting his head to the side as he watched her with attentive green eyes. "Perhaps I can share more stories with you, or we can sit in silence. Whichever you prefer. Fact of the matter is I'm not yet ready to head back to the group I've been traveling with. It's been far too long since I've been able to sit and speak with a stranger - not to mention a lovely lioness such as yourself."

He fell silent, merely watching her. Whatever her choice was, he'd adhere to it, but he couldn't help but hope she would let him stay just a little bit longer.

Cor found that she couldn't help but be flattered by Asper calling her lovely. That wasn't an adjective she heard very often from people who knew her well.

"I would like that. Like I said, the people here are boring. I know all their stories."

"So. You may stay until you run out of stories or until you get hungry." She made a face. "Unfortunately, the bit about not sharing food is true. It's a pride rule. We don't share food with outsiders."

His stomach grumbled. Loudly.

"Well, I suppose that gives me a few good hours to spend in your presence, then," Asper chuckled softly, shaking his head to clear his mane from his eyes.

"Which story would you like first? I met a few Amazons - or there was the time where my cousin and I trounced a warrior in the Stormborn so we could rescue my brother from slavery. Or I could tell you of my sons. I imagine they're all grown now. The last I'd seen them, their shaggy little almost-grown manes had just come in."

He flashed her an engaging smile.

"Hm."

Cor didn't really want to hear about his grown up sons. That would make her feel kind of inadequate since she gauged his age as approximate to her own and she had no cubs of any age. She had to force a smile when he suggested that topic.

Amazons sounded interesting, but she would actually rather hear about things his pride, the Stormborn did. So she asked him, "Could you tell me about the Stormborn and rescuing your brother?"

Asper acquiesced to Cor's request, and the rest of the time he spent there in her company he would speak of his pride with great fondness. Of how he and Galning - though he was Isti at the time - had taken down a fat old lion. He told her of his brother's willingness to become a slave so that he might be closer to the lioness he fancied - only to find out she would be promised to another in marriage.

As words gave way to gentle murmurs and a closer proximity, those hours melted into the next morning. When he woke, she was gone.