- The day was new and Sokoni was now considered a full member of the Firekin. At long last, he had a new home that did not care for his brutal past so long as it did not come up and so long as neither of his sisters suddenly showed up at the borders, it would stay hidden from the pride unless the information was needed. He spent his days lounging around the training grounds, watching all of the lions practice, spar and generally prepare for any potential battle. What battle they were prepping for was beyond what Sokoni knew at the time.
Zara was one of these sparring lions. With a paw up she smacked down another lioness that had been dueling her, landing the final blow and claiming victory for herself. While she beamed proudly, her lungs worked overtime to regain the air that she had lost. She had recovered from her pregnancy months ago and now it was time to get back into the ring and continue to reach her goal of proving herself within the Firekin as a soldier fit to be in their ranks. Despite her wins when it came to duels, there were still those who doubted this small lioness would ever become the battlemaster that she so dreamed of becoming. Soon enough she would challenge her own children to see how well the pride had trained them along with everything that Zara had taught them, but that day was not today.
One particular lioness had managed to catch the fireless lion's attention. One small, lioness who held her head higher then some of the others and it seemed to not just be coming from her recent victory either. There was another sense of pride, of purpose in her walk and Sokoni liked that. In all the lionesses he had seen, she was one that stuck out to him as being worth his effort chasing after, at least from what he could tell from just looking at her. Shaking his mane out, the large lion stood from his shaded spot and made his way around the edge of the training grounds as to not disturb any others that were practicing.
Silver eyes had already caught sight of the approaching male and she could nothing but sigh and roll her eyes. 'Here we go again.' Zara told herself as she turned to face him. Just by how he looked and how he walked towards her, she could tell that he was both new and looking for a partner that wasn't for sparring. She had already been chased by one male that had sired five children with her and the two of them had grown apart. In fact, it was only thanks to the fact they had children together that they had even stayed together and that was mainly because of how foul of a temper Zara could have on days. It had taken the previous lion who tried to court her several days to just earn her name, so she was eager to see how this one would fair.
"Hello there~" Sokoni purred to the smaller lioness as he finally approached her, stopping to stand not that far from her person. She was even finer up closer and her pelt was odd. Most of whom he saw were much redder in color, or at least had it over their body in more places then just their backs. Red and white seemed to be the colors that most were, some with black manes or markings here and there. But nothing compared to the complexities that were her facial markings.
"I don't want your greetings." Came a cold response as she turned tail to walk away from the male. Zara had no interest in another litter and love wasn't something she actively sought after, so why deal with a male that was obviously just after spending a night with her. "You'd be better off looking elsewhere. I'm here to train, unlike you." She hissed as she glared back at him from over her shoulder before continuing away from the grounds, back towards the center of the pride.
That was not what he had expected. He had heard of the tenacity and strength of the Firekin, but it seemed almost odd for someone to turn him away. In the rogue lands he had no trouble...It was beginning to sink in; he wasn't in the rogue lands anymore. There were new rules here and he better straighten out if he wanted to have any chance in making his mark in this new pride where he was the new guy. Quickly Sokoni jogged after the lioness, slowing to walk beside her right side. "Hey, look, I'm sorry if I upset you. I just wanted t-"
White tipped paws stopped in the sand as Zara turned quickly to look into his black eyes, though it seemed harder then she thought with his thick, equally black mane and body. In fact, they all seemed to be almost the same color. "Look, I'm going to save you the time. I'm not interested in you, in any male, in anyone. I have my children already. I have my pride and I have my aspirations. I don't need anyone interfering that doesn't need to. Now if you excuse me, I have my duties to attend to." With her final word spoken, Zara turned again and went on her way.
He was about to lose his chance with the very first lioness he had even talked to! It wasn't even about possible courting her and settling down into a place in the pride, it was more about learning the new ways of a new pride that he was alien in. Perhaps it had been that same alien feeling that urged him to watch the sparring matches during that afternoon. For whatever reason, Sokoni once again jogged up to her side and slowed to a walk. "What if I help you with you aspirations? Whatever they are. Once you've achieved them, then you can decide if you want to toss me to the side. Maybe give me a chance?"
Quicker then the last time, Zara turned her head and snarled in the face of the male who continued to bother her. "Give you a chance? You're the one that approached me, thinking that you're some smooth rogue that's come to sweep me off my paws. Lets get one thing straight right now: you will not get in my way. You will help me, but for one minute, if I think you're holding me back; I'll drop you." Her words were passionate, but true. There was no hesitation in her threat as she stared at him with glaring eyes. "If you want to help, you can start by proving yourself to me in combat. Since you're obviously new," she paused as she nodded to his shifting paws that continually moved during the hot afternoon sun. "Meet me back in the training grounds just as the sun is going down. We'll duel and see if the lion you fought to get in wasn't just having an off day."
He paused a moment. A duel, with her, just as the sun was setting. It would have sounded like a date in any other pride, well aside from the whole 'duel' part. Sokoni found himself nodding though as he also verbally agreed to her terms with an, "Alright." What had he gotten himself into. At first he had thought perhaps being rogue blood would give him an advantage when choosing a mate, but he had quickly been proven wrong by a lioness nearly half his size. And now she was challenging him to a duel just because he had approached her! This was madness and there was no reason he should have agreed, but something intrigued him about the entire situation beyond his own stupidity. Like what was this little lioness' aspiration and why was she so set on accomplishing her goals on her own.
"Good. I'll see you in a few hours then." Zara grinned. Perhaps she had finally found a sparring-partner who could help her finally reach her goal of becoming a battlemaster within the Firekin. She began to walk away again, leaving the black male standing there in his own though as her tail flicked behind her. Her white mohawk ruffled in the wind as she turned her head to look over her shoulder and shout back to him: "You better rest up because I'm not going to be going on easy on you so you better not hold back either!"
Sokoni nodded again, but this time said nothing. There was nothing more to say, only waiting and then action as he had agreed to his first duel since joining the pride. The black male swallowed hard. He shouldn't have been so nervous, but he was and he didn't know why which only further annoyed him. Slowly he sat down in the sands as he watched the petite lioness walk away and vanish from sight. Tonight would be interesting.
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