Quote:
This was rp'ed ages ago but I only had it logged in my journal. I'm posting it here for logging purposes.
Firoz:
Careful paws brushed quietly through the dry grass, quiet brown eyes starred intently ahead of himself. It had been a long walk... while he'd heard multiple times that the world was much bigger than even he could possibly imagine, he never would have believed it. His father had been a traveler, though hardly by his own choosing. His step father as well- both had fled illness within their prides. His mother... she didn't have much to say about the world herself. Her addiciton was males. A weak personality, but a loving one. Perhaps overly so...
He paused and glanced down. The ground was getting damp... which meant there'd be mud. Which meant hours of grooming before his paws and pads felt clean again. Sneering, Firoz turned on his path. He didn't have a set destination really. After Mehng had passed away he felt... lost. Helpless as a cub once more.
The old lion had been so wise. He spoke of multitudes of prides, noble leaders, bold warriors, and great battles. Things that seemed so distant out in this quiet land. He'd never seen a pride before, never seen more than small groups of rogues or males seeking mates and protection in numbers. Handfuls of cubs forced from their mother's side banding together for survival.
It's getting late. He paused and glanced skyward. The moon was nearly on the horizonline. Soon it would be daytime, he'd lose the protection of the night.
Tonkareta
Tonkareta yawned and stretched out in the early light. Early for her, as she'd never found use in hiding in the dark. It was suspicious, that's what it was. Or at least in all of her visions, that's the only real response her possibilities had given her for contemplating it at all. Then again, possibilities were vast and sometimes even those were thwarted quite nicely.
She knew THAT one from experience.
But the grass was inviting, even after a decent amount of sleep had been granted in her favor, leaving her to just yawwwwwn and stretch out in it, rolling calmly onto her back and stretching her legs out toward the sky. Goodness, stretching out always felt nice, even more when the sun was warming a body.
But, alas, the sun wasn't out yet. No, not yet at all. It was still too early for that. Early enough that just laying in the grass had gotten her coat all wet - a shame, really. But what could she do about it now?
Just... nothing, but lay in the grass in wait. How long would it be before Dewei came back? Even she didn't know. But what could she do besides wait for the consort to return? Wait, and waiting was oh so very uneventful, unfortunately.
Firoz:
He needed to rest... under a tree perhaps, or in the shade of a boulder. The young male stopped, his ears rolling forward as he lifted himself up, stretching slightly to get a better look around. Damn his stature...Had he half of Dodongo's height this...nomadic life would be so much easier. So much for bringing honor to his mentor...
Sighing, Firoz picked up his paws once more, pressing on through the grass. A hill nearby...he'd be able to get a better perspective from there. It wasn't a -high- hill... in fact it was more of a slight incline in the ground- a hill to him though.
He paused atop the incline and took a second look around- legs? Coming from the grass? He lifted a thin brow.... well. So far the rogues hadn't been hostile. Perhaps he- no wait...she could give him some information on the area. He wouldn't know if he didn't try.
He made sure to approach slowly, making no effort to hide himself, to mask his scent, or to quiet his movements.
Tonkareta
Had she expected company? It was possible. She always expected company, to be honest. Tonkareta was never sure what variety of company to expect, but company always found any lone body inside a pridal land. Really, if she'd wanted to be entirely in solitude, she might have just spent her time not joining a land which had forced another name upon her (not that she minded having a say for once in her life) and remained a rogue.
She tilted her head slightly backwards at the sound of approaching paws, frowning ever so lightly as she squinted to look at the lion - really, soon to be morning or not, she couldn't exactly scream out to see in such poor light. Lions weren't meant to see the same way as other species.
Their eyes weren't as big of a part of their face for a reason.
"You're new." she stated flatly, not asking, just stating. Like he was intruding or something of the sort. "Are you from outside?" she asked further, finally curling her legs against her belly and sighing.
Not exactly.. overly talkative, was she? No greeting, none of that. Just a statement of the obvious.
Firoz:
Well that was unexpected. Though... he hadn't really expected anything. Perhaps a typical 'hello'? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...what if he'd stumbled into a territory filled with lions of Dodongo's mentality? He could already feel the back ends of multiple, larger lions piling onto his back- or head- and the roar of laughter.
...which was silly. Dodongo was a special case- and well out of his life. No one would be -that- crude. It was imply improbible.
He glanced down. Right- he should say something. "I... well I am not from this territory." The outside? Outside of what? "Might I inquire as to where I have found my self? And beg your pardon, of course, for the intrusion."
Tonkareta
Well, he had manners. That was the one thing for which she could be certain. This stranger had manners. Which meant she too needed to be 'polite', stretching out her limbs one last time before she rolled over onto her belly and popped right up into a sitting position.
Dainty? Certainly not. Not a tomboy, not reeking of femininity either. Somewhere... in between. That was her way.
"It's dangerous to be in our territory without proper consent, you know. Especially all the way out here. Tianxia, 'here', isn't too close with any neighboring prides. Your lucky I'm not a guard.." she paused a frowned down at her paws following this. "Not that the East house HAS guards at the given time...."
Another sigh.
"But to answer - Tianxia. That's where this is."
Firoz:
"A pride." He said the words with a hint of awe. Again, life had been one cluster of rogues after the other, no prides, no noble kings, no powerful warriors...
"What? No guards?" He frowned slightly. That didn't sound right. A claimed territory needed a defense! Of course- he was presently grateful for the lack of security. "Again, my pardens." He caught himself, and straightend himself up. "Tianxia." He nodded, testing the word. "Well I am sorry for my intrusion, again...but..." He cleared his throat, "If...I may be so bold.... I am a nomad in search of a pride. A new master, mentor perhaps..."
Tonkareta
"Well, the East house has a small problem in that we're a group of pacifists, mostly. Okay, so 'no' guards is an overstatement... we have.. 'few' guards. A lot of land for a sparse amount of eyes to look after." she corrected, waving a paw in a very ' tsk tsk' sort of manner, as though ashamed of her little 'oops' she'd made there, but overall taking it quite well.
There, all better.
"Ah, nomads. Nomads are good, actually. I was one once." Okay, perhaps more talkative than she was at first glance. Nothing wrong with her being more friendly now that she wasn't caught on her back.
Or going 'Ohae'.
"Well, if you're looking for a 'master', it depends on what sort of skill you're looking for. North house is Strength, West is creativity, Southern house is speed, and the East house...
...
We're knowledge. So really one can find most any craft they desire here."
Firoz:
A fellow nomad then? Someone he could relate to. His shoulders fell slightly and his posture relaxed a bit more. She'd know then... it was hard.
"Well then, good company." He offered a quiet smile and tipped his head just slightly. "Well... I am not ah... of impressive strength." He took a step back and lifted a paw to indicate his smaller form.
"I don't have much to offer but what I know and what I will learn." He replaced his paw, "I can do whatever task is asked of me.'
Tonkareta
Hmm, well... from what she could tell, he'd be best suited to the east or the west house. From her own bias, however, she'd have to make a very much... well.. biased decision about his presence. But it was one she was allowed to make as far as she was concerned.
"Then perhaps you'd do well to meet with the Lord of the East House. As long as your polite, he's really a gentle lion. I'm sure you'll get along well."
Would they? One of her possibilities. Or perhaps female intuition of just knowing. Afterall, this young man hadn't exactly acted suspicious or anything of the sort in the time she'd been speaking with him, genuinely seemed interested...
..
And it seemed well worth a shot in the dark
Firoz:
"Ooh I would love to meet with your lord." He took an eager step forward before he remembered himself. Restraint... calm.
It was exciting though... a lord of a pride! A pride! There was potential within a group, so much to learn and teach. Of course...
"Oh uh... am..." He looked himself over, "Am I presentable though? I have been traveling... I must smell terrible..."
Tonkareta
"Well certainly you'll have time to clean yourself up before you meet him, if that's what you'd like to do..." Tonkareta gave him a rather.. baffled look for having been bothered by the idea of smelling. SHE couldn't smell him.. though then again, she couldn't smell herself either.
Did she smell terrible? Shoot! Why did she care!?
"Besides, he's likely to still be sleeping at the given time, so you can use that to your advantage." she added. Would Lord Yua still be resting? That was a possibility that she wasn't going to toss out the window yet, but she wasn't sure either.
Ah well, as long as she wasn't smuggling members into the house it would be alright.
"Would you prefer to do that in the meantime?"
Firoz:
He chuckled quietly and gave a short nod. "If...that is alright. I don't suppose there's somewhere I can get a drink?"
Traveling was a strange thing. One could walk for hours, even days, and ignore the most basic of needs if they allowed their mind to drift. Standing in one place allowed the body to realize what it had been deprived of and complain enough to make up for the time it had been silent.
"Oh... manners! My name is Firoz. My apologies for the late introduction." How could he forget!? Perhaps he'd been in the open too long.
Tonkareta
"Tonkareta..." ... Yes, for now, anyways. Until this 'Firoz' boy was properly accepted into the ranks of the pride, she couldn't offer him her 'actual' name. No, he'd get that confusion as soon as all of the 'name yourself' stuff was thrown out full-swing into all sorts of excitement.
Since it had thrown HER for a loop, that much she recalled. Then again, it hadn't been that long ago when it had been her own task to do just that. She wasn't an old body of the pride.
Too new of a body.
Firoz:
"Tonkareta. A pleasure then." He gave her another short look over. A good build, muscular... a young female, strange pelt color- then again, he was very far from where he'd grown up. Perhaps the colorations varied by location? Another question to answer in time.
He glanced up once more as she nodded off. "That way then...", She didn't seem terribly motivated to give him a tour. He had her name though- if there was any trouble with another pride member perhaps he could... no that wouldn't be fair to her.
"Would... it be too much to ask for an escort? I'd rather not upset anyone that may be about..."
Tonkareta
It wasn't that she didn't want to escort him, she simply needed to be more assured that he actually WANTED one. There were those in the world who would have wished to maul her at the very suggestion of going along with them - an 'insult to their intelligence'.
"It would be no problem at all." she replied slowly rising to her feet to stretch out again (a cat in all ways of the word), before taking almost.. meticulously planned steps to turn towards the same direction she'd nodded towards earlier.
"Though I do imagine our sort is hard to upset too badly. Again, our Lord is very calm."
Now, on their way?
Firoz:
"Thank you. Again." He stepped aside and motioned for her to go on ahead of him. It wouldn't be at all proper to trudge on ahead. Though...would she trust him enough to follow? One thing he'd learned was never to allow a stranger to fall in behind him, it was giving them the upper hand.
Did she know that though? He wouldn't try anything of the sort but still...
"Well I like to keep on the cautious side." He took a few steps, joining at her side, though a step or two behind hers to allow her the lead. "He sounds like a decent sort."
Tonkareta
She didn't seem at all bothered by him being behind her. Certainly the prospect of being attacked was something she'd considered - but considering that she was a sturdy female and he was a.. not-as-sturdy-male, the physical advantages were there, at least.
"He is. I think having daughter's mellowed him out of any emotional quicks he may have had before I met him."
Not too much of an undertstatement. Not that she was aware of it. She saw ahead, not back. "But you're wise to be cautious. We have a sort of... 'walk of life' pride here. So many roots, there may be some instinct in some of them."
