Hatsuharu yawned, stretching out lazily on the floor before sitting up on his little ledge, where he could look down on one of the passages into the lands. He had never gotten a real, more detailed description of his job. He knew he would “guard”, but so far, the only thing he could figure out they wanted him to do was make sure no rogues came in and made a mess. Like, killed all their prey. Or… something. Oh, a lizard. The black and white lion looked blankly at the reptile, before flicking it away. “Intruder alert, “ He mumbled.
He was usually a pretty peaceful guy. But a little excitement could be good. Sadly, today didn’t seem like the day Tianxia would need any protecting from him.
Zahi grumbled, as he always did. He wasn't that happy of a lion, and the fact that their small royal guard numbers shrank overnight, he was less than happy. Zahi always worried that something might happen, and as such went out to check on Hatsuharu himself. Right now...as far as he knew, was the only active one left. Damn Adanna. Finally, there he was. Pity there wasn't an easier way to find who he needed. Maybe Bento could help with that.
"Hatsuharu!" he grunted as he settled on his rump, indicating that this was more than just a checking in. "I've got some things to inform you of, and I'm not waiting for the rumors to make their way around." As they always did. Damned females loved nothing more than to gossip, and some of the lower ranked lions thrived on it. He never understood it, but he'd never try to, either.
The black lion had been staring at whatever moved. Well, whatever moved but was pointless to stare at, because or else he would have noticed Zahi approaching. Not that he was startled or anything. He looked up from the ants he’d been watching and stood to dip his head for the lord. He’d never be the sort to fawn over the nobles, but he’d pay them enough respect to go by. “Hello, “ He paused, not sure which name to address him by. So He’d just leave it at hello.
“Inform me? Okay. “ Ooh, maybe he’d get something to do. Hatsuharu was almost smiling… In his mind, anyways. He didn’t really smile much.
Zahi narrowed his eyes for a moment, but as he considered the royal guards much different from the regular guards, it was easy to wave off any usually required formality. "Right now, you are the only Royal Guard we have," he replied, remaining quiet for a moment to let it set in. Sure, there may be a prospective youth here or there that he may put into the guard in the future, but at the moment, they were much too young to even consider.
"And as such, I need you to really keep an eye on the Lady. I know she has her two little companions, but Tishtar has left with Ria and Akasha, and though Dié thinks she is tough, she doesn't match the strength of a lion." And it was easy to see that he was worried. The world outside was silent, but Zahi hated silence.
In his mind, Haru was objecting a little to that. He was the only one? But, he was so sure there had been at least a… couple more, weren’t there? Well, he didn’t say anything, because he must just be misinterpreting or missing something. Not exactly too unusual for him. So he just sat and listened to what the lord had to say, which he’d have done anyways.
“Oh, alright then. “ He paused, and put on what he imagined was a confused face, that really wasn’t much besides a slightly quirked brow. “So, I’m supposed to follow her around? “ How subtle should he be about it? Or maybe the lady already knew about this and knew he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.
"That could work," he said, obvious that he hadn't thought of that himself. It might be a bit of an inconvenice, and perhaps piss of Dié, but the purple male had never been much of a fan of the maned wolf. She was very...confident of herself, which aggrivated the male. "It may work best if you approach her yourself, as she can let you know exactly what she needs."
Zahi paused, a small debate playing out in his head. He shrugged, decided that it couldn't hurt. "Ria and Akasha have gone out to inspect a prospective mate for Ria, and as such I am not certain what may be returning with them. I can protect myself if needed, but Mio is far from strong." And it had been much to easy to boss her around when they were...not quite so firm in one another. Even still, Zahi couldn't always control his temper.
He nodded, at first a little unhappy that he might have to stalk, but then cheered up once Zahi gave him an okay to talk to Ren himself. That was all good, then. As long as he wasn’t just following her around without her knowing. That would be weird. He was wondering if this was it, and would have asked it if Zahi hadn’t started speaking.
… Zahi had a really cool ponytail. He’d never noticed that before. He glanced down at his own mane for a moment, and wondered if he’d give himself a cool hairdo. It’d be too much work, though. Right. Zahi was talking. “Oh, okay. I understand that. “ It made sense to him, anyways. He wouldn’t have imagine Zahi to need much help, really. But lady Ren was a delicate looking little thing. “Should I still be here at the borders every now and then?“ He paused, and considered another question. “And this is only for the time being?”
He didn't seem completely focused, but then sometimes the best were the ones that didn't seem that great. He had learned that long ago, through many battled in the rogue lands. Best to not underestimate what was in front of you. He nodded. "If you can at least take a look once in a while, that would work. The regular guard will be picking up that slack, but even then they are much fewer than I would like." He grumbled, remembering to see if he could get any of the younger males to enlist into the guard. Females, perhaps...but Zahi had always been gender biased.
"This is only for the time being, unless the Lady Rén requests for you to stay longer." He did doubt that, though, as she had always felt that having a personal guard was such a fuss. She always worried about the young ones more than herself. "Hopefully we will be able to find Adanna soon...I haven't heard from her for quite a while," he scowled. See what happens when you let a female in? Akasha was enough as it was, but...he shouldn't focus on that too much right now. At least Hatsuharu was around, otherwise they'd be in real trouble.
He nodded, that made sense. Haru had forgotten he was part of a ‘special’ branch of the west house guard system. Or whatever he should call it. A step up? “Zumaridi had two older boys, I think. “ He mentioned absently, not really sure if Zahi would even know who exactly he was talking about. But the black and white male was pretty sure at least one of those two was aspiring to be a… super-cool-guard of some sort. Or he’d said something like that.
“Okay, that sounds good then. “ He nodded, and considering asking if he should start right away, but decided that he’d just go figure that out for himself. Zahi didn’t seem the sort who’d want to sit and chat for too much longer. “Is there anything else? “
No, Zahi never really paid much attention, but it was good to note that there were two older males that could assist. They were going to need it, even if it was temporary. Maybe having the hunters just linger around the borders more than usual, that would at least give them more eyes than they would have otherwise....he'd have to make that decision later. First things first, and that was almost over with.
"No. I just wanted you to be aware of what was going on. Go find the Lady, and she'll let you know what she requries." Which may not be much, but Mio was very unpredictable. "If you could find me later and let me know what's going on, I may need you to do a thing here or there, to keep you busy." And busy they would be, until the little troupe that had left, returned.
While Zahi mulled over what he had said about the two boys, Haru mused about Ping’s reaction if Zahi went over himself and told him to be a guar. Or a royal guard. Kid would probably be in heaven, or something. He was a funny guy. Hatsuharu liked him.. But, then again, if you were a nice sort of person, he was bound to like you.
Oh, look, orders. “Alright, I’ll be on my way then. “ He said, looking away and raising a paw to walk off before awkwardly pausing and staring at Zahi for approval. Once he figured he’d waited long enough for permission, he leaped up onto the path to head along and find his new charge.
