Phlegyas sulked around a different region of land on this evening. It was unfamiliar to him, and seemed barren - the sort of land that demons tended to gravitate to. Maybe that's why he was drawn to this place. The purple assassin shook his mane and padded along a well-worn path. It smelled of many lions, he thought he could be close to pridal lands, but that didn't phase him. He was god spawn! He was the heir to a pride of demons! No, not many things gave him a reason to pause. Nothing could hurt him.
As he walked on, he wondered just what kind of lions he would find up ahead. He'd heard of demon hunters and cannibals and prides consisting only of females. He hoped if any, it would be the last kind. He wasn't looking to cause any trouble this evening. Just out for making some new acquaintances, maybe.
Her main goal today was hunting. Malaya had headed out further than she normally did today. The purpose being there might be some herds out here that hadn’t been hunted recently. What she didn’t expect to see was another lion. That would explain why she wasn’t seeing much prey. She remained in her semi hidden spot and watched him. He wasn’t in any danger yet, but if he kept going….
When she realized that yes he was heading for the pride, she knew she’d have to intercept him. Better her here and now, rather than one of the guards later. With a sigh, Malaya rose to her feet and stepped out. It was a difficult task not letting others come into contact with the diseased pride unless they were absolutely sure. She trotted closer to the purple lion and called out.
“You really don’t want to go that way.”
Phlegyas' ears picked up when he heard a lioness' voice. Slowly, he turned to face her. "...Oh?" He raised an eyebrow and stepped towards her. She had a nice, lovely black coat and the blue mask of her face also was quite nice. Her colors would suit the demon pride quite nicely. He could envision dark-coated cubs with purple masks running around his pride lands. The lion tilted his head and sat back on his haunches, quite ready to have a nice, long talk.
He raised a paw to rub his chin. "Frankly, I think the place I come from is much, much more dangerous." His tail flopped on the ground. Well, well, well... Now what kind of pride had he stumbled upon?
She gave the lion a long look over. He looked strong and powerful. Malaya twitched her ear as he stepped closer. For her pride, she wouldn’t be intimidated. Malaya watched him as he settled down. She gave a snort at his boast of his pride. The black lioness raised her head higher with dignity.
“Oh I doubt that. The pride you were heading toward is deadly to lions. There is disease here that kills quickly. Any lion that enters is not allowed to leave lest they infect others.” She gave him a stern glare. “So unless you plan on joining you’d best keep your distance.” Malaya couldn’t imagine anything more dangerous than what her pride went through.
A small grin flashed across Phlegyas' face. Feisty! Spirited. He liked that. He stood up and stepped a little bit closer to the female. "Well, I come from a pride of deadly lions as well. My mother is the Goddess of Decay, I'm not really afraid of the sniffles..." He tilted his head back and gave her a good look-over.
"So if it kills so quickly... How'd you get to grow up so pretty?" He groomed himself a little- not as though he needed it. "I'd be a little more worried about lions from my pride, honestly. But tell me, what's your name? I'm Phlegyas, Heir to the pride of the Demons."
She didn’t like that grin on his face. Malaya thought she’d been having quite a bit of luck with turning back rogues easily. Now she knew why. This male looked as though he was going to be trouble. He was arrogant. She was half tempted to let him into the pride, then be there when he realized he wasn’t allowed to leave. Malaya wasn’t a vindictive kind of lioness though.
“Whoever your mother is, you should be afraid of this.” She snorted off his compliment. “I am a carrier of the disease. Meaning I could infect you.” She added the last as a slight insult for not believing her as though he wouldn’t know what it meant. “Those infected while they might reach adulthood often don’t survive to be elders.”
Malaya tilted her head as he boasted about his pride. “I’m not worried. If you invade you’ll be brought down by the sickness. Lions are easily spotted and defeated.” She gave him a nasty grin, “this you can’t fight off.” What was this change over her? She wasn’t normally this nasty. Perhaps it was his attitude that got on her nerves. So that was his name? She doubted a pride would really let the Heir wander out alone. “I am scout Malaya.”
"Well, Scout Malaya, it is my pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry to hear that you harbor the sickness of your pride, and I hope you are one of the lucky few to make it that long." Phlegyas bowed his head sincerely. He shrugged off the comments about his mother and his pride. He hated his mother anyway, and while the demons were strong, they weren't invulnerable.
"I wouldn't advise taking my pride lightly, but gladly, I don't think that the path of our prides will ever cross. I'm glad that ours did, though." He tilted his head, thinking, "You know, you could sneak away with me." His expression turned dark and alluring. "If you could be as sick as you say, how would they know if you died out here? You seem tougher than that, you would do well to contribute to the blood of the Demons."
Now that he was believing her, Malaya relaxed just slightly. She wasn’t sure she was pleased to meet him, but he wasn’t being actively aggressive. The black lioness settled down and wrapped her tail around her feet. “Carriers, while we carry the disease, aren’t actually sick. There aren’t many in the pride. I’ll be one of the few who lives to see old age.” Malaya ignored the fact that she could easily be killed by something else before then.
She sniffed. No marauding pride would be taken lightly, but she wouldn’t tell him that. A sigh escaped her as he spoke of sneaking away. “I couldn’t do that. There’s a quarantine on the pride; it means that no lion may leave. I won’t leave my pride.” She shook her head. Wasn’t he listening to anything she said? “No because a carrier just wouldn’t up and die. Thank you for the offer, but no.” Malaya did not want to return to whatever pride this lion called home.
While Phlegyas heard the lioness, he didn't want to listen or acknowledge it and give up. He wasn't a very good seducer of lionesses, explaining his choice of assassin over incubus as a rank. He usually took to dubious means of convincing lionesses to come back with him to his pride or his den. He tutted. "Oh, that's really too bad."
Shaking his head, he paced around the lionesses before coming to a stop behind her. "I could make you a queen, you know.." He spoke quietly. The setting sun cast a strange light to the grounds. When the light caught his red eyes, they glinted with an unnerving color.
Of course none of that was true. He'd only missed becoming Moriafer's King of the pride by a fluke paw swipe that triggered a self-fulfilling prophecy of his loss. He could promise her other things, sure, but he had a bad habit of not following through.
She didn’t think it was too bad. Malaya knew she was perfectly happy where she was. As he paced around her she turned her head to keep her eyes on him. Not that she didn’t trust him, but she didn’t trust him. She readied her body for instant action should he prove of evil intent. Would she ever get it across to him she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, leave? She twitched her ears and decided a different track. “You do realize that if I went with you, it would bring your pride to the brink of ruin, if not over? All you’ve ever know would be gone.”
“I don’t wish to be a queen. I enjoy my job.” Her voice firm and determined, hopefully telling the male he was losing this battle. Suddenly Malaya stood and faced him fully. “I believe you should leave now. Do not come back to this pride.“
Phlegyas took a step back and gave her another long stare. "Well, that really is a shame." He shook his head and took a few paces in the direction of the Aikanaro'hini. He liked a lioness that could tell him what to do, but he didn't really like being told to leave. It didn't seem he'd be able to do anything to convince her, and he didn't really like using force to get someone to join the pride. After all, if he had to drag someone back, they likely didn't have an inner demon that would make them belong.
With a sigh, he began walking in the direction of home. "Well if you ever change your mind, come and find me." He flashed a smile, and in a flash, he was gone.
