The North was much different than the West where he had crossed the borders of the Tianxia at. The inclines were steeper and the vegetation was at a minimal in most places. Still, life found a way to survive her and Thrain was finding this terrain to be wonderful for endurance training.
It was almost midday, the sun still rising into the bright blue sky. He had left earlier that morning and had been out. Luckily it wasn't nearly as hot as it likely was down in the West house. There were birds in the air, possibly carrying messages from other houses.
Thrain paused as he landed on yet another rock to look up, watching them fly towards where the rest of the pride resided. A small smile crept onto his face. It was nice to belong, to be part of something bigger now. Sure, he missed his family, but he was serving his pride by being part of his one. With a Duke from the West in talks to be moving to the Pridelands to marry the daughter of a goddess, it had only seemed right to give something back to the Tianxia in trade. Thrain had volunteered for that task.
Now look at him. His daily regimen of training until the sun was overhead was paying off. Before he had only been muscle because of hunting, but now he trained to better protect what was his new home. Sure, he was just a guard but maybe some day he would be more. For now this training was a good way to build muscle and getting him used to the different terrain. The Pridelands exactly know to be rocky or sloped at all unless you counted Pride Rock. It was mostly plains, with a few watering holes and a gorge that no one really ever went to. He could run decently fast across that surface but rocks...No, rocks were a challenge and it was what he was currently trying to overcome.
Enough stalling. He leapt again, landing somewhat gracefully on another of the four rocks that were laying along an incline. They were spaced just close enough that he could leap from one to another, but far enough that it was still a challenge and he could still. They weren't exactly in a line either. One was off center and off to the side, another was turned slightly so it wasn't even a flat surface he would be landing on.
One.
Two.
Three.
His paws only touched each rock for a few seconds before he was onto the next. His agility wasn't exactly great. The Pridelander wasn't really that small but rather around normal sized for his heritage. Any grace he had ran out when he reached the last. His paw slipped, causing the male to come crashing down onto the hard dirt beneath him. Hissing under his breath, Thrain laid there for a minute, too stunned to get back up and continue on. How did you manage to slip up like that?
Raising back onto his paws, he continued his training. Hopping from one rocky surface to another. This carried on for minutes, hours and finally it was the ache in his stomach, an empty feeling that broke his concentration.
How many times had he completed his challenge? Golden eyes looked up at the sky as he frowned. Too many by the look of the sky. It was beginning to darken.
His paws ached. Everything ached. His legs felt like the inside of a rotten fruit as he finally stepped down off of his perch. The grass felt odd against his paw pads. Sure he had slipped up several times during his exercise but this was by his own accord the rough grass touched him. Thrain frowned. Hopefully soon he would be good enough to really be of use to the Tianxia and to the North house. For now, he was a newbie, a nobody, only known to some pride members for his blood relation to the emperor, his cousin. Oh how rumors spread fast, even in such a large pride as the Tianxia.
He moved back towards where he was denning for now, hopping over branches, rocks and small mounds that blocked his path with ease. The lion's body felt so much lighter now but he knew he would be feeling everything in the morning. It was his fault though. Was it pride, envy of others, or maybe something else that had caused him to zone out and waste his day. Really, for how long he had been out, it wouldn't do much for him. In fact, it would probably leave him unable to even attend his patrols for a few days at least just because of how sore he was likely going to be.
A thin frown appeared on Thrain's face. He really needed to get better but at the same time not ruin his body. He needed to be bring some kind of honor to his family here and breaking himself wouldn't accomplish that in the least. Maybe the pride had some kind of medicine man who could help him with the oncoming aches. Even now the dull, throbbing pain was beginning to surface. He winced. Yeah, maybe the hunters knew someone. They likely got injured at least every now and again on their hunts. They had to know someone in the pride that could help him.
Large paws stepped back up onto a flat rock to look over the Tianxian lands. His eyes closed as the wind blew through his mane. A soft smile replaced the previous frown. These lands were most certainly different but they were good. This...this place was definitely where he belonged. This was his home. While the Pridelands would always be his birthplace, it had been a stepping stone a temporary place in his life. The smile grew bigger. He would definitely learn to fit in, to take a slower pace, to think differently and to grow in this place. Now was not that day, but it was a step in hopefully the right direction.
His ears swiveled around to listen forward. Even his eyes had picked up the movement. There was a green body down from him, chasing after what looked to be...something. It was dark and small, but Thrain could not make it out. Still, he hadn't see this green pelt before and it was his job to protect. Quickly he leapt from his post. The landing on the ground was hard on his already sore legs and paws, but still he took off at a run after the two.
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