Elekea was having a lovely time these last few days. After making the acquaintance of a rather handsome and very friendly male, she felt like she was walking on clouds. Maybe she was being silly, day dreaming about someone who, chances were, would not even think about her in a few days time. Once they parted, whenever they decided to do that. Still, she had a small hope in the back of her head that maybe it would not be so bad to stay in each other’s company. Maybe he would not leave to go wandering about the rogue lands again too quickly. Maybe, but who knew. She had no real reason to give him that would make him stay. Such silly thoughts! They had only just met. Clearly she was just so lonely she had nothing else to focus on, and now that she had someone else in her life she was just clinging to them. That was not fair of her, definitely.
Her mind was whirling, but despite that, she was in the best mood she had been in a long time. Maybe she was just not used to what it was like to make a friend. Her mind was just blowing everything out of proportion, and she was just losing it. She sighed into the grass, lifting her head from the place she was resting in, looking around leisurely because she thought she heard something crinkling nearby. The sound of paws on grass, if she knew her noises from hunting, but it was not something in any kind of hurry.
Standing and stretching a bit, yawning massively, she shook out her fur before she moved to follow the sound, finding the source of it while walking quietly. There were two lions, she noticed, walking through the area, but she had never seen them before. Not unusual, as there were not that many visitors to this area. Thus the whole problem with her clinging to the one good looking male that wandered in.
The two lions were not lost, exactly, if you asked the male. The female, on the other paw, was not as convinced and she was looking fairly annoyed with her companion. The two were mates, though they had no family between them. They had been traveling together for years, so how they managed to get lost now was beyond her. One would think they had the whole rogue lands memorized at this point, but it did not seem like the case. She doubted Ataruka ever knew where he was going, though he liked to pretend that he was the master of all things male and serious. Navigation was one of those skills he was expected to have, so he liked to pretend he was the best at it. Dhili knew better than to believe that, no matter how he argued with her.
She was a free spirited sort, eager and curious and very excited by exploring and adventure. She loved doing things for the sake of it, which was why, normally, his getting them lost was no problem to her. Today, however, he had promised to take her to a lovely water hole, which she was looking forward to taking a nice bath in, and relaxing for a little while. She was very tired and dirty, and deserved a nice nap in the shade. He made it sound so nice, and now she was getting annoyed that they had not found it. She was not sure if he was lost, and they just could not find it, or if he had just made it up to appease her and was leading her in circles for the sake of his pride. Either way, the happy lioness was now looking very grumpy.
Which was usually her companion’s role in the duo. Ataruka was a very serious sort, and he took his pride and his duties to heart. He wanted to provide for Dhili, certainly, but he was not fond of the way she constantly teased him and got on his case for little things and errors that he did not find as important as she did. He just wanted to be strong, to be a real lion, though they had no home for him to dedicate himself to. All he had was Dhili herself, and that had to be enough for now. She did not realize how much she meant to him, most of the time, as their relationship was not the most affectionate or outwardly loving around. Most of the time they seemed to just barely tolerate one another.
“Ataruka,” Dhili was saying, as Elekea came up behind them, watching them silently. She was very quiet at the best of time, and she was used to blending into her surroundings and not being noticed. Most of the time, she did not really have to rely on those skills for anything but hunting, though today it seemed to be serving her well. She could listen to this little conversation, at least, and determine if these two were a threat of any kind. She did not want to lose what small amounts of newfound happiness she had managed to find, after all, and did not want new intruders to chase off her new friend.
Though on that note, they could also be potential new friends. She was not certain yet, so she just stayed quiet and stuck to the shadows.
“Yes, Dhili?” the male replied, after a very potent and tense pause that meant he was not too keen on answering her at all, and was only doing so because he knew he would just get yelled at by her more. He had a sigh in his voice, and he looked at her sidelong, tilting his head just gently enough to look vaguely innocent, while pretending that was not what he was trying to do. She squinted at him, not in the mood to fall for it this time.
“We’re going in circles. I’ve seen this tree three times now, and I know that because I’ve marked it with my claw. You see that? Right there. I did that. So we’ve been here before and you have no idea!”
Ataruka stared at her for a long moment, as if silently deciding if he wanted to call her on her bluff or not. There was a mark on the tree she was pointing to, anyway. He could not prove if she had put it there or not, though, but it was probably not worth it to try and argue. He sighed and sat down, which was enough of an admission to set her off.
“I knew it! We are lost! You have no idea where the watering hole is! You said you knew! I’m so disappointed! I was looking forward to a bath, Ataruka, I really was! Why did you say you knew where it was?!”
“I thought I did,” he said stiffly, sitting up and holding his chest up in a dignified way. “but… I suppose I did not.”
“You’re not far from it,” Elekea said, stepping forward. Neither lion looked too startled to see her, which was surprising in itself, though they did both turn her eyes toward her and blinked at the same time. That was a very curious reaction. She offered them a smile, though, and pressed on. “I mean, a water hole. I’m not sure if it’s the one you’re looking for. But I can show it to you, if you’d like?”
Dhili looked a little embarrassed, but Ataruka nodded his head smoothly and rose to the invitation. He moved toward Elekea, bowing down a bit to say hello. Dhili followed him, but only stood nearby, watching the green lioness curiously, but without any obvious ill intent. Elekea swung her tail behind her, feeling a little nervous. They gave off friendly vibes, though, so she held her ground and nodded her head reassuringly.
“Well, we would appreciate that,” Dhili said. Ataruka nodded stiffly, trying to pretend his pride was not damaged by needing to defer to someone else for help. For a moment, they seemed at peace, and Elekea looked at them side by side and thought they were a cute couple. That was a strange thought, as she did not really know them and had no real experience with couples of any kind. Cute or not. She was just a sucker for it right now, maybe, because she was so hopeful about her own prospects. That thought made her blush under her fur, and she quickly had to turn away from them to distract herself.
“This way!” She called, padding forward quickly.
Dhili and Ataruka watched her as she bounced off, wondering what got her running so suddenly. Ataruka was not inclined to follow her, but Dhili was already bouncing off after her before he could say a word. She was the type to always run right into danger, as if it was what she was constantly looking for. He sighed and followed her, destined to protect her from herself, more than anything else.
Word Count: 1,511 in Word
