Just Over The Hill (Jump right in!)

[Aimee]

Just over the hill lays an unclaimed land, can a band of lions join together to create a harmonious pride?
To keep track of the characters:

SPOILER: Click to show

Kadija - Aimee
Cheshi - Aimee
Sefu - Aimee
Taraji - Leto

---

The sun had dawned on a new day. For three adolescent lions, they did not know what this day would bring. For they had been travelling for days now, and had decided on finding a place to settle down for a while. One of the three, the oldest male, had sprinted ahead towards the looming hill.

"Come on guys! I bet there's going to be a brilliant view from the top of this hill!" he called with a wide grin painted over his face, watching his two cousins approaching him slowly. His half grown reddish brown mane was a little messy and it was getting worse in the growing breeze as the three ascended the hill. The stockier lion, the middle in age, was huffing and puffing.

"There's...no need to be...moving so fast Cheshi" he said between breaths. "We gonna...get ourselves thirsty" he added, slumping onto his haunches to wait for the third lion in the trio. She was the only girl, but didn't feel outnumbered. She rather enjoyed the company of her cousins. She slumped down as well, gazing up at the last few metres to go. 

"Sefu's right. Let's just rest for a few minutes". Kadija, while she was not stocky, was weaker. She had been born prematurely; her mother had been way too over-protective and Kadija believed had she been given some more freedom, she would of developed a bit better. So she was stuck with being small and when she thought about it, rather helpless. She knew Cheshi and Sefu would look after her though, and get her through difficult situations.

"You two can rest, I'm going to the top to check out the view. Catch up with me in a bit" Cheshi told them before bounding off up the hill. It got a little steeper, but he could handle it. With one last push, he reached the top. The view was worth climbing for. Before him lay huge grassy plains with groups of tree's dotted around. There was a river that seemed to come from the hill that extended outwards. It was joined to a large lake which shimmered in the sunlight. From here, he could see groups of prey. Antelope, zebra, wildebeest. He could see some non-prey items from their as well; elephants, hippos and giraffes. The lands seemed perfect. 

Before he knew it, Sefu had joined him.

"Wow" he exclaimed. "Will you look at that!".

"Sef, help me up?" the stocky lion heard Kadija say. He turned around to give her a helping paw to get up the last little bit of hill. Once she too had got on top, she gasped. "Oh my...".

"These lands could have so much potential..." Cheshi thought aloud. "Just think, we could start a pride if it was unclaimed!"
"What, a pride with two males and a lioness who are all related?" Sefu asked rhetorically, with a hint of sarcasm to his voice. Cheshi shrugged, and the three looked out once again. 

[Ruby_Fehu]

A large tawny lion with a large, dark brown mane padded along, his two eldest children - a young adolescent named Cecilia and her litter mate Jensen trotting along behind him, arguing together like usual. His youngest, a cub name Iris rolled around at her fathers paws. "Cecilia, Jensen stop arguing this instant, you'll frighten the prey away."

"But dad -" Cecilia whined, she was a tawny colour with startling golden eyes and sandy coloured markings. "He started it."

"I did not Cece! You did." Jensen argued, he was identical to his sister except his still growing mane was the dark brown of his fathers.

"Enough." Hasimu scolded, stopping and turning to face Iris, the cub stood out most of all she was a completely brown lioness with no markings except the tawny eye patches. Her striking green eyes were bright and inquisitive.

"Daddy, I can see lots of animals! Elephants and giraffes... I can even see lions." She squinted as she spoke, her gaze focused on a hill a short distance away.

"You said there would be no lions here dad!" Cecilia said accusingly

"There's not supposed to be Cece." Hasimu replied, "Come on, let's go see." He continued before setting off, his three children following him slowly.

[Kirsui]

For future reference, I'll keep a list of my own characters here (for now):

SPOILER: Click to show

Hope - female, late adolescent
Mich - male, mid-adolescent, 1 year younger than Hope but still taller of the two

------------------





The day had potential of becoming wonderful. The sun was already shining warmly, and the two lions that rested in the shade of a great tree near the shimmering lake had already hunted - the evidence of their success laying close by in the form of a half eaten zebra - and had not been chased away from their kill by angry residents. In fact, neither of the adolescents had seen any others of their kind since they had arrived on this beautiful land the previous night, and both were equally surprised that such beauty was unclaimed.

Still, despite what they had seen told them, it never hurt to be careful when on strange lands, and though the lions were relaxed, both of them had their senses alert in case of danger.

It was because of this that they were alerted to the arrival of three other lions. The larger of the two adolescents, a young, gold furred male with the beginnings of auburn mane, sniffed the air and released a small sigh. He did not move from the comfortable position of resting on his belly with his head on his paws, but he did speak out to his companion in a quiet tone.

"We have company."

The smaller of the two, a light cream coloured lioness, opened her eyes and gazed ahead of her from where her head rested comfortably on the male's back. The sunlight seeping through the leaves of the great tree gave her eyes a small sparkle, revealing them to be very light blue. She didn't move at all, remaining in as equally relaxed state as her companion, but her eyes quickly darted to what her companion had already scented.

"Two males, one female", she whispered quietly, examining the lions standing on top of the hill not very far from them. They were out of earshot and she could not hear what they were speaking, though judging from the way they behaved they were taking in the beautiful view opening in front of them.

Sighing again, her companion shifted, making the move so relaxed that it seemed he simply changed his position in his sleep. But it was more than that, for now he could cautiously open his coppery eyes and take in the sight of the three strangers that had made an appearance.

"Orders?"

The lioness' choice of words made the young male scoff ever so slightly, though a somewhat amused smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"We wait and see what they do, sister."

[Aimee]

"I suppose we could head down the hill on this side now" Kadija suggested, "We could see where the river starts, there could be a waterfall of some kind. There's bound to be a cave for shelter during the night". Cheshi and Sefu gave murmurs of agreement.

"We'll have to be careful though. If these lands are claimed, then we may not be welcome here. One sign of hostility and were outta here ok?" Cheshi explained with a hint of worry in his voice. The three had encountered hostile lions already, and had been threatened on countless occasions.

"With any luck though Chesh, we won't have to scarper" Sefu added as the three of them stood up. Sefu went ahead and realised some of the ground was a little loose. "Careful where you step" he said, looking back at them for a brief moment to say it. The trio began to descend, having the odd scare or two when the ground felt like it was going to give way.

As soon as they were on much sturdier ground, they relaxed and could climb down with ease. A feeling of relief swept over them as they reached the bottom. "That was a little stressful, I hate steep climbs and stuff" Sefu breathed.
"Yeah, I thought one of us was gonna end up at the bottom much quicker than planned" Cheshi responded, already heading off towards the direction of the beginning of the river. Sefu followed him closely.

Kadija had fallen behind. In the not-so-far distance she saw a male and a female lion. She wasn't sure of their age, or whether they had noticed her, but by the time she had thought about it all, her cousins were already quite a bit away from her.
"Guys! Wait up! I see a pair of lions!" she called, running after them. They had disappeared through the tree's; Kadija had to follow the sound of water now instead. She felt a little more weary now. Perhaps there was a pride here after all?

[Leto]

«Hey, hey wait!» she huffed as she tried to keep up with the flock of ox-peckers she had been trailing for the past 15 minutes. The bird flock however did not slow down, leaving the young lion girl behind. The black tipped tail swayed idly as her chest rose and fell gently from the running exertion. Her rounded ears quickly swirled forward as she caught the sounds of voices nearby, dropping to the ground in an effort to hide herself in the golden grass, the scent of lion indeed confirmed she wasn’t hearing things.

Who they were she didn’t know but curiosity was gnawing at her brain, crawling forward the lioness kept her belly low to the ground. She could hear the river up ahead, standing to her feet she made little point to hide any longer, if these were claimed lands then the worse that could happen was only that she was run off. Decides she could use a drink right about now, padding up to the sandy bank she bent down to slake her thirst, the lions she had heard earlier were still somewhere about, that much she could smell.

Maybe they were rogues like her? If so, perhaps she should approach then.

[Kirsui]

"They're coming down the hill now."

"Hn", was the only answer the young male gave to his sister when she pointed out the obvious, but his eyes, like hers, tracked the trio's every movement. The process of coming down the hill was a somewhat difficult task, as the siblings had noticed the previous night, and it did take the three strangers some time to ascend the hill. Once two of them were on sturdier ground, however, the third one, the female, lifted her gaze and looked directly at the two siblings.

"They saw us."

The young male released a mildly annoyed sigh at his sister's continued commentary. But he knew she meant well, and so he could not fault her for it. He tracked the stranger lioness' process down the rest of the hill until she disappeared after the two males in the relative safety of the trees.

"Residents?" the young lioness asked softly, her gaze lingering where the three lions had vanished from her sight.

"Unlikely", the male responded, yawning slightly as he prepared to get up. "Either way, it never hurts to be prepared."

The lioness nodded in understanding and rose to her feet, stretching her muscles lazily. Without another word the two began to slowly walk towards where the three had entered the forest, intending on following their trail in order to find out who they were.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Hasimu led the way, sweeping through the animals gathered, trying not to disturb the larger animals.

Cecilia and Jensen exchanged a look and nodded once before they both stalked after an antelope together.

Iris ran on ahead of her dad and began growling playfully and chasing after a butterfly when she stopped as she saw three lions - two males and a female making their way along and she squeaked nervously, backing into an elephant causing it to rear up and trumpet noisily which in turn caused her to scream and run and the antelope and gazelle to run off.

[Aimee]

Kadija continued to run towards the sound of the water. She hoped her cousins hadn't strayed too far away. She wanted to catch up with them as soon as possible. She needed to warn them of what could be a danger. She had been surprised Sefu didn't see them, he was quite sharp and attentive, although he did not show it often. She came to a clearing in the tree's and was greeted by the sight of water.

It wasn't as near the hill as she expected it to be, and came to the understanding that Cheshi and Sefu were probably closer to the hill than she was right now. She was about to head off again, but the water was tempting. She was thirsty from the climbing. She neared the water's edge and crouched down to lap up the refreshing liquid. It was only when she looked back up she realized there was another lioness on the other side. Kadija shot up into a standing position immediately. She gave the lioness a stern gaze. "Rouge?" she asked, knowing full well the lioness could see her.

---

"Hey, Cheshi, where's Kadija?" Sefu asked, glancing behind him. Cheshi came to a halt and looked around. A small feeling of panic rose up in his stomach. 
"I thought she was right behind us...". The two had also reached a clearing, and could see the top of what they assumed to be a waterfall. They still weren't close enough to be at the foot of it, but where at the river's side.

"Don't panic, I'm sure she just lost us through the tree's. She's smart enough to go towards the water. She'll find us". Cheshi didn't seem too convinced. 

[Leto]

Rising her muzzle from the water, Tarajii stared right back at the lioness on the other side, no wonder she had feeling she was being watched. Ears flickered back and forth with slight worry, as she pushed herself up to full height, she was far from being fully grown, she was no cub despite the cubhood spots which still clung to parts of her fur around her back legs and behind, although she had been called a cub through spite before.

Black tipped-tail twitched with slight apprehension, hearing the words leave the other girl’s muzzle Tarajii swallowed. “Yes.” She nodded, taking a slight step forward, gaze trailing the river briefly for a point of a crossing. “I assume you’re a rogue too?” she questioned, essentially returning the question back at the other lioness. With careful paw steps she eased her way into the flowing river, it wasn't a hard current that was rushing so getting across wouldn’t be too much of an impossible task.

Claws dug into the river bed as the younger adolescent lioness crawled her way across the river, coming up onto the sandbank on the other side. A good couple of paces from the other lioness, Tarajii stared at the other female, dark rimmed ears swirling, she was not being aggressive or anything like that, rogues; especially female rogues should stick together, at least that was what her mother had taught her, avoid the males she had said…

[Kirsui]

The two siblings halted when they heard the elephant's startled noise, followed by a small scream. Blue eyes locked with bronze, and with a nod the lioness changed directions and departed for the direction where all the noise had come from. It was foolish really for them to spilt up, but the matter of the three lions needed investigation, as did the scream they had heard.

--------------

The lioness trotted swiftly through the grass lands, but she soon came to a halt when the sound of a startled herd of gazelles reached her ears. She hesitated for a moment, uncertain if this was such a good idea after all, but she couldn't just outright ignore anyone in distress. And so, with renewed determination she continued trotting towards the escaping herd, hoping she might catch sight of who ever it had been that had screamed.

--------------

While the lioness kept heading towards the herd, her brother had finally reached the forest. He paused there for a moment, taking in the scent trails the three had left behind. The lioness', he noticed, went a slightly separate way from the two males', and while potentially more hazardous he had no intention on risking scaring the lioness and gaining the wrath of her friends.

He continued walking, following the trail as silently as possible. He was still fairly certain these lions were strangers on these lands, but he wasn't completely sure and wanted to keep his presence hidden for as long as possible. As the sound of falling water reached his ears he slowed his steps even more until he reached the river. He could see the two lions now and noticed them looking around. No doubt they had not realized their companion had gotten separated from them until now.

With a small sigh the young lion stepped away from where he was hiding behind the trees.

"Good day, friends", he said calmly with a polite smile. "I happened to be passing by and thought I'd come and say hello."

[Aimee]

Kadija could relax; for now. Her posture wasn't so stern, and neither was her gaze. This female seemed as though she didn't pose a threat. She watched as the fellow lioness cross the river. Something made her want to go help her, even though she was perfectly fine. Kadija had a fear of water ever since she almost drowned. The incident even caused scarring in her relationship with her mother. Kadija didn't plan on crossing this river if she didn't have too, and she'd only do so with the help of Cheshi or Sefu.

Once the lioness had reached the other side, she noticed the cub spots. The lioness didn't look like one though. They were roughly the same size, although Kadija doubted she'd grow to be the size of an average lioness.
"I don't belong to a pride, but I'm not alone. I'm traveling with my two cousins". Kadija had learnt something now though, if this lioness was a rouge, there was much more of a chance that these lands were not claimed. 

---

Cheshi and Sefu swiftly swerved around to face the stranger they had heard. He was around their size. Cheshi processed the situation for a moment before thinking of a reply. He wouldn't attack, not when there was two of them. Sefu gave the lion a look over. 
"Good morning" Cheshi said back, standing up straight.

"Morning" Sefu said as well, not yet mustering up a smile. "We happen to be passing by as well. Is there not a pride here?" he questioned. Cheshi was going to let Sefu do the talking for now. His mind was pretty focused on Kadija.

[Leto]

When the other girl’s demeanor visibly relaxed Tarajii took the liberty to approach her, though she did so slowly and still stopped a respectable distance from this other rogue. Her tail swayed gently, as she looked the other female over, she was slightly taller than herself but not by much it seemed. As the other female stated she was not alone, Tarajii’s gaze trailed around the savannah surrounding them, her nose twitched but… nope, she couldn’t smell nor see anyone else. Maybe she had split from her family?

“Where are your cousins?” she asked attention returning to the other girl before her, the young lioness couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to go through the rogue years with someone else. No one in her pride ever sat off on their journey together, even siblings parted ways eventually. “Must be nice.” She commented with a small shrug, “To travel with someone you know.” She added after a brief pause, this made Tarajii realize just how alone she actually were; most of the time she pushed the loneliness, and if not homesickness to back of her mind, focusing on rather what the next day would bring of adventure and excitement!

[Kirsui]

The young male nodded politely as the two strangers returned his greeting, but his nod soon changed to a small shake of his head upon hearing their question.

"I have been here only for a short time myself", he answered, the small smile still on his face. "So far you are the first ones I have met."

He paused, frowning slightly as he thought upon the strange sounds he and his sister had heard a while ago. "There... might be someone out on the grass lands. I heard some disturbance over there before entering the forest."

[Ruby_Fehu]

Iris saw a lioness heading towards her, thinking it to be her sister she rushed forward and hid her face in the paws, "Cece! The elephants tried to hurt me!" She whined.

Hasimu, Cecilia and Jensen, recognising Iris' frightened scream raced towards the cry quickly. Cecilia and Jensen racing ahead of their father, their youth going in their favour.

[Aimee]

Cheshi and Sefu exchanged glances with curiosity at the fact it could be unclaimed. Starting a pride would be easy if no one got in the way and other lionesses joined. As for males, the both didn't know how that'd work out.
"Oh really?" Cheshi said with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't seen Kadija then. "The name is Cheshi by the way".
"Mine's Sefu" his cousin added. Upon hearing about a disturbance Cheshi became worried. It could be Kadija.

"What sort of disturbance?" Cheshi asked with a serious gaze.
"Also, are you traveling alone?" Sefu asked as well, wanted to know about this rouge as well as wanting to know what was going on with Kadija.

---

"Oh, my cousins should be around here somewhere. I lost them back there. They'll turn up though" Kadija responded with a smile. She listened to the lioness further and then felt as though she pitied the lioness before her. She couldn't imagine traveling alone. "Yes, it is quite nice". Kadija sat down for a moment, feeling comfortable enough to do so. "I'm Kadija, or Kadi, or whatever you like".

[Leto]

Tarajii remained standing while the other girl sat down, explaining how she had lost track of her cousins, but stating that they’d turn up eventually. “I could help you look for them.” The spotted female proposed hesitantly, after all who knew where they were, and did they even know she had gone missing? The other girl just confirmed how it nice was to travel alongside others, Tarajii wouldn’t know as she had always been alone since leaving her pride.

“Pleased to meet you, Kadija” Tarajii beamed as the other stated their name, staying with formal name’s for now even if she was allowed to give a nickname it didn’t feel right given they only just met and all. “I am Tarajii!” she replied offering her own name in return, after all this was common courtesy and all that; despite how reclusive her pride had been her mother, and aunts had been pretty strict on good behavior, especially towards other lionesses, of course one should not treat male’s any worse or anything like that, but one should always be wary of them.

[Kirsui]

"Cece! The elephants tried to hurt me!"

The young lioness halted when the small cub suddenly came running through the grass. Her eyes widened in surprise and confusion, for whatever she might have expected this certainly was not it.

"Um..."

She never got the chance to say anything more to the cub when she spotted more movement coming her way. Lifting her gaze from the crying cub, she saw two more lions, both seemingly younger than her by the looks of it, and she only barely resisted the urge to flatten her ears and back away form the cub. The presence of lions too young to be travelling on their own meant that they had a parent with them, and where there was a parent there usually was a whole pride.

Her gaze shifted nervously between the crying cub and the approaching ones as she contemplated on whether or not to run before she was accused of trespassing. However, she fought back her need to flee and remained rooted on the spot. Neither she nor her brother had seen a pride here, and now was her chance to find out if this was indeed true.


---------------


The young male nodded once again with a polite smile when the two males introduced themselves, but could not reply in kind before he was asked more questions. He tilted his head slightly, curious of Cheshi's sudden seriousness. Ah, perhaps they were worried it was their lioness friend in trouble, though he truly doubted that was the case. The scream had, after all, come from a completely different direction.

Pushing off such thoughts, he decided that these two had been polite enough, so perhaps he could answer their questions. He would have preferred to keep his sister out of the discussion for a while longer, but the two would eventually notice her scent on him so he saw no harm in revealing her existence to them.

"Someone startled an elephant", he said slowly. "More than that, I do not know. My sister, whom I am travelling with, is investigating the matter."

[Aimee]

"Perhaps we should go catch up to your sister and see if she needs any help?" Sefu asked, directing it towards both the stranger and his cousin. Cheshi frowned a little. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. "Or we could split up?" Sefu suggested, seeing Cheshi's disagreement.
"Yeah, I think that'd be for the best" Cheshi agreed. "If Kadija did head towards the river, she won't be far. But you go ahead Sefu, we'll find you again soon enough".

Nodding, Sefu watching Cheshi briskly walk off into the distance. He turned back around to address the fellow rouge.
"I didn't get your name" Sefu said, in quite a low for that matter. He had wondered why the rouge was holding it back, it was quite peculiar.

---

Cheshi had distanced himself away from Sefu and began to search. Much to his dismay, for a while he did not get any clues. Suddenly, a familar scent came to his nose. Smiling, he half-jogged half-ran towards the source of the smell.

---

Kadija's smile grew a little wider. 
"That would be nice, thanks". Upon learning the other lionesses name, Kadija began to wonder what she was doing out here on her own. She seemed younger than herself, and Kadija almost felt an instinct to care for her. Which was weird, since it was a few seasons age gap. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Tarajii".

The young lioness stood up. "Should we head back towards the hill then? I'm sure they were heading for the beginning of the river" she motioned in the direction she was speaking of. Not knowing that Cheshi was making his way in the same direction.

[Leto]

Despite this lioness seeming older than her by at least a couple of seasons, Tarajii was no mere cub; she could take care of herself, not perhaps as good as she might claim but in the very least she wasn’t hopeless. Tarajii had been kind and proposed she would help search for this female’s cousins, and this offered wasn’t rejected. “’Least I could do.” Tarajii shrugged with a cheerfull smile, watching Kadija stand up.

Tarajii’s gaze locked on the said hill as Kadija proposed heading back there, if that was from where they had come, maybe retracing steps was a good idea. “I suppose following whatever general direction they left in is good.” The spotted girl remarked, she knew that much that if you got lost you’d either retrace your steps back from whence you came or you pick a route in the general direction of your destination.

She had begun walking slowly in the direction of which the other girl had spoken, keeping her pace slow so Kadija could catch up. “I assume you’ve been wandering for a while?” Tarajii spoke after a short silence, trying to keep an awkward silence from brewing, this lioness did look slightly older than her; this made Tarajii wonder how long one actually stayed a rogue, could it be years?

[Kirsui]

"Perhaps we should go catch up to your sister and see if she needs any help?"

The young male chuckled, somewhat amused by the prospect of her sister needing help. If only these two knew...

But they didn't, and he wasn't inclined to inform them. Instead he remained silent as Sefu and Cheshi discussed what they should do. He watched how Cheshi walked off to find their female friend, and only turned back to Sefu when the other lion spoke again.

"I didn't get your name."

"Hn... Indeed", he responded with a faint chuckle. "My sister insist on calling me 'Mich', so I suppose that will do."

There was a small spark of amusement in his eyes when he introduced himself, and he was fully aware of the peculiar way he had done so. If it bothered the other lion... well that was his problem. With a wave of his paw he vaguely gestured towards the direction he had come from. "Shall we?"

[Ruby_Fehu]

"Iris? Iris are you okay?" Cecilia asked as she reached her young sister, her gaze settled on a lioness, about the same age as her and Jensen but possibly slightly older.

"Cece?" Iris looked up from the lioness she was currently clinging onto and looked to Cecilia before jumping back, "S-sorry." Iris stammered, hurrying over to Jensen who lifted her on to his back, where she nuzzled into his still growing mane.

"Who are you? Why did you have my sister with you?" Jensen demanded, protective over his baby sister.

Hasimu broke through the crowd panting heavily, "Is- is everything okay?" He asked.

[cheezeegriff]

Nguvu marched up to the waterline, thumping on a half submerged log with his trunk. Then he stopped, waiting.
There were no birds in this part of the pains. Only long, dry grass. The offshoot of the river by which he stood was a muddy affair with steep, eroded sides. He could not see the bottom of the still water, but he could see the clouds reflected perfectly from the sky above. That was, until, something scaly rose to the surface like a bloated corpse. Green-yellow eyes regarded him without a hint of warmth.
"Hello, Nguvu," said Grimork, the crocodile.
"There are lions on the plains," Nguvu said, shifting on his huge feet. Then he raised his head and said louder, "I know you're listening too, Shadow. This concerns you too."
Then he waited, again. From the shadows of a nearby crop of trees a feminine voice said, "Greetings, Nguvu. Do a few wandering lions trouble you so?"
"One of them threatened my wives today," Nguvu said. "If they remain here they will hunt. They will grow. When there are many of them then my children will not be safe. You won't get your 'payment,'" he said, pointedly to Grimork. To the trees he added, "You won't be safe either."
Silence, except for insects. The eyes never blinked.
Nguvu could not handle long silences. He was used to respect. No other creature on the plains was a big as him. Not even a dozen lions could hope to face his tusks and leave alive. But those eyes, and the lack of anyone to attribute to the feminine voice... that had him on edge. So finally he said, "The usual place?"
"As usual," Grimork said, then sank below the surface.
Nguvu turned his face to the trees. "Will you help, Shadow?"
"Of course," said the voice. Then nothing.
Nguvu waited a moment, then turned, huffed through his trunk, and continued his patrol.

[Aimee]

(^ see that posting order, lets keep to it :3)

"Oh, for about eight full moons" Kadija replied, smiling as the two began to walk away from the clearing next to the river. "So not more than a year". Her paws enjoyed the soft ground. She was used to quite rocky surroundings. "What about you?" she pondered, making brief eye contact with Tarajii. "You been traveling long?"

---

Sefu raised his brow and began heading off in the direction Mich was pointing at. 
"Nice to meet you Mich". Sefu was sure that wasn't his full name. He was wondering why the lion was being so mysterious, but for now, it didn't bother the young lion too much. "Seems like a good place here, doesn't it?"

[Leto]

As the other explained for how long she had been travelling Tarajii quelled a frown, this girl was older than her but had already been on the move for almost a whole year. The spotted girl walked alongside her in quiet thought, which was broken as Kadija spoke up, returning the question.

“Oh, I’ve been on my own for no more than two months.” She smiled a little embarrassed, she had left her pride relatively early, but then most young ones of her pride did, utmost few actually stayed behind. Her pride was after all structured differently than most other prides, in truth the society that raised her had more in common with an elephant herd or hyena clan than your typical lion pride. Only females held any positions of actual power, the eldest, most experienced and wisest female was the matriarchal queen, and she had the last say in pridal political matters.

“But in truth I’ve been wandering all my life, my pride was nomadic.” She added quietly, some considered a life on the constant move to be tough, but given the structure and smaller size of Tarajii’s birth pride for them actually keep a territory was almost impossible.

[Deleted]

Walla sniffed the grass by the river. "Oh no," she said, raising her head. There were other lions here. She could hear them chatting off in the distance. Lions could be dangerous. They could be part of her father's search party. Walla didn't want to be found by them. But if they weren't, then they were in danger, being in this valley in such large numbers.

She resolved to follow two walking along by the river. Stealth wasn't her strong point, she knew, for she had grown absolutely huge off her strange method of hunting, but her nose was VERY good. It smelled like two young lionesses, moving away from the river. She followed at a distance...

[Kirsui]

((OOC: reference sheets and small bits of information about my two characters are now in my first post in this RP.))



"Seems like a good place here, doesn't it?"

"From what little I have seen, yes... It does", Mich replied as he walked beside Sefu. "I wouldn't be surprised if this land was nearly as lush during the dry season as it is now. The lake is fairly large, after all."

He walked in silence for a moment, his pose relaxed though his ears twitched slightly as he kept his hearing trained on any unusual sounds in the forest.


---------------


"Who are you? Why did you have my sister with you?"

The young lioness sighed slightly and examined the lion that had spoken to her. He was younger than her, but she knew better than to annoy a protective sibling. Besides, she had some manners.

Before she could answer another lion, whom she assumed to be their father, arrived. He seemed worried over the state of his cubs, and so she let a calming smile spread on her lips as she nodded a small greeting to him.

"Everything is fine", she said reassuringly. "I heard a scream and thought I'd see if someone was in trouble. I did not mean any harm."

Her gaze flicked back to the young lion that had asked her name, and she smiled a little at him too as she answered him. "I'm Hope."

[Ruby_Fehu]

"She helped me daddy." Iris said to her father, lying in her brother's growing mane.

"What happened to her exactly?" Cecilia asked Hope politely.

"I heard a scream and thought I'd see if someone was in trouble. I did not mean harm." Hasimu fixed his gaze on the young lioness. "Thank you for helping her. I'm glad she's safe. Jensen mind your manners around this lovely lioness. She did help your baby sister after all."

[cheezeegriff]

Usiku smirked at the sight of the fat lion stalking the two females, and listend intently to the newcomers' chatter. Lions could be so nice to one another, but to her kind, they were dangerous. She had learned that the hard way many seasons ago. It did not feel good to be so unsafe in her own home.
She would need to speak with them, but doing so while they were divided was pointless. Soon they would be together again. She could wait until then.

[Aimee]

The lioness nodded; the younger lioness she was with didn't surprise her with that fact. When she spoke again, Kadija gave Tarajii a curious gaze. She was from a nomadic pride. She never stopped moving.
"Oh right" she said, acknowledging the comment. "I couldn't imagine myself on the move all the time". Kadija left it at that. Perhaps, if Tarajii stayed with them, she could find out more, but for now, finding her cousins mattered most.

As if by the power of thought, Cheshi came rushing out of the tree's. He caught sight of his cousin and a younger lioness and sprinted towards them.
"Kadi! I was beginning to worry" he said with a chuckle, leaning forward to nuzzle her. She returned it, lips curling into a smile.
"Sorry Cheshi, I got caught up talking to my new friend here; Tarajii, this is my cousin".

---

Sefu listened with interest to Mich. He was right, the lake did look huge and the dry season should be no problem here with any luck.
"Did you come from a pride then? Or have you always been a rouge?" Sefu asked. He wasn't usually this questioning, but he liked to find out. He assumed Cheshi and himself would claim these lands if they were sure it was unoccupied, and Mich may be worth befriending. 

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Sorry for replying before my turn, so to speak. I'll be rather inactive on the coming few days, so for the sake of others being able to post I'll move my characters now.))



"Jensen mind your manners around this lovely lioness. She did help your baby sister after all."

"Oh it was nothing really", Hope said with a humble smile. "When I got here she was already fine, although very scared."

She hesitated for a moment, examining each of the lions in front of her before her gaze returned to the father of these cubs. "Pardon me for asking but... Are these your lands? I only arrived here a short while ago and would hate to intrude on someone else's territory."


--------------------


"Did you come from a pride then? Or have you always been a rouge?"

Mich was silent for a while, seemingly considering how to answer Sefu's question. When he finally spoke his voice was slightly quieter than before. "My sister and I... It is... complicated."

Realizing how silly that sounded, the young lion chuckled faintly and shook his head with a smile. Even though he seemed amused, he didn't sound particularly happy when he turned to look at Sefu as he continued speaking. "We left our pride not too long ago. Well, it was I that left, and Hope who tagged along even though she wouldn't have had to."

He sighed, turning his gaze back in front of him just in time to see them exit the forest. He halted there, at the edge of the grass lands, scanning the field before him.

"It is not so bad, being a wanderer", he mused aloud just as he caught the distant shape of what could only be his sister. He tilted his head momentarily. Was there someone with her?

Shaking his head he glanced at Sefu before he began to slowly walk towards the distant figures of his sister and the strangers. "She has found company", he remarked. "Perhaps the mystery of that scream we heard will solve itself soon too."