On the road to Kivuli

[Arazia]

Note: This is technically two separate scenes. I'm combining them together as to not spam the log-board 'n such. Characters are mostly Arazia and Ranmaru, with a cameo by Aron.

Start of Scene #1

The borderlands. These are places where no king holds rule and few of lion-kind wander alone. But for those who have no ties of loyalty to any crown, this is the only place they might find a moment's rest from weary travels. A few shaded trees mark this oasis away from the golden savannah that surrounds it. A small pool of water flows cleanly, and more than a few animals are taking advantage of this waystation. Among these is the restless wanderer. Perhaps she had a name once, and a home, but tha was long ago and far away. Now, she is just one among the countless numbers that follow where the wind goes, searching for something that may always be lost to them.

So, Arazia lowers her maw towards the water, tongue lapping at the surface as her legs bend slightly to support her weight. Nearby gazelle give her distance, although perhaps not as much as if she were not one lone individual. Afterall, a single lion is not nearly as much danger as a pride. So, in this quiet place between kingdoms, she finds a cool drink, and some rest before the winds blow her further along on her quest.

Traveling alongside the winds... it was a term that both Arazia, and Ranmaru shared. This was a fact that remained, even though she did not know this lion yet. Having traveled many miles with but little food and water, the lion seemed to be somewhat glad of what he saw before him. At a distance it had only looked like a ripple in the sands, but as he finally came closer, it had started to take form. There were a few trees which he was able to see, almost guaranteeing him that there was water there. His tired eyes closed for a moment, trying to make a fly 'buzz off'. His right ear twitched quickly afterwards, as the fly had taken refuge there. With steady panting, Ranmaru kept walking forth, closing in on the oasis...

...~only to stop for a moment as got so close to it, that he could almost touch the first tree that was the furthest away from the water. He had noticed the presence of a lioness, enjoying the waters. However, seeing as the lion was also quite thirsty, he did not wait long at that point, and continued to walk forth. He soon spotted more movement, a gazelle which was removing itself from the lioness' position. It turned it's head around and when it saw him, it took a little bit more distance... but not too much. The gazelle was ignored, he didn't feel like hunting it while it was on the edge like that. So Ranmaru continued on to the pool of water, and soon settled a good gazelle's jumps away from Arazia, near the water. He actually just let himself fall when he got close enough and started to slowly lap at the water with his tongue. His eyes however, were settled on the lioness as he started to slowly think about his current situation. If there was a lioness here, it either meant she too was a wanderer, or there was a pride nearby.

One large ear flicks at the sound of approaching pawsteps. Emerald eyes look up, her tongue vanishing once more behind her lips, but her body staying motionless, except for the wind that catches in her long fur and sends it swaying. Wary, she finally takes a few steps back from the water's edge and then gives the area a quick glance-over. She had no idea who this particular lion may be. For all she knows, he could be here protecting some pridal borderland. He very well could be a knight from her former homeland. Things change a lot in a season or two. Still, in this place... far away from safety, she figures at least one advantage in her favor. Lionesses were built more for speed, even if she was more muscled than most. And if this lion decided to start something, at least she could probably out-run him.

For the time being, she keeps words to herself, as she had for quite some time now. Ever since her brother disappeared and her father had abandoned them all, she hadn't spoken much at all. So, tail twitching uneasily, she begins to walk along the edge of the water, moving pointedly away from the lion. Better not to take chances, because while he could be some pridal knight, he may also be a rogue intent on taking advantage of her, or one of those Mbaamwezi lions who seem to take joy in causing others suffering. In either case, she doesn't seem apt to take chances.

The lion's ear followed, perking, as the lioness started moving. He stopped drinking for a moment and watched her with a calm look on him. He made no attempt to get up as she walked off, but instead turned his head a bit away. He was trying to see if there was anything else nearby, something he could have missed when coming here... he found nothing. "Is it me you are walking away for?" He then suddenly asked. It was a voice that went quite well with the look he had. A calm voice, floating on the wind, that had a little croak in it that showed that his throat was a bit dry. The lion was unsure if the lioness would have heard him, as he was not one of the loudest talkers. However, seeing as this place was rather quiet, it should probably have carried over quite well. "If so, there is no need." He continued, and turned his head back to the water, continueing to drink. Ranmaru's mind wandered further, he had been in this situation before. Arazia was not the first to respond to his presence like this, though meeting a lonesome lioness near a lake was indeed not a common sight.

Having taken in a bit more water, and (after some thinking) now understanding the situation somewhat, he continued to talk. Ranmaru tried to put Arazia at ease. "My name is Ranmaru." He looked away. There was a ghostly detail to his voice when he expressed that name, as if it meant something important. "I am a wanderer." He continued his introduction as his soft and mismatched eyes laid their gaze upon the lioness once more. The whitish rings around the irisses giving a strange effect to them. "I am... not from around here." He finished, smiling gently in her general direction and turning his head back to the water.

Step by step, the lioness's large paws take her around to stand nearly opposite from the lion across the small water hole. Only with this landmark between the two does she seem to relax slightly, bending her head to drink once more, her eyes never leaving from the lion's form. It is clear that trust is not going to come easily from this one, not in the least bit. Still, when he speaks, her ears do tilt upwards, cupping forward to collect the sound as she pauses in her drinking. She licks at her maw and then lifts her head, tilting it slightly to the side before responding to his question with only a nod of her head. Even across the distance, her hearing is keen. As for the rest of what he says, she only seems to listen, her face impassive. It's a practiced look, like someone who has trained to keep outsiders from knowing what she's thinking or feeling. Rather than responding, she bends her head to lick at the long fur around one of her large paws, grooming it strait to remove some of the dampness from the water. But, even as she does this, one eye is turned watchfully towards him, her tail betraying her nervousness by twitching.

Ranmaru seemed, though somewhat saddened that she still didn't trust him, quite understanding of the situation. He did not get up, now for the simple reason of not wanting to seem threatening after all, and continued to talk somewhat. The lion had noticed the nod, so he knew that she was listening. "May I, if it bids you, ask for you name?" It was a way of speech he had heard Mukiri use when approaching a lioness he did not know. In no way demanding... somewhat regal perhaps, as if he was trying to court her. But this was not about courting, this was about getting to know a lioness, and putting that lady to ease. His gaze then flowed further. He was at a bad angle, but if his eyes were not betraying him, he could see a tail's end lashing left and right. He asumed this was because a male lion like him was threatening, acknowledging what he had asumed earlier. He however remained silent after his question, not wanting to disrupt the lioness in case she was just about to say something. He himself tried to perk his ears as well as possible, maybe the lady had a soft voice, and that would allow him to hear her better.

For a moment, it seems as if she will go on grooming herself, stubbornly refusing to have words with anyone. But, this lioness was one known for giving people chances, perhaps more chances than what they were worth. Wasn't it true she came from the blood of a tyrant, and the mate who loved him until his dying breaths? Hadn't some part of that same spirit come to dwell wihin her much the same as it had so long ago? So, begrudgingly, the lioness speaks. Her voice is quiet, as if it had not been used for a very long time and it took quite a bit to get it going. "Arazia..." There is a musical quality to the name and to her voice, almost sing-songy when she speaks. "'Zia." She gives the shortened version of her name after a short pause, her ears folding back as if she weren't quite sure if she -should- be giving such information to this lion. Wasn't it her own brother, the one she went off searching for, that taught her that trusting males other than him was a bad idea? Questions storm through her mind as she sits there, but none of these are put to words.

"Arazia...." The male repeated the name which she had surrendered to him, and licked his lips a little... saying the name once more. "Arazia." He was talking to himself, repeating the name in his mind as well as to himself, trying to get that same musical quality he had picked up when the lioness had spoken her name. "Arazia~..." He was unable to grasp it in the same way the lioness did, but he did try his best. "Or just... 'Zia." He kept talking in that calm voice, nodding a little to himself and closing his eyes. "I see." What he saw was unclear, it was probably just a matter of speech to confirm that he now knew her name. "It is a..." He pauzed for a moment. "Arazia..." He then said her name again. He wasn't obsessed with it, he was just having trouble finding exactly what he was trying to say. "It is a name that brings to me the images of both fire and wind..." He pauzed for a moment, looking at the water... at the lioness' reflection. "A name that to me, symbols both of those elements, capable of creating either a storm of blaze, or to put out the fire that burns you or others."

It was something that Ranmaru enjoyed doing. He played with names, trying to get a feel for them and explain them to himself. He tried to give the name an identity, something that had nothing to do with the personality of the being (or thing) it represented. He leaned down it's head again, drank a little bit more water, and then started to slowly get up. He seemed to be keen on getting into the shadow, as where he had been laying down was away from this source of refreshment.

The lioness's ears fold further back, nearly hiding within the red tuft of her hair. Her eyes dart, betraying that she really wasn't comfortable in this situation. She'd opened her mouth, and now was starting to regret doing so. "Please stop that it's creepy." She interrupts his repeating of her name, taking a studder-step back from the shore. There was still a good distance between them, but one can never be too cautious. Still, she falls silent again as he gives his interpretation of her name, her tail curling up around her body as her head lowers slightly, listening. She watches as he gets up, making no movement to run. There has to be some reason why she hasn't taken her leave of him yet.

"I don't know what it means my father named me for my great grandmother of legend." Arazia quickly says, her voice taking on a half-paniced squeek. The reason for this probably would become clear as soon as the lion got closer to the shade trees. Sitting across one of the branches is the corpse of a dead gazelle. It was young, small, and showed signs of an injury to one leg that probably made it an easy catch. It seems the somewhat inexperienced huntress is trying to distract him to keep him from running off with her hard-earned meal.

"Hmmm." A littlebit of a smile formed on the lion's muzzle, apparently a little bit amused with the situation. "Excuse me for my rude behavior." He appologized with a honest voice while slowly walking closer to the tree, his tail calmly flicking left and right. He kept looking around at the lioness and his ears were constantly set into that direction. "And I just gave my own interpretation to your name. The explaination of your name has no meaning to you, or anyone other than me... Nor is it a judgement of character. I prefer to do that over time, when I actually get to know another of my kind." He kept holding his comforting voice, which was still as gentle as a fine breeze offering refreshment over the oasis... and sometimes it seemed to Ranmaru, as if his own voice could ripple the water. "Either wa~" (...) "Is this yours?" He seemed to want to continue on the subject of Arazia's name, when he noticed the corpse.

His eyes scanned the animal closely, trying to judge if it had been a natural death, or if it had been done by the lioness on the other side of the pool. The injury to one leg showed him that this was the work of at least a hunter or huntress. And the bitemark did coincide with that of a larger animal, like Arazia. "Hmm..." The lion shifted his weight and instead of approaching the corpse, he walked to a tree more close to Arazia. How could he not? All the other trees were closer along the water.

A worried expression finally sneaks through on the lioness's face. She wasn't sure what he meant about 'getting to know another of his kind' and she was doubly uncertain about his interpretations of her and her name. It also didn't help matters to know that he was so close to her first meal in a long time. Her eyes dart quickly from the lion, to the gazelle, and then back again before starting to walk around the pool, making her way towards the tree. "It's mine, don't touch it." She nearly growls, her tail lashing behind her. It was stupid of her to have left it there, but at the time she was thinking of getting herself away from him, not of her stomach.

So, she finally comes to the tree where the kill still hangs, giving a suspicious look towards Ranmaru before she digs her claws in and reaches up, grabbing at the neck with her maw. It takes less than a moment for her to drag her prize down from the tree, but once on the ground, it takes quite a bit more work to drag it through the sand. So, instead of doing so, she lays down with her large front paws over the body, licking a small amount of blood from her lips as she growls quietly in the back of her throat. It isn't a threatening sound, simply a defensive one.

"Oh don't worry. I can hunt for my own food." Ranmaru answered when the lady approached her kill. He ended up creating a large gap between them as he walked past Araiza, allowing her to pass him by without showing any signs of hostility. "..." But when they passed eachother, he sat down on his behind and observed the lioness pass him by. "Hmmm." Ranmaru seemed to find this amusing, apparently he wasn't thought of as much of a threat if that kill was more important. He continued to observe her as she took down the dead animal. "Arazia...?" He tried to get her attention, sitting there and watching her. Aside from his eyes, he sat completely still, like a stone statue.

"I am not planning to eat your kill. Really." A little twitch appeared on his right eye. A sigh followed, and he finally broke from his still pose and let his head hang. He stared at the ground a little before turning towards her again and starting to approach her.

His words do little to elivate the worry in the shaggy lioness. If anything, it makes her give him another of those suspicious looks. Her paws tense slightly, as if they were digging into the ground in preperation for flight. "Don't." She says in a commanding tone, one you wouldn't expect from this seemingly shy wanderer. The undertone of a growl continues as she reaches with her mouth to wrap around the gazelle's neck, showing a flash of white teeth. She pulls the carcass back further from him, and then drops it, backpeddling. Again it becomes a choice between her kill and herself, and it's clear she has at least a good sense of self-preservation. She takes a few steps back, her fur dragging in the sand of the shoreline.

"I don't know you." Her nose twitches, ears folded back. The rest comes in a bit of a blur, without a breath. "If you're a knight of Kivuli or Tyne, then I bid you leave me be. I am blood of both and mean no harm. If you are a rogue " She trails off, as if she already realizes that the later is true. She could throw out empty threats, but that isn't in her nature. "Well I'll fight if I have to." Her claws retract slightly from her red paws, showing black against crimson.

"Oww?" The lion stopped as Arazia barked at him, heeding her words. Once again, like stone he watched her. He was like a gargoyle without wings, his fur paling a bit against the sand if you looked at him from the right angle. Only his eyes seemed to move a little, his gaze following her presence as she backed away from him. He remained both still and quiet until she had stopped moving and finished talking. "I already answered this. I am not from around here. I don't know either of those tribes, as I am a wanderer. A rogue, if you will."

He then started moving forth again, his tail swishing a bit inpatiently and... he seemed to be a bit nervous. Unsure how liable this lioness was, as she was now threatening him with her claws. "..." He remained quiet for a bit as he came closer. "There is no need for you to fight me." He said calmly, closing his eyes and turned his head away from her. He tried to show that he didn't mind lowering his guard to her. This had been near-fatal to him once, but he believed that that this lioness meant no harm to him.

The fur along the lioness's neck bristles slightly, although she remains motionless for the time being. Her head tilts to the side as one ear comes up, the other still half-hiding in her hair. "What do you want?" She asks, confusion evident in her voice as the growl dies away. "You don't want my food, and you don't seem to want to attack me. So what is it?" She asks again, her claws withdrawing into the crimson sheeths of her paws. Her feet shift beneath her nervously, but she doesn't draw further away. There are times when childhood teachings conflict with what happens as an adult. A stern warning not to talk to strange lions lingers in her father's voice. And there was the training from her mother, a guard of the Kivuli, which warned that rogues are dangerous things.

As he got close to her, at a good leap's length, he sat still again and finally turned his head towards her again. "This me be confusing to you. But trust me if I say that you are not the first to react this way." He opened his eyes and threw her a most kind glance, looking over her. She had been at some distance from him at all time, and now being so closeby, he was able to see her better. "Hmm." He tried to draw her eyes to his, moving his head a little to capture them. "I can't blame you either. The reason I am trying to make you trust me, is to make sure that you won't attack me when I make some sudden move. And....." He pauzed, trying to figure if he should tell her the rest of the truth or not.

"And I guess I seek someone to talk to. I've wandered the plains for a long while, and I am getting lonely." He shook his head suddenly, as if he was trying to shake something off, then returned to trying to capture her gaze to his eyes. "~.. and you probably think I am nuts saying all of that." It was almost as if he was laughing, his eyes seemed to spark some ember of joy.


Slowly, Arazia lifts her head and meets the lion's gaze. Her eyes blink, that confusion still showing. There is a faint flicker of her eyes from right to left, as she comes to the realization that his eyes have different colors. It is unusual, although there seem to be many things unusual about this lion. "I'm not going to attack you." She nearly hurumphs, "I may have tyrant blood but it doesn't mean I'm a monster." This seems like something she's had to explain before, perhaps to others who know of her bloodline. One bad apple and people think it makes the entire bunch bad. "And I don't think you're nuts " There is a pause, and she bobs her head as if deciding for herself, "I -know- you're nuts." Her lip curls upward in a faint hint of a smile, but that doesn't stop her from reaching a paw out and protectively placing it on her sand-covered kill. My food.

"Being of tyrant blood means nothing to me." Ranmaru answered, tipping his head a bit to the left to look confused. "As I said, I take my time to judge another's personality and actions. I don't take others for face-value." He raised a paw and showed his claws for a moment, unsheathing them slowly, turning them a bit inwards to look at them, and then returned them. He smiled again, returning his paw to the ground. "But it's good to hear you are not a monster. I wouldn't want to get scared to death... it would be somewhat of an unworthy demise, wouldn't you agree?" His wording seemed a bit childish, even though he tried to talk in a 'wise' manner. His calm voice did fit the latter more.

When Arazia then confessed what she thought of him, the lion started laughing. "Ha ha... wow, nuts. Yep, that's me." He pauzed, shaking his head. "No no, I'm not really nuts. I was just raised differently. I don't know how things are done here, but I was taught to be nice to the ladies." He chuckled and then suddenly his ears twitched! Did he hear something? He turned his head, as if he were looking for something. It was the antelope that had walked away from them previously, who thought it was safe and was now drinking from the water.

"There was a time that it didn't mean anything to anyone, but it flows through the veins of so many now, and so few even remember what it means." Arazia speaks with a bit of a far-off tone to her voice, as if thinking about something that was told to her a very long time ago. Then, she shakes her head, her ears flopping a little as she does so. It's like someone trying to shake off a morning dream. "Anyways, I'm hardly scarey." Although, when she had to be, she could be ferocious. Of course, just to emphasize that point, the lioness lays back down and begins to dig her maw into the belly of her kill. Nothing like blood and guts to make someone feel safe with you, right?

[Arazia]

So, as she quietly eats, she seems to disregard her earlier suspicions. For better or worse, there was something in her blood to at least trust people until they gave her reason not to, and even then she'd probably give them a second chance. Afterall, hadn't she given a second chance to her wayward father who had broken her heart not once, but twice? After a moment, she lifts her head and licks the blood from her maw, "I'm hardly a lady just a wanderer. I left home to find my father and brother " She grows quiet for amoment, and then sighs, resting a paw on the gazelle. "My father left when we were cubs he abandoned us. My brother diappeared during the floods. I still haven't found them."

"I never said you were scary. I think you look... fuzzy?" Well, that was for certain. To Ranmaru, Arazia looked like a fuzzball compared to other lionesses he had met before. "I mean, nothing wrong with that or anything." He had backed off a little, as if afraid she would take offense in that, and moved a step forward again when he voiced his correction. He had turned his head back to her by now, and was slowly coming closer to her. He came closer until he sat down right on the opposite side of the kill, his front paws a few inches away from the gazelle. His eyes lingered over the top of Arazia's body, her back and sides. There was a gentle smile, seeing the spots and the fluff. "Kinda cute." He then whispered, more to himself than anything else.

"You are a lady to me though, or so Mukiri always called female lionesses... ladies. I do hope you don't mind me calling you a lady. Though, knowing your name, I'd of course just call you Arazia." He pauzed a little, approaching the last thing she said. Abandoned as cubs. He decided to elude that subject, realizing that it could be a touchy subject. So instead he went off to the second. "So you are wandering, in search of your brother?" Ranmaru asked, tipping his head over and lightly lowering his head. He closed his eyes however, and made no motion towards the kill itself, he was not going to eat from it. "What is his name?"

"Barbary." The lioness replies, as if that somehow explained her appearance. "That's what I meant by blood of a tyrant. For good or evil, those of barbary blood have had power here for as long as I can remember." And perhaps back even before that, if the stories she's heard from others are true. She seems to disregard the comment about 'cute'. She has been called cute ever since she was a cub. It's that over-sized paws, big-ears, cubbish sort of thing. She lowers her head to continue eating, no longer paying much heed to his close presence.

"A lady is a title given to sisters of the King of a pride." She murmurs between bites, her tail swishing calmly back and forth behind her. "I'm no such thing, so I'll beg you off of addressing me so." As much as it may hurt her, she seems to have little problem talking about her lost brother or father. "Undine. The floods came, big rains, and he disappeared. Runako my father well he just left. He came back once, and I gave him a second chance for all of us to be a family but he left." She shakes her head, "I'm sure you haven't run into Undine. He hates other males, ever since dad "

"Very well, I shall just call you lioness or Arazia then." The lion concluded, flopping over suddenly... making dust try to escape from being trapped underneath his huge body and thus creating a big dust cloud that wandered away from the corpse and off towards the pool. "The flood you say." He sounded interested. "I see." He didn't seem suprised, perhaps he had already had word of this event, or perhaps he had seen one of his own. "Taken by the waters, or just disappeared?" He continued before turning to the second area of her answer. As she herself had brought up her father again... "And your father, he doesn't sound like a very able parent to me." He seemed to wince a little. Mukiri had always been like a father to him, so he could not imagine what it was like to have such a parent. "But no, I have not run into anyone named Undine yet."

"A flood washed over the lands a few seasons ago. In the Kivuli, there were heavy rains. I wasn't there when he was lost, so I don't really even know what happened." Arazia says with a somber tone, stopping her meal to just stare at the carcass, and then off into the distance. It's a fair guess to say she's looking in the direction of her former homeland. "As for my father... well he came by it naturally. His father, and his father, and his mother before him. I'm no better..." She lays her chin down on one paw. "Out here 'searching' for my brother, while my family is who knows where. Maybe that's how they excused it to themselves when they left. All good intentions but bad results." She lifts her shoulders in a shrug and then turns back to take another bite of the meat, occassionally looking up. No, she doesn't really trust him this close, but she'll tolerate it for the time being. "Anyways, what brings you to the edge of pridal lands, if you're a rogue?"

"I see. I see." What did he see? Ranmaru just repeated those words a few times, nodding his head a little while watching upwards at the sky, as if the clouds had formed letters and shaped the answer in writing. "To think that we used to be happy with rain." Well, floods were not that incredibly common, now were they? "Hmmm." He seemed to calm for a moment, as if he was not planning on doing anything, not even breathing. Spacing out would be a term for it. Then he lowered his head again and stared at the lioness. "So you are basically searching for everyone that was ever part of your life? It's funny. In an ironic way that is. You see...~" He began. Ranmaru was going to answer to two things in one go. "~...I was forced to leave everyone that was ever part of my life, and am looking for a new... call it 'family' if you will it?" (...) "But I doubt you'd be interested in my past." He turned his head and started at the still live gazelle. He wondered... then turned his head back towards Arazia. "So yes, I am a rogue, or wanderer. Wandering to find a place to fit in."

Whatever Ranmaru happened to see, it didn't seem to matter much to the lioness. Once her belly is fully filled, she simply lays her head down over her kill protectively. "All the forces of nature can be monsterous at times. The wind, the water, the fire, even the very earth." She lets out a sigh, thinking of the waters, the mud, the wind that has blown her so far in search of those she's lost. Then, she simply closes her eyes. "Well, beyond here are the shadowlands of Kivuli, the riverlands of Tyne, the dark lands of Mbaamwezi, and the forgotten lands where ghosts dwell." She trails off, taking a deep breath. "Word on wing is that King Kiet is ill. So I'm going home, back to Kivuli." She peaks open one eye to watch him, catching his glance at the gazelle, but not commenting to that. "You can talk about whatever you wish. It doesn't matter to me."

'Wuffle.' The lion let out a sound that was like a cough and a sneeze combined. He shivered a bit and shook his chest around, making his fur jump about a littlebit. The shiver seemed to go from his head all the way to the end of his tail, which kind of cutely twitched. "Yes they can indeed." He shook his head, making his manes fan out. "Kivuli, Tyne and Mbaamwezi." The latter was a bit harder for him to pronounce, so he repeated it once more, and got it right that time. His eyes trailed away from Arazia and down to the kill before her. He wanted to ask her if she was going to finish that, but figured that would just raise her suspicions. So instead he continued on the previous subject. "King Kiet, king of Kivuli thus." The lion spoke, his head nodding. "Say... this might sound stupid. But would you mind some company? I mean, you know these lands." That was not the full truth. He continued. "I mean, I don't want to tred into the forgotten lands." He lowered his voice. "Ghosts can be creepy."

"Scaredy cat." She teases, although her voice only has a small hint of amusement to it. That single eye watches him carefully, especially when he mentions accompanying her. Perhaps he thinks that the Kivuli is an easy mark with an ailing king? Well, he would be sadly mistaken if those were among his thoughts. "I know enough not to wander into Mbaamwezi without armed escort. Other than that I won't be much help. I've never traveled into Tyne, and I stay away from the heart of the Forgotten Lands." Because she, like her ancestors before her, have some sort of inante realization that something terrible happened there once. "I don't know what your intentions are..." Her eyes fully open now, looking at him with that same suspicious sort of expression, "But Kivuli is not a land easily taken by rogues. Many have tried, and none have succeeded in all the stories of the past. So if you have any intentions of trying, I suggest you turn back the way you came." She was raised by a pridal guard afterall, and in some ways she is still very defensive of the land of her birth.

"Muuu." The lion lowered his head as if ducking away from something, and ended up looking up at Arazia. "I'm not scawwed... I just don't like ghosts and spirits. They haunt you." The once so wise talking lion had turned his voice into a childish wimper with a hint of amusement. If this was a reaction from childrens' stories, or an actual experience would be a good question to ask oneself at this point. "Hmm?" He continued to listen to her, his eyes widening a bit as she talked taling about a hostile take-over. "Wha!?" Was his response somewhere mid-sentence.

"Whoa now. No no no no... me?" He raised a paw up into the air and shook is fiercely. "I am not planning to do such a thing. I mean... come on. Just me? Besides, what would be the use of that? I would never be accepted." He shook his head wildly, looking a bit suprised. As if he was upset at Arazia for even /thinking/ such a thought. "I am not seeking to take over a pride. I would either have to nuts or..." He stopped. Looked at her. "Okay, you think I am nuts already." He joked. "Either way, I am no fool. I don't want to do such a thing. There would be no warmth or acceptance even if I did it."

Well, it doesn't take long for the lioness's worries of this one being a threat to fade. His enthusiastic disapproval of her accusation most certainly lay those doubts to rest. "Well it's better safe than sorry." Arazia murmurs, pushing herself to her feet and stretching her hind legs out. "You can have the rest." She pokes a paw at the small kill, half-eaten. "I would hope for better pickings closer to the pridal lands That is, if the sickness hasn't infested there, too." She shakes her head from side to side. "Be warned, stranger, of this as well the dark illness has come to these lands and claimed many. Some think that the worst is over, but there could still be more to come." She somberly looks off into the distance, perhaps wondering if any of her family has survived this disaster. She seems to lose each of them one at a time. Then, she steps slowly away from the kill to get another drink from the pool and wash the remaining blood from her maw. "You can come along if you wish." She finally says, and then lowers her head to concentrate on her drink, her back turned to him.

"Thank you." The lion answers, returning to his honest voice and finally settling his teeth near the kill... then raised his head again and unsheathed his claws, and rushed it once over the animal before setting his teeth in it. A strange gesture if any. His eyes stayed on Arazia, following her movement to the water. "Call me Ranmaru. It sounds a bit more... kind than just stranger. I mean, if you don't mind doing this for me. I am glad that you will allow me to travel alongside you, mylad~... Arazia." He cut himself off at the end to stop him from saying that which he had been warned not to say.

He continued to feed a little, enjoying the meat the best he could while thinking on what more to say. The disease that the lioness spoke of really interested him. He had heard some rumors of this when further away from here, but only here did he actually get actual word of it. "This disease... how long has it been raging there? I mean, I've heard rumors." He spoke what was on his mind. "Many steps away from here." He pointed his head towards where he had come from, and then turned back towards the kill to continue eating it. He ate in strong and big bites.

"Ranmaru." The lioness nods her head, taking a break from her drinking to lick at one paw, and then groom the side of her face with it. The red of the gazelle's blood is almost the same shade as that of her paws, as if she had tip-toed through the blood of some ancient creature and it stained forever. Then again, some lions just had strange markings. Finally, she settles herself a small way up the beach and places her head down on her paws to rest in the warmth of this time of day. "I'm not sure when it started. After I left the Kivuli in search of my brother, I'm sure. It seems to have touched everywhere." She shrugs her shoulders, letting her eyes drift wearily shut once more. "But many have survived, and some areas seem worse hit than others. I'm not sure if it is this illness that effects Kiet, but as he is ... or was my king, it is only right to pay my respects."

"It's admirable to pay such respect to your king. Or rather, I have heard of other tribes where a sick king would be soon killed and replaced. It sounds like a nice pride." He squinted his eyes a little to give her a 'I'm a nice guy' look and then finished the last bites. He pushed himself up with his strong front legs, and then the back followed suit. His tail lashed out towards the air in all directions for a little as he began to approach Arazia. He walked slowly, he did not want to make any strange movements that might make her mistrust him. Especially not after having been granted a traveling companion. "Would I be allowed to visit? I mean... I promise that I will behave." He said with a honest voice, raising a paw again as if he 'swore' that he was speaking the truth.

Once more, a single green eye opens and the girl sighs a little bit. "It depends on if I trust you by the time we get there or not." The message was clear, 'I just met you, don't push it'. And she leaves it at that, closing her eyes again and curling into the shade of one of the big trees. She's full, it's hot, and it's time to sleep. Dealing with weirdo rogue lions will have to wait for another day, sleep first, boys later.

"I will tred lightly." Ranmaru answered, nodding at her and walking along with her towards the shades. "I will promise you that you can trust me, and try my best to prove this fact to you." He spoke proudly, knowing that this was no lie. He walked along and then ended up walking to a tree that was near the one she was walking off to, but not the same one. She told him not to push it, and just laying with her was to his oppinion 'pushing' it.

[Arazia]

Start of Scene #2

The sun was fading, slowly disappearing at the horizon. An eerie light was cast over the lands, shadows stretched far over the ground, passing the over the sands, slowly stretching further. The day was coming to an end, and two lone beings were making their way through the forgotten lands at a slow pace. They seemed to be aimed at one certain direction, the larger shadow leading the slightly smaller one, who was walking at a meter distance. The first shadow passed over the second, as if showing that it was larger than the other one.

The sand was everything but gentle under the lion's paws, the ground was hard and the hard rocks did not help. He looked tired, physically. However his tred and breathing was completely normal. His fur seemed bleached by the sun, a bit damaged in some spots by harsh the sands. His eyes reflected the reddish light of the sun. "Hmm." A hum eminated from him, he seemed to wish to say something, but something made him doubt. As if he feared saying something for some reason. "Arazia?" The lion seemed to have gathered some courage.

Across the palid landscape of the Forgotten lands, Arazia makes her way as if she knew this place by heart. Perhaps there were long-ago traces that she knew from her wanderings between the pridal lands. Her feet make steady progress, fur swaying slightly with each step as she leads the way, head even with her shoulders, eyes keenly watching the horizon. She doesn't seem terribly talkative, at least not to the stranger/stowaway that was acompanying her. Even if she knew his name, she didn't know anything about him, and that led her to be far more quiet than her normal nature would have shown.

"What is it?" Her voice answers back, her head turning a fraction of an inch as she plods along, red-tipped paws making small indentations in the earth below.

Ranmaru's tail swayed gently, as if played with by the wind itself. His mane almost seemed to flutter, a motion caused by something unseen. "I was wondering. What are the lands like, Kivuli?" His voice, gentle as always, pierced the silence. Yet in some way it seemed as if his voice was part of the world, as if it was supposed to be there and always was there. Just like the wind, just like water. Just... present. It remained to be just that question, as Ranmaru started to approach Arazia, picking up the pace a little so that he could be closer to her.

"Kivuli?" Arazia asks with a curious voice, and then seems to grow silent once more as she thinks back into her childhood past. She'd always dwelled somewhat on the borderlands, but she'd seen a great many things in the years of her cubbish wanderings. "Well... they're called the shadow lands, circled by great mountains. There's golden savannahs that stretch towards a dark forest that encircles the mountain where the pride makes their home." She slows a little in her step, perhaps thinking of some long ago time when she had come to that mountain to see the coronation of Kiet.

"The forest gives way to a dense jungle, and a river that spans towards a far waterfall. And beyond that, some say, my kind came from. The barbary marsh lands across the waters. But that's all legend, I suppose." She shrugs her shoulders and then twitches her nose at the air, perhaps trying to pick up some distant scent to help guide her direction. "These are the forgotten lands... the ghost lands. We shouldn't stay here longer than we have to."

"The shadow lands, why?" Ranmaru asked as Arazia finished the first part of her explaination, seeming quite curious. "I mean, it sounds like an interesting name. Is it because of the forest, or perhaps because of shadows cast by the mountains?" It was a honest curiousity. Ranmaru slowed down as well along with Arazia, making sure not to outwalk her. He went up really close to her, but did not try to make eye contact. "Barbary... legend?" He wondered for a moment about something, before shrugging his shoulders. "Eith... wait." And then Arazia reached the last part of her explaination. "We are in the forgotten lands? Right there at that oasis, we were at the forgotten lands too?" He sounded nervous, almost scared as she said this. But is was not a 'fear' kind of scared, more one that portrait nervousness and past memories of things. "The place with the ghosts and stuff?"

"Because of the mountains casting shadows, I would guess." The lioness replies, although she doesn't sound as if she's terribly sure of that answer. "There are some things that get lost over time." She glances to the side, watching as he moves up next to her, one eyebrow raising as she seems to regard him curiously. "As for the barbaries... well, it's said that an ancient pride lived far from Kivuli across the river, and that is where my bloodline came from. The earliest remembered of those was Akeeto, the tyrant. He attacked the Kivuli lands, which had taken him in as a cub, but... managed to find salvation just before his death by saving the king's son."

And, when she's told to wait, she actually does exactly that. She stops walking and tilts her head towards him. "Yes?" She seems a little confused, or perhaps confused that he is confused. "That rock over yonder." She points with one paw, "Is the heart of the Forgotten Lands, and the place they say the worst of the hauntings are. I think we're relatively safe here. The worst we might encounter is a ghostly antelope or something. They don't taste very good." She jokes and sticks her tongue out, then blinks, and quickly folds her ears down, as if she let something escape she shouldn't have. Afterall, she's trying to be all reserved around this lion.

"Tyrant, right. You told me you had tyrant blood in you. So... the Barbary lions were all... fluffy and... fuzzy... and big like you?" Ranmaru tried to come to conclusions. He was a curious spirit, trying to learn as much as he could in his life. And this was something he was quite interested in. "Akeeto." His ears twitched a little, sounded like a nice name. "Sounds like a rock. On fire." He then claimed, "He saved the king's son? That is noble." He nodded.

The lion then moved on to the next part of the conversation as Arazia stopped. He had not really meant for her to wait, it was more of a 'manner of speaking' type of way. But he used the short moment of rest to settle his donkey down onto the ground and looks over to 'yonder' rock. It was large, strange looking. As if it was build towards the sky... like a man holding out a hand, trying to 'hand' something over to the sky. "Ghostly antelopes?" He then turned towards her, giving her a kind smile. "You must be kidding. I mean... what would they possibly taste like?" His head shook a few times, the lion laughed. "Hmm?" He then tilted his head, a bit confused. The lioness had folded her ears down, and Ranmaru had no idea what was going on. "Sorry, am I too close to you?" He asked innocently.

"Well, I'm not that big." Arazia replies, glancing at Ranmaru with a bit of a confused look. Sure, she was bulky, but she didn't stand much taller than a normal lioness. "But usually we're a bit... fluffier." She raises one paw, the fur swinging down from the forepaw as she sets it once more to the ground. "But... it's a bloodline that has spawned kings and tyrants, and plain old ordinary wanderers like me." There were ties that even connected her to the Kivuli kings, although most of those threads are long forgotten.

As the lioness's tail twitches slightly from side to side, she gives the faintest of a smirk, "You're not scared of ghosts are you?" She teases, and then shakes her head, "No, I've never gone after a ghostly antelope, but I've seen strange things in these lands when it gets dark." And indeed, it was getting dark, the sun fading away from the skies as she starts to walk once more. She doesn't answer his question about walking too close to her, her mind is lost in something else. There is a congregation of birds on the far horizon, in the direction of Kivuli. This causes her ears to fold backwards, and her formerly light-hearted conversation to fall by the wayside for the moment.

The lioness isn't the only wanderers crossing the savannah of the so called Forgotten land. Keeping his sapphire gaze on the ground an adolescent male makes his way through the golden plains, his fur almost the same color as the very grass he thread. If it wheren't for his mane he would surely disappear into the grass, his mane is white grey, giving him away in the tall grasses. The males ears is perked forward listening to whatever goes on around him. And he comes to a sudden halt and the sounds of converse can be heard before him and he lift his gaze. Seeing two lions crossing thought the savannah a few meters before him, the male named Aron, watches the lioness for a full mintue before he with a smile or rather smirk crossing his maw he follows the two other leonines.

"Scared? No... just. Hmm." He shook his head, apparently for once, it was Ranmaru who had trouble talking, feeling restrained by something. His eyes escaped from Arazia's presence and instead scanned the scope of the area. Indeed it was getting hard, and the words spoken by the barbary lioness were not ones he would have liked to hear. Better yet, he wished he had not commented on these lands, and remained ignorant. But it was too late for that now. It was because of him looking away, that he was able to concentrate his attention to the rest of his senses. Now, it was not sure if he had truly noticed Aron, or just felt something. Perhaps it was just a vibe. But the lion stopped dead in his tracks and sat down. Like a meerkat he then started looking around. This actually looked quite silly. "Hmm?" It seemed that Arazia had noticed /something/ too, but he wasn't entirely sure if it was the same thing. "What is it?" He then asked, wanting some kind of explaination as to why Arazia had folded her ears.

No, it isn't just the birds on the horizon that the barbary lioness notices, but it is the most important thing, at least as far as she is concerned. She frowns in the direction of the Kivuli, her tail curling down between her legs. "Things must be bad. The birds are aggitated." Like all things in the circle, news spreads across the lands quickly, and as she had found about Kiet's illness from the far flying birds, so did they tell her that things certainly hadn't improved. She forces her eyes to turn away from this, although her heart hangs somewhat heavier for it as she glances towards her companion. "Someone's behind us." She notes, almost off-handedly, but she doesn't seem terribly alarmed. Afterall, she was traveling with one stranger, what worry would one more have to add to the bunch. Perhaps if it was nearer to Mbaamwezi's border, but not in these forgotten lands.

Aron was still following the two lions. He wasn't stalking just simply following the two out of curioisity perhaps, Aron didn't really know himself. And as one of the lions before him came to a halt so did Aron his gaze trailing to the horizon ahead seeing the birds up a head and with a soft frown the male continued to advance towards the pair.

"Yes, but he seems to be going after something else." For whatever reason, it seems that the stranger had stopped following the two, 'companions' for the time being. "Anyway." Ranmaru then got off of his bum and quickly tredded forwards, catching up with Arazia to walk right next to her once more. "The birds?" He asks. He knew that birds were good messengers. It didn't strike him as odd for Arazia to make such a quick assumption. "It saddens me to learn of this." He then admitted. "As much as it is a place I have never been to. It still saddens me that a place is in bad condition. It leads to a hard life on Lions, and other animals along with it." He pauzed... suddenly commenting: "I am not too annoying, am I? I haven't traveled with others much, aside from my mother and Mukiri... and the cubs I used to play with of course." He seemed a bit chipper, a swing of moods, as he brought those felines up. "Mukiri never talked much though." He moved his lower jaw, making him look strange... thoughtful. He let out a weird 'wuffle' sound. "The grouch... but I liked him anyway."

Arazia pauses, lifting a paw and gently placing it over Ranmaru's mouth. "You weren't annoying until you started blabbering about being annoying." She says in a soft tone, and then lowers the paw and starts walking once more. A sideward glance is given towards him, and the faintest half-smile. "Don't make so many excuses, just be who you are." She sighs then, and looks back towards the birds in the distance. "It's not the lands in bad condition, although the plague has touched everywhere. I think... something bad happened to Kiet." Her ears fold backwards once more as she lowers her head, her pace slow, almost as if she dreads to find out that what she feels in the pit of her stomach is true. "My brother and sisters all attended Kiet and Saibh's coronation when we were cubs. I think... we may see another one soon."

"Hmmm..." Ranmaru lowered his head as a nod, looking at the lioness' head. "I am who I am, excuses and incertainty are part of it. Though a rare occurence." He explained, smiling gently. "Kiet." Yes, she had told him about him, the sick king they were to visit. "Want to speed up the pace? I am quite fast if I need to be." He might not be a lioness, missing their build and stamina, but he wasnt as slow and easily fatigued as a common lion either! "Slowing down will only delay your own suffering. And if we want any chance of meeting Kiet before his death, we are better off hurrying." What he had said was partially things he learned from Mukiri and partially his own version of 'wisdom'. "I know it will be saddening to see a close friend sick or dying." He pauzed for a moment. "I will provide comfort if you wish." And with that he turned his head towards the sky, the birds, and increased his own pace.

"It's alright." 'Zia replies with a more calm voice than what she felt. "I didn't know him well." She says this finally, almost with a tone of sadness. It was largely because her family had always lived near the border lands, and because of her wanderings that she hadn't gotten to know much of the Kivuli pride. She really only had her family, and of them, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of most of them in almost a season. What she doesn't say, though, is that her gut tells her that it's already too late. Her mind drifts to the last time she had seen her mother, her sisters, her brother. Perhaps the plague had claimed them as well, and this is the thought that made her stomach feel ill. What if she came home, and had no one left to come home to? "We're nearly there anyways. You see where the vegetation grows thicker... That's the edge of the Kivuli lands." And that was barely few minutes trott from this far edge of the forgotten lands.

The lion slowed down again. "Hmm..." He waited for her to catch up before pacing forth again. "Yes, I see..." Ranmaru hummed a little before sighing and turning his head down to the ground. He thought he had done something right, but apparently it wasn't as important to Arazia as he had first anticipated. "Hmm." A second hum followed up as he became quiet again and decided to just follow Arazia quietly once more.

"I'm sorry." The lioness murmurs quietly, closing her eyes as she walks, the wind catching her fur a little. "Other than my brother, there hasn't been many males in my life worth looking up to. Kiet... even if I didn't know him, was at least the king. He was a more of a lion than my -father- that's for certain." 'Zia nearly spits the word 'father', and it's clear there is a lot of hurt behind that word. She had explained previously about why her brother had come to be agressive towards other males, and that it all lead back to their father abandoning them as cubs. "I guess I'm just not leaping for joy to go watch the only lion I've ever had any respect for... die." She chokes on the last word, and then shakes her head. "Or maybe he's already dead. It doesn't really matter. A new king will rise, and that's why I came home. It seems like everything started at that coronation back as cubs... when we were still innocent. I guess I'm hoping to get a second chance at this one."

"A second chance." Ranmaru repeated the words spoke by Arazia, licking his lips as if tasting the words. He seemed to ponder the words, they recalled a memory of his younger years. "Death or not. Respect is something worthy of my respect." Ranmaru then claimed. "If you know what I mean?" He then asked her, before continueing on talking. "I realize that you do not wish to see a lion dead. I would not either. But showing the respect and courage to look at their dead body with the emotion that belongs to it..." He paused, thinking about what he wanted to say. "Is something proper. I have known lionesses who could not care less about the death of the first king I knew as a cub. They cared not for him, shed no tear. I hated them. Even if you don't care, a death is a death. Each death is worth a tear in this world." Of course he did not mean this literally, but the message came through. Or so he figured. "Hmm. Well, I hope up you will remember me." He then switched the subject. "I mean, other than your brother and King Kiet. Sure, I am only a traveling companion." He once again paused, taking this time to look around, staring at the vegetation. The area he had lived in had been much more arid. "But I at least hope that if our paths were to seperate, I'd be remembered. Even if it is because I am 'weird'."

"Understand this, Ranmaru... I'm not heartless. I just don't want to shed any more tears of sadness and grief." It was her grandfather, whom she had only heard about in stories, who believed in re-incarnation. The thought that the soul trascended and could be reborn. But it was this lioness who looks so much like her ancient ancestor and bears her name, that seems to carry the weight of it. "If I cried for every one the plague claimed, I would be crying for the rest of my life. The world doesn't need those tears now. It needs hope." She lets out a breath, lowering her head and knowing that in some way she couldn't explain it, and perhaps in some way she was running away from facing such things. But she truly did believe that it was better to save her own tears, for her father, her brother, for Kiet, because others deserved them more than she did. "And... I'll remember you. I remember everyone." She shrugs, and continues at her even pace, head down.

"I have not said that you are heartless. If you were heartless, you would not be going there with the words you shared at the Oasis." He then quickly moved on to the next subject. "Nor did I mean that one is to cry for everyone. I meant that every death is a loss, as every life is worth something." It seemed that his message was misunderstood. Surely he did not meant to grieve every single death. "But what you say is true, hope is good. But will the new king be able to bring that hope?" The lion then asked. He didn't know this new king, and was unsure of Arazia did either. So he shrugged and carried on walking. "I will remember you too. My traveling companion. Arazia." He then turned his head towards the sky again, seemingly sunken into thought once more. A small ammount of time went by where he seemed to be dazed, spacing out. "I think you are a nice person." He then suddenly blurted out.

"I know what you meant." Her voice seems somewhat dulled by all this disheartening conversation. In many ways, this stranger was right. She didn't know which of Kiet's cubs was going to be the new king, or which was even the heir to the throne. Perhaps she knew at one point, but that was long wiped away with the sands of time. Perhaps it wasn't even a new king, but a new queen? But all of this is just meandering thought. "And all we can do is have faith. The spirits of the past watch over us." And then, she falls silent for a while, just walking towards the end of these borderlands and the edge of the Kivuli. It comes as a surprise when the lion blurts out his message, causing her to glance over at him with a raised eyebrow and drawn back ears. So surprised, that it takes her a moment to realize the content of what he says. Then, she just laughs, finally smiling a little, "Well... thanks. I think you're a nice person, too." And with that, the pair take their first paw-steps into the shadowlands.