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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2020 17:43:38 GMT
Kip paced at the border of the Pridelands, unsure if he should enter now or wait another few days. Sure, he knew that the lands were growing back strong, and the hyena were rumored to be gone, but something faintly tugged at him to wait. Mbali fields stretched before him, their lush verdant grasses and sprawling elephant trees providing ample shade for the many herds that wandered. Scoffing at the ridiculousness of his though process, Kipendwa rolled his shoulders and stepped into the field, taking tender, careful steps into the Pridelands.
He continued to shove the faint feeling of unease deeper within him, nearly gagging at the worry in his stomach. What was this? He had never felt this in all his travels; sure, there were places he was unwelcome, but the feeling within him was different than distrust or just a general wariness. No, this was... fear? It was as if something within him was warning him that the lands were not what they seemed, that something was coming and it would be much, much better if he was away.
Still his feet moved forward, his body ignoring the rising tightness of his throat in favor of adventure.
Kip shook himself, his rusty mane fluttering in the movement. Speaking quietly to himself, he muttered nonsense, convincing himself he was fine, this was fine, he just had to make his way to Pride Rock. Once there, he could introduce himself to - it was King Simba, wasn't it? - and ask for temporary residence and a pass to continue walking through the lands. After all, he didn't plan on staying here, just taking a leisurely pass through the kingdom. He never spent longer than a month or two everywhere he went. Longer if he found some company, but definitely not more than a season. It just wasn't in his blood to stay.
The herds nearby were wary of the rogue male lion, and rightly so. Still, Kip knew better than to hunt on these lands before he received permission from their king. He had only made that mistake once, and had the banishment - and the scar - to prove it. Thank goodness the scar wasn't visible, and his mane had grown back between his shoulders. It wouldn't do to turn up unkempt and scarred while he was trying to convince everyone around him of his innocent nature. Still mumbling to himself, Kip scoffed at the thought. While he didn't consider himself worldly, he definitely knew he was beyond innocent. Just ask the trail of brokenhearted lionesses (and a few lions) he'd left behind in recent seasons. A feeling of guilt began to replace the one of unease in his throat and he pushed that down as well, focusing on the soft trail before him. He could see Pride Rock in the distance, the massive kopje rising solitarily against the background of grassland. It was a peaceful place, the Pridelands, but not quiet or still. Life bloomed everywhere around him, from the lazily floating insects to the large, healthy herds in the field below. Kip thought, for a fleeting moment, that this could be a place to live long-term, but replaced the thought when his stomach growled hungrily.
He would need to pick up the pace to reach Pride Rock by nightfall. Maybe if he was charming enough, he could convince the king to give him his dinner scraps.
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Pridelands
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Post by Umeme on Oct 30, 2020 1:51:15 GMT
Umeme watched, silent as the stars and still as stone, as the unknown lion paced back and forth just outside of the border. While she hadn't been specifically patrolling the border, she had nonetheless come upon this stranger just outside of her pride's lands. It would remiss of her to not at least monitor the situation.
She watched as he seemingly made his decision and crept across the border. Pale blue eyes followed him as he slowly picked his way through, his body language screaming about how uncomfortable he was. A foreign feeling crept up on Umeme: curiosity. Normally by this point she would have fled the scene and beat the lion to Pride Rock to warn King Simba, but the sight of somebody clearly being nervous yet soldiering on anyway peaked her interest.
Wait, was he mumbling to himself? Umeme took the risk of perking her ears to catch what he was saying, but it was under his breath and too far away. That was even weirder. Was he an actual danger and her curiosity was putting her pridemates through unnecessary jeopardy? No, she decided. If it came to that, she'd take him on herself. If nothing else he seemed to be ignoring the nearby herd animals, so he had that going for him.
Finally it was too much for her. Umeme waited until he was a little further away before stalking silently closer and purposefully nudging a pebble, making her presence known. She wanted to see what he'd do.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2020 2:19:36 GMT
Kip finally felt better, the few minutes he spent muttering to himself working their magic over his flip-flopping gut. Convincing himself that premonition of something dark coming this way was just hunger, his muttering turned to humming, the tune light and sporadic. While his eyes were watchful enough to protect him, his guard was down just slightly that when a small noise scattered behind him, his skin crawled. Dang, someone got the drop on him. This was how he died. He hadn't even given a proper goodbye to his mother, and now some Pridelands guard was going to gut him like the scoundrel he was...
Keeping his composure, Kip glanced over his shoulder at whomever was stalking him. A lioness came into his view, her coat the same color as a custard-apple. A nick in her ear strangely complemented her face, which was round and framed by soft, gentle blue eyes. Trying to still the surprise of her sudden appearance, Kip smiled toothily, one eyebrow raised. "Morning," he ventured, continuing to walk forward towards Pride Rock. Best to keep cool, keep moving, and not be suspicious. After all, he was only here for a short time. A meal, some company... no harm, no foul.
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Pridelands
Hetero... maybe?
Sexuality
Single
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Huntress
Position
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Riley
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She/Her
Tag me @umeme
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Post by Umeme on Oct 30, 2020 3:01:48 GMT
... Huh. Well, that was anti-climactic. She'd at least expected him to jump. Most others she snuck up on did. A grin that exposed his teeth and a chipper 'mornin!' were all she got though. Was the grin supposed to be a threat? A wordless 'I have teeth too, don't make me use em'?
... No, Umeme didn't think so. Part of communicating mostly through gestures and body language meant she was usually able to understand when others did the same.
He. He really had just meant 'good morning'. That was just WEIRD. And he hadn't even stopped while he greeted her. Umeme narrowed her eyes at him as he got farther away, not in irritation or anger, but pure bewilderment.
She came back to herself after a few moments before running past him and spinning around, skidding on her paws and blocking his path. She kept herself non-threatening and just blinked up at him, twitching her notched ear and tilting her head.
It was a wordless 'what are you doing'? But honestly, Umeme didn't expect him to understand. She didn't even know his name, he didn't know hers, and he didn't know her. She wouldn't be surprised if he just thought she had an itch in her ear or that she just COULDN'T talk.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2020 3:19:33 GMT
She didn't seem to follow him, and his greeting also seemed to ring on deaf ears. Could she be deaf? Entirely possible, but Kip hadn't had enough experience with others who were hard of hearing. He'd have no idea how to communicate with someone who was; but, it's not as if he gave off any sort of threatening aura. Besides, was it really his problem if somebody else couldn't hear him? He'd get to where he needed to be eventually. He didn't need this lioness's permission to see the king, anyway. He could very well do that on his own. He made it a few short steps before something blurred past him, the movement like lightning. The lioness was in front of him now, twirled around to face him with a slight intimidating look about her. Still, she bared no fangs or claws, so Kip just lazily plodded to a stop, staring at her quizzically. His expression almost mirrored hers, one eyebrow raised while his head tilted slightly in confusion. Staring down at her, he smiled again, this time a bit less enthusiastic. "You know, it's a little rude not to return someone's greeting," he started, plopping down on his haunches and scratching behind his ear with a hind leg. His expression and tone remained humored, not wanting to irk the lioness beyond slight annoyance. "This is the Pridelands, right?" he asked, changing topics to she wouldn't dwell on his lighthearted jibe. Having a feeling she wasn't much for words, Kip kept going. "I'm looking to meet with King Simba. He isn't expecting me or anything, doesn't know me. Just wanting permission to pass through for a little while. Take up a temporary lodging." He finished his scratch and stood again, taking a few steps forward, around the lioness to continue on the path. He inclined his head, inviting her to follow. "I'm Kipendwa. Kip. You?"Umeme |
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Pridelands
Hetero... maybe?
Sexuality
Single
Relationship Status
Huntress
Position
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Riley
Offline
She/Her
Tag me @umeme
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Post by Umeme on Dec 6, 2020 5:27:43 GMT
Umeme's face blanked when he said she was being rude. Slowly, she leaned to the side to look over to the border, at the exact place he'd crossed from. Then she straightened, looked him in the eye, and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Because how was SHE the rude one when he was trespassing? If anything he was lucky she was the one who'd come across him. Literally any other lioness in her pride would have challenged him.
He asked if this was the Pridelands and Umeme nodded. Not even a half-year ago that would have been a legitimate question, since Scar's reign had drained the life from the land. Even now the territory was still recovering, with herds returning and the circle of life being reestablished.
A meeting with King Simba. So essentially he wanted permission to bum around and enjoy the sights. Well if there was any king in history that would be absolutely okay with that, it'd be Simba. So long at this lion- Kip, he introduced himself as-, didn't overhunt or hurt one of their pride, Simba would be okay with him hanging out.
Umeme trotted up to his side when he started forward again, no longer seeing any need to block his path forward. There was no way to give her name without speaking so she simply intoned, "Umeme. My name is Umeme."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2020 5:50:22 GMT
She fell into step beside him, still keeping a slight distance from him. He didn't blame her; he was a stranger, after all, and her pointed look back toward the border reminded him of that. Chuckling a little bit, he was surprised when she spoke, this time giving him her name. Ah, progress. How wonderful. It wasn't much to go off of, but it was enough to keep him interested in attempting conversation. At least he knew she could speak, and wasn't necessarily interested in blatantly ignoring him. He could work with that. Kip threw her a lazy smile, his pace slowing slightly. He would draw out the conversation time as much as possible. After all, Pride Rock was still some distance away, and it wasn't as if he had a set time to meet the king. Now that he had an escort, he seemed less suspicious to other members of the pride. He could take his merry time. "So... you can talk." he jibed, his tone light and smile cocky. "Pretty name, 'Lightning'. You must be fast." He didn't expect her to answer - she had made it pretty clear she wasn't much for words. But still, he would try, even if it meant him doing most of the talking. Kip was good at that, anyway. They continued down through the short grass, avoiding the herds nearby. Kip wasn't hungry or anything, and wasn't easily distracted by the prey nearby; no, he was all eyes for his new companion, wanting to see how far he could push her buttons. He'd get her to play along somehow, he just wasn't sure how yet. He knew annoyance was one way, but building friendships usually came a little easier for him than this. No matter, he'd figure out what made her tick eventually. And if not? Well, hopefully he just didn't make an enemy out of little miss mute. His large paws kicked up dust every so often, the sun beating down on his two-toned mane. He'd been walking for a while before coming to the border, and would need to take a break sooner rather than later. Maybe his new friend would be willing to take him to some water, or sit with him in the shade. After all, it would be highly irresponsible to leave him alone, having seen him cross the border. A devilish glint reached his eyes, thinking about what to say. "Say, I'd appreciate it if you could lead me to some water, Umeme. I'm a little parched. Been walking all day, you know? Need a little likizo." He slowed even further, as if to show how exhausted he was, his heavy paws hitting the earth and sliding back off, his back end seeming to trail behind his front. He pouted, getting lower to the ground as he walked. Umeme |
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