Emrys flicked his tail as he lounged under one of the trees that spotted the Bonelands territory. He hadn't been with the pride for very long but he was starting to find his niche. There were those lionesses that ignored him or snarled at him when he made his presence known, but there were others that took to him instantly. It was nice to get so much attention, a far cry from the Pridelands where he was just one of a million. Here all the females looked at him, even if sometimes it wasn't with the best of expressions. He yawned widely as he surveyed the area he was in, ears perking up as a female made her way across the grasslands.

Udaka was scowling as she walked. It was a common expression for the female so those that knew her wouldn't have said anything, but those that didn't know her surely would have darted away to get out of her path. She was a gruff female, raised thinking that emotions were weakness, but she had a loyalty and a strange warmth to her that others appreciated. She was slowly making her mark in the pride which she had set out to do from when she joined. Already she had earned a special title for assisting in the hippo hunt and she had gotten back recently from the Inqina which...well. It had gone better than she had thought it might, even though it had had a few bumps along the way.

Emrys watched Udaka walk and realized she didn't see him. Huh. She was definitely a new lioness that he had yet to meet, and he was trying to say hello to all of the pride members so they'd get to know him. Lifting himself from under the tree, he shook himself free of dirt before heading over to intercept her. He spotted the rather grumpy look on her face and for a moment wondered if he should bother her, but it was too late. She looked up at him with a glare, brown eyes meeting and holding bright green.

"Good afternoon," he said with a bow of his head which earned a snort from Udaka. "I'm Emrys, the new Ins-"

"Oh yeah. I heard we got a new one," she muttered quietly, looking him up and down. He wasn't very big nor strong looking, but there were some fresh wounds on his legs that spoke volumes of the fight he must have had with Gabedi. The former Inselelo had been quite strong and appealed to a lot of the females within the pride. Udaka, as a rogue, didn't mind one way or another if lions looked a certain way. She knew her coloration was favorable to the more traditionally minded in the pride, but honestly it didn't make her eye turn if a male was bright pink or jet black.

The interruption threw Emrys a bit, but he knew some of the females here wouldn't be as receptive as others. "Ah...yes, that's me," he said with a little grin. "I'm trying to put names with faces now that I'm here. You are...?"

"Udaka," she said, not giving anything more than that. Emrys waited for a bit before giving another soft 'ah' as he realized she was done.

"Udaka. It's a pleasure to meet you. I believe you were one of the females that went on the Inqina?" he said, recalling someone speaking about the adventure with the cubs. When he got a nod he gave a little sigh of relief. "Oh good. I was starting to wonder if my memory was going. There's so many names to learn here, so many faces...it's a fun challenge to be sure, though. Oh, and I got to meet..."

Udaka tuned the Inselelo out as he went on, talking about all the females he'd met so far as if she was supposed to know everyone by name. She stared just beyond the male's shoulder, wondering what she was going to eat for dinner, before coming back to the conversation to interrupt him again. "All right, that's great, but I need to keep going. Nice to meet you, Imrick."

"Emrys," he corrected through clenched teeth.

"Ah. Emrys, right," Udaka said, rolling her eyes at her mistake. "Sorry, I'm not the best with names."

"Obviously," the Inselelo muttered quietly as Udaka stepped around him. She purposefully bumped her shoulder against his where a wound was still healing which made him snarl in surprise and pain. She flicked her tail, not at all impressed, and walked on as he turned to watch her go.

"A pleasure meeting you as well," he called after her, his voice obviously annoyed as he limped back to the tree. The wounds had healed up nicely but were still sore and scabby, and now that she had bumped him the shoulder wound was oozing a bit. He sighed and shifted to lick it again, hoping that it would stop before it made a mess of his pelt again. He was trying to look nice for all the pride members he was meeting, male and female alike. It wouldn't do to be all crusty.

Udaka watched Emrys return to his spot under the tree and rolled her eyes. Another male, another ego to worry about. She wasn't terribly fond of any of the males that were in a position of power right now, but that didn't mean she didn't respect them. This one, however, needed to earn her respect. He was new. He needed to earn the respect of all of the females here. Fighting your way in was just the first part. He had yet to prove himself to her or the pride.

SHe pressed on, leaving the Inselelo to lick his wound. She didn't mind at all that she had caused him pain. Living here would assure more wounds were to come. She just hoped that he'd be up to the task should a real threat come to the pride. If he couldn't stand a little shoulder bump, they'd be in trouble.

FIN
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