In her new home, in her new life, Irmak found it hard to adjust. Everything was plentiful here - Food, water, kind words, friendships... Life itself. It was so much easier than back in the desert, where life was a constant fight for territory and survival itself. She still felt angry with herself, owing her life to lions that were once her enemies, but Umut had made no demands beyond peace. As she'd called it, blessed peace. Irmak, though, was itching to fight. It was the life she'd known, the way she'd been raised, and nothing really could be gained squabbling with that ugly pink healer. She instead opted to patrol, looking for some kind of intruder.

And boy howdy did she find one, a dark shape stalking through the grasses just on the other side of the jungle. "HEY! You!" Ears forward, she went charging at the other creature. "State your intent in these lands!"

He had no wounded pride to nurse. Gabedi had served his time as an inselelo, and had served it well defending the Ithambo. He'd lost a challenge to a new male, and bid his mother and sisters a final goodbye. Unless they left the pride, he wasn't going to run into them again. He hadn't even seen his brother since his final departure. So Gabedi had simply wandered, seeking nowhere in particular. And now he had a lioness charging at him. He was reminded of a time, seemingly so long ago, when he'd been but an adolescent with lionesses ready to put up a fight when the Abhaholi had vanished. "No intent. If your Umholi wishes my presence gone, I'll leave." As she got closer, he became aware how rather small she was, to have so much fire in her.

When she got closer, Irmak began to realize her error. "Holy crap you're huge." She came to a stop, far enough away she could bolt if she had to, but close enough to actually see how big this strange lion was. "What the hell did you EAT when you were growing up, ELEPHANTS?" Her gaze passed over him, eyes filled with amazement. It was only after she'd fully processed his size that she realized what he'd said. "Umholi? The hell's an umholi?" She paused, ears flicking. "Do you mean our leader? Ram doesn't give a damn what you do as long as you don't cause trouble."

Gabedi let out a rumbling laugh. "I intend no trouble, just passing through." He started to turn, then looked at the lioness, really looking her over. "You've a lot of scars there, ma'am. You giving the males a run for their meals?" The corner of his mouth quirked up a bit, amused at his own joke. He did wonder, though, just what kind of life she lead that she was riddled. It was almost enough to make him want to stick around, see what the other locals were like. She spoke, in a way, of a peaceful pride, but the scars she bore told him otherwise. It was a mixed message.

Irmak let out a huff, ears back, before she glanced at herself. "No, it was the way of life in the pride I came from." She glanced back at him, shifting from paw to paw. "Have you ever heard of a desert, far to the west of here? It was another ocean, like this one, but instead of watching the sun rise over the water, you could watch the sun set over the water." She inclined her head, looking him in the eye. "There were two rivers that passed through the desert, with small oases here and there, and two prides - The Burkuteshti and the Qyrhyeshti. They lived otherwise identically, except they fought over the land. I was in the Qyrhyeshti side of the pride, fighting for what I believed the right side."

Gabedi stared at her, processing what she told him. After a bit, he let out a hum. "Well, I'm guessing things didn't end well, if you're referring to it in past tense." He tilted his own head, regarding this lioness who'd clearly grown up a warrior. "I'm from a pride north of here, near a desert itself. The Ithambo'hlabithi favor lions of natural colors, and there's only so many males in the pride. Only the Abaholi and Inselelo have the freedom to breed with the lionesses in the pride, any other males must remain celibate. The Abaholi were permanent leaders, while one to two males could be the Inselelo and their positions were up for challenge every now and then." He let out a slight, amused huff. "My time passed as an inselelo, and I departed again, this time for good."

The concept of leaving one's pride for anything besides disbandment was foreign to her. Some of the other lions that Irmak, Umut, and Akbar had met upon coming to the Bahari had been lions who had suffered a similar problem. Their prides had simply ceased to be for one reason or another. The blue lions from the jungle, who had left because the pride had been unable to hold on. The lions from the mountain, who had left because the mountain had made it abundantly clear lions were not welcome there. Then there were the rogues, who simply trickled in, seeking a better life than what they were leading. "Your old pride functions strangely. The Qyrhyeshti and Burkuteshti remained in their pride of birth. Anybody who left was considered dead to the pride."

"Well that's grim." He took a seat, looking at the trees near by. "And what pride is this one, might I ask? What's it like?" Where lions from different walks of life seemed to gather, where a seasoned warrior settled despite the peace and her clear itch to fight. Really, he had to admire her for not going stir-crazy by now, however long she'd been there for. Perhaps the long journey had tempered her flame. He was almost tempted to stick around, really, to join and not leave. If they accepted just ANYBODY...

Now there was a question she was all too happy to answer! "These are the Bahari'mtoto lands. It's a peaceful pride, we respect the sea here and do our best to not anger it." It still seemed a strange idea to her, making the sea angry. "Anybody can join, anybody can have a family with whoever they please, so long as they take a mate to do so, and so long as everybody is respectful of each other." That about summed it up, right?

If he strained his ears, Gabedi could just hear the waves crashing on the beach in the distance. After a bit, he nodded. "Alright, then. I think... I might stay here." He smiled at her, doing his best to look pleasant. "How does one go about joining? I'm guessing I don't have to fight my way in."

"Don't be stupid, of course you don't fight your way in." She gave a nod of her head, turning and starting back into the trees. "Come on, then." Irmak didn't look to see if he was following, only walked. She could hear him, though, behind her. It was hard not to, a lion that big. Now the fun part would be... Not getting attached or anything.