[PRV] Shifting sands, hidden motives (Bashise/Wook)

[Andranis]

It had been some time since Bashise had joined the pride. She'd settled in, more or less, with hunting. It was, by her own assessment, the one skill she was good at. She didn't feel like she was soldier or guard material - She never had. There were others who were much better at it, after all. She was also no historian, and no medic. There was, to make it blunt, a lot she didn't feel adequate at. But hunting she could do. Hunting was easy, the stalking of prey, the chase, the catch. The way the sand moved under her paws was a comfort, moving with ease on it, second nature.

As she dragged a small antelope back across the sands, she reflected on this fact. Sure, she'd traveled across grassland and scrubland, known hard solid ground, but none of that felt the same. None of it was as comforting as the shift of the grains beneath her paws. She couldn't wait for the future she was sure was on the sands and horizon.  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

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Wook was up and nearing his post, a normal routine for him was to be there early, today he found himself a touch behind schedule placing him near where there was some traffic. The sands were almost always active, save for when the sun was highest in the sky and creating an atmosphere that felt as though the pelt was melting from flesh.

"Good day." He said to a few passerby's and gave a warm smile, perhaps his trademark - Wook was almost always a friendly face. Challenges, duels and the like saw his more aggressive side. Should he ever succeed up the ranks he would become more gruff, but for now he was just.. Wook. Paw, after paw he wandered the sands to his post when he spied a female dragging an antelope, one thing he wasn't fond of, sand in his meats - it got into crevices he couldn't begin to describe and the thought made him smirk - he was sure most of the lions here ate more sand than meat on a good day.

"Need a paw?" He offered the hunter, smile still there and warm purple eyes signaling he meant his offer.  

[Andranis]

Both ears shifted, before Bashise looked over at the voice. Thankfully, she'd managed to keep the killing bite on the antelope's neck out of the sand, but now she gently set it down. "While I've gotten it this far on my own..." She looked back the way she'd come, breathing slightly heavier than usual walking made it. "Help is appreciated." She gave the male a smile, "I don't remember who's who yet, it's a rather larger pride than I'm used to. What was your name again?" There was a momentary pause before the bright red lioness said, "I'm Bashise, I just joined with the large group not long ago."  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Purple eyes followed the antelope and he flinched a small amount as the wound hit the sand, but his friendliness never faded, not even to scold. Sand could be removed later, or not? Either way the damage was done and conversation had begun. "Wook, it's nice to meet you Bashise." He said, tearing his eyes away from the prey to grin up at her. "Perhaps we ought to get some form of carrying apparatus to bring the meat in yourself." The gears were turning, but not very quickly - Wook was intelligent, but his intelligence was saved for the Guards and most of his time was spent looking over tactics.

"How long had you been out hunting for?" He asked curiously, ears flicking forward to better hear her breathing - it was a touch heavy, but it was possible she'd been dragging the meal quite a distance. A thought struck him through all of this.

"Were you part of the mass event, where we had a number of new rogues join our ranks?" Perhaps it was the cub like enthusiasm he never seemed to lose, but he had a million questions about the lioness as soon as the idea hit him. Even if it was the wrong one, which was possible, she was still not from around here originally? Perhaps one of his greatest interests was information from outside the walls (so to speak), what was life like outside of the sandy plains he knew as home. Though it piqued his interest he'd never leave, not here - he loved his home and his future was looking bright at the moment.

Lioness of his dreams.

Career plan.

What more could he ask for? Nothing that the roguelands could supply. "Sorry to babble, perhaps my greatest gift." He joked. "I'd likely do well with the bustle of females during gossip." That was stretching it a bit, but he did enjoy speaking.  

[Andranis]

She let out an amused sound, listening to him babble. "Nothing wrong with babbling! Brooks babble all the time, after all, and nobody tells them to be quiet!" She hadn't, of course, missed the small flinch when she'd dropped her kill. Perhaps he didn't like sandy meat?

Her gaze turned to the direction she'd come, and the track she'd created in the sand. "Oh, a couple hours... I left before the sun came up." She looked up at the sky, eyes narrowing against the glare. The sun was now beyond the midway point. "Had to drag this back, though, so it seems longer, I suppose. I don't know what kind of carrying apparatus we'd make here, though. Or rather..." Bashise looked again at her antelope. "What we'd make it out of... I guess antelope skins, bones, and sinew..." In the desert, there were no trees. She'd passed many on her journey to reach the sands, of course, but she hadn't paid them much mind. Accustomed to the desert already, she'd not bothered with shade, as the grasslands hadn't felt nearly as hot as the sands.

It was the jungles that gave her problems.  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"That's a fair statement, considering it'd be just as hard to get me to stop as it would to get a brook to stop." He was chuckling by this point, enjoying the company and her quick wit - it was refreshing, considering what he'd been going through the last little bit. Love was hard, but rewarding and having just recently discovered it he had found that although his heart leaped with joy it had been a hard road to travel, fortunately he wasn't alone - he had Roho.

Wook admired her 'early-riser' attitude. "Best time to hunt." He stated, but grew silent while he watched her actions, often times they spoke louder than words. As her eyes glanced skywards so did his and he eye balled the location of the sun - he'd be late at this rate, but he'd have a decent reason if he provided her a helping paw. "It's easier if you have a partner in crime to take some of the weight." He admitted to that. "As for the carrying apparatus we have a number of available resources for such a contraption, but it'd really only have a purpose for when lions go out on a solo run. So perhaps it isn't worth it?" The red lion babbled away as he did best, especially while he was thinking - it settled him and relaxed his active mind.

"Well, what say we get his meat to where it belongs before the sand dries against that wound." Even the thought made him cringe a little bit. "Sorry about the faces, I know I don't hide them well. There is just something unpleasant about the feeling of sand between the teeth that drives me mad." A small smile formed, but a furrowed brow suggested he was thinking about the feeling a little to much. He moved forward and snatched up a portion of the kill with his jaws and heaved it up. "Lead the way." He said in a muffled tone through the fluff of her kill.  

[Andranis]

"Wook the babbling brook! Has a nice ring to it!" Bashise gave him a wink, then smiled, "It's always best to hunt when the sun's not high. Not as hot then, and afternoon takes forever to cool down. The only other good times to hunt are dusk and the middle of the night." At least then, there was no worry about overheating, and it was nice and chilled. She wouldn't trade the heat of the mid-day sun for anything, though.

Now she outright laughed. "Trust me, sand is the least of the worries for what could get into your meat!" She started walking, leading him back toward the shade of the cliffs. "I had to cross through some jungle on my way here, and let me tell you, nothing tastes worse than whatever slime is in some of the ponds there! And then you combine that with some particularly foul mud, and you'll WELCOME the grit of sand in your teeth!"  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

"It does, doesn't it." The red lion struck a thoughtful pose dramatically, paw up and under his chin as he considered the newly found nickname. What would Roho think...? Actually, she'd have probably agreed. He snorted to himself about the thought and returned to his regular stance - all the while the carcass dangle from his jaws and swung about with his motions. "You're right there." He agreed with a firm nod. "That goes for patrolling the borders as well - the early mornings and late evenings are best for those learning or who are newer and not used to the drain our terrain can have on the physical form. I cant tell you how many newbies have joined and didn't realize what the might have been getting themselves into. Dehydration is our number one foe, next to heat exhaustion." He scoffed slightly at the thought of either of those things happening to himself or those trained on this terrain, but it had before (not to him fortunately).

Interrupting his thoughts with her laugh he was back to listening and even as they started walking he watched her intently while she spoke. "Oh?" He asked, the word still muffled by the carcass he was toting around now. "Gross." He physically reacted to the idea of the kinds of gooey disgusting possibilities from the neighboring jungles. "I didn't think they had much to offer anyway." He rolled his shoulders to remove the tingle of disgust from his body. "How often did you have to eat this.. slime?" He sneered at the thought again, hoping she didn't come across the muck to often - he would have likely wasted a good meal if that gunk had tried to enter his body. Not that he'd have argued if he was starving, but they were well off and so he had options.

Wook was finally looking into the direction she was taking them, the cliffs. He smiled at the familiar horizon laid out before them. Then suddenly another question popped into is mind and without a chance to filter he simply asked. "Where did you come from before making the sands your home?" Inquiring minds. He wasn't easily settled into any one conversation, unless it was about his newest love - even that would tumble into another chance conversation. "Sorry, just curious I suppose." He offered his apology, but hoped for an answer still.  

[Andranis]

Bashise pulled a face, "Thankfully only twice. There were plenty of places to catch food that didn't end with it wet, muddy, and covered in pond slime. But that WAS some good eating..." She let out a wistful sigh thinking of it. "Such fat, plump prey... Once we caught a weird short giraffe thing!"

Only when he asked about where she'd come from did she realize how much she'd let slip. Her eyes were wide as her mouth became very small and she stared off into the middle distance in personal horror at herself. But then she realized, telling where she'd lived wouldn't hurt, would it? Not TOO much. "A desert very very far from here, to the west." She turned and pointed in the vague direction of the horizon the sun marched toward. "There's a desert on the other side of the jungles and grasslands from here, kissing the waters that go forever." She then let out an amused sound, "There's some strange built dens in the sands, they were fun to explore when I was a cub." What had built them, she'd never know. Where the builders had gone, she would also never know. They had been empty long before she or anybody she knew had found it.  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Wook wrinkled his nose at her statement and shied away a little at the thought of 'enjoying' a meal with such extra flavors, they were unnecessary. The quirk he had appeared to resurface at her mention of specifics.. like pond slime. "Disgusting." He said and gagged a little at the idea. "Short giraffe thing?" He said, tilting his head at the curious statement, purple eyes darting forwards and then back to her while he tried to imagine a short, fat little giraffe. "That's awful peculiar.." He chuckled as much as he could with the prey clutched in his jaws.

His purple eyes left her, glancing at the horizon again before returning back to her in time to see the reaction he'd received. Wook watched the lioness' friendly face become reserved and guarded. "Sorry." He mumbled, but not before she began to actually answer his question - interesting. If he had to be honest with anyone he'd have guessed she would have grown quiet, or slipped away to be free of his nagging company.

"Very interesting." He said, purple eyes widening and turning in the direction she offered up. Her answer was vague, but more than he'd anticipated. "So you're glued to having a desert home then?" He smirked slightly, the muffled tone carrying a teasing tune. It was clear she enjoyed the sands beyond belief, relished in the life style and bloomed when near it. "Did you find anything interesting there?" He asked, genuinely curious - perhaps even more so than before. If there were dens then perhaps there had been belongings, even something that told him more about where she had come from without her realizing.  

[Andranis]

"Strange artifacts nobody could identify. The story passed to me from one of the oldest lions was that they'd been left by Fi-" She suddenly stopped, realizing what she was about to say. Clearing her throat, she offered Wook a smile, "I think I can get this back to the dens from here. Thank you for your help, Wook!" Without another word, she took the antelope and hurried off as fast as she could.  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

He listened intently as she spoke, almost tripping a little, but her sudden change seemed to stop him from falling and sobered him up from his attentive appearance. Wook raised his brows, but dropped the antelope for the eager beaver to collect and move.

"Perhaps we can try again later?" He offered, curious about the rest of her story. "I have to head out for patrol anyway, you're welcome - see you around." He smiled warmly, accepted her speedy exit for what it was - a rogue with her secrets and moved on with ease.

His large paws carried him away, back to the borders and his patrol.