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 Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:21 pm
 Gazi was certainly not the best guard that the Mava'Bunda had, but he certainly didn't consider himself the worst either. Granted, a guard was supposed to guard the borders which theoretically meant that he should stay within them. He wasn't a scout after all. Still, there were times that he couldn't help himself and he needed to get away and see something else.
He'd grown up in the pack and it really was all he knew. The graveyard was his home and where his family and most importantly, where his mother was. It was his personality flaw to always be trying to prove himself to his mother, though he wouldn't admit it to himself let alone anyone else.
Gazi's thoughts were disrupted by the abrupt change in scenery. The bare dirt underpaw had changed to grass. He could barely keep from hiding his astonishment. Green filled his vision and the sun beat down warmly on his fur. It wasn't that the sun didn't shine on the graveyard, but it seemed to have a difficult time permeating the smog that permanently filled the area. It made for excellent camouflage and safety but certainly couldn't be described as cheerful.
With a quick glance to see that no one was about, he kicked his heels up and rolled around like a puppy in the soft green grass. No one would miss him for at least a little while. His post could go unguarded while he had some fun.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:32 pm
Ume was pretty sure Baik was this way, and was doing her best not to get too depressed about being away from him. She was just not used to... doing things. All on her own. Living her own life. It all sounded very exciting when she first agreed to go travel with him, but now she was realizing just how big the world was. Maybe she should just stay directly by his side at all times...
Then she would not spend quite so much time away from him.
Stopping like a statue, she spotted the strange creature rolling around on the ground. She had never seen a hyena before, and had no idea what she was looking at. Was it okay? Was it dangerous? Should she talk to it or run away? Would it chase her?
She wanted to run for her own safety, but she found her concern a little more powerful. Hunching down, she crawled forward and scooted to get as close as she could. She stopped a few feet away, close enough, she hoped, to be heard but still afford her a chance to run if it looked like she needed to.
"Are... are you okay?" she peeped softly, putting her paw over her muzzle as if to hide.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:53 pm
Gazi was quite intent on enjoying himself and was relishing in the feeling of the grass scratching a small itch on his back that had been driving him to distraction when a voice stopped him dead mid-roll.
OH NO. He'd been caught! Surely he would be punished for leaving his post and for leaving the pack unguarded.....
The peculiar smell of a leopard, rather than another hyena, finally hitting his nose snapped Gazi out of his mental castigation. He rolled onto his front and stared up at the female leopard in confusion. Where had she come from? And who was she? She'd spoken. What was it that she had said?
"Er," said Gazi, very creatively. "Uh, yes? I am fine, thank you?"
His answer sounded uncertain even to him. He was quite failing to give the image of intimidating guard right now. Still, she hadn't attacked him and from the way he'd been distracted by the lovely grass, she certainly would have had the opportunity.
"What are you doing here?" he asked a bit gruffly, truly embarrassed at being caught by a stranger.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:04 pm
Ume watched him with big, sad eyes, unsure of herself or the matter of her safety. She was unused to strange, new creatures, and had to assume this one was probably stronger than her and liable to eat her, because she had no evidence otherwise. Her mother told her stories about how terrible the world outside their little home was, and why she would never be able to survive in it.
She did not want to find her mother had been right all this time.
Looking at Gazi's feet rather than making eye contact with him, the timid leopard nodded her head to hear he was okay. She had only just lowered her paw from her face to convince herself to be a little braver, but his gruff tone made her put both paws back over her face. She whined, ears back.
"I'm very sorry, I thought... I thought you might have been hurt... or... maybe... attacked by a bee... or... well. I'm very sorry. I know it's not my place to speak with strangers... you're probably very angry with me for disrupting your peace..."
And ugly ink stain like her, as her mother always said, had no right to speak out or make trouble. She was best not seen or heard, and just fulfilling her duties as a caregiver in silence while thankful to have any kind of role in life at all.
Her mother had really... not been very nice.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 2:39 pm
Gazi was not a hyena well known for his intelligence or levels of empathy. However, he was not so thick-headed that he didn't pick up on the leopardess's nervousness and genuine fear. And despite how he'd been as a pup, Gazi really wasn't that grumpy of a guy. He wanted to be well liked and to have friends and such. So he really did feel bad when the leopardess looked so upset.
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry," he hastened to apologize, dropping the gruff tone and only sounding sincere.
It occurred to him belatedly that maybe she'd never seen a hyena before. It would explain the odd reaction. As strange as it seemed to Gazi, it made some sense. So, he awkwardly but resolutely set about trying to reassure her. He sat back on his haunches and grinned his best hyena grin, wagging his tail to show his friendliness and lack of threat.
"I didn't mean to scare you or anything. You just startled me is all," said Gazi in a cajoling, warm tone. He elected to speak to her the way he would handle the really nervous, little pups. "I probably looked really silly. I was actually just rolling in the grass because it felt good," he admitted sheepishly.
"My name is Gazi, I'm a hyena and my pack lives around here. Back there," he added, pointing a paw to the quite obvious dark blot on the horizon behind him. It's dark, brooding appearance was only heightened by the soft sunlight around them.
"What's your name?" he asked, encouragingly.
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Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:55 pm
"You don't have to be sorry, sir," Ume said quietly, "I'm a stranger in your land and I intruded on a private moment. I'm very sorry to have done it and I hope you can forgive me."
She kept her head bowed respectfully, ears back and her eyes downcast.
This was a leopardess used to having to serve. True enough, it was no royalty that she worked for, never belonging to a pride or a colony in her life. It was just her domineering mother, who seemed to only have a child so she could have someone to rule over. She was too vile to be accepted into any home, most likely, though Ume had never known better and thought it was a normal way to be treated.
She learned her place very quickly. Now, even though her mother was gone, and she was free to travel with a lion who was the greatest thing to ever come into her life, she still held on to the lessons she had been taught. Respectful, quiet, apologetic. She was always wrong, and should always apologize.
"A hyena?" she repeated. "My mother used to say she hoped I would be eaten by Hyena when I brought back unsatisfactory food... do... do you eat leopards?"
"O-oh, I'm Ume. Please don't eat me, Mister Gazi."
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