The bright, sunny day was perfect for what she was doing. She didn't have to worry about rain or wind or anything else, and could just enjoy the heat on her back coupled with the wetness of her paws. Meera had only recently left her mother and siblings, and while she had been taught how to hunt and care for herself... she wanted to try her hand at catching fish.
Which... wasn't as easy as she thought it'd be. She couldn't just jumped into the water - she had discovered that the hard way, when doing so had made the fish scatter it panic - and she couldn't just dip her paw in to swipe them up. Again, they would scatter the second her paw touched the surface. How did predators hunt in water? This seemed impossible.
That said, she was also enjoying watching said fish. It was fascinating seeing them glide through the water like it was air, their scales shimmering in the sunlight, but this didn't solve her fishing problem.
With a pout, the cheeton leaned back on her haunches. She was getting hungry, and she would need to settle with hunting like normal. That was a shame. She wanted to try something new!
Nearby, a certain cheetah was walking aimlessly down the side of the watering hole, lost in his own thoughts and muttering unhappily to himself. He was losing sleep and it was effecting his mood during the day. With a vigorous shake of his head, he looked up grumpily at the sound of splashing nearby.
There was a feline ahead of him. A... lioness? He wasn't really sure. She looked kind of similar, but at the same time, she sort of reminded him of... well... a cheetah, and wasn't that confusing. He clearly needed more sleep than he'd thought. One thing was for certain though: she was young, with fur that glimmered in the sunlight and seemed to reflect against the water.
He eyed her for a moment, before curiosity got the better of him and he approached slowly. She was smaller than him, and this was a rare moment where he was faced with a creature that he knew wouldn't be able to pick a fight with him. Tail swishing behind him, Roku sat silently beside her and observed as her paw lifted slowly. Was she fishing?
Tongue sticking out in concentration, Meera lifted her paw in one last ditch effort to fish. Unfortunately for her, the fish she was aiming for had seen her shadow and darted away.
With a sigh, the cheeton stared dead-pan at the lack of any more fish surrounding her. What a waste of a day... But then breathing beside her caught her attention.
Jolting, the female glanced over at the cheetah that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, but she quickly smiled and chirped, "Oh hello! I didn't hear you come up." She probably should be more concerned with a random male sitting beside her, but she was the friendly sort and admittedly, she would always have a soft spot for cheetahs, what with her mother being one.
Scooting herself around to face him fully, she purred, "I'm Meera."
Roku raised an eyebrow at this cheerful female. One minute she was dejected, and then the next, bouncy and happy, as if her failure had rolled off of her shoulders like it was nothing. A strange one, indeed. Luckily for her, he wasn't the type to be interested in harming her. No, he had only come to watch.
As she introduced herself, he tilted an ear to the side and blinked back at her. "Roku." Glancing back at the water, the cheetah considered whether to ask his question. Was it too forward?
Ah, well. He wasn't one for being subtle.
"Are you... a lioness?"
Humming innocently, Meera lifted a paw and twisted it from side to side as if it were a scale. "Close. I'm half lion." She wasn't too surprised about being asked that, though she was a little surprised he'd noticed so quickly. Most mistook her early on, and didn't realize until after they had been around her for a while.
"My dad is a lion, but my mom is a cheetah." She said this proudly with her chest puffed out. She was proud of her lineage, despite the cautions her mother had given her of others not thinking the same.
That explained that then. Roku hadn't known that that was a possibility. Sure, the two species could mate (he knew this one first-hand) but he hadn't known that offspring could actually come from it.
.... That did sort of make him wonder, but he shook his head. No, what were the chances of that?
He turned his attention back to the chirpy girl, "Huh, that's interesting." He paused, "What were you doing, by the way?"
At that question, she pouted down at the water, "I was trying to fish, but... I've never done it before." She sighed, "Guess I'll just have to give up for now."
So he had been right. She was trying to fish... poorly. Granted, he wasn't amazing at it either, preferring to chase his prey down than try to dive into water for it. That was more of a leopard or lion thing to do. He wouldn't be much help to her, unfortunately.
... But perhaps he could point her in the right direction.
"You could try seeking one of the ocean prides to teach you." His ears flattened against his head, "But you should be careful of which one. Some prides are..." Here, he recalled his encounter with the Outlands, "... unfriendly towards outsiders."
Roku hummed in thought, trying to think of the name of the pride he had heard of. He'd never visited himself, but he was told of them. They were beach-goers who welcomed strangers among their lands. They would likely be the best bet for her. What were their name, again...?
... As yes, now he remembered. "You could try the Bahari'mtoto. They live alongside the ocean, and they're a friendly bunch. I'm sure one of them would be happy to teach you."
Learn from someone? Wait, ocean lions?! That sounded amazing! Her eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought, and Meera almost glowed at the prospect of meeting creatures like that. Did they have fins like fish?
"I've never thought of that. I'd love to meet them!" Although, she paused in her enthusiasm as she remembered her current goal: finding the Pridelands. She couldn't do both....
.... But no one said that she couldn't pursue the ocean afterwards. She already knew that she wouldn't stick around the Pridelands, not unless she found something to hold her there... but she was too much of a wandering soul. Even living with her family in the roguelands had felt stifling to her.
And who knows what else she would see on the way. All of her mother's stories returned to her then, and the cheeton was almost vibrating at the thought of seeing those stories come to life.
She wanted to start now! Like lightning, the adolescent was on her feet and bolting away, yelling "Thank you!" behind her as she went.
Which left one very confused cheetah behind her. He didn't think that was he'd said was enough to warrant immediate movement, but he supposed that she was young and energetic.
... Still, that was very strange.
