The Lion King

Myô moved stealthily through the tall yellow grass of the savanna. He opened his mouth, and breathed in the scent of his quarry. It was still unaware, moving slowly without worry. Not for long. Myô had been taken in and cared for by the lions here, and one lioness had taught him the ways of the lion. Though he still belonged to that pride, he preferred to travel alone.

He took another few steps forward, and stopped. Crap. He had just flicked his tail upward. He might as well had sent up a flare. But, strange, it seemed that his prey hadn't been startled and bolted; just paused, and moved on again. Maybe it was mentally challenged. Oh well, no worries. That simply made it easier.

Digging his claws into the firm, dusty ground, he sprinted through the grass, and was just about to bite his lion fangs into its neck when he paused. Now that he was up close, it didn't smell like any quarry he hunted. He crept along, and peered through the grass. It was peering back!

"Oh," he said, sitting back on his haunches, "You're not a gazelle."

Kita had been traveling for a while, going from oceans, to rivers, to streams. she didnt really know where she was going, exactly, just that she was going. she missed her old travel companion, and wondered where the badgar +Anima was at the moment. when she had run out of currents to swim with, Kita walked through the unknown prairies. the tall grass engulfed her to her shoulders as she headed no where.

her stomache rumbled as she spotted a herd of gazelle's grazing in the grasslands. she moved swiftly toward the unsuspecting herd, knives in hand, when she spotted a piece of yellow, bushy fur shoot up from the grass. the tail fell out of sight, and kita pondered whether or not she could handle a lion. her body was on full alert to fend off any incoming attacks as she continued toward her prey. faint rustling in the grass made her stop again, this time in full defencive mode. she stared in the direction of the near-silent warning of death, the grip on her knives tightening. in a few moments, the lion's eyes were staring back.

strangely, though, they didn't look like the eyes of a lion. true, they were frightening and cold, but they were more human than lion. but why would a human be here in the savanna? she realized that she could have asked herself the same question. her contemplations were confirmed by the sound of the boys voice.

she sighed, rellieved of not becoming someone's snack. "no, im not. if you want to see gazelles, there's a herd over there." she pointed, then looked back curiously at the man. "who are you?"

Myô raised an eyebrow. Who was this person? In his peripheal vision, he spotted the gazelle scent that he hade mistaken this girl for. Was he down wind? No, but the wind was daigonal. How did he get confused? And who was this person? There was a reason that he lived in the godforsaken place: no people.

When he became a +anima at age sixteen, he dropped off of the face of the earth and escaped from humanity. People were annoying. As if to prove this point, when he professed that to the people at his school, they nicknamed him "Scrooge."

He narrowed his eyes and looked pointily at the woman. "Myô." he said shortly. "Why are you here?"

"i was traveling and i stumbled across this place..." her stomache rumbled again, "i was about to hunt some of those gazelle when you showed up..." kita stared back to the grazing gazelles, avoiding the boy's gaze. he kept sending out these cold 'unwelcome' vibes toward her, making her feel quite small. and stupid. still watching the animals, she asked him, "well what about you? why are you out here in the wild?" her voice trying to disguise her growing tention towards him.

Myô stood. He was over six feet, and he towered over the small woman. "I live here." the man said shortly. That was the truth. Before Myô had run away, he lived in a town not far from here. This was where he came when he needed to be alone, this was where he had become a +anima.

He chomped down on the toothpick that he was holding between his teeth at that time. "Listen, lady," Myô said, as her stomach rumbled again. "Humans don't come here. If I get you food for tonight and show you the quickest way out, will you leave?"

It didn't matter that he felt a kinship to this person, it didn't even matter that she was here; humans come here often enough that it isn't annoying. But he was worried if she took it to herself to make him her friend, to make him smile. The last person who did that...his Sari...no. She had to leave.

the man stood, looming over her as he made his proposition. why did everyone seem to underestimate her? probobly because i'm a girl kita thought.

She lifted her twin knives for Myô to see,"I think I'll be alright, but thank you for the hospitality." she smiled, being as polite as she could to the stranger,"Say, if humans don't come here, why do you live here?" maybe for the same reason that i travel alone.... Kita had never been accepted by people. the most anyone would ever say to her was a simple 'hi', and that was seldom. the only person who had ever really accepted her had gotten seperated from her a while ago.

as Kita deliberated, she noticed how his hands bore no weapons, and decided to make a proposition of her own. "how about i get us some food, and you can show me the nearest watering hole?" she was already moving swiftly towards the herd of elk, her knives poised, when she got her answer.

This girl was way too snotty. This was his territory. Not some haughty woman's who thought she could best an honorary lion. A small growl tore through his lips, and he snarled, "I live here so I can keep away from the likes of you." He crouched back down; he hadn't brought back in his +anima, so he dug his claws into the floor and pushed forward. In an instant he was bounding along beside, then in front of the girl. She hadn't given him her name, he realized. Oh well, that made it easier. The good news was that she wasn't trying to be nice anymore.

He sprinted through the grass, and stopped short of the gazelles. He sniffed, and picked a weaker smelling one. He crouched, and crawled on his stomach. At the exact moment the gazelles looked up at the loud woman who was still following, he sprang. Myô landed on the back of the gazelle, and dug his claws in. As it bucked, he bit into its neck. Warm blood spurted onto his face, and with the extra grip, he reached below and onto the gazelle's stomach and tore at its flesh.

It began to falter. Finally, he cut the throat of his fallen prey. He turned around, to see the reaction of the girl.

Kita watched the morbid scene take place, and was both amazed by the +anima's grace, and saddened by that fact that he didn't seem to want to get along. kita caught up to one of the fleeing gazelles and danced with it, carving out its major organs until it fell, dead. she turned to the blood-stained boy and his prey and smiled a sweet smile which gravely contrasted the crimson splattered across her face.

"nice hunting." she complimented, before turning back to the her dead prey and gathering the head so she could drag it along. "so umm..." she said, not really sure what to say after his comment,"if you really dont want me here... i'll go... but may i at least eat and pack up the left overs?" Khe never liked to waste, especially sence she had no idea when she would get the chance to hunt again. she had originally hoped to stay in there for a while, since the food source seemed abundant, but she didnt want to impose if she was not welcome.

Myô didn't answer. The only thought that was running through his head was why she saw the need to kill another gazelle. It wasn't like he wouldn't have shared. Lions eat a lot, but not a whole gazelle.

Her question was whether or not she could pack up the leftovers. What a stupid question. Duh, though his pride wouldn't mind extra food that they didn't have to hunt for. Myô stood, and gathered a pile of dry twigs and grass. He pulled out a piece of flint, and began to start a fire.

People came and people went. Some tried to befriend him, but left because they thought it was futile. It wasn't, really. Someone had done it before. Sari... To tell the truth, Myô didn't mind human company, but not many people had the tolerance to try and make him like them. So, Myô didn't answer. He would let her decide.

He pulled out a small knife he had jacked last time he was in town and carved out a piece of flesh. This he held over the fire he had made, and awaited her decision.

Kita brought her carcass by the fire and cut out a large piece of bloodied flesh, sitting as she placed it on her knife over the fire. she had always hunted for herself, so she never really knew how much other people ate. this place seemed to be his home, so she had thought that mabey he would share his food with his family, if he had one.

the boy had'nt given her an answer for the other questions, so she took the resounding silence as a 'yes'. twisting her knife around like one would a marshmellow skewer, she asked him, "would you mind if stayed? even for a little while?"

Myô pulled the slab of meat out of the fire. He used a claw to cut it open, to see how pink it was. He put it back in the fire. Not sure if the silence he was creating was an unconcious effort to say no, go away you cretin, or if there was something else involved. There was no physical attraction to her, but that was how it was in the beginning with Sari.

Crossing his legs, he said, "I don't care."

Once again he pulled out the meat and checked the inside. He took a bite.

Myô didnt seem to like her all that much, but she was happy that she could stay. the savanna had an abundant food source, and it was very beautiful there. plus she wasnt alone again. he was an +anima, like her, so they at least had something in common. she smiled to herself, checking the pinkness of the meat as she did so, and wondered what caused the man to become so anti-social.

"..thank you," she said, "i really appreshiate it. it's been a while since i was allowed to stay in one place." Kita was never welcome anywhere. For some reason, everyone always got bad vibes about her. she would never impose on someone if she was unwelcome, so she would normally spend her nights sleeping under some body of water until morning came and someone would notice her presence. the jungle and the ocean were the only two places she was ever really 'allowed' to stay. after taking a bite out of her own meat, she remembered she forgot to tell him her name,"I'm Kita, by the way."

"Mmmnn," he grumbled, partly because there was food in his mouth, and partly acknowledging her name. He swallowed, took another bite, and looked up at the sky.There were pink streaks running across a darkening sky. Night was coming fast.

When he swallowed the mouthful, he sighed, and said, "Listen, if you plan on staying here, I need you to come to the dens with me. Sleeping outside isn't safe; there are rouge lions about. I killed their leader two years ago, so they're kinda mad at humans."

It wasn't like Myô to be polite enough to offer a place to stay. If he hadn't met Sari, he wouldn't have even let her stay. But Sari had come into his life. She was a life-changing event.

"thank you," she smiled. perhapse he isnt such a bad guys after all... Kita thought as she finished her cooked gazelle. Once they both had finished, she put out the fire with some dirt and picked up the head of her prey. she drug the dead animal with her as he showed her to the lions dens.

"Wow," her eyes wandered around the mini caverns, "they're huge! you must really like it here, huh." she said as her sight rested on the man.

((what happened to the other posts?))