Okavango

[dakota]

Jabari lay there on his side, one of his eyes had already opened checking that the lioness hadn't bolted while he slept, and now he opened the other eye as well, when he heard footsteps getting closer to where they lay.
His claws slowly unsheathed themselves, and then the cheetah moved himself slightly so he was in position to launch himself if he should need to.

Into his view came the lion,heading towards the water by the looks, but no sign of Sera..maybe she had already moved. Relaxing his stance, he turned his head in the direction of the lioness,watching as her tail flicked around and her ears flattened instinctively, she was still scared of everything and everyone.

Pushing himself up to his paws, Jabari stretched getting the kinks out of his neck and then shook himself vigorously, dust and small dried debris falling back down to the ground. Taking a few steps he stopped and raised his head letting the morning sun fall on his scarred face, making it tingle, which in turn made him smile..his face wasn't dead just yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karensha lay stretched out on the rock, warmth spreading over her underbelly, her eyes casually moving taking all in. She watched as Maji got to his paws and looked around and then he spotted her and started running in her direction, pouncing on her laughing. A smile broke out on the snow leopards face and she gave him a slow lick down and over his cheek.
"morning little one.. you ready for a swim ? but.. we'll do it the easy way first. You need to climb onto my back and move up onto my neck and get all your paws holding on tight in my fur. No matter what happens you don't let go... no matter what...ok?"

Lying there waiting for the cub, Karensha heard a rustle of the bushes and her reflexes kicked in, she grabbed Maji with her paws and pushed him over to her other side where her body fully hid him, protecting the cub. Her teeth were bared and she let out a snarl waiting.
Casually through the foliage ambled a young male lion whose cream coloured skin contrasted amazingly with a lush dark brown mane, but what caught her gaze was the shape of a scar on his cheek.. it was , she wasn't quite sure, but looked like a hook.
This place is like a family reunion without the family, how many more cats are going to walk through the bushes.

"So, there are more people around here and not just a grumpy lion and cheelion.But I'm guessing that you travel with the two I met last night."

Karensha watched and listened to him, she hadn't seen him before on all her travels, with his colouring she would have remembered him, which meant he wasn't sent from her father and his cronies. Relaxing slightly, she pulled the cub out from behind her and placed him between her paws gently and met the lions eyes.
" I don't travel with anyone, except now... I guess this one, where I go he goes, but there's a few others over the other side, we all seemed to be using the same place to... ."
Stopping herself karensha was about to say 'hide' but clamped her lips shut tight for a moment, and then licking them wet she carried on.
"to... rest a while."

[blaqknoise]

As Basilisk approached the water he saw Karensha talking to the lion from last night who had stolen his and Sera's food. He was tempted to go "talk" to him again, but decided he wasn't worth the trouble.

"I don't travel with anyone, except now... I guess this one, where I go he goes, but there's a few others over the other side, we all seemed to be using the same place to... to... rest a while."

Basilisk noticed that she had stuttered on the last part. He would have to ask her about that later. There could be an interesting story behind it.
Not knowing what else to do Basilisk decided to walk back to the cave to dispose of the meat properly.

Upon arriving, he noticed that the meat had disappeared. He found it odd, seeing as it was spoiled and no one had taken it while it was fresh during the night. Sniffing the air, he caught the scent of the meat and followed it to see who had taken it.

The walk wasn't too far. He had followed the now very strong scent up to a fallen tree. he walked slowly towards it, cautious of what might be in there.

[Kirsui]

The white lioness watched closely as the lion with dredlocks came closer. However, the lion didn't stay for a long time and soon enough he left. She visibly relaxed, releasing a breath that she apparently had been holding. She lowered her head slightly and closed her eyes. There were just too many lions around to her liking.

She lifted her head and glanced at the cheetah from behind her hair. He was standing up, his face pointing towards the sky. Clearly he was enjoying the warmth. She smiled slightly, then slowly pushed herself up on her paws and strolled towards the water. She crouched down for a drink, enjoying the feeling of the cool water.

However, her enjoyment faded when she lifted her gaze and noticed an unknown male lion stand close to Karensha at the other side of the water. She froze, still crouched down, and stared at the lion from behind her long hair.

---

Sera's ears perked up when she heard footsteps. She had finished her meal a while ago, and had been cleaning off her paws and face. She tilted her head, trying to determine what type of animal was approaching her. She thought it might have been around the size of a lion, so she decided to take a look and see if she should stay hidden or get ready to bolt.

Quietly she crawled towards the edge of her hiding spot and peeked from through the leaves. When she spotted a black lion with white dredlocks, she grinned momentarily.

"Well hello, Basilisk", she said, but remained hidden, deciding to see what the lion would do.
"What brings you here?"

[epppe]

Sefu saw that he startled the leopard and didn't want to try look threatening and listened to what she said. The small studder in her voice caused him to wonder what she was trying to hide. Not wanting to offend her though, he decided not to ask about it.

"So you travel with no one else, I can see why if it was between loneliness or keeping the lion and cheelion company." He said with a smirk on his face trying to mae her relax a bit. Looking across the pool of water, Sefu saw that there was a lioness on the other side staring at him. He was confused as to why the lioness was staring at him.

"Um, is that one of your friends over there?" Sefu asked while turning to the leopard,"Because she's kinda creeping me out."

[blaqknoise]

"Well hello, Basilisk."

Basilisk was startled for a second, but recognized the voice as Sera's.

"What brings you here?"

"The smell of spoiled meat that was fresh last night waiting for you. Is this where you were all night?"

He walked up infront of the tree and pushed away the leaves, he was able to see her now.

"It doesn't seem very comfortable in here."

[dakota]

While Jabari held his face upto the morning sun he could hear the lioness rise from where she had spent the night and slowly move past him down to the water. Lowering his head the cheetah looked around, seeing who was there with them and who might have wandered off.
He couldn't see Basilisk or the lioness he had gone hunting with, but his eyes narrowed when he saw who was talking with karensha and the cub. It was the lion who had put an instant end to the other's kill from the night before. Watching the snow leopard's expression he could see she wasn't being threatened in any way and her pose was one of relaxation.

Turning away his gaze fell on the small lioness who was now frozen in fear. She had seen the lion with Karensha and for some reason it had sent her into a state of shock, could it be possible that the ones who had attacked her and left her like she was, were some of her own. Standing where he was he looked her over more specifically noting the way her limbs were shaped and the scars and bruises, but most of all just the fear that permeated from her.

Moving slowly Jabari made his way to where she was, but before he actually reached her he started talking, so she wouldnt be taken unawares that she was being approached from behind.
" I see you bet me to the water, tis another amazing sunrise we were greeted with."
Beside her now, he let his front paws slide down in the soil and then his body so he was beside her at the waters edge.
" He wont hurt you, I told you I would protect you while you are here."
Pausing the cheetah followed her gaze watching the cub between the snow leopards front paws, smiling at the picture they made.
" I think nows the time to introduce myself .. my name is Jabari, and yours is ? "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karensha had been about to take to the water with Maji on her back as she had seen Basilisk down at the waters edge and was going to give him a little good morning surprise, but this new lion had turned up and now when she looked back he had gone again. For some reason she felt disapointment, and then shook her head getting rid of such foolish thoughts, her lilac fur tuft settling back down shading her eyes and turned to face the lion.

" You met them last night ? how, when ?.. I didn't see you anywhere when I crept up on the lion, all he was doing was hiding behind a tree by himself with a silly look on his face."

Looking away from him, Karensha leant her head down and licked the top of Maji's head.
"come on little one, climb on and remember to do what I asked of you or you'll be mistaken for a fat fish otherwise."
Bringing her head up she met the lions eyes again as he spoke.

"Um, is that one of your friends over there? because she's kinda creeping me out."

Following the direction where he had been looking , Karensha saw the sad lioness, who seemed to be frozen watching herself and the lion and beside her the Cheetah.
"Friends.. none of us are friends... we've all really only just met the past few days, and that one who you say is creeping you out, I think she needs to be given alot of space, something bad has happened to her."
Lowering her voice, karensha spoke in a whisper,
" I know her look, I've seen it often enough staring back up at me when I catch my own reflection in the water sometimes."

[Lyonize]

"come on little one, climb on and remember to do what I asked of you or you'll be mistaken for a fat fish otherwise."

Maji did as he was told. With a high pitched grunt, the cub jumped up onto Karenshas back and held onto her neck tightly.

[dakota]

Karensha tossed her head to get rid of old memories and bought her chin up determinedly and looked again at the lion.
"And you are ?"
All of a sudden she heard the cub make a noise as he lept off the ground as high as his little legs would allow, and at the same time she made herself squat slightly so as to catch him. Feeling him land she rose back up to her full height, as she felt the pads of his paws move up her skin to latch onto her purple fur that was layered down her neck. Feeling strands tighten she knew he was in place ready to go.

Taking a few steps so her paws were in the water, the snow leopard stopped and spoke to the dark maned lion,
"If you are hungry there is still some left over from a kill I made last night, I didn't see anyone else out there chasing game, so if the others haven't eaten it all, you're welcome to it."

Testing the ground beneath her paws, she wanted it sturdy so she wouldn't slip and surprise the cub unnecessarily. Finding it too her liking she moved further in deeper, knowing that now the water should be lapping at Maji. Paddling to keep herself afloat, she gave the cub a last reminder.

"Remember Maji, if I go under hold your breath, but keep your eyes open, you never know what you can see down there... and keep hanging on, it'll be fun."
Carrying on, Karensha kept paddling, loving the feel of the cool water flowing over her, nothing restricting her. Seeing the other side come up too soon, she changed directions and moved around in a wide circle, and then plunged under and came back up quickly not forgetting the cub was on her back.

[Kirsui]

"The smell of spoiled meat that was fresh last night waiting for you. Is this where you were all night?"

Sera flattened her ears momentarily. Basilisk had brought meat for her and waited for her to come and eat it...? She felt quilty of not going back to the cave for the night, but when Basilisk came into her view her expression was normal again.

"It doesn't seem very comfortable in here."

Sera shrugged.
"It covers me from view, and I can jump and bolt into any direction if I need to."
She shook her head.
"I was too annoyed at the new guy, needed some time alone."
She paused.
"... Not that it helped much... Plus there's still some yelling I need to do to Karensha."

---

The white lioness didn't notice the cheetah come next to her, her gaze was glued on the stranger lion. It wasn't until the cheetah spoke that she could turn to stare at him, but even still she seemed frozen on the spot. She barely heard what the cheetah said, until...

"I think nows the time to introduce myself .. my name is Jabari, and yours is ?"

The lioness blinked in susprise, as if she hadn't been expecting the question. Then she flicked her ears, hinting that she would have wanted to flatten them but decided against it on the last minute.

It took her a while before she made any sign of answering to Jabari. She just stared at him, looking into his eyes as if in an attempt to find out what his intentions to ask her name were. Then suddenly she relaxed, finally getting over being frozen because of the stranger lion. She took a deep breath, and faintly made an attempt to reply. No voice came out, but she formed the word "Meri" with her lips, hoping that Jabari would understand her reply.

[dakota]

Jabari stayed by her side, not moving nor speaking, letting her stare all she wanted. He didn't turn his scarred side away from her, he just let her be and waited.
Blinking slowly, he finally saw her body relax and her mouth started to move. His eyes left hers and fell to her mouth watching it form a word.

"I think you said your name is Meri ? if not I'm sure you will correct me when the time is right."
Smiling at her quickly, Jabari looked away so as not to unsettle her and watched as the snow leopard started moving around in the water with the little cub perched high on her neck, it was indeed a moment to relax in and take in the sight.

[epppe]

Sefu stood in confusion watching as the leopard jumped into the water and swam away. He always thought cats weren't much of swimmers but seeing how she was swimming just proved him wrong. Remembering that he never answered he question though and hoped she would still be able to hear him.

"The names Sefu by the way," He yelled to the leopard hoping she caught that.

Looking back to the other side of the shore, He saw that the lioness was still there but with the cheetah that he saw last night. He decided to see if he could meet the leopard on the other side and to also see why the lioness was staring at him. The water was something he didn't want to travel in so he just walked along the edge of it knowing that it might take more time, but he won't be as tired.

Walking along the side of the water, Sefu began wondering how he missed seeing all these other cats around. His thoughts then went on to what happened to the other two that he met last night and wanted to see if they were still mad. He just shrugged it off since it wasn't really a problem.

He was close to the other side now and looked oer to where the leopard was with her cub. It seemed like she was just going in circles now, probably to keep the cub entertained. Walking over to where the lioness and cheetah were, he thought he could atleast introduce himself to those two to pass the time.

"Uh, hey there." Sefu said casually, "I didn't think there were this many people around, but whatever I guess, might as well say hello so I don't end up on your guy's bad sides like the other two."

[blaqknoise]

"I was too annoyed at the new guy, needed some time alone."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I was wondering if you had decided to leave here already. er... not that it would matter to me, but you know..."

"there's still some yelling I need to do to Karensha."

"Don't be too harsh with Karensha though. I don't think she meant to scare away the herd. I doubt she even knows that she did that. Plus she gave me the meat that I brought for us. I'm surprised that you ate the meat after it was spoiled though."

Basilisk backed out from the tree and turned around.

"I'll leave you now in case you want to be alone some more. I'm going down to the water and sit around in the sun or something. If you want to you can come."

Basilisk stood there for a moment to see if Sera would jump out before he started walking. He hoped that the thief from last night was gone.

[Kirsui]

"I think you said your name is Meri ? if not I'm sure you will correct me when the time is right."

Jabari had turned away from her already, and it was more than likely that he missed the fact that the lioness smiled faintly at him. It was the first smile from her during the whole time she had been with these other felines, and from the looks of it she was slightly unsure of how to smile, as if she hadn't done it for a while. Either way, she was feeling slightly happier now that someone had cared enough to ask her name.

"Uh, hey there. I didn't think there were this many people around, but whatever I guess, might as well say hello so I don't end up on your guy's bad sides like the other two."

Meri's eyes widened and her gaze snapped at the lion. She tensed visibly and could only stare up at this Sefu with flattened ears.

---

"-- Plus she gave me the meat that I brought for us. I'm surprised that you ate the meat after it was spoiled though."

Sera lifted an eyebrow curiously and wondered what Basilisk had had to do to get t he piece of meat from Karensha. Either way, she didn't find eating spoiled meat that strange. She was used to it, after all she had to eat pretty much what ever there was left for her.

"I'll leave you now in case you want to be alone some more. I'm going down to the water and sit around in the sun or something. If you want to you can come."

Sera chuckled faintly and pounced down from the tree and followed Basilisk.
"Naw, I think I'll come with you and see what the others are up to. Could use some water too."

[dakota]

Jabari watched from the corner of his eye as the dark maned lion made it's way around the waterhole getting closer and closer to where himself and Meri lay. He knew the lioness was afraid of him, just by the way she reacted when she first spotted him talking with the snow leopard, how she would react now when he was closing the distance, Jabari was about to find out.

"Uh, hey there, I didn't think there were this many people around, but whatever I guess, might as well say hello so I don't end up on your guy's bad sides like the other two."

Jabari sensed Meri's total unease without even having to look at her, slowly stood to his paws and blocked her view of the lion. Casually he addressed the comment while giving the newcomer a good look over, for now not sensing any hostility emanating from him.

"Yes, I saw last night how you cut out the cheelion and Basilisks fun in catching their kill, you're lucky that little hellcat didn't take you on."
The Cheetah gave a little chuckle remembering the fury he had seen on her face, not to mention the lions, he was sure a fight was going to be in the offering, but they had walked away.
"So it's introductions all round then,! I am Jabari, this is Meri"
Still standing in the way so the lion couldn't see her clearly the cheetah rushed on so as to move the subject.
"And those out there swimming are Karensha and Maji."

Looking back at him Jabari stared hard
"And you are ?"

[blaqknoise]

"Naw, I think I'll come with you and see what the others are up to. Could use some water too."

"Alright. I saw the lion who stole our kill last night down there earlier, so hopefully he's gone now."

Once they had finally arrived Basilisk looked around. The lion had moved from karensha and was now talking to the cheetah and the new lioness he still had yet to meet. He looked towards the water and saw Karensha and the cub swimming in it. Basilisk walked over to a rock near the water and lay down there.

"Having a morning swim, eh?" he said to Karensha.

[epppe]

Sefu was glad to see that someone here didn't show any hostility to him at first glance, but it seemed that he was protecting the lionness for some reason. It seemed like everyone he was meeting was either hiding, or protecting something. He just ignored it and just tried to keep the conversation going with the cheetah.

"Mine name is Sefu." When he said that, he noticed that the lion he met last night had come. The lion just headed straight to the water.

"Looks like that lion is still mad at me for taking his girlfriends kill. Whatever I guess, he can stay mad." Looking back over to the scarred cheetah, he examined the right side of jabari's face and it seemed like the scars were caused from the burn.

"So, the both of you just here for the time being or are you with the lion and the cheelion?"

[Kirsui]

Sera followed Basilisk, despite the fact that he had mentioned the stranger lion from the previous day was by the water. She was thirsty, and depending on the lion's attitude she might be able to let the matter rest without wasting energy into a useless argument.

When they arrived at the water, she spotted the stranger lion at the opposite side. He was apparently talking with Jabari, while the cheetah stood between him and the white lioness she had briefly seen the previous night.

Sera narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Was the lioness afraid of the male lion? If so, had he done something to cause that? If he had, he was certainly worse than just a thief.

"Having a morning swim, eh?"

The cheelion blinked and turned her attention at Karensha swimming around in the water. She didn't say anything, just watched the leopard with a blank face and waited for her to reply to Basilisk's question.

---

Meri relaxed slightly when Jabari stood between her and Sefu, but she was still very tense. She didn't like to be around the lion even though he wasn't acting hostile.

"Looks like that lion is still mad at me for taking his girlfriends kill."

Meri blinked. Lion? She turned her head quickly to scan around, and spotted a lion with dreadlocks at the opposite side of the water. She stared at him now pretty much the same way she had stared at Sefu before, with wide eyes and flattened ears.

[Lyonize]

"Remember Maji, if I go under hold your breath, but keep your eyes open, you never know what you can see down there... and keep hanging on, it'll be fun."

Maji was still a little scared of the water from last time but was willing to try again. As Karensha stepped into the watter, Maji could see the surface rising toward him. Soon he was partially submerged. When Karensha began to go under, Maji held his breath and closed his eyes tightly. As he went under, all the noise from above the surface stopped. It was silent and cool down there under the water.

Slowly, the timmid cub opened his right eye and then his left eye. The cub almost gasped at what he saw. Fish swam around beneath Karensha. Logs and rocks were scattered about on the bottom. All too soon, Karensha came back up. Maji was sure he could have held his breath longer. He wanted to go back down. He liked it down there. It was quiet and peaceful.

The lightly furred cub shook his head to get the water off. Standing up on Karenshas back, he walked along her back untill he was above her hind legs watching as her tail swayed back and forth in the water. He looked hard trying to see the fish and things he saw under the water. Realizing he couldn't see much, Maji turned and carefully walked up to where he was. About half way up Karenshas back, the cubs paw slipped. With a small grunt, Majis chest hit Karenshas back. Perhaps he should be a bit more careful. This time going slower, Maji climbed up on Karenshas neck and laid down among her wet, mauve hair, his paws resting on her forehead.

Looking out at where they were going as the snow leopard swam, a visible grin spread across the cubs muzzle. He was really enjoying this.

[dakota]

Karensha didn't want to leave the water so soon and just leisurely swam around,she could hear voices, sounded like the others were awake now as well but didn't pay it much attention.

Not wanting the cub to get a chill, she moved around with her back to where she last saw the others on land, and called out to Maji that they were going under water one last time. She would go under all the way over to the rocks, and then they could lay and dry out from the suns rays.
"Hold your breath Maji, we're going".

Kicking her large paws strongly Karensha tilted her head and went down in a dive under the coolness, blocking out the sun but watching as the rays came through highlighting everything in their way. Blinking she could see the rock coming up closer and to make things even better there were smaller rocks under the water where she could land and hopefully in one jump make it up onto the warm rock.

Her front paws touched the stone and her claws unsheathed a little helping to grab on and balance.As she emerged from the water in one graceful leap water dripping and pooling from her body, her eyes were still partly closed and her lilac fur was draped down clinging to her nose also blocking her vision, she opened her mouth and spat out the collected water like a fountain and shook herself. At the same moment her front paw touched some fur that seemed to be very wet like hers.
FLicking her head back to clear her view, her eyes flew all the way open and she just stared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"My name is Sefu... Looks like that lion is still mad at me for taking his girlfriends kill. Whatever I guess, he can stay mad."

Jabari watched, as the lion before him had his head turned watching Basilisk and Sera, before turning back to him.
"So, the both of you just here for the time being or are you with the lion and the cheelion?"

Still blocking Sefus view of Meri, he still wasn't sure if she wanted to be seen, he took it as if she did, well then she would come out from behind him, but for now he would carry on as he was, it seemed to him that she was needing someone to be her protector, till such time her healing was done.

"I think for now, all those that you see here, are in various stages of rest and recuperation. None of us are very well aquainted, and I don't know if any of them have been here before, but for now, its a haven of sorts."

Jabari glanced away over to where he saw the direction karensha with the cub was heading and frowned when he noticed that the cheelion was approaching as well.
Bringing his attention back to the male in front of him
"And... what brings you here on your travels ?"

"

[blaqknoise]

Basilisk didn't hear any reply from Karensha, so he just assumed he didn't hear her because of the water. He sat by his rock and watched as she swam around. She seemed to like the water a lot, which he found odd. Swimming in the water wasn't really his thing.

Karnehsa walked out of the water infront of Basilisk and shook herself dry, getting his fur wet in the process and put her paw on his face.

"thanks for that." He said sarcastically as he grabbed her paw and moved it away.

He moved away from the rock a little bit so that he was no longer shaded by it, allowing his fur to dry off quicker.