• Ry •'s Den

Pride Introduction!

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Wandering through the vast grasslands, you notice the terrain in the distance has shifted into a wide expanse of greenery; curious, you tread further towards the strange sight. As you draw nearer, the figures of towering trees fade into your vision, you've found a.. forest..? Pondering the odd situation, you become aware of your paws still moving, venturing deeper into the thicket. Entering the new environment, the overhanging leaves filter out the sunlight, casting a strangely comforting shadow upon the ground. Taking a breath in, the atmosphere no longer feels dry and your pelt is brushed with a refreshing cool breeze, the wind shaking the surrounding foliage, ringing a calming rustling sound. As you explore, your paws become somewhat muddied from the mix of soil and moisture from the mosses, your paw steps leaving behind no footprints, instead a simple, soft, crunching sound as your weight is brought down upon the underbrush. The occasional insect and bird zips past your face or slinks across a log, but otherwise, you don't see much life other than the surrounding void of green. A few minutes pass as you explore with pure curiosity, and you cannot shake the strange sting of the feeling of eyes peering at you from the darkness, causing you to observe your surroundings more cautiously. Perhaps you're imagining it? Or perhaps there truly is something watching you..
You hear rustling from behind you, the crackling sending a slight shiver up your spine, your senses on edge. Swiftly, you whip yourself around to face whatever is behind you, throwing your weight to the side to aid in velocity. A snarl bubbles from your throat as your eyes fix on the figure before you, your lips pulled back to slightly bare your teeth.
Before you stood a strange primal lioness, her stance recoiled and her paw nearest to you upraised, a fossilized necklace decorating her neck clinking gently as she moved. Head lowering, the lioness let out a quiet, rumbly growl. Although her body language was suggesting she was uninterested in confrontation it just didn't make sense as to why she was following you??
The two of you stood in silence for a few moments, quite awkwardly. Finally, to combat the literal crickets, you asked who she was. Despite her muscular, towering primal frame, the lioness behaved like she was intimidated by anything that moved, chirping out a simple, "I'm Ry, ... the queen of this pride." Her posture shifted as she placed her weight back onto the ground, a wrapping of long, dried leaves adorning her ankles, as well as dried vines of varying sizes snaking along her arms and legs. If this was the ruler of this odd 'forest pride', surely you'd squash them if they tried anything. Right? As you processed, the lioness spoke again, "I was trying to figure out why exactly you were in my territory." Her voice now significantly more confident and clear. She inspected you cautiously, peering at you with gleaming hazel eyes, though, she avoided eye contact throughout all of your interactions. After a moment, you began explaining how you were simply exploring as you had never seen this stretch of the land before, and Ry relaxed, accepting your story without any further proof or any suspicion.
"Well then, traveller, my pride has a surplus of prey, would you like to come grab something to eat?" Ry purred, seemingly having noticed how prey wasn't exactly the easiest thing to catch in the savannah.
You, although rather confused, agreed. After all, who would turn down free prey? You might even be able to bring some back home, which would decrease your hunters' workload and allow them to rest. Ry's head dipped in a small nod. Quickly after, her paw was brought up to her face to adjust a crown of leaves resting atop her skull that had slipped in front of her eyes. Once she was finished, she set off and trotted deeper through the forest without even a word. While you cautiously planted your steps over roots, stones, and logs, Ry traversed the terrain with strange ease, her warm brownish pelt shimmering a near amber in the spotty light seeping through the canopy above. Her gait was cheerful and energetic, and admittedly, kind of difficult to keep up with!
As the two of you travelled onwards, you picked up on the voice of a rushing river whispering in your ear; with every step the sound became progressively louder until it was practically roaring at you. The treeline before you abruptly split as the river you heard cut through the ground, the riverbank filled with the lively figures of lionesses chatting and cubs playing. Your pawsteps slowed until you came to a halt, observing the scene; however, Ry continued along, trotting past you with a flick of her stubby tail. Two lionesses approached her, exchanging greetings and welcoming their queen's return. One of the lionesses caught sight of you and pulled back her lips in a snarl, pinning her ears back to the base of her skull, her ears sinking into a short mane-like patch of longer furs lining her neck. Ry, noticing the hostility, hastily explained the events beforehand, glancing back at you and gesturing to a pile of prey; telling you that it was okay to help yourself.
The hostile lioness glared at you, however did not engage further. It was to be expected, you are an outsider after all.

A while later, Ry let you know that you were welcome to stay as long as you may need, and return whenever you feel like it.
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