Moya'vuli was in high spirits today. She'd spent most of her morning with Mahiri, the Tani'Ajiri's newest recruit, swapping stories and basically just getting to know each other better. Moya could not hide the wide smile that graced her maw at the thought of the ruddy colored cheetah. Perhaps it was silly, but she had made a friend, and she was quite happy with that! She had also been telling Mahiri of her idea about becoming an 'artisan', as Shujaa had put it, and the little cheetah had been very enthusiastic and supportive of the idea. All in all, Moya was feeling very confident about her decision to retire from her mercenary rank, and couldn't wait to tell Thunzi that she had found something to do! Now... she just had to find him.Thunzi, who normally would have lounging near the sparring grounds on his favorite rock cluster, was returning from a trip to the border with Shujaa, the pride's new guard. They had discussed some ideas and expectations, and also potential problems that might crop up eventually, but Thunzi was feeling confident in their ability to grow and expand the guard rank to interested members. Perhaps it wasn't growing quickly enough, but he wasn't about to start forcing anyone to join the patrol. After all, the mercs had always looked out for their own, and he was pretty sure the mercenaries and their ranger would jump in to help defend the pride if need be. While his mind was occupied on such thoughts, his paws wandered towards the river, where he hoped to get a cooling drink before returning to other business around the pride.
Moya wasn't quite sure where Thunzi would be this morning, as he usually conducted most of the pride's business affairs while Siyo'Jini helped assist with contract work. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen the great black lion in some time now. Perhaps he had gone back out on contract? He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and it sort of worried her, but as long as Thunzi wasn't too bothered by it then she supposed it was okay. Her silver eyes lifted when she spotted a pale figure emerge from the treeline, and Moya beamed a happy grin. "There you are!" she called pleasantly, her pace quickening to catch up with him.
His ears perked up the moment he heard her voice, and a smile graced his maw before he could stop it. She sounded so much happier today than she had in so long, especially in recent days past. It was a relief for the pale leopard. "Here I am," he replied cheekily as he halted his steps to allow her to catch up. She probably could have caught up to him easily if he'd kept walking, but the leopard was happy to wait for her, despite how busy he was. "How has your day been, Moya?" He wasn't usually this chatty, but it honestly did his heart good to see her smiling like that.
She beamed at him, silver eyes gleaming in the early day's sunlight. "Very productive," she told him with a bump of her head into his shoulder. He may be one of the leader's of the Tani'Ajiri, but to her, he was the one who rescued her from a life of slavery in another pride. He was her hero. "I've been talking with Mahiri, and we both agree that I can start focusing on becoming an 'artisan'. To make trinkets and beautiful things for the pride or our guests looking to make contracts," Moya told him, quite proud of herself and Mahiri for ironing out some of the details already. "Not for free of course, but to trade with them if they have any trinkets of their own their willing to bargain with", she told him when she saw he was about to say something. Goodness, she'd been with the mercs long enough to know they you never did anything for free! It just wasn't good business.
He had indeed been about to say something about the 'free' part, but luckily she caught on quick so he stayed quiet to listen to her talk about it. She seemed passionate about the idea, and though he wasn't quite sure how well it would work, he was happy to let her try. "An Artisan, you say?" he'd heard of such terms before, though mostly from peaceful prides that wished trade their goods for mercenary work. Such items were highly sought after by the mercs, as many members used them to decorate their dens or adorn themselves. Thunzi had to admit, he did enjoy a good trinket. "If you think you can make it work, than please feel free to give it a go," he told her with a nod of his head. Honestly, it was just good to see her happy again.
She nodded at him in thanks, glad to have that out in the open now. "Would you like to come see the things I've made so far? Its not much, but I just need to practice before I'm comfortable offering them to anyone," she asked him happily. She had hardly spent any time away from Mahiri since the cheetah had joined their ranks, but she was fairly certain her friend had left to go acquaint herself to the rest of the pride this morning. Which was good, because Moya had been trying to get the little cheetah to do that for days now!
"You're just trying to take me back to your den," Thunzi teased, hardly skipping a beat with the invitation. He was flirtatious by nature, and hardly thought about what might slip out of his mouth every once in awhile. In fact, it had landed him in some trouble every once in awhile when he was younger and he'd flirted with the wrong female, or once he was pretty certain he had insulted a queen in their negotiation of a contract. Oh well, live and let learn he supposed.
Her smile turned wry and shoved him lightly with her paw into his shoulder. "Please, I'd hardly have to try," she told him with a good intentioned smirk. If she'd honestly made a go at him, she was certain he wouldn't refuse her, but she didn't think either was looking for any serious commitment at the moment. She certainly wasn't, and she doubted Thunzi was either. She walked silently next to him after that, just happy to be near him and sharing something she had been proud to discover. She was certain she never would have gotten this opportunity to explore her creative side if he hadn't come along to save her.
"No, you wouldn't," he agreed with a snort and a grin. The rest of their walk back to her den was somewhat quiet as he thought of the future of the pride, and the direction they were headed in. That future held the strong possibility of families coming together to create new life, and he wondered if that would ever be him. With Moya, perhaps? He certainly wouldn't say no to that. He just hoped the pride would be prepared to protect such new life, as both he and Siyo'Jini had expressed concerns about that. He would have to redouble his efforts to securing their border.
((Word Count: 1,224))