Sphinx, normal, Maya
Kasai, Bold, Kris

The night had brought her dreams that mutated into things far darker, visions of a collapse and end, an end to what though? The bleak and sudden shift to nothingness in the unsettling nightmare left the lioness struggling for breath as she quickly opened her eyes, glancing at the back of Kristanfs' head. He he stayed all night after all, for a moment this thought brought her back down to, soothing her inner demons. Maya was not use to sharing a space with anyone outside of her sister, even then that relationship was strained by it's uneven power struggle, Maya being the weaker of the two when her Goddess sibling was around. Still, this shift toward a new dynamic left her a little puzzled. What were his intentions being around her like this? Slowly the lioness lifted herself as she hovered over the sleeping lion for a few moments, searching his face for something unfamiliar, something as confusing as her dreams.

The brown lioness had given him her pelt to sleep on, so when she did get up to stand she could feel her joints ache from her poor nights rest. It was really no matter though, as soon as she got into her hunters mindset she would start to feel much better.

Maya softly placed a paw on the sleeping lions shoulder, nudging him as she whispered out, speaking a tone that was a litter softer than her normal voice. "Kristanf," her words were faint. "Wake up."

This was the first night Kristanf had been back in the pride after the death of Ciro, and boy was he sleeping well. His features held a peaceful look as he snooze, snuggled under a pelt that had belonged to the burned female. If he thought he wouldn't risk losing a lower organ, he would have attempted to bring the female warmth, but ultimately thought against it early in the evening. Soon he would be Captain, which meant he needed to produce a strong line. He cared for his sons, but they were of prissy thrall blood. He'd need true warriors, and finding a freeborn or rank higher would be his end goal one day.

He didn't notice the female move, nor her hovering over him. It was the light shaking and the small voice that called out that awoke him. The softness was unusual. He almost awoke with a start, eyes narrowing as he settled his gaze on the owner of the voice.

"....Wha time is it....?" he groaned, rubbing a paw to his eyes as he stared towards Maya.

"It's the witching hour, come, our pray will be waiting." As the female spoke she turned her back to the tired lion, her eyes focused and heavy, battling for the strength to stay open. The poor sleep in combination with her ever growing headache seemed to put the lioness on thin ice, well, thinner ice than usually, emotionally she was slowly coming undone, her sisters aura was washing away from her like the blood that had been cleansed from the night before. Maya seemed a little manic as she quickly demanded he rise and join her. "Come on, come on."

Her voice was a little uneven as she moved herself to the entrance of her den, never putting any attention to the fact that she had just spent a full night sleeping close to someone like Kristanf, a male so brass and hardheaded she could hardly stand it at times, still, lately he felt a little different, maybe the new self-confidence was doing him some good?

Maya could only assume, and assume rather poorly at the moment, her attention was elsewhere and he would be able to notice it in a heartbeat, she seemed a little off.

"The witching hour?" Kristanf grumbled. He hadn't spent a day in his life actually hunting, even though his mother was a thrall. Maybe this readiness was a female thing? Didn't they know the concept of sleep? He huffed, rising to his feet as he stretched, causing his bones to crackle from the lack of use.

"I am coming." He growled lightly, not enjoying the feeling of being pushed around, especially from a female. Something seemed to agitate the female, and Kristanf wasn't sure he quite knew what it was just yet.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" The male asked hotly, following the female was she left the den. "Are you sure you don't want to get a few thralls to hunt? It would be so much easier, and probably go better."

"Never-" Maya insisted as she frowned in his direction. "Why would I do that? The thrill of the kill is something you can not just give to a thrall." Had he never felt it before? Her eyes quickly left his as she motioned for him to follow, moving quickly against the tall grass. As the lioness kept her distance she called out, heading closer to an edge of the pride, "I have something I want to show you."

Her statement sounded a little more confidant than her tone before, perhaps this was something that excited the burned female? He wouldn't know, not yet at least. Maya slithered on, stopping only to look over her shoulder for sighs of the red-maned lion. He was still with her, even if he didn't seem that into whatever this was, this made her smirk for a moment before she stopped dead in her tracks, shifting her weight to the side as she glanced down at her trophy. "Look-" she insisted, motioning for him to stand beside her.

"This was the lion that attacked me." Was being keyword here. What lay decaying against the ground looked nothing like a lion now, and more like a muddied pile of flesh. He would be able to make out large wounds that lay scattered across the fallen lions' body as the lioness stood over the corpse, smiling in a very unsettling way.

"What are your intentions-" the lioness questioned with a blank stare. "-with me." Was this a threat?

"This lion wanted something I refused to give," she went on. "-and now he is rot." Her eyes never left their hold on his as she turned her head to the side. "So tell me, why are you always coming around?" It was becoming more obvious with every word she spoke that something darker was lurking under that composed mask she wore, something ugly and broken - something as malformed as she was. Maya was clearly not use to male company, was this her way of trying to scare him off?

"I will admit I am intrigued by you." Maya continued to speak, "-yet I would be false in saying I trust you." It was going to take a bit more for her to really let him in, whatever this thing was that they were doing, it was something large enough for her to point it out. Something deep enough for her to question. "So, tell me this: why do you keep coming around?"

As the female questioned him for a final time she took broke her gaze long enough for her to claw at her trophy, covering a claw in days old blood.

That is the way of the Stormborn." Kristanf said with a frown. "The thralls take care of the duties the freeborn, or higher ranks, care not to. Our thrill comes from venturing out of the pride. Death of a prey beast is nothing compared to the death of a powerful band leader, or stealing the treasures they try to hard to protect." He shook his head. Maya wouldn't know. She would never know unless she would up her rank by proving herself in battle. And then? Who knew if the new War Lord would allow females to leave the pride after that.

He left a questioning gaze in the midst as Maya continued forward. "I am sure a prey beast is not as interesting as you think it is." He stated nonchalantly, nose twitching as she froze. Kristanf's gaze followed her words, towards the decomposing male before them. A look of disgust on his face, either from the idea or smell was unknown.

"And why bring me here?" He found himself asking, his light eyes flickering towards the manic smile on her maw.

When she continued to speak, he found himself gazing at the dead before him. "The lion wanted cubs." He mused, now turning his gaze towards her with a smirk. "What do you think my intentions are with you, Maya? Hmm. Do you think that I would do the same as this male? Attempt to take you against your will so you could bare my seed, and my future blood?" He had been tempted; it would be wrong for others to think otherwise. He ended up scoffing, adding quietly. "Please, I have a den full of thralls who can do just that if I wished."

"Here I thought we had some sort of mutual respect. Quid Pro Quo, I scratch your back, you scratch mine." He looked away, to anything but the lioness and the dead. "You are quite different than any other female I have met. While some have ambition, they all seem to end the same." Maybe it was the fact of her lineage? She could control her goddess sister, what other powers did the female have?

"You are new to the pride. You need acquaintances. Acquaintances that are not of your gender." The stormborn had changed, and now being a female seemed to be almost as bad as being a thrall. Unless of course, you had respect of a Captain. A male captain.

"And sadly, you have seen some of the higher ranked males attempt their way with you. Granted, one lies like this at the bottom of a ravine." He shrugged forward. "Would you rather try to convince someone else of your worth. Or, would you rather know there is one right before you who can see your true potential, and know just where it can lead for your future?"

As he spoke she found herself frowning, glancing toward him as he looked away. "Potential," her words came followed by a deeper frown. "What potential do you see?" This word had left her feeling a little perplexed to say the least, no one before him had ever been so bold as to say something so reaffirming, still, it was hard to trust, this was hard to trust. Her green eyes shifted as she spoke again, this time a little less on edge. "-I do see us standing on equal ground." the female muttered.

"But you like to remind me that I do a thralls work by hunting, and that you can just sleep with thralls if you do desire cubs." Maya could feel a little lump in her throat form. "Perhaps I would trust you more if you gave that up." Oh, being bolder now was she?

"-Perhaps I see potential too, in you." How strange it was that this conversation was even happening, most days the lioness longed for solitude, yet here she was, standing over a body, demanding he give up his appetite for slaves. Was this potential deeper than he knew?

"I see you being great in the future. Not now. You don't know the way of the Stormborn just yet. Maybe it is due to who you have befriended, or maybe you just haven't been taught just yet, but you can be it. "And," he started again, referring to her next comment, "you see us standing on equal ground. That is the mentality needed in the pride these days, not wanting more."

"Trust is such a tangible subject. You are asking me to give up something physical for something that can not be seen. So...tell me, if I were to give up some of my most prized possessions, how do I know your trust will not falter?" The Stormborn should be wary on trust. After all, Ciro trusted Kristanf, and now he lay dead.

He eyed the female, before shifting back towards the dead.

As he spoke Maya nodded in agreement, understanding where he was coming from and his honesty about her lacking abilities - at least currently, she was still green and fresh, so if he had told her she needed no improving he would be false, and she wouldn't stand for that. Not for one second.

"I see," the female mused as she tilted her head to the side, listening to him speak without interrupting. There was no need to stand above him, so equal ground felt like the best place to be, what more could she want in all honesty? Slowly her eyes moved back to his as he looked away. "You will not need a thrall to hunt for you If I enjoy hunting." The exchange was made very clear, Maya was offering her hunt for him if he was willing to remove that need from his own thralls.

At his last comment she huffed and looked away, settling her eyes back down. Her head was aching again, only this time the pulsing felt far more vivid than before. She winched before speaking, "I never said my offer was purely invisible-" the female paused as she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find her center against the echoing pain. "Trust is earned, it's only natural that take time, however," she paused again. "I am not foolish, I know what a male might need if he gave up something so physical."

Maya turned back to face him. "I offer my companionship, in blood and in bed, if you agree to these terms." The lioness flicked her tail as she turned her back to the corpse. "and while this offer might foolish to you, I will have you know I have never offered this to anyone before. I see very litter in others, promises broken, empty words, I find very little pleasure in anything if I could speak honestly." Maya frowned, "but the time I spend near you isn't as unpleasant as I would have guessed, and I need to think of my own future and potential progeny if I am to rank up and exceed my own true potential.."

This conversation was heavy, but Maya stayed stoic and firm.

"But won't you be too busy learning the role of a Stormborn warrior, to be able to hunt?" His gaze fell to her again. He was toying with the idea though, especially with her up in offer.

"You would give up so much, just for me to give up my thralls." Kristanf had three of them, and he had always wanted more. However, he had met Maya, and his path in life seemed to veer off. Future progeny? Kristanf ear's perked at that. He wouldn't have children of thrall lines if he had taken Maya up on her offer. A deal was looking better and better.

However, the male knew he was on a thin line with the female.

A sly smirk rose to his maw as he approached the scarred adult. "And what would your sister think if she were to know of this little deal. Include in it I won't be skinned alive by her, and I will accept the offer."

His words made her ears twitch, at first out of morbid curiosity but slowly it turned to annoyance at the mention of her older sibling. Xibalba did not hold domain over her, no one did. "You would give them up, and agree to help me fight my way through my goals and ranks, and if we both see fit to produce cubs together-" she paused again and eyed him up and down. "I might not be apposed to the idea." It was funny really, talking like this about a subject she had killed another lion for. Would Kris end up a victim to her anger as well? Perhaps, but perhaps not, he was starting to wise up around her and was no longer threatening her with assault, still, it would be smart for him to continue to tip toe around the idea for now, Maya still seemed very stressed out.

"My sister has no say in this, besides, she would only be jealous. Perhaps you should worry next time she comes around." He knew what her divine sibling was capable of and the Goddess hadn't even lifted a paw in his direction.

"I am free to make my own future, Kristanf, are you?" Or would his own ambitions be his downfall? Maya would keep his secret about his involvement in Ciro's death, but in the back of her mind she did think about the outcome of his future if he was ever exposed. Still, that was his cross to bare, Maya had other things on her mind. The lioness turned to push her front paws onto his chest as she knocked him back to the ground, just a few feet from where the fallen lion lay. The lioness held herself on top of him and gazed down with a shape glance, speaking as she lowered her jaws to his ear. "So, are we in agreement?" This wasn't romantic ploy or a way for her to sleep her way through rank, no, Maya wanted to earn titles, she wanted to work for her future, still, if she was going to find a male to settled beside, why not Kristanf? They were cut from the same cloth after all, while still being polar opposites. This could work - if they wanted it to.

"You must know you can't control when you bare children if this deal is to become to agreement." She had said before she hadn't done this type of deal before, could that also mean she had never lay with another? All it took was one time, so whenever she would offer herself to him, whether she wanted cubs or not they could potentially happen. Maya wasn't naive, but she had to know the consequence if that were to happen.

"I will make sure you are near me if I ever see her again." He grunted in response. That awkward feeling of not being able to move, the heart pounding sensation of not being able to control your own body. Kristanf would prefer not to experience that again.

"I will make my own future. I have total control of my actions." He frowned, feeling her paws on his chest, pushing him back. He glanced at her with narrow eyes as she remained atop him. So, are we in agreement? he heard her ask.

His tail flicked warily behind him, as claws extended, reaching to either side of her shoulders and reversing their position. Now she lay on the ground, and he above her.

"We have an agreement." He rasped, eyes staring into her own, before finally removing himself from her.

"Now. About this hunt."