Io had come to the Te'a-Nakhun in its early days, long before it had been the Te'a-Nakhun - before it had even been an idea. She had come across Intiha-ka and Aletheia shortly after their previous pride, the Antianeira, had been cast to the winds...and by 'comea cross' she meant 'come to blows with.' They had (unintentionally) foiled each other's hunts, and an argument with the blue and orange lioness and her black and white companion had devolved into a fight. Even fighting two against her one, Io had held her own well, but soon enough had had to yield defeat to their combined strength. Far from holding it against them, however, she was curious as to who had trained them to fight, as they were clearly skilled - much more skilled at fighting than at hunting. And they, in turn, had been impressed by her ferocity and her ability to hold them both off for as long as she had. They struck up an unlikely friendship from there, and had travelled together ever since. Io had been there when Intiha-ka was reunited with her parents, and again when she discovered the band of apparent slavers, and together they had liberated their captives. That moment, there, had been when the Te'a-Nakhun truly started, though at the time it hadn't yet been given a proper name. That had come later, but the basic idea began there.
It seemed both yesterday and a lifetime ago, and now here they were, a proper group in a proper territory: lions, hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs, even avians and jackals, a colorful assortment of predators united, above all, in their belief in honor. Rebirth, too, played an important part, but it was honor above all else that tied them all together. Honor, and in many cases, shared experiences in chaos and dishonor. Io had lived most of her life adrift, abandoned young by a mother who hadn't wanted her and with no knowledge of her father, only the assumption that if her mother hated her so, she must have hated her father just as much. Io could only imagine her reasons, and rather preferred not to. She had seen sea and desert and mountain and many things in between, but had never found home. Until she'd fallen in with Intiha-ka and Aletheia, she'd never had any idea what 'home' even was. Even then, their life had been a nomadic one, wandering here and there with no real goal or purpose beyond survival. Now they had come to settle the island Intiha-ka's mother had guided them to, and for the first time in her life, Io would be staying in one place. Forever.
It was a daunting thought, and one she was currently trying to distract herself from by exploring. She was Jaitra, a warrior, but at the moment they were all of them explorers, roving the island that would be theirs and discovering all that it had to offer. It was beautiful, she had to admit that much, and if she was going to stay in one place for the rest of her life, than this was at least as good as any other. It was certainly better than the desert. Why anyone would ever choose to dwell somewhere that was nothing but sun and sand and stifling heat, she would never understand; she'd considered it once, in passing, as she did have the color and size and skill to fit in with the fabled Firekin, but the desert was absolutely not for her, no question about it. A tropical island paradise, now, that was much more like it, and most everyone else seemed just as pleased by their location as she, if not occasionally perplexed by it. Some had never even seen the ocean before. They all had quite a bit of adjusting to do.
The red lioness followed the sound of gently falling water, emerging from greenery to lay eyes upon a small, tranquil pool fed into by a little stream cascading down smooth rocks. She was not the first to discover it, however, as a large slate-gray lioness with an unruly shock of pink hair was already dipping her paws into it. She was a large female, and if Io remembered correctly, she was one of many from a defunct pride, though she couldn't bring to mind the name of it. She did at least know her name, which was far more important.
"Kaikuahine," she said by way of greeting.
The Shikar-i, her vision focused intently below the surface of the water in which she stood, flicked an ear in the direction of the Rawal who spoke to her and offered a distracted, "Good afternoon."
Intrigued by the intensity with which the other lioness stared at something in the water, Io asked, "Something interesting down there?"
"I suppose you could call it interesting, yes," Kaikuahine responded, eyes darting to track movement beneath the surface. "It's...probably not interesting to everyone, though. It's just fish."
"Oh. Well, if they interest you, by definition they do count as interesting. Is there anything in particular about them that fascinates you so?"
"They're so fast - and what is it like down there?" The pink-haired female blinked and shook her head a little, reprimanding herself for venturing into fanciful thought. "Mainly, I'm just trying to work out how best to catch them. I've never fished before, and I thought it would be easy, but..."
"It's not," Io both finished and agreed. "I haven't fished in a very long time, but I know a few tricks, if you'd like me to show you?"
"You have?" Kaikuahine looked genuinely surprised that the red Ta would know how to fish. It seemed like a task that would be beneath a warrior. "I mean, you would? I'd appreciate it, if you have the time."
"I have, I would, and I do," Io answered with an amiable grin. "Like I said, it's been a long time, so I can't promise I'll be all that effective, but at the very least, it should be entertaining."
Kaikuahine laughed at that. "I have a feeling we'll both be very wet and very hungry by the time we're done."