Leif was confused, but nodded anyway. He hadn't met anyone who spoke the way Keiran did. He wondered where he had learnt such sayings. "My mother told me a story about the times when lion and hyena lived in harmony. We gave you respect and never stole your food, and you always made sure to leave enough behind for us... But something changed, and those that didn't flee these lands died by the claws of lions."

He had always enjoyed stories, whether they were about history or simply myths. There was an old hyena that lived on the outskirts of the clan, that used to tell him many stories. His favourite were the ones about the Gods. He knew a lot about all the different Gods. Most hyenas only cared about the main ones. The Frog Gods that brought the rain, the Hyena God that guided those in Death and the Lion God, the God of the Sun. Leif knew of the others. The Goddess of the Hunt, the Cheetah Goddess. The Hippo God, Crocodile God, Gazelle, Antelope, Rhino, Elephant... So many different Gods, so many different stories.

Keiran cringed. He'd heard the stories many times, but they were all the same. "That was long before our time." He said quietly, crouching as if he were in his big cat form. "I only take this story at face-value, because I only ever hear it from lions. But I've heard that the hyenas were exiled---killed or run off the grasslands because they became emboldened by a strong and powerful leader. She rallied the individual clans and led an attack on the hill, and she killed the monarch at that time. Since they were fewer than the lions, even then, they ran the hyenas away and threatened that if they ever came back, they wouldn't hesitate to kill them."

He took a breath. "I... suppose we've forgotten the last part. We allow the hyenas to live here, though I feel that's wrong. I feel... they shouldn't be 'allowed' to live. They should be welcomed, and not for the mistakes of past generations. I wonder what the god and goddess of love and kindness would say if they were to speak to us now..." Two gazelles, a male and female. They would probably shake their heads and look away. Keiran wouldn't like to be under those liquid black gazes.

Leif hadn't heard that part of the story. He wondered if the old hyena had left it out on purpose, or if the lions were told something different, so they didn't feel too sorry for the hyenas. He noted it down in his mind. He would find out the whole truth of that story, perhaps from some other party. He sat down on the cool floor of the cave himself, watching the large open plains. In the distance he could see a herd of giraffes walking towards the river.

"I love stories and knowing about the Gods. Imagine! If it weren't for them, we would have barely anything. Our powers wouldn't be here, our food and the weather..." He grinned and chuckled a bit. Even though he wasn't like most other hyenas, Leif found himself laughing at even small things.

Keiran smiled, and laughed in turn, his own sounding obviously different, even in their human forms. "... I think the lions need a reminder about who the gods are." He admitted. "It just seems as if they've lost track of who the true powers are. I like to think too much, though... That may be my problem." He slid onto the ground and joined Leif, staring out at the darkened day as thunder rolled in the distance. "A bit too pretentious, if you ask me." He growled. "It's begun to be speculated that the monarch is a god, the lion god in earthly form. And whomever wins in battle with the current monarch is the god reincarnated and destined to take his place." He snickered at the concept. Oh, what they could come up with when left alone long enough!

He laid down, and faced Leif. "What is it that made you come to the hill?" He asked. "Surely if they see you so close, others will run you off. From the top, one can see a very long way." Leif was putting himself in danger, truthfully.

"I guess I was curious... I... I always wanted to live with lions... I know that sounds weird..." He chuckled again, looking back to his new friend. His eyes were like the sun shining down on the savannah. Better than the muddy brown ones that all hyenas had. He blinked and looked away again, not knowing if it was disrespectful to look into a lion's eyes. Dominant females of his clan took it as a challenge. And you didn't want to fight one of them.

"But I can dream... Dreams are what make us individual, even the most conforming have dreams... I once knew a hyena that wanted to fly. He... Well, he tried and failed." He laughed again, not sure if Keiran would find his humour disturbing.

Keiran couldn't help but laugh a bit louder, its sound akin to a bark. "Oh really?" He asked, shaking away the manner the hyena looked at his eyes. "I suppose he died reaching for a dream, at least!" He shook his head. The thought was a little dark, perhaps, but in a strange way, it was funny. A hyena wishing to fly, but without wings? Perhaps he was a little crazy. No, of course he was, if he leapt from a high point in a chance to fly.

"I'm sure the lions would laugh at me if I even brought up the idea of a hyena living with us." Keiran admitted, studying the sharp claws on his hands. "Even a hyena as clean and respectful as you... It's too big a step to take overnight, but..." He looked at Leif. "If you'd like to... even have a chance... I could do something..." After all, his day to challenge the monarch was coming. He was terrified of that day, but his ingrained sense of honor refused to let him run off to avoid it. "It will take a while, though. I can come by each day, in the meantime, if you like." It was the chance for a different happening---something new. Something that could involve a friend. He wouldn't have to wander without someone around, would be able to talk, and show someone what parts of the grasslands he loved so much, that the other might not have seen before.

"I'd love the company. Tonight will be the first time in my life I'll be sleeping alone. I hope it's not too cold tonight..." He smiled to show that it didn't bother him. He was pleased to be able to sleep away from the overwhelming heat and stench of his family. Away from his den where his mother would hit them until they slept. Where his sister was just as bad as his mother.

"Maybe you can tell me about your life. I want to know what it's like, to be a lion..." Sometimes he'd prey to the monkey God of creation, wishing to be changed from hyena to lion. Maybe his life would have been better, would have been easier as a lion.

He nodded. It wouldn't get terribly cold... He knew that. And inside a small cave like this, it would be easy to handle. Though he didn't necessarily want to have to leave. Tomorrow, perhaps, he could go out and find a small animal. Maybe even two, if he was lucky. Then both could have one item of their own, and neither would have to worry about finding a share of some kind. A lion was so much larger than a hyena, after all.

"You don't want to hear about my life." Keiran laughed. "I don't have much of one. My days consist of wandering about and thinking about life and death and the way the world works. And looking to the gods for answers to questions I should be trying to find myself. It's not a life you would envy terribly... Not mine, personally." There were others with such fascinating days. Others that had so many stories. He didn't live an interesting life at all.

"But that does sound so interesting!" Leif insisted with a grin. "I haven't had much of a life. I lived with my clan, trying to stay away from my brothers and sister, who only ever wanted to fight. I ate what I could catch and soon left. For the first time I saw zebras and antelope that were alive and running about the flat plains. I saw a hunting party of lionesses and I met a lion," he looked at Keiran. "My day has been very eventful."

He licked his hands out of habit, cleaning most of the sticky blood and dirt off them. He would sleep in his animal skin, of course. It was warmer like that and was more safe. He could fight or run easily if ambushed in the dark. Yet, he didn't want his new friend to go so soon. As if to answer his thoughts, the Frog Gods let loose more rain and thunder.

"They are having a party up there," he commented, moving towards the very entrance of the cave. "Will you walk home in this?" A flash of lightning hit the ground, start a small fire and then the rain put it out again.

Keiran sighed. He thought about how it must be for Leif. To see the plains for the first time like he had today. And meet lions that hadn't decided to attack at once... Perhaps there was a little kindness in his kind's heart again. But most shared the belief that all hyenas were filthy, hideous, bothersome scavengers. It was beaten into their concepts. I was probably because of the god of death and pestilence, a hyena. It only held their belief that hyenas were associated with death and rot ad disease in every way possible.

"I do... tend to walk home in the rain, when the wet season is here." He admitted. "It's nice..." He flinched when the lightning struck the ground. "Even if it is dangerous. It gives me time to think... And it doesn't rain much, so I like to enjoy it while I can." He stood and stepped to the mouth of the cave, looking out. He would return to his animal form to go back home, because he could take longer strides or run quickly if necessary. "I can come back tomorrow, if you like." He glanced back to Leif. He'd not gotten a specific answer yet.

Leif frowned. His friend wouldn't stay, no matter what happened. Even if it snowed and hailed like he had heard in his stories. "Yes, you are welcome here whenever you like. I might start making this feel a bit more homely. I doubt the leopard that used to live here will come back." The scent had been a few nights old, after all.

He looked back into the cave. It was empty and felt cold, distant. He'd make a small bed down the back, where the dirt would cover his scent. He could find some interesting rocks to decorate with, and some flowers and plants as well. He smiled as he thought about what his new den would look like.

Keiran smiled, glad to have a friend that didn't seem quite as uppity or serious as the lions seemed to. "I'll come back tomorrow morning." He promised. "I could bring you some things to make the place feel a bit more comfortable." True, the cave could use something to make it a bit more personal. To give it a scent that warned others away. Perhaps it he brought some of his own slept-on pelts from his den, the lion smell would ward off anything or anyone looking to steal something. And he'd learned to dig deep into the ground to keep meat from rotting for a few days. If he could help Leif with that, perhaps he could accumulate some food so it didn't have to go bad so soon. And he could hide the smell by putting a masking scent over it.

But Keiran was thinking too much for Leif, perhaps. "Ah, anyway, I'll be going now... I'll see you about tomorrow... Just don't come too close to the hill---Saravi is a black bird that acts as a pair of eyes for the lions, and if he sees you about, he may go squawking somewhere he shouldn't." Keiran turned, and stepped into the rain, reveling in the cold rush of rain in the heat and humidity that made his crazy hair stand on end. But now it flattened against his head, even as he bent over into a four-legged big cat and started off toward the hill that rose high in the distance.

Watching his friend go, he frowned a little more. He continued to watch as the lion disappeared, hoping that Keiran would make it back alright. He went to work on his den, transforming so it was easier to dig. Because he needed a way to keep the rain out, which was already threatening to flood the plains. He dug a deep trench around his den, leading it around the back and away from the entrance. As he worked, he found a series of white bones and stones. He picked these up carefully in his mouth and dragged them into the cave.

It had gotten dark inside, but his brown eyes could see very well in the dark. His nose could sniff out every corner, so he never minded the darkness of night and caves. He put the bones and stones about his den, placing them in such a decorative way that it made him enjoy his work.

He went to the back and found the small dip in the ground. The ground here was soft and the dirt made him sneeze. He curled up and licked his small tail, slowly falling asleep to the sound of the rain and thunder ahead.

He returned quickly, the rain falling fast and hard, the thunder rumbling heavily. It seemed a bit too dangerous, perhaps, since the lightning had reached the ground not far off. He was running by the time he returned to the hill, getting inside and slinking toward his lone den, human once again. He was stopped halfway down by his mother, who rolled her eyes at his soaked appearance. "Ah, Keiran, will you never learn to get out of the rain before it ruins your hair, or your fur!"

"Mother, please. A little water never hurts. The tongue can only clean so much."

She sighed, but dropped it. "Keiran, you're to begin challenging the monarch in two days. The others have lost quite a few challenges already and are growing erratic."

"Me?" Keiran shook his head. "No I can't! I can't fight him, mother, I simply can't. If the others have failed, what makes you think I'll succeed?"

His mother laughed, and hugged her son. "Oh, love, you'll succeed. It's why I gave you the name of your great grandfather! The strongest monarch that ever lived! He would be proud of you so far. And he knows as well as I that you will win. Madanach has grown weary, and you will be able to overpower him."

She left Keiran with his mind buzzing. No... He wanted to go back to her and shake her and say he wouldn't, he refused to put his life in danger for his lineage and his mother's out-of-control concept of her son's abilities. His knees were shaking when he made it to his den, planning on waking before the sun and setting out in his human form so it would make carrying everything easier.

Leif's dreams were simple. Just colours and emotions rushing through him like some sort of spirit river. He saw shapes of animals, the Gods and Goddesses swirling about in the different colours. He tried to catch them, tried to bark and bite at them, but they were always out of reach of his muzzle. It frustrated him, so he bit his tail as he watch them run past.

A loud crash overhead made him start awake. It seemed that the Frog Gods' party was nearing its climax, as they bet their drums above Leif's den. He stretched and yawned widely, getting to his feet to sniff about his cave. Something had changed. He could smell something different. He saw the cobra before it attacked him. He backed off, watching the giant black snake hiss and coil itself up.

"I'm sorry," Leif apologised. He had woken his disgruntled cold-blooded friend. "I won't attack you. This is my den, I was just seeing who was visiting." The cobra lowered its hood and rested its head on its many coils.

"Sssorry for intruding," the cobra apologised in its low hissing voice. "I jusssst needed a plassssce to ssstay from the ssstrom."

Leif smiled and nodded, going back to his bed. "You're welcome to stay here, as long as you don't bite me." He closed his eyes and rested, waiting for the storm to finish. He had met snakes before, knowing that all of them treated the cobras like Gods. There was just something about them that was so elegant and powerful. Even the largest snakes, such as the constrictors, were at awe with cobras. Leif could see why.

He heard the snake slither along the rocks, changing into a lean young boy. The boy came closer and laid next to Leif, cuddling into his fur. The kid was slightly younger than Leif, with a strange hairstyle that seemed like a hood. His eyes were solid gold and he had a habit of licking the air, even in his human form. Leif let the cold cobra soak up some of his warmth, falling back asleep as the thunder stopped crashing in the skies ahead.

He was still human when he went to sleep, finding it easy to sleep on the smooth stone of the den floor even as a human. It was the cat-blood in him, finding comfort in just about any position and on any medium. Until something startled him and his ears twitched involuntarily, and he woke, flipping onto his stomach and staring at the narrow doorway. But it was thunder, and it had to be powerful for him to be awakened in a startled fashion from so deep in the hill. Yawning, Keiran wanted to go back to sleep, but he had to go outside to look around. It felt like morning, anyway, and when he crept outside, he found the rain finishing up and falling in a light mist that was slowly fading away with the breeze. And the air was cool, giving the impression of early morning.

Sprinting back to his den, Keiran gathered up a couple of the extra pelts on the floor and folded them, sneaking his way about and into the lower chambers. In these corridors and rooms, it was cool, and some held water, and this was where food was kept for at least five days. Anyone was allowed to take what they liked, as long as they didn't gorge themselves. He picked up a few quartered slabs of wild boar stomach and a haunch of gazelle, wrapping it up in one pelt and wrapping that with the other, throwing it over his shoulder and hurrying out of the hill.

It was easier to carry the pelts without drooling all over them in his human form. Though it was slower to walk, and a bit dangerous in case any exiled lions had decided to brave the area again, or hyenas that had traveled back a little too closely and were feeling lucky, but his ears were alert, his tail off the ground to cut down on noise, and he was ready for anything to happen. Though as he walked to that bit of buckled earth twisted with caverns, Keiran couldn't help but feel this was... wrong. But not the kind of wrong that left a bad taste in his mouth. The kind of wrong that felt good, and different, and... worth something.

Leif awoke to find that his cobra companion had left awhile ago. He frowned slightly and whimpered softly as he got up to stretch, shedding his animal skin in favour of his human one. He could do things a lot easier like this.

He left the small cave and drunk from the water that had collected in the small moat he had dug around his cave earlier. He washed his hands and ears, glancing up at the lion's hill in the distance. He wondered how his friend was and if the lion would appear again today. As he thought this, he saw a young man walking towards him in the distance. Keiran seemed to be carrying something. He walked up to him to meet him.

We don't like death. The concept of death, the thought of death, or being in the presence of the death of a loved one. Wild animals we may be, in one mindset, but regardless of what those normal humans in their roaring machines believe, we do mourn. We do hate death. Why do they think we run? Have they never seen a mother lion howling over her dead cubs? Have they never watched a bird sing in despair over the body of its mate? Perhaps they don't understand. We, as those with claws and teeth and speed on our side, mourn the loss of those we kill before we condemn them to their final physical use. We mourn for their families, who must exist without them now and wait for the next swift fall. But their physical bodies are used, and that matters a great deal. It's how life is in this place. Even if it's morally difficult sometimes.

Keiran looked up from the ground and rearranged the bag on his shoulder. Full of what once ran the plains. Contained within the very same. Their sacrifice was not forgotten, never, and their spirit existed with the gods. That helped Keiran and his kind, the kind with sharp teeth made for slicing, accept their necessities. The need to kill those that could only run and hide. He looked up in time to see someone coming toward him, and tensed for a moment until the breeze brought a familiar scent to him. Leif. Coming to a halt, he brought the bag off his shoulder. "I brought some things from the hill I thought you could use." He said, presenting the bag. "Meat, pelts... Something that has scent, so it'll keep away threats that might want your cave." Keiran wasn't sure whether Leif would enjoy the gift, but hoped it was the case.

Leif was used to sleeping where he could, on rotting and tattered hides. It wasn't unusual for pups to chew on their beds, it was what hyenas were good at doing. Biting through anything, even tough skin and bones. He smiled at his new friend and nodded. "You are so kind," he said, sniffing the bag with interest. He could smell meat, hides and the strange herbs that was used to tan and dry the hides for use.

He led Keiran back to his cave, showing off how he had decorated it. Perhaps he could find some more pretty coloured stones to put around the place. "I decorated a bit," he said shyly, hoping his friend would like it. He could still smell the cobra's scent on him and hoped it didn't scare Keiran too much.

Keiran startled when distant thunder clapped. He hated when it was loud, as it would often obscure threats or startle prey. While most male lions didn't hunt, he liked to expend the energy, though preferred to do so if he actually needed food, and not for fun. Unless, of course, someone was of the same mind. The stature of a lion was often obvious, whether they were playing or stalking. Still, he followed Leif without glancing around for anything nearby, though a strange scent mingled with the hyena and the other earthy scents, along with the raw meat he'd brought along with the pelts. A snake. Specifically, a cobra. Perhaps a spitting cobra. But it was gone now, the creature.

"You had a visitor, I presume?" He asked the hyena, looking about the cave. He'd brought out a good amount of personalization into the area, and Keiran felt Leif wouldn't be moving far from this place for a good long time. "You've done well... I like what you did with it, so far." The addition of colorful stones helped one find their way around, and gave the rather earthy insides a little difference. Something that indicated someone lived here. Perhaps the furs would offer a soft place to sleep at night, as well. And add just a bit more of a home-like feel.

Leif nodded, grinning in a lop-sided way that was characteristic of most hyenas. "A cobra. He was cold from the storm so he slept with me last night. Was quite a young one." He was still a bit sad that the cobra had left before he could even find out what his name was. He took the bag from Keiran and took the hides towards the back of the cave, to where he was sleeping. He made a nice nest-like bed out of it and thanked Keiran once again.

He found some meat that the lion had thought to bring and he ate some, while offering half to his friend. "Is it true that only female lions hunt?" he asked Keiran. He had found this strange, because back in his clan, every adult member formed hunting parties to take down bigger prey.

Keiran smiled back. He was glad to know that Leif had had someone to spend the night with, even if it was temporary for the time. And that his collection of gifts to help Leif settle in were going to be used so well, so effectively. It was the least he could do for a lone hyena, abandoned by his siblings so quickly. Even if it wasn't exactly unwanted, Leif had to be alone. Maybe it was easier with a cobra companion, but even so, it had to grow lonely. He followed the young hyena, settling on the soft dirt and accepting the offering. “It... It's mostly true, yes.” He nodded, nibbling on the raw meat. His human teeth, like everyone's, weren't all pointed to razor tips, and it took a bit to gnaw through. “It's how things are set up. The males of the society protect the Hill and take rounds to make sure things are okay in the lands.”

He looked up, ears twitching as the thunder rumbled again. “I like to hunt on my own... I mean, if I need to. Especially if food is scarce. Or I might not want to face any of my peers that day. I try not to take advantage of what skill I was born with and what superiority meat-eaters have over herbivores. Maybe I think about death more than a lion should.” They thought him weird. They thought he was strange for his overthinking just about everything, especially death. He dwelled on it, and sometimes thought so much about it that he grew sad. Perhaps a bit depressed sometimes. Death was a daily thing, but difficult to get away from without really considering it.

Leif listened to his new friend talk, eating his piece of meat quietly. His human jaws weren't as powerful as his jaws when he was a hyena, but he liked taking his time to eat the meat. Another thing that the others thought was strange. He heard the thunder in the distance and hoped that the stormy weather would pass. He liked lying in the sun, like a lizard or snake. His thoughts returned to the young cobra boy.

Reptiles were strange. They rarely changed from their animal forms, and Leif had heard a lot of them couldn't change. Same thing with the birds of the savannah. Though, if he could fly, he'd doubt he'd want to change to a human at all.

"Have you ever met a crocodile?" he asked Keiran. He had always wanted to see one, and had heard that the creatures killed and ate anything they could catch; including lions and hyenas.

Keiran thought back. If he focused a little, he could recall his times as a cub quite well, and remembered his past friends. Those he wasn't supposed to befriend, but did so anyway, because he was more reckless than those he lived with. The rest of the lions and lionesses that had yet to mature. "I did... Once. I was young. Back then I felt like I could run and hide and talk my way out of anything, so I didn't question others. I met a young one, like I was. She'd been orphaned by her mother. She had a hard time turning from human to animal, and most of the time she was human."

What had happened to her...? Keiran went quiet, staring at the nibbled meat in his hands and thinking back. He didn't usually try to remember back as much as he was, beyond recalling major life events that taught him what he knew today.