said, ears flattening slightly at the idea that he thought she would harm him. He noticed her annoyance, but didn't want to stand down in fear that he might accept too quickly. "No offense to you, honestly. But I don't feel comfortable enough to be that close in a strange, secluded environment," he responded, keeping his voice taught and void of emotion in case something set her off. He could somewhat understand her annoyance, but at the same time, she had to see where he was coming from. His wariness had kept him alive, both when he was a rogue and when he was with his pride. It was just a basic survival skill. Her strange behaviors in the time he had known her already set him on edge, and the constant dripping of the water from the roof and into the pool reminded him of his inability to swim.

"Alright, have it your way," she responded, trying to keep her voice from trembling, slightly hurt at the notion that Askari didn't trust her and thought she would hurt him. She turned away from him, saying, "You're missing a lovely view." She kept herself from looking at him as she focused her blue eyes on the ground. Not knowing she was hurt, he sat down and curled his tail around his paws in silence, not finding anything to say. His eyes roamed the large cavern, but he kept Alba in the corner of his eye. He knew she had said he could trust her, but he always had to be on alert. He couldn't find any feasible reason for her having brought him here just to sight see. He never understood the point, and found no joy in looking at things and wasting his time when he could be productive. Why would anyone just want to stare at something for long periods of time?

With a pang of sadness, he remembered Dahlia, and how much he'd loved looking at her brownish pelt. He could've stared at her for hours if it'd been allowed. He supposed if this is how others felt about landscapes, he understood. But still, he found it hard to find this place appealing. Looking at the pool of water, he shuddered at the idea of how deep it might go, and what secrets it might be hiding. The shadows looming around them could hide anything, and they wouldn't even know it, keeping him alert. Alba lowered her face towards the water below, and gently splashed some water up to her face to cool her down. As she lifted her head, feeling better, she called out to him. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what was your pride's king like?"

Askari pricked his ears, surprised at her sudden question that didn't pertain to their previous discussion. He took a moment to gather himself and find a good answer. "King Kufyeka was a strong king, no doubt about it. He enforced our rules with a strict, iron fist, and for the better," he finally said, tail swishing as he recalled past memories of the king. Not too many lions knew what the king was truly like. He only conversed with the General, the Lead Hunter or Huntress, and the Healer, but even then it was strictly business. He didn't know of the king having a mate or cubs, so it was safe to assume nobody really knew what he was like. The only times he'd really seen the king was at meetings held to discuss war plans, and at the occasional public meeting held among the pride for duties. He'd overlook certain ceremonies as well, but Askari could scarcely remember what he looked like, much less what he sounded like. He only knew that if rules were disobeyed, it was certain you'd be dragged to the king, and everybody knew it was bad news.

Her voice broke him out of his reverie, and he pricked his ears in respone. "Oh, I see," she said, looking back to him. A small smile grew on her face as she hoped she could start a conversation and get him to trust her more. Askari gave a grunt to show he heard her, not finding it necessary to speak. He'd always been more quiet than most lions, as he felt talking unnecessarily would just waste time. His friends always used to poke fun at him about his quiet nature, and he gave a smile as he reminisced the old days with his two friends, Issa and Mapinduzi. But now, that was all gone, lost in the storm. His smile fell, and his green eyes looked to the ground in sadness and regret. If only he'd stayed calm in the storm, managed to fight through the pain and follow his pride. If only he'd kept himself beside someone. If only. And now, because of his reckless nature and stupidity, he may never see his pride again. Never see his friends again. His tail curled around him forlornly as he became lost in his mind of guilt. He knew he could do nothing about it now, but it didn't stop it from hurting.

Feeling opening up would make him more comfortable and trusting, she rose to her paws. "You know, I kind of like you. You're not like most of my pride brothers and sisters," she said, padding towards him. His head whipped up suddenly at her words, and as they processed, his cheeks warmed and he found himself flustered as he tried to make sense of her words. How could she like him? Perhaps she was just really affectionate and open with others? She flopped onto her side in front of him, then rolled onto her back towards him. She reached up with her paws, and gently pawed at his mane. He stood abruptly and backed up, feeling uncomfortable with the close contact. "That's um...Nice I-I suppose," he responded, smoothing his mane with a paw. He tried to regain his composure as he stared at her. He wasn't used to physical contact whatsoever. It made him feel vulnerable and just overall uncomfortable, and to do it with someone he barely knew? It just doubled the unbearable feeling. He didn't mean to be rude, truly, but he was caught off guard by her sudden words out of no where, and how quick she was to be physical with him.

Alba truly was a strange lioness. Did she just do this with everyone? And why say she liked him out of no where like that? What did she mean by that? The questions made his head reel, and he had a hard time trying to make sense of anything that had just happened. Meanwhile, Alba stared at him, blue eyes wide in confusion as she froze, paws in the air. She slowly rolled onto her stomach, and said, "Um, okay then." She rose to her paws, then looked at him, giving a mischievous grin as an idea popped into her head. She reared onto her back legs, and wrapped her paws around his neck in a friendly, playful manner, keeping her claws sheathed to show she meant no harm. Askari stumbled backwards for a moment in confusion, a yelp leaving his lips as his paws slipped slightly on the wet ground. Almost on instinct, his front paws quickly grabbed her sides, and using his weight as leverage, twisted her around until he pinned her on her back, his paws on her chest. He huffed, remembering the move well from his training days before he noticed her claws were sheathed, and he furrowed his brows in confusion. "What're you doing?" He couldn't understand why she had done that. It was typically an aggressive move, but there was no hint of anger or fierceness in her face or attitude.

Alba stared back at him, his confusion mirrored on her face. "I was trying to wrestle with you," she responded, surprised at his reaction. He frowned further, trying to figure out what she meant as his tail swished behind him. Deciding she was fine, he backed up off of her, and allowed her space to stand. "Like training?" he asked. If she wanted to train, she just should've asked him, and he would be fine with that. Besides, there were better places to practice moves than a dark, damp cave. "If you had wished for training, I would have agreed." As Alba rose to her paws, she said, "No, not like training." She was confused at his answer. His frown deepened, perplexed. "Then why wrestle?" he asked in response. Why would she want to wrestle when it wasn't for training? It would only waste time and energy otherwise. "Cause it's fun?" she responded, feeling a little miffed. She let out a small puff of annoyance at his sense of fun, but tried not to let it show.

He pricked his ears, and his head tilted slightly to the side in confusion as he sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws. "Why would we wrestle for fun? Is this common in your pride?" he asked. Perhaps playing like cubs, even as adults, was common here. He hadn't seen any lions or lionesses doing that here, but he supposed he hadn't seen much since he was more focused on things other than the lions and lionesses. "Cause it's fun," she repeated, beginning to believe he was playing dumb with her. Why did he question fun? In response, he flattened his ears in annoyance, and tugged his tail tighter around his paws, keeping his temper under control at her answers. "But don't you and your pridemates have other duties to be attending to?" His voice was not angry, and seemingly carried no emotion. Was the pride really like this? It had seemed like a very orderly place, but did they just gallivant whenever they felt like? His own pride kept everyone busy with work, as a battle was always looming over them. There was never time to stop and waste time, and the idea alone seemed very foolish to him when anything could happen if you put your guard down. How could a pride be as carefree as this one and still work efficiently? Didn't they ever worry about enemies sneaking up on them when they were distracted by lollygagging? This just seemed to spell a recipe for disaster.

She rose to her paws, surprised at his answer as she realized he was completely serious. "We do, but that doesn't mean we don't have fun," she said, padding towards him slowly so she wouldn't set him off again. Askari still couldn't understand. Why would they waste energy