It had been a few days since he'd invited Azriael to the tundra, and for the most Wolfgang had been polite and hostly but probably a little too busy to hang out as much as he would've liked. There were borders to patrol, outskirts to check and exploration to be done. But at least for this chilly afternoon, he found himself with little to do and found himself seeking out the burgundy lion.
Paws crunching on the fresh snow, Wolfgang came to halt outside the tunnel entrances, letting out a chuff to call Azriael's attention. If he wasn't inside, then surely he'd be nearby? With a hopeful flick of his tail, Wolfgang peered around him, watching the pines whistle in the gentle breeze.
Azriael settled in relatively easily, despite the cold. The layout of the pride was simple, the caverns were warm, there was less of a chill in the air. Besides, it wasn’t as if he’d had any better offers. The tundra with anyone - with Wolfgang - was better than a beach home alone. Speaking of, the emperor’s call woke the russet lion from his afternoon nap, but it wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Wolfgang was a king, after all, and more often than not busy with kingly duties which left the social lion alone. Hoping for something more exciting than an invitation to patrol, but desperate enough to accept it all the same, Azriael heaved himself out into the cold.
“You summoned me, your majesty?” He asked lightly, only the barest hint of anything other than sincerity in his voice, though his gaze betrayed the mischief he was trying to smother. He had never taken rank and royalty seriously. At the end of the day, he felt no need to grovel to those with crowns just because they had one. That was especially true with Wolfgang. The man was one big confusing question. But Azriael had decided, maturely, that some things - namely, Wolfgang - were better left untouched. Especially when those things held the power in what could, maybe, be some semblance of home.
It didn't take long for Azriael to emerge from the darkness, with an amused title on his lips. Wolfgang couldn't supress his smile, shuffling his paws on the squeaky snow to properly face the curly-maned lion - his very first pridemate. "I did," he rumbled with a nod, "I wanted to ask how you were settling in." He wasn't so ignorant as to think feedback was useless. Taking into account the pride's thoughts would be a key part of leading the tundra to greatness. For now, it was only the pair of them, but it didn't do any harm to start small, right?
"And," because he hadn't just turned up here for such formal things, "I was wondering if you wanted to hunt with me." Because the cache needed a little top up. Many paws make little work, all that.
Of course, if Wolfgang was as hard and stoic as Azriael had thought when they’d first met, it would be easier to keep his mind made up. The problem was Wolfgang wasn’t exactly the strange, culty man he first seemed like. Yes, he was strange, but it wasn’t a bad sort of strange really. Wolfgang was, well, nice. For an emperor and that lot. Wolfgang had offered him, a stranger, a home - even if the reasons were to selfishly build the pride’s numbers. It still meant a measure of something. It wasn’t something Azriael exactly wanted to throw away just for a one night stand.
So he summoned a multitude of sarcastic answers to give the emperor, from scolding him about waking him from his nap to complaining about the cold again - but the brown lion followed up with another question. Azriael’s jaw clamped shut. It was a question, a request. It wasn’t a demand but he’d be well within his rights to order him about.
Azriael wasn’t a stranger to royalty like that, now was he?
“Sounds great,” he managed, offering a quick and easy grin despite the sudden, intolerable way his gut twisted. “What are we hunting?” He had utterly forgotten the first reason Wolfgang was here, now focused on moving on from those unbidden thoughts. He shifted, almost uncomfortably, on his paws. But it wasn’t the snow that bothered him.
Wolfgang wasn't really the best at guessing people's thoughts, and Azriael was no exception. Although those violet eyes drew him in, the tundra emperor hadn't a glimmer what was ticking in his companion's mind. Maybe that was what made him so interesting, exciting. Wolfgang had always known what to expect, how to react. Things were done a certain way... but Azriael didn't fall into any of those teachings. It kept him guessing.
"I smelt snow hares, on my way back from the mountain pass this morning." he offered up casually, indicating with his head the way he wanted them to walk. The path through the pines was the most direct, and would shelter them from the wind. He just hoped the breeze wouldn't shift because he was pretty certain they'd be downwind when then eventually emerged onto the open tundra."With all the spring growth, pretty sure they're good eating." He'd had rabbit before, and assumed it'd be similiar. "Ever hunted them before?"
Wolfgang could have said they were hunting mammoths alone and the russet lion wouldn’t have cared. He just wanted to get moving. “No, but I’ve caught a few rabbits in my time.” Azriael replied, honestly. When he travelled alone it was one of the few things he could actually manage to catch besides fish - but he hated fish. Without much else keeping them in place, Azriael shot forward in the direction Wolfgang had nodded. He managed to pull his steps in enough for his pace to be considered a brisk walk at best. There was a moment where he realised he didn’t actually know where to go and hesitated only enough to glance at the emperor and drop back enough for him to take the lead. The path was fairly direct but the lion still wasn’t entirely familiar with the territory yet. It didn’t exactly chafe, being forced to let Wolfgang lead, but had he known the way himself he wouldn’t exactly be walking Wolfgang’s big shoulder. Probably would have been easier if he didn’t have to fight the urge to bump his shoulder against the king.
As a lone traveller, Wolfgang had hunted his fair share of small prey, but these hares were a little bit of a new enddeavour. The way they raced over the snow when he'd spied them earlier, far in the distance, made him suspect it'd be a lot trickier than the bait and pounce hunting styles necessary for rabbits. Raw speed and strength would be on their side.
They fell in-step, easily. It felt comfortable to walk beside Azriael, and Wolfgang found himself subtly adjusting his gait to match the russet lion's steps. He saw the way Azriael hesitated with the direction, and made the guiding look less like high-handedly showing him the way, and more like a casual wander as the pine boughs closed over their heads. The ground here was clearer, with spring grasses and pine-needles dampening the sound of his paws.
"The river just straight ahead, then a left at the mossy rock," he shared, because there was a vague tightness in his chest that made talking coolly difficult. So blurting facts it was. "And the open tundra is just over that." And where they were headed. It was a short walk, but he was pleased to be able to show Azriael the landscape all the same.
Azriael felt the unease in his gut begin to settle. The more they walked, the easier it was to relax. Wolfgang proved an enjoyable distraction, walking at his side and pointing out the way they would go. He couldn’t know what made the lion uncomfortable, yet fixed it regardless by giving him the way ahead of them. He was almost disappointed when the trip ended and the tundra opened up before them. He paused under the shelter of the pine trees. He cast a glance toward Wolfgang - probably better to make a plan now and then go out. He lifted his head to scent the breeze for any signs of rabbit.
As the overhead snow-laden boughs began to become sparser, Wolfgang knew it wouldn't be long until they emerged onto the tundra. It was quick enough to pick their way there, and there wasn't much need for idle chatter. As soon as the ground turned to snow again and the plain opened up before them, Wolfgang split off a little, knowing the best way to hunt would be doubling their effective area. Opening his mouth, he scented the air, taking in the cold breeze as his eyes scanned the snow for signs of the hares.
Wolfgang split away and Azriael found it was strangely colder now. The russet male picked up a scent - hares, not too far away. He lowered himself to the ground, belly almost touching the thin layer of snow. With a quick glance he checked on Wolfgang’s location before moving forward, following the scent. It wasn’t hard to locate a few hares foraging in the open. He stayed low, down wind, but couldn’t do much more than hope his stark coloring was hard to spot at this distance. This would have been much easier if Wolfgang had claimed a pride with proper cover, but no, it had to be the stark white tundra.
It didn't take too long for Wolfgang to pick up the scent he'd detected earlier that morning, and as he turned his head to peer over the snowy landscape, he realised the bobbing black specks in the distance weren't weeds clinging to life, but instead black-tipped ears of the hares they were seeking. Glancing across to Azriael, he soon realised the other lion had spied the same group of browsing creatures. They were still downwind, too. Great.
Following Azriael's movements, Wolfgang began to skulk his way across the snow, moving steadily and slowly so he could loop his way around the side of the browsing creatures, hoping Azriael would get the hint and they'd be able to pincer the hapless prey.
In the way that lions seemed to do during hunts, they became telepathic. At least, Azriael noticed enough to know what sort of attack Wolfgang planned. Likewise, he began moving forward still low to the ground, careful with every movement he made - until one paw sunk further than he expected. So far, in fact, that his entire front half vanished into the unseen dip. Azriael definitely didn’t shriek or anything - that noise was from the hares that were unfortunate witnesses to the entire incident. They probably laughed when they scattered away. Azriael wouldn’t know; he was far too busy trying to scramble out of the freezing snowbank.
Wolfgang glanced toward the hares, and then back at Azriael and abruptly discovered the dark lion wasn't where he had left him. What? How could he move that fast- oh. Seeing the wild flailing in the deep flurry, Wolfgang forgot they were trying to be stealthy and let out a bark of laughter, entertained by Azriael's misfortune. Watching the hares sprint off into the nearby snow-laden bushes, he opted to wade his way over to help. "You okay? Didn't hurt a paw or anything?" he asked with barely-contained amusement, tail flicking jovially over the snow. "C'mon, lets try again." He would wait until Azriael was clear of the snow before pointing with a lifted paw, "They didn't go far."
