The petite lioness moved at a creeping pace. She was following after a crustacean. Whether it was edible or not was something that remained to be seen. What she did know was that it was alive and it was trying to escape. The fleeing was enough to arouse the hunter instincts within her and had her moving after the shelled creature.

When the massive king crab would stop scuttling the lioness would pause in her movement as well. Kasia would wait until the crab started moving again until she proceeded to move as well. She hadn't yet figured out how to take it down. There was no obvious neck to latch onto. No tender flesh to rip apart. For now all she could do was stalk while planning her method of attack.

The young lioness was on the hunt, and so was he.

Magnus knew that, at some point, he would need to get back out to the Passage. His pride was one of the largest, but it would only end poorly if he became complacent. So he would leave his Kingdom and head East, slowing only once he'd detected the scent of another. @Kasia seemed occupied, but it would not stop him from addressing her; after all, it wasn't like a crab was going to outrun a lion. It was hardly a trial, even for one as young as herself. A fearsome adversary, the titan rumbled.

Kasia looked over to the large... lioness? Nose twitched as it tried to reconcile the visual with the smell. It didn't smell like a lioness but certainly had the appearance of one. One much larger than herself to be certain. And then there was the wording. Was she being mocked? That had been her initial question until she had had that blip of confusion.

"Can't bite it." Accented voice rang out. She had already snapped at it once and found that the teeth just slid over the shell upon the back of the large creature and gained no sort of purchase at all. So let her... him... it... tease her. She would like to see them do any better with catching the crab.

@Magnus

She would not retort to his statement with sass, which bode well. Magnus may be a father now, but it did not heighten his tolerance for those around him. If anything, the lack of sleep and increased activity probably only served to make him more fractious. Especially with strangers. The dilemma the girl faced was an obvious one, and without hesitation the man would press forth and close in on the crab.

It was large, but he was larger.

@Kasia may not have been much of a match, but Magnus' sheer bulk would make it a far easier conquest. The crustacean would attempt to outpace him, pincers snipping in the air defensively, but it would take only a little exertion for the titan to place his front limbs on top of it and press down. All of his weight bearing down on the beast would kill it, albeit not immediately, and the High Sovereign would only step back once it no longer moved.

There.

It took nothing for the larger feline to practically crush the massive crustacean. Shire bulk and size made the darker figure the perfect match for the shelled creature. There was still a question that remained though. "How do you eat it?" Because if it moved then it had to be edible, correct?

And with the crab now no longer moving Kasia was free to approach it and sniff at it. The petite lioness had no idea what the creature even was. She had never seen anything such as it before. Though with it dead she was a little more brazen with her actions and swatted at the African King Crab with a paw.

@Magnus

The clay-pelted wretch would watch silently as he crushed the crustacean, speaking up before advancing on the dead creature. Magnus would use a claw to hook into one of the fractures in the shell, and - using his other front paw to anchor the crab on the spot - would waste no time in tearing the creature apart. It took a little effort, and he would grunt with the exertion, but after a moment or two the carcass would be split in two and meat exposed for the taking. You need to be strong, he stated; the most obvious thing in the world. He would then thrust the kill in the direction of the yearling with a paw. It wasn't his duty to teach this girl anything. The freebie meal was generous enough, in his mind. You'll be snatched up here, you know. Claimed. Especially because you are alone. An idle warning; the only one he'd offer.

Kasia watched with eager fascination as the crab was torn apart and the meat was exposed to her. There was a lot more of it there than she would have thought possible. It was almost like looking at goat meat. And sneaking a quick taste of the meat she could certainly say it tasted nothing at all like goat. But what it did taste like she couldn't say. It was nothing like anything that she had ever had before.

Strong. That had her at a disadvantage. She didn't have the body mass for strength. "I can be fast." Though fast didn't count in this instance. "Can climb good." She was surefooted on tricky mountain paths. Of course this didn't help with catching crabs either.

"Not alone." The ridge furred lioness said with a quick shake of her head. "I got brothers." Not that they were here at the moment, nor did she know just where to find them at the moment either. And again it was something else that wouldn't do her any good within the moment.

"Are you claiming?" Because why else would it be brought up.

@Magnus

Judging by the expression on the girl's face, this was a gamechanger. Magnus would simply rock back on his haunches with a stoic expression as @Kasia peered eagerly. He would do or say no more to encourage her further to eat. Whether or not she nourished herself was not really his concern. Can you now? He drawled lowly, fixing her with his mismatched gaze as she reeled off what she could and couldn't offer. The mention of brothers had him glance briefly to the horizon. They don't seem to be here, though. Invisible kin would not put anyone off. Luckily for the Durinn yearling, Magnus had no intentions of snatching away her free will. I am not, he responded after a moment's pause, lip curling ever-so as he scrutinized the clay-pelted youth. But I will offer you a place in my pride - Obsidian Hollow. You aren't so young that you would be completely useless. Bit harsh, but an entirely fair observation in his mind. Your family would also be welcome.

"Not hungry?" The yearling queried when the other feline didn't touch any of the crab meat. Maybe they didn't like seafood. Kasia certainly didn't mind it. It beat having goat all the time. And goat just happened to be her main catch because she was able to get to the same places they did.

The female was quick to nod her head when his own question was posed. "No place to climb here." It was mostly flat sand with very few dunes. But the sand didn't make for good climbing and so she had nothing with which to be able to show off her boasted about skills.

"Not here here." She agreed as her kin wasn't anywhere in sight at the moment. "Somewhere here." Somewhere further on past the passage and into the interior lands of the island. "Is a hollow like a mountain?" The name meant little to her other than obsidian being a black rock. And to her rocks belonged to mountains.

The thought of rocks had the youth glancing about. "Need rocks." The decisive statement was made. "Want to see what a hollow is. Got to build a cairn so brothers know." Though there wasn't really an elevated location upon which to build her cairn. Still, they would have to notice a stack of rocks among the sand.

@Magnus

He would shake his head decisively. No. I am not hungry. He had plenty of fresh meat back in the Hollows caches to sample; such was the benefit of living in a pride. A benefit that, perhaps, @Kasia was starting to cotton on to. It is similar to a mountain, in some ways. He would elaborate further, if she needed him to, but perhaps that would be enough. Ultimately, she decided to follow him; her reasoning was given fair attention, and he would acknowledge it with a nod. Very well. I will show you. He'd start to turn, glancing over his shoulder at her. You can leave at any time. Just tell me first. He wondered idly what these brothers were like, if they were even around. He could always do with more able-bodied recruits. Come. And with a gesture of the head he'd motion her to follow.

EXIT