[FIN] Digga Tunna! (Lawsonia & Lochlan)

[Epine de Rose]

Lawsonia was bored, there was little other way in which he could possibly explain his current mindset. For the last few weeks he had been in much the same state. He had been shooed away many times by his mother, who might have loved him, but was also acutely aware that his siblings needed rest. You see, his siblings often fell ill and some where worse than others - a sniffly nose would turn into something much more critical and more often than not, there wasn't enough space for him and the nurse in the den. It wasn't that his mother didn't adore him as much as the others, she simply needed to put her priorities in order.

Consequently, she regularly sent him out to explore, stretch his legs and hopefully, meet some new friends. It was never a guarantee and his successes left much to be desired, but he could respect his mother's wishes...especially when he knew that in the long term, it meant his siblings got better. Suffice to say, it was becoming more and more apparent that unlike his siblings, Lawsonia seemed to be completely immune to the plague. Ever since he was born his health had never wavered and the energy he exuded was positively enviable...

Alas, with few other lions out within the pride this afternoon, the little cub had been struggling for a number of hours to find something to do. He's bathed, he'd done a few loops around the dens and now, he had taken to sitting underneath one of the trees. Sat in one of the crooks, he was sheltered from the worst of the sun while he stared with glazed eyes, out towards the horizon. In the distance he could see various animals moving to and fro, but nothing of any immediate note.

...Well, none yet.  

[Tanakako]

It was a rare day when one of the twins was without the other, but it was just one lone brown body that was padding about the pride. No one was really sure which one was which, for without them standing side-by-side, it was impossible to tell them apart.

This time however, it was Lochlan, out for a wander around the pride as the rest of his family were busy sleeping but he felt far too awake to join them. Passing the den area he kept going, little head up and amber eyes bright. An intelligent youth, he was always looking for new and interesting things with which to occupy himself or as games for he and his twin to embark on. Swiftly spotting the figure of another cub he changed direction and made a bee-line to the tree.

"Hi there!" He chirruped brightly.
 

[Epine de Rose]

A voice, a real voice! It wasn't just any voice either, it was a child's voice and as a consequence this meant that there was a possibility of a new friend. Lawsonia snapped out of his daydream and turned round, the glazed eyes clearing quickly as he caught sight of the brown cub. It was one he'd never seen before, but that wasn't to say that this was a rare thing - suffice to say that Lawsonia had met very few based on the number of cubs that fell ill around here. Intrigued, his lips parted just a touch and it took him a moment longer than was probably polite to reply.

"Hello," he replied, his tone not quite as bright but certainly inviting. It was at this point that he shifted his weight, gave his tail a slight stretch and cracked his neck from left to right. It would have been safe to assume that he had been sat in the same position for quite some time and despite his youth, stiffness had set in. It would have been admirable in the right context, if he was able to sit still for that long then surely that would mean he would make for a fabulous spy. Espionage was all about waiting around until something happened, right?

"You're like..." Lawsonia spoke again and shook his head, his ears clapping lightly against the top of it. "The only cub out here in the whole world, 'cept for me," he concluded and then released a world weary sigh that only a cub could possibly do so well. "S'been kinda boring, there's nothing happening at all," he conceded. It was at this point that he fell silent for a short moment and then cleared his throat. "Well 'cept for the meerkats over there, I think they're having some sort of boxing match," he observed, pointing his paw towards the distance.  

[Tanakako]

Lochlan didn't seem bothered by the slight pause, occupied as he was with examining this new cub. He knew of the litter, of course, since his adopted mom was Eva'raja, the pride's Master Healer, so he tended to know about all the lions in the pride even if he didn't know them personally. This one came from a litter brought into the pride just recently, though the youngster was about his age, his parents were from the roguelands. Lochlan himself often forget that he himself was half-rogue, since he saw Eva as his mother and well... Sliabh was his father either way.

"Nah" Lochlan replied with a cheeky grin. "The others are just sleeping right now. They need to sleep a lot... Moma gives out this stuff that tastes nasty but makes the sick lions sleep and helps them get better." Well, that was supposed to happen, but even he, young as he was, knew it was no guarantee. Twitching an ear he studied the other cub. "You gotta make stuff happen. Especially in this heat. Common down and I'll show... meercats?" Changing tact halfway through his comment, the young brown cub perked up, ears pricking as he stared in the direction the other had indicated.

"Hey! Let's go check it out."
 

[Epine de Rose]

Lawsonia had always known that there was no guarantee that all his siblings would improve. Some of them had good days and bad days, while others seemed to be on a continuous downhill spiral. It upset him a little, though he tried his best to accept it and deep down he was glad that his mother often nudged him away to occupy himself during the day.

He'd known from a young age that he hadn't wanted to be a healer, in fact, from the moment he had caught sight of one of the scouts he knew what he wanted... and well, for that, he needed to be physically fit! His mother had told him that and he knew she was right, Consequently, he kept himself occupied with plenty of exercise throughout the day - if he worked hard enough then it helped him forget. Admittedly he was fit little cub but he still had many skills to learn, one of which was hunting.

"Sounds good," he said without much hesitation and lifted himself onto all fours. Another few stretches and the cub was good to go, padding towards the meerkat dens in the distance to further inspect the boxing match that seemed to be occuring in their midst. "Reckon the one on the right is gonna win though," he mused as he kept walking. "He's taken on like...four already, and won everytime - seems like a good one to place your bets on..."  

[Tanakako]

As soon as the other cub agreed, Lochlan was off, racing across the dry plain towards the distant spot where the other cub had pointed. Almost immediately he realized the other wasn't following as fast and he slithered to a halt and looked back over one shoulder, giving Lawsonia a puzzled look.

"Come on!" he called, turning and gesturing for the other to move faster. "Or they will get away." He didn't understand the other, surely the whole point to these excursions was to go in hard and fast, cause plenty of mayhem and get out without getting caught! He had half hoped to play with the meerkats, catching the speedy little buggers was always a tricky business, but one that pretty much ensured hilarity and hijinks.
 

[Epine de Rose]

What, had he said something weird? Lawsonia met Lochlan's gaze with equal confusion and tilted his head to the side. Alas, he received no explanation as the other cub demanded he quickened his pace and shot ahead once more. Clearly, Lochlan wanted to do more than just watch, he wanted to get involved too! The striped cub couldn't help but giggle slightly and obediently quickened his pace, bounding forward to catch up with the brown cub ahead of him.

Admittedly, he sincerely doubted that two lion cubs would be very well received by the boxing meerkats, but it was certainly one way to provide them with an introduction. Suffice to say that neither he or Lochlan were to be greeted with any form of manners, as no sooner had they drawn close than the Meerkats had given their signal and had begun to scatter - they were already getting away!

"Nooooo!" Lawsonia cooed midrun and shook his head. "You go left, I'll go right," he declared and nodded ahead. "Try to cut 'em off before they get in their holes!"  

[Tanakako]

Grinning when the other youth caught up with him, Lochlan bounded directly for the meerkats shoulder to shoulders with his newest friend. A wide, delighted grin broke across his maw when the little critters scattered at their approach and with a whoop of excitement he suddenly darted left, giving Lawsonia a wicked grin as he did so.

Head down he barreled after the zigzagging meerkets, oversized paws kicking up dust behind him. "They are getting away!" He crowed wildly, maw stretched wide with a devilish grin as he raced after the meerkats, roughly herding them in front of him like a herd of scatty cats.
 

[Epine de Rose]

Lochlan had a knack for stating the obvious and apparently Lawsonia had a knack for being clumsy, so clumsy in fact, that 'dignity' was about to exit his vocabulary. He had been as determined as Lochlan to pursue the meerkats and was making even progress as well. Unfortunately there was just one problem when it came to the direction he had chosen. That problem was that their holes were closer and as such, they were able to reach it much more quickly. No sooner had he caught up to them than the majority of them were safely in their den. Alas, he wasn't one to give up without a fight and as one of the final numbers attempted to scurry passed him, he leapt forward.

Paws splayed out in an attempt to capture them, he shot forward, soared through the small distance between himself and the hole, and then promptly fell into it headfirst. Unfortunately, he was too small to fit the whole way in and as a consequence, he found himself stuck from the tummy down. His nose at the mercy of the meerkats and his rump exposed to the world, he knew of only one phrase in his vocabulary that could possibly sum up his current situation.

"Uh oh," he murmured as he came face to face with the angry matriarch of the meerkat pack, a number of her fellow adults behind her. Not to mention that he could already feel something tickling at his back paws.

What was the phrase he needed now?

Oh yeah.

"Oh mah gads!" he howled loudly, "Somebody help meh!" he continued, his voice coming to the surface in a very muffled and incoherent manner.  

[Tanakako]

Luckily for the younger, Lochlan had excellent hearing, and it helped that he had seen the striped cub's dive down the hole. His own chase forgotten he winced as Lawsonia got himself thoroughly wedged in place. Unable to help himself he started to giggle as the other youth wiggled about, tail flailing from side to side helplessly. Trotting over to where Law was stuck fast, Lochlan leaned down and peered at the edges of the hole. "Well... your right tight in there..." Wrinkling his little cubby nose he took a deep breath and made a face. "Im going to pull you out... " Rolling his eyes at the lovely prospect of the other's behind, he dipped his head and carefully got a hold of Lawsonia's tail. Luckily for him Lochlan's teeth were still small, being as they were cubs, and would not do more than pinch the tail he was gripping.

"'En I full 'ack... 'oo foosh 'ack" He mumbled around the tail in his mouth. Then with a warning tap on Law's paw, he hauled his cubby self backwards, straining to tug the stripped youth out of the hole.

"KUN ON!"  

[Epine de Rose]

"What?!" Lawsonia howled from beneath the ground as Lochlan approached. He hadn't completely heard the initial conversation that the brown cub had been having when he approached him. Truth be told, Lawsonia was too busy with his personal stand off with momma meerkat to have listened as well as he should have. It was only when Lochlan continued to speak that Lawsonia tore his gaze away from the meerkat and cast his gaze upwards in an attempt to clarify what was said. This was an action he would regret, as no sooner had he looked away then he had been attacked - by human standards she would have been an angry fish wife.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Lawsonia yelped, scrunching up his nose as he was smacked by the disgruntled matriarch. He lifted his paws and gave a number of swipes but alas, these were a touch female in comparison to the swipes that the female was taking. Yes, Lawsonia Inermis, proud scout in training, was getting his rear end kicked by a creature a third of his size. How was that fair? Fortunately forh im, Lochlan was taking action by this time and as he felt the firm grasp of a mouth around his tail and then a tug, he began to wriggle with all his might.

"Puuull!" he howled, wriggling and squirming as best he could with what grip he had available. All the while, the momma meerkat was making certain that he knew exactly what she thought of him. A few moments of tugging paid off though, and with a small 'pop' the cub broke free of the confines of the hole and tumbled backwards into Lochlan... "Ow," he announced, his voice now fully audible for all to hear.  

[Tanakako]

Lochlan could hear the other cub's howls, and certainly was getting a fair few bruises from Law's hind paws as they scrambled about in time (Lochlan assumed) with the blows he received inside the hole. Leaning all his weight back as he tugged he was about to try another method when suddenly the pair of them were tumbling backwards only to land with Lochlan buried under the dark fur of Lawsonia.

Coughing and laughing at the same time, he squirmed his way out from under the other youth and plopped his butt on the ground, pawing at the dirt in his ears even as he grinned widely at his friend. "Saved you! Though, what did you go burrow-diving for?" Giggling he stood and shook himself vigorously. "You were pretty intent on them hu." He commented, obviously thinking the other cub had planned on going down the hole, and sounding fairly impressed by the whole maneuver.
 

[Epine de Rose]

The momma meerkat had made her mark, literally. Lawsonia's nose was suitably scratched and had pink claw marks across it's usually pristine black surface. It would have been fairly accurate to assume that while it wasn't painful, it was definitely irritating. Hell, he couldn't even wrinkle his nose, scrunch his face or, for that matter, make any facial expression without feeling it. It was a lesson well learned and the female meerkat seemed to accept she'd made the right impression as she made no move to come any closer. Instead, she did what most females did and stared at him with those disapproving eyes that would have turned his legs to jelly if she'd been his mother.

Nevertheless, he was distracted from the disgruntled stare of the matriarch and turned his gaze towards Lochlan once the brown cub had finally squirmed free and Lawsonia had managed to seat himself in a more comfortable position. A part of him had been about to confess that it hadn't been part of the plan and he had slipped, but pride kicked in and while he had the decency to look sheepish, there was no way that he was going to confess to now. He'd never live it down! He'd seen sibling teasing, it lasted forever.

"I thought I would fit," he murmured, releasing a small cough. "But...s'lot smaller on the inside," he confessed. It was at this point that he shook his head, attempting to dislodge some of the dirt that had lodged itself in his own ears. "Did ye catch any?" he asked curiously to Lochlan, though he appeared to have empty paws - unsurprisingly, his query was not well received and the momma meerkat crept a few paces forward in response...  

[Tanakako]

Lochlan grinned at his compatriot, the pink scratched looked funny on the other's nose, though he did feel a twinge of sympathy, for he was no stranger to such injuries ion the line of duty.

Giggling at the other's reply, Lochlan still looked suitably impressed at Lawsonia's 'bravery'. "Yeah... the shadows make them look bigger than they are. But now ya know, right?" Moving from pawing at his ear to standing and shaking the dust from his coat, he shook his head and looked pointedly at Law. "I came to help you out so I didn't catch any, nope." Eyeing the female meerkat he grinned toothily at her. "But that's not really the point. The chase is way more fun.. as Id wager you would agree with me, yes?" Giggling he eyed the other cub's nose again.
 

[Epine de Rose]

"Takes talent to catch one of these guys," Lawsonia agreed, lifting a nose to rub at his paw lightly. It wasn't the smartest thing to do and further rubbing was probably going to make it swell, but cuts always had a way of itching the most irritating way. What made matters worse, was that it was always the smallest cuts that were the most infuriating to deal with! Law released a sigh at this and soon put his paw back down on the ground - it was better not to rub it, no matter how much he felt the urge to drag his nose across a cold, hard boulder...

"Lightning fast and they have all these secret trap doors and hiding places," he murmured. He puffed out his cheeks in much the same fashion as a hamster before conceding that for the time being, both he and Lochlan had been defeated. The meerkats already knew they were here now and getting the jump on them was no longer a viable option. The meekrats (especially the mother), would be ready for them this time and truth be told...

"I think we're outnumbered," Law observed, glancing around as more inquisitive eyes started to fix themselves upon him. "Think we're beat for now, should probably...try again another time, see if we can't even out the score," he continued. He wasn't easily beaten but he knew when the odds were stacked against him, even as a cub he knew that now would be a good time to retreat.

"I'm kinda hungry, wanna go back and get something to eat?" he said finally, perhaps lunch was in order...