[PRP] King of the Mountain [Shula and Kerra]

[Kimaria]

Kerra was patrolling. Not the borders. Not the muddy puddle of an oasis. Not even around the densite. No, today he was patrolling around one very tall spire of rock that jutted out from the sand and glowed almost golden beneath the sunshine. It had been worn smooth by time and wind, making it exceptionally fun - and near impossible - to climb. Kerra, however, was not one to back away from a challenge and today he had claimed the rock as his. The game was simple enough. Protect the rock from his any youngsters who might come this way and - if they managed to get past him - he had to chase them down.

After circling his 'rock' three times to leave a nice trail of pawprints in the sand, he'd begun the climb up - falling four times before finding a way that was relatively easy, sinking his claws into the rock as he scrabbled his way up. He'd not quite managed to reach the top, having to find satisfaction in about two thirds of the way where there was a nice hollowing in the side for him to sit and survey his lands. And that was where he sat now, his had lifted into the wind, whiskers puckered as he scented the air for any trace of his siblings.

Just let them come!

However, after a good few moments of waiting and seeing no one around, he got onto his paws and huffed. His patience was already waning. Didn't they know he was up there waiting to be unseated? Well, clearly not! Lifting his voice he called out to them instead. If they were close by, they'd certainly hear him and come running.

"Bakar!" He called first. And then: "Plamen!"

But his siblings were either not close by or they were ignoring him. "Where is everyone today?"  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

There was a crawly, dark thing scurrying across the ground. Shula had been in patient pursuit of it for a while. She didn't know its name, but would report back to her mother that it had been black, round, and with many legs. Despite her hunched posture as she crept behind the creature, she had no intention of pouncing on it, and therefore would have only her descriptions to provide insight on what she had seen.

Her hope was, by being merciful, it would guide her to something interesting. This leggy bug was not her enemy, boredom was. She didn't know where their alliance might lead; Shula was still very young, and hadn't seen the entirety of the Firekin land, nevermind elsewhere. But father had stories about other lions and other places, and mother had a heavy dose of realism ready to snuff out anything deemed too fanciful.

Shula didn't expect to be led to some fairy tale place, but maybe if they kept going (in her imagination, no guards would keep her from doing so), they could reach the jungles or the grasslands. She only need be determined enough to keep on the trail of her new companion, and patient enough to go at the pace he had dictated --

"Bakar! Plamen!"

The bug's shell parted. Out popped two wings, and before Shula even had a chance to marvel at them, they were put to good use and carried her new friend up into the air beyond her reach and farther, farther, farther away.

The cub's ears pinned back and her eyes slid slowly toward the source of the disturbance.

How rude.

Shula covered a lot of ground in a short while for one so small. That was because she practiced her running each and every day. And roaring. And pouncing (just not on bugs). But most of all, she practiced being an adult.

She plopped herself down in front of Kerra's self-appointed throne and glowered up at him. "Hey," she said, not by way of greeting, but very much a mimicry of mother's you're in trouble voice. "Why are you up there yelling?"
 

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

The female voice surprised him, particularly when he realised that it didn't even belong to one of his sisters. With so many siblings - he was one of a litter of eight - Kerra quite often expected that he'd bump into them without even meaning to, especially whilst they were all being kept contained close to the dens where they would be safe from harm. Pah! Safe from harm! They were the sons and daughters of Firekin, born of a proud lineage of guards. Soon they'd be apprenticing in their chosen careers and then he'd be on the front lines with his father and grandfather. Still, perhaps it was best that he didn't reach apprenticeship age just yet. Kerra - like Bakar - hadn't quite chosen what he wanted to be yet.

More often than not he decided he'd like to be a guard, out on patrol, protecting his people. Other times - especially when he watched the sparring - he fancied himself as a brave soldier, rising through the ranks and leading a company of his very own. Sometimes he thought his father would like him to take a non-military rank but that was completely out of the question. He wanted to beat up the bad guys and he couldn't do that if he opted to become a medic or historian.

His tail thumped once against his little platform as he peered down at this new one; all shining white fur and emblazoned with fiery wings. The stark, dark lines from the corners of her eyes seemed to draw his attention and he sniffed with curiosity.

"I was yelling for my brothers." He called down at her, his head canting at her tone. It was confusing, if nothing else. "I wanted to play 'King of the Mountain' and I can't do that by myself. It's at least a two person game." He allowed a smile to lift the corners of his mouth. "Have you seen them anywhere? If they have stripes they're probably my siblings." He gave another small sniff. "Usually they come running..." Was he missing something more exciting? He hadn't thought so but now he was beginning to wonder...

What if the bad guys had come back whilst he was up on this rock?

"Maybe you could go look for them for me?" He asked, not seeming to think that it might be an unreasonable request.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Yes, he was quite comfortable treating her like some kind of servant. That was the most annoying thing of all! At least if he had been bossy about it, she could have scolded him for being too demanding. How did you chastise someone when they didn't even know what they were doing? It was a lot to expect from a little cub like her.

Shula's tiny claws scrapped against the ground. The lion equivalent of tapping one's fingers on a desk, and already a habit she was becoming accustomed to when her temper started to flare. Siblings being bothersome? Want to argue with your parents? Some dumb -- dumb -- dumb other lion trying to give you orders? Scrape scrape scrape.

Slowly and patiently, but with a sour face so profound it was visible from a distance, she exhaled so heavily her shoulders rose and fell dramatically. "Maybe if you asked nicer when you want something," she tried.

What would mother do?

"And what are you even doing up there?" she continued. "You're going to fall and get hurt."  

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

Uh oh.

Kerra might not have realised that he'd offended with his words, but that face---that face was unmistakeable. He'd seen something very similar often worn on his mother's face and in such instances it was best to keep out from under her paws. The reason for this cub's grump-face, however, was still not clear to him. He only wanted to play a game with his brothers and she was getting all uptight about it as if--as if--

Oh.

Did she feel left out? Was that it? Well then why didn't she just say so instead of pulling those faces and pulsing her little claws on the ground like that?

"Being up here is part of the game." He explained. "One lion is the King of the Mountain and the others have to try and de-throne him by climbing up and pushing all the others off." The game was best played with more than two, but if a game would make her less angry at him he couldn't see the harm in it. "I usually play with my brothers but since Mother could beat up Father in a fair fight I guess girls can play, too." He smiled. "Although you'd be a 'Queen' of the mountain instead." Thinking about it, perhaps it should have been 'Regent of the Mountain' but it just didn't have the same ring to it.

And, seemingly not prepared for any other answer than a 'yes' he got up onto his paws and balanced on the edge, his tail swaying out behind him and hitting the rock as he settled his weight evenly.

"Oh, and don't worry about falling. Just make sure you land on the sand and it'll all be fine." He grinned a toothy little grin and wiggled his hindquarters in preparation.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Exceptionally prone to loneliness for a cub that often voluntarily excused herself from the company of her peers, Shula would have felt left out if there was anything to be left out of. A single cub (too young to know to call him anything else, Shula was) on a rock was far from the event of the century. The way he made it seem like something to be coveted, though. . . At an impressionable age like hers, she could be convinced.

Her ears perked up and that condemning glare dropped right off her face. "A Queen?" What little girl didn't want to be a queen? They were one of the first roles taught as important and special for females like her. All she had to do was climb a dumb rock for the title?

Shula stepped closer to the smooth wall of stone. "My mother could beat my father in a fight too," she explained, for no real reason other than it was an opportunity to brag about one of her parents. Had Kerra mentioned his father being intelligent, Shula would have insisted hers was as well.

Okay, so. . .

"I'm not going to fall," she spat, but of course she did. Shula had a way of making mistakes sound like excuses. "I slipped!" she complained from the sand. Indeed, she had landed in the grainy stuff without a bruise to show for it. But she also hadn't gotten very high.

Shula tried again, and was half way to the half way point when she started to slide down, down, down.  

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

He beamed down at her, glad that his plan seemed to have worked. She didn't look particularly overjoyed, to be sure, but at least she was taking part and he had no doubts at all that he could turn that frown upside-down. She certainly managed to make him smile when she 'slipped' though he quickly smacked a paw across his face to hide it - or try to, anyway. His smile showed in his eyes and he hadn't bothered to cover those.

"S'okay!" He called at last. "Everyone slips. You should see Bakar." He laughed, though to be fair, his brother was pretty good at this game. Ah well, never mind, she didn't need to know that.

He braced himself against the rock with his claws when she made her second attempt, his whiskers splayed as he pursed his mouth in concentration. His pale, pale eyes could be hard to read at times but his joy put a gleam into them which was undeniable. He'd not thought about making a new friend and here he was doing just that. "Put your claws in, quick, quick!" And, without even meaning to, he was calling out tips to help her get purchase on the rock. "Look for the cut-aways in the rock." And he stepped down onto one with a single front paw to show her what to look for. "See? There's lots of places to help grip on, you just have to know where to look!" Practise made perfect after all. And, if she didn't do very good...well he could give her a little shove back to the ground.

A bit of fury might help motivate her into becoming a climber!

Perhaps he might have even tried that already...if she hadn't used her grump-face before.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Shula may have been patient in handling the mistakes of others, but her own shortcomings were another matter. She was small and so were her claws. Add to that they were filed from that scrape scrape scrape habit of hers and it was no wonder she wasn't faring well in her goal. Kerra had good intentions, but his "help" only annoyed her more!

There was something to the theory of using fury to motivate this little perfectionist.

"See? There's lots of places to help grip on, you just have to know where to look!"

That, Kerra, was a problem. Shula wanted to look where she was going, but couldn't tear her eyes off her own paws. For whatever reason, she instinctively felt her icy stare would keep them from slipping again. It didn't.

Shula scrambled to get her hold back before she slid too far. To make matters worse, a startled squeak escaped her.
 

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

His jaw jutted as he frowned down at her, his tail thumping against the rock behind him, stirring a wispy cloud of sand that curled in the air and disappeared a few moments later. Apparently climbing wasn't as easy for some as it was for others. If his father was there, Kerra knew that he'd tell him to help her. That's what good Firekin did. They helped their kin. But if he helped her it was like helping the 'enemy' right? His nose wrinkled, undecided, and perhaps worried that helping her might create a 'queen' who would then become undefeated!

And it would be his fault.

Her squeak a couple of seconds later made him jump, his fur puffing up in only the way a cub's can. "Okay, wait a minute!" He braced himself against the rock as if in preparation to leap. "We'll call a momentary truce." And without waiting to see if she would agree he did indeed leap from his place. He landed with a thump on the ground, the impact absorbed well by the sand - though it did leave a strange ringing sensation in his limbs. Shaking himself vigorously, he turned back to look across at her.

"I can show you a path up if you like." He reared up, placing a fore-paw on the rock to balance himself, the other curled against his chest. "But you have to keep it a secret, okay?" If his brothers found out then there might be no holding them back. It had taken him a long time of careful navigation to perfect this particular skill and he didn't want just anyone to learn it.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

If their roles were reversed, Shula would abide by the first tactic and let Kerra climb up himself, squeak or not. Or so she thought. This young she was more liable to be swayed by something so pitiful, but it wouldn't be long before the hardships of others weren't any more pitied than her own. Already, Shula was displeased her with herself and her failed scaling of this monstrous mountain. (That disgust would only get worse when she was old and big enough to know it was a far cry from any sort of mountain.)

She winced as she caught Kerra's shadow falling from the corner of her eye. How could he jump from so high? That, and the dizziness that hit her full force when she turned to look over her shoulder, should have been her first hints this was a bad idea.

Shula had never been up high enough to know what a fear of heights was. The only things that got off the ground never seemed afraid of it. Like birds. Or bugs --

Oh, yeah.

Shula supposed he did owe her for chasing away her bug. She relaxed her claws just enough to slide back down the rock and gently, softly, landed next to him. She looked up at him -- him and his curled paws and his secrets. Of course she could keep a secret!

"I will," she said sternly. With a voice like that you'd think she was the one that had something to lose if word got out. "Where is it?"  

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

Unaware of the thoughts running through Shula's mind, Kerra simply smiled across at her, waiting for her affirmation that she would keep the secret. And only when she had stated, quite clearly, that she would keep the secret he relented without much of a fuss, dropping back onto his paws and gesturing that she follow him with a jerk of his head. "Okay, it's this way." He moved anti-clockwise around the rock until he was perhaps quarter of the way around and then lifted a paw to indicate the first 'step'. "Do you see that cut away, there? Where the bit of the rock has splintered off? That's what you need to look for to know you're in the right place." And without wasting another moment he bounded across to it and lifted his head up as if to confirm that he had gotten the right place. "The rough surface makes it easier for your claws to get into and - if you're strong enough - you can vault yourself up to that platform just there."

Said platform was perhaps a good leap high.

Lowering into prime pouncing position, Kerra launched himself at the roughened surface, scrabbled with his claws with a frantic sort of motion and then hooked his paws over the edge to pull himself up. Once he was there he turned back to look at her. "This is the part that takes the most practise. Once you're here, the rest is easy." He smiled again. "Trust me!" And, with a small sniff, he edged his way further around the rock to make room for her to join him.

"It'll all make sense once you're up here."

He blinked, waiting, poised. "Um, and let me know if you...need a boost or something."  

[Hopefolly]

Shula was never very good at smiling at lions she didn't know well. Too young to recognize jealousy for what it was, so instead, she figured she was annoyed with him and his smiling.

She followed him around the rock, committing every detail to memory. "I see it," she replied, more defensively than someone just trying to help her deserved. But it wasn't her fault. He had scared away her bug, sabotaged her climbing with his talking and his smiling, and then asked her if she could keep a secret! She was about to spill all the secrets she already knew she hadn't told just to make him feel silly for it.

Shula looked up.

When you saw it from this angle, it was kind of. . . really high.

She couldn't be bested by a rock again. So, Shula dropped into a frontal crouch and wiggled her rear. Her claws went scrape scrape scrape. She sprang forward and latched onto the stone. The flurry of motion she had to use to reach him looked positively ridiculous, but the ends justify the means: she did reach him.

"I did it!" Shula cried happily. She bounced on her paws a little and said it again. "I did it! I did it!"

Kimaria

 

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

He waited, feeling strangely apprehensive. She seemed to have a bit of a scary temper about her - or that's the impression he got in any case - and he wasn't sure he wanted to be around when it exploded. And it might...if she couldn't make the first jump. Thus, when she leaped up to join him, it was with both joy and relief that he congratulated her. "I knew you could do it. See. You'll be scouring this mountain in no time at all."

He hopped to the next ledge with ease and turned back to look at her. "And don't worry. That was the most difficult part of the climbing. The rest of the challenge is the remembering but if you climb it enough you'll soon master that, too." And he did another small hop, moving slower than he normally would so that she could follow and perhaps take mental notes at the same time. "Now." He continued, "once you get here, where the rock forms a point like a fang." He patted the rock he stood on with a paw to draw attention to it. "We need to drop down a bit to continue. It sounds silly but sometimes you need to go down to go up. Carry on this way and you eventually reach a dead end." He gave her a sheepish grin that seemed to suggest he had made that mistake many a time before. And, without missing a beat, he dropped down and out of sight, those his voice lifted loud and clear as before.

"Just down here! I'll move up a bit to make room. And be careful. It can get a bit narrow." Some well-aimed paws made this task a lot easier.

"Oh and, um, I never asked before. What's your name? I'm Kerra!"  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

The once abrasive Shula was quickly warming up to Kerra. You could say he had her at "I knew you could do it". Her mother and father were both supportive parents that encouraged their children in their own ways, but Shula was one of many cubs in their brood, and getting this kind of one-on-one attention had her beaming.

With her attitude vastly improved, Shula tagged along with a noticeably more relaxed posture and a far less grumpy face. Mental notes were being scribbled in her brain without pause. It was something special to learn every detail about such a cool secret. Shula not only shared parents with her siblings, but everything else too. This would be just hers.

And, uh. . . this guy's. Hers and this guy's secret.

"Like a fang," Shula repeated quietly to herself. "Down to go up," she mumbled.

Scraping claws was not her only habit.

Shula was so swept up in her task, she barely noticed when she was actually doing it. Down she slid beside Kerra, landing with a lot less grace than he did (something she'd be working on next time, should there be a next time).

"Good to meet you, Kerra," she said sincerely. "My name is Shula. There's a lot of Shulas around. . ."  

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

Her lightening mood was felt almost instantaneously, putting Kerra at ease. Girls could be awfully scary when they were in a bad mood and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of any tempers. Not today, thank you. And, besides that, it also felt sort of good to share a secret. To let someone else in on it so that they could marvel at how exciting it was to be able to scale the mountain with such ease and become King - or Queen - for as long as the game lasted.

"There are a lot of Shulas." He agreed. "But I think that means it is special or something. You know, that maybe there was a famous Shula back in the day who fought epic battles and stuff?" That sounded right to him though he couldn't quite remember where he had picked that up from. "There's lots of Azars, too. My grandfather is an Azar'bijan and the general is an Azarax - which is close enough." His ears drooped a little. As far as he was aware he was the only Kerra. Did that mean that he wasn't named after anyone special? Well, if that was the case he'd just have to make sure he made a name for himself so that future Firekin could be named after him. He nodded determinedly to himself, mind settled, and pointed upwards.

"Look. We're almost there." And just a few leaps away was the platform where he had been sitting when Shula had first come over to see what all the noise was about. And, with a short sideways glance, he hopped neatly up the 'steps' formed from the natural crevices in the rock and headed straight towards his little platform.

He might have shown her the way up but she couldn't be queen until she'd earned the throne!