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 Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:44 pm
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Jahina was chuckling to herself even as the workings of this new prank was unfolding. It would be fantastic! Already she imagined the surprise on the unlucky victim's face as he or she realised they had been fooled. The surprise that would then turn to laughter (or annoyance) of which Jahina would smoothly talk her way out of. It would be something to remember! So long as it all went to plan, of course. Unfortunately, her last couple of pranks had fell horribly flat and there was the time when she had fallen into her own trap: a pit covered with sticks and leaves to mask it. That had been embarrassing to say the least.
In any case, the female was determined to see this one through. "Anyone coming, Ngeu?" She called.
Above her the large, ungainly shape of her partner in crime came into land. She perched awkwardly on the branch, tipping forwards and tilting her head with excitement. Her blue plumage was brilliant against the green.
"Coast clear for now."
"Hmm, let's hope it won't take too long for someone to happen by. Anyway, look, it's all done!" She gestured towards the nice piece of meat stripped from a carcass that a huntress had brought back earlier that morning. It was certainly a tasty looking morsal and it had taken a lot of willpower for Jahina not to eat it herself.
If one looked closer, they might see the vine tied around its centre. The vine coiled through the long grass; its end settled at Jahina's forepaws.
The plan was a simple one. Wait for the target to come along and spot the meat. They would try to eat said easy morsel only to find it flying out of reach - thanks to the vine that Jahina would tug.
The lioness was grinning ear to ear as she picked the end of the vine up in her mouth and hunkered down low in the grass. Another trait that a trickster needed was patience. Often these things would leave her sitting in one place for hours on end! She glanced briefly upwards to see the vulture settle herself more comfortably on the branch and, with a soft squeak of delight, settled down for a long wait. |
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:26 pm
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The cub wasn't alone, in fact, he was in the company of his own hawk as he puttered through the pridelands. It was still an oddity to him, to be in the company of a hawk that could see, hear and remark on everything, but all the same, the tiny cub enjoyed the company. After all, few cubs would question the benefits that came with having a 'chaperone' in the sense that Dar'fuku was permitted to wander far further than his siblings thanks to the presence of this blessed avian.
Alas, this sense of freedom was not accompanied by wisdom or intelligence and the cub was still a very naive individual. He had much to learn about the ways of the world and given that his parents were still in the process of teaching him, there were certain things he was susceptible to. For example, the piece of meat that happened to be lying in the distance was of considerable interest to him. At no point did the small cub question why on earth it would be lying in such a position - in fact, even when Osmunda (his companion) made a wry observation, he elected to ignore it.
From what Dar'fuku could see, the meat was ripe for the taking and with no sign of any other individual in the area, it was perfectly acceptable for him to have it! This in mind, the lion cub trotted towards the piece of meat and extended a paw to grab at it. At no point did he notice the vine coiled around it, despite the difference in colouration and given that the avian had been largely ignored, Osmunda had elected to remain silent at this point!
Unaware of the trick that lay in wait for him, a happy smile lined his lips and he gave a small growl to emulate how he should respond if this were real prey...
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:22 pm
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:33 am
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What the...?
Dar'fuku's eyes narrowed as the meat tumbled away from him and he paused with his paw still suspended in the air. He'd never seen meat do that before and had to wonder if this was a new sort of prey. Was it an undiscovered animal? It looked dead, but perhaps that was the entire point of it - after all, there were some animals in the world who did play dead to escape predators. Alas, it was unfortunate for this fleeing 'animal' as Dark'fuku was not one to back out of a challenge and instead he set his paw down and then promptly trotted after the piece of meat. Suffice to say that he was a gods' gift to any trickster and still hadn't sighted the vine rope coiled around it!
Fortunately for the pair of tricksters, Osmunda had elected to hold his piece and rather than kicked up a fuss, the bird instead deposited himself on a tree branch and turned his gaze down to watch the child's antics. Eventually the cub would either catch it, grow bored and/or frustrated with the chase, or the lioness would reveal herself to him. Either way, Osmunda's silence would probably ensure that Dar'fuku received a valuable lesson i.e. be more observant...
Thus, it was with his body low that the cub crept after the meat, keeping his paw steps as quiet as he possibly could so as not to alert his prey to his presence again. He'd get it this time! |
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:38 pm
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Successssssss~ Yes!
Okay, so the poor little guy was only a cub - and a very young one at that - but that didn't make Jahina feel any less excited. At last a trick had worked and if it worked on this little guy, perhaps it would have a chance on working on someone else, too. Someone like dear old Chewy, perhaps? She snuffled a giggle into the soft earth and, unfortunately, was distracted by her thoughts just long enough for the cub's prowling to end in success.
At the last moment, she tried to tug the meat away from his grasp, but his little claws must have found purchase (or maybe it had snagged on a rock?) and the meat held firmly in place. She gave another sharp tug on the vine and it snapped, dangling uselessly in her teeth.
Okay, so her celebrations had been cut short, but never mind! It was a small victory but a good one!
Without thinking, she lurched up from the ground, dropped the vine and bounced out of the undergrowth to see him. "Thank you~!" She chimed merrily. "You just helped me out a lot, kiddo!" She sat and, hooking the broken vine with a claw, dragged it out in front of her. The smile on her maw was unwavering and, with a sudden clamour, she was joined by her feathered companion.
"Just gotta find a stronger vine..."
The clamour of Ngeu's wings amongst leaves was a noisy business and, somewhat awkwardly, she came to land on the leaf-scattered ground, lifting her heavy head up from her hunched shoulders. Vultures were not known for their beauty, but she did have a rather nice shade of blue that glowed even more vibrant where the sunlight touched it.
"Would have worked better if you'd stayed focused, Jah-Jah." The vulture teased, turning her head back to the cub. "You - my friend - just helped us test out our new trick! Not a lot of lions could say that, you know." |
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:16 pm
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He'd caught it and by gods did he do it well! Or at least, this is what he assumed until the lioness bounded out from her hiding place, vine and all. Initially he didn't see the offending plant and instead, gazed down triumphantly at the meat. It was only whenever he noticed the loop of green around the meat that slowly but surely things began to fall into place - even at this young age he knew that meat wasn't green and since this form of prey was hairless it couldn't have been a fur colour either. Suffice to say that in those moments the tiny cub felt decidedly cheated and wrinkled his nose to indicate he wasn't impressed.
How unfair, and he thought he'd been doing well!
He cast an accusatory glance upwards towards Osmunda who remained perched in the tree, his avian gaze otherwise impervious to all criticism. After all, Dar'fuku needed to learn at some point and it wouldn't have been fair for the bird to interrupt - well, that was the excuse Osmunda would give, but really but the truth of the matter was that the bird had suspected he would be blatantly ignored by the young cub. As they said, it was common knowledge that the young thought that they knew everything.
Fortunately for the lioness, Dar'fuku was an individual who recovered quickly from his embarassment and after a small pause, he buried the meat against his tummy and cupped his paws around it protectively. It was only then that he turned his intention back to the lioness and tilted his head to the side. What did they mean by a 'trick' and how would that be of any use to anyone...wasn't it a little mean?
"But why would you want to do that to someone?" he enquired quizzically and shook his head. "Isn't that mean?" he added, indicating that he wasn't the most well schooled in the art of trickery. |
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Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:31 pm
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Jahina, with a wide smile, lowered herself onto her stomach and curled her forepaws in against her chest - putting herself at a closer level with the little one as she spoke with him. She adored cubs and this little one was particularly cute, especially with the vibrant pink in his pelt.
Wait...pink?
She blinked, momentarily surprised, and then gave the blue vulture a nudge. The bird squawked at her before settling more comfortably on the ground at her side; the pair looking across at the boy. No one had really asked them 'why' before and it had them momentarily stumped. And was it mean? Neither had considered that their tricks might be seen as mean before. It was certainly never done with that intention.
"Oh..." Jahina trailed. "We're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you, little one. We never mean to upset anyone with our tricks."
Ngeu lifted her wings. "Jahina's right. We play tricks to make people smile and laugh! If we upset you then we're both very sorry." She flapped her wings again before folding them tight to her sides, hunching down to get a better look at the boy. "There was a time in this land when no one laughed very much. Too much sadness. Too many frowns. So we decided to play tricks and make jokes to try and lighten the mood for people living here."
They certainly were a pair of jesters.
"We never did believe in moping around and being negative minded. Every bad situation has a silver lining, so that's what we did. We made that silver lining glow brighter to help others who couldn't see it."
Jahina nodded in agreement. "Yes, there were lots of sad lions and lionesses in the Aka'mleli once. But we decided to stay positive and try to help others stay positive too! I'm Jahina and this is my companion, Ngeu." Her hazel eyes softened.
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:58 pm
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[[I'm so sorry in the delay for this, I got a new job and had to relocate so I disappeared for a while. I apologise!]]
Dar'fuku had never really been educated on the history of the pride and it's circumstances. Perhaps it was because he was deemed too young, but his parents had never brought the issue to light and as such, he had never thought to question it. However, now that Jahina had brought the subject up, he did cant his head to the side, his expression littered with curiosity. He'd never heard of the pride in this light before and as such, Jahina had his attention. It would seem that her prank against him was all but forgotten but such was the way of things, like most cubs, he was easily distracted!
"Why were they sad?" he asked softly and padded towards the pair, taking a seat nearby as he kept his gaze fixed on each. Every now and then he would flick his eyes between each in case either wished to speak but he couldn't focus on them both at the same time, unfortunately, it would only serve to make him cross-eyed. "Mama and papa never told me about it, did someone get hurt?" he continued.
"And did it work?" he added and raised a paw, pointing it towards the meat nearby. "The pranks I mean... did they make them happy again?" he finished, his lips pursing into a thin line and his eyebrows creasing into an expression of cubbish concern. If Jahina hadn't been successful in her pursuits then maybe he was going to have to help out too! |
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:38 pm
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[[Rofl, let's just agree RL likes to eat us both?]]
Darfuku stared down at his own paws for a few moments and for a moment, regarded the ground with a heightened sense of suspicion. He'd never heard of an earthquake before, nor did he ever want to experience one. By the sounds of it they were both terrifying and caused a great deal of sadness - suffice to say that even as a cub he would never wish sadness on anyone else, that was just mean!
Suddenly, he began to appreciate why the pride loved their bird companions so much. Perhaps 'revered' would be more appropriate for some, regardless, they were indispensible and Darfuku was acutely aware of why this was. Without their avian companions he suspected that some of the injured would never have been found, they would have been lost permanently and as a consequence, the pain experienced within the pride would have been worse.
...Darfuku stole a quick glance at Osmunda.
"You're sure that they're definitely safe again?" he enquired slowly, his lips pressing into a thin line as he regarded Jahina for a few moments. It seemed that in the space of a few minutes he had come to a realisation of what he wanted to be when he was older. He and his sister had spoken about it before, they had toyed with the idea, but now he was sure. One day, some how, he was going to become a guard and he was going to be a good one.
Alas, he didn't have an opportunity to dwell on this for too long and he blinked in surprise when Jahina guessed who his mother was. How on earth had she known that, was it obvious?
"Yes," he hiccuped in surprise and shook his head. "How'd you know that?"
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Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 1:52 pm
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(That sounds like a good agreement! XD )
The avians truly had been a blessing during that particular time of hardship and those that had been lost had been mourned terribly. The thought of living life without Ngeu at her side physically pained her. The pair were inseparable and for one to be without the other seemed completely incomprehensible. It just wasn't going to happen!
"As safe as safe can be." She replied warmly, not wanting to worry the cub at all. "The land protects us naturally with its borders and since that event, we have the seers who ensure we all remain safe. The seer by the name of Peke, he speaks with all the joining rogues to make certain of their good intentions. And, as far as the ground is concerned, it has been very quiet ever since. Whatever was bothering it before seems to have gone away now." What could possibly make the earth shake like that, anyhow? Jahina had never really thought about it before. She smiled across at him anyway, certain that nothing like it would ever happen again. That'd be awful bad luck otherwise, would it not? And Aka'mleli had had more than its fair share of the bad kind of luck. It was time for some good.
"Ah ha! Well, you remember when I said that me and some others got caught outside of the lands during the earthquake? Well, your mother was one of those lionesses! You look so much like her." Her face warmed with affection.
"She is a good lioness, your mother." Ngeu added warmly, thinking of the times when the pink lioness had joined them on their tricks and helping them cheer up their less happy members of the group. "She used to come on adventures with us and help us with our pranks, too."
"That's right! She did!" Jahina nodded happily. "Our journey brought us close, like sisters. So you see, even when things look bad, all sorts of good can come of it."
Jahina's smile widened. "And that's how I stayed so positive. That's how I kept going. No matter how bad things can be at times, they never last."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:58 pm
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He'd suspected that the avians had played a key role in helping the pride and he fully appreciated their assistance. He was a cub, but he recognised the significance of this aid and while he couldn't even begin to imagine what they had seen, and nor did he want to, he was grateful for them. He cast a smile upwards to Osmunda, tilting his head to the side as the bird cast a glance down towards him in return.
"Thank you," he said to the falcon who hazarded a wry smile before shaking his head.
"It wasn't me," Osmunda pointed out and motioned to Ngeu. "If it hadn't been for you I would have gone by now, you should thank the ones who have been here this whole time," he added. It was a point that Darfuku recognised as valid and he turned to Jahina and Ngeu, the smile still on his lips.
"Then thank you!" he corrected and then paused, recounting the story in his head for a few moments before narrowing his eyes suspiciously. His mother was a trickster? That didn't seem right, not his mother, she'd never do that kind of thing...would she?
"Wait, are you telling me my mother did the same thing that you guys do?" he hazarded, his sceptical tone unmistakable. |
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:28 pm
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Ngeu gave a strange little 'quork' and ruffled her feathers, seeming almost bashful. "It was avian and lion, alike. Hestia gave us the bonds that kept us all safe." And then the vulture gave a laugh, spreading out her large wings as if to emphasise her delight as his surprise.
"Kept it secret, has she? Ah, perhaps having children has changed her. Maybe we should say no more." The vulture eyed her feline companion as if seeking clarification on just how much they should say. Tilifika had clearly settled down. Perhaps that meant she had 'grown up', too. The thought of it was a little strange and neither vulture or lioness could quite believe it.
"You make it sound like such a bad thing, little one!" Jahina intervened. "It was all in fun! See, there was this lion in our group. He was a very grumpy lion. Grumpy like you would not believe! Your mother and I would play tricks on him so that he could smile and laugh just like the rest of us." Except for Yamini but...her situation had been different. She'd lost her bonded and Jahina had come to accept that there was no trick or joke that could fix that; try as she might. "But perhaps that is a tale she should tell you herself. It seems like you could learn a lot from her. You be sure to ask about it the next time you get a chance. I'll bet she'll be more than happy to share her own adventures with you." Tilifika was a positive thinker. The stories she could tell her cubs would certainly be fun.
"We should be getting on our way now, Dar'fuku." The patched lioness continued. They had places to be. Lions to trick. The day was yet young! "But promise you'll come chat with us again, soon? We won't play a trick on you next time. Honest we won't. Perhaps we can teach you one, instead!"
The vulture gave an agreeable sound. "Yes, that would be a fine plan! Take care of yourself!" And, crouching low, she launched clear into the air and crashed up through the canopy with an incredible clamour. |
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:00 am
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He was going to have to. There was no way he was going to let his mother pretend she was innocent. If she was a trickster like Jahina then he was going to find out and he was going to make her teach him a thing or two! Lead by example indeed, his mother had a lot to answer for. Admittedly she may not have been very tame at all, she was just slightly more well behaved around her children, but it was something the little cub was going to find out.
...The next time he saw Jahina, he was going to show her just how much he'd learnt!
"Okay then, you be safe," he announced with a smile and a wave of his paw. He wouldn't delay them in their day any further, especially if they had more unsuspecting lions to torture! Truth be told, he needed to go home himself... There was only so far the lion cub could wander before he would get in trouble. Accompanied by Osmunda or not, he was going to need to head home again, even if it was for a little while!
"But the next time we meet it'll be me who tricks you!" he warned impishly. "Just you wait and see!" |
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:28 am
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