[JRP] I am here!

[Princess_Feylin]

Drvena Noga had not yet managed to grasp that male hyenas were subordinate to female hyenas. The problem was that he had two brothers and a mother, and while he and his brothers were definitely subordinate to their mother, Drvena always figured it was because she was their mother not because she was bigger or older or female, though he was learning through scraps with his brothers that being bigger could be one means of making people do things. He didn't pay much attention to his father, like everyone else, but he'd never thought anything of it.

It had been a very great shock to him, therefore, when he'd trotted up to a strange female doing something very interesting with a bone and some hide to ask what she was doing and she snapped at him and called him some dreadful things. Most of the words she used were words he'd never heard before, and so he couldn't remember them all, but he knew they were bad words by the way she said them. It had confused him, therefore, when she'd made it clear it was his being a boy that was the problem, not his asking questions.

Perhaps it was just that one person, and she didn't like little boys, which Drvena didn't understand but oh well. But no! It was all of everyone. Nobody who was a girl liked boys. Drvena was very confused when he went to his thinking spot to think.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Oh no! Ohnonononono! Not agaaaaain!

Mfumuko had done something stupid. Again. And now his sister was going to kill him. She'd said so. She said she was going to sit on him and fart in his mouth. He'd just wanted to see what would happen. Now he knew. Immediate and awful death!

The brown pup was running pell mell through the pride in hopes that his sister, who was really rather chubby, would be unable to catch up with him and would give up and maybe even forget by the time he got home. Assuming he could find home. He'd gotten lost several times before.

Mfumu's helter skelter dash ended when he crashed into a larger pup who was hunched over with his nose to the ground, thinking hard about something.  

[Princess_Feylin]

All the wind was knocked out of him and he was rolling in the dust. At first Drvena thought he'd been attacked by one of his brothers, who sometimes did that. They knew where his thinking spot was, even though he kept changing it, and that meant sometimes they would sneak up on him and knock him over.

"Oy, peabrain, watch it," Drvena exclaimed as he regained his feet. He'd taken a moment as he was standing up to look at the responsible party. Not one of his brothers, hence the rudeness.

It was a little embarrassing to have been knocked over by a pup smaller than he was, but it was nice to be the biggest one around for once. At home he and his brothers were of a size and their parents were much bigger. Now he was bigger. That made him in charge. Would he be a benevolent dictator or a tyrant?  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Oh, sorry! Sorry sorry sorry," Mfumu babbled. "I was running from sissy. She's mad at me because, well, because I'm not very smart and I did a stupid thing and so she said she would kill me and sit on me and fart in my mouth and she has the smelliest farts ever so I'm pretty sure I would die and so I ran away and I had to run really fast because even though she's kind of fat she's really fast when she's mad and she was really mad so I was running and I didn't see you at all. Really, really, really sorry please don't be mad at me I hate having people made at me and I don't even know you and I didn't mean to run into you I really didn't."

Mfumu paused, panting for breath as he crouched on his stomach and did his best to look small and submissive. He was really good at that. He got a lot of practice, even though he lived with his dad and not his mom. He had sisters.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Listening to the little brown pup babble on and on about his woes with his family and his farting sister, Drvena felt sorry for the younger hyena. Benevolent dictator it would be.

"Kid, breathe. It's okay. I'm not going to kill you or anything. Geez. I don't even know your name, you silly pup. How mad could I be at someone I don't know?" He grinned and then giggled.

"What did you do that your sister's so mad at you?" he asked. "I bet it was something small. All the girls I know don't like me, or other boys at all. Girls are just stupid."

He shook his head at how weird and stupid girls were. They didn't realize how awesome he was, and that was just too bad for them. When he was older, they'd all be ga-ga over him.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"You're really not mad at me? Do you promise? And do you promise you won't be mad at me even if I tell you my name?" Drvena's smile was encouraging, even infectious, and so Mfumuko went on without reassurance that he wouldn't be hated once Drvena knew his name.

"My name's Mfumuko. Sometimes my dad calls me Mfumu, or Muko, or Mfu, or even Ko. I don't really care what people call me, though, as long as it isn't mean. Sissy calls me mean things when I do stupid things. I don't like that. I live with my dad and a few of my brothers and sisters, but my mom's still alive she just lives somewhere else where she gets to be a fighter and everything. She comes to visit sometimes. Because she loves us a lot."

He paused for breath and realized that maybe Drvena might want to say something, so he stayed quiet. Besides, he didn't know the name of the hyena he'd knocked over, and he wanted to know that. He looked really cool.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Hey, Muko, you should breathe every once in a while. It's really good for you." Drvena had meant to say something nice and pleasant, but watching the kid just talk and talk until he nearly asphyxiated made the older hyena worry about him. He probably wasn't very smart, like he'd said, but if Drvena could teach him this one thing, he would consider himself a hero.

"It's nice that your mom loves you. I'm pretty sure my mom loves me, too, but I don't think she expects me to do much. I'm gonna prove her wrong, though. I'm gonna save the whole pride when I kill all the lions in the Pridelands. Wanna help?"

He didn't imagine Mfumuko would refuse him. After all, he was offering to share in his fame and glory and heroism and all that. It wasn't the kind of offer a pup turned down. Besides, Drvena could see that Mfumuko was not a leader or an innovator like himself, and so he obviously needed someone to follow. Drvena was cool with having a follower, as long as his follower wasn't cooler than he was. Not much danger of that here.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Yeah, I know. People tell me that a lot, but sometimes I just forget, you know? And once, well actually more than once, but anyway sometimes I actually talk so much without breathing that everything turns kind of spinny and I fall down." He consciously stopped and breathed conspicuously. "Sissy calls me stupid when I do that. But she calls me stupid all the time. I think it's how she says she loves me. I wish she'd say it like Mummy does instead."

He thought about Drvena's offer for about half a second before reaching basically the same conclusion the older pup had reached and accepting immediately and enthusiastically. "Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. That would be so wonderful and glorious and exciting. I wasn't born yet when the last war happened, but I think by the time we're grown they'll be ready for a new one, right? And you can lead it and I'll be right there with you."

"Oh!" Another thought occurred to him that actually brought him up short and silenced him momentarily. "I don't know your name. I'm really sorry."  

[Princess_Feylin]

"I'm Drvena. Drvena Noga. Folks call me Drvena. You can, too, since we're gonna be a team. We'll be Drvena and Muko, lion killers."

He could see it now. It would be absolutely glorious.

"Oh, but hey! I should be getting going to dinner. You want to come? I bet dad's brought home something decent. He's not all that great a hunter, not like I'm gonna be, but he does all right."

Drvena shrugged. It would be nice to have a friend to bring home. A follower to show off. He just knew his brothers would be jealous. And they should be. Drvena was awesome, and now he had proof.  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Drvena, wow, okay! That's such a cool name. And you're going to call me Muko? That's really neat. We're going to be such great friends." He stopped talking, closing his mouth with an abrupt snapping sound. He was talking too much, and making too many assumptions. He always did that.

"Oh, wow. Really? You mean it? That would be...I mean. Yes!"

Mfumu had to work very hard to keep his babble down to the bare minimum. He didn't want Drvena to change his mind and rescind his invitation because he was annoying and talked too much. He would have to remember not to talk too much around Drvena's family, too.

Drvena was awesome. He couldn't wait to meet his family.