[PRP] Twig Time! (Aajamaak x Dagny)

[CaliWolfe]

Aajamaak was currently puttering around aimlessly. No, not quite aimlessly. She had a very precise goal in her mind, to get to a specific twig. But, that dang twig kept moving outta her way! Aaja would bumble around, trying to adapt to her growing feet and leg muscles. Yet still she accidently ended up evading her destination. The twig would be crushed and snapped into further pieces, leaving her to decide which piece to pursue. The twig would get flung to the side by the stomping of big ol' reaver feet and Aaja would wrap her tiny little paws around their giant legs trying to latch onto the leaf at the end of her twig.

It was a frustrating process, to say the least.

"Stupid leaf! Get back here!" She called out angrily. Defeated, Aajamaak sat down with a huff. Why was it so difficult to catch a darn stick?!  

[Light Atago]

Dagny was exceedingly proud of herself. Today she had wandered farther from the den than ever before, and probably further than what was allowed just yet. What mom didn't know wouldn't hurt her. She was still quite a way away from the forested region of the pride's lands, but not so far that there were no signs of trees. Dagny had clawed her way up a smaller dead tree- no taller than a large reaver- such that she was overlooking a good deal of area. Though… the tree was all trunk. All signs of any branches had fallen to the ground long ago, it was easy to tell. Heck, the thing didn't even have any bark left. Wasn't that what defined a tree?

It wasn't long, though, before a strange sight caught Dagny's eyes… Another cub, splotchy and light, was chasing after something, muttering something. Dagny gave a very slight head tilt before shouting down, "What's going on?" She started to wonder how to get down, looking for the quickest path while waiting for the other to answer.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Light Atago

Aaja turned her head to search for the source of the voice calling to her. 'What's going on? she heard over the thundering pounds of reaver feet marching around her.

She stepped a little closer to the fascinating sight of Dagny crawled up to the top of a tree. Was that where her twig came from? Didn't look very promising... "They keep moving it away!" She cried, and turned her head around to stare and pout as adults didn't even look to see as the stick was kicked across the ground. If Aaja was nice and big she could go and crush all their sticks and smooch all their leafs into bits and pieces.

She then considered if Dagny even knew what Aajamaak was talking about. Her twig was so small that she probably couldn't see it from way up there in her "tree". "A stick." The splotchy cub snorted out. Her white tail flicked as she turned her attention back to properly face Dagny. She realized that Dagny probably wasn't interested in a stick so Aaja made it seem more important. "My stick, and they are just ruining it! All because I dropped it and couldn't pick it up!"  

[Light Atago]

At first, the darker cub had absolutely no idea what the other girl was talking about. Moving it away? Dagny moved her icy eyes to where the other had looked- a stampede of reavers made their way through the pride's lands. Well, she got who "they" were, but she still needed to figure out what "it" was. But all she had needed to do was wait, as the other female cub explained what it was she had lost.

"It must be some stick," Dagny said from up the tree, eyes looking down it. How was she going to get down? "You want to get it back?" She had planned to get down in two jumps- one onto a knot in the trunk that stuck out somewhat, and another onto the ground. She crouched a little, gave her butt a small wiggle, then made her move. The darker cub successfully landed the knot on the trunk, then… less successfully made her leap to the ground. It was more like a tuck-and-roll really, with the lioness ending up on her back. She gave her head a small shake from this position before facing herself to the other cub, hind-end pulling itself under her into a seated position. She had twigs and straws of grass in her fur, but she didn't much care. She had someone here who she could see a challenging adventure with! For the stick… of… well, something cool. "Have you got a plan?" Dagny asked, looking at the lioness. "I'm Dagny, by the way," she decided a name would help her out first and foremost.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"Oh yes, it's wonderful!" Aajamaak replied while watching Dagny get down from the tree. She was going to ask how she even got up in the tree in the first place, but recalled that not every cub was as clumsy as her family was. It was probably so easy for other young lioness to climb up there! Meanwhile if Aaja tried to do the same it would have taken her a month.

She dismissed those thoughts as Dagny proposed getting her stick back. "Heck yeah!" She said with excitable enthusiasm. That stick was so very incredibly important, it helped the splotchy white cub feel balanced and less motion sick as she walked. She probably shouldn't have felt motion sickness usually, but she did; and it was a gross, ugly feeling. Oh, oh wait the other was talking more. Her ears curved forward to listen better over the thump, thump, thump of brewing thunder in the distance. "I don't really have a plan..." She admitted, and turned to watch as the stick lay still in the midst of oncoming traffic. She was distracted once more as Dagny introduced herself. "That's a cool name." She complimented the other lioness. "I'm Aajamaak, but you can call me Aaja for short."

Light Atago

 

[Light Atago]

"That's a nice name Aaja," Dagny said. It was smoother than her own name… "Hmmmm…." The darker lioness turned towards the thundering lions. She had to take a moment, as she always did, to admire them. One would think she would be accustomed to their size and power, having been born around them, but the fighters of her pride always impressed her. They all seemed fearless and unconquerable… The cub wondered if her father was one of them, she always seemed to look for someone who fit the bill- her father had never stepped forward to claim them. Not that she needed that, but it would be cool to figure out. She gave her head a small shake, braid shaking in turn, to get herself back on track.

"I wonder… So, they're starting to circle around like they're going to start sparring," Dagny said, initially still gazing at the reavers before excitedly turning her attention to the other cub. She had yet to find out just how accident-prone her new friend was, but perhaps she would find out. "When they start sparring, maybe we can squeeze our way in there and snatch it out from under their paws! We're both small enough, we would probably go ignored if we tried to be noticed, and they're probably not going to accidentally step on us if we're careful. What do you think?" she asked, completely underestimating the potential danger of her quick plan.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

As Dagny explained the potential plan Aaja herself was not even noticing the danger in it. Her stick! She was about to get it back and the feeling made her all jittery and happy! "Let's do it!" Her voice had a slight raspy ring to it. She blamed her brothers for that, they once decided managed to convince Aaja that if they all ate rocks they would be able to walk straight like everyone else. Had something to do with them sinking into their knees and making them walk firmer. That wasn't exactly Aaja's problem though; if anything her legs were too big! They were heavy for her and she often stumbled and fell. Not to mention the constant state of dizziness that even lingered as she excitedly pounced into the ring. Silently congratulating herself of not tripping on a log as she did so.

She saw briefly in the corner of her eye Dagny beside her but- Oh no! Reaver feet everywhere! The white and blue cub darted left, only to find herself flat on the ground, staring at the heel of one Reaver as he jumped up onto two feet! Yikes!

Aaja crawled across the ground, her head low and ears flattened. She had wanted to get out of the way so badly that it wasn't until it bumped near her that she remembered she had leapt out stupidly with the intention of getting the decaying item back. "Get over here you!" she called to it, and swatted the twig with her paw.

Light Atago

 

[Light Atago]

Dagny leapt in alongside Aaja, splitting her attention between her partner in crime, the stick in question, and the two reavers they were closest to. She kept fairly low to the ground, helping her avoid getting her head clonked by a reaver's low blow or belly. She was almost close to the stick when she noticed Aaja wasn't beside her. A quick glance around showed the light club flat on the ground and in no position to move quickly- certainly not (as her mother had taught her,) a response position where you could move any-which-way you needed! If that reaver took a step towards her, her friend could be squished!

The darker cub darted back towards the lighter as quickly as she could, but was kind of facing her. As Aaja batted the twig, Dagny saw an opportunity- she had batted it closer to her! She went for it, slamming the ground with all of her might in an attempt to catch it. Just as she thought she had it, a reaver's paw landed heavy nearby, sending it out of her grasp. As it entered the air, though, Dagny managed to give it another little bat- quite accidental, as all she was really doing was snapping her paw back to be under her so the reaver wouldn't squish it, but the stick bounced off of her. "Aaja!" she called over the din. "Aaja, your turn!" As the stick headed back towards the white female.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Aaja remained close to the ground for a few seconds, watched in awe as Dagny bounced the stick around. As the darker cub pawed it near though Aaja formed a grin as she bounded up and leapt to try and catch it. Dangling in the air she opened her mouth in an effort to catch the stick with her teeth, but that failed as it scooted a little too far forward in the air. Drat! She almost had the dang thing that time!

As Aaja landed she was prepared to run out of the way and formulate a counter strategy for grabbing her stick, but then noted that a new sensation was felt at the tip of her nose hairs. At the end of her snout, balancing on her little pink nose; was the stick whole and whole. She smirked in success. "Dagny, I got it!" She celebrated, forgetting entirely the reavers who fought behind her.

Light Atago

 

[Light Atago]

"Aaalright Aaja!" Dagny cried happily- she was glad Aaja managed to catch it! Dagny had started to pick up on a certain clumsiness to her friend, but she shrugged it off as either a bad day or lack of training- the small cub figured she had her mother to thank for that. Dagny had her doubts as to whether she would ever follow her mother's dream-path to reaverhood, but she knew that she was grateful for the lessons nonetheless. She kind of couldn't believe they both actually managed to get the stick before it was broken into a million pieces, but they had done it! And she also couldn't believe how the lighter cub had managed to catch the stick- had she managed that one on purpose? Her glee over the whole event was evident on her face.

Then she snapped out of her own triumph for the pair of them.

They were surrounded. By fighting. Reavers. She got to her paws and ran over to her friend, yelling "That was awesome! But let's get out of here!" She gestured for Aaja to lead the way- the one with the stick should lead- in her mind- so that if it was dropped, the one behind could snag it on their way out of there!

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Aaja nodded in agreement, after getting the scare of her life by a reaver who roared loudly behind her. She nearly dropped the twig when she yelped and tip toed back in a semi circle to stare at him. Her ears had twirled back and tail tucked itself swaying underneath her. The only reason she still had the twig was that during the process of her spin she had tipped her head downwards and catch it in her mouth. Now she had a firm grip on it. Now it would be fine.

Bravely the reaver who had nearly stepped on Aaja had surged towards the opposing lion, but was knocked back and landed with a thud on the stones below him. It looked painful, but he still continued fighting. An admirable quality that the splotchy cub had paused to look at, only moving when she felt Dagny push her along. Right, right. Twig = obtained. Now they could go and play something else. Something that didn't involve the near-death experiences she was prone too.

Light Atago