[PRP] - Of Owls and Spirits [End!]

[Daffupanda]

-- AIM Rp between Aviva, Mundo and Jua'kali ((Felyn & DFA))

It was calming, really, to sit by the shoreline and watch the waves crash down onto the beach, then surge back into the ocean like a skittish little cub. The red-orange eyes of the brightly colored lioness remained locked upon the sand as it danced at the whim of the ocean, a soft purr on her maw as she lay there relaxed beneath a sheltering tree against the jungle line.

The days since she had returned with Mundoo had been peaceful ones, she had to admit, and she was finding it easier and easier to look at the little female she was raising. No longer did she see the pain she had felt, no longer did she remember the inferiority she had felt - now she was beginning to see love for the cub instead. She had gone from the embodiment of Aviva's sorrow to something Aviva was truly beginning to care for. She felt, in a way, that the cub was her own, even if she had laid eyes upon her true mother.

A smile spread across her maw as she laid her head down upon her paws, letting her mind think fondly over the time she had spent here. She wondered if she had been led to these lands by something other than her own feet - had some greater power known?

Mundoo had been rather happy, till exactly an hour ago; which was when he'd stumbled across the blindingly pink cub he now carried in his mouth. The cub dangled rather sourly, with a bitter expression written over his features, his arms crossed over his tiny chest in a magnificent pout. However, the most striking bit was, perhaps, that both blinding males (each in their own singular way), were soaked to the bone and sporting quite the large collection of seaweeds about them. Not only that, but a strange lithe bird was flying by their sides; an owl, and it was laughing rather openly at them.

The adult let out a growl and after swatting at the bird rather harmlessly, shooed it away. He knew the creature would remain nearby though; he'd been 'shooing' it for the past while and it always returned with a dark comment and cynical answer. In that way, it mirrowed the cub he was carrying rather well, he figured.

Finally reaching Aviva's side, the male flopped the cub at her feet and pointed a finger at him, "This little bugger almost got us KILLED, he did!"

The cub sneered as he tried to rearange his grown mane back into place (rather unsucessfully), "I did NOT," he stated then huffed, blowing his wet, plastered mane out of his eyes, "I just made a perfectly sane comment; YOU can't talk the water into letting us breathe inside it, can you?"

Aviva's vivid eyes shifted upwards as she heard the approach of another, and out this way, she figured it was likely only to be Mundoo. The smile on her maw spread wider at the sight of him, although faltered slightly at the grumpy little cub he was 'escorting' and the bird that was tagging along. A swift flicker of her gaze showed her the seaweed, and the dripping fur, and she instantly wondered what kind of mess Mundoo had gotten into now.

"Almost got you killed?" she asked with a quirk of her brow, pushing herself up onto her paws. She frowned down at the little boy, reaching out to shift his mane with her own paw, trying to smooth it out a bit more. She had no problems with 'boundaries' - she was used to taking care of the little girl, and it brought out a bit of her motherly side. "I'm sure Mundoo could ask the ocean nicely for you, but you might get better results if you asked Kapuki instead." She smirked, eyes dancing with humor, "although, that could be a chore in itself, and it'd just be easier not to ask the ocean at all more likely."

"He's exagerating, by the way," claimed the lithe cub, "We were HARDLY killed, so much as tumbled a bit by a dumb wave, s'all," he snorted, but fell silent as soon Aviva's paw fell over him and she tried to sort out his mane.

The silence didn't go unnoticed by Mundoo, whom threw his head up, "Halleluyah he shuts UP. It's a bloody miracle!" sorting himself out, he flopped down on the sand, allowing it to cling to his pelt. It'd fall off when he dried out anyhow; no big. It was mostly the irritation he was feeling over .... being bested, in a way. By a small, pink thing no less. It bruised his ego.

The cub had turned to glare silently at Mundoo but then slid his vivid golden gaze at Aviva, "The ocean can't talk, lady," he told her matter of factly, "I've never heard it. Never heard the ocean, or the wind, or the sand; in fact, all I hear is that dumb bird!"

The owl in question had settled itself on a nearby branch and was peering down at them with large, amused eyes, as if it could see more than the lions ever would be able to.

Aviva gave an amused smile as the little cub explained himself and the adventure he and Mundoo had apparently gone on. For the moment, she simply said nothing, concentrating herself on grooming out the little mane that was tangled and fluffed by his little incident. She knew they'd not almost been killed - Mundoo had a way of over exaggerating when he was moody.

With a small and final nod, she plucked a bit of seaweed from his mane and gave his chin a touch of a tap with her paw lightly. It was as good as it was going to get until his mother could give him a proper cleaning - salt water always did make the fur bristle and stiffen. His words, however, made her quirk a brow down at the little pink bugger. "Talking about the muses so rudely, no wonder the ocean gave you a bit of a tumble." Although she couldn't help but smile - it reminded her all too much of the story she had heard about Panu and Nerida. The ocean was a quick-tempered mistress, it seemed.

Settling herself back down, she shifted until she could bat her tail a bit at Mundoo's side. "Mundoo, he really isn't all that bad. Just a bit of a bad temper." She gave Mundoo a quick, amused sort of glance. She knew he was moody over something, which wasn't in itself very surprising, but she did like to tease him sometimes - especially when he was touchy over such tiny issues.  

[Daffupanda]

Again the cub fell silent, leaning in against the female, allowing her to do as she wished with him. It was rather... nice to have someone care for his pelt other than himself and his mother; it wasn't that he didn't love his mother. He did, really. But the brown lioness could be rather scatter-brained and after all, he had many sibblings. He couldn't bare to demand attention oly to himself, and thus, needless to say, the extre female attention Aviva was offering him was nice.

Indeed, Mundoo was over exaggerating, but in his mind, he had a bloody right, thank you very much! Not only had he had to dive into the freezing water to save the cub when it'd tried to make a point (a rather moronic one, might he add) but he'd somehow managed to fall on a sea urchin and had, in turn, been prickled by it AND the anemonea he'd stumbled into when he'd backpeaddled. WHO in the name of GOD had ever told the annoying pink cub to jump into THAT particular little rock pool? To make things worse, the ocean had then sent a large wave at them, covering them with seaweeds, as if to laugh at them. Oh, Mundoo knew it was laughing at them; he could almost hear Kapuki laughing, even though the female hadn't been there, "Bloody urching, bloody anemonea..." he grumped, then turned to Aviva, practicaly sulking, "Good to know you care about MY mane," he huffed, flattening it down with a paw, "And don't you DARE imply he's like me."

Finally released, the cub turned vivid golden eyes at Aviva, "It doesn't talk," he told her firmly, then turned away and shook himself free of excess water, allowing his pelt to puff out.

She smiled as the cub leaned into her, perfectly content to be a makeshift mother for the time being. Of course, as soon as Mundoo began to sulk (and talk to her in such a moody way) she got up and shifted closer to him. With a 'tsk' noise, she began to tug the bits of seaweed out of his mane (there were considerably more since his mane was, after all, much bigger and thicker than the cubs). "I wouldn't say such a thing," she said with a smile, face perfeclty innocent as she concentrated upon grooming his mane - it was going to take a lot more effort than the little cubs.

Her eyes shifted back towards the blinding ball of fur, shaking her head slowly as she heard his statement. "Of course it talks, you need only to be more willing to listen to it." She knew it talked, though she spent much less time talking to the ocean than some members did. She preferred the trees, really - tall and silent guards. They spoke when she needed them, but that was truly all. It was peaceful.

"Big baby," the words were mouthed by the cub as the female shifted towards the adult, a smirk appearing over his features, as if he were whole-heartedly amused. Content he was groomed out, he turned to look at the owl that still stared down at them and frown, "Why s'it keep following me anyhow? Dumb bird!" he huffed, puffing himself out, then then after another shake of his body, he turned away from the adults, no doubt, preparing to leave. He paused as she spoke to him, turning his head to look over his shoulder at her. For a brief moment there was a flash of sadness, or perhaps bitter-rage. It was hard to figure it out, but then again, it didn't really matter, for no sooner had it appeared, that it was gone, "I tried; it's silent. Those things can't talk," a pause from him, then a frown, as if he were confused, "That's insane," and this said, he padded off and away from the couple.

As soon as the cub was gone, the owl spread it's wings, hooted softly and followed after the cub, diving in through the trees to remain near the blinding ball of fluff as it left.

"What weird lil kid," now that the cub was gone, Mundoo was allowing himself to relax just a bit, his frown edged against his features, his body on the ground, allowing Aviva to work and tug at his mane, where he could not reach the seaweed.

Silently he made note to actualy thank the ocean later, because really, this felt rather nice. Any excuse to... you know. Yeah. He'd thank the ocean later.

Aviva laughed softly to herself as the cub turned away, eyes shifting up to follow the great owl as it swooped down and followed the little boy. "It looks like the cub has a muse, whether he believes in them or not." She laughed softly to herself, then turned her eyes back to his mane.

"You know it's not fair to go around picking fights with cubs," she said softly, almost a bit of a croon. She didn't want to make him any upsetter, so soft tones were the easiest to use. She plucked out another piece of seaweed, then, using her claws, began to work out a few of the tangles caused by the salty water.

It was nice to be so close to him, really, and she half wondered if perhaps the ocean had had this intention. Smiling to herself, she thought about how it really would not be the first time the ocean decided to help couples.

"That's odd; I'd heard that owls can see more than we can. Those huge eyes. They're supossed to be able to see... you know," a pause, as he rolled his eyes, "Ghosts and all," coming from the white lion, the words were ironic, for he'd spent most of his life being thought of as a spirit, "Obnoxious chit," he grumped softly, then wrinkled his nose, licking it slightly. The salt still clung to his body.

Stiffening, the male turned towards Aviva, "I didn't pick a fight on the snappish thing! He was snarky first! It wasn't me! I just asked why he was all alone!" he sounded utterly defensive; as if he really, truly and honestly hadn't noticed that Aviva was, perhaps teasing him. As soon as he finished talking, the lion tried to sink into a magnificent sulk. However, it was half hearted at best; no one could remain sulking when there was a female tending them not even a foot away, "Had to dive after the dumb chit; a sea urchin prickled me, and a sea plant stung me!" he lifted a paw where just the tiniest of wounds was visible under the pale fur (really, nothing a day's rest wouldn't cure), "See? SEE??"

"I've never heard that," she said softly, pausing the grooming of his mane to consider it. The boy claimed to be unable to hear muses, and yet, perhaps one of the most intelligent and talented had chosen him? Perhaps there was more to the cub than they knew. "If that's the case, perhaps he'll grow up to surprise you one day." She smiled, turning her attention back to his mane. She'd not really been surprised that he knew all that about owls and spirits - he had always been thought of as a spirit, so he had probably heard all sorts of myths from frightened creatures.

"Well, at least you're being the bigger man now, right?" she asked with a little smile, though her eyes held a glitter of something more. Perhaps it was a hint for him to stop sulking, or perhaps it was nothing but an amused comment. She listened to his story though, giving most of her attention to his mane - she had gotten most of the tangles out, but one was still being particularly stubborn. As he finished, she let her smile fade into a warmer one, and she gave his mane an affectionate brush of her paw, "that was very sweet of you though." Then, without any real warning, she simply leaned down and gave his paw a gentle kiss. "Better now?" she turned her attentions back to the finaly bit of tangle, though there seemed to be a spark of some form of.. humor on her face.

"I have," he didn't care to admit where he'd heard it; he'd had his onw fair share of folklore and myths. Of course, it'd have been interesting and much more satisfactory of most of this folklore, myths and talk hadn't been, in some shape or way, related to him. Which it always had been, somehow.

A snort from the small, white adult as he brushed at what little he could reach of his pelt and mane, "Bloody well hope he can show some respect.... or I'm going to bite him. Or better yet, I'll ask Panu to sent a crab at his a**; I will!" oh, Mundoo wasn't even half as mad as he wished he sounded; not at all. In fact, not really. Most of the pride members, if not all, had managed to notice that his attitude was nothing other than a defense mechanism he'd developed over the years, "Not particularly big," he drawled out as he looked down at her, "Even Panu's starting to match my size and he's not even fully mature," it was true, but that didn't bother him any more. He liked his size; it came in handy at certain times, and even despite that, he held the title of pride protector. And he was-

A pause followed, and Mundoo stared at where he held his paw, had she... had she KISSED him? Blinking, he stared at her, gapping like a fish out of water, looking cutely, and almost awkwardly embbarrased, "Uhm," a pause, "Uhm, yeah," another pause, "Yeah, uh.... much better. Yeah."

Wow, yeah. Much better indeed. And he was now going to go fish his mind out of the provervial gutter.

In fact, the lion stood then rather swiftly, and blinked, "I'm going to... go make sure the dumb chit gets home without managing another suicide attempt, I'll.... be back." And this said, the white lion made an amusing escape towards the trees.