[PRP] Big brother, little brother (Xatu, Felokwakhe)

[Annchen]

((Let me know if others from the litter want in on this RP))

Nahmba had recently returned with cubs in tow, and Xatu was curious about his new half-siblings. It was normally the females who watched and entertained the cubs, but they didn't seem to mind him getting involved. For all intents and purposes he wasn't a male when he was in the pride after all. Xatu liked spending time with the cubs, and it was a real treat to meet his tiny new siblings. He had never been that small, right? He lay down flat on his belly to get closer to their level, big goofy grin on his face.

Xefo wasn't as impressed by the tiny lions as Xatu was, and when the lion decided to lay down flat the vulture jumped off his back. He paraded around on the ground, watching the fluffy little things cautiously. This was apparently something his lion cared about so he'd stick around for now.  

[Skyflu]

Annchen

Felo kept bumping into his siblings as they were gathered around their mother. His big paws only made it worse as he tumbled over them. This is stupid. He thought to himself. All the close contact was making him hot and sweaty. So, he decided it would be a perfect time to wonder off-- have some me time.

Felo thrust his chin up in the air and rolled his eyes at his siblings. This was more like it. As he padded away, the air got less stuffy. A grin pulled at the corner of his lips just thinking about his freedom. That is, until he caught sight of some leathery thing.
"Ewwwww, gross." He halted abruptly and wrinkled his muzzle in disgust. What the heck is that thing? Felo dared to step a bit closer. He couldn't take his eyes off the thing, which was bad because he could go blind just lookin' at it.  

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

Xefo looked alarmed when one of the fluffy runts padded closer. His scruffy feathers fluffed up slightly in an unconscious effort to look bigger and scarier. The vulture hadn't seen many lion cubs up close since being close to them usually meant you were about to be mauled by the cub's mother. It was nowhere near as cute as a fledgling, and Xefo clacked his beak at it.

"Gross?" he croaked, "Who are you calling gross?"

Xatu bit his lip to avoid laughing out loud at the face his baby brother made when he saw the vulture. He decided not to interfere for now, and when one of the females nearby gave the bird-cub pair a worried look he met her gaze and smiled. "I've got this," he mouthed. She looked skeptical, but seemed to accept that he'd keep track of his bird.  

[Skyflu]

Annchen

Felo took a step back in alarm. It can talk! Uggg, it sounded as bad as it looked too. The thing was talking to him as well. This is not what Felo excepted when he started out on his journey to freedom. Whatever. He wasn't going to let this sack of feathers get in his way.

Felo stood up to gain some ground. "Your face looks like a week old kill. You might want get that checked out." And with that, he stuck his head up in the air and quickly turned away to make a flawless exit. His moment of joy was short lived when he bumped into a furry mass. He wasn't really looking where he was going. Of course, he didn't need to look, he knew where things were in the world.
He took a step back to get a better look at what interrupted him. His eyes met the face of a male lion.
Things just weren't going Felo's way. Now there's another thing to deal with.
"You, need to move."  

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

The vulture fluffed up his feathers, and hopped away from the cub with a disgusted expression on his face. He thought he had lions pretty much figured out, but these small ones were much more bothersome. Ugh... He sincerely hoped that Xatu would stick to his vow of celibate and never, ever spawn. Eggs were nice and quiet, and chicks would at least stay where you put them until they fledged. Lion cubs... Ugh!

Xatu made a strangled noise. Oh, wow... This little cub sure was something. He had never seen anyone or anything bother his vulture companion like this. Xefo used to have all the answers, but now he seemed as close to speechless as he'd even seen the bird. His baby brother seemed utterly unconcerned about not knowing the basics of 'looking where you're going'.

"You know," he said with a big grin, "I'm a little bit bigger than you brother."

As if to illustrate this fact he put one of his large front paws on the cubs head. He was trying to be gentle, but the little dude must still feel the weight.  

[Skyflu]

Annchen

Brother...Brother?! What, Brother? This adult obviously thought they had some kind of connection. Which, (and Felo chucked at this) was outrageous considering he had to be at least twice Felo's age. Or...maybe he thought they were...um...what was the phrase? Friend brothers? Regardless, someone was misinformed.

As the male went to raise his paw, Felo froze. He wasn't quite sure if he meant to hit him or... whatever. Either way, Felo couldn't do anything about it. His stupid body was frozen in anticipation. As the paw landed on his head, its weight forced him to bend over. It easily cover his whole head. Felo grew even more frustrated. So he wasn't going to hit him, which was dumb to think. The fact that he caused Felo's body to freeze, with no control, infuriated him further. Once he got command back over his features he fluffed up and skirted out from under the paw.

His tail twitched behind him in agitation and this male was going to get a piece of his mind. "How dare you touch me. You're not the boss of me, so you better take your bag of bones over there and scram."  

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

Xefo watched the little hissy fit from a safe distance. He did not like these small lions. At all. Much more bothersome than chicks. Infinitely more bothersome than eggs. Eggs were nice and quiet and would stay put without fuss. Lions didn't even make a proper nest... If he'd have to care for young lions he'd build a great big nest with thorny sides to keep the little pests in.

"You should feed it," he said sagely, "Nothing like stuffing a big chunk of meat down their beaks for shutting them up."

"Nah," Xatu said, with a most amused look on his face, "Mother still feeds him I think. I'm not going to run to her for help here."

He had to press a paw to his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at Xefo's disturbed expression. They'd talked about how lionesses fed their young before they could eat meat, and the vulture had been utterly disgusted.

"I'm just supposed to be a good brother and entertain him," he said to the vulture, "Give the females some rest and all that."

It wasn't very polite to talk over the head of the young cub, but Felo wasn't being very polite either. Xatu looked down at his brother again, deciding to have a bit of fun.

"Felokwakhe," he said sternly, wondering how the spunky little kid would react to that, "What do you think your mother would say if she heard you talk like that. And exactly how..." his stern look gave way for a big mischievous grin, "did you intend to stop me."

And with that he poked him with his paw. He meant to be gentle, but being much bigger it was hard to judge how much force to use, and he might have overdone it.

((sorry for calling shots, but I figured it would be hard for a cub to avoid being poked if an adult really wanted to do it... You decide if he managed to be gente or not wink ))  

[Skyflu]

Felo shot a piercing glare at the bird. The way he talked about meat sent a shiver down his spine that Felo attempted to keep from showing. It sounded like the bird enjoyed shredding chucks of flesh off of bones and shoving it down others' throats. Gross. It wasn't that Felo didn't like meat, just not when the leather neck started talking about it.

A blush began to cross his whiskers. Ooohh this was so embarrassing. Felo didn't need mommy to come save him from...what ever they were talking about. He scoffed at the patronizing tone and bunched up his muscles for a quick retort before the bark from his 'brother' caused him to swallow his words. He stammered as he tried to regain his composer. "M-mother would be proud of my strength!" Actually, he wasn't quite sure what his mom would do. He would never admit it willingly, but she could be scary if she wanted to. Adults had all the power. It was frustrating.

Felo made it a point to completely ignore his question. There wasn't much he could do physically. Compared to Katu, he was just a speck of dirt. Just to clarify that remark, Felo tumbled backwards on his rump from Katu's paw. His soft fur fluffed out in surprise. He couldn't wait till he got older. Then, he'll never look like an adorable ball. Well, Felo was sure that he could look adorable when he was older if he wanted too, but now, he was going for intimidation. Not that it was working.

Felo took a second to gather himself. He needed to turn this around so his time will not be wasted. Plus, he didn't want to get hauled back to his mom. "Fine, you said it yourself that you're here to entertain me. So," he looked up into Katu's face, "entertain me." He couldn't help a grin sneaking across his face.

Annchan

Oh, no worries! It's fine with me. C:

 

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

When the cub was sent tumbling Xefo jumped backwards, wings flapping to keep his balance. He was sure Felo-whatshisface would start bawling from the harsh treatment, but it appeared the cub was sturdier than that. And when the little punk gained his composure and demanded to be entertained he couldn't suppress a laugh. That big attitude was actually amusing when it was directed at someone else.

Yes. Very funny. Xatu gave his vulture companion a nasty glare, but Xefo was too busy cracking up to notice. He had been a bit worried about being too heavy pawed when handling the cub, but he didn’t seem to mind. He couldn’t remember exactly what he was like at that age, but under Matifu’s rule luzisi had less wiggle room. He’d been much more timid, both by nature and by necessity.

"Perhaps we should work on that strength, hmm?" he said, "You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself if you decide to go sparring with the firekin."

His baby brother couldn't do any real damage to him (or to Xefo, hopefully) and physical activities might help tire him out. Handing back a sleepy cub had to give extra points, right?  

[Skyflu]

Felo's eyes snapped back to Xefo. His muzzle creased in agitation from the bird's laughter. He didn't enjoy others laughing at his expense. However, he bit back a retort and forced his attention back on Xatu. The bird wasn't worth his breath anyway.

Strength... as in physical? Felo blanched at the idea. It was no secret that he was rather small and quite ill equipped for violence. Though he wouldn't say that out loud. No, Felo rather preferred others to do his fighting for him. It didn't take a lot of effect to rustle up a hot head, even if Felo was blind to his own rash judgement. However, he'll play along. Maybe he could learn a thing or two. It was better than being dragged back to his den where gods know what boring things awaited him there.

"Fine," he spat out and crouched down into a some what defensive position. He witnessed his siblings scrapping before, but never engaged in the activity himself. Hopefully, practicing with an adult will be a better use of his time. His eyes lowered and swayed back and forth to each of Xatu's front paws, ready to catch a muscle twitch.

Annchen

I'm aliiivvveeee!! Sorry for the absence! If you'd like to continue this rp, please let me know. C:

 

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

Xefo cocked his head and watched the cub take a defensive stance. He wasn't going to spar with the sharp toothed little devil if he could help it. Let Xatu be the chew toy for now. But the young thing didn't seem inclined to make the first move.

"Are you going to attack or not, hmm?" Xatu said teasingly. He moved his tail forward and allowed the tuft to dance in front of the cub's nose. It would be a more suitable target, size wise. And hopefully the erratic movement would trigger Felo and make him want to chase it. "Go on!"

Tails were good toys as far as he remembered. Let's see if he could keep moving it quickly enough to avoid being gnawed...  

[Skyflu]

Felo's little claws struck out and pressed into the dirt. His eyes darted to Xefo, making sure the bird wasn't about to join. He snorted and focused his attention back on Xatu. Xatu's comment broke his concentration and his temper flared. "Don't rush me! I'm not going to fall into your trap." He bared his fangs and crawled a step forward. The sudden arrival of Xatu's tail shocked Felo and he stumbled back. Was he taunting him with his tail? His fur fluffed out in frustration. This adult wasn't taking him serious. He was treating him like a child and Felo hated being patronized. Fine, if he's exposing his tail then Felo will obey.

His hind legs folded and tensed before they sprang with enough force to throw himself to his target. His paws, claws exposed, reached out and attempted to snare the base of Xatu's tail before his jaws clammed down on the hair tuft. He snapped his teeth closed with the hairs tickling his nose and making it impossible to see through the mass.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

Xatu moved his tail as the feisty little cub attacked to make sure he'd get hold of tail fluff and nothing more delicate. He could chew on the fluffy part as much as he wanted to, but the adult knew from experience that cub teeth piercing skin wasn't a pleasant sensation.

"Oh no," he said, trying to waggle the tip of his tail, "You got me!"

Xefo rolled his eyes and preened a wing. These lions... Honestly!  

[Skyflu]

Felo stumbled forward, clumsy with his paws. His teeth attempted to clamp down on the tuff, but he choked on the hairs. He spat out the mess and coughed to clear his throat. The attack wasn't very graceful or efficient. The miscalculation regarding the annoying hairs agitated the cub because of his mistake. Taking a step back, Felo lined his body with the tail and attacked again. This time, he made sure to capture the hairs along the same direction so that they didn't jut out everywhere. A satisfying growl escaped his teeth and a feeling of excitement flew through him. Normally he wouldn't engage in such activities, but this moment proved to be a bit fun. After 'killing' the tuff he released the pressure through his jaws. He cried a triumphant "Ha!" for his victory and smugly looked back at Xatu.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Blu Chalk

"Well done Felo," Xatu said, "It can be really tricky to catch a prey with lots of fur in the way. That's why lion males grow a mane when they grow up."

He motioned to his own mane. It wasn't dark coloured like most lionesses in the pride preferred, but sure was useful in a fight. Not that he'd been in a lot of fights yet. Well, he'd had some hostile encounters in the roguelands. And after sparring with the red pelts he might be a bit better at fighting on his next trip.

"If someone were to fight me and tried to bite my throat they'd just get a mouthful of fur." he explained, "Lionesses don't get that protection, so they need to stay in a pride with abaholi to protect them."

Xefo didn't look very interested, but he was listening to Xatu's little tale. He just multi tasked and arranged his flight feathers at the same time. He had never considered the potential usefulness of lion manes. In his not so humble opinion feathers were much better than fur. Better looking, more useful...

Xatu gave the vulture a sidelong glance and grinned wickedly.

"What do you say Felo," he said and winked to his half brother, "Should we try a more difficult target next?"

Xefo preened one last feather and looked at his work with pride. All feathers were in perfect condition and aligned just right. Wait... Why were the lions looking at him like that? Eep!