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 Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:25 pm
Jaha pressed onward towards the river past the Kusini lands. Oh how he longed to splash in the cool water of the oasis. But instead, he was trekking across a desert wasteland. He prayed he would at least find someone to keep him company. He was unaccustomed to hunting gazelle and zebra. As soon as he would try to sneak up on them, they would either spot his scarlet mane or he would make too much noise. That is why he always hunts fish. They're stupid.
He continued forward until his paws refused to carry him any further. He collapsed just inside the borders of the Kusini lands. The pads of his paws were cracked and bleeding. The parched desert sands and jagged rocks were nothing like the smooth river rocks and the lazily shifting sands of rivers.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:26 am
Had it not been for the lion's very noticeable coat, Sura would have missed him completely. She would have simply taken him as another pride member and wouldn't have paid much attention. As it was, she had spotted the lion from a long way off and because she had been so sure he was a stranger, she had kept a close eye on him.
Ever since she had grown up so much, she had taken to wandering to all kinds of places within the pride lands, so it was hardly a surprise that one day she might wander over to the border. She lay low - although with her white coat it was something of a challenge - to watch as the male drew ever closer to the border of her pride's lands. It wasn't exactly surprising to have strangers cross into the territory, but she had always had a thing about making sure before getting to know any of them.
Even as she watched the lion cross into the pride, he collapsed, falling to the ground so suddenly it took her a minute to realized what had happened. When she had finally gotten herself together, the rogue lion was lying on the dry ground, obviously in much discomfort. Without thinking, Sura bolted toward him. "Are you okay?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:04 am
Jaha grunted as he heard Sura's voice. He struggled to get up but only collapsed once again. "Not good", he said, slightly fearful that he would not be able to get up. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to get to the river for a few months! He tried to stand again but could only raise himself high enough to sit in a rather awkward position. He was sitting on his tail and his forepaws were beside him to keep himself balanced.
Huh? Oh me? I'm fine. This was not entirely true. Although he could sit up, his core temperature was exceedingly high and he had fallen upon his side and some of the sharp rocks had been pushed into his hide, causing a bit of his fur to turn red from blood. He hoped desperately that she would figure that th blood was actually a pattern on his body. The pads of his paws were bleeding even worse now. He began to lick his paws gingerly to ease the pain.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:08 pm
Sura frowned at the obvious lie. She had been known to be naive and ignorant before, but she could tell a lie when it was right in front of her face, and she shook her head firmly. "No, you're not!" She said shrilly, looking down at the ground around him to spot some of the sharp rocks that littered the ground. "You fell on rocks?" She asked almost incredulously. "There's all this land, and you just had to fall on rocks?" She was starting to worry about him, the worry bringing out a snappier, short-tempered side in her.
She had never been a huge fan of the male race, mainly because she had grown up without a father to speak of. She thought them jerks and idiots who would never admit something was wrong because they had to feed their stupid ego. She scowled as she noted the strange way he was sitting, as he licked at his paws. "Your paws hurt?" She snapped, rather than asked. Why she was so short with males, she had no idea. She had never really talked much with them before, but it was coming out instinctively, and perhaps it was just a way to mask her own worry for the strange white lion.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:43 am
"Well, yes actually... I am hurt but I actually can't exactly choose where I land when my paws refuse to take me any farther. But I believe that I am able to go on. I think I have enough food in me to keep me on my journey.", he said as he patted his stomach to signify that he was full. Then suddenly there was a deep gurgling noise. His stomach had just growled quite traitorously. "Shut UP!", he hissed at his stomach who decided it wanted food so badly, it was willing to betray it's owner's pride to beg Sura for food whether Jaha wanted it to or not. Apparently, his stomach did not want to be patted when it was empty.
Jaha began to blush. He was unsure if it would be noticeable against his white pelt or of it would blend into his red mane. It was admittedly quite embarrassing, being a fully grown lion who was not able to hunt anything except fish. He was not in his ideal territory anymore. He would have to play by the rules of this land if he wants to survive.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:29 pm
"Oh, really?" The white adolescent lioness stared at him, obviously not believing a word he was saying. There was a gurgling, and she looked down meaningfully at his stomach. "So you were saying?" She rolled her eyes. A classic example of what males were like, no doubt. Obviously, he needed food and for some reason he wasn't getting enough of it outside. She had never been outside of the pride lands before, but she couldn't quite come to believe that food was lacking so badly out in the lands of the rogues, when they were perfectly loaded with prey in here.
"And why are you so hungry?" She asked as she shook her head. "Aren't lions supposed to know how to hunt too? You're almost skin and bones, you know?" This last wasn't exactly true. He wasn't skinny to the point where you could tell he wasn't eating much just by looking at him. It took a little bit to see.
She paused a moment, then decided to throw out the less important questions. It was easier to get those out of the way. "And what's your name?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:45 am
"My name is Jaha", he said, finally telling the truth.
"The animals here are smart. They see my red mane and run away. That's all", he said nervously. This was not entirely true. Although, all the prey would run away at first sight of him. But most of the reason he was hungry was he only learned to hunt fish, which there was a severe shortage of here.
He smacked his stomach for giving away that he was indeed hungry. The smack felt much more severe on an empty stomach. I guess his stomach wished to cause him discomfort for neglecting it. He was seriously hoping that he would get to the river before he starved. If he kept this up, his body might start to tap into his store of fat. He had a choice; take the risk trying to hunt or continue forward.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:14 pm
"I'm Sura," She nodded at the exchange of names, noting that Jaha did have a rather nice name. It was much simpler than her full name, that was for sure. Although simply Sura was what she most normally was called, so she didn't generally waste time griping about that fact.
She frowned curiously at him, tilting her head. "So... what do you eat?" She said finally, wonder what sort of an answer he would give her. If all animals ran away when they saw his red mane... wouldn't the only logical thing be to eat things that didn't? It confused her, and she didn't like having to try and figure it out before hand, so she simply waited for him to answer.
Perhaps, she thought, whatever he ate, they could find for him. Just so that he could ate least not be as hungry as he sounded anymore. She shook her head slightly to herself. Males. They would always be getting themselves into trouble and there would truly be no stopping them. That said, she supposed she should learn to deal with them someday. The though of her seemingly ever-nearer adulthood came with thoughts of, eventually, little cubs, and even if there was no blundering father around to help, she might have sons, and she did really have to learn to get used to them.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:42 pm
"Err... I do eat gazelles and things like that when I can but I generally eat fish.", he said nervously, avoiding eye contact and acting as though he was fascinated by his paws. He was unsure of what she would think of a lion who ate what was made into kitty food.
But this was not entirely his fault. He did not have control about what color he was. As well as his mother and father did not tag along with him for long enough to learn to hunt. He could not remember very well why or how he learned to fish but he did remember he had always liked water.
He was completely out of his element. There wasn't even much brush to hide his red body in. It would probably not be any use anyway. He would make way to much noise. His body had never experienced this brutal treatment. He always had an almost infinite source of food, endless water supply, and something to keep him cool.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:00 pm
"Fish?" Sura blinked That was news to her. She had never before met a lion who enjoyed eating fish. She was beginning to wonder where exactly Jaha was from. Presumably, it was near water, if he was attached to eating fish. She herself had never tried it before, fish, and she had always wondered what it tasted like.
"Well..." She paused, thinking for a moment. "There's fish in the oasis, I guess..." She said, remembering the tiny things she had seen flitting about under water. "But those are small. If you stay here I could go find you some food." Sura was not the most skilled huntress, and she often had to push herself hard to get after some of the faster prey. But it didn't ever slow her down and she rather enjoyed hunting. She didn't mind getting something for Jaha. The way he had described his diet, it gave her the impression that he mostly ate fish because that was the easiest thing to catch, and not simply because he preferred the taste.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:14 pm
"Um...", he muttered. He wasn't sure whether to listen to his wounded pride or his empty stomach. Asking a lioness to get him food? He must be out of his mind! Right now his empty stomach was more persuasive. He could give his pride plenty of time to heal. But he must at least offer her something in return. "That would be nice. How about you get me some food and I teach you how to fish.", he said in hopes that she wouldn't mind hunting for him.
He wouldn't mind teaching Sura how to fish. It would certainly be easier than surviving alone on an empty stomach. After all, she was far more familiar to this terrain and he was used to bubbling streams. He was sure oasis fishing couldn't be much harder. After all, he had trained Amai how to fish.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:57 am
((Sorry for the lateness! D8
School and all that xP))
Sura chuckled, dropping the stern act. "Well, I suppose you'll have to, won't you? If all you eat is fish." She wouldn't much mind learning to fish. It certainly opened up more options when it came to food choices. In truth, she rather enjoyed the thrill and physical challenge of hunting. She had always been frailer than most others, but she had always welcomed the challenge of pushing her limits and testing just what her body could do. She loved to prove that she was just as good as any other lion out there.
"Come on, then." She said, nodding in the direction in which the oasis lay. She wouldn't mind getting into the water on a day as hot as this. It was the perfect opportunity to cool down. And perhaps she could get Jaha into the water as well. The heavens knew it would be good for his paws.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:04 pm
((Sorry for how late the post is, I have had a bit of writer's block. ^^; ))
Jaha began to follow her towards the oasis. His throat purred as the thought of getting water again. That thought had seemed so very distant. But now, the mere thought of fish and water were enough to keep him going, despite the fact that his feet loudly objected to the idea of moving another inch. He thought he must move onward. Besides, the agony of his pride was far worse than the pain of his paws and side. This could be quite a challenge, making sure not to limp or show any signs of pain.
It was much harder than he thought. In fact, too hard. He was able to walk without limping but he could hardly hold back his winces of pain as the pebbles and salty sand rubbed into his soft paws. The only way to hold back his yelps of pain was not to breathe. This also proved too hard. As he took breath, he made a soft sound of pain. He then decide to disguise those as coughs.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:48 am
((Omg, I'm sooooo sorry, I didn't see this until now! D: -also flings joo a pm-))
Out the corner of her eye, she could pretty much see everything he was doing. No doubt it was another ruse to hang on to as much of his pride as possible. It was not working. Try as he might to show her otherwise, Sura could still clearly tell he was not enjoying the walking. It was rather a strange thing to be doing, but then again, boys will be boys.
She raised an eyebrow at the little coughs. "Got a cough now, have you?" She asked rather sarcastically. She didn't see how any of this was helping him in the slightest.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:21 pm
"Um... Yes?", he said, unsure of how else to reply. Somehow, he acted different around Sura. Normally, he wouldn't give a care what anyone thought of him. She seemed somewhat different than the rest of the lionesses he met. She had a certain charm. The rest of the lionesses mostly acted flirty and playful, but she seemed to act differently. Sura was a bit strong-headed in his eyes but maybe that was it. Jaha always seemed to feel like he should prove himself to Sura. He hadn't felt this way until he had met Hadiya but she had left him. They were very different but he couldn't figure out what was going on with him. Jaha might need to swallow his pride and be a bit more modest. This would not be too hard seeing as he usually did not show much pride.
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