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 Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:46 pm
The orange and red ball of fire previously known as the sun blazed cheerily in the sky, blasting everything with heat. That was Africa for you: it was either scorching hot or you were shivering in ten feet of water. It never did anything in halves. Neither did Latasha’s family, for that matter. Daddy hadn’t even blinked when he learned that his mates were in danger; he didn’t try to just save one of them. He saved both of them, and Latasha and her siblings too. That was something special, it really was. A dry stick snapped under the cub’s paw as she made her way over to what appeared to be a dead tree. A few flowers were growing on the ends of the branches, proving that there was still some life encased within that old bark somewhere.
Sniffing the bark, she nodded to herself. Yeah, it smelled just like Daddy had told her it ought to smell like. Latasha lifted herself onto her back legs and clawed at the bark with her front paws, scrapping off a bit of it. It wasn’t much, but it should be enough to help protect the den against evil. Anything to avoid being found by the pride that her parents had escaped. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like… what would it be like, being mated to the same male as one of her sisters?! Or being told that, in order for her to live, her sister would have to die…
She shook her head slightly and scratched more enthusiastically at the bark so more shavings came tumbling down like dead leaves. Alright, so maybe it was a bit hypocritical of her to cling to old beliefs like this while shunning the whole sacrifice thing, but it made sense to her. It had survived for like a gazillion years. Why would lions continue to do something like this if it didn’t work? A million dead lions could not be wrong!
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:13 pm
 To say that Xinavane's opinion differed from that of her sister's would be... putting the young lion's feelings in a rather undermined light. As she wandered about in the sunny weather, she was thinking a little more on the idea of what could happen if her family was captured. Prides... could any of them really be trusted if they did things as horrible as her parent's pride had done? It made her recoil in horror just to think about it. All those lions, put together... believing in some superstitious nonsense. She wanted no part in that. Besides, who cared what the collective thought anyway? No lion should ever have to die for another one's happiness. Well... if it had been one of her siblings... yeah, she would have died for them, that she had no doubt. Though Xinavane would rather die than admit something like that! She honestly believed that all lions should follow their own hearts, and be happy no matter what it took... it wasn't her fault that for her it meant protecting her family from evil, did it? Either way, no chance she would say something like that! It was surely a sign of weakness.
As she wandered, she spotted her sister Latasha, and sighed a little. There was always the chance... if they had stayed behind, that Xinavane and Latasha could have had the same mate. Her, or any one of their sisters. And one of them would have to die... If Xinavane had known the right words for it, she would have called her parent's pride some nasty names for doing something like that. And she applauded their father for escaping... even if it meant they were on the run. She knew very well that their aunt had tried to trick everyone into thinking she had been pregnant, instead of the cub's mother... and it really didn't bother her. She would have done the same thing... well, maybe if she weren't so very herself... But their father, she loved the most because he had done what he wanted to become happy, defying his entire pride. All lions should be that way. Especially her, and she cursed her weaknesses and caring for those around her. She would have never been able to leave.
She approached her sister, almost her twin in markings and eyes... all but the color of their coats. Exact opposites. She smiled a little, watching as Latasha played with the bark, and she spoke up, "Tasha, what are you doing?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. She would never understand the need to cling to old beliefs... but that didn't stop her from liking her sister. Though it could very well cause dissagreements as they got older.
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:03 pm
The idea of leaving her family hadn’t even occurred to Latasha at this point in her life. She was still in that happy cub stage where she thought everything would be fresh-baked cookies and gumdrops forever, so long as they stayed hidden from the old pride. And since they hadn’t caught up to her family yet, it was possible that they would never be found out, right? Right! Why, they probably didn’t even care about them any more. They had probably moved on and were doing horrible things to… she frowned at this thought, suddenly unhappy. True, it was good that her family was safe, but what about others? Luckily, Xinavane came around to get her out of that depression. Despite their differences----as different as their pelts, really---she loved her sister all the same.
“Xin! Dad says this’ll help keep eyes away from our den, so I figured I should help…” she knew that her sister had different views, but that was ok. Eventually, Xinavane would see that it made sense. And, even if it didn’t make sense, it was better than doing nothing at all. What would it have been like, being mated to the same male as Xin? An involuntary shudder ran down Latasha’s spine at the very thought of it, the thought of… well, she loved her sister, but sharing a mate was too… just a bit too close for her. How did her parents ever deal with it?
Besides, the head of any male who lived with Xin and Tasha would probably be imploded from the sheer oppositeness of the two. Xinasha would probably be the perfect word for opposite-twins. “What’re you up to?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:00 pm
Xinavane, unlike her sister, had begun her life as a worry-wart, and would probably stay that way. She usually came off as just being... well, rude, but that was one of her many smoke-screens. She wanted to be tough... in case their old pride ever found them again. If they did, she would escape, no matter what. And she would get her family out... because nothing, not pleasing the Gods, not cerimony, not luck, nothing, was worth losing the lions she held close to her heart. Or any lions at all for that matter. And not lions like Latasha... who might, in Xinavane's opinion, be easily tricked into dying for a pride when it wasn't worth it. Which did tend to make her a little more on the protective side, instead of a happy-go-lucky one. Black and white. Polar opposites.
She tilted her head to the other side as she watched Latasha, "How will scratching bark keep anything away from our den?" She didn't get it. But then, with anything 'mysterical' she didn't tend to get it. Which probably would have been an issue if they hadn't escaped their old pride... since she would have taken such serious issues with having the same mate as one of her sisters. It just seemed... wierd. Enough to make her shudder as well.
Still... at the same time, because of the way their pride's mating sister had worked, their aunt lived with them too, and Xinavane always sort-of liked their aunt. "I'm not doing much I guess... just looking around." And hoping to wander away from her family to get some peace and quiet at some point. Having so many siblings did have it's disadvantages...
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:33 pm
“I dunno,” Latasha admitted easily with a slight shrug. In her world, mystical meant that it needed no explanation. It simply was. Why bother looking for one when one wasn’t needed? But, knowing that Xin needed a bit more than that to go on, the white cub continued, “I expect it has something to do with the smell. Maybe they can’t smell us over the bark scent.” That didn’t exactly work because she could very clearly smell Xin over the bark. Ah well. Maybe her sister would accept the explanation and leave it at that. “Or they’ll see these marks and think we’re somewhere else.” That sounded a bit better. But, enough of that. Eventually, Latasha knew that her sister would ask her a question she couldn’t answer.
Best ask her awkward questions before she came up with them herself, that was how things worked in the family. “Ah, you mean there’s another fight going on and you want to get away from the noise.” Five cubs plus three adult lions… it was impossible for there not to be a few confrontations, especially between the cubs. Most of the time, they all got along well enough, but there were always those days. They were all at that ‘Mommy/Daddy loves me more!’ stage, which tended to get on Latasha’s nerves quickly. Hey, at least she and her sister shared that; a love for peace and quiet.
“Wanna go practice hunting? I bet we could find some good bugs to practice with.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:33 pm
Listening to Latasha make up stories about why she might be scratching marks onto bark was... almost embaressing. Which meant that the excuses probably had something to do with something stupid and supernatural that Xinavane didn't honestly believe it. It made her nose twitch with irritation to hear about it. Still, for once Xinavane was willing to let it go... just because she was really, really sick of all of the fighting that was going on throughout the family. She needed a breather ever now and then... so let Latasha lie for the sake of peace. For happiness' sake, she was willing to let it go. So, instead of arguing as she normally would have done, she shrugged it off and ran with the made-up story.
Latasha was certainly correct about Xinavane's need for silence... Xinavane had been known to run off whenever the discussions got too heated in their den. She usually met other more interesting, and frankly more understanding lions that way. And also a leopard once... Either way, she was always happy to get away when things got too rough. Given the choice... petty arguements weren't exactly her fancy. But she loved to argue about things she found meaningful.
"...Sure." Xinavane smiled a little, glad to be doing... anything that distracted her from home. She could do the sister bonding thing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:45 pm
If there was one thing that Latasha was good at, it was the sisterly bonding thing. Conflicting views or not, complete opposites or not, she still liked being around Xin. It was nice, having another view on things. It helped her see things that she normally wouldn’t notice. Smiling at her sister, Latasha promptly abandoned her hard earned bark shavings. Family was everything. It always was.
The dry grass arched nicely over the cubs, hiding them from view. Well, almost hiding, provided you didn’t notice the glaring black or bright white against the golden brown of it all. And, if you didn’t notice that, you were probably blind. Luckily, insects weren’t exactly known for noticing colors like black and white. And the bugs were certainly out in force today! Apparently, some locust swarm was idling past. It wasn’t so much of a ‘swarm’ as it was a ‘lazy morning commute’, which suited everyone better. It was the perfect opportunity to let cubs practice hunting skills, for one thing.
“What’ve you been up to anyway, Xin? You’ve been spending more time alone lately. Things’ve been getting all quiet and boring.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 5:37 pm
Quiet and boring? Now there was something Xinavane highly doubted. With a family their size, they all seemed to have the relative sublty of a rabid elephant on crack. And though Xinavane could confront and argue with the best of them, and loved her family... sometimes it could all be a little too much. Who wanted to deal with the same issues over and over again? Not her, that was for sure! Besides... there was a whole other world out there. No matter how much Xinavane cared for her family... and she did, so much more than they knew, she also knew that everyone grew up. And she was a little more eager than most to work on that.
She spotted one of the many locust hanging around, but this one was facing away from the sisters, making her crouch down, trying to remain hidden. She always wondered what it would be like to hunt something bigger... maybe that was something she and Latasha could do together one day. Now wouldn't that be nice? Something that they would always have in common. The need to eat.
"I've been exploring... you know, checking out all of the areas around here. I've seen some other lions... but I've been careful, made sure that they aren't in the old pride before I talk to them." She whispered, moving slowly forward towards the large bug, "It's way more fun than listening to all the bickering."
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:16 pm
Of course, for such a large family, ‘quite and boring’ was all relative. To Latasha, it meant five minutes without someone complaining, ‘Mooom/Daaad! She/he’s poking me!’ or something along those lines. There had to be some sort of mathematical equation for it: as more and more cubs congregated in one area, the more likely it was that one of them would complain about being poked. Or have their side of the den intruded upon. This would, inevitably, lead to a line being drawn in the sand, which would only lead to, ‘I’m noooot on your side!’ taunts as siblings barely toed the line. It really was predictable.
Latasha paused in her stalking as Xin made the extraordinary claim. “Y… you spoke to others?” Admittedly, that did sound more interesting than hearing one of their siblings taunt the other, it was still… well… it wasn’t something that Latasha felt she could do. There were lots of dangers with talking to others. Like if the old pride did come back and find them… “How do you know they weren’t part of the old pride? Xin… it’s easy to lie about things like that.” Ha. Yeah, right. The gullible Latasha was trying to explain lying to Xin. As she spoke a bit more loudly than needed, a few of the locusts took flight.
Although, clearly, they weren’t from the old pride. They couldn’t have been. If they were, then the den would be swarming with them, right? “… What did they say?” she asked eventually, this time keeping her voice low so she wouldn’t scare away all the bugs. “What were they like?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:37 pm
The most noticable thing about the family was that Xinavane was absolutly certain it was about to get much, much bigger. Their aunt was pregnant, she was sure of that. As though the five siblings weren't enough, soon there would be more, and that not only meant more crying babies, but it also meant more half-siblings who would compete for their parents attention... Which meant more craziness. Who knew how many babies their aunt might be about to have? Gods... Xinavane practically shuddered at the thought! Not to say it would be bad, oh no, in many ways, Xinavane welcomed more siblings, since she did love the ones she had right now already... but still... their lives were already crazy, what would happen with more?
As to the claim of meeting other lions, Xinavane could only smile... though she did frown a bit about losing the locust she had been planning on eating, "Yeah, I know it's easy to lie about it, I was really careful!" She said plainly, coming off as rude, but she was a little offended, "I watched them all for a while before I spoke to them... besides, I've only met two. And I always made sure there was only one, and they were either hunting... or doing something else."
Besides, clearly Xinavane was good at spotting it, or she would have surely been captured. She looked too much like her mother for someone not to notice who her relations were, "The one I met... well, he said he was from the Swamp, a different pride... and he was on a journey to find the answer to a question. He was big and strong, like dad... but he was a bit of a scardey-cat! He was all afraid of what the answer to the question would be, but I set him straight and told him to do it anyway...!" She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, "...I hope he's alright... and that he got the answer he wanted." Then she shook her head, "The other one I met... well, I'm not even sure he was a lion... I mean, he didn't have a mane or anything, and he was really... stretchy... so... I dunno... But he was funny, he taught me how to catch ants."
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:50 pm
Poor Latasha hadn’t even noticed Mafunde’s weight gain. If she had, she merely thought it was because she was eating so much! Pregnancy---and where baby lions came from---was one of those things that she simply hadn’t asked yet. If pressed for knowledge, she would vaguely mention something about a male lion and two female lions, but there wouldn’t be any real detail. Which was probably a good thing, considering that her views on where baby lions came from was already a little muddled.
“Well… I guess so long as there’s only one, it doesn’t matter,” Latasha answered slowly. Xin’s apparent rudeness didn’t really bother her; they had been sisters all their lives, which was plenty of time to understand one another about certain things. “A swamp? You mean those places with lots of water? How weird! I didn’t think anyone could live in one of those!” Xin might as well have announced that the lion came from the backside of the moon, for all that Latasha knew about it. A lion that came from a swamp… huh. She had to wonder what they ate there. It didn’t seem like there’d be a lot of good prey in a swamp, but clearly she was wrong. How weird!
“A maneless lion?” Now that was even weirder! It was a fact of life: male lions had manes, female lions didn’t, and… well, everything else was a bit of a mystery, at the current time. “I bet he wasn’t a lion. There are other things out there. Like… like…” her nose scrunched up a little as she tried to think about what other creatures she had heard of. Well, there were antelope and zebras and stuff, but she knew Xin wouldn’t mistake a zebra for a maneless lion. “Well, there are others. Can you teach me to catch ants?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:05 pm
Though Xinavane had yet to discover where baby lions came from, it was certainly not from lack of trying. All she had really managed to pry out was that they were in the mother's stomach somewhere, and when a lioness got big enough, babies poped out. How that was supposed to work... Xinavane was still working on, but for some reason she couldn't fathom, her parents and her aunt wouldn't tell her!
"That's what I thought. One isn't a big deal. If I got into trouble, dad would save me. Mom too." Xinavane nodded, having perfect confidence in their parent's ability to protect her. She wouldn't want that for Mafunde though... if she had babies, wouldn't that be too hard? "And yeah... we passed one a while back, the big place with all the trees and dark water that aunty told us not to swim in. But apparently some big pride of lions live there, but the one I met was really nice." She mentioned with a shrug. Whatever made the lions happy, she suppposed... though how they could be in a swamp... well, she didn't get it.
"I know there are other things." Xinavane said, bristling slightly, "But he looked like a lion... he just... wasn't." Maybe she could ask her parents about that... but then they would know she had been wandering off, and they probably wouldn't like that too much, "Hum... ants? We'd have to find some first!" Now that sounded like fun!
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:30 pm
“Oh yeah… I remember that place now! There were lots of bugs there. The water smelled funny, remember that? And then we swam in it anyway. That was fun.” Although it had taken their mother forever to get rid of the smell, partly because her kids had been running around her and giggling the entire time, getting the mud absolutely everywhere. That had truly been a wonderful day in Latasha’s mind. While she didn’t like mud or water, it had been fun anyway. Her mind filled with images of lions happily spending all day playing in the smelly water, laughing joyously. It really was a nice image, if a messy one. And horribly unrealistic, but she had little way of knowing that.
“I’d like to see a swamp again,” she murmured after a bit of thought. For the first time, she considered what was in the outside world, away from her family. While she could hardly imagine leaving her family forever, she did want to see these ‘other places’. More swamps, perhaps. What else was out there anyway? Shaking off the feeling, she tried to defuse her sister’s annoyance. “I wasn’t calling you a liar, Xin! I was simply wondering what he could be…”
Ah well, back to the hunt! Only now they had a concrete prey in mind! Ants. How difficult could it be to find ants? “I bet I can find ants faster than you, Xin!” Latasha said before dashing off in search of the tiny insects. It was a simple good-natured challenge between siblings, not an actual shot at Xin’s hunting skills.
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Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:54 pm
"Yeah... Lots of bugs." Xinavane nodded, happily remembering that day as well. Not only had it been the first time she had really met a lion from outside her family, it had been the first day she had realized that not all prides were as bad as the one they had come from. And then she and her siblings had finally been able to really enjoy themselves... it was one of her earlier memories, and one of the few days where they had slowed down and hadn't run anywhere. But the smell... even remembering that smell made her nose crinckle a little. Everything had been fun except for that.
"Yeah... me too." She agreed about the swamp... though she wasn't sure how anyone could live there when it smelt so bad. Maybe they just got used to it after a while. She was sure there had to be nicer places to settle down out there. As to the creature who she had met, who had in fact been a leopard... though she did not really understand who that was, she could only grin, "I'll bet I can find another one, and then I'll find out what he was."
And then there was the challenge... finding the ants. She could only grin at the idea that Latasha would find the bugs before she did. Because clearly, in Xinavane's mind, she had hunted the bugs before and would have a way, way better chance of finding them! "You're on Tasha!" She took off into the grass, searching for any sign of the small bugs.
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Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:06 pm
And the chase was on, as the two sisters, black and white, complete opposites, dashed in opposite directions from each other. There was probably some deep life-lesson there, but Latasha very stubbornly didn’t see it. All she could see was the pure joy of movement, of life pounding in her veins. Oh, and the thought of beating her sister, of course. Once again, there was no malice. It was a simple game between the two sisters, the twins that weren’t twins.
Latasha’s tail twitched as she looked around for the tiny tell-tale signs of ants. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any of those really big ones… they could bite really hard! Latasha had only once made the mistake of approaching a driver ant trail; it was a painful lesson to learn, one that wasn’t easily forgotten. She sniffed the air, hoping to find some scent of something dead. Unfortunately, the air, while carrying several other interesting smells, was devoid of rotten meat stench. Or maybe that was ‘fortunately’. Either way, the pale cub would have to come up with a different way to find ants.
Well… with all of these locusts around, it was only a matter of time before a couple died, she reasoned. Ants had to be around to clean up the dead grasshoppers. Peering closely at the ground, it wasn’t long before she came across a deceased grasshopper. Already, a few ants were gathering around, examining their prey. Huh. Well, that was a little disappointing… she had been hoping for lots of ants. Still, it was better than nothing. And more would come. That was the thing about ants.
“Xin! Over here! I found a few!”
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