|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:20 pm
And then Angavu had caught sight of this strange place in the distance. Never having noticed the elephant graveyard before at all, of course she was intrigued. And she was not one to let something like this go unexplored, and she wasn't foolish enough to go ask for permission either. No, mom would say no- and if she asked her brothers, someone would probably go tell mom. She would take a look on her own!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:04 pm
{Logged from AIM RP XD}
Hammie: Amleth padded along the edge of the graveyard. Loath though she was to leave Duhushi's side, he *was* healing well, and she knew that Lysander was right when he said that she needed to get out in the fresh (or... relatively fresh) air for a while. She had agreed to scout the borders in Lysander's place while he sat with his father. Sighing, the grey-green lioness lept up onto a large bone, gazing out across the savannah. The Pridelands were in that direction, and so it was unlikely that any danger would approach from there, but she did love to look at the lush green lands that led to the massive golden rock that marked their allies' territory.
Ecavi: Angavu had never seen anything quite like the graveyard, and the more she looked at it, the faster her scrambling towards it became. Oh ho, what a story she would have to tell when she got home. Maybe not to her mother or grandmother, maybe to her brothers.. but certainly if she managed to find Shuman again. And at least Mnyama would like to hear about it too! The young lioness was too busy getting ahead of herself with who she would brag about her adventures to to even notice that a lion had appeared in the distance. She was too busy looking around wildly and trying to take in all of the subtle changes in the environment. She just wasn't smart or practiced enough to enjoy exploring without showing every ounce of her excitement.
Hammie: Amleth's brows raised as she noticed a movement on the savannah. As it approached, it became glaringly evident that it was a cub -- and a very energetic one, at that. Amleth smiled reflexively, remembering when her own had been like that. Well, not Lysander, he had always been a serious little thing, but Nerissa and Froth had often been almost impossible to keep up with. She supposed that she had better go greet the cub... before any less friendly denizens of the graveyard did. She slipped silently down and waited at the edge.
Ecavi: It wasn't until she was rather close to the edge of the graveyard that Amleth became impossible not to notice, and as soon as Angavu noticed her she skidded to a stop. She was surprised to see a lion standing right there, she hadn't expected that. Then it hit her, it could be a scout she's never met before- there were a lot of lions in the pride she had never met before, it was possible. And scouts were supposed to stop cubs like her from wandering away. Making a face, she looked around to see if anyone else was around and didn't see anyone. Deciding she wasn't going to give up that easily, she stepped closer in a much calmer manner.
"I just wanted to look around!" she called, making an excuse immediately in case it was someone to stop her.
Hammie: Amleth resisted the strong urge to chuckle at the cub's defensiveness. "Oh, indeed?" She answered smoothly, getting to her paws and giving Angavu a motherly once-over. "You're quite small to be all on your own... in the graveyard." She said, adding a dramatically ominous tone as she said the last two words, widening her eyes meaningfully at the cub. "Lots of things in the graveyard would just love to eat a cub your size." She smiled and flicked her tailtip thoughtfully. "But then, I'm sure you weren't thinking of going there all by yourself..."
Ecavi: While it didn't seem like the lioness was about the make her go home, it didn't seem like she was off the hook yet. Especially when she was warned that things in the graveyard would like to eat her. It was a convincing reason not to want to go in, but it was also too different and exciting seeming to the cub's narrow mind to give up on it so easily. Maybe she could outsmart something that would actually want to eat her, or she just wouldn't run into anything. Nothing bad ever really happened to her, though she was made more aware of it with all the things going on in her home pride lately. Angavu was happy to be optimistic, though.
She hestiated on saying she didn't go get a partner-in-crime because she knew she'd have been stopped from going. No, that was more likely to encourage the stranger to send her home without letting her take a look around. She had to think fast, make another excuse that would make it OK.
"I wasn't going to go far," she said pathetically. She didn't know what else to say.
Hammie: Amleth nodded seriously. "Right, well. Come on, then." She shook dust from her fur and began to pad back toward the bones. Looking over her shoulder, she motioned for Angavu to follow her. "I know better than to try to *stop* a curious cub from exploring." She said with a grin. "Come on. I'll show you around, and then you go right home, okay?"
Ecavi: When Amleth said 'come on' and didn't head back towards the Pridelands, Angavu stared dumbly after her for a moment. That was a strange reaction, and it took a moment to recover. When she was motioned for, Angavu immediately sprang forward to catch up to the older lioness. A guided tour was hardly unwelcome, it was much better than being sent away- even if she had to agree to go home afterward. What a very lucky little trip this turned out to be.
"Ok!" she agreed, catching up and walking along beside Amleth, "I'm Angavu, by the way."
Hammie: Pausing to wait for the cub to catch up, Amleth smiled. "I'm Amleth, and I'm the queen of the Maziko pride, here. You're quite lucky I spotted you before a hyena did." She said this matter of factly, and set off again along the edge of the boneyard. "They mostly stick to the middle of the graveyard, but you never know." Reaching a ribcage, stark against the dull grey of the graveyard, she stopped. "You live in the Pridelands, do you?"
Ecavi: "Maziko?" Angavu repeated quietly, feeling she may have heard that name before though she couldn't be absolutely certain. But this made three total prides that she knew about, though she'd never actually visited the Kusini'mwezi pride. Then she remembered her manners and smiled back at Amleth. "It's nice to meet you, Amleth!" she said, looking around at the mention of hyenas- another word she knew, but she had no idea what a hyena actually was. It didn't sound very friendly.
"Yeah, I live there with my mom and grandma and my brothers," she said, pausing when Amleth came to a stop by a ribcage. It was big, and impressive and completely mysterious to the little lioness. She inched forward curiously, "What is that?"
Hammie: "It's ...bones." Amleth said with a small grin. "Elephants come here to die." She explained, leaping up onto the top of a rib. "Though I haven't seen one actually come here in a while. Perhaps they've stopped because of all the lions and hyenas who live here now." She looked back at Angavu. "You're quite lucky to live in the Pridelands with your family. It's safe there, and there's plenty of food and other lions to be friends with."
Ecavi: "Ew," she said, though didn't sound at all disgusted, taking another step forward only to jump back in surprise when Amleth jumped up onto one of the ribs. "That's so neat, where would this bone be in an elephant?" She looked back and fourth between the ribs and Amleth, trying to see if she could place it on a lions frame. She had only one guess, really, seeing as she was a carnivore. But it was hard for her to translate from a small prey-beast to something like an elephant. It was kind of weird to imagine dying elephants getting up and wandering here to die, but maybe it was important to them. Or it used to be. Hmm!
"Yeah, but it's not as interesting as around here," she pointed out.
Hammie: Amleth chuckled and lept back down, flipping Angavu over with a paw and tickling her ribs. "Right here!" She answered mischeviously. Clearly she had a lot of pent up playing energy, now that her cubs were grown. She grinned and looked around the graveyard thoughtfully at the cub's last comment. "I suppose." She lifted a paw and tapped her chin, giving Angavu a mock frown. "Would you say getting eaten all up is interesting?"
Ecavi: Not at all expecting an 'attack', Angavu was easy to push over and tickle. Starting to laugh only to gasp it back and curl up defensively, she looked up at Amleth with an expression somewhere between amusement and resentment for the tickling. She didn't get back to her feet until Amleth asked about being eaten, to which she stuck her tongue out and rolled over and stood back up properly. "What kind of things eat lions?" she asked, "You aren't eaten up, how come?"
Hammie: "Lion cubs." Amleth corrected. "Though I'm sure they could eat me if there were enough of them." She wrinkled her nose. "Hyenas. We've mostly been lucky and kept to ourselves, but there is the occasional attack." She remembered helping Dunia clean her wounds, and Duhushi... "My mate was attacked recently, and he still can't walk." She said bluntly. "I'm not trying to scare you, I just.. I don't think I could forgive myself if something happened to a cub on our lands." She said finally.
Ecavi: Amleth was very convincing. The way she talked about the hyenas and the attacks didn't sound like the usual little stories meant to frighten cubs like her, it sounded more genuine and Angavu had to admit that it probably was. As much as she prefered to be optimistic and carefree, it was hard to ignore when you were somewhere it wasn't as easy as it was at home, in the Pridelands. She sighed, mimicing Amleth's nose wrinkling and looking around. "That's not very nice," she said finally, "Why do you stay here if it's so dangerous? Why do they stay?"
Hammie: Amleth sighed and crossed her paws. "To be honest, they were here first. But we also have a long history of living here, and.. well, it's hard to explain. It's our home. And until recently it had been fairly safe. It's complicated." She smiled at Angavu. "To be honest, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Hopefully it will all work out." She looked up at the sky. "The sun is getting high." She said guiltily. "I should walk you back to the Pridelands. I have some more patrolling to do." She leaned down and licked the youngster's head affectionately.
Ecavi: Angavu supposed it was too much to expect them all the share the graveyard, and didn't even bother to ask why they couldn't do that. Who knew better than a cub just how hard it could be to share and always get along? She didn't think anyone would like the idea of constantly being in danger, though. She felt bad for Amleth, but then the queen seemed to know what she was talking about and like she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She certainly fit in better, color-wise, than someone like Angavu.
She looked up at the mention of the sun and sighed. "Ok, thank you for showing me instead of just making me go back home," she said with a smile, hinting at the most likely reason she didn't argue about leaving. Amleth was nice enough to show her around, arguing wouldn't be a good way to thank her.
Hammie: Amleth smiled wryly. "It wouldn't have worked if I told you to go home, would it?" She nudged the cub gently. "Anyway, I think I should walk you at least as far as the watering hole, just to be safe." She stretched and padded back towards the savannah, glancing over her shoulder. "Oh, and Angavu... I know I can't stop you from coming back here, if you want to... but if you must, please come with someone else? The hyenas won't often bother groups of lions."
Ecavi: "Maaaybe," Angavu said with a small smile and a shrug, "but not really." Of course, no one would be terribly impressed if they'd told Anga to leave and they later found her exactly where they said not to be. She would have gone through the graveyard being more wary of running into more lions, not hyenas- and that wouldn't have gone very well, unless she managed to avoid running into anyone at all. Following after Amleth, she sighed at the request. "Ok, but I don't know if I know anyone who'd want to come see without just telling on me," she said, her disappointment evident in her tone. Maybe she could talk a brother into it, or find someone big and brave.
Hammie: "Well, don't come back until you find someone." Amleth teased, slipping under a thighbone and pausing to make sure Angavu was behind her. "You can tell them the Queen told them to go with you." Grinning, she led the cub out into the open savannah. "There we go, you can almost see the watering hole from here." She said. Glancing back at Angavu, she twitched her tail mischeviously. "Race you?"
Ecavi: She nodded. Angavu was not about to admit to being dumb enough to come alone if it presented actual danger, a violent reality check was not something she really wanted to experience. So she was happy to agree, especially where she was basically being given permission to act as if she was a friend of the queen. Amleth was definitely nice enough, no reason not to be her friend! Her attention put back on the path ahead of them, dodging bones and staying close behind the queen, Angavu squinted to try to see the waterhole. She wasn't as tall as the older lioness, but she recognized where they were now so she was all set. Instead of replying, the cub started to laugh and leaped ahead, scrambling to get to the water first.
Hammie: Amleth laughed, launching herself forward, but Angavu had gotten the head start. She paced herself, making sure her longer legs didn't take her too far ahead of the younger lioness. "You cheat!" She accused, mock-offended. Panting and acting tired, she slowed as they approached the water hole. "Oh, I'm getting too old to keep up!" She panted dramatically, unable to keep laughter out of her voice.
Ecavi: Still full of energy despite the walk through the graveyard, Angavu didn't stop until she actually hit the water. It was a slippery stop, but she managed not to topple over in the water- only wading into the edge triumphantly. She turned back to Amleth, still laughing. "That's not cheating," she said very matter of factly, stiffling another giggle as Amleth panted and inevitably caught up with her, "Maybe you should take a break here before you go back."
Hammie: "I might as well." Amleth laughed, catching her breath and taking a drink. "But you should get back before the sun gets to high, it'll be far too hot to walk in the open then." She lay down on the edge of the watering hole, dangling her paws into the water and smiling. It had been ages since she had been able to joke around with a cub. Perhaps she would have to bug Lysander about grandchildren..
Ecavi: "Ok," she said, skipping over and rubbing against Amleth in a very affectionate, kitty manner, "Thanks again! Maybe I'll see you again when I find someone to come back and explore with me." She smiled one last time at her new friend (as she would tell others, anyway) and then turned to get back home before anyone missed her too much or it got too hot to comfortably wander around.
"Bye!"
Hammie: "I hope you do." Amleth replied, nuzzling the excitable cub in return before she ran off. "Goodbye!" She watched until Angavu was out of sight, smiling. Then she stretched and took another drink of water before heading back towards the graveyard, and her duties.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
