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 Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:36 am
A hapless butterfly twisted on the wind that whistled through the valley. Amazingly lucky, the insect had somehow managed to avoid the hungry beaks of birds that always occupied this place. Perhaps it thought to itself, ‘I ought to rest now’ or, ‘hey, look at that lion cub! Isn’t he cute? I’mma gonna say hi!’. More likely, there wasn’t enough room in its brain to hold any thoughts of any sort, though, and it simply landed on Kamau’s face because it was tired and had no idea how the cub would react to this huge fluttering thing suddenly appearing in his line of sight.
“Gaaah!!” Kamau let out a surprised yelp and shook his head furiously, pawing at his nose with both paws. Backpedaling quickly, he did the ‘Insect Dance’, which mostly consisted of wiggling all limbs as much as he could all the while shuddering and looking amazingly surprised and shocked. Before he had even started the performance, the butterfly had flitted off, completely oblivious to the terror it had just caused.
The lion cub glared at the fluttering insect, half hoping he had somehow suddenly gained eye-beam powers so he could melt it for its… its… well, being it, when you got right down to it. But, of course, he completely failed to do anything of the sort. All he could do was glare at the insect until it was little more than a smudge on the horizon. Hopefully, at least, some lucky bird would eat it. Now that that little excitement was over, Kamau looked around himself, trying to figure out where he was. It wasn’t often that the shy cub went out on his own, but today was just a day for exploring. Besides, Naamini had gone out earlier and Momma was gone hunting and he was lonely. His whole reason for leaving the den was to try and find his twin sister.
And now he had wandered just a little too far. A thin whine escaped his mouth before he started to move again, reminding himself that just sitting there and whining wouldn’t help anything. Only actions would help. And… and whining was a stupid action!
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:02 am
[Insert Peke cert here cause I'm lazy]
Peke had taken to wandering as much as he could during the daylight hours. It made it difficult for the adults to find him, especially when they wanted him to meet with others, the returning and new members to confirm that they were not part of the interlopers who were undoubtedly seeking revenge. He was very well aware that it was perhaps not the smartest idea for him to be out on his own but he didn't care. He rarely listened to the adults. Perhaps that how he had gotten into this mess in the first place. Of course even if he had stayed where he was supposed to that night it wouldn't have changed what happened. Kuruka still would have died. Everyday was a painful reminder of that fact.
He trotted in silence his blue eyes staring off into space his bonded perched upon his back, his wing still not fully healed. "Peke..." Nguvu started obviously displeased with the mood of his bonded. "Cheer up, she wouldn't have wanted you to mope around like you are."
At those words the cub whipped his head back glaring at the white fan-tailed raven. "Shut up! Just shut up!" He shrieked at the bird his body trembling. "You don't know anything!' He growled quickly looking away. He felt bad, he shouldn't have snapped at the bird but his depression had just been building up over the past few days. So many terrible things had happened in such a short amount of time.
It was about that time when he heard the shriek of another which resulted in Peke furrowing his brows. "What in the..." He mumbled before Nguvu interjected.
"Go see what that's about Peke!" The bird's tone held such authority that Peke found himself following before he had a chance to think.
However when he reached the cub who had been yelling he froze in his tracks. Those markings....that color... All the the bad memories of recent events came flooding back to him and he stood there in a state of shock. Why was a mini-Msiba here?!
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:56 pm
Now what was he supposed to do? With his ears pressed back against his head, the cub turned around a couple of times, looking up at the sky. This, of course, accomplished nothing other than making him a little dizzy and confused. It surely didn’t help him orient himself at all. He shouldn’t have wandered this far at all! Now he was lost and he couldn’t keep his sister safe and she would get kidnapped and he’d never see her again and it was all his faaaault… again, the cub turned around in a circle, this time setting his sights a little lower.
This time he saw something new. In particular, he saw another cub with a white bird on his back. A bird! That meant he was still in the Aka’mleli pridelands! That was a huge relief… Hisia probably hadn’t meant to scare her son this much, but Kamau was now terrified of accidentally leaving the pridelands only to be snatched up by the cubnappers that almost certainly lurked around every corner. Once he saw the unfamiliar cub, he relaxed. Cubs didn’t kidnap other cubs.
Completely oblivious to the history between his father and the cub before him, he merely smiled timorously. “Hi! Umm… I’m lost. No, wait that’s not right… I mean I am lost, but that’s not my name…” His voice trailed off into oblivion and he slowly realized that this was the first cub that he had talked to. His sister didn’t really count. Actually, this was the first individual he had spoken to that he wasn’t related to. That made everything different, didn’t it? “Umm… what I mean is, my name’s Kamau.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:00 am
Peke remained silent watching as the cub spun in a circle almost paralyzed. He had the basic instinct to flee where at the same time he couldn't. His heart pounded heavily in his chest as he slowly moved his head to the left and to the right as if he was waiting. Waiting for Msiba to leap out and snatch him away. The cub simply couldn't fathome what was going on, why this other cub was here. What happened?
Then his memory raced back to his dreams and the whispers that spread through out the pride. First the whispers, one of the female's was, or had been, pregnant with...his cubs. What was the name of that lioness? Hisia? Peke shook his head, at the moment it didn't matter. Then his mind floated back to his dreams, Hisia giving birth to two cubs...What did they look like? Maybe this cub was one of the ones in his dreams.
"Peke? Peke!" Nguvu crowed eyes narrowed as he nipped at the cub's neck with his beak. "Snap out of it!" He ordered before the cub shook his head again.
"What?!" He growled snapping his head back to look at the white fan-tailed raven. The albino bird shook his head before gesturing with his good wing at the other. "Oh." His blue-eyed gaze drifted back to Kamau whom he simply stared at unsure of what to say. Was it wise to speak to this male before him, did he know of who his father was? Probably not. After all there was not faults or lies hidden behind the simple words he had stumbled through.
Still that didn't mean Peke had to like him.
"Hi." That's all he offered to the other not willing to even try and start a conversation much to the annoyance of his bonded. This was ridiculous!
"Peke!" He scolded with a narrowed glare. "I apologize for my bonded's behavior. My name is Nguvu. Perhaps we could help you find your way?
Of course, leave it to Nguvu to be the 'good guy' and make Peke look like the bad one. Even if that was the case.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:37 pm
Kamau waited patiently, hoping that the other cub would say something else, something comforting like, ‘let’s be friends!’ or ‘I know your sister’. But, as those words----or any other words, for that matter---failed to be spoken, he got anxious and began to fidget once more. He shifted on his paws awkwardly and his ears went back minutely. Had he said something wrong? That would be just like him! Not even thirty words spoken to another cub, and he’d already messed up! Now they definitely wouldn’t help him.
The cub’s mood swung like a pendulum as the bird spoke. He perked up immediately, glad that he hadn’t lost all of his chances at making a friend. “Nice to meet you two,” he said politely, deciding it was best to be polite. When your chances of getting home depended on the good-will of others, you wanted to make sure that they had plenty of good-will.
“Umm… yes, I’d like that very much!” he said enthusiastically. “So long as it’s not out of your way or anything. I really just need to know the right way to go.” That was a mild lie; with his sense of direction, he generally needed someone else to walk him through just about everything. Even if he was heading in the right direction, he would, against all odds, somehow end up turned around and confused again.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:40 am
Peke scowled at his bonded as the bird played the part of the friendly helper. Couldn't Nguvu see the resemblance?! Or did the bird know something that he did not? Possibly. The cub had distanced himself from everyone since the events, he was only there when they needed him and not a minute more. He was oblivious to most events that had gone on. So of course he had no knowledge of Kamau's birth.
"It's no trouble at all. Is it Peke?" Nguvu replied pushing the cub with his good wing trying to get his attention. He needed to make him play nice, he needed this interaction. Perhaps it would help him snap out of his moodiness. "Peke!" He shouted when his bonded didn't respond.
"That's a lie."
Nguvu blinked startled by Peke's words. "What do you mean? I'm not lying."
"That's a lie. You can't find your way just by being told the right direction."
Peke stated completely ignoring his bonded and turning his attention towards the Msiba-look-a-like. "It's pointless to lie." He told the other with a shrug. His seer abilities kicking in.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:03 pm
As soon as the word ‘lie’ had passed Peke’s lips, Kamau’s ears went down in a show of shame. It wasn’t a lie! Not really… it wasn’t like he was trying to hurt anyone or anything, so it didn’t really count, right? It was like thanking your auntie for the lovely bracelet or saying that the feather was totally your sister’s color. White lies, that’s what it was! They didn’t really count. Right? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just don’t want to be any trouble.”
At least that was the perfect truth. Kamau looked down at his feet, as if they had suddenly become absolutely fascinating within the last few seconds. “I just want to go home. I normally don’t wander too far because my sister needs to be guarded and all, but I wanted to show her that I was brave. So I went off a little further than I usually do.” It all made complete sense to him. Of course, Naamini would probably smack him upside the head for doing such a thing before reminding him that he was the one who needed to be protected from cubnappers.
“I know it’s wrong to lie. I just didn’t think this lie would matter.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:07 am
Peke sighed, obviously the other cub didn't get it. It was pointless to lie because he could see through them. "No, I mean that it's pointless because you can't lie to me." He stated ignoring his bonded as he rubbed his temples beside him. He knew it might be better to keep it to himself but he didn't care. Kamau would find out sooner or later, he might as well get it over with.
"No one can lie to me."
He stated almost boredly before thinking about his statement. No that wasn't quite right. They could lie but he would know. He wouldn't be able to know the truth however, but he would be able to guess the truth and if not...well then he usually could, or would try to force it from the others.
"I know when a person is lying, when they aren't being truthful."
He said flatly with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Peke..."
The albino fan-tailed raven groaned shaking his head.
"I apologize, my companion is brunt and doesn't exactly deal best with others." He shot a glare at the seer cub making a 'tsk tsk' noise. Unfortunately for the bird Peke started to speak preventing him from saying anything else.
"Why bother proving how brave you are when it could easily get you killed? It's stupid. It's safer to stay with the adults or towards the center of the pride." He paused his thoughts flashing back to the outsiders knowing they could be lurking around the borders. Yet even with that knowledge he avoided the center of the pride, the adults, even the children. He didn't want to be near any of them.
Yet someone always found him.
"We don't need anymore deaths..." He remarked sadly, sadness washing over his features for the first time since his sister's death.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:26 pm
Kamau tilted his head to one side, trying to understand what Peke meant. At first, it didn’t sound very impressive, being able to tell when someone was lying. Why, he and his sister could both do that with each other! Naamini always knew when Kamau was lying and he always knew when his sister was being untruthful. Nothing mystic about that. They just knew each other. But now Peke had been able to tell the lie without knowing Kamau… the green and white cub frowned a little, trying to wrap his mind around this. “So you can really tell when others are being truthful? You’ve got to meet my sister! She keeps saying that I’m the one who’s more likely to be cubnapped, which is a total lie! You can convince her that she’s telling a lie!” He beamed at the other cub, but the grin quickly slid from his face at Peke’s next words.
“Well… umm… it’s not very brave to stay completely safe, is it?” he eventually managed to say, trying to explain his somewhat confusing line of thought. “It’s like… I want to be safe. I do like being around at home with my Momma, sister, and aunt. But, at the same time, I want to show my sister that I can be brave and I can’t be brave if I don’t do anything at all. So I had to do something, even if it is big and scary.”
He was quiet for a little longer. Speaking of fear, he was a little worried about bringing up the obvious. Eventually, he plucked up his courage and jutted out his chin, saying defiantly, “And you’re out here too. So it’s not like you can tell me to stay near the center when you’re not doing it yourself.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:39 pm
"I can. I hate it."
Peke replied bluntly. It was the simple truth even if it made no sense what-so-ever. Just moments before it appeared that he was flaunting it and now he was stating that he hated it? It wouldn't make sense to anyone but him. How would they feel if they could see through every lie, when they always knew when someone wasn't telling the truth no matter how much they wished it was. It prevented him from experiencing any happiness that small lies could have brought him.
He shook his head at the other boy's question. "No, but it's not brave to charge blindly into the open without knowing what you are doing." He had done that, he had done it a lot. Yet his sister had always been beside him, there to pull him back to stay by her side and protect her.
He had failed.
"You can be brave without being stupid. Trust me."
He told the other the faintest smile cracking his lips. He knew from experience that being brave and trying to by acting stupid were two completely different things. If you wanted to show someone you were brave you had to do it the right way.
Did he know the right way. No, of course not. He knew how to do everything wrong and nothing right.
When Kamau pointed out the fact that he was out here alone he frowned settling into his grumpy state again. "We're completely different people." Just like with him and his siblings. "Besides I have duties, I have to prevent outsiders with bad intentions from entering the pride." He paused before muttering. "I like to keep to myself, I don't like company."
Which was ironic because he always found himself in someone's company whether he wanted it or not.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:01 pm
It certainly didn’t make sense to Kamau. If someone hated having the ability, why would they trot it out within a few minutes of meeting someone? The younger cub paused for a moment, his tail swishing behind him, trying to fit his mind around this idea. Then again, he decided, Peke seemed like a very strange sort, so maybe it made sense? “I did know what I was doing!” he protested, showing a spark of spirit or at least something that could pass for it in a dim light. “I just sort of forgot the way back, that’s all. We’re still pretty far from the border, right? So it wasn’t like I would’ve been lost forever out here. Eventually a bird would’ve found me.” So long as it wasn’t a vulture. He hated those things.
Although, he had to admit. Peke was right about most of the things. Charging off into the wide unknown was pretty stupid, especially since he had a pretty bad sense of direction. But Naamini did it all the time, so Kamau wanted to do it too, if only to show his sister that he actually could do it. Also, to try and convince her that she was the more voonerable one, because that was so obviously the truth.
Finally, the green and white lion cub spoke again, his curiosity piqued by Peke’s words. “How do you do that? Stop outsiders from coming in, I mean. You’re not that much older than me and Momma always says that I have to watch out for rogues who might want to cubnap little cubs. You’d be in just as much danger as me, right? So how do you stop them from coming in?” Maybe he gave them evil glares, said the meaner side of Kamau’s brain, a side which he promptly shut up but not before giggling a little. “And you’ve got Nguvu, so you’re not really alone, even when you are.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:04 am
"Yes, but continuing to wander without any sense of direction could easily get you at the borders."
He pointed out a bit harshly before regretting using the tone. The cub hadn't done anything wrong. Except maybe being born...NO! He would not hold the child's father against him, especially when he probably didn't even know who his father was. Maybe he could give him advice.
Hah! That was a funny idea.
"If you want to be brave, to show you're brave do it the right way." He paused his mouth still open so he could speak again. It was probably not something to be expected. "I however can't help you there." Nope, he always did everything wrong way, or used to. He was getting better.
Sorta.
"I talk to them, interrogate them. Get them to speak to me and when they lie, I know. While I have their attention I send Nguvu off to get one of the adults, so I have a back-up so to speak." Most of this was true, but most of it was also untested. "I know how to deal with outsiders." He stated cooly before glancing at his bonded, who had been surprisingly quiet, before continuing. "In some ways I'm in a -lot- more danger than you."
Yes if the interlopers returned they would probably aim to capture him, or to capture Ubele, if they figured out that it was her that they wanted and not her sibling.
"Maybe."
At this point the raven decided to speak. "We do not always stay together. While we do most of the time, I give Peke the space he likes to have."
A simple relationship.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:20 am
“But… I heard that it was really far away…” Kamau said, sounding a bit doubtful despite his own words. He was the type of cub who tried to weigh the words of everyone, including the conflicting ones. It was just strange to hear this. Well, now that he had heard this, it was definitely not smart to wander far! The cub might put on a brave face----or one that at least attempted to hide the coward that he was----but the idea of wandering towards the border terrified him. The only thing scarier than him wander to the wide world outside the pride was his sister wandering. The only thing that gave him hope were Peke’s words, the promise that this was not the way to be brave. Kamau looked up hopefully, ears all perked up. They quickly went right back down as Peke admitted he didn’t know the way. “Ohh…”
“… but you’re still a little cub. Couldn’t they cubnap you just as easily as me?” Actually, that wasn’t quite right. “Ok, so not as easily. Umm… a lot harder, I guess. But still!” Peke wasn’t that much bigger than he was and there were big, big lions out there. They could easily pick up any cub. Then again, if Peke knew how to deal with outsiders, it sounded like he knew something Kamau didn’t know. That actually encompassed a lot of things.
“You know how to deal with them?” Now that got the younger cub’s attention. He waited expectantly, half-certain that he would soon hear Peke say, ‘but I can’t help you with that’, just as he had said before. But it didn’t come. The white and green cub was a flurry of action all of a sudden, scurrying in front of the other cub and blocking his way. “Can you teach me? I want to keep my sister safe! Please? It's not for me, it's for my sister...” His eyes were just big pools of begging. It was rather pathetic, actually.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:01 am
"Maybe, but I'd put up nasty fight."
Peke replied remembering the last time someone tried to cubnap him. It had been when he had first met Nguvu and the mean 'witch' had broken his wing. He had saved the raven but put himself in a dangerous situation. He had gathered unwanted attention. It had been then that had been the first attempt. He had successfully escaped her clutches, with the help of the now dead rogue.
The second time had been a bit more...tricky. This time the witch's brothers had come after him. Then the red outsider had once again come to his rescue, along with the old captain. Then the king and his cousin.
At the thought he smirked. Every time he had almost been captured, which had been quite a few, someone had come to his rescue even when he hadn't called for any help. In a way it had been amusing. He also assume that it would happen again. Not to mention he was a seer and he had a chance of seeing an attempt at a cubnapping.
AND Ubele was a seer, a now and when seer, meaning if she saw something happen to him she would know where to find him.
"I might also be able to see it coming."
He stated not saying anymore regarding it. The other cub would simply have to wonder what he meant by it because he wouldn't say anymore.
When he started to move away the other cub blocked him resulting in him scowling. What was he doing? When he stated what he wanted Peke shook his head. A normal cub was not supposed to deal with outsiders. No, they should avoid them. Peke was not normal and thus he needed to deal with outsiders.
"You don't want to know. Honestly." He stated with another shake of his head. He couldn't very well teach the other without explain how he had come to this knowledge. "Start small if you want to protect your sister. Work on hunting small game."
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:36 pm
Kamau tried to fit his mind around the idea of Peke putting up a nasty fight. Actually, in a strange way, he could sort of see it happening. Peke wasn’t much bigger than him, physically speaking, but in a less precise but more important way, the older cub was tougher. If someone came after Kamau, he had no idea what he would do, exactly. Probably just wail until they went away, considering this was his response to most things that distressed him.
He was definitely tempted to start wailing now, when Peke looked at him with such a glare. The younger cub winced, but refused to move until he got an answer. Oh, his legs were shaking and every fiber of his being scolded him for being so rude to Peke and Nguvu who were being so nice to him. Well, Nguvu was anyway, and that surely counted for something. Peke was just being himself, which also had to count for something, although Kamau wasn’t quite sure what.
“Ok,” he said quietly, looking down at his paws with interest. It was good advice, honestly. It wasn’t like Kamau could be expected to watch over his sister when he couldn’t even catch small prey. “I can do that,” he declared, looking back up at Peke. Then he paused, remembering that the other cub could see lies. Or smell them. Or tell somehow, anyway.
“…Well, then I will be able to do that one day,” he amended sheepfully, not wanting to get caught in another lie. So far, the only thing Kamau had managed to catch were colds, and he hadn’t enjoyed those much. “And I’ll get a nice bird too, one day. If I’m lucky, he’ll be nice, just like Nguvu.”
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