|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:07 am
 Sometimes he had the worst ideas.
Curled in a tree, the young lion frowned as he stared down at the ground. That was where he wanted to be. Where he had planned on getting to. And yet here he still was. In the tree. He had been there for some time now, staring at the ground and ordering it to come closer. This tactic was not paying off.
He had climbed the tree to prove a point to himself. In the past he had managed to get himself stuck in a similar tree, though that one might have been smaller, its branches bare and its limbs strong enough to support him unless he moved too far out. Back then he had fallen out of it, but this time he told himself it would be different. He would climb down.
While he had yet to fall, he found that gravity pulled at him whenever he tried to go down, which halted his attempts. Feeling foolish and only having himself to blame, he could only sit and wait until his courage built itself up enough for him to leap down.
That might take hours. Or longer.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:32 pm
Noti had always considered lions to be the most frightening products of the most disasterously awful nightmares. Her mother had been nervous around them, and that had carried over into one of her six cubs, at least. It wasn't that Noti became particularly terrified around them - she wasn't exactly known for showing any sort of real fear, she was far too concerned with appearing brave - she simply became visibly anxious. They were undoubtedly larger, and even cubs were to be treated with the utmost care because typically a mother or a father was near by. Noti was a good size for a cheetah - not too large, but by no means small, either - so she felt like she could handle herself around other cheetahs and leopards. But lions? They were much, much too big.
Now, she only knew the bare facts about lions: they were bigger, they were slower, and they were dangerous. She did not expect to find them in trees. That was the territory of the leopards.
She didn't, at first, expect a lion to be up in the branches, so when she did look up and saw a big cat up in the branches, she assumed the norm. Besides, he didn't seem big enough to be a lion, even if he was a bit on the fluffy side (she had no idea that he was just younger). Sitting, she thought that the leopard must be escaping the heat and so she would sit under the shade with him if he'd allow her, "Warm day, isn't it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:34 am
Hadaya looked down when he heard a voice, blinking at the cheetah beneath him. He couldn't decide if she was mocking him, or if she was really just talking about the weather. Clearing his throat, he decided he would have to get himself out of the tree now, lest this new arrival think him a loser for being stuck. At the moment she didn't seem aware of his trouble, and he hoped to keep it that way.
Swallowing, he hummed his response, trying his best not to sound nervous. The shudder in his words betrayed him in that, "yeah, it's a nice day. I uh... wanted to get away from the sun. Since it's... so warm, like you said, and. Uh. The trees are cooler..." coughing, he padded the branch, working his muscles and building his courage. He hesitated, then tried to climb from the tree backwards. He had learned that face first was not the best way, at least for him, to descend anything.
And backwards didn't work out too well, either. His paws slipped and failed to find anything to claw into, despite the rough nature of the bark. He scrambled valiantly, then lost his grip and tumbled out of the tree, landing hard on his back.
And on top of her tail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:28 am
Of course, she'd started to become suspicious as soon as it appeared that he was nervous. Leopards weren't nervous in trees, were they? Besides, the cat had the upperhand - being above her - so there was no reason to be afraid of her was there? Perhaps he'd been planning to ambush someone and she'd ruined it. Ha!
Then again, it was about that time that she actually looked him over. His tail had been hidden from her before and when that tufted serpent swung out from him as he tried to climb down the trunk, her eyes widened. A lion! Why was a lion in the tree? Correction: trying to get down from the tree? OH GOD, to eat her. Her blue eyes darted around her to search for an exit, aware that his pride might be closing in on her while she hesitated.
And then, she couldn't move. He'd landed directly on top of her tail. Let's get this straight: Noti doesn't panic. She's pretty good at keeping all her emotions under wrap except anger, but she was dang near to swallowing her throat just then. Hissing, she tried to gingerly pull the appendage from under him as she spoke, "Get off me!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:45 am
Dazed, it took Hadaya a moment to realize that the noise coming at him was not, in fact, an alarm in his head but the voice of an angry sounding female. He blinked, wondering what he could have possibly done to make someone sound so upset, when he felt something moving under his back. It felt like it was sliding under him, as if he had landed on a snake.
It then occurred to him that he had fallen from a tree. A tree that had something resting underneath it, talking about the weather. What had that been? He blinked and his head lulled to the side, his bleary eyes focusing on the form beside him. He blinked and wondered why she was standing so funny, like her back end was weighted down.
"Oh!" He rolled suddenly, springing to his feet and then wavering a bit as a wave of nauseating dizziness his him. He shook his head, which did absolutely nothing to relieve the situation, and looked at the stranger whose tail he had crushed. The young lion bowed his head, ears and tail low in a very submissive show of concern, "I didn't mean to. Please don't eat me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:53 am
As soon as her tail had been freed, the cheetah skittered backwards a few feet while trying to simultaneously check her tail for serious injury. It was how she kept her balance - what would she do without it? Her hunting skills would be greatly disturbed without a key component. Oh, she could kill the stupid lion thing if he wasn't so much bigger than her.
And then he'd said something entirely unexpected. Eat him? She stopped just as she was turning to run, petite head peering at the strange feline over her shoulder. He even looked like she might eat him. She frowned suspiciously, looking him over as she turned once again to face him and stalked a bit closer.
"Why would I eat you?" She growled, though her face showed clear indications that she was confused: an arched brow, wide questioning eyes. "You're the lion. Not me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:07 am
Hadaya looked up to see her moving closer to him. He bit his lower lip, hard, or what could pass as a lip, and shuddered. All of his muscles coiled in unison, and he seemed to shrink into himself, his neck all but vanishing as he pulled his head back. He blinked at her.
"Yeah, but lions... don't eat cheetahs..." he said, knowing that for certain. He didn't have much experience with cheetahs, however. But because she seemed to be older than him he just assumed she was stronger and more likely to eat him. She did have sharp teeth, after all. And that was something he was always wary of. "I don't know... if you wanted to... but I'd really rather you didn't."
He shuffled awkwardly, trying to smile but his mouth not curling up as he tried to order it, "I'm sorry about your tail though... is it okay?" he wanted to make certain that he hadn't harmed her. He was by no means a violent or angry lion, and he did his best to keep everyone around him without reason to kick his scrawny little hide, "I... fell."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:56 pm
She tensed at his coiling muscles, not sure if she trusted him tensing - what if he was tensing in preparation for an attack? Her blue eyes narrowed once again with suspicion.
"Lions eat anything." She huffed, "Or beat up smaller cats just for fun." It was what she had always assumed was her mother's reasoning behind her fear of lions. Mvuatuliva had never actually explained her fear to her cubs, but Noti figured it had to be completely rational. Lions had to do something particularly evil to warrant such a reaction from her ever-gentle, always-kind mother. The idea that Tuli had been nervous around anything larger than her was a far thought from her daughter's mind.
Watching the awkward movements of the lion, though, Noti was beginning to doubt that fear just a little bit. Or, atleast, maybe this lion wasn't a very good example of a ferocious beast. Her expression softened, only slightly, as she looked him over thoughtfully, "Yeah, it's fine." She answered absently, considering that her tail was still throbbing a bit, but continued, "I'm Noti. And you're not a very brave lion, are you?" She arched a brow, "Or very smart. Cheetahs don't eat lions, we're too small."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:17 pm
"Well..." Hadaya said, uncertain, "if other lions do stuff like that, I guess I don't know about it. Or maybe I'm not much of a lion. There's a very real chance of that being the case." He flicked his tail and lowered his head, heaving a sigh. He looked back up at her when she introduced herself, looking indignant, yet vaguely guilty.
He wasn't very brave, after all. Though, most of the time, it wasn't his fleeting courage that was the problem. It was his inability to find anything he was good at, and his extreme ineptness in even the most simple of tasks. Sighing he shook his head again and shrugged his lanky shoulders.
"No, I'm not... I'm... I'm just Hadaya," he said, sighing. He didn't have any other way to describe himself. Offering a thin smile, he nodded, "I'm not that smart, either. So I guess I'm just lucky right now. I've never met a cheetah before, though. I'm glad we've decided that we don't eat each other. Makes it easier to talk to you, not worrying about becoming food."
He sat on his haunches, trying to lick at a dirty patch on his tuft of mane fur that decorated his chest. He wobbled, then straightened up and tried to pretend he hadn't just done that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:28 pm
Well, needless to say Noti was feeling a bit guilty herself for being so brash in her regard towards the young lion. Of course, to begin with, she hadn't felt much of an obligation to be nice to a creature that might turn around and eat her at any second. Why would she bother with politeness when he might crush her head between his paws in the next second? Politeness wouldn't save her, but bluntness got to the point much quicker.
Shifting a bit uncomfortably, she watched him think over what she had said like some grim bearer of bad news. Then again, he did seem as if her observations had been true. To be honest, her statements had been a sort of expression of relief on her part that he wasn't going to eat her. But maybe she could have said such things with less brutal honesty involved.
"Well, it's uh... nice to meet you, Hadaya." She gave him a shaky smile meant to reassure him but she still felt a bit bad. Instead, her expression turned to a more apologetic and hesitant grin as she added, "Look, sorry. I mean... I'm sure you smart atsomething. I've never met a lion either just... heard things."
In a roundabout way, anyway. Maybe not really heard so much as... intuitively learned. Her brow arched when he wobbled, but she resisted the urge to laugh at him - only barely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:51 pm
Hadaya cleared his throat at her expression it, recognizing it as one many creatures used on him. It was that 'I'm trying really hard not to laugh at you' face that lighted eyes and tweaked faces, mouths edging precariously toward a teasing grin yet somehow managing to maintain a friendly, non-judgmental air. He was used to that face, though she seemed fairly apt at keeping her expression level. He arched an eyebrow in return to hers, then smiled.
He found he didn't have anything else to say. He often found himself in this situation. He didn't want the conversation to be over, but he wasn't very good at keeping any one topic moving for too long, and he was left grasping at straws for a way to stretch out their talk, in the hope that somehow one of them might say something to spark a new topic. He looked around.
"So... what brings you out here? Just... uhm... taking a nap under the tree?" He asked, frowning. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in her answer, but that he was disappointed in his lack of clever witticisms and charming conversational skills. He should have commented about the weather, to tease her comment to him earlier and maybe bring out a laugh, or he could have made some sharp observation that was either insightful or thought provoking. Instead, he asked a rather closed question.
"I was just..." he said before she could answer and before he was asked, "testing how strong that limb was... yeah. For... later." He cleared his throat and looked to the sky, "did I apologize for your tail? I'm sorry I landed on it... and scared you..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:27 pm
Her own brow arched at his expression, smile softening into an interested smile as she tried to figure out exactly what this strange lion was thinking. Noti wasn't completely convinced that lions were alright: Hadaya seemed like an exception to the rule, rather than the norm. At least he seemed content with his lot in life.
The silence stretched on and Noti wasn't sure if she should be finding a way to exit or not as her blue eyes wandered over their surroundings carelessly without really digesting anything she was seeing. But then, just as she was about to come up with some half-assed excuse to leave, he was talking again and she shut her mouth quietly to listen.
What was that? Politeness? From Noti? Oh, she really was feeling bad for her previous comment.
Her brow furrowed as he kept talking, essentially keeping her from answering. "You know, typically when you ask someone something, they answer before you ramble." That was harsh, she frowned and then tried again, "I mean, no. I was just... wandering and thought I'd say hello." Her head inclined to one side before her blue eyes rose back to him, chuckling quietly, "Yes, you did. Why did you need to test the limb for later? Lions don't climb trees." Hadn't she said that? She'd definitely thought it, but it would be good for it to be reiterated for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:18 am
"Right," Hadaya said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. He stared at the ground and refused to look up, just in case he did something else to annoy her. Clearing his throat, he nodded as she spoke again, noting her change in tone. Her question made his heart sink.
"I wasn't testing it for later," he confessed with a sigh, "I was trying to prove to myself that I can climb trees. The last time I did it I got stuck and I ended up falling out of it. Apparently I'm still just as bad at it as before, since I did pretty much the same thing again."
But at least this time he wasn't running away in embarrassment.
Yet.
"Maybe there's a reason lions don't use trees. I can't be the only one that sucks at climbing them, right?" there was only a modicum of hope in his voice. He knew very well that he was a special brand of inept, that stretched across every skill and endeavor, "they're... hard to navigate..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:44 pm
Noti pursed her lips in some mix of frustration and thought, not really sure what to make of her first run-in with an actual lion. He didn't seem much like what she had been led to believe her whole life. He was kind of a let down, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, really.
Really, he wouldn't have a chance to run away from embarassment because Noti wasn't sure if she was going to explode from awkward annoyance or he was finally going to snap and beat her up, so she was ready to leave. Exhaling through her nose, she repeated herself, "But lions don't. Climb. Trees." She was sure to speak slow, just in case, before continuing, "So what do you care if you can't? You don't have to. It'd be different if you were a leopard. Or a slow cheetah." (Oh the horror) "But you're a lion... so..."
She supposed he was technically supposed to be imposing, but he wasn't very good about that either.
"I've never tried to climb a tree, so I wouldn't know." She frowned, looking at him scrutinizingly before sighing, "Look, find something you're good at and stick to that. Don't worry about everything else." Tilting her head at him a bit skeptically, she turned her body to leave, "So... I'm going to go. Don't kill me from behind, alright? Maybe I'll see you around."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:35 am
Hadaya nodded, not looking up.
If only it were as simple as that. Hadaya tried many things, and so far the only skills he had command over were ruining moments and running into things. He tripped pretty well, and had a knack for saying the wrong things at the right time, but other than that... He didn't think he could use any of those talents to better his life, however.
He blinked and looked up when she turned away, sighing, almost glad for the encounter to be over, just because he was feeling so completely anxious and useless. Offering a reassuring smile at her back, he waited dutifully for her to leave before even daring to move. He didn't want her to catch a feeling, and think he was attacking or something.
"Okay... yeah... bye!" He called, once she was decidedly out of earshot. Frowning, telling himself to work on how long it took him to muster up words, he heaved a sigh and turned around. Glaring at the tree, he walked away from it, not wanting anything more to do with them. Trees only caused trouble.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
