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 Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:12 pm
It was game time. Again.
This time, however, Shwari had no devious plans or horrible ideas. His game was like their old ones: simple and not involving gay lions. He had had enough of gay lions for the rest of his lifetime, and he was sure that So had as well. Even if it was his goal to make So's game time hell, his last ideas had made both of their lives worse than hell. Thus, Shwari had decided, in an effort of self-preservation, to pick something less homosexual and more skillful.
"Are you listening, So?" He asked his friend, in an attempt to make the game sound more complicated than it actually was. "We're going out to find a minion for each other. These minions have to hunt something for us and whoever's minion catches the biggest prey animal wins the game. These minions have to be a predator that's not a lion, and they have to be bigger than a cub. Do you accept this challenge?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:25 pm
"I heard you, you pansy." Just because he wasn't looking in his direction didn't mean he wasn't listening. Him being completely facing the other way didn't mean anything either. There was some stuff going on over there he wanted to watch. Important stuff like some female kicking her mate out of a cave and yelling at him. Ever since that last game he couldn't help but be absorbed in the soap opera that was life. Something he'd always changed the channel on before.
"You're on. Just don't forget who's still winning this little competition." If by 'little competition' one counted a lifelong string of games of both normal and eerie contents then that did describe them well. Finally he turned from the lovers' spat and looked around. Not one for walking. If he could be lazy about this he would.
"...I pick that one." The male lifted a paw and waved it in the direction of the water hole, or more correctly, the wild dog running in circles around it barking at her own reflection.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:34 pm
"Well you're not focusing, woman." Shwari was still using the girl joke against So, seeing as it seemed to work better than calling him flat-colour. Apparently that insult about So's lack of markings had grown old. Still, he needed the lion's full attention if he was going to explain the game properly. Who cared about what some hussy was doing with her boyfriend? He certainly didn't. So should learn to pay attention to the important people in his life before Shwari pulled an angry housewife and unplugged the television.
Great. He'd got stuck with a wild dog. Still, she looked like she could run pretty fast, if her running circles around the water hole was any indication. "Fine, then I pick that one." He pointed his paw in the direction of a brown cheetah who was sleeping under a nearby tree. At least his choice was actually moving. "You go talk to it, and I'll go talk to that one over there. They have to hunt this kill by themselves, remember!" With a final pointed look at his rival, Shwari made his way down to the water hole where he sat and watched the wild dog run circles. It was mildly entertaining.
"Excuse me!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:44 pm
"They knew I wasn't a girl!" So reminded him. Loudly. There was no way anyone would be stupid enough to believe for a second he was anything but a male. His mane was more fluffy than most. That always annoyed him with this being the exception. Another thing to use as evidence of why no one would ever think he was a girl ever. This was there knew thing to bicker about. The I have no marks, you have too many marks debate had been retired as a symbol of their childhood. Or something. So wasn't sentimental enough for that kind of pansy stuff. Shwari probably was being a pansy and all.
A cheetah? Was he trying to lose? Sure, she was asleep now, but once a cheetah got up and moving they moved the fastest. "Fine," So agreed. By then he'd taken on his smooth, charming voice. He was gonna need it. His first instinct was to go kick her or something. Plan B's contents no doubt contained better execution. He strolled on over and stood somewhat far away, but more than close enough. So took a breath.
Ahem.
"OH NO!"
Elsewhere Gzifa took her sweet time bothering to look at Shwari. Her reflection was just too worthy of attention. "Yes?!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:52 pm
Njuga was awoken from her very pleasant afternoon nap by the sound of someone yelling. She sprung up in surprised, tail floofed as she tried to locate the source of all the noise. It appeared to be a strange purple lion. She'd never seen one of those before. He was, however, bigger than her and did look a little... well, she didn't know what he looked. Just different. The cheetah hesitated to approach him, instead calling, "Is everything all right over there?"
"I'm sorry to bother you." Shwari put on his best 'feel sorry for me' face, which was pretty fair since he'd learned how to do it off his twin. Haki was always getting into trouble and had to try and win back their mother's favour. He was a master of the 'look at me I'm cute' look, and had been glad to teach it to Shwari. Or rather, Shwari demanded he teach it to him since Shwari took the blame for Haki nearly half the time. Such was what happened when your mother couldn't tell her children apart.
"I wouldn't be bothering you, but you see, my sister is taking care of a group of cubs back at the family den. I promised her I'd hunt her something but I just..." he paused to sniff dramatically, "I'm just not very good at it. Do you think... you could help me out? If it's not too much trouble for a strong wild dog like yourself."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:05 pm
As it was told, birds of a feather.
So did his best to look upset. It was easy because he was naturally good at it. When your mood was a constant steady it was all too easy to master your emotions to the public, in reality only your expressions and tone. Only the Sherlock of the Savannah would have been able to tell him insincere in his actions. Shwari had learned from his brother, but So? So was naturally talented in this forte. "It's almost sundown and the hare I was after just got away from me. I needed it for my niece." Oh, woe was he! Frowning he approached closer, nodded toward Shwari and asked, "See him?" How could you not? Look at all those markings. "He's the father, but he's a runaway. You know how males are these days, right? None of them ever stick around. Like it's toxic for them to do so. My sister fell for him, I don't know why. I'm going to talk to him later, but for now, I just really need to get some food. I'm so tired from running all day, though. Would you maybe help me out? We can share whatever you get, of course."
If the cheetah wasn't going to buy it So was a dead man in this one. Shwari's target stuck to the story like glue. Gzifa couldn't look more sympathetic. "How sad!" She wasn't really doing anything, and she still had plenty of energy, so... "Strong?" Oooh! She was strong! Proudly, Gzifa puffed her chest out. "Don't worry! I can get you something!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:23 pm
Njuga's ears flattened a little at the expression on So's face. Something seemed to be the matter with this one. Her mother had warned her about getting too close to lions though, and she was hesitant to let him get close enough to maul her. Of course she could out run him, but that wasn't the point. It was better to be overly cautious than end up with a scratched face. Still, she stood her ground and listened to what he had to say, her head tilted.
"I can help you..." She replied finally, blinking at him. "Do you want another rabbit?" The cheetah wasn't sure why So felt the need to point over at the other lion, seeing as she didn't care who the father of these unknown cubs where. Fathers left all the time. Her father was nowhere to be found. That was just the way of life.
"Thank you very much," Shwari did his best to look relieved. "You're a bigger help than you know." Haha let's So out-do that performance! They were going to win this one for sure! It served So right for giving him this wild dog. His cheetah would never catch anything in time!
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:31 pm
Something was indeed the matter with him.
Shwari was winning. Not Cool.
Don't sound rushed or you'll have no chance, he reminded himself. A pleasent smile and a gentle shrug of his shoulders. Not one of carelessness but as if he was shy and uncertain. "Well... If there was enough for tomorrow, that would probably be best. So, something bigger than a hare. I could look to the East, and you could go that way, to the West. Then we could meet back here, maybe?"
The shy card may have been a better one to play from his hand from the beginning, but he was blending it in well so no worries. What kind of jerk, no matter how shy, wouldn't break out of his shell about to save his starving niece? The same kind that would lie about having a niece. His key to winning was that she didn't know that.
It took everything he had not to scowl when the wild dog ran out of Shwari's company and into the hunting grounds. Damn...
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:35 pm
The cheetah gave a small nod. "How many cubs are there?" She remembered very well the times that her mother had brought home a gazelle for her and her siblings. There had been five of them, and it had often meant that her mother had to hunt twice just to feed them all. But now they were grown up and could hunt on their own, which had taken a considerable amount of strain off their mother. Njuga would do her best to hunt for this lioness and her cubs, in memory of her mother's efforts. "If there's a lot I can try for a gazelle?"
Shwari waited until the wild dog was out of sight before a wide grin formed on her face. Yes wild dog. Go hunt something big and bring it back. He was going to totally own So in this game. Life was good.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:41 pm
How many... So's mind worked very fast in the same way it allowed him to make up such bullshit stories on the spot. He'd said 'niece', hadn't he? She was asking him how many so maybe she hadn't caught it. Or did she think that there were more and she was the only one hungry? That sounded likely.
Best go along with it. A gazelle was bigger than anything a wild dog would catch. She'd probably come back with something like a bird or a hare. So had to remind himself this contest wasn't about speed, but size, and he'd win. He'd always win this one. Wink.
All that inner turmoil was only a few seconds out in the real world. He sighed during that time, oh so upset. No suspicious silence that way. "Four." A realistic number for when he was growing up. Hopefully enough to make her bring back something big.
Maybe he should have said ten?
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:49 pm
He seemed rather remorseful about the whole thing. The cheetah absently wondered how young his niece was that she needed her uncle to hunt for her. Everybody knew that lions weren't very good at hunting. She would have been smarter to simply ask this uncle of hers to guard her cubs while she hunted. But, who was she to judge? She had offered her help and she would give it. "Alright. I'll do my best then!" She grinned at him before trotting off towards the hunting grounds.
It took her a while to find something, but she returned with a guineahen held tightly in her jaws. Her luck with the gazelles was very little, especially since she had been napping after a recent hunt. Still, this kill would do fairly well for a small family. He could scavenge if they were really short for food. With a somewhat apologetic look, she dropped the large bird at his feet. "The gazelles have moved on. And there's lions hunting out there." Everybody knew that a cheetah didn't stand half a chance against hunting lions.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:55 pm
So felt a twinge of spite in his childish soul at having lost. He hadn't yet, but the chances were pretty good he was going to. Reason told him he was still ahead and shouldn't stress over it. The cub in him was rolling in the dirt throwing a fit because he was only up by one and only needed to lose the next one and then the one after that to be losing!
Outwardly he smiled, pleasently. Again. "That's alright, I appreciate this. Thank you." Stupid no good useless cheetah. "That's a very impressive hunt." How pathetic. "I'm sure karma will bless you for this later." Somebody should smite her for that.
Casually he snuck a glance at Shwari.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:35 pm
"You're welcome!" Njuga replied, completely unaware of So's inner turmoil. She hoped it would be enough to get his family of five by. But, now that she was finished, she decided she should be heading home. Her mother would be worried. With a final nod in So's direction, the cheetah trotted off in the opposite direction, eager to make it home before darkness. She was quite pleased with herself, having done a good deed for the day. Or so she thought.
Shwari was waiting quietly for his wild dog to return, keeping his eyes on his own business. He really did want to look at So, but So could be doing weird things to the cheetah and he didn't need any further mental scarring.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:43 pm
Good, he didn't look so confident anymore. So decided to both mimic and ignore him, one by the other. There was no 'weird things' he'd be doing with this cheetah unless it was strange to nod goodbye to someone. These days, it could have been.
Now, all that was left to do was wait.
An hour passed.
And another...
And another...
So had eventually offered to share his hunt (that he hadn't hunted) with his friend and lay waiting for the wild dog, wishing there had been some sort of time restriction on this game. Rules were rules. He swallowed another mouthful of his meal and stretched out.
In this time of waiting, So dared to do the unthinkable.
Personal conversation.
"So, how is your family, anyway, Shwari? I haven't seen your twin around for a while."
Yes, he could tell you the difference. Shwari had the eyes of his competitor. His brother just... had eyes.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:01 pm
This wild dog was taking a freaking long time. Shwari almost wished he'd put a time limit on the game, but that would have meant he would lose. And if it was one thing he hated, it was losing, especially at an easy win type of game like this. He should have had this one in a bag, but instead his wild dog probably got lost and couldn't make her way back. Sigh. Maybe they'd have to call this one a draw.
Eventually, he'd given up on not looking at So, and had eaten part of the kill that the cheetah had caught. The wild dog probably wouldn't come back for a while, so he might as well eat something. Besides, the game was sort of almost over, which meant he could be friends with So (if you could call their relationship 'friends'). The question caught him off guard, and he blinked at So for a long moment.
"Eh, they're okay. Haki left anyways. I dunno where he went. Probably got himself lost." Shwari didn't sound too impressed. "What about yours?"
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