|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:55 pm
 Vu’s days became ever busier as he grew. He spent more time training than ever before, played less, and over all found less time to himself. Finally he managed to sneak away one early morning while the rest of his family was sleeping and reach the rocks where he and Mollie used to play. He had less opportunities to see her ever since his training intensified. When he did find free time to relax or play she never seemed to be around. After a while he started to hope he’d see her wander by. She never did. Maybe it was bad luck.
The stars were winking dimly and a white band of twilight touched the edge of the horizon when Vu arrived at their traditional meeting place. To his surprise, some of the stones looked much smaller than the last time they were there. So did the tree where he and Mollie rested when the sun grew too hot and high. He hopped up a couple of stones and looked around.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:12 pm
 Of course the green eyed cub had noticed her best friend hadn't been meeting her. But that didn't stop her from going to their meeting spot and waiting all day for him. She'd grown as well, looking less pudgy from her cub self, though still looked very much like a cub. Mollie would train by herself here, thus losing the weight and gaining a bit more muscle than most cubs her age.
Now she came here late. The female had a feeling she'd run into her best friend again. It was just a feeling. She shuffled to the tree she'd lain under with him, clawing at the bark, marking it as her own since Vu hadn't been around. She didn't want anyone taking this spot from her. Blinking as she settled down, she looked to the rocks and realized a figure was on them. A growl came from her lips as she got up and raced over towards that figure, not really able to see who it was.
Pouncing, she climbed the rocks and aimed to tackle the figure down off of them. "Get off! You can't!" Her voice sounded a lot stronger than Vu would remember it, more childlike and song like than the husky whisper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:23 pm
One ear twitched, making him aware. He leapt off the stone just in time to avoid being knocked down and whirled around after he landed, tail straight and teeth gleaming. Now strangers were coming into his territory? He knew he should have come back more often or at least marked it better. “You’re not supposed to be here! These stones belong to my family!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:54 pm
She rolled onto the ground on the other side of the rocks and grunted as she stopped. Shaking her head, Mollie stood up and jumped back on the rocks, her chest puffing out before growling. "If it's your families territory, then.." Wait, what was she going to say? Blinking, her green eyes squinted in observing the taller cub. Well, he was a bit taller than a cub, and more muscular.
"..Vu?" She asked, voice squeaking lightly before she let out a laugh. That white hair and pale markings. It couldn't be anyone else. "Vu! You look so different!" The black cub said, pawing at him playfully, poking a foot of his with one of her claws.
Her heart swelled as she saw him, looking tall and proud like he was. "You musta been training a lot! I didn't recognize you!" She didn't look to much different aside from being a bit skinner with more muscle. Mollie had been training while he was away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:38 pm
“Huh? Mollie?” At first Vu looked stunned. Then he grinned and grabbed Mollie by the ear, tugging her playfully. Ear tugging and head butting remained his favorite greetings even as he grew stronger. Fortunately his mother taught him how to keep his strength in check. He pushed Mollie’s shoulder with his paw, testing her sturdiness.
“You look different, too! And your voice sounds almost normal now. I didn’t recognize it.” He circled Mollie like a shark, flicking his tail and inspecting her with a critical eye. He felt glad to see that she kept up her training even though he hadn’t been around for a while. He wanted her to be as committed to becoming a warrior as him. If she didn’t want to be a warrior, Vu felt it would reflect badly on his teaching. He wondered if Ghilt would be proud of him for recruiting another cub as his apprentice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:51 pm
Mollie laughed at the ear tug and then looked at him as he pushed on her shoulder. No, she had gotten excellent balance and sturdiness thanks to the training. When he flicked his tail and circled her, she arched a brow at him and then turned and head butted him. She'd learned a few things in her playing with her siblings. They head butted each other all the time now, and she played rougher than she used too.
"I decided.. talking was better than using body language, especially... since I'm training still." It was obvious Mollie felt proud that she was still training. She'd be as strong as him one day, and just as fearless. That's what she really wanted. "I want to be strong like you. You're the strongest cub I've ever met! So..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:34 pm
Vu grinned and pushed her back, pawing at her. After a moment he remembered himself and stepped back, loudly clearing his throat and trying to look more adult-like. “My dad was a lot stronger when he was my age. I wanted to see you, so we could practice more, but I haven’t been able to get away from my mother’s training. I've got a lot of new things to teach you.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 4:58 pm
When her best friend became more adult like, the black lioness cub watched him with awe in her eyes. She wanted to be like him! Strong and proud like him. Mollie attempted to puff herself out like he was, wanting to seem more adult-like as well, tail flicking this way and that.
He had more things to show her? Well, fun! A huge grin appeared on her face at the mention of that and she moved to put her paws against him to push him a bit. "...I want to explore outside the Pride..." She mentioned after a moment. Her mother was outside the pride. Who knew, maybe they'd run into her! Shifting a little, she'd nuzzle against his cheek with her own, like she did with her brother a few times.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:09 pm
“Stop it,” Vu said firmly, pushing aside her paw. There was no harshness in his voice. Even if he had tried, he couldn’t have sounded angry with Mollie. He looked into her eyes, imitating the way his mother looked at him when she wanted to say something important. “No more of that, okay? From now on you’ve got to act like a real grown up, like me.”
When Mollie mentioned exploring outside of the pride Vu’s ears started to twitch. That bratty girl with the duel colored eyes used to make fun of him for wanting to stay inside the Pridelands. Just thinking of her made his tail bristle. He was pretty sure he’d been outside the lands before, when Fyja showed him the riverbed. He just didn’t realize it at the time. The boarder seemed closer than ever before.
On the other hand, his mother would be angry if she found out he left the lands without her permission. Vu padded around the stones, feeling nervous as he gazed into the north. “Why do you want to go, anyway?” he asked, turning his head to look at Mollie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:18 pm
Even if there was no harshness in his voice, her ears flattened and she looked like she'd been scolded. He'd never told her to stop before. Then again, he was a lot bigger. With a little shrug, she laid down on her stomach near the rocks, noticing how nervous she seemed to be. Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up at all.
"...My momma's somewhere out there. I'm hoping... that....maybe she'd be close by with my sister I haven't met.." she said softly, not wanting to be 'scolded' again. Swallowing carefully, the black cub rolled onto her side and snorted.
"There's this other girl I seen. She said she met someone outside. But she wouldn't tell me who.... Said it was a girl though..." That what led her to believe it was her mother. Because Feana met a female on the boarders of the Pridelands like where her mother would be if she was there. Still with her ears flat, she watched Vu and then gave a soft sniffle. So he was to old to play with her now? Was she to childish for him? I'll really have to try to be better...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:34 pm
“You mean your mother is a rogue? A real rogue lion?” Vu’s eyes widened and a smile slowly came over his face. Wow, real rogue lions! He never imagined they would come this close to the Pridelands.
Mother warned him about speaking to rogues. They were dangerous outsiders, she said. Vu knew better than that. Fyja’s family wasn’t even part of the pride, they just lived on the boarder, but Fyja had always been a good friend and one of Vu’s favorite sparring partners. The way he saw it, living in the rogue lands made a lion strong. What would it be like to live on your own, with no rules to follow and no one to tell you what to do? Even if some rogues were thieves and criminals, Vu was at the age when adventure excited him and he trembled at the thought of meeting real rogue lions.
“If it is your mother she might be looking for you.” That made sense. Vu knew that if he went missing his mother would search for him. “We should go on a quest to find her. I bet she’s still wandering around close to the boarder. Did your friend tell you where the rogue was going?”
Of course, his mother might be mad at him. It wouldn’t be the first time he made her angry. She always got over it eventually, and if they really did find Mollie’s mother that would make up for all the trouble he got into, even if he had to endure a few firm smacks on his bottom. How often would he have the opportunity to go on a real quest?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:42 pm
With a little blink, she sat up and shook herself off before nodding. "Yeah... that's what daddy said. But he said she was a good girl..." Actually, her daddy didn't say much about her mother, but that she was a rouge, and that it was a good thing they met. Blah, mushy parent things.
"The girl didn't say which way the other went... But it wasn't to long ago, and if it was momma, she'll be close." The quest was already planning out in her head. They'd go and wander the whole premises of the pride land, and then wander out a little further, then come back. It'd take a few days, but her daddy wouldn't be mad. She'd just say she was with Vu and his family, playing. Which would be part of the truth.
Puffing herself up, Mollie nodded and looked at him with a 'stern' gaze. "A quest for mommy it is! ...But when should we go?" She asked. It was dark, and she really didn't want to start it off this late at night. Looking up to the stars, her ears flicked this way and that before nodding. "We can camp here tonight, and go out tomorrow morning, when the sun rises?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:58 pm
For all the physical training his mother gave him, she had offered no advice on planning a quest. Maybe she thought Vu was too young for something so serious as a quest. Vu shook his head. “Mother knows I train here sometimes, so this is the first place she’ll look when she figures out I’m not in the den. We should camp out closer to the boarder. I know a good place.”
Vu hopped onto the stones and motioned for Mollie to follow. When they were high enough, Vu pointed to a rocky mound far in the distance, to the north. “I went there once when I was a cub. There’s a hidden den between the rocks that’s just big enough for two cubs to get inside. No one would look for us there.”
He puffed out his chest, feeling proud of himself for remembering this useful piece of information. He hoped he wasn’t too big to fit through the entrance. He turned to Mollie, giving her a critical look. “We can’t tell our parents where we’re going or they won’t let us. You know how grown-ups are. We’re definitely going to get in trouble for this, so if you don’t want to go, say so now. If you still want to come then you can’t tell anyone that we did this together because if your dad found out he probably wouldn’t let you see me again, and the same goes for my mother. We’ll have to pretend we acted alone.”
This was all very exciting to Vu. He had to control his breathing carefully to keep the spaces between his words. He didn’t feel bad about possibly lying to his mother. Real warriors have to break the rules sometimes!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:07 pm
A frown came across her face at the look and the words he gave. She wasn't a cub! Well, she was, but she wasn't a stupid one. Of course she knew better than to tell her dad or anyone where they were going. Though, Mollie would say nothing about it, she started hopping back down off the rocks.
Looking up at him as he hopped down, she waited before she spoke. "You're so smart. I can't remember much," much less information like that. It was specific. "So we can move there for the night, and then start our quest for momma right as the sun rises! .....Do you know how to hunt, Vu? ....I don't.. I'm to little...." And she didn't want to eat bugs every night. Just the thought of doing that made her sick.
"Or.... there's... scavenging.. We could do that..." She'd done that before, or rather, her daddy did. Brought her and her siblings some meat that he'd found before. It tasted funny, but it was food. Sometimes her daddy wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he was sweet when it counted. Shuffling a little as she waited for his answer, her head tilted. "If you do hunt, I could watch you, and learn. Then I could help with the next hunt. As long as it was small enough."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:31 pm
Vu leapt to the ground. “Of course I can!” he proudly declared, starting toward the mound with his eyes on Mollie. “When the sun comes up I’ll catch a big fat hare for both of us. Hunting is no problem.”
He was still learning. Ever since his talk with Ghilt, Vu dedicated a little time to practicing his hunting skills every other day. A big fat hare might be a little out of his league. Hopefully luck would be on his side.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
