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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:10 pm
It was one of those average days again. Taku was being a jerk, Amanzi didn't feel like hearing it anymore. So, once again, she had left. Maybe it was because they were spending so much time together that he didn't seem so..happy, or calm, or peaceful around her anymore.
Well, then again, that was usually her job anyway.
She sighed, walking slowly and calmly through the savannah grasses. It was a beautiful day outside, not one to be spent under a rock somewhere growling and grumbling about life and its unfairness and whatever else Taku was probably doing. It figures that he would do it, though. The grouch.
"Ouch!" she yelped suddenly, picking up her paw to examine what had made such a hurt. A stray thorn was stuck in between her toes, digging painfully in more whenever she wiggled them. Amanzi hissed and half-shut her eyes: that thing was pointy!
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:27 pm
 Ekundayo was stalking prey to make his afternoon meal: a small herd of gazelle grazing gently beside a watering hole. He was crouched down in the tall grass, his belly pinned to the ground and his rear end raised slightly, with his long tail flickering anxiously at his paws. His muscles tensed as he picked out his victim: one of the older gazelle nearest him, one that had an obvious limp as it moved slowly here and there to nibble and drink.
Kunda prepared himself, mentally and physically, to spring. He had been waiting for hours, patiently watching the gazelle scampering here and there until they'd settled by the water's edge. Now he had to wait even longer for the right moment to pounce...
Ouch!
Just as he saw his opportunity and began to leap into the air, a cry rang out and frightened the gazelle away, too far for Kunda to be bothered with now. With a small sigh, he turned, scanning the horizon for the source of the voice. Judging from the yelp, it sounded like someone was hurt. That being the case, before he headed toward the voice, he shuffled over to the lake and gathered a few long kelp leaves which were great for bandaging, carrying them in his mouth.
Again he turned and this time he headed in the direction of the -- female, judging from the softness of the voice -- wounded creature.
He very soon came upon a brown lioness with lovely green markings painted across her back and face. Already he was intrigued by her appearance, but more important right now was her condition.
"Are you alright?" he mumbled through the kelp in his teeth. "If you're hurt, I can help you." He offered a sincere smile, awkward-looking as it was.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:14 pm
Amanzi sat down on the ground to better inspect her paw. The ugly thorn was brown, and dead. It must have fallen off its branch or been broken off by some animal. Either way, it had been left standing with its point towards the sky, which had led her to step on it unknowingly.
Her eyes were in the process of examining the wound more thoroughly when another voice, male, entered her surroundings. Her ears flicked up and her gaze met the gentle, friendly one of a handsome red lion with an interesting pattern on his tail. She blushed, but smiled back thankfully. It took her a moment to understand what, exactly, he was saying, but once she understood, her smile widened.
"I'm fine, I've just managed to get a thorn stuck in my paw," Amanzi explained almost pitifully. That had never happened before, getting a thorn or another small, pointy object stuck somewhere on her body. It hurt so much; and when something bad happened to her that hurt? It didn't spell good news. She either got really angry, or really helpless.
Or sometimes even both.
"This has never happened to me, so I'm afraid I don't know any way to go about removing it. Do you?" she asked almost pleadingly, hoping that he knew more about healing and plants than she did.
She knew basically...nothing. Nope. Not one thing. Well, she knew what plants to eat and what plants not to eat, of course. That was just common sense (and, sometimes, learned from experience). But it looked like he did know at least a thing or two about wounds, according to those leaves in his mouth.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:35 pm
Kunda smiled at the female, approaching her. She seemed kindly and warm, which was a refreshing change from the snooty lions who simply used him and left when they no longer need him for whatever reason. He hated being walked on like that but he was a trusting lion. He couldn't help being concerned and wanting to help anyone he could. It was in his nature, and one of his most dangerous flaws.
He set down the kelp and moved closer to the brown-furred female, sitting beside her and taking the wounded paw into his to inspect.
"I can remove it for you. I'll make it as quick as possible to minimize the pain," he added with a gentle smile. Bending his neck down, he took the thorn into his teeth and clamped down on it, pulling it swiftly out of her paw in one smooth move. He spat out the thorn and brushed it away, so that hopefully neither of them would step on it (again!). He then returned his attention to her paw, still in his. He gently lapped at the cut, trying to stop the bleeding, then took a piece of kelp and carefully wrapped it around her paw using his paws and jaws. It took several minutes for him to finish the 'medical procedure' but her paw was now bandaged.
"If this is too tight, I'll loosen it for you."
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:48 pm
She didn't even have enough time to ask him to wait a moment so she could prepare herself for the sudden yank of a thorn coming out of her paw. He did things so swiftly that she didn't even have time to think Oh, no, here comes the pain!. She didn't even have time to yelp out in pain--or fake pain, since attention from a sweet male was always good.
He was good at this.
She took a moment to blink, though, and her blush deepened when he gently licked her paw clean of blood. Though she knew not to be silly (and even told herself this) about a male she just met. After his tongue retreated and the kelp tied onto her paw, Amanzi finally had the moment to take another moment, blink, and smile. Oh, and think.
"Thank you," was all she could say at first. The entire act knocked her quite speechless.
"You did that so fast; I had no idea. It was actually, probably, a good idea to do it so fast. I didn't even have time to cry out," she joked with a chuckle.
She rotated her paw, inspecting the well-done bandaging job. The lioness wouldn't be testing her weight on this paw for a while. She was worried about ruining the bandage as much as she was worried about her wound. Still smiling, she moved her eyes back to flicker at his. His eyes were kind.
"Where did you learn so many things about healing?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:00 pm
"If you find the bandage gets dirty, it won't be hard to change. I'll do it as often as you need to. Or... well, I don't suppose you'd want me sticking around for that, so... I could teach you, if you want. I mean..." He sighed and decided it would be better to stop talking than to dig his hole even deeper.
"Oh, you're welcome. I don't mind. I can't help not helping others." He grinned at her sweetly. "Where'd I learn to do it? No one's really asked that before." He laughed absentmindedly. "My mother was a healer of sorts. I think she used to be in a pride and used her knowledge in the medicinal arts to help others. She taught me not only about the techniques and plants to use, but also to help anyone I found in need." His tail flickered gently behind him.
"By the way, my name is Ekundayo. Feel free to shorten it to whatever you like; I realize it's rather long." He never stopped smiling at the pretty feline before him. Not that he could stop right now. He was feeling much too pleased with himself because of her reaction, and the excitement of making a new friend was sending wonderful shivers down his spine. This lioness seemed so sweet and well-mannered. Granted, he was afraid of scaring her away, but even if she decided he was too strange a character to spend her time with, he'd still stay close by as she wandered around to make sure her paw healed alright.
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:28 pm
Her smile widened again and she giggled at his little rambling. She knew the feeling, too, though: talking too much when you really shouldn't. It was a bad habit.
But it was..endearing, coming from him. Oh, listen to her. She mentally shook her head and told herself to get those thoughts out from above the clouds. Goodness.
"Well, I suppose you should teach me how to change the bandage, anyway," Amanzi said at first, glancing back down to her paw again before setting it on the ground gently to rest. "But I suppose it won't hurt to have you do it the right way a couple of times. If you don't mind, of course," she added. After all, she wouldn't want to be taught how to change her own bandage, try it out herself, and do it wrong, now would she? That wouldn't do. She had better watch him carefully the first few times he did it again.
"That's really interesting. My mother never taught me anything like that," she joked. Azi hadn't really been the.. teaching kind, really. What all she knew she either had come across by herself or Taku had helped her out. "I'm Amanzi. It's nice to meet you...Eku? Kunda? Kun?" she guessed, trying to make a good nickname for him that sounded halfway decent. He had been the one to offer for a shortened version anyway, so it was his fault if she came up with something ridiculous.
Besides, if they turned out to become good friends, she could always find a good, short nickname for him that he absolutely hated and use it whenever she wanted to. That seemed like a fun idea. And she couldn't see why she wouldn't become friends with him: he was sweet, handsome, helpful, and caring. Why wouldn't she want to not be his friend?
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:17 pm
Kunday smiled. "Right. Um. Well, I can undo the bandage now and show you how to do it yourself, or if you'd prefer... I can keep you company for a while and when it needs to be changed, I'll walk you through it then?" he offered.
The male nodded his large head as Amanzi spoke, listening intently before responding again. "Well, some things I had to learn on my own. My father was never around -- he was a warrior of sorts -- and my mother was too busy to teach me things like hunting." He shrugged offhandedly.
"Amanzi... that's a pretty name. It's an honour to formally make your aquaintance," he added with a little chuckle. "As to my own name... anything but Eku? It sounds a bit silly to me, to be honest." Not that he would mind too much if she decided to call him such a rediculous name. She really didn't seem like the type he'd ever find himself upset at for any reason. Naturally, he was finding himself increasingly attracted to the lovely young lioness, but tried not to show it, as difficult as this task was turning out to be. He hardly knew the female. What would she think? Besides, he respected all females too much to do anything rude or brash. He'd simply wait patiently and hope that they developed a relationship, platonic or otherwise.
"So then, where were you headed before you ended up with a thorn in your paw?" He was gently teasing her with his remark but hoped it was also clear that he was genuinely interested in her destination.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:09 pm
"That sounds like a good idea. You just made the bandage; I wouldn't want you to undo it when it doesn't need it," Amanzi reasoned. Wasted effort and all. She'd make sure that she would remember to ask him to show her, though, if they got distracted and neither didn't recall the need to take the bandage off and make a new one. If it wasn't very important now, it was bound to be later in life. Who knew? Maybe she could help someone else in pain, like he was helping her.
"My father wasn't around either!" she exclaimed, then sheepishly smiled in apology for her outburst. Well, not that it was a good thing. But it was something in common? They could relate to each other a bit better, now. Good things tended to come out of bad, after all.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Kunda," she answered, grinning. Eku it was, then, for teasing. Good.
"I was actually just wandering around, nothing special. My brother was being annoying so I left him." It was the truth, after all. Plus she hadn't wanted to get a thorn stuck in her paw. It had hurt. But it had caused her to meet Kunda, so not all things were bad after all.
"What about you? What were you doing before you came to rescue me from that evil thorn?" Amanzi teased back. He must have heard her cry out, or else smelled the small amount of blood that the p***k had made.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 5:55 pm
Kunda laughed at her outburst, but smiled as he did, hoping to show her that he was simply amused and not trying to make fun of her or be rude. He listened intently as she spoke and his gaze softened as his sky-blue eyes fell on hers. She was such a pretty lioness, and he loved to hear her voice. It was kindly and refreshing... He flicked his tail in thought but continued to pay attention to her.
It was nice to have something in common with Amanzi. Perhaps not the happiest thing but something was better than nothing.
"I was hunting, actually. Your yelp frightened away the gazelle. But I came because I was worried," he added, hoping she didn't think he'd only come because he had no meal to chase because of her.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:11 pm
Amanzi did feel a bit silly after her sudden, almost-random outburst. But at least he understood. He listened to her with such an interested expression on his face; she couldn't help but want to talk to him more. Kunda seemed to be the type that would always listen to her problems, like a really good friend, and offer his help in any way. It just made him more endearing to her, and in a good way.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized quickly, a bit sheepish once again. He was so nice, but at the same time, so intimidating! She felt like anything she did wrong would give him the wrong impression of her and he wouldn't want to talk to her anymore.
"I..I could catch something for you? Or help you catch a gazelle again. I really am sorry; I had no idea. Usually I pay attention to where I'm going, but I guess I wasn't, this time. It's a beautiful day and I guess I was off in another world..." Amanzi was rambling a bit, and once she realized this, she stopped as quickly as she could. As much as she thought he liked to listen, she was sure that he didn't like to listen to incoherent jibberish. That was another bad thing. When she got nervous, sometimes, it was like you couldn't shut her up. That never happened with Taku, of course. And hardly ever with strangers.
But she guessed that something about Kunda struck her as...something different. Special. So her desire to be 'cool' and to stay interesting to him was important. She didn't want to batch anything up that could possibly happen.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:19 pm
Kunday chuckled as she rambled a little. It was cute. He wanted more than anything to tell her that he loved to listen to her voice, to listen to her speak about anything, even about the silliest and most unimportant things. They were important to him even if no one else considered them such. But he couldn't say that. How weird would it be to tell something so personal and intimate to a stranger? Very weird. At least, he felt like Amanzi would find it weird. So he bit his tongue and hoped she wouldn't stop herself from talking too often.
"Well, normally I wouldn't bother someone with the difficult task of hunting, but I am very hungry... and it's always easier to hunt with help." He smiled. His mother taught him that. "So if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you'd like to come hunting with me?" His long tail swished behind him with excitement. He'd love to see her in action. He imagined she was as strong and impressive when hunting as she was adorable.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:35 pm
She beamed at him. Good! A possible way to redeem herself in his eyes. If there was one thing she loved to do, and did well, it was hunting. Her mother had taught her the basics when she and her siblings were younger. But it was really advantageous to have a brother she could blackmail to be her 'prey' so she could practice even more. She couldn't wait to tell him that all those days hunting paid off after she showed off a little in front of a handsome male.
Oh, wait. Taku wouldn't like that part. At all. She giggled silently to herself.
"I'd love to help. Although I might be a bit slower, but I'll keep up just fine. What are you looking to hunt?" He did mention before that he had been hunting a gazelle before he came to her rescue...and a rabbit would be too small to feed him, unless she managed to catch about ten rabbits. Perhaps a zebra, if they could find one? Another herd of gazelles? They would have to sniff around and see what they found.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 11:31 am
Kunday smiled at her, watching her pretty face light up as her expression changed. He pondered her question, and replied, "Well, I have no real preference, but something large like a zebra or gazelle would be nice. I am rather hungry." He chuckled. "But if necessary I can eat a discarded carcass. I'm not picky."
He flicked his tail idly as he watched her, taking a moment to think himself. "I'll keep beside you as best as I can. If something looks too difficult or dangerous for you, don't be afraid to let me know. I'm more concerned about your welfare than my meal, and I don't want to see you hurt again." He smiled gently, but scolded himself internally. He hoped he didn't sound like he was trying to be her father. He just worried about her, as he did for all creatures within his care.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:00 am
Hmm..well, now that he mentioned it, a gazelle or a zebra did sound pretty appetizing. Amanzi glanced up and around the savannah, hoping to see or smell something that was large enough to mostly satisfy her new friend and one that she could snack on a little.
"I'm sure there's something around here, but I don't know where yet. Shall we go take a look?" she asked with a smile, nodding her head towards the open field nearby.
"Oh, no, I'll be fine, I promise. But if I do need your help with something, I won't hesitate to ask it," she promised, having no intention whatsoever of possibly slowing him down at all. It was sweet that he was being so concerned; Amanzi found that she liked it a lot. Taku was concerned, but never this much. The young lioness wondered what else was different between them...would it not be interesting to have them meet? The thought made her giggle, but she stood and tried to rest some weight on her injured paw, just to check and see if she could really keep up with him.
It didn't hurt so much, so she put a bit more on it and waited. Nothing really. Only a small shooting of pain when she put more weight on one side than the other, so Amanzi figured she'd run very carefully on this paw. She didn't want to make the injury any worse.
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