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 Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:04 pm
Amanzi sighed again. She could not get this male off her mind! She didn't know if it was infatuation, or possibly something more. Either way, he was an itch in her mind that she could not scratch no matter what she did to try and relieve that ache. They had just met the other day, and her paw was healing nicely after getting a thorn stuck in the pads, but she hadn't been so very good at changing the bandage as he had. That's why she could have kept him around longer: to change it again for her so she wouldn't have to. Lazy, no. Just trying to be a little smart for once.
She walked carefully, picking her way in between the harder places of the savannah ground and avoiding sharp-looking rocks entirely. The young lioness had no desire to find herself in any more pain that she had to experience. What she really wanted was some water, though. Any kind of water. She just wanted to soak in it and ponder about the world and all its entire happenings. Water did that for Amanzi: she connected with it, loved it, never wanted to be without it. But that was the entire reason she and Taku left the Bahari'mtoto, though. Taku hated water. And for her brother's happiness, they left.
Oh well. Nothing they could really do about it now. Not like she wanted to, anyway. Not with Kunda possibly coming back someday. Soon, hopefully. She could see him again.
Cool shade, a full belly, a watering hole all to himself and dreamy visions dancing behind his eyes. What else does one lion need? Hero stretched his front legs high above his head, squinting at the freckles of light that pierced the canopy of his private thorn tree as he lay on his back, hind legs splayed so wide a giraffe could pass through them, and released a deep yawn without caring who heard. On some days loneliness pierced his heart so deeply that he searched for hours or days until he found companionship of some kind, but having sated himself on food and sleep, companionship was of no concern at this point. He felt no urge to seek out friends, not even a female. Ah, to enjoy oneself so much that he does not even need a female – that is a fine day indeed.
Content in his sloth, Hero flopped onto his side and stared dreamily across the shimmering water. Seeing the light bounce and flicker off the surface roused him with temptation. At first he groaned, rebelling against desire itself. He flicked his tail and looked around. Oh, well….
In the blink of an eye Hero was bounding through the water, his bright mane flapping through the breeze as he splashed and scattered the light, the cool water hitting his pelt and washing away the dust from the hunt. A fish shimmered in the corner of his eye and he leapt at it recklessly. The fish darted from his sight with a twinkle of scales as he hit the water, sending up a cascade of waves as he landed. He shook himself with a wicked grin and suddenly went still. Only his eyes moved across the water. “Where did you go…”
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:34 pm
She heard splashing; there must be water nearby, then. It sounded like..frantic splashing, too. Curious now, Amanzi started walking in the direction of the sounds and came up a small hill to peer down on a pink and yellow male splashing around in a water hole. Puzzled as to why in the world he would be doing such a thing, the female squinted and peered closer into the water, taking another step closer. Ah, there were fish. He must be hunting.
Another splash. Trying to hunt, then.
"Do you need help?" she asked kindly, a hint of teasing in her voice, but she didn't let it overpower her friendly offer. Being a water-lover, she naturally knew how to hunt and how to swim with the water's inhabitants. So, if he would accept her help, then she sure would try at least to catch a fish. And perhaps one for herself, since now she thought about it, food sounded good right now...
He cooed, unaware of being watched, “I’m not going to hurt you, little guy. I just want to play a… a friendly game. Yeah.”
The stranger’s voice snapped his concentration. He blinked, looking like he’d been caught stealing a piece of meat as water dripped from his dangling jaw. This was quite embarrassing. Here he was staring blankly at a pretty young female who probably thought he was totally daft for dashing back and fourth through the water like he was chasing a baby gazelle. “Are you kidding? I’m a natural,” he spat out, almost wincing in hind sight.
Damn. Why did he say that? Well, he supposed it was better than telling the truth, that he was splashing around like a cub because he was bored and it happened to be a lot of fun, not withstanding how ridiculous he looked crashing through the water in mid-flight. The weight of his earlier kill was actually slowing him down. If he realized he was being watched he would have acted more adult-like.
What was I going to do with a fish if I caught one anyway? Throw it back? Who does that? he mused to himself as he feigned knowing what he was doing and scanned the water for more fish. He would just have to live with the consequences of his stupid impulses.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:17 pm
Oh, a natural, huh? Amanzi's smile widened and she raised an eyebrow. "Well, while you're in there, would you mind terrible if you caught me a fish as well? I haven't eaten in the past day or so and am terribly hungry. You wouldn't leave a poor girl starving, would you?" She teased again, in a joking manner. It sounded like he was having a hard time in the first place; no need for her to make it even tougher. Though it was fun. It was just as much fun as making fun of Taku when he tried to hunt. She giggled at the thought.
Her paws slowly led her down the small hill and finally stopped at the edge of the watering hole, where she sat to watch the lion continue his hunt and catch at least one fish. She tilted her head innocently at him and smiled encouragingly. "No pressure. Just know that if you do need help, I'm right here. Though I don't know how much help I'll be; my paw is still healing." She lifted it gently into the air and waved it around as proof, careful not to bee too reckless with it so the bandaging didn't come off. Darn, she really had to get better at that...
Oh well. Just another reason to scout out Kunda again. That wouldn't be bad at all.
“No miss, I would not. Please sit back, relax, and watch the master at work.” He breathed deep, relaxing his nerves as he searched the water. This should be easy. All he needed was to put his mind to his work and the rest would be as easy as falling off a log, probably. Searching… searching… searching…
Fish!
Hero pounced and dunked his head in the water. He rooted around under the murky water for a few seconds as the fish swam away, probably laughing at him with its tiny fish brain. Maybe he could dig up a log or something. At least that way he could joke about hoping she was a vegetarian. Then he could at least show her he had a sense of humor if not a sense for fishing. Now he was starting to run out of air. He surfaced, coughing with a mouth full of mud. When he finally stopped coughing he washed his face off in the water and shook out his mane with a grimace, panting and turning to her. “Don’t be fooled. I’m making this look easy,” he said dryly.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 8:38 pm
The man said to relax, so she did. Amanzi scooted herself down to a reclining position--oh, much more comfortable. She watched intently as the expression on his face changed and he became 'one with the water' and, probably, in hopes of becoming 'one' with the fish that were currently swimming around his feet. The lioness didn't say anything, but her smile twitched and her tail flicked lightly from side to side.
She gave a small, quiet snort-laugh when he missed the fish and got a mouthful of mud from the bottom of the pool instead, but quickly managed to quiet herself and nodded solemnly at his statement. "Of course. I know it's so much more harder than it looks; I applaud you for your skill, good sir."
Amanzi peeked around him to nod towards a corner and side of the pool. "Although if I may offer a suggestion, there's a big fish right next to your paw on that side..." If he was as skilled at catching fish like he said he was, he would know what to do. This was lunch and a show, it seemed.
“Why thank you! I humbly accept your praise.”
When she mentioned the fish he froze, eyes darting to his paw. He could practically feel the fins brushing against his leg. This could be it! If he smacked the fish out of the water he could easily catch it in his mouth before it fell back into the pond. He started to lunge, but the fish sensed his presence too soon and tried to escape, so he dove in face first and caught it by the tail. As he yanked it from the water the fish flung itself around and smacked him on the cheek, slipping out of his teeth and back into the water, a little dizzy but no worse for the ware. He never had a good grip on it in the first place. Hero growled and bounded after the fish as it swam away. Pretty soon he lost all sight of it.
“Damn! Slippery son of a…” He jogged to a stop, looking around in the murky water. That’s it then. When a fish slaps you on the face, that’s when you call it a day. He glanced at the lioness. “So, what’s your name?”
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:26 pm
She couldn't hold in her laughter at that last attempt, and her giggles spilled out to echo around them. The poor lion. He was trying so hard, but those fish were having none of it. Amanzi stood and shook her head. "Seems like the fish didn't feel like being our lunch today. Oh well, better luck next time. Thanks for trying anyway." She figured that wading in with ease, catching a couple of the wiggling things, and hopping back on shore to offer to share her catch wouldn't really help his already-bruised ego, so she didn't do that. She might, though, if both were hungry enough later, but no promises on that.
"Amanzi. Yours?" she asked in return, still smiling. She had rose to a sitting position to make the shore more inviting for him to come sit or stand beside her.
He shook himself off before going to shore, tired of being wet. “Just call me Hero,” he said with finality. He knew it might sound oddly arrogant or silly after all that fruitless splashing around, but his full name, Heroetifu, carried a meaning so embarrassing that he could hardly stand to say it out loud, afraid that someone else would know what it meant.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t catch you a fish,” he said sincerely, sitting beside her. “I saw a hare burrow not too far from here. I can catch one of those once I’m dry, if you like, no fooling this time. I’d be a real loser if I couldn’t even dig up a hare.”
He would have suggested gazelle if he thought he could bring one down easily. Gazelle required a lot of work. First you needed to locate a herd, then you spent an hour sneaking up on them, scoping them out, choosing your target and of course it could all go to waste if you did something stupid like break a twig or even because of bad luck. With his bright mane, hunting down big game wasn’t exactly easy. Besides, the herd had moved on. He wasn’t going to promise her something seriously unless he knew he stood a good chance of succeeding.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 9:53 pm
"Nice to meet you, Hero," she replied politely. It was an odd name, but she'd heard worse, really. Some of the names out there had been the kind that you need like, a double-take on. Otherwise it doesn't really make sense the first time. At least his kind of made sense. "It's fine, I don't need a fish right now anyway," she laughed.
"I can help catch a rabbit. Or something bigger, if we wanted to go for a zebra or something," she added, not knowing that the gazelle herd that had once grazed nearby had apparently already moved on. He would know, though, but she didn't. She had come from the complete opposite direction. Although rabbits could be good. She would wait a little while, though.
Amanzi scooted over for him, not wanting to get dripped on. "So what brings you out hunting fish instead of the rabbit hole you mentioned?"
He glanced at her injured paw a little skeptically. While he didn’t want to doubt her confidence, he knew how dangerous hunting on a wounded paw could be. So much strain could make a minor injury quite serious. He shrugged and confessed, “I’m actually not that hungry. I just woke up from a nap and felt like getting my paws wet. I’ve never fished before. Well, not seriously. I guess it might come in handy though.”
He felt at home having a casual conversation with a female, even though his mentor always tried to teach him that females are only good for one thing, and Hero could just as easily turn around and be a flirt when he desired. There was the chief difference between Hero and Ujiti: Ujiti acted upon every urge, no matter how slight or vile it might be, while Hero became aware of his urges and decided whether or not he would satisfy them. Amanzi was pretty and she made good conversation. He certainly enjoyed being around her, but not in that way.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:07 pm
Amanzi nodded and smiled again. "I see. No problem; always good to do something new and different and try and get better at it." It seemed, to her at least, that practice would not be a bad thing for this lion when it came to fishing. Which wasn't a bad thing, of course: practice did make perfect. After all, it didn't take her only one try to know how to fish. Or hunt, or do anything, really. "I was on my way home when I heard splashing and couldn't help but to come and investigate."
She also thought that he was a good conversationalist. It had been a while since she had met someone that could hold a similar playful banter with, and she had had fun doing so with him. If she had tried with Taku, he would have gotten frustrated and ended up yelling at her and storming off. Kunda was sweet, but she wasn't sure how he would take that kind of playfulness. So it was good for her to get this out of her system now.
Hero nodded in agreement. The way he traveled, hardly a day went by when he wasn’t doing something novel, seeing a new place or making small talk with a stranger, often of a different species. Ujiti always taught him to be wary of other species. In some ways he was right: hyenas and leopards will steal a kill if they have a chance, but then, so might another lion.
“It seems like you know a lot about water,” he commented, glancing at her.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:43 pm
"It's what 'Amanzi' means," she smirked, but not in a conceited, snobby way. "My brother and I are complete opposites: I love the water and he hates it. I cool him down and his temper when he needs the help." She shrugged. "I know a lot about it because it's one of my real passions, for whatever reason." She lifted her paw to inspect her bandage a little. It was wearing down and she didn't want to push it if there was no replacement nearby. She had been planning to look for a little stash of materials to put in her den while her paw healed, but hadn't had the chance to do so after meeting Kunda in the first place.
"What do you know a lot about?"
“I never had a real brother.” Truthfully, she lost his attention half way through. Even though Ujiti never taught him anything about bandages, he quickly worked out the purpose of her wrappings. They must be protecting her wound from the elements. He was trying to figure out what the wrappings were made from when her question snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Oh, um…” He fixed his eyes on the horizon as he gathered his thoughts. “Well, I’ve been more or less on my own since I was a cub. I fight, I hunt for myself, I travel and sometimes I tell stories. I guess you could say, I’m a master at the fine art of living day to day.”
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:34 pm
She snorted lightly. "You're not really missing out on anything then. A lot of lions say otherwise, that they love their brother or sister or plural, and that they love them dearly and blah blah blah..." Amanzi trailed off and rolled her eyes. "But sometimes--most of the time--they're just too much of a pain to be taken seriously. So I don't think you're missing out on much."
She laughed. "That's sure something to be a master of. Good for you."
Hero smiled at her sentiment. “I had two adoptive brothers who were always getting on my nerves. I was glad to be rid of them.”
Almost glad, but that was getting personal. Laughing at their bad qualities was just easier than telling the whole truth about how he felt.
“Thanks, but I don’t know about that. There are some lions who are master tacticians, mater leaders, master warriors, whatever you want. That’s glamorous. When those fellas walk by, other folks stop and stare and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s So-And-So the Great!’ When I walk by, other folks stop and stare and say, ‘Oh my gosh, look at that pink mane! It’s hideous!’” He shrugged. “So, you see, being a master generalist is a lot like being a master nobody. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Who needs all that attention?”
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:51 pm
Amanzi laughed.
"Every lion is a master at something. At least you've found out what yours is, and that's perfectly fine if it's something so simple. Someone has to do it, since everyone else has a more complex mastery to own up to." Besides, there were so many lions out there that it would be hard to find a specific skill for all of them. There was no doubt more than just her as a 'master of water,' she knew. The whole Bahari pride probably had most of them, since they were so close to the ocean.
"I like your pink mane," she retorted with a grin. "It's unique, in a good way."
“Why thank you. My mother – my adoptive mother – tried to convince me it was from my grandfather’s side of the family. I actually bought it, too.” He grinned, showing he felt no animosity toward his adoptive parents.
“Where do you come from?”
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:43 pm
Oh, that was good. She was glad that his parents had been kind enough to adopt him. Too many times had she seen a cub wandering alone in the rogue lands since she and Taku had left the Bahari pride. It made her so sad to see them, but she couldn't give them any better a life than what they already had. She was not experienced enough in taking care of someone younger and dependent than she (Taku didn't count, really).
"I was born in the Pridelands," Amanzi answered. "We left when Mother decided that she wanted to pursue a male who was living or was going to live in an ocean pride. Yourself?"
The word ocean confused him from the start, but he answered anyway. “I don’t remember where I was born, but I spent most of my cubhood on a rocky outcropping. I remember my mother telling me about the Pridelands. From the top of the outcropping, we could actually see Pride Rock rising over the horizon. It was really beautiful. I’ve never heard of an ocean pride before, let alone an ocean. What’s that?”
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 10:21 pm
She blinked at him. He didn't know what an ocean was? "Oh, it's the most wonderful thing," she gushed happily. "Imagine a water hole, but so much bigger. Ten times the size of this water hole. A hundred times the size of this one! And it's salty, so it's not good to drink. But it's huge and there are some spots where it's warmer than others, or cooler. There are a bunch of different kind of fish swimming around, and the water itself goes out for miles and miles towards the horizon. There are shells that wash up on shore, and this weird plant called seaweed. A bunch of different things just happen to wash up on shore there, waiting for you to find it. There are huge waves, too, especially during a storm. And you have to be careful when swimming because the really strong ones can pull you under in a second flat."
As beautiful as the ocean was, it had its own dangers, just like anything else in the world.
Hero focused on the watering hole and tried to expand it in his mind’s eye. Inevitably, he found himself imaging the great watering holes near the Pridelands where he and his adoptive brothers would splash in the shallows. Then he tried to imagine it full of salt. He remembered finding a salt deposit during his travels and how thirsty it made him. The water must be thick with salt for it to be so terrible to drink. “But what’s the point of it? How can anything live there when the water is undrinkable?”
During the dry season animals traveled for miles to quench their thirst. Hero experienced the great thirst every year. He had to wonder about a pride living around such a body of water and about the god that would create such a useless place, especially given the value of drinking water.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:45 pm
"I really don't know. Maybe it's because the water is so close the sand, and the sand has salt in it. And when the waves roll up on the sand, it takes the salt along with it. Or perhaps the God of water or oceans was sad and cried so much that they created the ocean, because tears are salty, too." Amanzi shrugged helplessly. Honestly, it was a good question. She just had no idea of the answer. Who could say why the world was the way it was? That was a question to ask the gods, not other mortals (though some knew the answer).
She thought a little bit more about it. "Then again, maybe it's to keep us lions out of the water. We're made to live on land, not in the ocean."
“Like there’s something out there that mortals aren’t supposed to see?” He thought for a moment. “Or maybe it’s a little of both. But you’re right, we’re probably not meant to know.”
As he thought he also came to the conclusion that a god who could make an ocean could probably make animals that live there too, and that god would make sure those animals liked the salty water, even though many other animals would die in such conditions. So perhaps the ocean was made because of one god’s loneliness.
“Is there anything on the other side of the ocean?” He assumed the ocean was like a lake and could be walked around.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:14 pm
She nodded. "Right." Sure, she guessed. That could be it. The young lioness hadn't really taken the time to think too deeply about that aspect of her favorite thing in the whole wide world, but now that they were talking about it, she didn't see any reason to not speculate the true meaning of the ocean.
"I'm...not sure. But I would imagine so, because if the waves keep coming in and up and then going back out and down from the shore, they have to have someplace else to go. Someplace else to bounce off, if you will. Otherwise the waves would just keep going and going, and never stop, and then there'd be no more ocean at the shore."
That would make an ocean much like a salt-water lake, except the probable difference would be the sheer size.
“I’ve never seen waves on a lake before unless something is splashing in the water. How big are they? The waves I mean.”
He started to imagine that there must be some enormous monster in the center of the ocean that splashes around and makes the waves. Perhaps it was the ocean god himself. The more he thought about it the more in awe he became of the strange lake Amanzi called the ocean and the more he longed to go there and see it for himself. He also wondered what the pride there was like. He couldn’t help but imagine they looked impressive.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:45 pm
"Sometimes they're really, really big!" Amanzi explained, reaching up as far as she could with one paw in the air while still standing/balancing on her other three legs. "Even taller than this, and taller than two of you put on top of each other! Those are scary waves; I they're called monsoons or something. But usually, on just a regular day, they're not so big. They're safe enough to play and swim in."
Then she tilted her head to one side and had a serious look on her face. "The only dangerous thing with that is what's called the undertow. It's a wave beneath the other waves, right in the water itself. If you get caught in it, it can swirl you out into the middle of the water, far away from shelter. And you can easily get hurt," she warned.
When Amanzi stood on her hind legs Hero gasped, “You’re kidding!” But he believed her, in a way. He could hardly wrap his mind around waves that large. Her story was so unbelievable that it had to be true, because no sane lion would try to pass it off as anything but fantasy. This could only mean that there was some sort of god or monster in the middle of the ocean, thrashing in rage and sending terrible waves to the shore.
As Amanzi warned of the undertow, Hero’s jaw hung from its hinges. She had mentioned the undertow earlier. Perhaps the undertow was the monster he suspected dragging victims out to see so that it could feed. Hero felt a chill run down his spine and fell silent for a short time. He didn’t want to mention his ideas to Amanzi. She seemed to like the ocean a lot and he didn’t want to frighten her or sound like a fool, since she clearly knew the ocean better than he. Although the ocean still intrigued him, he was no longer sure if he wanted to go.
There was no reason to go into the water, of course. Meeting the pride there would be enough for him. On the other hand, why go at all if only to keep his paws on dry land? That would be pointless. Despite the danger, if he ever did make it to the ocean he would have to at least wade in a little, otherwise, there would be no story to tell when he came back.
He blinked and chuckled, breaking the awkward silence. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to say. It’s all so incredible.”
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