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 Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 7:35 pm
 Well this certainly was going to be different here. It was so strange for the yellow lion to be walking on sand rather than solid ground, and on top of that, he kept finding bits of it in his fur.
Regardless of the irritating sand, Taji liked it here. It made him feel like he had a real purpose for once, like he was part of something bigger than himself. He had a job for once; he was to watch the cubs! He liked the idea of getting to play with the kids all day, but there was just one problem... He couldn't find the little guys!
"Helloooooo." He called, looking around. Perhaps he was just having a hard time finding them because there was sand blowing around and distracting him, but Taji was not having much luck locating any of the children. "Anyone around here?" He frowned, and began to head back into the temple. Perhaps they were in here?
Maybe being a nanny wasn't the best job for him after all.
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:17 pm
Cubs were not allowed to leave the temple but Nathifa has made a daring escape, figuring herself to be old enough to wander anyway. She was almost as big as the youngsters who did get to go on their own, at least in her own eyes. She was sure she would be spotted soon enough, lessons were over for the day, someone was bound to do a headcount and realize she was not with her siblings.. so she had to make the most of it.
She wasn't very far from the temple when she realized someone big was headed her way-- and she couldn't help but frown that she'd been so easily thwarted. He looked familiar, he'd been around in classes, hadn't he? That meant he was new.
Trying to look innocent, she wandered her way back nearer to the temple before he could catch right up to her.
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:10 pm
Taji squinted a little bit as he saw something moving near the temple. It was small, and that meant... It was probably one of the children! He hurried over to her as quickly as he could, all the while trying to decide what he should say to her when he got there.
"Um, hey, why are you out here by yourself?" He asked, tilting his head at her, "I don't think you're supposed to be doing that." He tried to remember her name, knowing that he had at one time or another been introduced to everyone, but he couldn't remember very many of them, especially with all the children running around. "But... That's alright I guess, now that I'm here." He offered, "I'll watch you so that you're safe." That was allowed, right? He hoped so. He wasn't the best at remembering what he was allowed to do and what he wasn't.
"Oh yeah, my name is Taji." He smiled, "I'm afraid I don't know yours."
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:18 pm
Nathifa knew better than to rudely pretend she hadn't seen him once he was very obviously heading toward her, she looked at him, still trying to look as innocent as possible as he started to question her.
"I was- uh- looking for someon- for my mama," she said, though she realized very quickly she wasn't good at lying on the fly like that. Not least of all because her mother was a priestess and so more likely not to be far from the temple. Her ears turned back, expecting a scolding.. but he was offering to keep her company. She immediately perked up.
"I'm Nathifa!" she said brightly, looking excited at the idea of staying outside, "You'll stay out here with me, Taji?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:25 pm
"Your mother?" He frowned, trying to concentrate. He really wasn't good at names or faces. "I'm sure we could find her. What does she..." He paused. Suddenly the cub didn't seem so eager to find her mother anymore. He was a bit confused, but at least she looked happy! If there was one thing he hated, it was to see cubs in distress, especially if they cried.
"Nice to meet you, Nathifa." He said with a respectful bow of his head. "Of course, I'll stay with you." He said with a smile, completely oblivious to the fact that the youngster should be in the temple right now. Regardless, she should be fine if he was escorting her, right? "I'm not going to leave you all alone, I'd be a terrible nanny if I were to do that." He chuckled. "As long as we don't break any rules, we can do what ever you like."
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:38 pm
"Ok!" she said, wriggling and hopping a couple steps more away from the temple once again. She had no idea what she was going to do, there wasn't really anything she'd had in mind when she was being sneaky..
"Umm," she paused, squinting out around them thoughtfully, "Could we go to the oasis? Or- or the river! Can we go see the Chione?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:44 pm
Taji laughed. This cub was so cute. "We can go where ever you want I guess, as long as it's not too far away." He was personally voting to head over to the river or maybe the oasis to get the sand out from between his toes anyway, so if she wanted to go there it would save him a trip. Then again, he knew it was futile to try to get the sand out for good. Oh well.
"Just lead the way, Nathifa, and I will follow." He smiled warmly, "It'll be an adventure to where ever you please."
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:26 am
Because Taji was being so pleasant and agreeable, Nathifa felt she had no choice but to take full advantage of the situation. She had an adult with her, she didn't need to sneak around now- she could cut right through the pride lands if she wanted to. And boy, did she want to! That way they could go to the oasis and the river!
"OK, let's go this way!" she said excitedly, skipping the first couple steps and taking off in a run towards the oasis. Once she burned off some of her energy she would slow down to a more reasonable pace.. but in the meantime, it was way too exciting to walk.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:28 pm
"Alright, away we go!" He said with a warm smile as he trotted along behind her, easily keeping up with his long legs. It was so rewarding to see children light up like this... Taji was suddenly very very glad that he had decided to be a nanny.
"So where are we going?" He asked curiously, attempting to take in his surroundings as much as possible and become familiar with the territory. To be completely honest, he had very little idea where anything was just yet and if they got lost, it would be no easy task getting back, but best not to think about that. Nathifa seemed to know her way around well enough... Right?
Well, he hoped so at least.
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Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 1:47 pm
Nathifa slowed down after a couple moments of running and jogged along cheerily by Taji as he tried to take in where they were going. She knew enough to go in the right direction to find the oasis.. and if you kept going from there you would find the river. Easy!
"The oasis is this way, we're going to go past there to get to the river!" she said brightly, looking up at Taji, "Haven't you learned your way around yet?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:30 pm
Taji blushed at her question, "I'm afraid not. I'm not very good at remembering things sometimes." He admitted. He had a terribly difficult time paying attention in classes, as he was so easily distracted, and the times that he was focused he still didn't manage to retain things for long. He made a good effort though, and that was what mattered, right?
"But being a nanny I don't usually have to go far by myself." He said with a smile, "I always have friends with me, like you." He nodded, more to reassure himself than anything. He had always been a bit self-conscious about his short attention span, but it didn't bother him quite so much any more because he was with cubs all the time. Their attention span was usually about the same as his.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:47 pm
"Ooh! Well, I can teach you," she said brightly, though there wasn't really much that she knew about it- not when you were actually out and about, it wasn't so easy to get time to wander around outside like this. There was always something distracting if you had your brothers and sisters around.
"Well, I can show you where all the water is," she corrected herself, smiling up at him, "The river is this way, and I know if you kind of go away from the temple but toward the Chione, you run into the oasis."
Nathifa beamed. Those were the two most important places except for the temple, weren't they? Water was very good!
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:12 pm
Taji couldn't help but laugh a bit at the idea. A cub teaching him his way around the lands? It seemed a bit silly at first, but he had to admit that she probably did know more about it than he did, so he may as well listen if she was going to tell him about where they were. Maybe if he actually saw it with his own eyes rather than just hearing about it it'd stick better?
"That's good to know. Water is important." He smiled. Usually when he needed a drink he would just inconspicuously follow someone else to the water without really paying attention to where he was going. It was probably time for him to start figuring it out for himself. "Away from the temple, toward the Chione..." Taji's brow furrowed in concentration for a moment before he sighed, unable to remember.
"I don't know where the Chione is either." He mumbled, starting to get embarrassed again. He knew where the temple was, and that was about it, since he stayed there most of the time. He felt rather pathetic for not making more of an effort to learn the lands.
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Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:40 pm
"The Chione is this way," she said, hopping emphatically in the direction they were already headed before jogging a small circle and thinking about it.
"When you come out of the temple, it's on your left-" she looked at her paws, making a face, unable to decide if she had her left and right correct, "Well, the opposite side as the mountain. And the mountain's right there, so you walk away from it."
She nodded, smiling up at Taji and continuing along the way.
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