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 Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 12:18 pm
"Do I have to?"
That was Junko's reaction when her Aunt arrived at her families den with her younger cousin Anju, suggesting that the two should get to know each other better. The comment had earned her a quick paw swipe to the head by her own mother, firmly answering her question without saying a word: Yes Jun, and your going to like it.
Usually Anju wasn't allowed to go out, but with the protection of her older, and much tougher cousin, Junko had the honor of becoming her babysitter for the day. The lioness turned around to look at the cub behind her. She was timid and acted so oblivious to everything around her, like she was living in a normal peaceful pride. Junko's mother had mentioned that was her Aunts doing; apparently she wanted to keep Anju in the dark about the Shatkona and the Ligi being "bad guys". It seemed backwards to the young lioness, but her aunt kept insisting that it would keep her safe.
Whatever, it wasn't any of her business what she did with her own cub. And it shouldn't of been any of her business to have the little tag-a-long attached to her hip for the entire day either.
"Jun" Anju chirped, trying to break the silence between them. "Do you want to maybe play a game?"
"Like what?" There was a skepticism in her voice.
"Like... a race!"
The older cub could only roll her eyes at the suggestion. She was far too mature for such child's play. However, she thought that if she treated it like a hunting exercise that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Fine fine, but remember when I win you asked for it."
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:48 pm
"Okay so I'll give you to the count of three to get a head start. I win if I can catch you."
"But Jun, that's not how you rac-"
"One..."
"Jun I meant we would both run and then when we go to like that tree over there turn around."
"Two..."
Anju's ears folded back as she watched her cousin began to mouth the next and last number. She made an about face dashed away as quickly as she could. This game wasn't at all what she had in mind, and her speed was fuelled by the terrifying thought of being squished under one of Jun's pounces.
"Three." Junko smirked and began the chase. She could see Anju trying to dart between trees and bushes as a cover, but her bright blue target of a tail swaying wildly behind her would make this a short race if Junko wanted it to be. She held back however, slowing down her pace just enough that it gave her younger cousin a false sense of security.
Anju's small limbs could only carry her so far, but looking back of a split second revealed that she had a chance to get away. The cub pushed herself to get just out of eye reach of Junko, and darted into a bush.
It worked. She watched silently as Junko ran right past her what she believed was full speed, and once she was out of sight gasped trying to catch her breath. "That was close" she thought to herself before collapsing into the cool dirt and curling up.
Junko was kind of scary. Why would her Mom want them to become friends? Well this was it, she didn't want to get to know her anymore and her Mom would just have to understand that. Her thoughts quickly turned to trying to figure out what to do next. The cub carefully peered in a break in the bush, realizing she had no idea where she was at. She could have called out for Junko, but not knowing how dangerous it was to go off on her own at such a young age, Anju figured it would be easier to try and find her way home by herself than risking Jun lunging on to her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:09 am
Junko still running decided it was time to finish this game and began to chase at full speed. The confident look on her face as she was making ground quickly dissapered once she realized there was no way Anju had gotten so far ahead of her.
Sudden she stopped in her tracks and shuffled around in a circle, her eyes darting in every direction. "Anju? Okay the game's over now. Come on out." She yelled, hoping her voice would carry to wherever her cousin had gone to. When there was no response, she began running back in the direction she had been running.
"Anju where are you? Anju!" This was really bad, thoughts of what could have happened to her raced through her mind. If she was still okay, Junko knew she had to work quickly.
After searching for what seemed like a long time, the panicked cub was beginning to weigh her options. Going back home and getting her Mom would help would help the search go by much quicker. She was going to be in a lot of trouble if she went back without Anju, but as much as she hadn't wanted her around today Junko would never forgive herself if something happened to her. She would have to risk the punishment.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 4:32 pm
"That bush looks familiar." Going off by her self would be easier said than done as Anju found out.
She had never actually gone anywhere alone, and thus after several attempts at making progress found herself in the exact same spot she had started.
Maybe it would be a good idea to look for Junko. But the cub worried that perhaps that ship had already pasted. She was running at full speed away from the safety of their dens, and while the idea of staying put and waiting for her to come back crossed her mind, there was way to know she wouldn't go another way to get home.
"Jun." Looking very defeated, the small Atmaja lioness was beginning to regret not just playing along with her cousin. What if Junko didn't come back? What if she ran so far she got lost herself?
The cub let out a gasp as she heard something quickly approaching her. Leaping into the bush once more, Anju watched closely to see if whoever was near was another lion or something coming to eat her.
Oh yes, her Mom had warned her about being by herself. She spoke of large animals who at the sight of a lion cub would lick their chops at eat her with one bite. There was no way for the young Anju to know that such predators wouldn't waste their time lurking the scarce lands of Ashnai'le, and she held her breath fully expecting a great beast to appear from the bushes.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:07 pm
What appeared was no other than her cousin Junko, who seemed visibly distressed.
"She came back" Anju whispered to herself, and realized that perhaps her cousin hadn't been as bad as she originally thought. A warm feeling filled the cubs heart as she saw Jun calling out for her. And however sweet the moment was, Anju simply couldn't let this golden opportunity for revange go to waste.
"Gurrrrrrr"
Anju tried her best to release the lowest and most intimidating growl she could muster. While it might of been more difficult to fool a grown lion, her cousin was still just young enough to fall for her trick.
"Anju?" Junko quickly turned around at the sounds of the growling. She tried her best to see if she could see anything in the bushes, but it made for perfect hiding grounds. It was obvious whatever had made that noise could sure she her though.
"I'm just looking for my cousin." Junkos voice was shaking with fright, and wrapped her tail around her back legs and crouched as low as she could. She realized how much of a dangerous situation she was in, and that anything could be lurking in the shadows.
Junko came to the haunting realization that this was around the last place that she had seen Anju before she ran ahead of her. The young lionesses imagination began to race. The thought that perhaps this monster had eaten her cousin surfaced, and the low rumbling of the creature signaled that it was still hungry.
"Grrrrrrrraw!" another loud roar came from the bushes.
"No! Please don't eat me!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:33 pm
"I don't want to die!" Junko's cries of mercy were music to Anju's ears, though she decided to end her cousins suffering with a well placed pounce. Crouched down and bum in the air, she sprang out of the bush and landed right on top of Junko.
"What the?" Was all Jun could say before rolling onto her back and laughing. She was far too impressed to be too angry at the cub.
Anju's tail whipped around with a pleased look on her face. "I win." She said simply before helping Junko to her paws.
"It was a good pounce, I'll give you that." The stubborn Atmaja juve wasn't about to admit defeat, but she would give her cousin the props she deserved. To say it was a good pounce for a pint sized cub was an understatement. Junko was suddenly convinced that her cousin Anju would grow up to be a great hunter- and Junko was rarely wrong about these sorts of things.
"Oh Jun, I thought I was lost forever. I'm so sorry I hid from you." Anju lowered her eyes to the ground as she apologized. The two nuzzled each other as a peace offering of sorts, and Junko lead the way to take them back to the dens.
"Say a word about this to Mom or Auntie and your dead." Jun casually added.
(Word Count: 1621)
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