Nuru
Kimya'mwimbaji


Since she and Nuru had come to the Mwako'bi'giza, little Kimya'mwimbaji had grown from a frightened young cub into an adventurous young juvenile.  The crimson eyed cub was currently wondering about outside the den that they shared with their mother and father, stalking the trail of a bird, one of the manyt things she found the most fascinating.  She wasn't too fond of staying close to the Mlisha, since it was fun to play around outside....and not have to listen when she had something she wanted to see.

While Nuru was the louder of the two cubs by default, it didn't really make him very social. Instead, the lion cub was isolated, giving his trust and time to precious few individuals. Even now that he had grown older and could no longer be considered such a small cub - though still far from grown up, by any means - he remained wary of others, preferring to spend his time around Kimya and his adopted parents, his bright blue eyes ever alert for a possible threat to those he cared about. Rarely did he drop his 'guard', and when that happened it was almost entirely around Kimya alone. Today he... well he wasn't stalking his sister, really - he was just keeping an eye out for her! ... Though he really didn't know if she knew he was there or not.

Of course she knew.  Kimya had scented her brother a few pawsteps back, and her eyes sparkled.  Was this a game?  She liked this idea!  Purring low, she kept following the bird.... before letting out a coo and running of for the tree line.  She wanted to see if Nuru could follow her, and keep up.  Was this tag?

Oh, now she was just teasing him. Nuru growled just a little, low and under his breath as he stalked after his leopard sister, trying to keep her in sight while he kept out of sight. Really, how was he supposed to protect her if she ran away from him? So very not fair!

The cub hid behind a thick tree, digging her claws into the bark, watching for him.  As soon as he got close enough, she'd tackle him and they could play the wrestle game!  The girl adored these fun times~

Gah, why did Kimya have to hide? Now he was going to have to find her before someone hurt her! Where could she have gone, where? Nuru sniffed carefully at the air around him, wanting to find Kimya quickly so that she would be safe - unknowingly heading closer to her hiding place while he was at it.

Peeking out, the little red-eyed cub pounced on him, and giggled, "Brother~"  She cooed, nipping his ear lovingly.  "Nuru~"  Licking at his ear, after nipping it again, pressing her paws on his shoulders.  This really was a fun game!

"Ah! Kimyaaaa!" Nuru yelped, falling over dramatically as his sister pounced on him. "I was worried about you," he complained mildly, a pout briefly flickering across his features before he returned the lick, rolling his eyes at Kimya's playfulness.

She purred happily, and her tail flicked back and forth, "Follow game~  Fun!" The cub sang, giggling again as she lay beside him, "Fun~"  Licking his ear again, she nuzzled him, purring and sighing happily.  She loved the games that Nuru came up with!

Follow game? That wasn't exactly what he had been doing, but... Sister was so happy about it, he just couldn't tell her otherwise! "You thought it was fun, Sister?" He asked instead, getting to his paws and stretching out.

She nodded, getting to her paws as well, and padding over to a tree, pressing her paws against the bark, letting her claws rub against it, Fun~"  Kimya didn't understand that it HADN'T been a game, that it had been Nuru protecting her.

Nuru sighed and shook his head. Kimya was so... Kimya. But she was happy, and he liked it when Sister was happy, even if she was being silly and not realizing that he was protecting her like a good big brother should! Shaking his head, the lion cub batted idly at a pebble before looking back at his sister. "What were you doing, Sister?"

She smiled brightly and pointed her paw up at a nest in the tree.  It was a gorgeous little thing, with a large white bird in it. "That~"  She loved following birds when she got a chance.

Birds again - why was he not surprised. "Following it?" He asked curiously, before tiptoeing over to pounce at her from behind. His sister needed to be prepared for everything, just in case he wasn't there to protect her!

She purred and nodded.  When he tried to pounce on her, the cub dropped to her stomach and rolled aside, looking at him from between her paws, lying on her back.  Grinning, she cooed, "I win~"

"I let you win," Nuru said, sticking his tongue out at Kimya, leaning over to bite and tug gently at her ear. "I could win if I wanted to, Sister!" He declared, letting go of the leopard cub's ear to puff himself up and generally try to look more impressive and intimidating. "You know I could!"

She huffed and moved over to him, nipping his ear, and gently whapping him on the nose with her tail, purring.  "Kimya wins~"  She enjoyed teasing Nuru when he was being all 'boyish' and acting like the big man.  She knew he was her protecter, and the cub was fine with that, but there were times when she liked protecting herself!  She was getting big, after all.  Kimmy turned her eyes back up to the tree, gazing longingly at the birds, a sigh drawing itself from the cub's chest.

"Teah yeah, whatever," Nuru said, pouting just a little. He didn't like it when Kimya beat him, but it made her happy so it was probably okay in the end. He backed off a bit as his Sister turned to look up at the tree, and, frowning a bit, nuzzled her. "What's the matter, Sister?"

She glanced at him with longing red eyes, then back up at the bird as it took off.  Raising onto her hind paws, she stretched, then moved back down, ".....Bird~"  Kimya crooned, leaning against him, purring softly, "Bird fly~"

"Oh," Nuru said quietly, frowning because there really wasn't anything he could do about that - and as a big brother he was supposed to fix everything for her and make her happy! Thinking for a moment, he sighed thoughtfully and whacked her lightly with a paw. "You don't need to follow the birds around, Sister! You're prettier'n they are, and with a better voice too!" He wasn't exaggerating, either, though maybe he was a bit biased. The lion cub was absolutely certain that his sister had the prettiest voice in existence.

The cub flushed under her fur, and looked down, purring softly, "Brother~" Her voice was loving, and she moved beside him, rubbing her nose against his flank. He always seemed to know how to make her feel better. Kimya really did love her brother. He was her constant companion.

Nuru nuzzled his sister and batted at one of her paws gently. "What? It's true! You have the best voice ever, Sister!" He paused for a moment to lick her ear, then added, "And I'm your big brother so when I say somethin's true, it's true!" Then, in a typical moment of cub-like attention loss, he decided to pounce on his sister's tail to get her playing again.

Giggling as he tackled her tail, the little juvenile turned and nipped at his ear, ready to play again.  They were cubs, after all, and cubs were born to play until they had to grow up, right?

Nuru laughed and pounced at Kimya's tail again. "Better run, Sister! I'm gonna get your tail if you don't~!"

Giggling, the cub took off, eagerly.  Time to play!

Word Count: 1333