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 Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:32 am
Faraji was so excited, he was like a cub getting a rare treat. He was finally old enough to become a Pad! He'd set out with his brother, but had split up to have better chances of meeting new females. He had no idea what his brother's strategy might be, but he had very little in mind for himself. What could one do in all good conscience than simply ask each girl forthrightly? He certainly wasn't going to bash them over the head and demand they accompany him back! Nor was he of the devious mind to trick them. In fact, that idea never occurred to him. No, simplest and most honest was best.
Before now he hadn't really considered how to choose which lioness to approach either. In his head he'd always just figured on walking up to the first female he met, asking them sincerely to come back to be his mate, and having the girl traipse back to the pride behind him. Tada, easily done! But being out here in the wide world, without another individual in sight, he was beginning to think it might be a bit harder just to find a female. And what if she was already mated? Why, he didn't want to be rude and invite a mated girl to be his mate! This definitely would take some further pondering.
It had been some time since he'd last hunted, and his stomach was breaking into his thoughts and insisting he think about feeding himself rather than on how to best woo a girl. With a resigned sigh, he raised his head and scented the air, eyes scanning the area. Ah, there in the distance was a few soaring figures, likely vultures, circling something. That might make a good place to start looking for food, at least. If nothing was there to eat, he'd just hunt when dusk fell. Good-naturedly he altered his course and headed for what just might be dinner.
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:48 pm
The damned buzzards were after her prey.
Aveil circled below, chasing the vultures off her kill, breaking one's neck (A snack! REVENGE!) and generally defensing her food. Damn, she hated those birds, and a loud roar seemed to scare them airborn again, Aveil snorting and settling to eat a bit more.,
Right before they landed on her back.
"AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!"
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:50 pm
The roar made him perk up a good deal. There was another feline here, at the very least, but what if the vultures were circling it, rather than a prey animal? He sped up to a lope, urgency stirring his blood to roaring torrent in his ears. He topped a rise just in time to see a vulture descend onto the back of a lioness. With a bellow of a roar, much deeper than anything else he'd ever vocalized in his life, he charged down the slope towards the female in distress and the nasty vultures.
He swatted one out of the way with his slightly overlarge paw, showing he hadn't even yet grown into his full size. The one on her back began to take off with labored flapping, but he leapt after it, seizing one of its wings in his mouth. He disregarded the feathers, though they fluttered and poked the inside of his mouth. Instead, he pulled it down to earth again, pinning it with one paw and jerking his head, snapping the wing bone. Leaving that one to flap feebly and futilely, he spun to lunge for a line of them that hopped backwards, then scattered with raucous calls of alarm. He snapped his jaws shut just shy of one's rump, but removed several of the vital tail feathers, which sent the bird careening directly into the ground when it tried to take off.
Panting heavily, he turned back to the lioness to check if she was hurt. "Are you alright miss?" he asked between huffs. Man, he was out of shape!
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:13 pm
Aveil nodded, pinning the one from her back rapidly, and pressed down, snapping it's neck. TWO bird-snacks.
"Thanks. They were trying for my kill. Want some?" She pad over to the gazelle, nosing some his way calmly.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:56 pm
He eyed her sideways, rather floored by her swift switch between roaring and attacked to now casually discussing food. Granted, he was hungry, but to have such a cool, tough exterior as this? He had thought he'd swoop in and rescue her, and have a dramatic scene of reassuring her, or maybe her throwing herself at his feet in gratefulness. But not so. He was left rather tongue-tied and uncertain how to proceed.
The best he could come up with was to try and act as if nothing had happened, as if she were a pridal member who had expected his assistance. It felt odd, but the whole situation seemed odd to him. He nodded acceptance and stpped forward to snag the portion she'd indicated for him, drawing it back a pace or two before settling in to eat.
"Those vultures certainly weren't happy with you," he ventured hesitantly. Either the birds had been starving, or she'd done something to aggravate them. He'd never seen them mob a lioness before, not that aggressively. He was beginning to alter his opinion, both of finding a banu and of this lioness. Things were certainly very odd out here in the wilderness.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 8:07 pm
Aveil smirked sheepishly.
"I called them Carcass Minching Backwarmers." She nobbled herself calmly, then swallowed.
"Though I really don't like them much anyhow."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:06 pm
Well, who did anyway? He eyed the limp bodies of the fallen vultures. Still, it seemed rather foolish to taunt anything with a beak that wicked and a wingspan that large, much less an entire flock of them. His eyes shifted back to the female, considering silently. He had come out here to ask ladies to join him to return to his pride as his mates, but... did that mean he had to approach every female he met? He found himself doubting if he should be so rash in his attempts. He had thought he could love everyone he met. He did in the pride. But here, life was clearly different. Here was a female he wasn't sure he was so keen on loving.
Still, it wouldn't do to be rude either. He could be friendly without seeking romance, right? "Not a bad insult," he commented, taking another bite. "Do you have brothers to learn from?" It was a hazard on his part, but usually it was the boys who made up such descriptions of each other rather than the girls. "I have one brother, but a whole bunch of sisters," he added companionably. "But my sisters couldn't have taken on a flock of vultures by themselves, I don't think." He supposed they could have if they had to... but he doubted they'd want to.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:54 am
"One younger brother, but he left long ago." She chewed thoughtfully. "I'd had to look out for my mom, a sister, and a lioness mother took as her own after a fashion, and I never... fit a proper female mold." She shook her head a bit.
"My father was a jerk who just... Seduced my mother and left her, so, I'm not much around men. In my old pride, women hunted, but there were males. They were nice, but... We just didn't fit in. I'm too... How to put it... Rough around the edges." She smiled, shrugging.
"We've been scenting others, so my mom wants to learn if we're near a pride. I hope it's one she can be happy in. She's much kinder than I am. I'm not sure I'm a good daughter."
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:34 am
The sudden flood of information about her made him blink, stopping mid-chew. He really and truly wasn't sure how to handle this female's personality. She kept catching him unawares out of the blue. He swallowed his bite and sought for what to say to that. Part of it made him wonder if he should be insulted or not, as either she just said she wasn't comfortable around him, or that he wasn't enough of an adult yet to make her uncomfortable. He wasn't sure which was a bad thing, if either.
And then there was the bit about herself. How did one respond to a female being disparaging of herself like that? Particularly if it was true? He shifted his paws uneasily, trying desperately to think of the right thing to say. "I believe," he finally began, quietly but with confidence, "that there is someone for everyone." Entirely true, though he'd never thought about it meaning that some people weren't meant for others too. This female was much too baffling for him to attempt to take as his own. His head would be spinning all the time!
"But yes, there is a pride, about two days travel that direction." He pointed his nose back the way he'd come, over a nearby ridge. "I cannot say if your mother will be happy with it," he hazarded slowly, "but it is my home, and I find it a pleasant place." For the most part, but he didn't want to speak badly of his pride to strangers, even if some of the Pads were indeed unkind to their banu. "I am headed out for a while now, though... so perhaps I shall see you in the pride when I return." He rose to his paws, clearly ready to move on. "I wish you the best," he added sincerely. "I'm sure there is happiness in the world for you."
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:17 pm
Aveil seemed to sense the reactions and smiled gratefully at his words.
"I hope so. I hope you find someone special just for you, too, Faraji." She smiled, and looked.
"I'll take my mother that way. She's less.... Hmm."
"Mother's not as wild as I'm sometimes compared to. Maybe she'd like a place there. Thank you for telling us. I owe you one." She dipped a paw in the blood of the kill, loping on all threes, and gently put it to his shoulder, and smiled, laughing. Something about him felt... Kind.
"You know, that was the closest to a brotherly-sisterly conversation I've ever had. I hope when you return, we can be great friends. And I hope this brings you good luck." She gently pressed the pawprint to him, then stepped back, beaming.
"Take care, Faraji. I'll hopefully see you soon, if my mother doesn't!" And she bowed politely, turning to fetch her mother. They had a journey ahead-- hope!
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