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 Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 2:47 pm
 Sar sighed as he stared out into the pride's lands that would be considered too far for his promise to still hold. He just had to make that stupid promise to that old lion didn't he? Sar didn't know what possessed him to want to obey the old lion or to even make such a foolish promise, but he did. And now he was stuck not going very far from the den and his parents at all. Well what he considered very far anyway. His mom, dad, older siblings and even Simi would have thought of it as too far. Still not far enough for any new experiments or learning or even little adventures.
His brothers wouldn't take him out hunting yet because he was still a cub. Dad wouldn't take him out to scout because it was still too dangerous. Mom had all of his littermates to tend to so they couldn't go back to the pride rock as often as Sar's need to learn would have liked. His littermates were off play fighting or hunting and crunching on bugs, which he thought was entirely too gross to parttake in.
So instead here he sat on the edge of not very far, staring out into too far wondering what learnings were happening right this moment that he couldn't learn because he'd made a promise. A spit in your paw promise. To his uncle SImi. Who looked kind of like he did. But bigger. And older. And kind of scarred. But it had been important to Uncle Simi so Sar was obeying that promise.
Sar looked down at the ground and started to write out The edge of too far in the ground.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:06 pm
Tala probably should have made some sort of promise not to go too far. Perhaps she even had! But the red cub gave no indication of this as she ran along, seemingly carefree. She was quite sure she wasn't too far from her family den, and besides, it's not like she didn't have protection! Really, who would mess with a cub that had a pet snake?
Tezcacoatl wasn't even a small snake, either. He was about as long as her mother was tall, and according to him, still growing! And even though he had no legs, he apparently was perfectly capable of keeping up with her. It wouldn't be like that when she was older, but for now she could run alongside him.
Since Tala had legs, and still a young cub, she was also more likely to trip and fall. And she did just that, not very far from where Sar was. "Arr!" She squeaked in surprise as her legs managed to get tangled up and she stumbled to the floor, while the brown snake stopped his high-speed slithering and coiled up beside her.
"Very elegant. Really."
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:29 pm
Sar saw the red cub running beside a brown snake. Instead of hunting it and examining it. He watched curiously as she kept up with the slithering snake and then tripped over her own feet. She was in the too far zone that Sar wasn't allowed to enter because of his promise, but he stood up and stretched onto the tips of his paws to look at her.
"Are you okay?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:33 pm
Tala drowsily rolled to her feet, shooting Tezcacoatl a glare for his sarcasm. He could be a little too snarky sometimes, and perhaps some of it might begin to rub off on her. Or, worse, maybe it would irritate and upset her parents, and hey wouldn't let her hang out with him anymore!
She was just about to reprimand her reptilian friend when she heard a voice, and perked her ears, searching for the source. Oh! Another cub! "Yeah!" She confirmed, at least she thought she was okay. She didn't quite understand why he was... standing that way. The red cub tilted her head, while Tezcacoatl simply remained put. "What're you doing?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:19 pm
Sar settled back down onto his paws and stood naturally. "Keeping a promise." He told her a little grudgingly. Not a fun or knowledgeable promise, but one he'd made on the moment. That would teach him to be so spontaneous. "I'm glad you're okay. What are you doing? And with a snake at that too! That's pretty awesome. Is it true they shed their skin and have forked tongues. I've never really gotten up close with a snake. Dad and Mom don't really like us leaving the den to go looking for other animals that aren't bugs."
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:33 am
Deciding it did no good to just shout at each other from a distance, Tala got back to her paws and trotted over, Tezcacoatl, once again, easily keeping pace by her side. A promise? What kind of promise would this cub have made that caused him to stand funny?
But by the time she got close he had already begun to talk about the snake. "I was just running." She had been trying to see if she could outrun Tezcacoatl, and found she actually couldn't. She'd be able to soon, though. "This is Tezcacoatl!" Tala was quite used to his strange name by now, and had no troubles pronouncing it. The snake in question didn't usually talk to others besides her, though, so he just, once again, coiled up at her side.
"Yeah, he has a forked tongue. He hasn't shed his skin since I met him." She glanced down at the snake, because this wasn't exactly something she had ever asked. "Oh! My parents don't really let me play with them either. Snakes, I mean. Because they can be very venomous, like Tezcacoatl, and that's dangerous." They actually let her play with lizards, though. Lizards weren't often venomous, as far as she knew.
"But he's special because I saved him. So he won't bite me or anything."
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:05 pm
"What were you running from? A hyena?" Sar went on the tips of his paws again to try and see as far as he could behind the cub. He couldn't see anything so he lowered himself back down. At the introduction to the snake, Sar felt confused. But manners won out. "Hello, Tezacoatl." What did you say in greeting to a snake?
"If you were running from a hyena, wouldn't Tezacoatl have poisoned them for you? Especially if he is venomous and dangerous? Having a snake must be a good idea." Sar thought that no hyena would dare attack a friend of a snake's. "How did you safe him? Oh! I'm Sar by the way. And my den is very near here." Just to remind himself why he couldn't go into the too far area.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:18 pm
"A hyena?" She frowned, wondering where he got that from. "No, I was just running." It might seem like a dumb thing to do, but Tala could find a perfectly rational reason for it. Running felt good, she enjoyed it. Ergo, it was a good thing to do. When the other cub greeted the snake, she almost corrected his pronunciation, but then decided if Tezcacoatl really cared, he'd correct it himself.
"...Hello, lion cub." Tala thought her snake friend could be very weird. Sometimes he was perfectly nice and talkative to her, but still didn't seem too fond of talking to other lions.
But she nodded. "Yes, if a hyena were chasing me, he would bite it. And it would probably die."
Tezcacoatl interrupted there. "It would certainly die." he hissed. He was a rather proud snake, and apparently did not want her to belittle his venomous capabilities. But he was probably right, she didn't doubt he was as dangerous as he said.
"My name is Tala! Nice to meet you. And my den isn't very near, either. But I guess it's not that far." She didn't know why the other cub had found this important to mention, but maybe he was...doing research, or something. She vaguely noted this male was somewhat older than her, judging by his size. He looked about as old as Kito.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:40 am
Sar blushed and looked away from Tala. He looked at her snake instead as he admitted something that he knew some of the other cubs had made fun of him for. "I promised my Uncle Simi not to go very far from my den without my mom or dad or older siblings. Enough though I want to go visit some of the older lions that like to give stories of history or of their lives."
Sar tilted his head and thought for a moment. "I wonder how many cubs are in the pride and just haw far on average do they travel from their center point, their den. Then I could take in their age and calculate just how far too far is. Hmmmm."
"I'm sorry, Tala. I got distracted." Sar blushed apologizing as he shook himself out of his thinking world. "I guess you'll be wanting to go back to your running soon. Don't let me keep you." Sar blushed again and muttered looking down at the ground. More blushing. He hadn't blushed this much in ... in ever. Maybe he could distract himself with the calculations and other experiments or something. Maybe he could finally draw that hunting plan to scale just to see if it was really understandable.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:09 am
Hmm, it did seem like this cub was stuck. Once you made a promise, it was sacred! Tala was glad she had never made an all encompassing promise that she wouldn't stray far every day. She went with the case-by-case method, much better for her exploring needs. But she was responsible enough!
She admitted, inwardly, that she didn't quite understand the next thing Simi said, aside from the fact that he wanted to find out how many cubs there were in the pride, and how old they were. "If it helps, I have five brothers and sisters." Tala supplied, hoping to at least be a little helpful. "And we live that way." She turned her head and indicated the direction of their den with a paw.
"And I met another cub near here once, her name was Kito." The red cub didn't really know Sar and Kito were siblings, despite them looking somewhat similar. Lots of pridelanders looked similar, so it was best to just not assume. But now, come to think of it, outside of her family and Kito she hadn't really met anyone besides Sar, so she couldn't really help with that little research much.
When Sar suggested she might want to go back to running, the cub shrugged. "It's okay, I don't mind! Talking to people is usually more fun." Besides, Tezcacoatl might be tired. Even though he could keep up with her, he did tire more easily. "Unless I'm bothering you!" Maybe the other cub had just trying to get her to go away, and be polite about it.
Perhaps on a second thought, or just in case his answer was yes, and he'd feel awkward saying it, Tala went on. "But maybe I should go back to my den and make sure my parents don't think anything happened. If you want I can come back later, though! Maybe your parents will let you go farther if you have company, like me and Tezcacoatl!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:25 am
Sar tilted his head and started to smile. He did promise to be good, and he usually did all his exploring alone so having a friend or two while pushing the too far area further back would be good. Not only would he and Tala be together, but then Tezcacoatl would also be there and he'd bite and poison any rogue hyenas Uncle Simi, Dad or Mom could be worried able.
"You're a genius, Tala!" Sar shouted excitedly as he pounce-cuddled her for a great mind. "Too far is a totally different boundary when you're with someone! And its even further off when your with a third person that happens to be a venomous snake that can bite any rogue hyenas that mean to do us harm!"
Then Sar realized what he was doing, blushing - again - he took a step back and cleared his throat. "That is if your parents will let you come back and play. They might not let you."
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:51 am
She was a little surprised, but not unpleasantly so. After all, as far as Tala knew this was perfectly normal behavior, so she just laughed a bit. Tezcacoatl shifted a few inches away, just in case the two rolled on top of him, because he wouldn't like that much. "I'm glad I could help!" She said cheerfully, because she liked feeling useful. Yes, Tezcacoatl could definitely protect them! And a silly part of her brain liked to think she could be tough if she needed to be.
Tala sat back up when Sar stepped back, and offered him a smile. "I'm sure they'll let me!" Maybe they'd take convincing, but she didn't see why they would be against her doing some exploring with a friend! It's not like they would be running over to the borders or anything. "I'll be back when I can." She nodded as she stood up, not worrying much about whether or not she would find Sar, because she guessed that he'd be here because of his promise.
"Bye Sar! C'mon, Tezcacoatl." She gave the snake an unnecessary nudge, that he didn't seem to midn much, then turned and hurried off towards home.
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