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 Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:00 am
Saagar'Tarang
Sipho
Sata was watching a small herd of klipspringers, silently counting their numbers in his head. It was something he did regularly to ensure that the pride’s hunting wasn’t taking too hard a toll on the prey levels and, thankfully, from what he could see it seemed the Iknimaya were still living in perfect balance with their environment. Sata narrowed his eyes contently when a gentle breeze weaved through the trees, circled the small clearing and finally reached him, ruffling his mane.
“Ewya be praised.” He whispered softly like a prayer though not quite.
-----
Sipho was tired. He had been flying for many hours without stopping on his GREAT adventure and quite frankly, the young had enough of flying around, dodging predators and struggling to find shelter. He’d been happy in the pirate pride, having fun with lions and watching beautiful sunrises at the beach. And now, he was feeling rather miserable, wondering if perhaps he shouldn’t go back home, find a nice lion or leopard and settle down. That is, until he saw the jungle! It was so cool and shadowy, beautiful, awe-inspiring and even a little daunting. The blue bird flew in circles and finally settled down at the edge of a clearing, taking deep breaths.
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Sata had just decided to leave when a tired-looking bird landed in a branch right next to his head. Normally, he wouldn’t be surprised but it was unusual for strange creatures to suddenly approach the grown lion so he had to wonder if the blue bird had noticed him. If not, he was probably going to be scared out of his mind when he finally noticed the blue lion.
“Hello, little Brother.” He said pleasantly, as softly as he could, doing his best not to look threatening. He couldn’t help but to admire the bird’s colors, its vivid green eyes and red beak. It was a beautiful little bird.
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Sipho nearly fell off the branch when he heard the deep voice and hopped from the branch even before he realized there was a BIG LION STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM. How could he have been so distracted? Ever since he’d left the pirates, Sipho had realized that many felines – lions included – wouldn’t really mind hunting and eating a little bird like himself. He watched the bird warily from a higher branch without saying a word. The big cat was blue with some shiny markings so Sipho couldn’t help but to think of Azure, the playful pirate. Maybe, this one was alright, too.
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Sata tried not to laugh as the little bird fluttered away from his reach, obviously only noticing the lion after Sata had spoken.
“I mean you no harm, little Brother. Are you alright?” he asked the blue bird with a hint of a smile, happy that the feathered creature didn’t leave altogether. He hoped the little bird was curious enough to stay and talk. At the very least, he appeared to be used to being around lions otherwise the bird would’ve fled after being scared. He assumed. “Do you live here?”
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Sipho hopped to a lower branch without saying a word, visibly curious about the soft-spoken lion. Clearly the blue lion wasn’t much of a threat if he could stare a bunch prey beasts and not jump in and hunt them, the bird figured. He shook his head at the large feline’s last question before hopping closer to Sata’s big fluffy paws. He was fully prepared to fly away at the faintest hint of danger but he didn’t think he’d have to. Sata looked harmless enough… for a lion, you know.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:42 pm
Sata smiled as the little bird kept watching him with those inquisitive bright green eyes. There was obvious intelligence behind that gaze and yet the little think still refused to say a word. Honestly, Sata expected him to do the same as many other birds did and take a sudden leave before he could say something to stop him. But as the silence stretched and the little bird remained firmly in place, the lion couldn’t help but wonder about his next reactions.
“You know you shouldn’t get so close to a strange lion. The lions here should be fine but outside the jungle, they’re pretty dangerous.”
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Sipho smiled from his spot, still watching the lion with keen eyes. Yup, this one would do. With a flutter of wings, Sipho flew up and landed on the lion’s head and gave him a rough peck on one of the feline’s ears before letting out an exuberantly playful chirp.
“So the lions here are nice, huh?” he finally spoke up and let out a light chuckle, pulling a few stray hairs from the lion’s mane with his talons.
“I think I’ll stay here for a while.” He said almost petulantly, enjoying the familiarity of nesting in a lion’s mane. He was quite happy with this strange little place he’d found, dark and wet, with lions that reminded him of the friendly pirates.
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Sata was surprised with the little bird’s spunk but mostly just pleased by his decision. It was clear the bird was used to being around big cats – or a little touched in the head though Sata would rather not think such things about his potential companion. Besides, he couldn’t really tell if the bird was saying he would stay in the jungle or with the blue lion. It would be no challenge to guess which one Sata was hoping for.
“Do as you wish, little Brother. You are most welcome.”
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“Again with that Brother thing. Why do you call me that?” The blue bird asked curious without showing just how pleased he was with the direction of the conversation. As far as he could tell, he’d just found a beautiful and safe place to live with a funny lion to “torment”. “My name is Sipho.”
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“It’s nice to meet you, Sipho. I’m Saagar’Tarang but most just call me Sata.” The lion said with a happy grin, looking up without actually being able to see the bright green eyes of the bird in his mane. “It’s just the ways of my people. I call you Brother because we consider all creatures in the jungle our brothers and sisters even those we must hunt to eat. We never kill needlessly and we always show respect to the balance between all living beings that live here.” Sata could tell the bird was interested in staying but not how he felt about following the lion around. “You can stay with me if you want. I can tell you all about my pride and no one will hurt you here.”
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Sipho was quiet for a few moments, apparently considering his options – even though he’d already made his decision from the very beginning.
“Alright, I’ll stay.” The blue bird finally said as he leaned forward to make eye contact with the lion. He didn’t further explain what his answer meant – that is, if he was talking about the jungle or Sata specifically.
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“When I finish work, I’ll take to the home tree. You’ll like it.” Sata was beside himself with happiness and hope. Was this the companion he had been waiting for? Finally! “In the meantime, I’ll tell you more about my pride and the ways of my people, Sipho.” And as the bird let out a happy chirp, Sata climbed to one of the trees and started to move through the branches.
- FIN -
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