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 Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 5:39 pm
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Tanzania was having a hard time getting that blasted female out of his mind. It wasn't even his sister this time! The blue lion had always been obsessed with keeping his sister safe, ever since they were orphaned by the earthquake. Now that they were adults, and had been for a bit, well....it was hard to always be around her. She wanted her own space, and he respected that. Instead of moping about it, he had thrown himself into training, coming out of it being a decent guard. Going up in the ranks always seemed like a good idea. He'd be the perfect protector for his sister.
But now....that white and brown female was just invading his thoughts, and it actually pissed him off.
"Now, now," Umbika chirped, understanding her bonded very well at this point. "You've really got to learn how to hide your emotions. Its clearly written all over your face that you're jealous."
"Jealous?! Of who?!"
Umbika did her best not to laugh. "Of whoever is trying to court your sister, of course!"
Ugh, females. That's all they thought about, Tanz gloomily thought to himself. He skulked around the central valley for the pride, moving from one guard post to another for no reason other than he wanted to keep himself busy. |
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:00 pm
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Alula had some free time so she was out exploring with the help of Kisukuku. She had been here for quite some time now but she hadn't been exploring nearly as much as she would have liked- or so she had recently decided. She'd done well fitting in, she was an adequate huntress and enjoyed helping out.. but she hadn't done much more than learn the well-worn paths about the pride.
It didn't help that Kuku seemed put off by exploring and seeing the full extent of the changes caused by the earthquake. So she was going slowly, every once in a while checking that the cranky old vulture was still above her. She was headed down a steep path into the central valley, another reason she was going slow.
"I should be better at this by now," she muttered to herself, stepping carefully down, watching her feet. Sometimes she thought she had too many feet to keep track of.
Kuku wasn't sure what Alula was really up to, wandering around like she was. He knew she was keen on exploring more but part of her plan was having him lead her around and he didn't like reviewing his personal attachments to various areas. Of course, if anybody was going to get it out of him, it would be her.
"Careful," he said, swooping down to stay closer as she got nearer the valley floor.
"I got this, Kuku, calm down!"
She looked up to give him a smile and suddenly she caught sight of a familiar blue lion heading away from her. She hadn't seen him in a while and, honestly, he was as close as she had to a friend around here so she immediately brightened up. Maybe he would have some suggestions of where to go.
"Tanz!" she called, scrambling a couple short steps before sliding the rest of the way to solid ground, luckily not falling on her face, "Tanzania!"
Kuku shook his head when she suddenly called out to eh nearby blue lion, not someone he was just noticing, and stuck by her as she slid down the rest of the path. Then he decidedly landed on her back so she could carry him around if they were suddenly changing tasks. |
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:13 pm
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Umbika was having some fun swooping around Tanzania, acting like a little annoying sparrow defending its nest. Tanzania was getting frustrated at his bonded, though the African fish eagle was just trying to mess around with him. He had such a complex about his sister, only wanted the best for her. Nothing would be good enough for her, not unless she told him straight to his face that it was. Ethiopia was too sweet to do that unless she really got upset at her brother. Umbika had yet to see that.
Tanz's ear twitched, hearing it come from a feminine voice, but not his sister's. Curious, he turned around to see the white and brown lion running towards him. He shook his head for a moment, certain it was part of one of those silly day dreams he kept catching himself it. He had been getting comfortable in his life, and it was hard to not think about settling down, no matter how much he resisted his own idea.
"Er, hey." He said, turning his body around to see her. He knew her name (how could he forget?) but it almost felt awkward to say it. Like it would validate all that s**t that had gone through his mind in the more recent months.
"Alula, Kisukuku," Umbika said, a certain charm ringing through her voice as she swooped down to land on the ground next to Tanz. It would be easier to see the two of them from here. Tanz' mane was too damn thick to see through.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:21 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:29 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:39 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:46 pm
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"Yeah, well...its not like we're in any danger," he said with a shrug. "Though I was too little to understand, lots of the older folk are still on edge at times when strangers come into the valley. I like to rotate where I am, so I'm never caught off guard in a post that I'm not comfortable with." It made sense to him, and since there wasn't as much structure as anyone liked, he was allowed to do it.
Umbika shook her head. "He just doesn't know what to do when his sister is busy, that's all." She wasn't really paying attention to Tanz, so when he stepped on her tail and she felt the tug, she screamed at him with her eagle voice and snapped at him. It made him lift his paw up, and she scampered away towards the female lion.
Tanz scowled at her a bit, but tried to not laugh. "Stop making it look like that. I just want to keep her safe, that's all." Hmph. He stuck out his lower jaw in a bit of a sulk. W as to embarrass him in front of the female he liked!
Wait...what? s**t, man.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:54 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:05 pm
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Umbika wasn't too thrilled with Tanz's actions. What the hellw as that for? She sourly glared at the blue male while hovering near Alula (and Kisukuku, to a point). She wasn't ready to get too close to her bonded, especially not on the ground.
"Oh, well. We were orphaned as cubs, so I've always been sort of in charge of her." It was more like, he felt that since he was the male, he had to be in charge. Always acting tough, making sure she ate and slept well. "It gave me a purpose, at least until we tumbled our way into the valley. The pride members here were very willing to raise us, so this has always been my home to me. It's just hard, adjusting to her not needing me all the time."
And that was more history he had told anyone before. What...how was she doing this? Ugh, whatever, he thought to himself.
Umbika already knew the story, since he had her eye on him for quite a while before he hit adolescence and the proper bonding acknowledgement took place, but it was interesting to hear him say it to someone...anyone.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:16 pm
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It was very hard to keep her 'awwwww' to herself as he told his story. Once she had grown up, she hadn't stayed very close to any of her family- obviously, since she had wound up here on her own. Still, she could appreciate family and if she was in that situation she probably would have been much closer to her siblings.
"I think that's normal," she offered carefully, smiling at him, "At least she has you when she does need you, right?"
Kisukuku looked over with interest when Tanzania told his story, intrigued by his origins. It explained why he wasn't especially familiar looking. He didn't think too much on it, though, and he glanced up to where Umbika was and then around them again.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:26 pm
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"Yeah. I just hope...no, I know she'll remember that." His tail twitched a bit as he thought about it. There were many males around...and it bothered him. She was his sister! He honestly didn't want to share her, but there was nothing he could do about it. He would just hope to the sky above that he liked whatever male she may decide to love.
"It just leaves me a little...lost." He didn't really mean to open up to her like this, but it was really easy to talk to her, almost as easily as to Ethi.
"Er, well, anyway, she's a silver and white lioness. Ethiopia is her name. She's extremely friendly, I'm sure if you crossed paths with her you'll know instantly."
Umbika was a little surprised, but pleased. She never dreamed that Tanz would ever see anyone besides his 'little' sister, but clearly this lioness was just what he needed, and he was opening up to her. Upon further inspecting his body language, it was obvious that he knew what was happening, and he couldn't help himself.
Hehehe...the fish eagle was very pleased. She glanced over at Kisukuku and tried to wink at him, see if he had any idea.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:33 am
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Her smile softened a bit as he doubted himself, even after he corrected his statement it was apparent he was worried about it in some measure. It was in his admission of feeling lost, too. She nodded as he described his sister, imagining a silver, cheery version of him when he finished.
"I'll keep my eyes open," she said, stepping closer, "I bet you could use a distraction, if you don't have to go to the guard post why don't you come exploring with me?"
She was smiling even though she knew exploring wouldn't be as interesting to him as it would to her since he grew up here but it was worth an attempted invitation.
Kuku's eyes went back to Umbika when he realized she was smiling a little too much- and then suddenly she winked and the only immediate reaction he had was to raise an eyebrow. Then he glanced back at the lions, apparently attempting to be more critical of the situation. The eagle had to see something more remarkable than he did because he wasn't so familiar with Tanzania, though the first impression he got of him was less chatty than this, and Alula was behaving pretty normally.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:14 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:26 pm
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She seemed oblivious to his shock, smiling on until he agreed to join her. He would be far more fun to wander about with than Kuku, though it seemed the vulture had a similar attitude as Tanz. Follow along and intervene when something became apparently dangerous.
"No no no no no," she said, shaking her head, "I can get Kuku to keep an eye out for danger, I can't get him to explore with me."
She took another step closer, beaming.
"If I have to lead, you have to take over if we're near anywhere you know is interesting."
The more Kuku watched the pair of them, the more he began to feel like he was intruding and the more aware he became of the situation- it probably helped that Umbika didn't hide her acknowledgement of and amusement from it.
It didn't change his demeanor or his plan for the day, however.
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 2:34 pm
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