[PRP] Prove It [Pepo, So, & Shwari] (fin)

[Kaelyndra]

The little rough-and-tumble maned wolf was going to get herself in trouble. A lot of it.

She assumed, and was usually right, that the Pridelands were completely and utterly safe. They were a docile, happy pride that welcomed others with open arms. As such, she had no issue sticking her nose in everyone's business and making a complete and atrocious mess of blood history. Pups and cubs were wont to do this, however.

Pepo had spotted the two lions in her region of the pride early. She had a good nose! And she also knew that she wasn't used to seeing them. Whether they kept to their own side of the pride, or simply were new was irrelevant to her small, puppy mind.

Scrambling atop a rough, wobbly rock, Pepo began shouting at the top of her lungs. "Intruder!" It would probably help if she didn't direct the shout so much towards them, instead of towards the rest of the pride. Then, she saw the other. "Intruders!"  

[Hopefolly]

So and Shwari were two bros in a pod. It was a special brohood when a guy could get as close to you as your own twin even though you looked nothing alike and weren't actually related. They'd been together since cubhood, gambling with rocks and playing pranks. Since adolescence, that time when you either got to be the coolest or most awkward of your entire life (cough). And now, as adults, they returned to the Pridelands together in agreement it was time to take a breather.

Females had been met -- and met, eheheh. The world had been seen.

It was crazy out there!

"You're nuts," So said, "zebra are way better."

"I'm telling you, they're stringy," Shwari disputed.

"Intruder! ...Intruders!"

"Oh Gods above!" So wailed and span around, expecting to see a band of savages in hot pursuit of them. There was grass. And air. And not much else.

More skeptical, Shwari reacted in a less embarrassing way. He did cast a glance over his shoulder. That was that. "I think it's talking about us."

"Us?" So had a second look at the... thing. What was that? A hyena?

"I think it's a maned wolf," Shwari replied. They had long since gotten over the creepiness of reading the others mind. "Whatever it is, we better shut it up."

"She's just a kid, Shwari." So nodded his head toward the screeching pup and then started her way. When he reached her he said, "Hey there, kid. We're not intruders. Settle down, okay?"
 

[Kaelyndra]

The pup slammed one paw down, agitated with their complete lack of taking her seriously. Or, so it seemed at first with their looking around.

They were awful intruders. And they were talking about shutting her up.

That certainly wouldn't do, and -- they were headed towards her. Panic, panic. Pepo turned a complete circle on her rock. What if they really were intruders? Nah, no way. No way! Repeating it in her head helped. Some.

It didn't stop her from her next move. "You can't take us all!"

Then, she leapt off her wobbly rock, her small body falling quickly on a path towards So's face.  

[Hopefolly]

Out of the two of them, Shwari had always been the one with more dignity. So brought it on himself some of the time, but honestly? The guy just had the worst luck. Every time something attacked them, big or small, it went after him first.

This time proved to be no exception. There Shwari sat, watching his friend run around shouting with a pup clinging to his face. "Get it off!" So squawked. He didn't want to shake his attacker away himself and risk his eyes going with her! "Shwari, get it off!"

This close, Shwari was certain he was right. A maned wolf pup. Odd. He didn't remember seeing any of those in the Pridelands last time --

"SHWARI!"

--Oh, right.

"Stay still, you dumbass." Shwari grabbed the pup by the scruff of the neck and pried her off his bro's face.  

[Kaelyndra]

On second thought, maybe they made pretty good invaders after all. So certainly put up enough of a reaction. And while Pepo certainly wasn't going to be doing any permanent damage (well, probably not), sharp puppy teeth did have the tendency to be rather uncomfortable.

All the more disappointed was she when there was a mouth on her scruff. Pepo made one kick with a hind foot as her body was removed from a face, and then she went limp.

Not dead, or unconscious, just not moving. Pepo's eyes were still up and very aware, despite her dangling feet. "When my mama gets ahold of you," she fake-threatened them. By the grin on her face, it was clear she didn't feel threatened at all.

"You're a bunch of spies is what you are."  

[Hopefolly]

Shwari rolled his eyes and muttered something. With a mouth full of pup fur, it was anyone's guess what. Unless you were So, then you had a good chance of translating the muffled noise accurately.

However, the lion in question was preoccupied. "I am not a spy and you should be lucky my mom didn't see that!"

Shwari stared at him. Really?

"We're not spies," So repeated, more adult about it the second time. All mature and superior sounding. Like a guy who didn't need to play the my-mom-can-beat-up-your-mom card.

"And you could seriously hurt someone going for the eyes like that," Shwari added -- which meant he had dropped the pup in order to do so. "Even if it is hilarious."  

[Kaelyndra]

"I'll--" Pepo began, ready to take So's challenge and get into a verbal spit. Instead, she was struggling to keep on her feet as she was dropped to the ground.

The pup had righted herself soon enough, and looked up at what had recently been her captor.

"If he was an an intruder, it would have been a really good idea!" Pepo piped at him in her defense. The pup flopped down onto her rump and went for an itch that was starting up behind her ear.

"Where are you going? I don't know you." So, what they were up to was automatically her business.  

[Hopefolly]

So's reaction to having his face almost clawed off (which is how he would tell this story later) did not speak to his real character. Most of the time, when his eyes were safe, he was great with kids. He could relate to them and, welp, still acted like them a lot of the time.

Being back home reminded him of his own youth more than anything else would have. It was not far from here he and Shwari had kept their rock pile. And just beyond that was where he'd met his first crush. Ah, memories everywhere!

"We're heading to the Pridelands. So, here."

"If that's alright with you," said Shwari sarcastically. "They should keep a better eye on you young ones."

"Come on, Shwari..." So nudged him gently, shoulder-to-shoulder. "We played out here alone all the time as cubs."

"Times have changed," Shwari grumbled.

"Not here." So breathed in the fresh air! "The Pridelands are the same as ever."  

[Kaelyndra]

So, they'd been here before! From the sound of it, when they were her age. That was a lot easier to imagine than adults always claimed it to be. Pepo just shrunk them down, made them a bit more fun, and presto: cub versions.

Feeling that they were going to start moving, she scrambled onto her feet. Despite their very long lion legs, she was sure that she could keep up with the two boys.

"We had a war recently!" she piped in, hoping to be important again. They were busy talking about all these memories, and she wasn't a part of any of them!  

[Hopefolly]

Pepo had been correct. The two males had continued on their way, caught up in their conversation with each other and what was quickly becoming a debate about how susceptible to change the Pridelands were. Since they had outgrown their many games -- more so Shwari than his companion -- they vented their competitiveness toward each other through discussion of adult issues.

"We had a war recently!"

Both of them stopped. Shwari snorted. "Same as ever, huh?"

So turned to look down at the pup, concerned. All kids lied sometimes, but not about something like this. "A war? With who?"  

[Kaelyndra]

Pepo jogged along pleasantly, not at all perturbed that it took much more effort for her to reach the same pace. It was excellent training. She needed to stay fit and healthy!

"The hyenas," she told them, as though it were really not the worst thing in the world.

And to her, it wasn't. The war with the hyenas was before her birth, but it was still recent enough that the adults were uneasy. There was definitely distrust towards the species, especially those that were known to be from the Mava'Bunda.

To Pepo, working off of whispered secrets, it was an important source of information she wanted to explore, but that no one would really explain to her. The Pridelands was not a commonly warring state. It's members weren't in a rush to be jumping headlong into anymore conflicts. And if she knew the truth, Pepo wouldn't be, either.  

[Hopefolly]

After Pepo's answer, there was another kind of conversation being had between the two. They stared at each other; So frowning, Shwari scowling. Things that were not said both of them heard loud and clear. Memories So was much less interested in resurfacing hit him like a tidal wave.

They remembered a certain lioness and her army of hyenas. Wretched bastards, every single one of them.

"Now you know to stay away from them," Shwari said. It sounded cold, but he was just giving voice to the silver lining. A cub or pup that feared those mutts was wiser for it.

So, not as keen on encouraging the little ones to be scared, contradicted his friend. "You shouldn't worry too much. No one will best the Pridelands."  

[Kaelyndra]

Now she knew to stay away from them. It was important advice to have. Despite her play fights, the first thing Pepo would do if she ever saw a hyena would be to run the other direction. Find an adult. Adults could take care of things she couldn't, whether she liked to admit that or not.

"Of course not!" Pepo agreed with So. "My mama and pa would beat them up!"

There they went with the mother-contests again. Pepo wasn't positive her parents would be fighting hyenas, but she knew they wouldn't be doing nothing.

"Are you going to do anything fun?" she asked after a while, growing bored with her new 'playmates'. She thought she'd caught scent of someone she recognized who was more her age.  

[Hopefolly]

So didn't take her question as an insult. He'd have asked the same thing when he was young. "Nope, we're old and boring," he joked.

Shwari wondered where these revered parents were to let this pup run around pestering people. "Not today, kid. Why don't you go find someone your own age?"  

[Kaelyndra]

Pepo took it as an invitation to leave. Flicking her tail at them as a goodbye, the pup took off at a sprint in another direction. In very little time, everyone in the Pridelands was going to know about the large, purple intruder whose face she'd attacked.