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 Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 3:21 pm
Somewhere between the dens and the all-important rock that she had yet to successfully climb, Shula could be found pacing around and around. A wide circle was etched into the sand; inside it, crude drawings meant to resemble the pride's layout and a slew of civilians. This cub was no artist in the making. Half her 'lions' looked like some disfigured vulture.
The intent was not to express her artistic side (if she had one), but to replicate the place she would be guarding one day. And guard Shula did: she traipsed back and forth from the morning until the afternoon... and then again from the late afternoon to the evening, since the time between that she'd spent napping on the job.
Soon, her parents or one of the nannies would come to gather her. She resolutely stayed put, refusing to leave her post unless an 'enemy' dragged her away.
Bedtime was the cub version of dying in combat.
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 3:39 pm
Someone had, indeed, been sent out to fetch her. Dark-pelted little Nuraya was on the case. With their parents having such a large brood, little helpers in the form of litter-mates were not a rarity and Nuraya, being one of the only ones at home at the time, was the latest recruit. Thankfully, at this age, none of the cubs ever went too far and so it was that the dark sister came across the pale one after only a few minutes of searching. However, her immediate plan of tussling in with all the joy of her success, the cub was brought up short by what she saw. The pictures may not have been drawn by an artistic paw and Nuraya certainly couldn't tell what they were at first glance, but they were interesting and pretty and her eyes travelled across them with interest.
Being careful not to ruin any of them with her paws, she stepped over each one with great - and exaggerated care - before opening her mouth to speak.
"What are all these pretty patterns, Shula?"
Nuraya was not as serious as her sibling and much preferred to good off and play games than think about her future. The future was in the future after all and what was the point worrying about it until it was the present?
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:10 pm
Talk about destroying the immersion.
Shula had an important lesson to learn: Watch your back. She was too focused on what or who was ahead of her and didn't notice her sister until she spoke. The cub was no longer glowering at a Nergui horde in the distance with the civilians cheering her on. Instead, she was boring old real life her whose sister might have ruined her stuff.
Shula span around and, first and foremost, made sure no damage had been done. Nuraya had been careful. Good.
"They're the Firekin, and I'm guarding them." Shula approached her sibling and nudged her side, hoping to herd her a safer distance away. "So don't step on them."
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:21 pm
"Whooooops. OKAY!" And, with the same careful steps, she meandered away from the collection of images scrawled into the sand and came to a stop once the sand was clear. Phew. That was close. She dropped her hindquarters to the ground and curled her tail around her, clinking inquisitively across at her studious sibling. It seemed an odd sort of game to play but Shula must have found it fun to have been out here all this time. Nuraya, on the other hand, had spent a good deal of time napping in the den, cuddled up with a sibling or two. She'd had the fun chasing dreams, too, so her day had gone pretty well so far.
"How is the guarding going? Have any bad guys turned up to cause trouble? If they do, you might need help. You know--if there are lots of them. I could help if you like." Not that she[d be much use if it came down to a fault. She'd likely just try and talk her way out of trouble - not the best tactic against any bloodthirsty Nergui.
Still, she didn't know that. Nor did she know much of the 'Firekin Enemy'. Her mind had been focused on more important things. Like food. Winning play fights (a rare occurrence). That sort of thing. She'd clearly also forgotten the reason she had come seeking Shula in the first place - easily distracted by anything and everything out of the ordinary.
"I could be the distraction if you like?" Or maybe the better word would have been 'bait'.
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:32 pm
Mission accomplished if her goal was to be a distraction. Shula knew that wasn't the kind of thing either of their parents would appreciate her saying out loud, so she kept it to herself. Just like her duties. A guard had to patrol alone. Sometimes for days!
But maybe...
"No, no enemies, but you can help me guard from over there." Shula flicked her tail toward the opposite side of the circle. "I'll call for you if I see any signs of an ambush."
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:43 pm
"OKAY!" Apparently Nuraya liked to say that word in the loudest voice possible. And, leaping back to her paws she started to circle around to where her sister had indicated - giving the pictures a wide berth so as not to accidently scuff them and make her mad. Picturing an angry Shula did not conjure any good feelings at all.
Once she'd reached her designated spot she sat herself down again and glanced around. "All clear!" She called after one sweep of the area with her eyes. But, no sooner had the words come out of her mouth did someone appear from around the rocks. It was another cub - a slightly older one at that! And a boy to make matters worse. Ew. Boys. He had stopped and was peering across at them with interest, his ears turned towards them. And then there was a flash of teeth as he grinned.
What happened next would later be a blur in her memory, but Nuraya would remember the sound of his feet thudding against the compact sound as he started his charge.
"Ambush.AMBUSH.AMBUSH!" Nuraya squealed at the top of her lungs, diving out of the way as the boy came hurtling towards them.
The boy, was none other than Kerra who was blinking in a bemused fashion at the shrieking cub and quite unaware that his paws were now standing on Shula's beautifully constructed image of the Firekin lands.
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:00 pm
"All clear!" Nuraya called.
Shula groaned quietly and dropped her head so it hid between her two front paws. She wasn't going to shout that every time she so much as looked around, was she? How embarrassing. The Nergui, imaginary or not, were going to laugh at them at this rate.
"Nur --" Shula never finished the name. She would never remember what she wanted to say afterward. Unlike her sister, though, she would always recall every little detail of Kerra's ambush.
Shula tried to make it around the circle in time to block him, but it was no good! He had a head start and he was bigger and he didn't have to go all the way around!
Everything was destroyed!
Shula was screeching up a storm in her head. On the outside, her claws were viciously scratching the sand.
"Kerra," she hissed. "Just what do you think you are doing?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:15 pm
Her sister's hissing voice had Nuraya scuttling backwards, ears pinned and belly close to the ground. Uh oh. He was going to be in serious trouble now. Serious trouble. And, too caught up in the moment, she hadn't even clocked that her sister had called him out by name. She wouldn't until after her heart had stopped racing and she noticed the familiarity between the pair.
Kerra, meanwhile, was looking sheepish now, his face looking slightly worried as Shula hissed at him. She didn't look very happy and he wasn't exactly sure what he had done wrong. He'd only come to say hello and then the dark one had freaked out as if he were some bad creature come to attack them.
"Um." He began, after an awkwardly long moment of silence as he considered his response. "Saying...hello?" He didn't even sound sure any more. He'd only meant to come and see if they wanted to play a game of tag or something.
"You stomped on them!" Nuraya called out in a thin, plaintive voice.
"Stomped?" He blinked again and looked down at his paws, lifting each one in turn to peer at what was beneath them. Nothing. Nothing but sand. Well...oddly marked sand, perhaps, but still just sand. "I---well---I don't see anything?" Apparently he had taken to phrasing everything as a question.
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 7:56 am
Shula looked ridiculous and adorable. She paced back and forth and every time a front paw hit the ground, her claws appeared and made tiny lines in the sand. To a cub, or one somewhat older, it appeared she meant business. Serious business.
"You don't see anything because you have destroyed it." Where as Kerra had taken to phrasing everything as a question, Shula was stressing. the pronunciation. of many words. That's what you did when something was IMPORTANT, according to adults.
"You have invaded Firekin lands." Shula stopped, placed her front and hind paws together, and stuck her nose up. "And that makes you the enemy."
Ooooh. The enemy.
"Do you know what the Firekin do when they see an enemy?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:23 am
Nuraya was still crouched low, watching the exchange between the pair with an anxious sort of curiosity. Her sister was talking the battle talk and the boy looked...sort of scared, actually. This probably didn't bode well for him at all and if Nur was going to place bets, she'd put everything on her sister.
Kerra leapt back at Shula's initial response, eyes widening as he looked at her in astonishment. He'd destroyed something? That was probably not a good thing, particularly judging by his friend's response. She didn't seem to be too happy about it, that was for sure. And then, when Shula continued, he shook his had dumbly and stuttered out an apology. "It was an accident. I didn't know--I'm sorry, Shula. I'm not the enemy!" And, carefully, he took another step back. Perhaps he could just go back the way he had come and they could forget this had ever happened. "I'm sorry!"
Another step back. Perhaps if he moved slowly enough they wouldn't realise he had retreated until it was too late. Except, at that moment, the crouching cub started speaking again.
"Sis!" Nuraya squeaked out a warning, leaping back to her paws. "He's trying to run away! What shall we do?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:03 am
Kerra's first mistake was destroying the Firekin. The second was not running as fast as possible away from the utter destruction he was solely responsible for.
Shula had recently learned a new word: hostage.
She was delighted to have reason to use it. "We'll take him hostage!" she said. "And see what he knows!"
Shula bounded forward to pounce on the poor guy. She always hated when her siblings grabbed her ears during tussles so, naturally, the first thing she tried to do was get a good grip on his. The enemy would yield with one good ear bite!
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:44 am
"OKAY!" Nuraya agreed instantly, bounding forward to provide her sister with backup, though it seemed that Shula was in no need for any help. In only a couple of seconds, she'd pounced on the larger cub and was going straight for his ears. Nuraya, squealing with childish delight, scampered circles around the pair, pausing here and there to bat at Kerra with a paw.
Kerra, meanwhile, was wondering how on earth this simple 'hello' could have turned into something so utterly scary. Girls were sort of mean, he decided, and still confused over what exactly he had destroyed, he gave a short yelp of pain as her teeth successfully latched onto one of his ears. A jab at his hindquarters staggered him forwards a moment later - thanks to Nuraya - and, without warning, he dropped his weight to one side, attempting to roll over in the sand and pull himself free. Unfortunately, in the position that he was, Kerra had no momentum in which to do so and Shula's weight effectively ended up pinning him to the sand, leaving only his tail beating on the ground.
"You got him, Shula!" Nuraya chanted merrily, pouncing on his tail to keep that still, too. There. Hostage capture success.
"I'm sorryyyyyyyy." Was the only thing Kerra could conjure. But an apology hadn't worked for him before. What were the odds of it working this time? "I don't know anything. I won't be a good hostage."
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:27 pm
From Shula came a squeaky growl that echoed every time Kerra tried to break free. When the hold on her hostage was secure, Shula unlatched her teeth from his ear and smirked at her sister. Compliments from her siblings always made her a little smug.
Kerra, moment ruiner extraordinaire, didn't give her much time to bask in the praise.
"Sorry's not good enough!" Shula had found a way to deliver a pout through tone of voice. Most of her behavior was part of the game, but some influence came from frustration. All her hard work, gone! She'd never get that time back! "You gotta know something. Just what have you been doing all this time I haven't seen you? Spying? Scheming? Scheming while you're spying?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:59 pm
Okay, so, was this a game? Was he supposed to be playing along? There was a long moment of hesitation where he lay on the ground, peering up at his captor as if trying to find the answer in her eyes. She looked serious and sounded like she meant business. Could she be that good an actress? Kerra didn't know.
In the end he decided he'd just tell the truth.
"I've been looking for a lion to apprentice, to, that's all! Honest." So far his search had not been very productive but he was pretty sure that sooner or later he'd manage to talk someone into taking him. He was the perfect student, after all. "No time to scheme."
"I think he's lying." Nuraya added helpfully. still pinning his tail.
"I'm not!" Kerra replied immediately. "Shula, I wouldn't lie to you."
"What are you?" Nuraya piped up suddenly, glancing across at her sister. "Is he your friend, sis?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:09 pm
Apprentice? Shula's playtime became null and void whenever someone uttered that word. She heard her sister, but didn't answer her. Nuraya could wait a minute.
"Apprentice for what?" Shula asked. She was so envious her fur might turn green and get her kicked out. "And with who?"
It better not be Azar or she'd chew his ear off for real!
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