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 Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:44 am
 Baie rested her head over her paws, green eyes opening and closing lazily as she watched the cubs playing just outside her little den. All of them with the exception of Nehanda seemed to be boasting good health and plenty of energy, even the ones that were as pale as ghosts. She could see Nahmba’s light blue eyes in some of her cubs but figuring out how her twins had ended up with snow white coats was another matter. It was like they had taken the base of Gakere’s coat but not his markings which was an unfortunate event but not quite as sad as the fact that the male’s mane was so light in color. He would still have been an handsome devil had his father’s mane passed down to him at least. The males from Baie’s family also had dark manes so it truly a shame that Neige had so strongly fought the odds.
Neige
Neige kept his body low as if he was hunting an invisible prey, his eyes constantly glancing sideways to determine his twin sister’s location. He followed the invisible mouse around rocks and into small clusters of foliage, wiggling sometimes as if getting ready to pounce on his target. His mother seemed to like it when he did that and since there were few things Baie complimented him on the pale cub tried his best to earn the soft smile the orange lioness seemed to have reserved for some of his siblings.
There were a few Abazingeli watching the large litter and his mother was keeping a close eye on Nehanda today. Perhaps his sister wasn’t feeling too well. Maybe he could do something about it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:39 pm
Nomsindo was high strung for one so young. Poor thing, born with such a martinet personality it crippled her ability to relate to other cubs. Since the roster of Nomsindo's peers mostly included her abundance of siblings, her predicament was not as vexing as it could have been. There were always a few Abazingeli keeping a watchful eye on them, so rare was it necessary for her to tattle on her kin. No sooner did a brother or sister step out of line than they were reprimanded for it. This took a lot of self-appointed responsibility off her tiny white shoulders.
But when were they going to eat? Wasn't it almost time to eat?
Though Nomsindo had never missed a meal, a stranger would have thought her neglected to the point of starvation with how anxious she was about it -- if they were blind. She was in good health (unlike poor Nehanda), with a round belly and full frame. Her coat had been groomed to near perfection earlier. The blue of her eyes was bright, alert, and tracking the movement of her twin brother nearby.
She lounged atop one of the rocks he had swiveled around in his... "hunt."
"There's nothing there, you know," Nomsindo informed him. That blind lion who thought her starved would have likewise assumed her brother stupid with how utmost informative her tone was, as if Neige truly had no means of understanding he was chasing an imagined prey until she took it upon herself to impart this knowledge.
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Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:04 am
Blue eyes looked up to meet an identical pair but Neige’s expression didn’t change. He remained perfectly still and spoke quietly as if trying not to disturb the prey. He was obviously well-aware of the fact that his mouse was rather invisible in nature but he wouldn’t easily admit to it, especially now that he could make a game out of it.
“Of course there is. Can’t you see it?” There was a hint of challenge to his tone as white cub’s eyes returned to the ground and continued to pretend to hunt something small and fidgety. “Are you really telling me you can’t see it?” It would be fun to see how long he'd be able to keep this up.
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Baie smiled a little at the cubs’ exchange. It wouldn’t be fair to say she resented their vitality but the pale pair did baffle her sometimes. Neige was growing fast and Nomsindo was a fierce little thing who was like Baie in many ways. The twins constantly forced the orange lioness to confront the beliefs that had been passed down to her and Baie liked to think it was the strength of the parents that had helped the cubs grow strong despite their crippling colors.
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Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:44 pm
There wasn't nothin' there.
--Right?
Everyone is subject to a persuasive influence under the right circumstances. In Nomsindo's case, she was all the more susceptible for being young and less sure-footed than her brother. Neige sounded so convinced a mouse was there she couldn't help but lean over and make good use of her vantage point. She saw a pebble, a cub, dirt... more dirt. No rodents. "There's nothing there, Neige."
Nomsindo slid to the ground, stumbling only slightly. She raised her shoulders and trotted the opposite direction. Any view of her Neige had was then obstructed by the stone. From the other side, she crouched low and pinned her ears back. The mouse might be imaginary, but her twin wasn't.
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Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:29 am
Neige remained calm in his fake convictions, not even bothering to meet his sister’s gaze this time as he quietly wiggled in pursuit of his prey. The fact that she didn’t sound terribly certain in the very obvious absence of the mouse only further encouraged the pale cub to continue his little deception.
“Stop trying to make fun of me. I can see it just fine. You can smell it too even if you’re blind.” It took all his restraint – and Neige didn’t have that much to begin with – to keep a straight face after that bold statement. His voice was low as if he was doing his best not to ruin a perfectly good hunt. “Ask mom if you really can’t see it. There might be something wrong with your eyes.”
He was so focused on what was ahead of him – or wasn’t as the case were – that he didn’t realize his sister was about to pounce on him.
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Baie slowly rose to a sitting position, visibly interested in Nomsindo’s actions. It seemed Neige’s little game was about to be suddenly interrupted and he had no idea because he was too busy to look back for a second. She heard Neige mention her and quickly pretended to be terribly interested in a little pebble on the ground before looking over her shoulder as if to check on Nehanda. It would far be more amusing to see how the twins would resolve their little invisible prey problem without her interference.
Discreetly, she dared to throw the ghostly cubs a quick glance to see what they were doing and once again it crossed her mind how her twins had managed to overcome the weakness of their colors.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:12 pm
Nomsindo's vision was impeccable. Her sense of integrity near so. Lying didn't sit well with her; had it been another cub fabricating sightings of this phantom mouse, she might have responded in a manner more tetchy than playful.
By nature, Nomsindo was predisposed to maintain a close circle of friends, if not only one individual, and regard the others as acquaintances of varying familiarity. Be it his identical appearance or a medley of reasons, Neige was the chosen candidate -- and, therefore, exceptions were made for him. Which wasn't to say Nomsindo didn't cherish her non-identical siblings, her mother, and the others. Of course she did. A mature, intelligent cub was still a cub. She wanted their mother's approval and love. Sought encouragement and acceptance from a pride she hadn't found her place in yet.
But Neige was her best friend, if anyone asked, and she'd gladly spend most of her time with him.
One...
"Ask mom if you really can't see it."
Two...
Nomsindo wiggled her rump.
"There might be something wrong with your eyes."
Three!
Nomsindo sprang from the dirt, using the rock to propel herself higher. She had no delusions that her shrill squeak was anything but. Roaring would come in time.
One white ball of fur collided with another. They rolled across the dirt. Who would come out on top was yet to be determined, but she hoped to pin her brother and gain the upper paw.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 7:01 am
Neige clearly hadn’t been expecting the sudden attack and he was too slow to react at his sister’s little attempt at a roar. As the cubs rolled, the male recovered quickly and let out a loud but obviously playful growl. Still, he’d been caught by surprise and it was too much early for the size difference that his gender and genes promised to be noticeable and Neige was overpowered, his back hitting the ground in a loud and uncomfortable-looking way. And yet, he was laughing and chuckling so hard that he seemed to be having a hard time breathing.
“You got me there, Nom-nom.” Neige said between long strings of laughter, grinning mischievously as he gauged Nomsindo’s reaction to the nickname. If it had been one of his brothers, the pale twin would’ve kicked him away with as much force as possible but this was one of his sisters and his favorite one at that so his attempt to dislodge Nomsindo was weak at best.
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Baie stood to get a better look at the twins, watching Nomsindo prepare for the jump with an expectant grin that widened as soon as she successfully landed on her brother. She almost voiced her approval but decided to keep watching the pair for a bit longer, afraid her interference might put an end to the amusing interaction.
Nomsindo was strong. Baie could look at her and see the Umzingeli she would become without difficulty even though the orange lioness had assumed her to be the weakest at the moment of birth. It was quickly becoming obvious that apart from her little Nehanda, all the girls were going to be just fine. Right now, Nomsindo was boasting health and a strength of will that Baie could relate to. If only all her cubs were the same.
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Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:29 pm
The incredulous look on her face suggested Nomsindo wasn't entirely sure how to react to this sobriquet. She considered a nickname in retaliation, but everything she came up with either sounded ridiculous or wasn't something you called your sibling when a parent was within earshot. "Don't call me that," she said peevishly.
She'd paid close attention to the brother versus brother tussles to know how rough and tumble they could get. Loomed over them, basically, just to be make sure no one was getting too rowdy. Despite that, she was oblivious Neige had spared her a strong, ultimately successful kick. His sister was better at pouncing than staying on guard, and he could have turned the tables fast if he'd wanted to.
Nomsindo leaped over her brother. No sooner were all four paws earthbound than she pivoted to face him again, crouching down with tiny teeth bared and her hips wiggling as they'd done before. She'd seen their mother's reaction from her peripheral vision and found it encouraging.
With her front bowed, she hopped from side to side.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am
Neige was too focused on his sister to notice his mother at that point. He kept his eyes on Nomsindo as she jumped away from him, rolling into a playful crouch almost in the same instant. His grin remained unforgivably mischievous as he mirrored Nomsindo’s movements, hopping from side to side in a low playful bow.
“If you can pin me down again, maybe I won’t.” his eyes narrowed as he threw the challenge and raised both front paws in the air with claws unsheathed, jumping back just in case his sister might attack when he was off-balance. When he dropped to the ground, the pale cub did an excited little circle on the spot as if to release some of the excess tension. “If you can catch me, that is!” With a strange grunt that sounded more canine than feline, Neige turned on spot and tried to run away.
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Baie grinned as the cubs played, following their movements with keen green eyes. In the brief moment that her gaze met Nomsindo’s, she gave the pale girl an approving nod but she wasn’t sure the cub had seen it. It seemed the rough game was suddenly going to change into a chase. They never did stop, did they? It seemed they had enough energy to last the entire day but Baie suspected they would be dropping like rocks later on and sleep through the night.
“Get him, Nomsindo.” Baie said, her tail dancing playfully behind her, a familiar very competitive feeling of show-the-boys how-it’s-done creeping from the depths of her being, from a little corner long forgotten. Her mind travelled briefly to her own brothers who she hadn’t remembered in a very long time and Baie wondered where they were, if they were alright and if she would ever see them again. An unlikely prospect but she was curious nonetheless.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:14 pm
Nomsindo would wonder the same thing in time. Today, her brother was here, and thoughts of him not being so were faraway as the departure itself. The greatest distance between them was the one they allowed in their game -- which was increasingly widespread, granted. Nomsindo was no sickly thing like her sister. This shortcoming was the fault of lounging. She spent more time watching cubs run than joining them in it. Who's to say Neide wouldn't have been lighter on his paws by nature?
Either way, Nomsindo was losing momentum after two unsuccessful pounces. She just couldn't catch him! Eventually, she realized she wouldn't. When her brother's back was turned, Nomsindo scurried to hide behind the discarded skull of a wildebeest, picked clean by vultures after the pride was done with it. The sallow shade that had tinted the bones didn't match her fur entirely, but it was more sensible a hiding place than the beige patch of grass swaying in the breeze.
The skeleton laid in front of their mother, a bit east of the rock they had been tromping around. She had backtracked enough her brother could have noticed her tactic if he were to look behind him in time, but Nomsindo -- for no reason other than just because -- was confident he hadn't. Again, she crouched low.
Waiting Game: Round Two.
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:26 am
Neige kept running, mouth open in a wide, exhilarating laugh, glancing over his shoulder to look at his sister until she suddenly disappeared. He froze and almost tripped but held his ground, panting heavily on the spot. The pale cub looked confused for a few moments before his mouth opened in a wide grin. He threw a cunning look towards his mother, wondering if she would know where his sister was hiding and Baie’s eyes quickly looked away as if not to give anything away. Neige chuckled and tried to move in the direction he believed his mother had been looking but his eyes only searched the clusters of tall grass that he assumed to be the best hiding places. He walked quietly past his sister, a good distance away from her.
---------------------------------
Baie chuckled quietly under her breath, visibly amused by the sight of her cubs playing so cleverly. Her eyes quickly darted away from Nomsindo’s location when she noticed her son looking at her for clues. Cheeky little fur ball. Hoping she hadn’t ruined the game, the orange lioness followed Neige’s movements instead, refraining from laughing aloud the moment he unknowingly walked past his sister. It was the perfect set up from a well-earned pounce and Baie looked at her daughter intently, grinning wickedly. Go get him, girl.
FIN
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