[META-PRP] Karate Kid (Owu x Itiri)

[Epine de Rose]

In hindsight, the lion probably should have feigned an illness this morning. He knew what his brother was like and he would be the first to acknowledge that when it came to overall fitness Owu had him beat. Not that Itiri was a weak lion by any means, but when it came to a battle of endurance, Owu would most certainly win and Itiri would be happy to concede defeat. Some were simply born for the activities that Owu had planned, while others were equipped for standard exercise and not much more... Itiri obviously fell into the second category.

Nevertheless, true to his word the lion had rolled out of bushes he had chosen to sleep under that evening and begrudgingly made his way towards their usual meeting place. He was a predictable soul in that respect, and his brother would have no difficulty finding him sat upon the rock that arguably should have had the indent of his backside in it by now.

He afforded a yawn, it was an early start.

Small favours though, the earlier they started, the sooner he could be done with it and he could colapse into the undergrowth again to rest his weary limbs until the inevitable moment when they were summoned one last time to determine who would be the chosen 'king'. For now though, he would simply be subject to whatever physical abuse his darling brother had come up with...

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

To be blunt Owu was not going to be taking any excuses from his brother. Nothing less than being on his own death bed would have prevented him from dragging his brother's hide out to the fields - even if it meant physically dragging him!

Nevertheless despite his brother's rather vocal displeasure of his style of work out routine Owu was looking forward to spending the day with him. Granted he could already imagine that Itiri was going to be a major pain in the arse and grumpy throughout most of the day, but as they said it was the thought - or action - that counted the most. With the increasing end of the trials rushing towards them Owu knew that it would be a mere blink of an eye before they were thrust full throttle into the heavy responsibilities of not only running a pride, but fixing the major issues that they had inherited.

This was probably going to be one of the last times the brothers could simply enjoy each other's company for a long while. He refused to let this oppertinuity pass them up.

He had already been up for a good few hours before Itiri had even stirred. Though his brother might have beaten them to their normal meeting spot (because where else would Itiri be?) It was clear that he had already had a head start to a productive morning. In his blood covered muzzle hung the limp body of what was soon to become the thing that he knew Itiri had overlooked: Breakfast.

He greeted Itiri with a short nod of the head as he finished closing the distance between them. Once he was actually in front of his brother's favorite sitting rock with a loud thunk he unceremoniously dropped the corpse in front of him. "To thou I present this grand offering of a wholesome and grand break of fast before we commence the torture." Owu jested, his infamous s**t eating grin lighting up his face.

"But seriously we're going to need some proper fuel in us before we get this thing started."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"You do know overeating is bad for your health, right?" Itiri replied smoothly. He'd eaten quite a substantial amount a day or so ago and wasn't feeling particularly hungry. He could see logic behind his brother's remarks, but there was no use in filling his belly full of food when he physically wasn't inclined towards dining on it - in the end, he surmised it might be better to eat it at the end of the day when he would need to refuel.

"You may need the fuel but I have not been quite as active as you in the last few days," he remarked and shook his head. What he said was the truth too, he had been musing over more philosophical and sociological issues, leaving no time spare to bother with physical activities. While he was prepared for what waited for them in the second trials, he'd still never be the exercise mogul his brother was.

...Their hobbies would always differ in that respect.

"So consider your offering accepted, but bestowed upon the worshipper as a reward for their dedication to the cause," he drawled, a wry smile on his lips. "Though this Grand One would encourage the worshipper to wash his mouth before we depart on our mighty quest."

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Owu's shoulders shrugged in response to his brother's comment. Plunking down onto his rump he lazily peered up at the similar face to his own, "You know undereating is bad for your health as well, right?" He shot back with a dry smile. When their mother was alive she would often chastise them both over their eating habits, though she would take a particular concern over Itiri's skinnier figure more often than not. As it were Owu was giving his best attempt to fill his mother's side of the very large foot prints that both brothers would have to fill.

No one else was going to give a damn about his siblings and his health unless it befitted them, he was determined to be certain that it was taken care of even when it wasn't a hot topic.

"Your arse might continue sitting here forming a new grove into your rock, but that big brain of yours does require fuel for you to continue to your philosophical brooding." Owu pointed out smoothly. Still, if his brother refused to eat then he would certainly respect his wishes...for now.

After their work out that was certainly going to be a different story.

Bending his head down Owu without a shred of grace messingly dug into the side of the prey animal. Stuffing his mouth full a twitch of his ears was the only sign that he gave that he was listening to his brother's remarks.

...Well till the comment about his personal hygiene!

"Whut?" Owu muttered, his mouth still full of meat dripping down his muzzle, as his head shot up to greet Itiri once again. Furrowing his eyebrows together his eyes slowly trailing down to inspect the deep red coating covering the majority of his face. "...Oh." Taking a few brief moments to chew his food before swallowing. Lifting his leg up Owu roughly rubbed his foreleg against his face to 'clean' it, "Better?" He inquired with a shake of his head.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Itiri's eyebrow twitched in amusement as his brother moved the mess from his mouth to every other part of his body. Essentially the paler brother had simply decorated himself in festive warpaint designed to celebrate their upcoming adventure. He looked ridiculous in some respects, but they might very well come across some water where he could wash it away - either that or his brother was looking for a rather morbid snack as he ascended to greater heights.

It was for this reason that the darker of the two refrained from making any further comments on Owu's appearance. They were both adults and while they might occasionally tease one another, there were times when it was more fitting to simply leave it be. Besides, if he pushed this too far Owu might very well transform into his mother and nag him incessantly about his dinner. Let it be known that he did, in fact, intend to eat after all was said and done but he really didn't need to overfeed, he knew his own limits.

"It will go down in history," he pointed out at last, electing instead to return to the topic of conversation regarding his backside. "This is where one set of royals used to regularly congregate to discuss very important topics," he smirked. "One might say our spirits could very well dwell here if we were unsatisfied with the state of the pride," he continued and shook his head slowly.

"The priests could work hard, throughout their lives, to try and quell our discontent and then one day...someone worthy might very well take the helm and achieve that!" he cleared his throat. "Until then, I'll just make efforts to make the groove weather properly, if only to ensure my backside is represented with historical accuracy rather than looking lacklustre."

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

"Ohhh ho ho?" Owu coo'd loudly as he grinned in amusement to his brother's dramatic declaration. Now that was certainly a legacy that he could get behind. Though if he would be quite honest he's not sure being known as 'the brother tied to the butt rock' sounded quite as good as Itiri might have thought.

Ah well, he certainly would do his part to fuel any and all mystical rumors that may, or may not, developed about the certain ledge in question.

Stepping forward Owu set a bloody paw against the rock. With a mock sense of aw and wonder he briefly rubbed the rock, effectively smearing his own mark against it. His eyes darted up in mirth to Itiri before he slowly leaned in closer till his nose was almost pressed up against the stone. "Then let it be known from here on out for all future generations to know...Itiri is a little b***h about working out, and that the paler brother was clearly the most handsome." He whispered before bursting out in a deep laugh.

With a shake of his head he pulled away from the stone, stepping over his recent kill to return to his previous spot. "But enough jesting and procrastinating, let's get this show on the road as they say." Looking over his shoulder he cocked an eyebrow expectantly at Itiri. "You ready?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"Not really," Itiri pulled a face. He was never going to be ready for this, not really, truth be told he was going to come back in bits while his paler brother would be only mildly winded. All in all, it was going to be an absolute pain in his a**, or to be more accurate, it was likely to be a pain to every part of his body and he would simply lie on his back and ruminate over life's great mysteries by the time they were subjected to their next challenge.

Fortunately, it didn't seem that physical fitness was the entire challenge in that second trial...just a part of it. It was something to do with a life journey, survival, and so on. The priests hadn't gone in to any significant details at this time but from what he had surmised he didn't need to be the epitome of fitness to succeed... he just needed to have a bit of gumption.

Not that physical strength wouldn't have been a significant help or anything.

"But we might as well get this over with," He murmured with a lack of enthusiasm reserved only for those with a disposition that wasn't complimentary towards unnecessary exertion! "That way I can die early and revive myself much more rapidly," he pointed out, slipping from his rock to regard his brother with an expectant glance. This had been Owu's idea, it would be his regime, and thus he would have to take the lead... and no doubt troll Itiri the entire way, but that was hardly different than their normal banter so that part of the experience would be nothing new.

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Owu's chest bellowed with a hearty laugh as he shook his head at Itiri's grumbly tone. Had he been anyone else Owu would have found his lack of enthusiasm exceedingly irritating, barking that he should just go back to sitting on his arse rather than wasting his time. But this was his brother after all, seeing him having to suck up his pride and force himself out of his own comfort zone - or comfort rock would be more accurate - was highly amusing for the lighter male.

This was going to be a day he was going to relish storing in the back of his mind for a long, long time.

"Ah, don't worry so much about it." He replied with a impish grin growing on his face. "It's not like I'm going to attempt to kill you, though you might argue that by the end of this." Sadly, he highly suspected that Itiri wouldn't be speaking for him for quite a few days after this long training exercise. Both out of bitterness, and the fact that the poor man will probably be too sore to move from his den!

With a shake of his head Owu began to push forward, breaking into a light speed walk. It was something that could get Itiri's blood flowing as a warm up, and provide a good test for just how piss poor his brother was out of shape. "We'll begin with a warm up jog, something to wake our bodies up. And to make sure you don't pull a muscle in that precious arse of yours." Owu teased.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Fortunately for Itiri he wasn't the world's most unfit lion; all things considered he possessed a reasonable amount of endurance and it served him well. He'd never had aspirations of being a great warrior and as such he hadn't seen the need to over exert. His brother was the fitness nut, and his discipline was something worthy of respect, but certainly not something he would ever find a rival in when it came to the darker male.

Owu would hold one crown at least, he'd win any marathon when he went head to head with Itiri... and quite frankly, Itiri was all right with this.

Nevertheless, he did slip after Owu as the lion moved off at a reasonable speed, hardly one to cause him to break into an immediate sweat, but something that would warm his muscles up before they were put under any significant strain. Give his brother about fifteen minutes though and then it would be less of a walk and much more of a quick jog. Owu would describe it as a jog, but as he got significantly faster (deliberately so), Itiri would begin to suspect that as usual...their definitions of 'brisk' and 'quick' might be a touch different!

"Oh ye of little faith, I'm not entirely lost," Itiri remarked and shook his head. "I might surprise you," he mused. "It could take a good few hours before you're able to jest about my lack of stamina," he finished and shook his head. Quite frankly, it just depended on how quickly Owu decided to break in to a full sprint!

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Truthfully, he did give his brother a lot more credit than he outwardly expressed. Why he knew that Itiri certainly wasn't someone who was going to wow the world with his physical abilities, he could reasonably hold his own in a decently paced work-out. Most within the pride might even agree that he was in damn good shape for one who arguably spends 90% of his time in a deep meditative state!

But they weren't here for an enjoyable work-out that suited his pace, were they? No, they were here for something that would push his brother's limits to try and prepare him for the task ahead.

...Whatever that task may actually entitle!

His expression twisted in mirth as he looked back on his brother, his eyes twinkling with a unsaid plot developing in the back of his mind. "Is that a challenge I hear?" With a dark chuckle Owu shook his head. "You underestimate how much I adore a good challenge." He replied, a dark promise lining the back of his words.

Kicking up his pace a hefty notch Owu was quick to put his words into action. This was just the start of one grueling day for them both, one that had predictably left Itiri literally collapsing from exhaustion by the end of it were he stood.

Never-the-less Owu was extremely proud of his brother for toughing out any curve ball he tossed out without (much) complaint! It was a day that proved that his brother not only had the brains to lead the pride, but the brawn as well.

He was finally shaping up into the King Owu always knew he could be.

Epine de Rose

]in. <3 WE DID A GUUD THANG.