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 Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 9:40 am
The petite little femme stretched, letting her sharp claws scrape across the large, flat rock she was sunning herself on, causing a shrill sound that made her black-tipped ears twitch in response. Her crimson eyes opened as a yawn split her muzzle, black-tipped and black-ringed tail flicking lazily. She scanned the horizon before her, knowing, though she had never dared venture that far, that the Pridelands lay in that direction. Her mother had told her that just recently. Her mother was back behind her, in the Umande'mfuni lands.
She was young, but Nyunya was out on her own. Again. She wondered, with a brief flash of annoyance, whether her bratty younger brother would come and find her this time. It was because of him, and the other two, that she often ventured off alone. She loved them in their own ways, of course she did - although she didn't think she'd be too disappointed if Fedha'kialio got lost for a few days, or weeks - but she really did enjoy her alone time. She missed the old days, when she had been younger, when it had been just her, Zimwi and her mothers.
She blew he tuft of salmon pink fur that continually fell into her eyes out of her line of vision, then rolled onto her back, letting the sun continue to warm her already heated white fur. The sun beating down on her back had been becoming uncomfortable, but her belly had yet to feel its warmth. She allowed her eyes to close as her forepaws rested comfortably against her chest, shifting her shoulders just a tad to get more comfortable against the hard stone.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:04 am
It wasn't as if he had directly disobeyed his father's orders - in fact, he didn't even plan on venturing so far as the beautiful pride lands. His father had only ever said never to go to the pridelands without he or his mother - and well, he wasn't exactly even there, now was he? No, in fact, he was quite far from pride rock and not so far from his own home. So, skirting around the truth as hardly even a lie, right?
"One, two, three," he counted under his breath, an amused tone taking over his voice - though it was quite likely that he didn't even realize that he was counting. It only happened when he was so deeply lost in thought as the current predicament found him to be - in fact, he wasn't even paying attention to the footsteps that he countd. His eyes were up ahead of him, concentrated on the lands he had yet to explore thoroughly.
That's when he saw the little cream pelt, standing out like a sore thumb against the plain granite it decorated. The salmon tones were enough to catch the eyes amidst all the tufts of grass - and yes, his sandy little maw showed little if any interest. He had learned the ways from his mother - how to act completely apathetic. Still, he wanted someone to talk to.
"You don't look much like a rogue," he stated. It was his greeting - odd, and quite inquisitive, but there it was. He just sauntered closer, the black tuft of hair hanging before his brightly devilish eyes.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:32 am
His voice sounding out so suddenly made her jump a little, though she hid it masterfully. She didn't even twitch. She was far too used to this happening to react with loud body language as others would. Her siblings always managed to sneak up on her. So, she just opened her eyes and swivelled them until she located the stranger, rolling onto her belly and pushing herself to her paws. She was a small thing; up here, she was taller than him. Were she to jump off her rock, he would dwarf her. The older she got, the more she seemed to develop a bit of a... size issue. She intensely disliked that she was much older than her siblings, and they were nearly the same height as her.
Tossing her head just slighty, she fixed him with a critical gaze. "Rogue?" she replies tersely. "Hardly." She sniffs the air for a moment, casting her gaze about. "What are you doing here? These aren't your lands. Are you a wandering rogue?" She doesn't have the most friendly air about her, but at least she's willing to talk. Truth is, she's bored, too. Sunbathing is only interesting for so long.
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:43 am
HE just watched her, seemingly, for the longest period of time. True, it was easy to mistake him for something of a rogue - after all, he had been told that his family was originally born of the rogues before the relocated to their own pride. Still, it was an insult to his pride to call him such. It's just rather lucky for her that his temper was not so much like his father's.
"No, I am most certainly not a rogue," he stated rather calmly, letting his bloody eyes drift over her, sizing her up in an attempt to perhaps place which pride she actually stemmed of. "I am a member of the Kusini pride, and likewise, the son of one of the four princesses." He gave her a small dip of the head in greeting, though it showed he quite resented being called a rogue. Though, he supposed on some levels he deserved it - he had dared imply that perhaps she was, though she did look quite different. "My name is Taabu".
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:37 pm
She tilted her head a little. Kusini pride? She hadn't heard of such a place before. That didn't mean it didn't exist, though. After all, she'd not known the name of the Pridelands until recently, or that it was there at all. But the fact that he was the son of a princess was of no importance to her. Her friend Duhu was the son of a king, was he not? It wasn't new for her to meet royalty.
"Mine is Nyunya." She leapt from the rock, landing daintily in front of him. She had been right about the height difference. Her line of sight was just above the level of his shoulders. With a slightly irritated look, she flicked her eyes up to his. She had a strong urge to hop back up onto the rock, but managed to resist the impulse. "Why aren't you in your own pride, Taabu? Why are you wandering into mine?" Her questions were brusque. Her politeness now only stretched far enough to cover her family and friends. Everyone else had to earn it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:47 am
The difference in height was, in all actuality, quite the amusing little circumstance. He didn't, however, make any motion to taunt her about it. His mother had taught him to respect others, even while mocking. True, she was often much less kind than he was. Hell, in all truth, Taabu was much nicer than both his parents combined. It was really an odd thing, for hatred to bare respect. Though, his parents were quite the unusual couple in themselves. He didn't really see the point in always being unkind - unlike his mother, he did like to give others at least a small smidgen of a chance. He based everything on manners, on the respect he was given.
He treated others as they would treat him.
At her question, he merely quirked a brow, starin down at her quite calmly - though not in any manner to accentuate the difference in their heights, "Why not? If you simply restrict yourself to the lands you were born in, it limits your mind. Seeing the world is my intention, so that I may know something of every culture." He shrugged, flicking his tail idly and giving his head a little toss, an attempt to rid his vision of the beautiful raven locks - which only promoted the sight of his devilishly blood-red eyes. "I guess what I mean to say, Nyunya," he said her name quite kindly, in fact, with the smallest ounce of lyrical grace, "Why aren't you wandering other lands?".
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:00 am
Although Taabu did nothing to accentuate the height difference other than look down to meet eyes the same shade as his own, Nyunya still felt it keenly, and found she didn't appreciate it. Not that she had expected to. She lets herself drop to a seated position. "Broadening your horizons is all well and good," she replies in agreement, "but did you ever stop to consider that perhaps other prides don't want you entering their lands without permission simply to poke your nose into their culture?"
Her tail moved to curl around her body, dark tuft lying against her pale forepaws. "I am planning to travel one day. But I see no reason to rush it." After all, why would she want to leave such a beautiful place?
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:17 am
In an attempt, perhaps, to make the height difference between them seem a little less obvious - Taabu lowered his lithe little form to the ground, slowly relaxing himself into a rather sphinx-esque position. The tuft-like beginnings of a midnight mane came right back down into his eyes as he did so, however, and likewise clouded that blood tone that some found quite intimidating about his gaze.
At her comment, he simply shrugged his shoulders, watching her in a rather calm manner, "I'm sure, with the exception of the firekin pride, that none other can be quite so ruthless or unkind as some of my own family. I've been from Kusini to the Pridelands, and I don't plan to stop until I've seen the world. If prides have a problem with that, then let them tell me," he murmured. His tail began a rather gentle flick, though, in the depths of his eyes sparked a rather dangerous amount of dark amusement, "I'm sure it's not your place to tell me whether or not I belong here." Seems the personalities of his parents aren't completely lost upon him.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:34 am
Even with him almost laying down before her, she still wasn't all that much taller than him. It irked her. It probably always would. She didn't like being small, and the fact that this male was starting to remind her vaguely of Feddy was only making it worse. Maybe it was the similarity in the look in his eyes, or the annoying sense of self-importance. Whatever it was, she didn't like it.
"When someone mauls you for stepping over the boundaries of their lands, make sure you come back to tell me," she says in a drawl. "If you make it back, that is. I'd love to tell you 'I told you so'." She fixed him with a sharp look, vermilion flashing in the sun as her eyes locked on him. She had just remembered what he'd said last. Did she not look royal enough for this male? He looked like nothing more than a rogue himself, and yet he judged her? "And who is to say, Taabu, that I am not a princess of this land? You don't know me, and you don't know the Umande'mfuni lands."
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:00 pm
He just watched her, rather amusedly in fact, for the longest time. It didn't occur to him that this meeting was rather like his parents had met. The prince (or closely there enough) and the lady - both with too much attitude and not enough kindness. Though, his only showed because her own did. There were those that he treated nicer than this new aquaintance - and yet, there were those he treated worse. His cousin, namely, was one such. Nyunya had the attitude of that stupid girl that Taabu had only met on a few occasions in his life - and yet, he was treating her better for the sheer hope that there couldn't be one so unkind as that spawn of his bloodline.
"It would be a foolish act for someone to maul me, really. I'm doing nothing but seeing new lands - and I'm sure if I was attacked for that simple reason alone, both kings of my heritage would be very unpleased." True, Taabu was royal of both the Pridelander and Kusini tribes, but the status mattered very little to him - unless, of course, it was used against him in a manner very similar to Nyunya's intent. He'd had this battle with his cousin already. "I never said you couldn't be a princess, Nyunya. Even if you were, it would still hardly be your right. You are no older than I, and as such, we're equally matched - royal status aside." He quirked a brow at her, not even beginning to look irritated - but instead, holding onto that apathetic gleam that always irritated his father in the earlier years before he had come to love Syeira. That was his mother's look - but with eyes of fire, instead of ice.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:28 pm
She raised an eyebrow at him, rising to her feet and lazily clambering back onto the lower part of the sun-warmed rock, laying on her side as she continued to watch him, mulling over what he had said and trying to come up with a good retort, and using the movement back onto the rock to cover it up. She wasn't used to trading insults-but-not-insults like this. The only one she argued with was Feddy, and usually it was just petty insults thrown back and forth before one of them walked away or ran to their mothers. This required thinking. She wasn't incapable of it; she would just have to concentrate until she was used to it.
"Not all are as nice as I am and would ask who you were before they decided to make a meal of you," she says finally, well aware that she was hardly being nice. "But I believe we're not as equally matched as you might think. Who's to say I don't have the King, my father, wrapped around my paw? If I were to, say, tell a story that a wandering lion had intruded on our lands and then insulted me, I doubt that male would be here very long." She smiles, but it's not the most pleasant that ever graced her pretty face.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:51 am
He watched her for a moment, a soft smirk drawing across the line of his maw. He couldn't tell whether or not if she was fibbing about being the king's daughter - but most likely, she was. The princess of big lands were not often out by themselves, not this far from the family and most certainly not at such a young age. He'd let her have her fun though, and roll along with the story, after all - he could outwit her by doing more than calling her a liar. He was his mother's son, after all.
"That wouldn't be a very wise thing to go and do," he said, idly examining one paw, sitting there as calmly as any other - as if he had no care or worry in the entire world, "If your father killed me, then my grandfathers would be very angry, and my grandmothers as well. I'm not sure he'd want the royal line of two prides coming down on him - especially not the infamous pridelands." He quirked a brow at her, head tilted, his eyes unblinking. True, he'd never met his Grandfather Mufasa - and Sarabi was too weak, but she didn't know that.
"Besides, I'm not really bothering you all that much. I haven't attack you or anything, and your father should really have no reason to want to kill me. True, he could run me off, but kings aren't stupid," he said in a rather nonchalant way, dropping his paw and glancing back to her with those firey eyes. Taabu was a smart thing, even for so young.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:43 pm
"Not to say I don't think it may be a good idea, but who mentioned anything about my father killing you? He's not one for unnecessary violence." She said it as mildly as Taabu, idly examining her claws. She was starting to get into the rhythm of their subtle needling. If he thought she was so easy to outwit, he was in for a surprise. She wasn't all her mother's daughter.
"And aren't you bothering me? I was rather happy here, sunning myself, and you come traipsing into my territory. That bothered me." She looks at him consideringly a moment with her crimson eyes like his, before turning back to her claws. "All fathers are stupid for a daughter who knows how to make them so." She has no experience with this phenomenon, of course, but it worked with her mothers and Liza - though he didn't really count, all things considered - so it no doubt worked with fathers, too. "I'm guessing you don't have sisters if you don't know that, Taabu."
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:30 pm
He just smirked as he watched her, firey eyes drifting over her distubringly calm persona. For a moment he just sat there in silence, as if he was beyond amused with her, before he just shrugged, "let your father do what he will, but there are always going to be people that bother you, and if your father spends his entire life trying to weed them out for you, then he will never live for himself." He shrugged it off, glancing away, as if growing almost bored with the other before him, "and though you seem less than inviting, I'm sure you don't want your father to die without living a full life. I know I wouldn't want mine to," he glanced back to her, quirking a brow.
"No, I'm an only child," he said, though not with any ounce of regret. In a way, it seemed he was quite pleased with being alone, "It means I get whatever I want to out of my mother. My father and I have an odd relationship," the last part, in fact, was muttered rather low, "but I'm hoping to correct that by leaving like I did."
That's when he let out a little laugh at something she had said, eyebrow quirking in her general direction, "and what's all this about your lands? THey belong to your father, not to you, and even if you are a princess - it hardly gives you the right to tell anyone they can't be here. If my mother had ever heeded that warning, I would not even exist." He just smirked and shrugged her comments off - not even thinking of leaving.
How aggrivating.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:40 am
[Damnit. -.- I hate having to consider smart answers to your posts. ¬__¬ Why couldn't I have made Ny a mirror of Denge and made her stupid? x____x]"Most that I meet don't annoy me," she counters calmly, folding her paws one over the other and propping her head on them, watching him disinterestedly. "So he hardly has to spend more than a few moments looking after his little princess. Hardly wasting his life, Taabu."
She pauses long enough to puff her salmon fur out of her eyes. "Only child? Why am I not surprised?" she asked dryly. He did give off the air of a spoiled brat, something many who were the only child had. If she had looked hard enough, or cared to admit it, she would have seen in him a reflection of herself, as she often acted just the same. "But why are you telling me your family troubles, about this relationship with you father?" she asks with a tiny bit of genuine curiosity. "After all, that wasn't in what I said."
She let her tail swing into the air, leaving it there to swing back and forth rhythmically like a pendulum. "More my lands than yours," she says in reply to what he said last. "Given that it's my pride and I am my father's daughter, I think that's fair. If I cared to venture forth and come to your... Kusini pride, I would think the same of you. If you are a prince, that is." She has to wonder how long she can keep up this princess ruse, has to wonder how long it'll be before she trips herself up and embarrasses herself in front of this arrogant bratty prince. Still, she'd managed this far, and maybe she could last until they finally bored of each other's presence and went their separate ways.
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