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 Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:51 pm
 Emerging from his family's den, the little bundle of black and white fluff, stepped into the sunlight of his new world. Bright orange eyes widened in awe as he looked around, taking in the sights of the grass, trees, sky, and clouds. The world was so big, so astounding.
Tiny jaws parted in a squeeky mew of excitement, tail flicking about behind him, his small form bouncing on his oversized paws. What a neat place he had stepped into.
The young cub had been told not to wander, and had excited squeeked out a 'yess mamma' before exited the den. But as little boys are often prone to do, he quickly forgot the words he had been told, fascinated by the world around him, he simply -had- to explore it.
With a happy mew, and an energetic bounce, the cub bounded away from the tree, laughing happily at he explored the tall grass, searching for whatever great adventure awaited him today.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:02 pm
"Hey you! Come back here!"
A small voice rang out, followed by the gentle thump of tiny paws against the dusty ground. A tan form leaped through the grass in avid persuit of a tiny leaping form in green. A grasshopper had caught Ushukuru's attention, and now he chaised after it. Each pounce from the cub was answered with a suprising leap from the bug, each sudden movment drawing a squeak from him before he leaped after it.
"Hey! I said stop!" He shouted gleefully, his pounces liberally mixed with giggles. That darn bug just wouldn't sit still! He just wanted to catch it, but it was being unreasonably stubborn in its refusal to be caught.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:18 pm
Half bounding, half prancing, the little cub journied through the tall grass, orange eyes barely seeing past the rustling stalks. There was a smile on his maw and he happily hummed a tune to himself that only he knew.
Children so young do not understand the concept of sound. As such he did not connect the voice that caused his dark ears to flick with the approach of another, nor to he realize that the sounds of his own voice may have carried to other ears nearby.
Distracted from his song, his eyes fell on a small creature fluttering just above his nose, a brightly colored butterfly that had nearly flown right into his paws.
"What's that?"
He batted at the insect, only to have it flutter away, searching for some safe haven from heavy paws that threated to damage it's delicate wings. Entranced by the creature, and driven to find out what it was, Shin'Jougen raced after it, pausing when it circled, then chasing it again. Little did he know that his paws were carrying him straight toward the source of the voice that had pricked his ears.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:28 pm
"GOTCHU!" Ushu cried as he flung himself forward with all his might, putting everything he had into this last-ditch effort to catch the leaping grasshopper. The tan form soared through the air (though in actuality, he didn't leave the ground for that far or for that long) to crash through the golden stalks of tall grass, small cream-tipped paws meeting... something solid and soft?
Carried forward by his momentum and unable to stop, the cub found himself tumbling head over tail with a black-and-white something, a ball of fur about his size. He let out a small cub's mew of protest as he fell in the dirt and rolled to a stop, paws thrashing in the air as he struggled to right himself.
"Hey! That wasn't my bug..." He pouted as he got his feet under him. Red eyes, his grandparent's eyes, swept the nearby area for whatever it was that had gotten in the way of his fantastic pounce.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:44 pm
Far to enthralled with the fluttering butterfly, Shin had failed to notice the other cub or even realize anyone else was near. That was until he struck something, or something struck him. Either way, he was suddenly bowled off his feet, sent tumbling through the dusty grass with a startled mew.
"Of course I'm not a bug."
Sprawled out in the grass, four paws facing every which direction, the cub slowly lifted his head to look around. A small squeek, orange eyes met red, his gaze settling on the tan hide of the other.
"Who are you?"
He blinked, head titled curiously, his tail flicking about, a small smile at the very corners of his maw. Whatever he may have felt about being knocked off his paws was quickly forgotten, replaced solely by the curiosity and wonder of a cub.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:53 pm
Ushu frowned, his little face all scrunched up as he studied the other cub. There was a hint of a pout on his muzzle, but it slowly faded as curiosity replaced frustration and suprise. Small ears perked forward as his face relaxed and a cub's remarkable ability to bounce back showed in the easing of the lines of his body.
A smile flicked acrossed his maw, a roguesh expression that might one day get him in trouble... though probably of the good kind. "I'm Ushukuru. Who are you? I was pouncing my bug when you got in my way..." Remembering the manners he was being taught to display by his mother, the cub tacked on an appology at the end. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, running into you like that... You're okay, right?"
The little brown tail flicked behind him as he padded towards the other, head held high.
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:10 pm
He simply blinked for a moment, ears flicking as the other spoke. Then realizing the other had fallen silent, the black and white cub stood to his paws and brushed the dust from his hide.
"I'm okay, my name is Shin'Jougen, but you can just call me Shin."
He spoke his name with a touch of pride. Heart of the crescent moon, it was a special name given to him by his parents and he was very proud of it as he, like his father, had already become fascinated with the night sky, the stars and the moon that shone above.
"I was stalking a butterfly," stalking sounded so much better than chasing, "and how do you know it wasn't you that got in my way?"
His words weren't malicious, nor were they a challenge, but he didn't want to take the blame, accidents weren't anyone's fault were they?
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Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:20 pm
Giving an exagerated sigh, accompanied with a liberal roll of his red eyes, the tan cub waved a small paw as he spoke. "You were between me and my bug, that means you were in my way... Was your butterfly behind me? No, because I didn't see any butterflies." He shook his head with a flutter of his soft baby fur, a little chuckle slipping from him.
"I'd have had him too, I'm sure of it... the little leaper's been leading me all over the place today! Over rocks and through the grass... I'm almost worn out from all the chaising!" Ushu looked anything but tired, really, as he began to bounce lightly from paw to paw. Not one to stand or sit still for long, this one. Nope, he'd rather be chaising... pouncing and leaping and doing all sorts of fun things.
Suddenly a thought occured to him, and the tan body turned, eyes scanning quickly. "Hey... you didn't happen to see where the grasshopper went, did you Shin?" His voice was a little plaintive. Had he lost his bug already? He'd only been playing with it for a couple hours... that wasn't nearly long enough!
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Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:52 am
The little one's brow furrowed, tail flicking indignantly. Just what made the tan cub right and him wrong, what made it his fault? The answer was simple, nothing, absolutely nothing. It wasn't -his- fault the tan cub hadn't been looking where he was going.
Huffing, he turned away, looking in the opposite direction with a bit of a pout on his maw.
"Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it wasn't there, and I didn't see your dumb ol' bug."
After all, the tan cub hadn't seen him either, and he most certainly was there. His paws shuffled, idly tracing patterns in the earth, batting at the rustling blades of grass, his ears flicking at the calls of nearby birds, orange eyes taking on a glow of fascination. How very interesting this world was, and how distracting.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:40 pm
The other cub's tone penetrated, causing Ushu to look up and over with perked ears. Was it something he said? It was only the truth after all... "Oh... well, I guess that's that, then. If I can't find him, he must have gotten away from me." Suddenly feeling a little awkward about the whole thing, and not entirely sure what to do about it, the tan cub scuffed his forepaw in the dirt, raising a little cloud of dust.
The cries of nearby birds also caught his attention, and a sudden idea came to mind. Maybe a little game would cheer up Shin! Then he wouldn't be mad at Ushu anymore. Grinning, though a tad shy, the red-eye cub slunk around the black and white one, head held low between his shoulders. "Hey... wanna play a game? I bet if we tried, we could catch one of those birds! It'd be good practice, don't you think?" He smiled winningly, hope in his eyes.
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:35 am
Head titled curiously, bright orange eyes searched for the source of the sounds that met his dark ears, tail flicking about with cubbish intrigue. Stange and interesting creatures, hoping about, searching out the insects that dwelled in the earth and the grass.
For a time he was captivated, far too intent on the birds to hear the other cub's words or to even remember he was there. But a flicker of movement caught his eye, words at last finding his ears and he turned to look at the tan cub, the previous incident seemingly forgotten in the fascination over the feathered creatures.
"Practice? For what?"
Though chasing those birds did look like fun, and he wondered what they would do in response.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:10 pm
Ushu grinned delitedly, happy to have recaptured the other cub's attention. "Hunting, of course! We'll have to be good hunters when we grow up, so why not start practicing now? I bet our parents would be very proud of us if we could catch a bird. They're way harder to catch than bugs!" A grin split his maw, matching the glow in his ruby eyes. Oh, yes, this would be great fun... especially since he wouldn't be doing it alone.
Nothing wrong with being alone, but sometimes it got... a bit lonely. Tail flickingering from side to side in his growing excitement, the little cub danced from paw to paw, his whole body wiggling happily. And what he said was true, too. Mother would be so proud of him if he brought home a bird, or even just the tale about how he'd caught it. "Even if we didn't catch one, its fun to try. Have you ever caught a bird, Shin?" His head tilted to the side as he watched the black and white cub, eyes friendly and intent.
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 11:18 pm
The little cub looked at the other curiously and shook his head. Shin was very young and inexperienced, everything in the world including the birds was new to him. It was the first time he had vetured from the den alone, not that he was going to tell that to the other cub.
"You think we can catch one?"
He looked again toward the birds, his tail flicking, eyes alight with curiousity. Shin, like his father, had a kind heart; he wasn't sure he actually hurt the birds. Though he was certainly willing to chase them around, if nothing more than to see what they would do, and if they actually did catch one they could always let it go right?
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:17 pm
Ushu wasn't thinking too far in the future. All he could think of was the pleasure of catching something, of being able to present it to his mother and father. Now, how they were supposed to do that... he hadn't planned that out yet.
"Sure, why not?" He laughed as he danced around the other cub. "We're lions, aren't we? Its what we're supposed to do!" He laughed as he turned and bounced towards the grass, falling into a crouch-and-creep mode. "Come on, Shin!" He called back over his shoulder, eyes already darting over the birds around the area, searching for a likely one. A flash of white caught his eyes and he studied it, thinking hard.
It was a saucy thing... strutting and flaunting its plumage. It didn't look very smart, really. That should help make it easier to catch, though that brash nature might just be because the bird was unafraid of being caught.
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:41 am
Young, innocent, and inexperienced, Shin as most cubs his aqe had yet to grasp the concept of sound or the fact that it travelled. While his friend, at least he thought he was a friend, prefered to stalk, Shin charged head first into the tall grass, tail flicking happily as he chased the birds, batting at them with soft cub paws when he thought he was close enough, though no strike landed.
The birds scattered, calling out sharply as they took flight to escape the small predator, landing several feet away only to be chased into the air again, keeping well out of reach of small paws. He was hopeless at catching birds, but he didn't care; he'd just wanted to chase them. It was a marvelous game, and though certainly annoying to the birds, it was great fun for the small cub.
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