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 Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:08 pm
Nyack lifted himself and glanced into the water. Green... still green. He pawed at the reflection helplessly. Why couldn't he have a mane like fire? Or like that of the sky? Why did it have to be so... unnatural? The grass grew a nice dusky yellow. He stood out like a thorn.
The male lion sighed and jumped to the top of a rock and scanned the horizon with his violet eyes. Nothing for miles but plains of that mocking tall grass. No prey and no one to talk to. He was getting lonely...
Spotting some birds he grinned and opened his jaws wide, letting out a mighty roar. The birds were startled and flew to escape the sudden threat while the lion laughed in mirth. If only someone else was there to laugh with him...
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:58 pm
 "What a warm day..." Kizu muttered as she woke from her gloriously long nap. She didn't move much, she simply allowed herself to be draped across the tree's limb. It was the highest limb that could possibly support a leopard on the tallest tree in the area.
Yes, this certainly was the good life. She turned to check on the knothole that was her private treasure stash. Any creatures that dared to even attempt to reach this branch were mercilessly killed, such as the invader from this morning- a local baboon. His corpse lay limp at the tree's base, for he had made the utter mistake of trying to examine the knothole. Inside was a dug-out hole, stuffed with shiny rocks, gorgeous feathers, and bones filled with meat. Yes it was Kizu's biggest stash of stuff, hidden here in this tree. She guarded it unlike any of her other various stashes across Africa, and this was where she called home.
The roar of someone nearby piqued her interest though. It was a lion, so she didn't need to fear for the safety of her treasures. There was no way a lion could ever possibly reach this branch, let alone be supported by it. It barely supported herself, after all. She lept down the branches and headed stealthily towards the sound of the roar, hoping that whoever it was would have something of value to her- be it food or otherwise.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:15 am
The lion had found some amusement. He was chasing a butterfly, swatting at the air with his paws like a cub. If no one was around to see him then it wasn't embarrassing, right? He wriggled his butt in the air and launched himself inches from the yellow butterfly. It merely flapped its wings twice then flew toward the sky.
His ears fell as he watched his playmate disappear out of sight and onto better things. Darn... Nyack suddenly swiveled his ears and faced the direction of the leopard. He smelled something he'd never smelled before...
Crouching down, the green lion tried to approach the oncoming smell with caution. Realizing he stuck out too much to sneak up on anything, he proudly lifted his head and cleared his throat to make his voice deeper. "Hello there! Are you friend or foe?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:37 pm
As she approached, Kizu saw the individual bouncing about. Exactly what he was bouncing for, she couldn't tell, but he was, indeed, leaping for something. Green mane and brown body, that's all she could tell about him from this distance.
She couldn't help but chuckle at the way he made it sound like this was his land. Yes, Kizu let out an indignant, "Ha!" at the thought of his claim. The leopardess, no matter what, claimed these as her lands, and while a leopard had little chance of driving out a lion, she was highly territorial. He could stay, as long as he understood exactly whose lands these were. It was decided then.
"That depends," Kizu called back in response, voice quieting as she got closer, "on what you're doing on my land." He would get no information from her until she knew what he was up to. She scanned for food or any trinkets the lion might have that she might want, but found none and sat in the grass, teal eyes not leaving the lion's face until she got a response.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:48 pm
At first the lion didn't respond. His head was cantered to the side as his eyes took in the sight in front of him. She was a big cat, there was no denying it... but she was different from him somehow. Smaller, more agile, and thinner.
He quickly jerked his head downward and pinned his ears to his skull. The male was hunkered down like a cub trying to hide in the tall grass from her gaze. Her land? He hadn't meant to... "I'm sorry, I did not mean to intrude. I was merely looking for prey and a place to sleep for the night." His curious eyes bore into hers.
"But if you don't mind my asking... Are you a lion?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:55 pm
That was an acceptable answer. She would have been highly displeased should he have said that he was going to try to take the land, or settle down here, but just passing through was fine with the leopardess. Her face softened visibly at his answer, and she gave a quick nod. "You're fine, no need to get too bent out of shape," She said, hoping to ease some stress. Yes, she had come on a little fierce, but if she wanted to remain the only predator who was constantly here, then she needed to greet strangers with the rude glare.
She chuckled, again, at his question, but this time it was an amused chuckle. "I'm a leopard, a queen of the trees and a master of stealth," She said. It clicked after she said this- "Wait wait wait!" She said in surprise. "You mean to tell me that you've never seen a leopard before?" she lowered her head, a look of surprise clearly written across her face. "You're sure lucky, then, you're looking at the best example of a leopard there is," she raised her head proudly, trying to earn her kind some bonus points from this male.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:34 pm
"A leopard...." He repeated, his vioet eyes wide as saucers. "You're a queen?!" He yelped suddenly and bowed his head in respect. "I am lucky to have met you!"
The male shyly peered over the grass at her and shook his head. "I have never seen any of your kind before. I have heard of a lion that has no mane and can run like the wind." He never knew those animals weren't lions. His tail flickered in embarrassment as he stared at her in awe.
"You are very beautiful..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:10 pm
"I'm a queen of sorts. I don't rule over other leopards, but the trees all bow to me," She said, being fairly vague. "The fast cats are cheetahs," she informed him, checking on a claw that felt chipped, only to find that there was a lot of dirt under it. She made a little bit of an upset face at it before he told her she was beautiful.
Those were words that caught the smug leopardess off guard. Kizu had been a solitary cat all her life, and hadn't EVER heard a compliment on her looks, especially not from any kind of male. Under her ash-grey fur, blood rushed to her cheeks. Leopard or not, she wasn't expecting it, and it certainly caught her off guard.
"Uh, well... Thank you," She said, unsure if she should return the compliment- it wasn't like her to. Besides that, she didn't really.... know how. "You would blend in well, in the trees," was her best response, said in an awkward, I-don't-really-know-how-to-react voice. For some reason, she hoped he'd understand.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:39 pm
He gave her a sheepish smile and blushed, rising up to his full height. "Oh I see... Cheetahs... Maybe I could meet one of those someday..." He chuckled and shook his mane with a smile.
He blinked in confusion when she seemed flustered at his last comment. When she replied about him blending into trees he broke out into deep, rich laughter. "I know that... Its the grass I want to blend into..." He waved the joke off dismissively and approached her.
"I'm... Nyack." He said to change the subject to something less awkward. "And you?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:43 pm
She let off an awkward smile and a small laugh at Nyack's laughter. She had to admit, that was pretty pathetic. She was overjoyed when he changed the subject as she fumbled to regain her cool. "I'm Kizuka'Mchopozi, Kizu or Kizuka for short," she said with a small nod. "Are you a wanderer?" she asked. She assumed he was, as he was passing through, although, there were many lions who passed through and had a destination in mind. One never knew out on the savannah.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:16 pm
The male nodded and turned his head to look out across the area. "Yes... I have attempted to join a pride but..." His ears fell slightly. "I was rejected by a mere cub... The Pride Lands are not for me." For a moment a flash of sadness entered his eyes along with the embarrassment of admitting a cub had gotten the better of him. "So now I search out a home... or at least a place to rest."
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:41 am
The Pridelands? Kizu thought to herself in shock. How many times had she waltzed in there and just taken a kill from an adult? To many, obviously, because she could remember about 10 instances recently. Those lands were always easy to get in to and they were full of goodies. At any rate, she wouldn't push the poor male who seemed distraught about this.
"This, as I said, is my chunk of land. I wander a lot, but I always return here," Kizu told him. She still visited the jungle and the Pridelands, she'd been everywhere but the desert, which was where the leopardess wanted to meander next.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:47 pm
"Perhaps..." He started suddenly interested in grooming his face with the back of his paw, to hide himself. "I... could possibly stay for tonight? In your land I mean..." Nyack pinned his ears against his skull as he awaited her reply, his paw frozen in mid swipe.
She was much nicer then the cub and seemed less... distracted then the green lioness he had met. At any rate it would be nice to have someone to talk to that actually listened when he spoke. "I... could maybe find you some prey in return?" He didn't realize the irony that the leopardess stole the prey from the lions.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:40 pm
Kizuka let a deep pur from her chest roll at the thought of personal gain. Yes, that was the only way to please the leopardess. While she was completely capable of catching her own meals, the female found it so much more fun to steal food from others. Even easier if it was given to her.
"You can stay the night, maybe even a week, but you just can't live here forever, ok?" She asked. "Leopards are solitary. I can live with someone for a little while, but I won't live with someone for an extended time. But yes, you're fine for a little while," the leopardess said.
"And if you don't mind getting me a kill, I'll take it in the morning," She thought of the not-so-long dead baboon at the base of her tree, which she planned on completely ignoring as long as the male was here.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:19 pm
Solitary, huh? The lion nodded eagerly to hide his disappointment. "Of course! I'll get you the ... best zebra you've ever tasted! He puffed out his chest proudly then roared. For one so shy, the roar was pretty mighty. He was going to help a friend!
He bounded off a few steps and smiled over his shoulder at her. "...We can be best friends still though, right?"
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