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 Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:10 am
Auri smiled gratefully at him for not pushing the subject about her brother, and the small sentence about her mother appreciating her efforts. "Thanks. It means a lot."
They continued walking on, and Sawa replied to her other question.
"You never learned how to hunt?" she asked incredously. "So that's why you steal from the two-leggers' hunt. It makes sense, but still. What happens when there are no two-leggers around? Scavanging can only help you for so long, Sawa." Her brows furrowed downward in a worried look. As cocky and immature (growing-wise) as Sawa was, she couldn't help but feel that she had to help him somehow.
That was her curse: her empathy always pushed her to do things for other people, and to think of them first before herself.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:24 am
"Ah bu' the two-leggers 'ull.." He trailed off and shut his mouth when his mind finally thought about what she was actually saying. He should be honest with himself, shouldn't he? "Ah I guess yeh be righ'... some day Siyo an' I will no' be able teh scavenge or fin' any two-leggers.." He said softly, a small frown on his mug.
Well he'd say that when he found himself a pretty mate or two that wouldn't matter, she would help provide for him. But that sounded like an awfully bastardish thing to say and it wouldn't come out how he'd wanted it to, it'd probably come out like he was some sort of scum bag so he left that thought unspoken.
"I guess I jus'ave teh sit tight, a lil'ungry, until I figure where teh go from there." He chuckled good natured. He wasn't one to worry too much about the future. "Or I coul' always result teh begging..." He glanced sideways at her with a sly grin and another soft chuckle. He knew a lot of other lions did not like beggars, they thought the action horrid or disgusting or something. Sawa would never get that... it was alright for a skin-and-bones cub to beg for a scrap, wasn't it? Why not a skin-and-bones adult or old timer? Sometimes he just didn't get how others thought.
"I mean we can 'unt... i's jus' terribly slow an' usually we end up with nothin' fer our efforts." And that was because they didn't know how to bring down an animal, but instinct showed them some of the way.
He wasn't sure how he felt about the concern in her voice, part of him was pleased to be getting the worried attention and another part of him didn't want her to be troubling herself about worrying over him. After all, they'd just met.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:42 am
Auri let his trailed-off sentence slide as he had let hers. She wasn't going to push him; everyone was entitled to their own personal problems.
She had not seen any lion or other Savannah animal begging before, but she had heard some stories about them. Poor, skinny-beyond-belief cubs wandering around and crying for food or a home or a place of shelter for the night.
It broke her heart.
"I'll help you," she blurted out before she could stop herself. How would she help him? Teach him to hunt? What a ridiculous idea! But said idea was already out of her mouth, and she couldn't take it back.
"I mean, I can help teach you, if you'd like, and you could come on hunts with me. I don't know about my mother, but I'm sure she would welcome you. That is, until you find a lioness for a mate, and though she would do most of the hunting, you'd still be expected to do some hunts of your own. That's what my grandfather does, and Grandma loves him even more for it."
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:52 am
She'd help him? He raised his brows as he looked at her, his nostrils filling with the smell of smoke and garbage and well... two-leg scents. That meant they were close!
He gave her a warm, charming smile and shook his head lightly with a laugh. "Mebbe yeh could show meh a few things." He said slowly. "I do no' know 'ow long I'll be stickin' aroun'ere or 'ow often I'll be back." Though he'd probably come fairly often, he liked it in the pridelands. But he was rather taken with the idea of she teaching him something, anything.
"In any case I'd like tha'." He chuckled and then frowned slightly. Wait he'd have to hunt for the lady sometimes? Well fair was fair... but couldn't he steal for her instead? Was that allowed? He was very good at that... though perhaps it wasn't too impressive. "Aye then yeh be'er teach me more than a few things." He chuckled. Yes, it would be nice to give whomever his lady friends were breaks from what they did best.
"So yeh don'ave a mate?" He asked carefully, glancing at her. He figured she didn't, she spoke of hunting with her mother but not hunting for a male.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:05 am
Auri's nose wrinkled instantly as the different smells reached her. Humans lived like this? It was disgusting! The least they could do was clean up a bit, and perhaps take a bath every hour or so...
But she smiled reassuringly at Sawa. "Yes, I can teach you. I can try, for I haven't hunted by myself that much, but I will try to do as best I can."
She could begin to see the two-leggers' camp from where they were walking; she slowed down so they wouldn't come right on top of the humans. Besides, this was near enough to watch him do what, apparently, he did best.
"No, I don't have a mate," she replied with a somewhat sad smile, though it was accepting of her situation. "I have friends, and right now, that's all I need to concentrate on, I think. Though someday I'd like to have a family, of course. What about you? Do you want cubs at all?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:30 am
He saw the signs of her dislike of this place, Siyo and him had the same trouble when they first stumbled upon two-leg establishments. They'd gotten used to the stink though, it was almost like smelling a pride you belonged to. Not quite, of course.
"'Ow abou' tomorra?" He asked slowly, also slowing his pace and sitting for a moment. He could finish the discussion and then get to what he was supposed to be doing, he found he really enjoyed speaking with her.
So she wasn't in the market either... that was too bad. But also good... though he figured he didn't have much of a chance with many of the pride lionesses he'd bumped into over the days. He could dream though, right?
Cubs... Sawa seemed to think about this a little. He loved lionesses. He loved making them feel special. But did he love family? He didn't really know much about families... but he knew he'd be able to love anything he'd made with a female. He just wasn't sure he'd be such a good father, having wonder lust and all. "I do' no' be sure.." He said slowly, wondering if he should explain his thoughts to her. "I guess it woul' depen' on the female. I do believe I will always be travelin'... an' wha' kinda life is tha' teh offer teh a lady?" He smiled sadly. "An' lil'uns. Yeh can no'ave 'em travelin' all o'er the place. Bu' I suppose if I found a righ' lioness 'oo would no' mind my wonderin' paws then I woul' like a family with 'er. Bu' I would no' mind a mate an' no children, too." He said slowly. Really it did depend on what a female wanted to Sawa.
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:13 am
Auri slowed down as well, sitting across from Sawa while still getting used to the smells of the human camp. It was a lot to take in, but she was slowly soaking it all up. That was good.
"Tomorrow would be good," she replied with a smile. Truly, it would. She had the day of from hunting and spending time with her family: Mother had plans with Father and the boys were probably going to do something as boys could only do.
"You wander? I think that would be fun," she commented after he was done. "I've never really been anywhere except here, and even thought my grandparents came and visited a few times, the Pridelands is all I know. I'm kind of scared to go anywhere else," she added with a chuckle. "I bet you could find a wandering lioness, too. A bunch of girls are here in these lands, but I'm not sure if any are really the 'wandering' type. And you never know with cubs." She shrugged. "They might pick up the wandering gene from you and won't be able to sit still. But either way, they need something stable. So perhaps not having cubs would be better.
"But you could always try." Auri quickly finished her two cents-input with an apologetic smile. "I hope you find her, someday. The girl to make you happy, and to have a good life with." She smiled at him and flicked her tail at his teasingly.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:46 am
He grinned. "Aye, I do 'ope teh find a few nice girls." He hadn't realized he was speaking of finding multiple mates instead of just one, as the pretty lioness was saying, until the words were already out of his mouth. Did the pridelands only stick to one mate? He wanted to care for many beauties! Was that so wrong?
He coughed and standed again, stretching and shaking off in preperation for his little 'hunt'. "Alrigh' yeh wait 'ere an' I'll be back real quick." Well not super fast, but fast enough. He started toward the village before she could make any comment about his wanting more than one mate. He'd never really talked about that with anyone before, he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing in others' eyes and he didn't want to offend her ways if they were different.
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Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:33 pm
Auri didn't have much time to say anything as he quickly scurried away, trotting towards the two-leggers. Strange that he would say 'a few nice girls.' Having multiple mates had entered her mind, of course, as she had heard from her parents tales of a large family because of more than two mated adults. The thought had always stuck in her mind, but she had never met someone that wished to do so, or had been in such a situation.
Well, there was always a time for a first, and today seemed to be full of them.
Her eyes watched Sawa's back and their surrounding areas just in case, but soon enough her gaze was locked on the two-leggers' homes. Her paws itched for her to crouch in the grass and hide herself instead of standing where all could see, and she did so, giving into the instinct.
Worry began to outweigh excitement as Sawa approached closer and closer. Would he get hurt? Would he be found out? What would happen? Would they hunt the lions down? Her mind went crazy with every new thought and she tucked her tail over her legs as her ears went down onto her head.
Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:12 pm
Sawa thought this was probably the most fun he got once a week! It was a huge thrill and there was always the slim chance of something going horribly wrong! While it didn't seem such a nice thought while it had the chance of happening... afterwards it was laughable! And amazing... and just good nothing wrong happened! It was the ultimate high for the young male. Young, foolish, male!
He didn't look back to Auri to make sure she was alright, slightly hidden but able to watch like she wanted. He'd just have to have faith that she wouldn't do anything stupid, like follow him or something. His eyes were scanning the huts and the meat racks, body low to the ground. Not many two leggers were around, and that was good! Luckily the small ones were not around today. Asleep maybe? He had no clue... he just knew that they were fast to spot a big, mysterious animal faster than the old two-legs.
He started to slip by the side when he heard one of those aweful two-leg calls, loud and something sounding... fearful? He froze, stood perfectly still and looked with his eyes, slightly panicked. No, no. The two-leg had only been upset with another, but Sawa could not fathom over what. Two leggers were quite odd!
He continued on and when he was close enough he stopped again, breathing slowly and in measured breaths. He was so close! How stupid were they? He suddenly lunged forward, into the midst of all the humans, and boy did it cause an uproar! He'd only hope Auri would know to run when he started running her way.
Past a hut! Avoid a stick coming flying down toward his skull! Oh god, one of the small ones! He scrambled around it and lunged through a hut, clear from one side to the other! Ah, a meat rack! He jumped and tore off a good size portion of meat, keeping himself running through. Something sharp hit his side and he winced and faltered, but he had to ignore that.
So much commotion around him! Oh god, this felt bad, would he be cough this time? Face the consequences?
But as suddenly as he was in he was out, with a few grown two-legs following after, shouting and cursing in their strange language and shaking sticks at him! He was fast upon Auri, eyes wide and expression clearly stating run.
The two legs did not follow him far though, they simply wanted him away from their make-shift village!
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Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:43 pm
Auri watched with worried eyes from behind one of the larger boulders and a few sprigs of grass as Sawa slowly made his way towards the village. A yell perked her ears up and she winced as he leaped and twisted and dashed out of the way of possible danger. She didn't see the weapon that marked his side, but when he came speeding out of the makeshift village, eyes glaring at her to 'RUN!', she didn't think a second time.
She ran.
She ran as fast as she could, glancing back every so often. Finally, after rounding a few corners and more grass, she stopped, panting for breath, behind a spare tree with roots thick and inviting.
"You're crazy," she breathed heavily, grinning at him. If he had been a few inches closer, she would have shoved his shoulder with hers in a playful tease, but he stood further away, with steaming meat in his mouth.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:58 pm
His sides were heaving and he let the human food drop from his jaws as he tried to catch his breath. At his remark he just shot her a large green. "Righ'?" He replied, basically agreeing with her. He started to laugh and shook his head. "Wha' a rush though'." He glanced to the meat and back to her. Ahhh really he was hungry but he knew the right thing to do!
"Did ya 'ave a goo' show?" He smiled at her and then nodded to the meat. "For you."
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:16 pm
Auri glanced at the food, and then back up at Sawa. He must be joking. He went through all that trouble for a nice piece of meat, even got hurt, all to end up giving it away.
To her.
"No, thank you. I can't possibly eat it all. Besides, you did all the work and everything--I couldn't. Please eat some of it, too. At least half of it. Please?
"And it was a good show. Scary, but...it did make my mind race a bit more than it usually does, if that makes any sense."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:49 am
He smiled at her refusal, and then only wanting half. "It was no' work." He insisted, laughing. "Jus' a bi'o fun." He shrugged and nodded. "Aye, aye. I will ea'alf if yeh do the same." He shot a grin at her before tearing the meat in two, placing his teeth on one end and his paw on the other and ripping upwards.
He took a bite and chewed for a while, it was much tougher than when it was raw but in turn it lasted longer and kept he and Siyo from feeling so hungry. He swallowed and nodded. "Mmm scary indeed!" And that was when his side gave a shot of pain through the rest of his body and he clearly winced.
He twisted gingerly so he could look at the mark, eyes narrowing. It looked like... he had to think about it a little while because it didn't look like the marks spears usually left on he or Siyo sometimes. But he hadn't a clue what it was, except that maybe he should wash it. So he did, he cleaned himself quickly so he could get back to the conversation with a sheepish grin.
"Som'times a lil' dangerous though."
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Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:17 pm
Auri couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at him. A bit of fun? A little dangerous?
"A little?" she repeated aloud, stopping herself from taking a bite out of her part of the stolen meat. "We can wash that. There's a small watering hole not to far from here; it could get infected, y'know." She frowned, imitating her mother to perfection. Moyo would always fuss and throw a fit at any scratch on her family--cubs and Kiwi alike. Auri must have picked that up from her somewhere along the way, but she was sticking to it.
Tenderly, still watching him, she bent and tore off a piece and chewed it as well, for a good while before she could finally swallow. "Good, but tough. Definitely long-lasting. This is what you and Siyo (that's his name, right?) lived off, right? And continue to eat? I couldn't deal with it for so long." But she took another bite, just to please him, and to not put is dangerous outing in vain.
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