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 Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:08 am
"Yeah," panted Risasi, puffing out his chest, "but you're way bigger than I am! But that was awesome! I didn't even see you. How did you get up the tree so fast? I had to climb, but it was hard and slowed me down a bunch."
He hadn't seen the way Kwa had climbed, and it was a disappointment. He was supposed to be taking notes and learning, but it turned out that he was a bad student. Probably because he enjoyed playing so much, he had allowed himself to be lost in the game. The young cub shook his head, vowing silently to pay more attention.
"Can you show me again? Not if you don't want to, but I want to see if I an do it!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:33 pm
Kwa grinned at the cubs praise, "I've had a good bit of experience being out here with nothing to do all the day," he said with a chuckle, "You climbed much higher and much quicker than I thought you would though! You're really tough!"
Kwa was glad he was asking for pointers, that was one of the best ways to get better at something, to have someone show you themselves. "Sure I can show you how I did that, follow me carefully to the back of the tree, its easier to get up. One of the many pointers I'll give you," he said smiling.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:09 pm
Risasi was set to do this game from the starting point, scrambling down from the branch as carefully as his excitement would allow. He lost his grip near the bottom, tumbling forward and landing on his back. He was quick to right himself, rolling and hopping to his feet before he felt it had been long enough for the mishap to be considering embarrassing.
Trotting to the back of the tree, he tried to spy the path that was easier than the one he had taken, but he could not see it. His eyes didn't know what to look for. Sitting down, his tail impatiently swatting the floor, he looked up at the big red male.
"I want to learn everything you can teach me!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:20 pm
Kwa landed and landed and turned around to see Risasi following close behind. He stumbled near the bottom but righted himself very quickly and Kwa nodded in approval. Learned to get up from a fall quickly was a good talent to have. He smiled at his comment, "Well then we better start now! Nice landing by the way, really I mean it," he started, "You need to know how to right yourself quickly if you fall like that, very well done."
He turned back towards the tree, "As for finding a quicker way to climb, all you have to look at is the branch size," he said walking over between two branches, "Flexibility is what you look for, start with a bouncy branch like this skinny one to propel yourself up, then, look for a thicker one like this to land on. Then just keep going from there, its pretty easy." he finished with a leap onto the flexible branch, propelling himself halfway up the tree.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:37 pm
"Yeah, I wanted to land on my back, I planned it that way, so I'd look cool," Risasi said, coughing and obviously not meaning a word of it. He grinned and shook himself, standing to get his whole body in on it.
Risasi watched Kwa go, frowning at the lesson as he took notes inside his head, "but what if the bouncy branch breaks because you're too heavy? Wouldn't you fall?" he called up, not yet ready to leap up there himself. He hadn't realized the wood of these trees were so elastic in their capabilities. He then realized something he had to share, "but why would I want to climb a tree anyway? Besides, I guess, running away from something and playing."
He frowned again, shaking his head somberly. He was speaking a lot, but he was just a cub, and when he had an idea he felt obligated to share it. Particularly now that a school setting had been established, "I don't want to run away from anything."
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:58 pm
Kwa laughed at the cub from up in the tree, he didn't want to look foolish in front of him. "Thats a good question by the way, you can make it so that the branch has a much less chance of breaking if you start where it starts, the closer you are to the branches start, the stronger it is, meaning the less chance is has to break. Of course, it doesn't always work, I've fallen plenty of times doing that. It just takes practice."
Kwa watched the cub contemplate with himself, he looked like he wanted to say something but it wasn't coming out. "If you want to say something please don't hold anything back, just because I am older doesn't mean Im better or have any more rights than you do," he said suddenly. "And as far as the reason to climb a tree, I wouldn't expect someone as tough as you to run away from just anything, it would have to be something crazy Id expect. But I have had to run away before, stampedes and such tend to be a little to tough to handle. Plus, its just fun! You can get bored easily out here when there's no one around.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:17 pm
"I wasn't holding anything back. I was thinking." Risasi said with a shrug of his lithe shoulders. He was getting more comfortable with the older lion, and his timidity was melting away. His truest nature was that of a bold young creature who liked being in charge, and who liked being the focus. He did not like being misunderstood or embarrassed, and did his best to avoid both situations.
"I've never been in a stampede. I don't think I want to be in one. I've had to run away a lot, but that's because I'm small. When I'm big and tough I want to stand my ground every time! Because I have family. And I don't want them getting picked on anymore, not while I'm around."
To the cub, this was not a confession or any sort of revealing information. It was just a goal he had, and matter of fact. He scratched an itch behind his ear, then coiled down. Drawing a deep breath, he leaped at the tree, doing his best to follow Kwa's path. He fumbled a few times, but got the basic idea down, joining the big lion on his branch.
"Ha! Thanks for teaching me!" he whooped happily, proud of his work.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:35 pm
Kwa nodded at Risasi, the cub obviously didn't want to appear wrong or embarrassed in any way. "Yeah, I wouldn't recommend ever being in one either. Thats how I got the scar on my back. An elephant nearly trampled me, but instead i got scrapped and got this." he said pointing to his back.
He watched Risasi hop branch to branch to where he was sitting, and smiled at his cheer. "That was really good! Im honestly impressed that you caught on so quickly, and its no problem at all, im glad to help. Anything else you want to learn how to do?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:10 pm
Risasi looked thoughtful for a moment. When asked directly, he could not think of any one specific thing he wanted to learn about, though he knew he had many. He only took note of specific problems when he was struggling through them, wishing he knew how to do better. It figured that now that the opportunity was present, he'd blank.
"I can't think," he said honestly, frowning, "I'm not very good at... a lot of stuff. But I don't want to take up your time if you have other things to do! I'm really thankful for you already taking time to play with me. It's really fun and I think I can climb trees better now!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:50 pm
Kwa laughed, "Well if you ever think of anything, i come around this tree a lot. So if you need to learn something new, and i just happen to be around," he said with a grin, "Ill see what i can do for you."
"And nahhh, im thankful you took the time to play with me! I had a lot of fun today, more so than I've had in awhile. You can definitely climb better now, I wouldn't be surprised if you got better than me really quickly!" he finished.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Risasi hummed to himself, almost a purr, he was glad to have met this lion, and planned to visit this tree often in order to learn more from him. It was great having a lion for a friend, and he hoped Kea meant it when he invited him to hang out. Digging his claws into the branch beneath his paws contendedly, he took a good look around from atop the branch.
"I guess I should find my family soon, or something. I don't really like being away from them for too long, because then I don't know what's going on and I like to keep track," he said this with a distracted air, working on climbing down from the tree carefully, his back paws searching for foot holds as he scaled down.
It was slow going, but he managed to get down without crashing to the floor this time, looking up at Kwa with respect and admiration, "I'll come visit you again though!"
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