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 Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:43 pm
"Oh sweetie, not everyone sees the world the way you and I do." Giza grinned, "My daddy can do things with his eyes that you and I can only dream of... of course, he can't see anything during the day. Too bright. So that's when we sleep." Plus, they were a family of black lions. Generally, hanging around in the dark was safer anyway.
Though being safe had never exactly been their mission statement.
Her ears picked up when he mentioned the rabbit. She looked over, following his line of vision, "Oh... breakfast." She grinned, seeming pleased by the idea of getting something to eat.
"Shall we go and take a look?" She asked, seeming to think that would be a fantastic idea.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:33 pm
Doto bristled. He wasn't fond of pet names. He didn't say anything about it, however, ruffling his fur a bit and fixing his posture to compensate for the small blow to his pride.
"Let's do," Doto grinned, leading the way carefully toward the bush, crouching, he looked around for any sign escape paths that the rabbit might be able to take, but would be impossible for the two cubs. Considering their size, though Doto was large for his age, he doubted the rabbit would be able to find anything for that particular advantage.
Frowning in focus, he decided he did not want to leap at the meal recklessly, or chase it out as he had done with the gazelle. Instead, he wanted to drop in on it from above. It wasn't necessary to the hunt, but climbing a tree, calculating the distance and the speed, getting his timing right: it would all just add to the fun of it.
Looking at Giza, he spoke quietly.
"If you want to be the chaser this time, you could lead it to that tree over there. I want to see if I can jump down on it right on time, but I need a little distance to see how fast it runs. Do you think you could chase it?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:32 am
Giza nodded, seeming to like that idea quite a bit. Running around would be enjoyable... but watching Doto climb a tree and then fall out of it? Priceless.
"Okay... I'll give you some time to climb up." She nodded, crouching and moving towards the bush, "I hope you're good at climbing things."
Then she moved off, watching both the bush and Doto so she could be sure when the time was right to spring their trap. She couldn't go too early... but if they waited too long, they could just as easily end up being far too late.
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:09 pm
"I'm good at everything," Doto said. It wasn't a joke, and it wasn't overly pompous. It was delivered straight, his red eyes flashing. He held no expression for a long while, and then cracked a grin. Waggling his hind quarters, he bounded away and reached the tree within moments, scrambling up it with something close to grace, save some misplaced paws.
He situated himself on the lowest branch, balancing precariously on the thinner end in order to keep himself hidden in the leaves. Keeping himself crouched, he dug his claws into the bark, flexing his shoulders and making sure all his muscles were properly coiled. Turning his head, he fixed his eyes on Giza and grinned.
He was as ready as he could be. The distance was good, the height was perfect for a fast jump: all he needed now was to see that rabbit run, and time his leap. Hopefully he wouldn't land on Giza. And even if he did, at least it would be fun.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:15 am
Giza giggled helplessly, "No one is good at everything..." She said under her breath, but that didn't stop her from smiling. She liked arrogance. Always had. It tended to be a bit of a family specialty.
She waited and watched Doto climb the tree, and grinned even more when she saw that he had made it to the top. He was ready... now she just hoped that he wouldn't land on her.
Then she turned and made a mad dash at the bush. After all, she wasn't trying to hide. Better that the rabbit inside thought she was a stupid cub. Make it think she was stupid... let it underestimate her. All part of the plan.
The rabbit ran from the bush as Giza jumped inside it. Giza just smiled and bolted after it, making sure that she ran at it from all the angles that would send it straight under Doto's tree.
She couldn't very well have it run off in the wrong direction, now could she?
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:35 am
Doto watched as Giza drove the rabbit from its hiding place, his muscles coiling reactively as the distance between him and it closed. He calculated in his head, his eyes following the path Giza was leading it down. In his mind he could count the steps until it got to the point where he would pounce, and time slowed down as it drew closer.
Moving suddenly, he was out of the tree and on top of the rabbit before a second had ticked by, his claws catching fur and flesh as he rolled with it. He felt the tangled mess he had become a part of bump into Giza, though he was a bit too distracted to looked up at her.
Pinning the rabbit to the floor, it stopped moving, paralyzed by fear or injury. Panting, but exhilarated, Doto looked at Giza triumphantly.
"I told you I could catch it!" he whooped, with a laugh.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:34 pm
Giza grinned and cheered, sliding along the ground so that she wouldn't run into Doto, which she narrowly avoided, "We did it! I can't believe it! We're the best!"
Had she the mind to, she would have gone straight home and bragged to her siblings and her parents... but she knew that would do no good. No outsiders. They couldn't be trusted. No matter how much they seemed like friends.
Not that Giza bought it. She knew help when she saw it, and she would grab an ally where she could. She and Doto worked well together, they had proven that, not just once, but twice now.
And honestly, she was having way too much fun to stop now. "We need to kill it! I'm starving!" Giza grinned, staring down at the rabbit with glee, "It's so scared... that'll just make it tastier!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:03 pm
Doto nodded, pulling himself back and looking down at the rabbit. He grinned, enjoying the way it suddenly began to struggle once it felt slightly less weight on it. There was no chance of it escaping, however. It was fun to let it think that it had a chance. He watched it for a long moment, his pleasure increasing as its desperation mounted. At length it stopped struggling once more, as if resigning itself to its fate.
Doto shifted his weight again, and the game began anew. He grinned. It was a simple little creature, yet fascinating to observe in its final moments. Looking up at Giza, he nodded, hearing in a memory that she was starving. He had almost lost himself to his musings.
"Right, kill it. Do you want the honors? I think I had the better end of the hunt, really. It was a lot of fun. Nothing fancy, though. It's for eating, not playing." He grinned, channeling his father's tone of voice as he spoke.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:52 pm
Giza sighed, "I know, I know. For killing. Almost makes it boring..." Then she shrugged, looking rather annoyed about that on the whole... but she was hungry. She wanted to eat it.
Killing it only bored her more... but, whatever. Food. And food she could tack onto the list of things she had killed, which would impress her father, "Okay, I'll deal with it."
She did raise an eyebrow, smiling, "Unless you wanna fool around with it some more. You do look like you're having a good time... Who knows how long it'll squirm before it really stops thinking it will get away..."
Her stomach may have been growling, but Giza could never turn down the idea of torture... even if it only ended in death, and had little to do with maiming. She couldn't help it. Her mind had a way of bringing her back to things she was really interested in.
Besides, Doto was way more fun when he was having a good time!
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Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 3:30 pm
Doto grinned, shaking his head. He was amused that she had caught on to the simple pleasure he was taking from watching the pitiful creature. It was true, though. There was no telling how long it would go on. Every time Doto moved, giving it some modicum of freedom or even just the impression of a lighter hold, it would squirm and make feeble noises in its effort to be released.
But his hunger, combined with the sounds from his companions stomach, were more pressing than his desire to examine and understand the stressed animals dying, frantic mind. Sighing, he pushed the rabbit closer to Giza, if she wanted to kill it. If not, he was more than happy to. He knew he would not be able to stay out much longer, in trouble for a prank he had pulled on his siblings, but he could at least share this small meal with his friend.
Accomplice. Both.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:31 pm
Giza grinned, lifting her paw and slicing down, tearing out the hare's throat with one swift motion. She wished she could show her father, she was certain he would have been impressed with how well she was using what he had taught her. But she had to keep this a secret. At least for now.
"There we go! Dinner time! Or... breakfaste? Lunch? Eh." She shrugged, not caring anymore, "Let's dig in!" She was quite pleased to do so. After all, she had a new friend and accomplice. A partner in crime. Breaking bread... or killing a rabbit in this case, seemed like the best way to seal the deal.
"I wonder..." She pondered as she ate, "What it's like... to be on the other side." She was personally glad that she wasn't, but Giza had always been curious about what it would be like to be helpless... pathetic. Poor souls, how she loved to hurt them... she would never want to be one, but their terror must have been a powerful thing.
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:34 am
Doto ate carefully, being a gentlemen and letting her have as much as she wanted. He was a large cub, after all, and if he did not stay wary of himself he would have probably ate the whole thing. Glad to have eaten anything at all, he purred a bit as he sat back and cleaned himself, watching Giza as she mused.
"Other side?" he scoffed, cleaning his paws carefully, "I don't know. I bet they feel useless. Why wouldn't they? To be weak and easy to kill, that's got to be hard on them. At least we, as lions, have this natural strength to us. Even the weak ones of our kind are still viewed as strong, just because they're lions. It's all in the head. Everything is in the head. Understand that, and how to use it to your advantage, and I think you'd be near impossible to defeat. Don't you?"
He purred again, but this time it was closer to a growl. He liked the idea of mastering the mind game, of being able to figure a creature out just by observing it. Weaknesses, greatest fears: everything that could shatter a mind was always readily observable in a target. All Doto had to do was learn how to read it.
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:08 pm
"Oh, of course..." Giza purred, lolling on her side absently as she finished eating, "I'm just thinking... you know... what it would be like to really be afraid." She grinned a little, "Lions like you and I... we're not afraid of anything. That's why I like seeing the little weak things skitter... because that's something I know I'll never feel."
And she never intended to. Fear was for the weak. It created panic. Hysteria. Clouded the mind, that was what her father had told her. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to feel something as useless as fear. Why run away when you could crush an enemy? Well... unless she supposed, death was unavoidable. Then it was best to go, get her family, and then come back for the kill.
She purred now, seeming quite pleased, "I'm glad I'm a lion. I wouldn't want to be any of the other small pathetic things... but you have to wonder... my daddy says that scaring and killing other lions is easy too, if you know how to do it."
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:03 pm
"I don't know if I'm scared of anything or not," Doto said thoughtfully, "I guess I just haven't been yet. If there is something out there for me to be afraid of, I'd imagine it's also something to look up to. Respect. But I don't think I'll ever let myself be as scared as this rabbit was. Just gave itself up to the fear, and humiliated itself. That would be worse than just getting killed or hurt, or whatever."
"I'm glad I'm a lion, too. But not all lions are worth the blood in their bodies. I've seen some that are more like mice, or birds, or gazelle. They don't act like lions, and it's pretty disgusting. I don't know if they're capable of going out and bringing fear to some animal on purpose, you know? Animals just fear them because they're lions."
He sighed, thinking about his family, "I should probably go home soon. I got in trouble for playing a trick on my brothers, and my father will sit on me if I break his rules."
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:20 pm
"A scared lion? How stupid is that!" Giza declared, laughing out loud... though on the inside her brain had already begun to move in a direction away from humor. Or rather, away from the normal type of humor. The idea of a scared lion... just as scared as the rabbit had been... now that was an exciting though. Better than just a little exciting.
"I'd like to see that..." She whispered, purring with satisfaction, "A little frightened lion... all alone with no one in the world to protect it..." What would it be like to do to a lion what she had done to the little gazelle? Not that she could, far too small. But she liked the thought of it.
Then she smiled, "Ah, I know how daddies can be... I wouldn't want mine to be mad at me." Not that he would. She would have to display some kind of weakness for her father to get angry with her.
And weakness was one of those things Giza wasn't very good at, "You should go. I wouldn't want him to be mad at you..." She grinned, "Though breaking rules is always way more fun than sticking too them."
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