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 Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2004 1:43 am
Taka reached the watering hole, tired and strained. Boy, was that cub heavy! She had no idea lion cubs were so big at birth, bigger than even her own. Quickly skimming over her imediate vicinity, she assured herself that now predators were around and started to lap up the soothing water. Finishing quickly, she pushed the little cub near the water, it's paws sinking into the shallow water. The cub only whined and tried to backup out of the water, his head dropping into the water.
Taka shook her head and picked him up out of the water, licking his fur dry. The cub mewed and inched closer to Taka, lying next to her sleepily. Taka sighed and picked him up again, he was hungry and tired but he needed to eat first. She started scouting for any animal with offspring young enough that would need milk. Slowly, her sensitive nose picked up the faint smell of milk. Swiftly moving forward, her eys picked out the hiding place of a pregnant gazelle. Crap.
Fast moving pray right now just wasn't what she was up for. Growling, she nestled the weak and sleepy cub into a patch of dried golden grass that was sheltered by a small rock. His pelt stood out starkly. It would have to do, though, Mustering up her strength, Taka crouched and inched nearer to the gazelle, eyes thinning to grasp it's position. The gazelle's peaceful disposition soon took to a more alert and surprised demeanor. Her child did the same. Taka immediately sprung from her hiding place racing with the gazelle who's baby had fled into the tall grass.
Within seconds, Taka was on the gazelle's rear and started swiping at her feet only to receive a hard kick to the face. It phased her for a split second before in a blind rage, shetripped the gazelle, leaping over the span of it's body and latching onto it's neck. She felt it's life pass through her jaws and started dragging it back to the cub where she let him feed on it. His face, though tired, held a glow courage, not giving up on his life just yet. It reminded her...of her firstborn cub.
"I think...I will call you Teule. It means chosen...do you like it?"
The cub blinked at her and mewed loudly, it's maw turned up in a kitten like grin. She smiled through her tiredness and joined the cub, starting to pick the carcass clean of it's meat.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Kiu padded along, thinking as he walked. A plan to kill Makadari would take a long time to figure out. He would have to plot it out very carefully, and he would have to be cautious. Under no circumstances could Kiu mention it to anyone. Now, how to do it. . . he couldn’t poison the Firekin's water supply by any means. That could mean serious danger to the other lions. Not that Kiu cared about them, but what use was being a leader without a pride? And besides, water was scarce. Food? No, lions shared that as well. Unless he brought his father some sort of special treat. . . but how could he do it in a way that wouldn’t make Makadari suspicious? Well, he’d have to think. He didn’t really want to fight Makadari in a primitive contest of brute strength. After all, even though Kiu was younger, Makadari was more experienced. And then, he had it. It would need some adjusting, but Kiu had the perfect plan.
He would bring Makadari a slab of meat. He was sure he could find some sort of poisoned plants somewhere. . . He’d have to think on that. Once he found the poisonous plants, Kiu would place the deadly herbs in only the end portion of the meat slab. Then, he could even share the carcass with Makadari. Even if the king suspected that he was being poisoned, he would not think that only a portion of his food would bring about his death. A slow smirk crept across the reddish lion’s features. This was perfect! It would prove his cleverness and intelligence to the other lions perfectly, and it was almost 100 % sure to wipe out his pitiful father. True, Makadari was a good ruler, but his time had come. He was too old to be of much use anymore. And so, the lion planned, not really paying attention to where he was going.
Soon, the plotting heir had reached the border to the pridelands. His good mood only increased, and his smirk grew. Here he was, at the border. . . maybe some brave (and idiotically foolish) pridelander would come by. He could easily fight and best the blundering fool that dared. He did not fear the guard lionesses of the Pridelands. The whole prideland was distracted by the birth of those cubs anyway. . . who cared? Everyone knew that the pridelanders were weaklings, almost as bad as those MISTWEAVERS. He shuddered. No, the Mistweavers were far worse. . .
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 6:49 am
Boredom had set in and Kimondo could nothing else but take a stroll around the pridelands to keep herself entertained for the time being. The prince was well protected and cared for with his dam and Koho so she had nothing else to do. The rest of the prode wasn't ready to go for a hunt so that ruled that out too, well, she was getting quite hungry herself...
Looking across the lush green plain her eyes came across a small herd of antelope. she picked up speed and trotted closer to the herd of swift creatures before lowering her body to the Earth. She crept closer, inch bby inch, so as not to alert the herd to her prescence. Her eyes scanned the group for a sign of an easy target. There were several young ones in the herd but most looked like they were a few weeks old and were very healthy. Those would easily be able to keep up with the herd. Taking a healthy antelope by herself would be quite a challenge and she wasn't that hungry yet to take the risk of being gored by an adult or exhausted from chasing a young one.
She was about to give up when the herd moved several paces when she saw one antelope limping profusely. It had apparenly been injured by something. She shifted her weight so that she was ready to spring at any mmoment. Waiting patiently, she watched as the herd moved closer to her, but agust of wind came by and blew her scent right to them. The herd took off, the injured antelope doing its best to keep up. Kimondo's muscles exploded as she took off after the herd. It didn't take long to reach the injured creature and trip it up. The antelope fell to the eart and she was right there. The creature wasn't about to give up though and lashed out at her with it's hooves and horns. It attempted to get back up but she lept onto its body, avoiding th ehooves and sinking her teeth into it's neck. After the creature took it's final breath she lifted her head and sat back on her haunches to catch her breath. As he blue eyes scanned the surrounding area they fell upon an unfamiliar lion. That was when she realized she was along the boreders of the pridelands.
Her meal currently forgotten she rose and padded towards the lion warily. If he was attempting to cross the borders she would alert Mufasa as quickly as possible. The Firekin knew not to come into the pridelands, but there were always those stubborn few.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:25 am
As he walked, Kiu saw a shadow in the distance. At first, he couldn’t tell what it was, but as it drew closer, he realized that it was a herd of antelope. Ah. . . he would have chased them if he had not already been full. He had eaten not too long ago. And so, he was content to watch. Just then, the herd of antelope began to dart away as rapidly as they could. At first, the rust hued lion couldn’t see what they were running from, but then he realized that they were being stalked by some large feline. At first, he couldn’t tell if it was a lioness, one of his own kind, or a cheetah, but as the blot that was Kimondo drew nearer in her pursuit of the herd, he realized that it was indeed a lioness. She was not as thin and quick as a cheetah, sleeker and more muscular than those scrawny little things. . . He had never liked Cheetahs. Not powerful enough. Even if they were fast enough, they had no endurance! Stuck up little. . .
Kiu watched as Kimondo charged forwards, panting heavily, and leapt upon an injured antelope. She easily took it down as he looked on. He was rather surprised. The weak pridelanders. . . sometimes, he doubted if they could even catch their own food! Well, maybe the antelope in the Pridelands were as stupid as the lions, and couldn’t escape. Kiu smirked. Now, Firekin lions. . . they had a tough time bringing down game. There were far fewer creatures in the desert, and there was almost no water, but they lived anyway, and they lived well. Not like those weak Mistweavers, who depended upon water for their survival. Then, after she had brought the Antelope down, the strange lioness caught sight of him. Kiu shifted nervously. He hadn’t expected her to see him! Ah well. . . it was against his principles to fight Lionesses, but. . . if she threatened him, he would make sure that he could hold up the Firekin name!
He drew nearer, walking casually and insolently towards the fatale nearby. An arrogant smirk was plastered across the face of the handsome heir as he drew forwards, and a glint of superiority was in his eye.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:32 am
Kimondo watched the lion as he drew closer to the boundry. She wasn't about to let him pass into the pridelands without him knowing it. She picked up speed and stopped delibertly in his path along the boundry. "Where do you think you are going, Firekin?" Her ears were against her skull as she watched his every move. She had to admit though, this lion looked to be in well shape for living in the desert, then again, the Firekin could be as unforgiving as the desert.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:43 am
Kiu smirked in an insolent fashion, arching an eyebrow and taking a deliberate step forwards. “Oh, nowhere,” he drawled, taking another step. “Past you, if you’d allow me to, Pridelander.” This last word was spat rather than rolled off of the tongue. The heir found it almost impossible to hide his distaste for Pridelanders. “Now, if you would be so kind,” the ruddy hued lion continued, “I’d like for you to get. . . out. . . of. . . my. . . way.” Kiu had absolutely no desire to go into the pridelands. He simply wanted to pick a fight with the lioness. Since she obviously did not want him in her homeland, he was very eager to enter and make her furious. Making other lions furious. . . that was something that the insolent and big-headed Firekin heir loved more than anything else.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:52 am
Kimondo held her ground as the lion grew closer. She wasn't about to just step aside. "You know you're not aloud in the pridelands so just go back to your desert home." She held her head high her ears raised once again to show she wasn't frightened of him. She wasn't one for fighting with other lions or liionesses but should the time arise she would give her all. Her azure eyes focused on Kiu and never left his rusty red form.
(Short post I know, but I got to head to work. I'll reply to your next post when I get on tonight. smile )
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:04 am
“Ah, the desert. . .” Kiu plastered a sarcastic smile upon his features. “Home sweet home. But. . .” Kiu paused for a moment. “Why should I go back? You’re here all alone. . . no other lionesses are here to protect you.” He tilted his chin upwards, the hot sun above glinting off of his reddish pelt and making it glisten. The lion was sleek and glossy, as well as very muscular. He was, after all, one of the blood. Kiu took a few more steps forwards, placing one paw in front of the other. Yes, he was certainly getting on this stranger’s nerves. “No one can challenge an heir to the Firekin throne,” he said in a more serious tone. “Now, please step aside. If you’ll remember, pridelander,” (once again, he said ‘pridelander’ in a disgusted, rude, arrogant tone) “I did ask you politely. If you refuse to move. . . don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
((Heh... mine's short too. See you tonight!))
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:48 pm
Kimondo couldn't help but roll her eyes. Kiu's arrogant nature would be his unlimate downfall someday if he didn't learn that modesty could get him much more. She plopped herself down where she was standing, her tail curling around herself. She could be as arrogant and as stubborn as him, two could definitly play his game. "I am sorry to dissapoint you but I don't feel like moving at the moment." she said matter-of-factly. "Besides, should you attack, just one call would bring the pride running to my aid... should I need it." A smirk played across her face as the tip of her tail gently batted the ground in a playful matter.
The more she was around this lion though, the more she grew attracted to him for some odd reason or another. Maybe it's because he's so different compared to the other lions she had come across or that he just had that attitude of a young fearless cub. Either way, she couldn't explain it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:33 pm
Kiu laughed, a low, slightly menacing laugh. “By the time the Pride got here, even if any were near enough to hear your call during the preoccupation with the new prince, I’d have finished you off and escaped. However. . . I’m tired today. I don’t think that I’ll kill you. It might spoil my appetite.” He rolled his eyes, eyeing the carcass of the dead antelope that the lioness had taken down. It was a nice catch, wounded though it was. He was slightly impressed. It seemed as though this pridelander had some good qualities, even if she was of a weakling breed. She was brave (if for a stupid cause), and obviously strong. Oh, it was a pity that these features were wasted on such a terrible breed of lion! Now, she should have been a Firekin. She shouldn’t have been born as a pathetic, lowly pridelander. Kiu tried to change his thoughts. He was growing a bit too admiring of this lioness. She was, after all, a pridelander, and his inferior. He might have admired her if she were a proper Firekin lion.
“Though you might already have done that. . .” Kiu drawled. “Not very friendly to visitors, are you, pridelander? I’ve noticed that I’m never welcomed here whenever I drop by. . . I’ve always enjoyed a bit of danger. Hunting for food is a lioness’s work, but hunting for trouble is my specialty.” He shot her a slightly malicious grin. “Looks as if I’ve found some. I’m going to ask you one more time to let me by.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:46 pm
She shrugged. "Then I don't survive, but I am sure you would be able to be tracked down. The King is quite good at doing such things." She stood back up and tauntingly stretched, as if she were growing bored of him and his arrogant ways and was about to let him pass but instead circles him once. "Oh, I am usually quite friendly to visitors, as long as they aren't an arrogant Firekin heir who believes he can get his way all the time."
She stopped back in front of him, her blue eyes piercing his. Never letting her gaze fall from his she takes a few steps forward so that they are almost nose to nose. "Now, you got the trouble you wanted, are you sure you didn't bite off more than you could chew?" Her voice was airy and had a bit of teasing in it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:00 pm
“Bite off more than I can chew?” Kiu asked, his own voice taking on a teasing, even more arrogant quality. “Even if that fool of a lazy second son that you call king is good at tracking, he won’t enter Firekin land. We’d tear him to pieces. Starting a war over a stupid trespassing. . . that’s just foolish, pointless, a waste of time.” Suddenly, the Firekin heir stopped his nonchalant drawl. It dawned on him that the lioness was actually ENJOYING her banter with him to some extent. The scarier part was that he was beginning to eagerly trade witticisms with her. . . he didn’t hate her quite as much. This disturbed him to the extreme. She was a pridelander! So what if she was good to argue with? She was still a weakling, she was not one of the Blood, one of the Firekin! “By the way,” he spat, his eyes glancing at her with mock boredom, “I don’t think you’ll be dying today. Some idiot will probably start a war over it. If there was a war, how could I possibly come back into the Pridelands to fight other idiots and take them down a notch?”
It was now his turn to circle her, his muscles rippling underneath his glossy red coat as he padded around her, studying her shrewdly. “It’s a pity that you’re a pridelander. . . you don’t seem quite as weak as the others of your tribe. It all comes down to blood. . . wouldn’t be surprised if you had a drop of Firekin in you. The pridelanders are all children compared with the Firekin.” He added this last comment in a harsh tone, hoping to take away from the almost complimentary attitude that he had used in his former sentences.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:13 pm
"You're right, a war would be senseless, but some petty battering between a few lions and lionesses never hurt anyone, but if you keep going around the pridelands insulting our king, I can assure you, there will most likely be trouble." She watched as he began to circle her as she had done to him. Out of fun she lifted her tail so that as he passed her backside the tuft of her tail just happened to gently brush across his face, and as much as he tried to hide it, his compliment didn't go unnoticed. She had to admit, she was very much attracted to this lion, if not actually falling for him. He could match wits with her and he had his own charms, though you had to have a strong mind not to take his charming personality as insults.
After he had finished his round around her she settled onto her haunches again and looked at him a bit curiously. "What is with you Firekin and blood?" She asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:17 pm
“It is bred into us,” he said simply. “We are descended from the great Gods of the Desert. We have proven ourselves by surviving without water and food, without the comforts you pridelanders and those atrocious Mistweavers take for granted. We have proven our strength. We are the direct descendants of Finar-si herself, and we should be worshipped by lesser beings, just as we worship the greatest of all beings, and our ancestors. . .” He paused. “You pridelanders live such easy lives. You have plenty of food in your territory. We live in a barren wasteland, where hardly any creatures dare to venture. We are godlike, we live in terrible conditions. There is almost no water at all in the Firekin lands. You have several reliable watering holes. You think the drought that plagues us all is bad? You should see our desert. We hardly drink at all! Drinking water is a sign of weakness where I come from.”
Kiu was slightly distracted then. The place where the strange lioness had brushed the tip of her tail against his cheek felt odd. . . tingling. He ignored it. “You, like all of the other pridelanders, like your king, live the easy life and have grown weak because of it. We live in the desert to keep our strength, to keep ourselves in top condition, to make sure that we do not grow fat and lazy and dependant on water, like those sniveling Mistweavers. . .” the name of the Mistweavers was spoken with even more hatred than the name of the pridelanders.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:24 pm
"Soyou pride yourselves over us just because you live in a desert where there is a harsher living? That, in my opinion, is quite ridiculous. Yes, I will agree that it's hard to live in the desert, just looking at it can make me want to turn around and heead back to pride rock to relax in the coolness of it's shade, but we have our own problems here. We often hav intruders entering our lands because of it's lush vegetation and abundent food and water, thus, we have to be on constant alert, and I do not like your comment about us being weak. I ignored your earlier comments of that nature, but I've grown sick of it. Just because we live in a more comfortable environment doesn't make us weak." She spoke matter-of-Factly to him. She wasn't about to let him get away with yet another comment on how she and the rest of the pride is weak.
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