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 Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:07 pm
 How he had appeared back in the pride lands was anyone's guess... the last anyone would have seen of Malik prior to that sunrise was the cub racing off towards the boarder of the pride lands and the desert. His brother, Azeze, had been taken by a firekin. Malik, being the oldest of the boys, had chaised after the male until he had passed out of exhaustion. His tumble down the rocky cliffs hadn't helped his condition in the least, he was fortunate that the cliff was made up of shelf after shelf otherwise it could have been the end of him. He was alive, and thankfully nothing was broken but he had a set of new bruises all along his body and a few nasty cuts over his golden pelt.
Upon waking explosions and stars shot through his vision, every ache and pain coming into his concious mind all at once, announcing themselves as if he was being torn apart by buzzards. The older cub gave a grunt, slowly moving his paws under him. "Bruddah...", he growled, slowly opening his eyes to his surroundings, expecting to still be among the burning sands of the desert. Instead- there was grass, glorious grass... and the smell of water nearby.
It was bittersweet... it meant that while he was alive and home- Azeze was out of his grasp. He fell back on his haunches, already bushed from the effort it took to get off his belly, tired both physically and emotionally... he was the biggest, he had to be the one to protect them. "Urng... man..."
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:39 am
Ta'Ziyan? Mm...that name sounded familiar too. Moments like this threatened to drive Ada nuts, for if she didn't know something she wanted to find out right away. She hated being left in the dark. And this was tickling at the back of her mind uncomfortably. She was sure she knew him from something!
"Mm! Of course not!" She said with gushing sarcasim. She rolled over onto her back, looking at him from upsidedown. "I am secretly part of an organization of buzzards that are trying to take over the world!" She grinned, her voice obviously teasing.
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:04 pm
Feeling heat rise to his features, he let out a sort of rumble that seemed quite similar to a growl, merely because he was frustrated of being shown wrong.
"I lived in these lands for many months without being a part of this pride." He said with a grounded tone before jumping from his rock and landing with a soft thud. Shaking his fur, he glanced back towards her before looking to the distance, mind spinning off for a few silent moments.
After a long, pregnant pause, he turned back to her, before looking down towards her chest. The white stuck out like the clouds in the blue sky, and suddenly he felt his breath catch.
"You...You!" He said with sudden widening of his eyes. Sure she was only a cub than, but he had so few of friends that it was hard not to forget a face, or the pelt in this case. Her white chest was something interesting, like the curl of a tail, and it jarred the dejavu, "You were that cub I met before I came here!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:58 am
Adanna wrinkled her nose at his disgruntlment. She had only been kidding, jeeze! Someone couldn't seem to a take a joke. She hated having her fun spoiled so quickly...it wasn't fair! Mrrr!
So she frowned in frustration at him all the while he talked of being in the pridelands for a time before joining. Well wasn't he special! As she started back at him, much like a child pouting, she began to notice he was staring at her chest. While this wasn't really offensive, it was just...odd...like staring at someones tail or paw. She opened her mouth to blurt out a rude comment about it, which was typical of her attitude, when he spoke first. And he did so rather ethusiastically.
"Eh?" She looked rather bewildered at his outburst. But she didn't brush away the comment, for she had had the sense of familiarity hadn't she? So she twitched her ears in thought for a moment and then blinked, "Ohhhh! You're that guy that was looking for some girl...who lived here, right?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:51 am
-TIME JUMP- She had taken her duty as nanny with the utmost joy, glad to be able to offer her aide to the pride, and with her two adopted cubs in tow the three (soon to be six) had picked out a place to stay in the caves of Pride Rock.
Tai padded into the shade of the cooler stone as the sun continued to beat outside in patches.
"This way now, you two." She called back softly, moving to settle down and sit once she felt that they were far enough inside.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:33 pm
Zira followed after her pristine white mother, who had grown awfully large the past few weeks.
The small black cub walking just behind the older lioness as they went deeper into the caves, squinting a little in the darkness.
"It's cooler than it is out there, momma." She said softly, still young and nieve about life and it's wonders.
Like the sun and the concept of hot and cold and where it was hot and cold.
But right now, she just wanted to follow mum.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:22 pm
"That's because the sunlight can't reach in here. The rocks don't like the heat."
She explained to her daughter, smiling quietly to whoever else might be inhabiting the caves at that point in time.
Choosing a spot near the wall, then, Tai eased herself to settle down, grateful for the chance to rest her paws and her growing girth. The cool stones felt good on her white pelt, which tended to attract the heat rather than protect her from it. Room was left for Zira and her brother to curl up beside Tai if they wanted, as the lioness' chest heaved a bit. A soft pant, cooling down further in place of sweating, which her fur prevented.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:19 pm
If a china-white lioness being followed by a sooty-black cub was not strange enough, the bright red cub also in tow would have boggled most minds. He often stopped to look around, then rush to catch up, then stop again, then rush again. Udhahiri really was quite peculiar at times, sometimes just stopping and staring at the sky until he fell backwards in its awe.
He hesitated at the mouth of the cool caves. He liked the light. He liked to see things. But when it was dark, he didn't like the unknown. All he had at night was sound and smell, which wasn't enough. He had to see things, he had to know what was there.
Udhahiri practically tip-toed into the cave, this time choosing to stick close to his sister and not stop for anything. At least this way, he wouldn't get lost and he could see what he knew best.
"Its dark in here..." he mumbled quietly.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:35 pm
Perhaps, even if only times like these, it was a blessing for Tai's bright white pelt. She had been one of the most esteemed huntresses back in her childhood pride (where, surprisingly, most of the lions were anything but pale, save for those tied directly to the king), with all the snow, but here she felt completely out of her element. She stood out like a sore thumb amidst all the greens, though it was better during the seasons when the grasses turned golden shades of brown and tan. In the evening hours she was like a ghost wandering about, much like her nieces and nephew, and brother.
In the dark of the cave she could be easily found, almost glowing against the shadows the inner caverns cast. If not for her pelt, then surely for the happiness she felt. Though they weren't her own she took great pride and joy in watching Zira and Udha grow, and hoped that when her blood-litter came they would all get along, and become an even bigger family amidst the pride.
They were young now, but soon they'd begin growing into their inborn skills. Their eyes would learn to adjust more quickly between light and dark, and they'd become more aware of their other senses when they couldn't rely on their eyes. For now, however, Tai offered comforting reassurances.
"Your eyes will adjust soon, Udhahiri..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:49 pm
His sister practically melted into the walls, whereas his 'mother' was easy to find again in the murkiness. True, the cave wasn't totally devoid of light, like Udha might have originally thought, but it was a farcry from being outside.
He crept up alongside his mother's tummy and nestled into the growing pudge that would soon be his new brothers and/or sisters. Although too young to have formed any strong opinion on siblings, he did hope for at least one brother to play with.
Udha soon began to fidget again, this time shuffled along Tai's body until he reache her forepaws, where he collapsed into a cute litlte bundle at her paws.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:28 pm
Her smile grew a little wider as Udha drew closer, and she leant down, craning her neck over to run her tongue over her son's back, and the back of his head. She certainly didn't mind.
"Are you tired or hungry, sweetheart?" She asked softly, giving him a gentle nudge with her nose.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:34 pm
Udha muchly appreciated the motherly show of affection from Tai and was quite pouty to feel it stop. He continued to wobbled around and over his mother's paws and front legs in restlessness, eyes occasionally gazing out to the sunshine, and then back in again to the darker inside of the cave.
"Why'd we have ta move?" he asked bluntly.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:44 pm
"I'm sorry Udha, but I need to be closer to the rest of the pride so I can do my job..." Which was to look after the rest of the pride's children and keep them entertained when their parents couldn't, or at least, the ones that stayed at pride rock.
As he crawled over her foreleg again Tai took the chance to lift her paw, snagging and cradling him in said appendage and drawing him in closer, tickling his exposed underbelly with her nose.
"Wait until you meet some of the others your age here, you'll like it. And soon you'll have more siblings of your own to play with too."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:52 pm
Udha's 'pouty face' was soon gone when Tai began to tickle him with her nose. He wriggled and squirmed, giggles escaping his little muzzle as he tried to resist or to escape, or even fight back, most attempts quite futile.
Eventually, he just seemed to tumble from Tai's cradled paw and his giggles came to a slow stop. He looked up at her with a searching expression.
"What is your job? Will you still be able to play with me?" he asked, a little selfishly.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:44 am
As Udha played with mother, Zira investigated the cave slightly, sniffing at the darkness with childish curiousity.
Did things live in the dark?
Where they friendly or would they hurt her family?
At the thought she let out a small immature growl, seeing as she wasn't big or old enough to make a proper one and tottered back over to her large mother.
Zira had never been one to enjoy cuddling much, but she did love to snuggle up beside her mom and as she reached the pure white lioness she didn't hesitate nuzzling her small dark form against her pudgy belly.
But as her younger brother asked her job, she had to look at her curiously.
"Do you hunt for the pwide momma?" Dangit, she always had a problem with that word.
Well no matter, she'd grow out of it.
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