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 Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:16 am
 The day had been hot; she'd spent it napping the shade of her parent's den. Now, as evening stole over the pridelands, the air had cooled to a bearable temperature. Siri stretched in the blue-grey twilight and yawned.
If she couldn't play during the day, well... she'd just have to play at night!
A breeze ruffled her coat as she trotted towards the plains. Although her purple coat stood out in daylight, at night she blended in with the deep shadows. She grinned; all the better to sneak up on her friends! Tonight, however, she wasn't interested in that.
If Mama won't teach me how to hunt, I'll learn for myself!
It couldn't be that hard to catch a little rabbit, could it?
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:29 am
The night also complimented Ruffian's black coat, and though, if she had the right moment, she could catch in the day as well as night, her favourite times were in the early morning and late evening to catch. The cool air seemed to make the prey animals lazy, and much easier for pickings.
Tonight, though, she just wanted to get away for a bit. Her relationship with Daemon had taken that pleasant turn, but sometimes there was still the itch to go out and be by herself. Something that was terribly difficult to di in such a large pride as the Pridelands.
And she soon realized that when she saw the cub that she had nearly drowned, how long ago? It didn't seem like that long, but Siri was already quite large! Catching up to Ruffian quite quickly.
She trotted over to the lioness (can't call her a cub any longer!), curious, but wanting to say hello. "Siri!" she called out, certain that it was the young female. Just look at that coat! It was quite distinctive.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:38 am
Where did preybeasts go at night? Sh always saw them roaming in close-knit herds during the day, but now...? The lioness scanned the horizon and huffed. Can't see 'em? Smell 'em. She raised her muzzle to the air --
"Siri?"
The lioness swivled, caught sight of the familiar black coat, and squealed. "Ruffian!"
Face lit up with happiness, the teen loped over to the other's side. "I haven't seen you in AGES!" She cried. "Not since I was little!"
Well... maybe not ages. But still!
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:16 am
The lioness couldn't help but break out a smile and the adolescent lioness ran up to her. She was right! And booooy, she was big! "Haha, I knoow! Wow, it's been too long. Look how big you are now!" She knew it was annoying, always hearing the compliment on how big you've gotten, but she couldn't help it; it was quite true!
"What have you been up to?" she asked, curious. She knew it'd be a hard question to answer, since it had been quite some time and she was sure that a lot of things had happened.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:32 am
No matter how many times they told her, she NEVER got tired of hearing how big she was! Couldn't tell her she was too little NOW. Siri pranced a bit, pleased.
"Yeah! Mama says I'm almost as big as I'll get!" She announced. "I think I'll still grow though, I bet!"
Ruffian looked the same as ever, if a little more cheerful than the last time Siri'd seen her. "Daemon taught me to swim a while back, and I've been practicing hunting too!" Her mouth turned down in a bit of a pout. "But Mama hasn't taught me yet. She's always too busy!"
Catching herself before she whined too much, she quickly changed teh subject. "What about you?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:53 am
Ruffian's smile grew on, pleased that Siri was doing well. The adorable girl deserved it, in her mind. She sat herself down for a moment, her tail swishing behind her as it always did. Ruffian's brown eyes glanced over the lioness' body, noticing just how much she did grow. "That's wonderful!"
Her attention switched to the hint that Siri wanted to learn something, but it was quickly pushed off when Siri was wondering about herself. "Well...."she started, a bit shy. "Daemon and I are doing well." That was all she wanted to mention on that subject, unless she was pushed more. "He's being a butthead as ever though. Men, I swear sometimes," she said, laughing.
Back to the hunting subject though. "Is your Mother just busy with your sibilings?" She hoped it wasn't for any real drastic reason. Sweet lioness, she was.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:30 pm
"Well?" Siri grinned slyly at Ruffian. "If you need a babysitter sometime...?" She let the sentence drop and laughed. "Men are always pigheaded. They can't help it!"
Admittedly, she'd met some nice guys. Like Camulos, for instance. But then there were others who had been harder to talk to. The one dark lion, Shin, was one.
"Oh, Mama's fine." She reassured, senseing ruffian's worry. "It's just hard for her to keep track of us all, much less take us out for lessons!" Siri understood, really. But that didn't mean she wasn't a little dissapointed. A huntress who couldn't hunt!
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:57 pm
"Siri!" Ruffian was not expecting her to say that, or even hint; cubs! Oh god, the thought just made Ruff a bundle of nerves. She tried to laugh it off, but it was obviously something that she didn't expect Siri to hint at. Aaah! Daemon would pounce on her in a second, she knew, so she hoped that Siri would bother him about it too. Oh gods!
Her laughter turned genuine when she thought about little runts chewing Daemon apart, and felt that if it did happen, he would certainly deserve it!
"Well, changing subject now," she played at with a humored grin, "have you learned anything at all? I'd be happy to give you tips. Scout or not, I still like to hunt for myself."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:08 pm
"I'm not naive, you know." She smiled. "I know what happens when you love someone." Someday she'd find someone like... like Mr. Daemon, and then she'd start her own family.
She shook the thoughts away. First she'd have to learn how to provide for them.
"Um, well, I know that you have to be quiet, patient, and keep low?" She replied, expression filled with hope. "And... yeah." That was about it. How embarrassing! She glanced away from Ruffian, face hot.
"You would really help me?" The words came out in a rush, Siri's eyes still focused on the grass beneath her feet.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:20 pm
Ruffian couldn't help but nudge Siri's shoulder with her own, and proudly since it had healed from her attack, but she knew that Siri would probably tease her about it until there were cubs. And maybe even after that. Hoi!
"Well," she started, turning her attention to the subject at hand. "Keeping low isn't always the biggest thing, it's more about keeping still. Even if you're lower, there's more chanced of loosing your balance, or feeling a twinge of pain if your muscles happen to cramp up. It really takes practice, as all things do, but I'm sure that once you get the hand of it you'll be ready for the bigger stuff. Especially since if you're not careful you'll get a kick to the face." Oooh, those weren't nice at all. Thankfull, the few times taht Ruffian had been kicked, it wasn't near her eye, so she still had her sight intact.
"Another big thing is observing. Even when you'r enot hunting, just try to see how your prey react. When they might run, when they might freeze. Even watching them a lot, you may see if they dart more to the right then to the left, or something like that. Understand?" Ruffian was doing her best to help explain a few things, but maybe throwing Siri straight out into it, like the water, might be the best way. Won't learn without trying!
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:32 pm
Siri's grin was ear to ear, but she let the issue drop, turning her mind to the more pressing problem - hunting.
"Oh." She'd had NO idea so much went into hunting! She'd always just... well, she'd never actually really given much thought to actually -attacking- a preybeast. Bugs were one thing, but antelope or zebra? Siri sat back on her haunches and scratched thoughtfully at her shoulder.
"I didn't really think about them fighting back." She laughed sheepishly, head ducked low. A thought occurred to her, and she brightened, ears pricking. "Oh, but I have been practicing stalking, like Daemon taught me a while ago!"
She'd been so young then, but hey! Practice was practice, after all. "... do you think you could show me?" She asked, slightly embarrassed.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:29 am
"Stalking is a good first step," Ruffian agreed. "But there's a lot more into it then just that."
She raised her head to inhale a bit of the air, trying to see if there were any preybeasts around. She picked up a faint smell, one that either meant that there was a herd around, or one had already moved. She was unsure, but would ask for Siri's opinion on the matter.
"Can you smell any herds around? Once we find a herd we can get started with this...watching and listening is just as good as trying, in my book."
She took a step forward as if to encourage her friend, before glancing around to see if there were any herds visible. She couldn't see much, but it was a bit early for them to migrate towards the watering holes. Maybe if they tried around the trees, they would be munching with what grew in the small shade that was offered by them.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:15 pm
"Yeah, I expected there was." But that was alright - you had to start somewhere, right? She just wanted to be able to provide for her family someday!
"Alright... um..." The purple lioness lifted her nose the the breeze and sniffed, not exactly sure what she was looking for. A faint, musty odor reached her and a smile broke across her jaws like a wave. "There's something there! ... but I don't know where."
She couldn't see them anywhere. Not anywhere nearby, anyways. Siri inhaled deeply and caught the scent again. The wind was blowing in from across the plain, so the herd was obviously in front of them...
"You know where they are?" She pranced, stomach fluttering with nervous excitement.
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:21 pm
The black lioness nodded, replying to Siri's question. "I'm pretty sure I know, as long as the wind isn't playing tricks on me." She jerked her head in a motion for Siri to follow, and the black lioness slinked off in the grass, her tail acting as a wake for her friend to follow.
She would pop her head up out of the grasses every once in a while to pick up a new scent. It was getting stronger now, and she was fairly certain they were zebra. Since they were stockier then gazelle, they might be a bit more tricky, but the two of them would work with what they had. It was a bit on the smaller side, so picking out a weaker one would be a bit limiting, and as there were only two young, the risk of going after one of those might be a bit much, since mothers could be very protective of their foals.
She soon caught the herd in her sights, and dipped back down, keeping herself near the ground now. She awaited for Siri to catch up to her, and see what her reaction was to see the herd.
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:18 pm
Siri crept after Ruffian, her heart pounding harder with every step. She kept low, but every muscle was tense and ready for anything. After all, she'd never done anything like this before! Sure, she'd been on the odd monster hunt or two with Cam, and a few lizards once...
... but real prey!
Her eyes widened when she spotted the zebra grazing warily on the grasslands. They looked so much bigger this close! ... and suddenly she remembered Shin. He said that every preybeast she ate gave it's life for her.
Suddenly solemn, she crouched next to Ruffian and licked her lips somewhat nervously.
"What next?"
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