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 Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:11 pm
Kisulisuli moved through the dry grass, sending waves of insects up from their dried husks. The ground under his paws was hot, cracking under his weight with a sound that nearly rivaled the crunching of the dead plant life around him. By now even the lake had dried up and the elephants- to include his companion - had moved on, giving up their hopes of seeing the valley restored to its former glory. Few pride members remained. His own father, his siblings- all of them had left. Ramses and his as well... only he, Maji, and a handful of the others remained, still clinging desperately to the hope of even a single day of rain.
Even Maji had become a hunter. The hunts lasted days and often times were fruitless. Successful hunts normally included a single gazelle, a few foxes, or even a bird. The lions of the valley had become thin. Kisuli's once thick mane had thinned and grown dull as his coat. His eyes became fierce with hunger, body thin and dirty.
He paused, shaking out what remained of his mane, sending loose fur out on the dry wind along with a spray of dust. No scent...no motion in the grass... and it was the second day of his hunt.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:23 pm
Kimaji didn't usually come back to the drier parts of the mistweaver place, it saddened her. But technically, she still lived here, with Swaii. But they moved much further out to hunt, each time more and more into the pridelands. Once she'd even came right up close to pride rock-- fortunately, lions were nice there, and hadn't seemed annoyed by her presence.
This was how she and Swaii had kept themselves fed, hunting away from the mistweavers, but the hunt was done for now, the herds had moved, since it was dry season now, even in the pridelands. However, they were still much better off than here.
The small lioness blinked as she caught movement-- maybe something had changed since last time. Maybe everything wasn't dead. She broke into a trot in the direction of that faint thing she'd seen, then paused, gaping for a moment
Why did he look familiar?
Her tail curled, uneasy, around her leg. She had met Kisulisuli before, but she had been a cub, now she was almost fully grown. Though, Kimaji was still childish as ever, despite saddened by the drought.
"Um. "
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:29 pm
Suli continued his loping walk through the grass, ears pressed back against his mane. Something up ahead moved, the dry crass crinkled and parted, sending more of the insects up into the air. Prey? Or perhaps another predator in the area seeking game for itself. Sickened him as it did, even the flesh of another predator could feed himself and the others.
Suli ducked himself down, squaring his shoulders and coiling back into his haunches. Whatever it was paused. He'd been spotted. Giving a loud roar he threw himself forward, leaping out to pin whatever it was. However, about mid-air he caught sight of a very familiar lioness. With little time to actually react, he pulled his claws in, perhaps pinning her still though it might be mistaken for more of a friendly gesture.
He looked dumbfounded, even a bit embarrassed at his mistake. "...uh...h...hi?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:35 pm
"Aah! "
Kimaji squeaked, and soon found herself on her back, pinned to the ground, but not entirely suprised; not so long ago, she'd been pinned by another friend! Who had thought she was prey.
"Hi. "
She blinked up at the lion who pinned her, stil not entirely sure who he was. However, being so much smaller than him, he was kind of.. squishing her. But still, she began to ponder. Then it hit her.
"Suli! "
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:43 pm
Kisuli's head shot up at his name, both ears kind of tipping as his brow wrinkled in confusion. She knew his name... For the moment he didn't have the wit to realize that it was very likely uncomfortable to be pinned to the ground. His mind worked over all the faces of all the lionesses he knew. Not related to him- that was for certain. That ruled out pretty much everyone.
"...Kimaji." He said quietly, then realized he was still pinning her, "ACK! Sorry sorry..." he backed up, sitting himself down on his haunches, "Gods it's been forever. Look how big you've gotten." Well...big for her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:54 pm
"Its ok! " Kimaji said quickly, not trying to look hurt or anything, and scrambled to her paws quickly. She perked her ears, tilting her head slightly upwards for eye-contact, being alot smaller than the lion than it was normal for a lioness.
If Kisuli were just a bit larger, the top of her head would be barely any bit higher than his shoulders, maybe an inch. Good thing she was yet to encounter any mean lions.
"Suli got his mane! " She grinned, noting his longer fur around his neck, but that wasn't right. Why was it so thin?
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:00 pm
"I'm sorry, I thought you were...ehheh... well you know." He waved a paw dismissively, genuinely embarrassed that he'd pounced another lion- and one of his pride to boot. Had it been an enemy that would have been just fine... but it just wasn't right to pounce a lioness like that.
At the mention of his mane he slumped over, lifting a paw to rub at a thinning patch on his chest, "Well... I guess this is what happens when you don't eat enough. Maji's mane's getting a bit thin too but he's older. Guess it only really does this when it's coming in." He shrugged, "It'll grow out."
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:06 pm
Kimaji frowned. He looked pretty down. "Maybe it'll grow when there's rain! " She nodded, optimistic, and smiled, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. she felt slightly bad, though; as much as she wasn't all that well fed, she had a sinking feeling she was a bit better off than the folks back here.
"Me and Swaii have been hunting more out at the pridelands. " She said, slightly randomly. "There's more food there. " It was kind of strange, though. There was more water too, and when Kimaji had been a cub, the forest had been so full of it.. "But I can't catch much! Its al lto big. " She smiled meekly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:10 pm
"Is that so?" Suli raised a brow, his eyes trailing over the lioness out towards the grasslands. He'd never left the Mistweaver valley prior to the more recent days and he never even dreamed of setting foot into another pride's territory. It was highly looked down upon- at least from what he understood. Especially for males.
"Well... why don't we hunt together? That's what proper lions do anyway. There's just not been enough of us to send on normal hunts. It's much harder by yourself."
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:20 pm
"Yea. But we don't usually go very far in, just nuff to find some gazele. " She shrugged, slightly uncomfortable when he raised his brow. Was he mad at her for hunting in someone else's lands?
"Me and Swaii hunt, usually.. But Swaii isn't very good at it anymore. " She sighed; her father was starting to get old, and it kept getting worse for him. He slept more and more, and he kept failing in hunts. It'd been happening for quite a while, no wodner Kimaji was so small. As much as she had been able to catch small game for a while, it wasn't much. Especially with everything dimming. "And ok! " She smiled again, getting up on all fours.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:29 pm
"I can understand the situation. A lot of times lionesses are more welcome than males are." He chuckled, "Maji said that other prides have strange and dangerous ways. I'd just rather avoid them." He got himself to his paws and shook off again, growing frustrated with the feel of dry grass against his thin coat.
"Why don't we try hunting on the other side? The herds might have gotten used to us hunting in this area." He nodded away from the direction of the pridelands- more out to the free grasslands just east of where they were. "So... uh... it's been a while."
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:35 pm
"The lions I met out there are real nice. " Kimaji smiled, walking alongside Kisulisuli. "One even offered to hunt for me! But I said no. " She nodded, it'd be rude to have someone else hunt for her! she didn't want to be any trouble.
"Okay. " she said, and changed her direction more towwards where he'd indicated. She blinked at his comment, though. "Yeah.. Suli barely had any mane when we met! " She said, cheerfully.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:50 pm
"That was a while ago." He nodded with a faint chuckle, "We were cubs... I thought by now everything would be alright." He never imagined things would turn to... ill. The land looked like a shadow of what he remembered being born into- and he'd come during the drought's beginning.
"I hate to ask this, but you've not seen any others have you? My siblings? My father? Any of them?" He wasn't sure if she'd even met any of them... but they'd look like him somewhat.
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:06 pm
"Kimaji hasn't seen Miaiko since that day we played hide and seek.. " She shrugged. "She hasn't seen anyone in the land, besides gods sometimes. But I havn't seen any in a while, either. " She shrugged, anaware of how naturally she mentioned gods, as if they were no longer a big deal, just like anyone else-- only with wings.
"And pridelanders, when I'm out there. But no Miaiko, or anyone! Just Swaii. " She frowned. "You havn't seen them? "
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:19 pm
"Gods...", Kisuli's tone became sharper. That wild hunger returned to his eyes for a moment and the ruff of mane along his shoulders rose up a bit, "Gods be damned...they come to our lands, see us suffer, and leave. Damn the lot of them."
He glanced over, cooling his temper. She didn't deserve to see his hot temper. Perhaps she was friends with them... she'd always been a bit of an odd one, "...sorry... and no. I have not seen anyone aside from you and the very few that remain in the pride."
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