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 Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:18 pm
The cub's sigh brushed against some grass near him, causing it to sway and dislodge a cricket that had been attempting to hide from the cub who was, in a fashion, infamous for picking on their kind. Terrified, the little bug made a last desperate plea for its life by jumping from the cliff into the unknown. The ripples it caused tore Rudo's reflection from him and the cub pouted. "Ugh! Stupid bugs," He made a bat with one paw at the grass that had been hiding the cricket from view before he climbed to his feet. There was no reason behind sitting about any longer now that the spell had been broken.
Those bugs weren't really smart, or at least he didn't think them so, but they were very annoying when they wanted to be. It seemed almost as though they knew what he wanted and set out to stop him from getting it. Rudo snorted indignantly, turning on his heel to plunge back into the sea of green that dominated the Savannah. It was beginning to yellow in the heat, something he felt fascinating for how well it was hiding his coat. Of course, this was the cub's first summer, and he hadn't a clue how hot it was going to get soon.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:06 pm
 As the sun glimmered overhead like a mass of burning gold, playing a game of hide and seek behind the lumpy forms of clouds, it threw blazing bars of light down into the pride lands. The land was cast in an early summer haze, breaths of heat permeating every inch of the plains. To those golden members whose fur adapted well to such a climate, it meant little and probably felt like any normal day. To those whose pelts happened to be of hues much darker than the average pridelander, such mild heat could become unbearable if too much time was spent among the hours around midday.
As such, the great charcoal form of Isithunzi made a lazy, bleary stride in the direction of the water hole that so often happened to be his only relief in days like this. His head hung low, he tried his hardest to slink away from the sun that was blazing down with such a torrent upon his dark fur. The grasses that he slunk through scratched and itched at his legs, tickling his underside in an inevitable discomfort. The large muscles of a grown male rippled beneath his fur, accentuating every inch of the bulk now displayed directly below the blaring orb dangling so high above the world. His rusty mane dangled in front of his emerald optics, partially obscuring the world from his view but inevitably keeping the light out of his eyes. He navigated towards the waterhole more by instinct than by sight.
It was this situation that caused such a blunder of the adult, forcing his paw to connect suddenly with something lumpy, warm, and rather soft. At first, the action didn’t quite register, which inevitably caused him to walk forward a couple of steps. Issy was prone to mind-wandering. However, after a moment he realized that he had indeed seemed to mow right over something, and he tilted his head down to peer through the grass rising up around his larger form. Spying the cub, his eyes widened slightly, and he took two or three very quick steps backwards.
“Oh, little guy, are you alright?” Yeah. What a clutz.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:33 pm
"OOF!" He hadn't even noticed the other lion until he'd been trod upon; which rather strange, in retrospect, for the lion was rather large, black and directly in his path. Well, there was what they said about black cats...
Either way, it hurt. Rudo found himself rolling away from the inadvertent kick. He took a few good turns before he finally rose, coughing dust and grass, covered in debris he'd always been careful to keep from his throat. "G-god.. WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" He looked up just in time to see the large male turning back towards him, but Rudo wasn't about to back down. "no i'm not alright! Look at me!"
The cub stood up, looking down at himself and brushed off his coat with an expression of purest disgust. "LOOK AT THIS! My FUR! UGH! GGeeze, what's wrong with you anyway?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:59 pm
As Issy watched the little golden ball roll over and over until it landed with a rather loud 'umph' noise, he held his breath a little. He certainly couldn't have stopped him - he could have accidentally squished the little bugger. When the little thing finally stood up, Issy was about to go over and see just how badly he was hurt - but then he heard what the little git said. Ezzy's cubs really weren't this mean, but he wouldn't resort to taunting him either, for that would be childish. The only one he ever taunted was Ilanga - and she deserved it.
"How am I supposed to see something so little when it blends in with the grass?" he said, a touch of hurt lingering in his voice. He did, however, pull himself back up to his full stature instead of the half-slumping slinking one he had been in for the last hour or so. It really didn't make much of a difference with the sun, other than that he convinced himself that he felt better when he was trying to hide from it. "You're really not that hurt, you've just got a bit of dust on you." He shook his head, tossing the rusty mane out of his emerald eyes, ignoring the objections over his fur altogether, considering that was what he typically did when Ezzy began whining about his.
"What's wrong?" he muttered, turning his tail on the little fuzzball with a sigh, "I'm hot, that's what. You try going through summer sporting a big black fur coat." His last bit was muttered, a silent, irritated grumble to himself. Didn't anyone understand what it was like?
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:38 pm
"As if i don't!" The cub flicked his take, standing up to show the dark streak down his back off proudly. It didn't affect him as much as a purely black coat may have "And you're supposed to Loooook where you're going!"
Rudo paused, looking at himself then the grass. He sniffed slightly, letting up a bit, "But.. i guess i do kinda blend... sorta... ... but yeah, its hot. Its ALWAYS hot.. whats the difference? Aren't adults supposed to be used to that sorta thing.. my mom never whines." The cub moved forward up to him, posture becoming less offensive and more of the blunt, inquisitive sort of pose most cubs his age adopted. "So why arn't you in the shade? isn't that what we're supposed to do?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:19 pm
"I can't help not looking," he muttered, tossing the rusty mane out of his eyes once more with a gentle jerk of his head. "I have this mane in my eyes, and I just don't care enough to get it out of the way," he muttered, bright emerald eyes staring down at the cub, but with a hint of shame glittering in their green depths. He had always liked cubs, and would never hurt one on purpose, but had sort of just done so out of his own carelessness. It made him feel badly, to say the least. "Besides, I usually don't look down at my feet when I'm walking," he huffed softly, making an excuse for his mistake.
"You do blend in," he said with a little nod, smacking the grass around him with his tail, making it wiggle around the little cub just for emphasis. "Not to mention, you're really small." He shrugged it off, because it was the truth. THe cub was only a little taller than the grass was, and he was too close to the same hue to really be distinguishable.
"The shade?" he muttered, eyes following the little thing as it moved closer, "because I wanted some water." He shrugged, pushing himself slowly up to his feet once he was reminded of his original destination, slinking towards the edge of the small pool. "Because I can be in the shade all day and still be thirsty." He frowned as he took in the refreshing liquid, glancing backward to the little cub, "Well, I can't help that your mother never whines. I bet she wants to." He shrugged it off, flopping back down beside the edge of the watering hole.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:39 am
"Excuses excuses," Rudo pointed out. He followed after the male, though. In a way it wasn't much of his fault that he was the way he was--being one of six boys without any sort of father figure didn't really bode well for the way they'd inevitably act. Oh, their mother raised them well enough, that was for certain, but she was also just one woman. Especially since the "nanny" his older siblings had had over them had gone off to have her own cub. Not that Rudo particularly minded--actually he rather liked the company of his cousin, if only that she put up with his attitude on more occasions than others did.
Like the older lion had smacked the grass, Rudo bounded into the pool of water to smack it about with his paws. Some of it was bound to splash up onto Issi, but Rudo didn't seem to care about that. He rolled in it, getting himself somewhat more dirty for certain yet cooler at the same time. Unlike most of his kind he liked water; it was wonderful for so many things! Not only could you drink it, it could help you to cool down, it could distract your prey, in fact it was just a reliable source of prey in itself, and most importantly it could show you your reflection. Oh yes, the cub loved that aspect of it.
"I guess thirst explains it," He shrugged, "But the point isn't that she wants to or not--she doesn't." He stated that last bit with a definite, confident nod. His mother was infallible, as far as Rudo was concerned, especially when questioned by outsiders. To him Shomoro would always be the most beautiful, perfect creature in existence--at least, he thought now that she would be. Time would change this of course, it was inevitable, but for now how loyalties remained entirely with the lioness. So instead his pink eyes regarded the older male as he played, almost sizing him up as if Issy were one of his brothers. "I was always told that whining is a bad thing."
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:26 pm
Issy chuckled softly at the exclamation of the little cub, watching him stalk towards the water. The little thing certainly was a character, and he just kept exceeding expectations with the more time that Issy spent in his company. He simply shook his head, indulging the little male, "I suppose it is an excuse, but it's also the truth." A small smirk twitched the corner of his maw, quirking a brow at him again, "So if it's the truth, is just any excuse?" Well, that made little to no sense. Then again, meanings often got lost in between Issy's thoughts and his mouth.
Issy couldn't have told anyone much about his family, considering he remembered very little of his earliest times, and even then he had spent a considerable amount of time wandering around on his own. He had been a dreamer since the day his mind could coordinate and handle such thoughts. However, he had started spending more and more time with his brothers these days - specifically Ushu and Ezzy. He had even found more of a family in his older brother, helping to raise his numerous nephews and nieces.
"I suppose whining could be a bad thing," he said with a little shrug, chuckling softly to himself as a bit of water splashed onto his face. Water and playfulness were natural in a lot of cubs, and he had never found either to be too irritating. He was actually amused at watching their antics at times. "But I've never seen a situation where it hurt." He smirked and shrugged, slowly dipping his large forepaw into the depths of the water, then flicked it quickly in the direction of the little cub.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:54 am
"AH!" Rudo closed his eyes against the splashing, turning his head so the water hit the top of it rather than the side of his face. He laughed, though, and moved to splash water more purposely at the dark lion. In this he was like any other cub--more than happy to play and laugh, no matter who the playmate was. For a long moment he forgot the conversation they were having, instead concentrating on their water battle.
In the end he was soaked, though, and finally trotted out of the water to shake himself beside Issy, then throw himself down into the grass as he let the sun work to dry him the rest of the way. The cub yawned, teeth glaring in the sunlight, then let his eyes close. He thought they'd been talking about something, but it took a good long while to remember what.
Finally, though, Rudo replied softly, "I's always told whining is bad, no matter what. Cuz.. people don't like it.. and its useless. Always better to do somethin' bout the situation, 'stead of whining over it."
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:13 pm
Issy chuckled as the little water fight commenced between the two, though he admittedly did allow the cub to splash him more than he did in turn. After all, Issy’s big paws could have sent enough water to topple the little thing over if he had really tried, let alone drenching him to the bone. As if were, he only splashed him enough to give him incentive, and let the little boy go wildly at throwing water back in his direction. In truth, Rudo still got the worse end of the deal. Not that the cub probably minded.
Issy grinned widely and turned his head away, shielding his eyes from the onslaught of water droplets that flew from the cub’s shaking pelt. Only his upper body was very wet, and mostly his mane from where it had shielded a good portion of his fur. Still, with the cub only being so big, he hadn’t managed to cover a very large portion of the shadow-toned lion with water. It was enough, however, for Issy to push himself to his feet and issue a good, hard shake. It sent a torrent of little droplets down to the ground, just far enough away that he didn’t re-soak the little cub.
“Well, I won’t tell you otherwise. I suppose I’m just particularly whiney,” he said with a small smile, pushing himself up slowly into a sitting position. The cub looked like he was beginning to get a little sleepy, and he certainly couldn’t leave him out here all alone, oblivious to the world while he danced in his dreams. “Do you want me to walk you back home, kiddo?”
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:20 pm
"Home?" he whined, oblivious to the hypocrisies. Bleary eyes looking up at the large male it was quite obvious that Rudo really needed a nap. He was, after all, just a small little thing that had put up a rather good water battle. The author wanted to make a Napoleon joke, but refrained. Instead, he yawned and slowly got up, "I guess so.. its over by the rock." He nodded in the general direction of the great pride rock rising above the horizon line.
After a good stretch, and ignoring the bits of grass and mud stuck to his fur, he started to pad off in that direction. It was going to take an act of congress to get his fur clean again, and his mother was liable to be mad at him for it, but he didn't think of it at the moment. Instead he sighed and weaved a little, running up against Issy's leg as they walked. "at least you throw a big shadow. I'll do that one day."
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:26 pm
Issy smirked as he heard the cub mention ‘the rock’, and simply glanced in that direction. “The rock, hm? Mine is too,” he said softly, a gentle chuckle lingering on his lips, “imagine that.” He hadn’t met many lions who made their den away from the shelter of pride rock. Some did, of course, but most, especially those with young cubs, liked the protection that the rock and all its members offered. He wouldn’t have assumed Rudo to be anywhere else.
“I do have a big shadow, but I’m almost a big shadow myself, don’t you think?” he smiled softly as he walked along, having to force his pace to be somewhat slower so that the cub didn’t have to run to keep up. “Of course you’ll have a big shadow one day, bigger than mine maybe?” He chuckled at the thought of the tiny cub growing up to be bigger than him, though it was highly possible. He was average sized and there were a good handful of lions bigger than he was himself.
“You think your mom’ll be mad with you just wandering back home with some strange lion?” he said with a little quirk of his brow, keeping the little cub talking so that it might keep him more awake. He certainly didn’t want him to lay down and doze off halfway home.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:31 pm
"Huh? Nah. She trusts all the pride members.. even those that are rude and mean." He hadn't really hadn't met many of those but he'd heard of them. Rudo bounced along beside him, the movement helping to keep him awake though his attitude was more grumpy than ever. "You are kinda.. shadowy i guess. Except your mane. Its too red! heh.. maybe a bleeding shadow.... can Shadows bleed?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:40 pm
He smirked at the thought of his mother being too trusting. While that was different from almost everyone in his family, he supposed that such a tight-knit community could certainly be considered pretty trustworthy. There typically wasn’t a lot of problems, with the exception of his grandfather’s murder, but that had been a fluke incident.
As he glanced down at the bouncing cub, he couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking his head, he simply glanced back towards the approaching rock. “No, I don’t think shadows can bleed. Besides, the mane is from my grandpa,” he shrugged it off. In truth, he looked a lot like Mufasa in general, with the exception of his dark pelt. The dark tone came from his rogue father, certainly not any part of the pride lands.
“Alright, now which was is your den?” he asked, glancing around as they neared the rock.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:49 pm
"over here!" the cub bounced off in one direction, a bit more inergetic now that they were nearer. He sighed a little; bleeding shadows would have been neat. It didn't matter, though. He got to the entrance of the den and turned. "I'm Rudo, by the way... who are you?"
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