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 Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:29 am
Skuld bounced across he savannah to the southwest of the Pridelands. She had no idea a pride was there, nor any idea that she would like it so much. Still, she bounced towards the boundary, chasing after a little grasshopper. Its bright green clashed with the golden grasses, though her dark red blended surprisingly well. She pounced blindly at the thing, not trying to squish it, only to catch it.
She caught it, but then looked up to see the greatest sight she'd ever seen. Skuld couldn't help it. "Wow..." The towers that stood in the distance simply entranced the young cheetah, who slowly padded towards them, though they were a way off.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:38 am
Bazi was out on her own; she'd been allowed to pad a slight way away... though she'd been warned against going past the river; it marked the end of their territory. True to her word, the bone clad cub had remain within her marked path, which just to happened to be right smack between the termite towers. Tell truth, she enjoyed the lands, and saw the beauty Sarafina saw to them; she also saw something the others seemed to ignore... endless posibilities. There were roots near the towers, and small bushes, hidding between the structures, hidding away from prying eyes.
And then, there were the insects.
All in all, fascinating. She found she very much liked these towers, for they offered her ingredients and creatures to tamper with... to play with and study. At such a young age,
she'd already found a certain plant that grew near the border; it helped heal minor cuts, and desinfected them. Bazi was proud... and today she'd decided to see if lady luck was dancing with her; to see what was prepared for her.
She'd found nothing so far; no roots worth looking at, and no insects she found fascinating. In fact, she was prepared to turn around an leave when she spotted a small form drawing nearer. Eyes narrowing, she stood amongs the towers, her head held high, even though her frame was as lithe at they came, "Who are you? What do you seek?" the words were stated calmly, aimed at the cheetah as she approached.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:46 am
Skuld hadn't seen the other cub until she had spoken. No, she had only thought Bazi to be some discarded bones from a kill, the girl's fur blended in very well with the earth around here. Though, she'd never seen such bones, they intrigued her. Skuld was very interested in bones, bugs, whatever. If it was alive at some point, the little cheetah would want to know more.
"My name is Skuld," she said as she approached. "I was just meandering... Until I saw these," She said, nodding her head towards the mounds. "I've never seen anything like them, they're huge! What are they?" She asked, tilting her head.
She thought for one more moment "Are these Pridal lands? If they are, I'm sorry for intruding, I can leave if I need." Skuld had found that this last phrase was something that could save her hide should a pride be volatile to cheetahs.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:01 am
Bazi's eyes narrowed again, visible through the openings the skull provided, "You traspass our land," she stated coldly, just as calmly as she'd stated the first words, then turned her gaze away from her, looking off towards the distance thanks to the vantage point the height of the mounds offered her. There were no others in sight; no grown ups that would come to this.... Skuld's defense. This interested her; it was odd, rare even, that the grown ups in her pride left cubs unattended. In fact, Bazi was certain that if she lifted her head and yowled loudly, at least one of the adults (or near adults) would instantly come to her iad; be it Sarafina, Sukari, or one of the others.
Once she'd assured herself that she and her pride were in no inminent danger, she decided against calling for the adults. Instead, she sat down, her tail curling about her form, "Termite mounds," she informed the cheetah, "some of them crawling with the insects, come abandoned and dead... like skelletons on the land," she smirked though it might've been missed due to her 'mask', "You just had to know the diference... regardless, they were all built by termites once. Clay, mud and water. They did a fantastic job."
The words Sarafina had uttered rang in her mind 'mindless insects', but still she smirked at the cheetah's approach, "These are NOT the Pridelands!" despite the fact she'd remain calm before, these last few words were snapped, her jaws snapping in the airm, "These are the Outlands! And if you enter here, you must know you abide to OUR laws!" pausing, the cub eyed her criticaly the sneered, "We welcome all but Hibrids in this land; you are not a hibrid. You are welcome so long you follow our laws."
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:18 am
Oh, she'd heard her wrong. Skuld's ears folded back immediately as the cub snapped at her. "I didn't say Pridelands, I said Pridal lands," She emphasized "Pridal" this time. "As in a Pride claims it as their territory." Quite honestly, she'd never been to the Pridelands... She hadn't heard anything, either. She felt relatively safe, she could outrun a lion cub if need be, so she sat her little distance away and kept asking questions. "...What are the Pridelands?" Skuld often asked questions.
"And what are your laws?" She asked. Though, the cheetah cub felt an explanation was in order. "I'm not from around here. I've got a mom and some sisters, we've been far south of here for a while, but we wander every day. My dad and brothers aren't with us all the time, though. My mother and my father had a 'fling,'" she said crinckling her nose with a little growl. "That's beside the point," she said, getting off her rant "Recently we're in and around this area, but I'm not familiar with the Prides and traditions around here. I'm sick of wandering, I've been looking at the Prides to join, I'm sick of my family being so... classless. I love them, of course, but... Ya gotta leave the nest sometime." She waited to see how this stranger would react.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:32 am
The word was too similar for distinction when one harbored hatred as deep as Bazi did, "Very well; I apologise my mistake, however," her eyes flashed behind her mask, "See to it you call it merely Outlands from now on," this said, she turned around and aimed to pad back towards the caves; she'd had enough for one day, and no doubt, the adults would scold her if she remain out and about for longer still. The question sparked her ire again and the female cub turned to snarl, "Do not speack of such trecherous lands here!" she pointed a claw at the cub from a distance, "And don't push your luck. There are others, older and much larger than me about, and all it takes is one yowl from me to get them here. Where you might unrun me, girl, you won't outrun them!" she sneered slightly, "Asking about the Pridelands here is foolish. You do not ask a moongose about a cobra, nor a cobra about a mongoose unless you have a death wish."
She watched the cub as she spoke, her eyes narrowing before she growled, "Such things are not allowed here; 'flings' as you call them, are forbiden in the outlands. Mates remain mates and reach adulthood before they seek children. We have moral, and we abide those morals and common sense. Our laws are but the laws of common sense and life; we are merely a bit more harsh... to those that break them or fall to ... dirty doings."
An ear flicked, her eyes narrowing slightly, "Class. We have class, but it is not I whom decides whom stays and whom goes," she sneered slightly, "You'll have to seek out Sarafina, the Queen, and make sure you learn some manners."
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:17 pm
"Good," Skuld said almost moodily. She hated flings, flirting, all of that. Should an individual mate, it should be for life, she believed that too. "It sounds..." the cheetah cub couldn't think of the right word. She couldn't think of one good enough, really. "... like those are all of the traits I get rid of in a society too, if I was able to..." This was more for herself, really.
When Bazi implied that Skuld had terrible manners, she wanted to retort. In all honesty, it seemed like the other cub was the one with the poor manners. She had only been asking sensible questions for someone who had only ever seen the Southlands their whole life. Why was she getting ragged on for simply being curious? She would've retorted... If doing so didn't give the stranger more fuel for her argument.
"I will seek her out," Skuld called to the young cub. "But at a later date. My mother isn't quite ready to let me go yet, but very soon. I'll return," She said firmly. "Thank you for your hospitality, miss," Skuld said with a bit of a bow. She'd wait to see if the other lion cub had anything else to say, but then Skuld would be off. There was nothing she could do yet, she was still just a cub. But she could tell that she'd be growing soon... She was getting the familiar aches that came with a growth spurt. And then... Then she would come. She rose to her paws, tail twitching behind her as she awaited a response, if there was one coming.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:09 pm
A pause came from Bazi, a narrowing of her eyes as she turned her head, and then... a smirk. A horrible, eerie smirk that only seemed to promise a painful future to come; despite this, it wasn't particularly directed at the cheetah. In fact, it seemed more directed at the world than at the female she could still see, "Aye, you'll grow," she told the other cub, "You an I both; we'll grow, and we'll show everyone what we're all about."
The smirk remain and for the first time, Jambazi lowered her head a notch; she'd passed the mental test she'd place before her. Not once had she snapped back at her, and had remain not only cordial but polite, "When you come back, seek me out too. Seek out the one they call Bazi," and this said, she jumped to hide between the termite mounds, away from prying eyes and back to where the adults were no doubt waiting for her, "I'll be waiting for you."
The last few words were murmured, mostly to herself as she padded away.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:19 pm
((Ooo, nice twist!))
Skuld picked up on the stranger's respect; the very last thing she'd been expecting. A little, minute dip of the head. Small, but there. In that moment, an idea came to her... What if it had been a mask? A way to see how she would react? Perhaps it hadn't, but then again... Perhaps it had.
Skuld remained a little bit after the cub had gone. Her name was Bazi... She would seek out Sarafina and Bazi when she grew old enough to leave her mother's side for good. "Yeah... we'll show 'em what we're about," Skuld said softly before turning and bolting out of the lands. Her mother would be worried if she remained too much longer, no more time to lose. She remembered the Outlands' location well, and all Bazi had taught her of the Pride. Yes... she'd remember it all well.
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