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 Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:32 pm
Nuhusi enjoyed snoozing in the canopy of the jungle. It didn't happen as often as she'd like, most likely because she was so free-spirited that she hated staying in one place for too long. She might love the treetops, but she would get sick of recognizing landmarks. It would mean she was too familiar with one place. She wanted to see the world and that is what she had been doing all her life.
She stretched, lifting her head as clouds passed over the afternoon sun. It looked like it was going to rain. She smiled, peering through the small parting of the leaves and moved her legs forward to warm up her muscles. She liked to move about in the rain, it was...entertaining.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:45 pm
Alfajiri and the jungle had not become friends in their time together. In fact, Alfa had come to despise the jungle in every way since entering it for the first time. On the grasslands it was easy to spot prey and there was free space. In the jungle every step Alfa took was met with some sort of an obtrusive obstacle. One time she had nearly stepped on a snake she firmly believed to be poisonous. So... Alfa had come to the conclusion that she needed to get out, and soon. All she had to do was find someone to guide her out of the jungle, and then she would be guaranteed never to come back again. Nothing in the world would make Alfa travel through the thick underbrush, even if her life depended on it. It was so... annoying. Growling softly under her throat, she batted a vine out of her way, staring irritably up into the canopy.
That was when she happened to see a dark shape... and well, of course she had to investigate. The shape might just be someone who knew how to get out of this wretched place. "Hello!" She called out, just to give the other fair warning that she was coming up, and then she jumped high onto the tree, her claws wrapping around the girth, digging into the bark. With a good grip on the tree, she propelled herself up the tree to a branch that was just below the other leopardess. "I'm Mchanga'Alfajiri, and I'm praying that you know the way out of here."
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:58 pm
Nuhusi turned, balancing on a very thin branch that swayed with her weight. Her tail instictively twisted back and forth, keeping her steady. She raised slender brows at the coming stranger, but not at the sight of her but at the question. "Leave?" she asked in a very musical tone, turning her head innocently to look at her with sparkling orange eyes, "Why ever would you want to do that?" A smile crept across her maw and she looked upwards as the shards of light became to fade, "Rain is coming."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:36 am
Oh dear, she had run into a loony... into someone who actually liked to live in this wretched place! It took a lot of effort on Alfa's part not to let her jaw drop down to the branch at that point, because in all honesty she could not see how one would be attracted to such a place. There was too much vegetation in which prey animals could hide in! Also, there was dangers that Alfa couldn't see, and it made her slightly paranoid. The jungle life was simply not good for this leopardess. She was perfectly camoflauged in the grasslands, and it was where she had been born and raised. There... it was her comfort zone. She was way out of her element by being in the jungle.
"Because this place is wretched," she told the other leopardess, and for a bit she considered jumping onto the same branch as Nuhusi. But, she reconsidered that thought when she saw the branch bend underneath Nuhusi's weight. It would likely snap if another leopardess as big as Nuhusi jumped onto it. So, she would stay where she was and crane her neck to see the other. It was not... a good day for Alfa at all. "And I would really like to be out of here before it rains. This place is sopping miserable when it's wet."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:25 pm
Nuhusi laughed, her voice like a a large, echoing bell, "Wretched?" It always amused her when she found someone so passionate not about liking something...but about hating it! It was something that completely eleuded her understanding. She turned with a roll of her shoulders, jumping to a more stable branch littered with large, bright flowers. "I don't see why it's so horrible. And the rain is lovely. Have you never been to the desert? They don't get rain very much there." She offered a smile, seeming to put off concern for the other leopardess's distress, mainly because she didn't find it serious.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:42 pm
Alfa was beginning to get the idea that this leopardess was not going to help her at all, and instead try to convince her that the jungle was an absolute paradise. It wasn't. Alfa had been in the jungle long enough to see every one of its bad points, and when compared to the grasslands... it fell below par. The grasslands were her home, and right now she wanted to be there and not here. The fact that Nuhusi wasn't going to help her in fact only annoyed her. With a disgruntled frown she stared up at the black leopardess, leaning her shoulder against the bark of the actual tree, still balancing perfectly on her branch. At least the trees were somewhat similar in the grasslands and jungle.
"Yes, wretched," she mumbled sourly. Her eyes lifted to the sky, trying to see the signs of rain. So far they eluded her... so surely it wasn't going to rain immediately. She had a little time to get out of the jungle and into the safety of a grassland tree. "No, I've never been to the desert, and I don't ever plan to go there. Rain is nice and all, but not in the vast amounts that this stupid jungle receives. The grasslands are more balanced. Which is why I would really like directions to the grasslands..." Hopefully Nuhusi would get the hint.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:54 pm
Nuhusi wasn't so stupid to miss such obvious hints. She simply didn't care for them, especially since the reasons seemed so silly to her. "Now now, ever place as it's advantages. For example, the grasslands have more space, this is true, but that also means in contrast it doesn't have quite enough trees....you could go miles without seeing one."
She lay down upon her branch, her tail dropping off the branch and hanging below her as she smiled, lifting white whiskers, "You should not be so quick to jump into disliking something...you'll miss out on large pieces of life."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:08 pm
"I have plenty of trees in my territory. The grasslands are wonderful, and are even moreso when you utilize them correctly." She wasn't just about to let another feline get away with dissing her homelands. Of course, she knew that Nuhusi really meant no harm by it, but she still felt the insane urge to stick up for her homelands. The grasslands were where her life had been spent except for these few and rare ventures into the jungle. Every time she had made it into the jungle, though, she managed to lose her way for days and was forced to seek out others for assistance in finding her way back home. It was always a little embarrassing to have to ask everyone where the jungle ended and the grasslands began.
"I haven't come to this conclusion immediately. I've been stuck here for a few days and I would really appreciate going home right now. I'm sick of the jungle, and I believe the jungle is sick of me. It seems out to do me physical harm." Physical harm came in the form of thorns and vines... and just obtrusive objects that always made travelling difficult. One thing was for sure, Alfa was keeping away from the jungle for the rest of her life. She had learned her lesson thoroughly.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:21 pm
"What can you expect?" she rolled her shoulders in a shrug, "You show such hateful feelings towards the jungle, the jungle spirits will do the same to you. Spirits hate the closed minded, friend." Besides, where ever did being close minded get you? Apparently it got you to the point where you became hystarical and desperate to return to what was familiar. Such a waste. Ah well, she would live her way and this poor leopardess could live hers. The simple difference was Nuhusi would be happier.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:27 pm
"Spirits?"
Oh god, she was really with a looney leopardess. Once again Alfa had to keep a straight look on her face, instead of the look of utter disbelief that wanted to be there instead. Alfa was a more down-to-earth leopardess, and didn't believe in gods or spirits. She believed in living and dying, which was why every day had to be spent living life to the fullest. Alfa could not live her life to the fullest in a jungle, that had been determined a long time ago. "No, nevermind, I don't want to get into that." She definitely did not want to hear Nuhusi ramble on about how spirits were everywhere and knew what everything was doing. That was crazy talk, and she did not want to spend her day with a leopardess who was trying to reform her point of view.
"Can you please just tell me the way out of this place?" Alfa's tone had grown a little desperate, because apparently Nuhusi's presence was beginning to wear on Alfa. With a heavy sigh Alfa stood up, stretching out her limbs carefully. It was going to be a difficult journey out of the jungle, and she was not going to waste too much more of her time speaking with a leopardess who believed in paranormal things like spirits. Ugh.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:39 pm
Nuhusi laughed. She had never heard someone groan so much about the silliest things. The poor leopardess, she seemed such an unhappy sort. She leaned back, purring a little as she smiled, "Of course, since you asked." She certainly wouldn't have done so otherwise. But limited minds were tired minds and she had been sure the question would come up eventually.
She lifted her tail, flicking it to the right, "Mm...I believe if you head in that direction for a bit the trees will thin. It won't hit the grasslands immediately, but it never does from this part of the jungle. You should make it there in time."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:49 pm
Alfa couldn't help but glare slightly at the other leopardess at this point. Of course she had asked, but it had definitely been more than once. She did not know how many times she had hinted at Nuhusi that she needed directions out of the jungle, but it had been a lot. In only a little while she would have walked off without a word and let Nuhusi alone because she was simply tired of having to put up with the other. But, now that she was finally getting directions, she would allow herself to suffer through a few more minutes with this leopardess. Eyeing the direction Nuhusi's tail pointed in, Alfa nodded her head with a relieved look.
"Thanks," and she did not know whether she meant it or not. She just wanted to get home badly at this point. "Good bye," she muttered, and she went head-first down the tree, claws scraping against the bark and steadying her pace. When her paws finally landed on the soft earth of the jungle floor, she walked in the direction that Nuhusi had pointed her in, disappearing into the underbrush.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:54 pm
"Poor dear," Nuhusi murmured as she left, shaking her head, "It isn't a wonder the spirits give her a hard time." Taking out a claw she scratched a few runes into the tree. They were all prayers, so to speak. She thanked the good spirits for her own blessings, to not being wandering about like the other lioness, and as a kind gesture made a few pleads for the other leopardess. She did nto expect them to heed her. She yawned and leaned her head forward on her paws, looking at the sky. Mm...she could not wait for the rain.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:02 pm
A little while later...
It had begun raining.
Alfa was still not out of the jungle. She had followed the direction that Nuhusi had pointed her in, dodging vines and undergrowth carefully. Luckily few drops of rain managed to make it to the forest floor where Alfa was currently walking. They would gently pitter patter onto her head and occassionally a front paw that was stretched out to take her another step. But... instead of the undergrowth thinning, it only grew thicker and thicker. Alfa was unwittingly going into the deeper reaches of the jungle. Eventually she did notice, though, that she was trapped in a jungle that she absolutely hated.
And she was sure quite a few creatures heard her cursing when she realized this.
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