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 Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:31 pm
Lucia:
Lucia had kept to herself for the most part during the birthing and shortly after. Only Bai Feng, the old coursing cheetah, was allowed near her den. Strange as it was, the white male had become somewhat of a comfort to the hyena. He went out of his way to see that she had something to eat and to sleep close by. The rest of the troupe was gathered around a large boulder overlooking the mistweaver valley. Taban had his eye on their written language- a prize worthy of the troupe's attention. When questioned of his motives, the cheetah would answer only that there seemed to be tension in the valley between the b*****d prince and the princess. A civil war was very unlikely, but it would be a pity for the small group of males who opposed the princess to lose their lives. Lucia knew that he was stalling for her and Nyack's sake. She had a large litter of pups and the lion had recently brought back a single cub. Traveling, especially at the Troupe's pace, would be difficult on them.
That morning she left three of the five pups in Feng's care. Fakhir and Jero, the first two who had showed signs of rousing that morning, were nosed to their paws and guided from the den.
Fakhir:
Fakhir hated mornings... He parted his short maw in a long yawn that brought his tounge flopping out one side of his mouth before he was able to draw his mouth closed once more. He gave a short sideways glance to his brother...older brother.
The pups would have an early 'skewed' view on pack life. Their family consisted of big cats, a maned wolf, and of course- their mother and siblings. From time to time, Chinedu, a small lion cub, would come by to visit, insisting that he was the pups' older brother. Fakhir saw the differences in their appearence, but his reasoning was that some of his siblings had different patterns- maybe sometimes their bodies had different patterns as well?
Jero:
Jero followed his brother, alert and perky in the cold morning air of the African savannah; he was at his best at this hour and the hour right before dusk, when it was warm enough not to shiver, and cool enough to escape the stinging heat that would arrive around midday. The little boy glanced around, eyes wide and amazed, as they always were, with the sights laid out before them. So many colors! And so many creatures, if only you knew how to look. Sight was little good out here: it was scent and sound that told so much more, and Jero breathed in deeply, inhaling the complex of African air and wondering mournfully whether he'd be ever able to decode it all. So many messages on the wind ...
He flops down on his haunches and looks up at Feng with the good-natured, gap-toothed grin of any healthy hyena puppy, then glances to Fakhir and idly considers going after an ear, although that might not be a good idea what with Fakhir's expression.
Lucia:
"Wake up now." Lucia nudged Fakhir with one of her paws, much to the pup's growing aggrivation. "The two of you are going to join me out in the field today. It's about time the both of you begin eating solid food." She dipped her head to the cheetah who laid sprawled out in front of her den, a living barrier to the squirming pups inside.
Bai Feng:
The cheeah chuckled lightly and gave the pup a short dip of his head. "Have fun."
Fakhir:
Fakhir rolled his eyes and waddled himself forward. "Don't even think about it." He growled groggily over to Jero as he passed by him. He knew all too well of the older pup's habbitual gnawing of ears. Just that morning Je'Ome had thought himself clever for giving his tail a good chewing.
Jero:
The pup's tail droops slightly at Fakhir's words, then lashes apologetically against the other pup's side; Jero doesn't look sheepish, however, at being caught out. He simply ambles after his younger sibling, until he comes up against his mother's ankles, quivering with surpressed excitement. Solid food! And a chance to get out of the den ... see a bit of the world. His absurdly large ears cupped forward at Lucia's words. "Where're we going?"
Fakhir:
Fakhir turned his head and nibbled playfully at his sibling's mantle as he passed him. No hard feelings- he just hated having his ears nibbled at. He'd never actually -say- that out loud, so the gesture would have to suffice.
Lucia:
"Just to the grasslands. There's enough room to run there." Not to mention few places for the pups to fall into... she could keep an eye on them. "You're getting old enough to begin your training. You do want to grow up strong, don't you?"
Fakhir:
Fakhir smirked, "I do!" He then bumped his shoulder into Jero's, expecting his brother to answer in the same way. He'd better!
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 5:12 pm
Jero:
"M'kay," the puppy replies peacefully, content with the answer. At the query, he looks up hastily, tail wagging to show his willingness to please. "Course!" He wasn't sure exactly what training entailed, but his mother and brother were excited about it, and therefore he was, too. Growing up to be strong was, apparently, important.
He scowls at the shove, looking for a moment as if he were reconsidering his generiousity from merely seconds before.
Lucia:
"Very good." Lucia continued forward, picking up her pace a bit, "Come on now, keep up. It's not far from here. I'm sure there's a few rabbits we can dig out for lunch."
Fakhir:
Fakhir picked up his pace, though it was little more than an akward puppy waddle-trot through the grass. "...what's a rabbit?" He whispered over toawrds his brother.
Jero:
Jero had no idea, either, but
"A monster," he whispered back, confidently. "With big teeth. It lives underground, where it lurks and waits for it's prey ... " As he continues, his own expression falters a little. As much as he'd enjoy tormenting Fakhir a bit, his own words are starting to scare him a little. If a rabbit really is a monster, he's not altogether sure he wants to face one this early in the day. He trots a bit closer to Lucia, nervously. "Anyway, I'm gonna get the biggest one."
Fakhir:
"Monster?" Fakhir paused in mid-step, turning to eye his brother, searching his face for any trace of humor. Their mother wouldn't really be hunting -monsters- would they? But Jero sounded so sure of himself.... "...really....big teeth?" He slowly lowered his paw to the ground. He couldn't even imagine such a creature... But the challange had him trotting forward once more, head thrown up and tail held high. "Not if I get there first."
Jero:
Jero snaps slightly at his sibling - in ill humor or play, it's hard to tell, but it's more likely play. Still, his own words have him rattled, and although he tries to get ahead, he doesn't try to stray too far from their mother. Should something bad happen, he wants to be able to flee to her for safety. He's not sure even how you go about killing monsters, and he's doubtful that it's that easy.
Lucia:
Lucia smirked at their conversation. She could barely remember when she'd been young enough to have such a...strange veiw of the world. She leapt upwards, landing on the trunk of a broken tree. It was really only about two feet up from the ground- but to the pups it might as well have been a tower. "Now..,you two are free to play. I'll see if I can't spot something."
Fakhir:
Fakhir growled at the snap, but nothing more. At least for the moment. They weren't too far from the troupe's present camp, but far enough to have some privacy. The grass stretched out seemingly forever. "...wow..." He sat back on his haunches and peeked over the edge of the tall grass. "It's...big."
Jero:
With his mother so far up, some of Jero's fear disappates. She'd be able to see if any trouble came on them if it did; or so he thinks, not knowing anything about snakes and poisonous spiders. Recklessly, he charges off into the grass while Fakhir's still looking, feeling that if he was going to be big and brave, this meant making lots of noise and acting big and brave.
The length of the grasslands doesn't seem to daunt him, oddly enough. He's come to grips with the fact that the world is big, you just had to watch where you were in it so you didn't get lost. He pokes his nose here and there, tail frisking about as he digests new scents, upsetting several mice and a frog as he runs along, sending them scurrying to their burrows.
Two eyes watch him narrowly in the grasses.
Fakhir:
Fakhir was quick to pick up his brother's eager, unspoken challange. Both ears perked up as a frown creased his brow as he fell down to all fours and loped after him. Fine, if that's the way he wanted to play then game on. Now and then, Fakhir's attention would catch something else- a grasshopper or one of the mice that his brother disrupted. And every time he'd swear mentally and pick up the chaise- or rather...the hunt for his own brother.
He'd get him back for the ear thing...
Jero:
The child was quick; because of his size, he was agile enough to go through spaces a grown hyena couldn't, and Jero was naturally swift on his feet, moving instinctively through the grass, letting his body do most of the work while his brain lags behind. So when he spots something moving in the grass, he pounces automatically, without thinking. A short scuffle ensues while the thing beneath his paws frantically tries to get out of the way.
Surprised, the boy looks down to found that he has caught something; a trembling, indignant something. The little meerkat kit looks up at him in dismay, wide-eyed.
Fakhir:
Fakhir had stopped, once more, to attempt a catch of his own as a small mouse scurried past his paws. He leaned his head down to snap at the small creature, barely missing it as the creature springs a few inches into the air, saving its hide from the young hyena's jaws. As he turned, he was left watching the tip of the mouse's tail vanish.
Not one to be defeated, Fakhir began pawing at the earth in an attempt to dig the creature out. However, his brother's activities soon caught his attention once more. Lifting both ears, the pup abandoned his chaise and pushed through the grass over toward Jero.
His mouth fell open. Jero...had caught something! "...is that a rabbit?"
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:20 pm
Jero:
Jero tipped an ear in Fakhir's direction, but he's fascinated by the thing between his paws. "I dunno. I don't think so. It's not very ... monster-y."
It took a moment before Jero realized that the creature wasn't looking solely at him. It - she, rather, it was a little girl meerkat kit, pale colors with darker striping on it's back - had been surprised by his appearance, but he didn't have it's undivided attention. "Leggo!" She howled, loudly for something so tiny, and she pulled ineffectually at the boy's paws, which were holding her down more by weight alone than by Jero actually trying to keep hold of her. "Leggo, stupid smelly lion, it's a fang-death!" Perplexed, Jero tilts his head to the side, and swings his head around ...
... to look straight into the eyes of a very pissed, pitch-black snake, which uncoils itself from where it had been stalking the meerkat, raising it's hood slightly above the grasses.
Fakhir:
"It looks kinda like... a longmouse." Fakhir had leaned in to sniff the little thing as it started chirping. He pulled back quickly to avoid a boot to the nose- or a paw, either or. The thing was obviously paniced. The little pup very nearly puffed himself up, having through that perhaps they were the source of the fear- only to follow his brother's gaze.
Something black...and very angry looking was starring right at himself and his brother. He'd never seen a snake before, he'd never even heard of them- and yet something in the back of his mind screamed danger. "....J-j-jeerro...I...think we found the monster...."
He slowly stepped a paw out, placing himself between the cobra and his older brother. "G-go get mom...."
Jero:
Unluckily for the duo, it was not only a snake, but the deadliest of snakes in Africa: the black mamba. It was clear that only the surprise at seeing too large creatures in front of it instead of one small creature had paused it in it's attack; it's brain was still catching up. But, as evidanced by the hissing, it was quickly getting over it's shock and drawing back to strike something: either meerkat or one of the two hyena pups. It's jaws opened wide, revealing two yellowed, viscious fangs, it's pupils almost disappearing in it's rage.
Jero stares back at it, frozen, until the meerkat sinks her little teeth into his paw. The pain makes him lift it, but slowly; he seems to insctinctively know not to move too quickly in the presence of the snake. The meerkat immediately scrambles to her feet; but instead of disappearing in the grass, it sneaks around to the back of him, clambers onto his back, and clings to his fur, peering out warily from behind him.
"I'm not leaving you," he whispers back to his brother, not looking at Fakhir, trembling violently. Behind his back comes a muttered; "Stupid, stinky-lions."
Fakhir:
Fakir's mantle bristled aroundh is neck and shoulders, leaving a spiney little line of baby fur over his little, pudgy body. On instinct his ears slowly drew back and his lips pulled away to show a mouthful of pointy teeth, every muscle had tensed up.
Idiot...Jero was supposed to run! He'd be fine- at least he thought so.
"I'll be right behind you...go first." He slowly nudged his brother with the back of his foot. "Promise."
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 7:41 pm
Jero:
"Nn-o. You first." In truth, Jero's rather mesmerized by the snake, and he's not sure he's going to even be able to run unless something happens. The tension is unbearable.
The snake, meanwhile, takes matters into it's own hands, and strikes out at the boys indiscriminantly; it's hard to tell what it's aiming for. One moment, it's there before them, moving sinuously; the next, flashes of black coils are rushing up to meet them, the cruel, hissing jaw with two venomous teeth snapping out at them.
Fakhir:
Fakhir was, in all honesty, frozen into place. His mind was screaming, pleading for him to snap out of him but his body simply wouldn't respond. It refused. Even as the snake lunged and a shadow rose up over them, the pup only starred wide-eyed.
Lucia:
Lucia hadn't been able to see the snake- but she'd been able to spot her pups. The she-hyena lunged downward, catching the snake's throat in her powerful jaws and snapped them shut, cracking the snake's spine in a single bite. If that meerkat hadn't called out- she wouldn't have turned her head in time...
Jero:
Jero stares in horrified fascination as the teeth come closer to him; it seems like it's happening in slow-motion, and he wonders vaguely why he can't move. He's aware, from a seemingly third-person point-of-view, of the snake disappearing and his mother's large, comforting presence appearing.
The meerkat buries her face in Jero's mane; she's so tiny that she's almost lost in it.
As the snake goes limp, it seems as if the hyena pup was released from whatever spell he was under, and he remembers to breathe again: gasping, he cringes against Fakhir's side, his eyes as round as they've ever been in pure shock. He quivers, burying his face in his brother's flank.
Lucia:
Lucia growled and shook the snakes body around then finally tossed it away from them. Afterwards she sharply turned back to her pups. Her hackles had lifted up off her shoulders and neck, giving her a near demonic appearence. She slowly took a few more breaths..it wasn't their fault. They had been playing...
Taking another deep breath, the mother hyena slowly dipped her head to run her tongue over the heads of her two sons, ignoring- for the moment- the meerkat there.
Fakhir:
Fakhir hunched up closer to Jero, every strand of fur still standing up on end. "...m...m...monster...."
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:21 am
Jero:
It took ages, it seemed, for Jero's heartbeat to slow and him to come cautiously out of his safety-zone by Fakhir's side. The shock was slowly wearing off; his mother's tongue helped. "W-what was that, mama?" His voice trembles; he can't help it. He's still just a child. If that thing had gotten either he or his brother ... he didn't want to think about what those teeth could do. That was the stuff of nightmares. And his mother, too ... he didn't want her to ever have to look like that again. She had scared him almost as much as the snake had.
Lucia:
Lucia slowly laid herself down and scooped the two inbetween her paws. "That was a snake... they are very dangerious. One bite can even kill a lion- so if you see one, try to stay away from it if you can." She gave both pups another soft lick to their foreheads, "...is that...lunch on your back?"
Fakhir:
"It's a little monster." Fakhir mumbled from behind one of his paws. "Jero caught it for lunch."
Apa:
The meerkat squealed indignantly, crossing her tiny arms and glaring up at Lucia. "Princess Apa isn't lunch!" She snapped - althought there was a bit of a sob hidden in the voice, too, as if the creature were truly frightened. "She tells you 'bout fangdeath, huh, and this is how you treat 'er?" She clings to Jero's mane as Lucia scoops the two pups up, as if refusing to be budged.
Jero:
Jero, meanwhile, is trying to turn his head to see the 'monster,' a little alarmed at the word - what if this thing also had teeth? His paw throbbed where it had bit him. But he can't see it, try as he might to twist about. "I dunno about lunch," he says, doubtfully. "I didn't know we ate monsters."
Fakhir:
"She warned us." Fakhir spoke up, moving his paw aside. "I wouldn't have looked if she didn't say something. We can't eat her!"
Lucia:
"No no no...", Lucia brought a paw to the side of her head and rubbed at it roughly. They were too young to start this 'can we keep it?!' nonsense. "Don't start this with me...that's lunch. That is a food animal."
Jero:
"Yeah," Jero pipes up, remembering. "She's a nice monster." If bossy, he adds privately, and peers up innocently at his mother. "We can get another food animal t'eat." He speaks more confidantly than he feels; if he caught one, can't he catch another? He doesn't stop to consider that, just perhaps, the entire thing had been a fluke, as this 'Apa' had been too preoccupied with the snake to worry about a mere hyena puppy.
Fakhir:
"Y...yeah..." Fakhir looked to one side, "She looks different...like Chinedu and Bai-Feng...maybe she's like us too? We can eat her like that if she saved us."
Lucia:
Lucia groaned. Her pups were going soft..just great. The hyena didn't answer for a long while. When at last she finally lowered her paw to the ground and let her bright pink eyes settle on the meerkat, she had softened her voice a bit, "What do you have to say, little one?"
Jero:
Jero's not sure how she looks different - he still can't see the elusive thing - but he agrees with Fakhir. They can't just eat her now. "Yes, it's not a fair reward."
Apa:
The meerkat peeks up at Lucia from among strands of the hyena pup's hair, and blinking at her. She hadn't expected to be asked that, and lions did not, as a whole, generally talk directly to you. Mostly they attacked you. "Um ... hi, 'm Apa?" She waves a little hand. "An' I'd like not to be eaten." Remembering her manners, she tacks on a hasty: "Please'n'thank you. What's your names?"
Lucia:
"Hmm...well thank you, Apa...for...alerting my children to the snake." She wouldn't give the meerkat credit for 'saving' them...she had alerted them- to include herself- but it was her fangs that had spared them...to include the meerkat. "I am Lucia."
She reached a paw out and tapped Jero on the head, "This is Jero...and the other is Fakhir."
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