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 Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:40 pm
Glancing sourly up at the slowly darkening sky, Ilaheva again wondered what imp of the perverse and made her adopt a stray lion cub. Once again, the wild dog's charge had escaped to wander off somewhere and unlike every other time, Ilaheva had been unable to locate her quickly. Feeling frantic, she called again for the cub, hoping this time, the pest would answer.
"Mrengo! Please, where are you? It's time to come back!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:51 pm
Vuma limped through the savannah grasses, wincing as his right foreleg twinged. The blasted thing only pained him if the weather was due to change. With a sigh, the old beast stopped and sat panting. Which way to go, which way, he wondered.
As he rested, he thought he heard worried shouting and perked his ears. Maybe he could help whoever was yelling. Maybe they'd be grateful enough for the help that they'd give him a place to sleep until his leg stopped aching so badly. Standing and limping towards the voice, he finally found the source. A rather prissy looking wild dog who was acting as if her entire brood was in danger of being eaten alive. Better and better. Mothers were far more likely to be kind and grateful than some idiot young male.
Clearing his voice, he rasped out, "Lost something, marm? Want some help looking?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:58 pm
Jumping and yelping as a withered specimen of maned wolf addressed her, Ilaheva for one moment, simply stared, jaw dropped until she got over her startlement.
"I.. forgive me, you frightened me..." she stammered. "The cub I take care of.. I can't find her! She's never been gone this long before!"
Personally, Ilaheva couldn't see that the wolf would be of much help, but every nose or pair of eyes could be useful right now. And the old beast seemed so calm, surely he might have some idea or maybe he'd even scented Mrengo!
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:03 pm
The cub she took care of? Vuma wrinkled his nose at that. So, it wasn't her own offspring, but one she simply looked after? That was curious enough, but to call it a cub implied that it was one of the cats. And that was even more interesting. Sitting and cocking his head, the old wolf considered her words and spoke gravely.
"Please, you must explain for me. Are you afraid the... erm... cub's parents will come back and find you less than diligent?"
Though he wouldn't tell her, realistically, if she hadn't found the youngling by now, she likely wasn't going to.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:08 pm
Staring at the old male as if he'd told her flying to the moon was possible, Ilaheva found words spillign from her mouth without needing to think of them.
"Her parents can't come back, they're dead. They were dead when I found her. I couldn't leave a baby to starve or be pecked to death by vultures! Even if she's a lion, she's still just a baby!"
Though, the wild dog had to admit that Mrengo wasn't such a tiny baby anymore. And she had been showing increasing restlessless and wandering farther and farther off to play.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:13 pm
Rumbling a bit in satisfaction for having guessed correctly, Vuma listened as the female panicked at him. On the one side, he could understand her reasonings. Most folk would try to save an infant if they could and raise it. However, most of those cases were at least among the same species. For this female to have taken in a lion...
Well. That was neither here nor there. He narrowed his eyes in thought and decided to take a gamble.
"Tell me, how were you planning on teaching her to hunt the way she would need to learn? Or even teaching her about her own kind? I applaud your actions, marm, but you were doing her no great favors."
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:19 pm
"How can you say that?" Ilaheva heard herself snarling. "she stayed alive, didn't she? And she'd have managed learning my way to hunt!"
Who did this withered little thing think he was? She'd done everything she could to teach little Mrengo how to hunt hares and smaller animals. She'd taught her tracking and how to distinguish scents.
Then she felt immediate guilt. Maybe, just maybe she'd been trying to turn Mrengo into a pack member and maybe she had been a little too censorious when it came to Mrengo's questions about other lions. But really, it was for the cub's own good! Lions were filthy, treacherous beasts and if she was training Mrengo to be something better...
Shaking her head irritably, Ilaheva snapped her teeth at the wolf.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:25 pm
Chuckling at the expressions of anger and guilt on the female's face, Vuma decided it was time to turn her mind to things that she'd plainly never acknowledged. He, himself, had no doubt that the cub was likely safe and happy wherever she was. And he silently wished the unknown cub well in her journey. She had to be a resiliant little thing or she wouldnt' have rebelled against the dog's authority.
"Well, and perhaps she could have learned," he said equably. "But consider this marm, it sounds like you made her close to the center of your world. What would have happened if you'd had pups of your own? How could you expect her to understand that? Or even understand when you would end up forced to drive her away to protect your own brood?"
Now he leveled a stern glare on the dog.
"And don't tell me you wouldn't do any such thing. Instinct in such things is stronger than your plans for a prim and proper dog-lion."
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:33 pm
Whatever she had been ready to say, Ilaheva bit back as even more guilt washed over her. Pups of her own were more than a future possibility. They were a growing fact, though she hadn't told Mrengo. But surely her little adopted cub had known something was going on. Too many time she'd shrunk back when Ilaheva herself had snapped for no good reason. And the growing certainty in the back of her mind that her pups would be the most important things in her life once born.
With a soft groan, Ilaheva bowed her head in shame. Poor little Mrengo must've known something was going on and had decided to take her wandering far enough where she wouldn't have to come back. And somehow this old wolf had known what she hadn't been willing to explain to Mrengo.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:39 pm
"Now stop that," Vuma snapped as the dog began to wallow in self pity. "You did the best you could, right? So there's no reason to knock your head against the ground and bemoan your loss. I'm willing to bet your little cub is just fine."
In fact, if he was any judge, the cub was probably better equipped for wandering than the dog gave her credit for. With a sigh, he heaved himself to his feet and approached the dog to nose her shoulder.
"It'd be apparent even to a dolt that you're expecting little ones, marm. Concentrate on keeping yourself and them safe and stop feeling guilty for not wanting to do so much for a cub that wasn't even yours."
He began to walk again. No point in staying here for the night. No doubt the dog'd rage and rail and argue until she worked through her feelings of guilt. Better for the one who'd rather rudely forced her to think about it to be long gone.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:40 pm
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