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 Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:06 am
Hunting for four was hard. Especially when one of those four was refusing to eat meat. But Eupe managed it somehow. It was starting to take its toll though. The once-princess was a bit scruffy, and she was tired and a little nervous. Would the cubs be okay with the Saint and Aang? What if something happened? She shook her head. She needed to concentrate on the 'Now'.
And the 'Now' consisted of her tracking an older gazelle. It was still big enough to feed herself, her two cubs, and Aang...if she could convince Aang to start eating meat again. She'd managed to slip little pieces of meat into the pile of plants he was always gathering...but she knew it wasn't enough. Oh...when she got her paws on the idiot who put the idea into Aang's head... Eupe was new to this 'mother' thing still, but she was not going to loose the first outsider to worm into her heart.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:06 pm
 Njalo was crouched under cover of the shrubbery. His moss-colored fur provided a useful camouflage for times such as this: hunting. He wasn't great at it, but his large size and fur color allowed him large enough meals. The herd of gazelles were moving on--all but one. The elderly creature slumped into a jagged walk, and the other gazelle soon moved out of sight.
Njalo crept closer, his eyes locked on its neck. He was about to lunge when he noticed a bright spot nearby. Second glance, he noticed that it was not just a hole in the trees, but fur. Teal fur? It was possible, the lion reminded himself, after all, he was green. In fact, it was probably likely, as more than half of creatures Njalo had met were also bright colors.
He focused again on his prey. Now he would have someone to share it with, at least; he had dreaded wasting the leftovers. He leaped forward and mauled the gazelle, missing its neck and catching it instead on the shoulder. It had the right effect, thankfully, and the gazelle hit the ground with a thud. Njalo watched guiltily as it wailed once and then fell limp.
Njalo looked around into the forest brightly, as if inviting anyone to come out and share. He didn't want to annoy someone if they had just been passing, but he didn't plan to get attacked for stealing a kill, either.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:35 pm
Eupe was about to start the lunge at her prey, her vision hyperfocused. And then the kill was gotten by another. A large, rather green lion, by the looks of him. She blinked, caught off guard. Wait...where did he come from?! She sighed. Well it would seem she'd need to find another prey-beast.
And then she noticed he seemed to be...inviting? Strange...The cheetahess moved forward, curious. Had he seen her before, getting ready to charge the gazelle?
"You've got some guts." Snagging a kill from another predator. But Aang had taught Eupe tolerance, and she wasn't about to get too rude...Besides, she was still a Head's daughter. No use in acting un-noble.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:27 pm
"Sorry," Njalo croaked out his apology, "I didn't mean to steal it... I just figured it would be better to share." He paused and looked around for a moment, then continued, "I only saw one, and I guess I was right. I mean, I can't eat all of this, can you?"
A cheetah, he observed; the second he had ever met. Realizing that he didn't know her name, nor shared his own, he added, "My name's Njalo, it's nice to meet you." He bent his head down and ripped a large chunk of meat from the corpse. After he had chewed the piece thoroughly and swallowed, he glanced back at the cheetah. "Well, help yourself."
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:23 pm
He had a point. The strange lion certainly had a point. "You're right...I can't eat all of it. IF I was hunting for just myself." She bowed, a graceful gesture she'd perfected growing up. "I am Eupe'baridi."
She looked over the gazelle, and then sat nearby. Perhaps there was enough that she needn't worry so much...Kimbi didn't eat, not really..and the cubs were still small.
And, as much as she hated to admit it, she could only slip small amounts of meat into Aang's piles of plants. "Though...Thinking it over, there's still enough for you as well." And she took her first bite. She doubted anyone would try to mess with her little ones (Aang included) while Kimbi was there.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 1:44 pm
"Wha--you're not just hunting for yourself?" Njalo hadn't thought through that possibility. "I'm sorry, I just... assumed. Nice to meet you, by the way, Eupi'baridi." The lion bowed his head, yet he felt that this greeting was a considerably rude gesture after the cheetah's display of grace.
He took another, more modest bite (he didn't want to come off greedy), then offered assistance: "I can help you take this to your cubs if you want. It's really heavy, and, well, I suppose it's hard enough being a parent." Njalo's mind was so fixed on the awkward picture of him being tackled by cubs that he didn't even realize that he had made another assumption. He had thought she looked too young to be a mother, but he had heard stories--things happen, and he didn't want to judge.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:01 pm
Eupe chuckled. "That's okay...I certainly don't look like a mother, do I? Don't feel like one sometimes..." Oh she loved her cubs so much...but sometimes, she would wake up to their extra warmth surprised.
At the offer of help, she smiled. "That...would be wonderful." It WAS a bit large...and lately Eupe HAD been wishing for some help. So she wasn't about to decline the offer. She looked about again and pointed in the direction of her group. "They're over that way...not too far off."
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:48 pm
"No, you don't," Njalo admitted, and he smiled sheepishly. Then again, the only mother he had ever known was his own, and in all honesty he was glad Eupe wasn't like her.
At the acceptance of his help, Njalo dug his teeth into the gazelle's neck, and started to drag it in the direction that Eupe had motioned. It moved slowly, but Njalo's large paws gave him enough traction to move steadily backwards.
"Just tell me if I'm going to hit anything, please," Njalo said without realeasing the gazelle. He wasn't sure if she had understood him, but he hoped that she would stop him if he were about to fall off a cliff nonetheless.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:29 pm
Eupe nodded and quickly trotted ahead of Njalo. She hadn't understood the EXACT words of what he'd said...but she'd caught the meaning. And damned if she was going to let the person helping her run into anything!
"Largish bush behind you. If you move to your left about four steps, you should avoid it."
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:20 pm
Njalo smiled through the meat in thanks and, without looking back, took exactly four steps to his left, and then continued to drag the meat backwards again. His smiled broadened as he passed the bush on his right. It was rather spiky, and he was grateful Eupe had warned him.
He continued to pad backward, and a reluctant though crawled into the back of his head... How are off is not far off? It wasn't that uncomfortable carrying the meat, but there was something strange about walking backwards into potential threats. And yet, that was not what irked him. Njalo was more concerned at the lack of this feeling. Even though he had just met her, Njalo realized he trusted Eupe. Trust... It was a strange feeling.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:25 pm
Where the others waited wasn't far at all. After ten minutes and a few bushes and large rocks, Eupe stopped. "You can leave the kill there." She smiled gratefully. "Thank you, very much." It was strange, having someone so willing to help and trust her outside of her little group. But it was nice...like a cool breeze. She turned towards the den, and hopefully where Kimbi and Aang were playing with Kisa.
"I'm back! And we've got a guest!" She smiled back at Njalo. "They're a good bunch. And I'm hoping I can convince one of them to start eating meat again." The thought of Aang's strange experiment made her sigh. She really hoped to fix his meat-strike soon.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:43 pm
Dropping the corpse, Njalo let a nervous chuckle escape his maw. He hadn't been around cubs since he had left his home, and a cub that didn't eat meat seemed even harder to relate to. He nodded to Eupe, "It was no problem." And that was the truth. After traveling so far alone, it felt good to do something for someone else. Perhaps he should make a habit of it, he thought to himself.
"One of them doesn't eat meat?" Njalo asked, intrigued, "Why not?" He had heard of strange practices before, but he thought that this one might have many more health risks than others. "Won't he get sick if he eats only plants?" The cub may not have been a god, but he seemed to hold interesting information nonetheless. Smiling, Njalo waited for the cubs.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:24 pm
Kisa had been playing by herself in the small cave where they'd been staying, batting around a little tumbleweed she'd found a few days ago. She would hit it with a paw and then go chasing after it and hit it another direction ... only to pounce on it and nibble at the edges a bit before starting all over again.
Upon hearing voices outside, though, she stopped and ears pricked up. Bounding toward the entrance, she poked her nose out. "Mom, you're back!" she called, padding outside. Then she stopped upon seeing the stranger, frozen for a moment.
Then she remembered manners and bobbed her head a little shyly. "Hello..."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:07 pm
Njalo was surprised by the little cheeton, and it showed. She... didn't look anything like her mother, or an least not that he could see. And, to Njalo's unexperienced eyes, she looked like a small lion. He had never before met a hybrid, and upon spotting her he stood still for a moment, confused. Had Eupe adopted? Is that how she looked so youthful yet had cubs?
But that wasn't it; the daughter appeared slinkier than even the most leggy, graceful lions, and her tail didn't look quite right. She was somewhere in between the two species, he decided, and though he didn't show it, this was new information for him. New information. That made him smile.
With that smile alight on his face, he approached the cub, "Hello, little one. My name's Njalo, and I was helping your mom out getting some food back here." He waved his right forepaw in the den's general direction. "What's your name?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:57 pm
Aang peeked his head up from the spot he'd been flopped on, before making a large show of yawning and loping out of the den. His stint of eating only plants showed, as he was thin and scruffy and his fur had lost some of its luster. He'd decided that Eupe was right, he couldn't go on like this forever. That's why, when the gazelle was laid down before him, he went over to tear off a decent mouthful and swallowed it rather eagerly before looking to Eupe with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry I worried you."
That said, he glanced at the stranger, grey eyes glittering slightly as he bobbed his head politely.
"I'm Aang. Nice to meet you."
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