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 Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:40 pm
 Jethro was surprised by just how much the pride was growing. He was falling behind! So many new faces were drifting in and out and he didn’t know a good many of them. Perhaps, though, it wasn’t to be blamed on him being lazy. Not completely, anyway. There had been a lot to do. Looking for members was only a small part of keeping a pride together. There was hunting to happen, and because he had yet to really find out who his fellow hunters were, a bulk of the work he was doing himself.
Also, he had to make sure his mate had enough to eat, as she was eating for more than just herself now. Thanks to a rather enjoyable event, they were now going to have a family of their own. It made him nervous, really, leaving him to hope for a smaller litter.
It would be the first time he had kids of his own blood to look after. That being the case, he didn’t want to be over-loaded and start to fret about it all. A good father. He was going to be a good father.
And he was worried enough already.
Sighing, he looked around the land, wondering if he might be able to find one of the new members. Maybe they could talk a little bit, and he wouldn’t feel like he was the only one not pulling his weight. A distraction from his thoughts was also good, though he tried not to admit that to himself.
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Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:53 am
 Hadaya was unfamiliar, at best, to these new lands. He had not been a member of this pride for very long. In fact, he wasn't certain he was even a member yet. He had only recently met Sen and Thili, and they had showed him the profound kindness of adopting him into their family. By extension, then, he was a member of this pride and he hoped he could do them a favor by not being his usual useless self.
Unsure, he walked around carefully, taking in the sights so that he might be able to remember where this, his first real home, was should he wander away. And he knew he would, as it was in his nature, but he could not yet imagine leaving for too long a time. He had so much to pay back here, and he would not let his new family or his new pride down by abandoning it. Flicking his tail, he slowed his pace as his soft eyes fell on a lion in the immediate distance.
Clearing his throat, he debated finding a path to circumnavigate the gray obstacle, but knew he would be better off if he introduced himself to those that shared these lands with him. Thili had been kind enough to him, after all, and he could only hope this lion was of the same ilk. He approached with his ears and head low, his legs moving stiffly, as if against his inner will.
"Uh... hello, there..." he said quietly, not really loud enough to spark attention, "I'm... Hadaya... I guess I'm pretty new here."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:40 pm
Spotting the blink of yellow in the distance from the corner of his eye, Jethro turned his head, looking out over the short span of space between them. His soft purple eyes came to rest on Hadaya, a young lion he had never met before. Must be one of the new members he had been searching for. Moving over, he progressed slowly, sensing the creature was a little on edge.
The larger animal tilted his head to one side, smiling kindly. “You’ll have to speak louder than that if you’re going to hold a conversation,” he observed lightly, watching the young animal. The poor thing seemed very nervous. Did he think that he was going to attack or something? Jethro was a large lion, yes, but he never really thought himself the type to frighten others, really. He was just… Jethro. The big teddy bear that only hurt what had to be eaten.
“Don’t look so tense,” he said after a moment, “you’re with friends here. My name is Jethro. I’m one of the… well, the leaders here. Though I don’t really know how I feel about that yet,” he chuckled lightly, “it’s very nice to meet you, Hadaya, how are you settling in?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:29 am
"Yeah.. right... uhm..." he continued in the same tone. Catching himself, he cleared his throat. He could not lift his head up, however, "I'm sorry. I'm not really... good... with conversations."
Or anything else, he thought ruefully.
Though, that wasn't entirely true. He was getting better at some things, because of this pridal setting he found himself in. He was forced to interact with others, and now that he had a family to cling to he was learning that he needed to step up his game. He was going to try to be a hunter for them, to provide for those that had so charitably taken him in, but he needed a lot of practice first.
A whole lot.
"I like it here," he said, with growing confidence, "I keep getting lost, but I think I'm starting to learn my way around. I'm used to wandering, so I never really took notes before. Uhm. You're a leader?" He shrank back again, lowering his eyes, "it's... nice to meet you... sir?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:38 pm
Laughing, Jethro watched the boy, not sure if he should continue welcoming him or head off before giving the troubled creature any more grief. He didn’t seem to like being around the larger lion much at all. Was he frightened? Or did he always look so nervous? He had heard about a young male who was a little on the general anxiety spectrum when looking at like.
This one fit the bill.
“No need to apologize,” he offered, “at least you try. Better than keeping hidden and not dealing with anyone at all, right?” Though he wasn’t sure this particular lion would agree with that.
He nodded slowly, “Yes, but don’t look so worried! I’m the Ipi of the pride, that is, the hunter leader.” He was also the war organizer, but he was sort of hoping he would never have to worry about going into battle with anyone.
“It’s nice to meet you too! But you don’t have to be formal with me. You can call me Jethro, same as anyone else. I’m glad you like the place! I admit, I’ve been getting lost every now and again too.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:34 pm
"I don't know," Hadaya said, missing the fact that Jethro's question would have been better left as rhetorical, "sometimes I think I should just keep my mouth shut and my head down. A lot less embarrassing that way, and no one gets upset." He sighed, shrugging his lanky shoulders.
His ears perked when he heard the word hunter. That was what he wanted to be, and he hadn't thought his luck would be good enough to lead him to someone who could show him how. Of course he knew the basics, getting along on his own as he had, but he didn't know if his skills were good enough to earn a rank within a pride, or to help support a family.
"Hunter leader? That sounds cool. I... want to be a hunter I think... for Thili and Sen... I mean, for the pride of course, but I want to do something to help them, because they helped me and... I don't really know what else I could do... uhm. Mr. Jethro."
He frowned. That sounded silly and formal, instead of just formal.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:23 pm
What a sad creature! No wonder he was part of the pride- he NEEDED a place to call home. Poor thing seemed too awkward to survive in the rogue lands. How he had managed it so far was becoming increasingly bewildering to the large gray male. “Nah,” he said encouragingly, “even if you feel like you’re making a fool of yourself it’s better to just try. Being alone isn’t the way to go about life! And I’m sure you do fine enough with others. No need to worry about making anyone upset.”
He really wasn’t that sure at all.
Laughing, Jethro shook his head, mighty mane dancing happily. “Mr. Jethro! No no, it sounds wrong. Just Jethro, please, or I’ll have to call you Mr. Hadaya and see how you like it.” He was thrilled that Hadaya wanted to be a hunter, even to help just Sen and Thili. It would certainly cut the work load he had to hold on his shoulders.
“If you need help learning the proper way to hunt,” he said after a moment, “I could try to teach you how I handle things. Though, I’m really not much of a teacher, I’d still be happy to try if you’d like.” He grinned, not sure if his methods would be of any use to the much smaller male.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:41 pm
"I guess," he said lowly, when Jethro told him it was better to try and be embarrassed than not do anything at all. He couldn't see how that was true, considering how awful it felt to embarrass himself. Maybe Jethro had never experienced the high level of fail that Hadaya was capable of. He didn't have a hard time believing that. Still, he knew he would need to snap out of it and try a bit harder.
Hadaya watched almost jealously as the larger lion bristled his mane, staying completely still so that his own mop of light yellow fur remained completely stationary and drew no attention. Just Jethro. Hadaya nodded. He didn't want to do anything that the older male didn't like.
"I'm not sure I'd warrant any kind of title, so I guess I'll just call you Jethro... if that's what you want. I don't think I'm a very good hunter right now, so it would be really cool if you could teach me, even a couple of things. I could just watch you, and I would learn a lot that way, too. But only if you don't think I'd get in the way... I'm pretty good at being in the way."
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:00 pm
“That’s what I like to hear,” he chuckled, “not the ‘you don’t deserve a title’ thing, the ‘calling me Jethro’ thing. You’re kind of hard on yourself, aren’t you?” He couldn’t help but notice it. Even if he failed a lot, he didn’t have to be so down on himself about it. Jethro had met plenty of lions who sucked at life and they seemed happy enough. Maybe it was embracing the suck that made them seem better off than this little one. Than again, was that really better?
Or was that just giving up and settling, rather trying to get better? Eh, he didn’t know. It was all so confusing when someone wasn’t happy.
Why he tried to avoid being unhappy whenever possible.
“That sounds fine,” he replied after a moment to gather his thoughts again. Now they were talking about hunting- something he loved very much. “I’d be happy to try and teach you what I know. There are plenty of places to practice around here. Of course you wouldn’t get in the way! What harm could you do if you’re just watching what’s going on?” He smiled, finding it silly. Turning, he motioned for the boy to follow, “come on,” he said, “I can start teaching you now if you’d like.”
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:44 pm
"No more than I ought to be," Hadaya said with a shrug. As far as he thought, he was perfectly fair on himself. After all, he was not the best lion around. He knew that. He just wanted to make sure everyone else knew it, preferably before he gave them an example and/or disappointed them with the surprise. It wasn't the best way to make friends. Or keep them.
Being up front about it usually gave him the chance to see who would at least stick around and talk to him, which was helpful. He wasn't a fan of embarrassing himself and having someone leave him for it.
He swallowed nervously, hoping this wasn't a mistake, and followed after the bigger lion. He nodded enthusiastically, offering a thin smile in an effort to hide his sudden surge of nerves, but doing very little to that affect. In fact, the expression made him look like he was about to pee himself.
"Sure, now is... fine. I'm not doing... anything else. Unless you were. I mean, if you were busy I wouldn't want to get in your way and then we could just do this... some other time... that isn't right now. If that were better. For you."
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:04 am
“Shoot,” muttered the larger male, “I was doing something, wasn’t I? Well, not that you would know. Haha. I was moving around looking to meet some of the new members. I suppose I should finish speaking to some of the others before anything- I don’t want to seem like the kind of leader that doesn’t care about who’s in the pride, you know?” He smiled warmly, watching the smaller lion.
He wasn’t trying to get out of teaching- he really did feel as though he needed to meet the other pride members. He was a little worried, though, that this poor thing wouldn’t be quite able to understand that. The boy was a wreck in many ways.
Helping him learn to hunt was the very least Jethro could do for him.
“Why don’t we meet tomorrow morning by the shoreline? Just because it’s easy to spot other lions there and I’m otherwise quite bad at being able to find others. From there we can find a good place to hunt and I’ll show you the basics. Remember! Be there bright and early!” He chuckled lightly and offered the lion a small bow of his head.
“I’ll catch you later, alright Hadaya? It was great meeting you and I do hope you find yourself at home in this pride.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:11 am
Hadaya nodded at Jethro's every syllable, doing his best no to look disappointed. The scrawny lion shouldn't take it personally, right? There were other people Jethro needed to meet, and Hadaya himself had offered to let him get back to anything that was more important. Of course everyone else was more important.
He was Hadaya, after all.
"Okay!" He said, a bit too enthusiastically, "tomorrow is fine. Good. I mean. It works, yeah. I'll meet you there, then, tomorrow. Bright and early," he was still nodding, his words coming out in short bursts> He drew a deep breath to steady himself, suddenly not looking forward to tomorrow. What if he made a complete fool out of himself during the lesson? And now he had a whole day to dwell and dread.
Looking as happy as he could while worrying about the future, Hadaya grinned at Jethro and, flicking his tail, nodded one more time, this one a big finish to the conversation and coming off as a bit of a theatrical bow.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" He said, feeling like he had said something like that already, "I'll. Uh. Okay. Bye." He turned and trotted off, not sure of where he was going but knowing that he had probably leave as quickly as he could, without looking like he was fleeing for his life.
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:16 am
Jethro couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the other walk off.
What an interesting character.
Deciding it best to head off, Jethro turned in the opposite direction of Hadaya's escape, wandering off to see if he couldn't find some others to speak to.
((And done. XD))
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