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 Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:39 pm
Black tipped paws lightly treaded the sand, adjusting instinctively to accomodate the shifting grains, just as they had every day since the very first time he had set foot out on the sands as a cub. The lion moved with such ease over the lands that one would never have guessed at just how much the sands could slip and crumble underfoot. But it was only to be expected. He was a Firekin, born and bred, though nobody would have guessed it by the color of his coat, and the desert was his home.
The tan pelted General felt his paws reach the tip of the small sand dune, and he paused upon the crest of the sandy hill, casting his gaze out across the desert. Sand was all that could be seen in all directions. That was what he was used to. There were times when he wondered what life was like outside of the desert, what it was like to live without the sand and the contrast between day and night, and the stars that he had heard did not shimmer and sparkle as they did in the desert anywhere else.
No, there was no leaving the desert for Azarax. This was where his heart lay, and his home would always be out on the sands. Yet, there were days when his mind would wander, and he would try and imagine what it was like. Perhaps one day, he reasoned, he would go out there and see for himself what it was like. But for now, the desert was more than enough for him.
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Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:36 am
 It had been a couple of weeks since Mteketezo'dubu had arrived on the desert sands with her mother. Since then the little cub had been curled up in the back of a cave eating heartily and sleeping a lot to regain her strength. Today was the first day that she felt fit to head away from the cave on her own. Of course, her mother had wanted her to stay in the cave but the red cub had managed to sneak away while Moja was out hunting.
Now she was a ways from the cave, if she turned and looked behind her she could barely see the mouth of it. Grinning to herself she bounded forwards which resulted in her falling head over paws and tumbling through the sand. Must remember...sand is more troublesome than dirt
Once she reached the bottom of the dune she had tumbled down she gave herself a hard shake and surveyed her new surroundings. She had no idea where she was, with a roll of her eyes she sighed impatiently. Great, now Mother will worry and when I get back she'll have to give me a bath The cub stopped her head mid shake having spotted a lion with his back to her on the top of the dune ahead of her. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. He was quite large, but not as large the other male she had met upon entering the lands, she didn't think. He was pale against the sky except his bold orange mane that was streaked with white. Having only ever seen two other male's in her life Tezo was fascinated. Trying to be sneaky she started up the dune, tripping many times and making much too much noise for a stealthy arrival.
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:39 am
His ear flickered to catch the sounds of someone rather noisily stumbling up the side of the sand dune. Under normal circumstances, Azarax would have whipped around to ensure that there was nothing hostile about the approaching lion. But judging by the sound of it, whoever was approaching was not very large, and by the rate at which the sounds were advancing toward him, he didn't suppose they were moving very quickly.
Then he turned, and felt a small pang of anxiety. Oh crap. A cub. It wasn't that he disliked cubs, it was more that he had had so little experience with them - even as a cub himself - that he had little idea of how he was supposed to react around them. Talking to that little white cub, Iroh, had certainly made him somewhat more confident about dealing with the little beings. Still, he knew it would be some time before he stopped feeling a rising sense of dread every time he was faced with having to actually converse with one.
The cub tripping toward him, he could see, seemed to him to be somewhat smaller than some of the other cubs he had seen playing around, and though he perceived some shade of red in her coat, it wasn't the flaming bright shade of the traditional Firekin coat. He could see it, but dimly, and he could only assume she belonged to one of the rogues that had joined the pride.
Her coat was sprinkled with fine sand, and the way she was approaching told him that she had yet to grow accustomed to walking on the shifting sands. But that was okay. She would learn.
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:38 pm
Reaching the top of the sand dune took all of Tezo's concentration, she most definitely wasn't used to walking on the shifting sands of the desert. Once she finally did reach the top she looked up to be startled by a set of yellow eyes looking down at her. The little cub jumped, nearly falling back down the dune, but she scrambled against the sand and managed to stay on top of the dune.
She shook herself, slightly annoyed by him surprising her but she was more interested in him so she let it slide for now. She had to tilt her head back to look him in the face, he was so much bigger than she was! She didn't say anything just yet, instead she stared at him to see what he would do. Boys were so different than girls, she and her mother didn't have big manes like him.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:59 am
He felt himself smile at the cub's antics, though he knew she most probably did not appreciate almost falling off the dune she had spent so much effort climbing on his behalf. Although he certainly hope it was because he had surprised her, and not because he had scared her. Being able to intimidate would fly well on a battlefield, but it had no place around cubs and young lions. He made a mental note to himself to find out. It would be something he would have to work on, then, if he had indeed scared her.
He returned her gaze wordlessly for a moment, peering down at her. The cub's eyes told him that she did not particularly understand. Well that was okay. There was plenty about her that he didn't understand either.
Then he realized just how far she was tilting back just to get a good look at his face. She certainly was small. But then, of course, that was to be expected. All cubs seemed to be so diminuitive to Azarax that he couldn't help but wonder just how hard the wind had to blow before the little creatures were blown away.
The tan pelted lion shifted backwards, then sat, and then stretched down so that he was closer to the ground. It made things far easier, for the both of them, he was sure, although mainly he had done it for himself. The closer it was to the cub, the bigger she seemed. And the bigger she seemed, the less he had to feel himself worry about accidentally crushing her with a misplaced paw.
He smiled. "Hello, there."
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:08 pm
Tezo wondered why he didn't say anything outright, was he waiting for her to say something the same way she was waiting for him? If he was there would be there a long while because she was not going to be the first to speak, she had made the effort to get up the sand dune (and nearly fallen back down it) so he could initiate the conversation.
As she stood in front of him, gazing upwards, the little cub realized her neck was beginning to get achey from craning the way it was. Of course stubborn little Tezo wasn't going to drop her head, she wasn't one to back down from anything. Even so, she was inwardly happy when the big male lion decided to move down to her level.
She had a curious look on her face as she watched him and when he finally spoke a smile didn't come to her face, not that she looked upset- just uncertain. "Hi" Her words didn't seem like enough so she decided to add to them. "You're really big." Oh yes, tact, the little cub lacked it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:26 am
He blinked, caught off guard by her strangely straightforward statement. His smile faded slightly - not because he was in any way angry, but rather because his focus had shifted from seeming cheery to pondering the cub's words.
"Uhm," He began, his brow quirking into a tiny, momentary frown. "Yes, I am." He agreed, wondering if it was merely an innocent statement, or if the cub meant to follow it up with anything. If she didn't, what was he supposed to do? She had been the one who had spent so much effort mastering the sand dune in order to reach him, and he had assumed that she had done so for a reason.
She didn't seem extremely keen on being the one to start a conversation, and yet he wondered what he could possibly talk to her about if he had to.
((Eee, sorry for the short post xP))
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:00 am
Tezo sat in the sand as she watched the big male's reaction, her tail flicking through the sand. He seemed a bit confused by her question and she wondered why. The small cub didn't realize that not every lion was quite as blunt as she was.
When he replied she nodded agreeing with him, he was very big. Even bigger than her dad- but not by much. Her black and white father was fairly large for a rogue after all. For a moment she got lost in thought thinking of the father she had only ever seen once, and that was from a distance. Giving herself a mental shake she looked up at the tan male again. "I'm Tezo, who're you?" That seemed like a good thing to say at the time since she wasn't exactly sure how to continue the conversation.
(( It's okay, sorry this took so long lol my muse has been really erratic/favouring certain characters lately n_n ))
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:59 am
((No worries, I know exactly what that feels like xD))
He felt a small, amused smile cross his face as the little cub seemed to jolt herself back to the present, obviously lost in thought. Well, he knew what that was like. He had spent a fair amount of time to himself as a cub, and there was truly nothing better to do while alone than to think. It had become a bit of a habit, drifting off, and more than once he had found himself returning to the present with an unpleasant jolt while in the middle of a conversation.
He mentally thanked the stars that he no longer did that. It would have been terribly embarrassing for a General to simply drift off in thought randomly during a conversation.
"My name is Azarax," He said, at the same time committing her name and face to memory. It was always a good idea to be able to recognize other pride members, and Tezo was no exception. He paused, wondering what else there was left to say. It seemed as though neither of them was particularly skilled at starting a conversation. At least, he wasn't. Perhaps in Tezo's case, she just wasn't in the mood to. "Are you new here, Tezo?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:23 am
Azarax That was a strange name, although her name was Mteketezo'dubu so she couldn't really talk about strange names. She tilted her head a bit staring at him intently, she wasn't very good in social situations, he was the first lion in the pride that she had met up close and personal and she wasn't sure what to talk about.
Luckily his question saved her from having to think up one of her own. She nodded, her tail twitching across the sands. "Yeah, me and my mother just joined. She's a cub-sitter." Which was ironic because her own cub was off gallivanting through the sand dunes with no one to watch her.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:12 am
She was a new member. The thought suddenly clicked into place, and the tan-pelted lion regarded the young cub with interest. He had never been outside of the desert, and while he was perfectly fine with that, he had to admit, he had wondered what it was like. He hoped never to have to leave the place of his birth, but there had to be nothing wrong with a little knowledge of places beyond the borders of the pridelands.
Her mother was a cubsitter. Mentally, he made a note to pay closer attention to the new members of the pride. Perhaps, he mused, he would be able to figure out who Tezo's mother was. Most likely. It was rare to find a cub that didn't closely resemble their parents in some way.
"So, Tezo," He added, deciding finally to ask. It seemed as if the little cub had decided to leave the conversational aspect of their meeting more or less up to him, in any case. He might as well live up to any expectation she might have. Or at least attempt to. "What was it like before you came to live here?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:28 pm
As Tezo sat staring up at Azarax her tail swished across the sand, she really was fascinated with the bigger male. He even had a big floofy mane, she knew she'd never have a mane like that because her mother didn't have one but it was times like this she wished she would.
She didn't mind the awkward flow of their conversation, she was content to just stare at him during the pauses. She wondered if all boys were big with floofy manes like Azarax. Maybe she'd ask him. She was just about to open her mouth and do that when he asked her a question. She paused for a moment thinking about her old home.
"Well, there wasn't any sand, the ground's hard and easy to walk on. I used to live in a cave and it was right by a water hole so there were always prey animals around and enough water. And there was grass!" She missed grass, it felt better under the paws than sand- at least in her opinion. She glanced out in the direction that her home was, of course she couldn't see anything but desert. "Sometimes I miss it, but I miss my sister's more, they stayed with my dad. He was big like you, but your mane is floffy-er." She looked back at Azarax, tilting her head to the side.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:41 am
Grass. He tried to imagine what it was like, living in a place where there was no sand, plenty of water, and grass underfoot. He couldn't quite do it, and in any case, the scenario seemed to alien to his mind that he had trouble accepting it. Still, he knew it was out there, and he knew that a home like that would mean there was no worry about getting enough food and water. For that reason, it seemed pleasant enough. Still, for him, who had been born in the desert and lived his entire life on the sands, he knew he would never be able to adjust.
Despite his feeling of unease, he felt a smile stretch across his muzzle. She really was a sweetheart, and the way she so easily talked about life away from the desert made him start to relax.
"They didn't come with you?" He asked, faintly surprised, though he knew it wasn't any of his business to feel that way. He was tempted to ask why, but decided against it. Perhaps as a cub, Tezo might not be able to differentiate which questions were rude and which weren't, but he wasn't about to pitch them anyway. It was her life and her family. He'd stay well out of it.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 2:01 pm
Tezo was staring at Azarax with her grass-green eyes, not even thinking it was rude. She didn't know about manners or anything like that. Her tail twitched across the top of the sands as they spoke. Catching his question she blinked and then nodded. "No, they stayed with my dad, and my mom and I went away." There was a small frown on her face as she thought about it. She wondered how her sisters were doing with her dad. She could barely even remember what they looked like.
Giving her head a little shake she looked up at him. "Do you have any family?"
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