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 Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:22 pm
Trotting down the shady path running alongside the massive stone known as Pride Rock, tongue lolling from his dangling jaw in the early afternoon heat, tawny coat moist with sweat from rough games, Vu sought the relief of the tiny watering hole below. He used to walk with his mother and siblings, but now he was old enough to make the trip on his own and had already done so once before. He was a young cub, but a self-reliant one.
During his short life Vu had walked this way many times, making the path both familiar and new. Every trip brought with it a little surprise.
Vu did something he had never done before. He trotted over to the edge of the path and stood on a stone jutting out of the dirt, looking down at the shimmering pool about three feet below the path. For a cub his age, this was quite a drop. Eagerly licking his chops, Vu backed up. His tail swished and whipped the air as he ran and hopped off the ledge, landing in the short grass with a thump that hurt his paws. It was a special kind of ache, the kind you only get after you’ve accomplished something reckless and scary. Sore with a smile and a chuckle, Vu shook himself and knelt at the edge of the pool, lapping greedily.
Because of the hour, Chani found she would be unable to sneak away from her families' den without a word. With wide eyes she had asked her mother if she could explore pride rock and the surrounding watering holes. Pride rock was well known throughout the pridelands and there were always adults willing to keep an eye on the visiting cubs. It was a safe location and Shiri allowed her daughter to leave on the condition she took one of her family members along with her. Lowering her ears, Chani made her way to the den of her grandmother in order to ask if her uncle would like to make the trip with her.
Despite the fact that Kutunza was actually her uncle, the cub was the same age as his neice and always eager to go on one of his neices' adventures. Hopping from his resting place, the darker striped cub grinned and became alert. "Where are we headed today?" He asked, a cheerful smile on his maw. Abedari, the cub's father, was much more lenient than Shiri and Kei had been of Chani. Abedari was a born wanderer and understood that his cubs might share his same interest of the world around him. It would be unfair, the adult thought, to keep his cubs cooped up when he had been given a great freedom.
Chani, frustrated that she couldn't go alone, kept her ears lowered and simply began on her way towards pride rock. "Pride rock," she said matter of factly, her paws already leading the way.
Following after, Kutunza quickly caught up and pulled alongside his neice. "That sounds great! I haven't visited pride rock before. I've heard that some cubs actually climbed up there and stood on the edge like the great kings!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:23 pm
Vu lifted his head at the sound of other lions approaching. Other lions often came by this watering hole when he was with his mother. Of course, even though Pride Rock was a safe place, his mother cautioned him against being too trusting of strangers, even distant relatives. Even though Vu listened to his mother’s advice, that didn’t mean he was afraid of other lions. He never met a single lion that could scare him except his father, and he doubted he ever would. Vu walked along the edge of the pool, ears erect and standing very stiff until he was sure the other lions were coming toward this pool, then hid himself behind a bush before they could spot him. He would play a trick on them!
Chani was the first one to make it to the watering hole and while she hadn't seen the cub lapping up the water, she did hear a sudden scurrying sound when both she and her uncle approached. At first the cub shrugged it off, assuming that it was a fleeing meercat having come to the water for a brief drink. As she made her way down towards the water, the cub grinned and dipped a paw in. "Mama says that when antelope and other prey beasts come here to drink there is a respect amongst the lions. You are not supposed to hunt an animal when it is at the watering hole - everyone is welcome to the water." Shiri waded forward until she was submerged to her knees. Her eyes scanned the water curiously, wondering if there would be any fish or other small creatures swimming around.
Kutunza followed after his cousin, still smiling despite the fact that he knew Chani would have rather been alone. He didn't see or hear the fleeing cub, but he did notice his neice's quick reaction to whatever it was that had caught her attention. While Chani dismissed it, Kutunza began to creep around the watering hole, eyes and ears alert to catch whatever intruder had left the area. Even if it was a meercat that would be exciting! Kutunza hadn't seen one before. "Oh.." The cub said in response to his neice. Perhaps it wouldn't be a good idea to hunt the poor meercat afterall.
Vu had not learned to stealthy yet. Slowly, painstakingly he crawled through the dirt, getting leaves stuck in his mane, wincing at the noise his paws made when they clipped the branches as he moved into position. He hunkered down and watched the two other lions. He tried to hold his breath to hide his excitement, but it made his chest fell tight and uncomfortable. When the lions turned their backs he would pop out and scare them. Hopefully, they wouldn’t spot him first.
Chani, still intent on finding something swimming in the depths of the watering hole, was entirely ignoring the antics of her uncle. Wading farther out, the cub began to swim, finding that the watering hole went deeper than her height. She swam for only a moment before turning and returning to the shore. Her eyes were wide and her body was shivering. Mama hadn't said anything about that! She thought to herself, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Kutunza hadn't seen.
To Chani's relief Kutunza was still stalking the grasses even after her short warning about peace at the watering hole. He had decided that if and when he came across the small prey beast that he would be gentle and release it shortly after catching. Stalking through the grass, the cub jumped when he heard the crunching sound of branches nearby. No matter how much the cub tried to hide himself, his dark pelt stood out boldly within the golden grasses. He continued to creep forward towards the noise, preparing to pounce on whatever it was lurking in the shadows.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:01 pm
As Kutunza crept closer the fur rose all the way to the tip of Vu’s white bushy tail and his teeth curled back in an impish smirk. His tawny coat helped disguise him in the thick bush. Kutunza probably would have made fun of him if he caught him spying on them. Vu didn’t like being made fun of, but he did like to make fun of others and he saw a golden opportunity emerging. He laid perfectly still, little heart pounding, waiting until the moment was ripe, waiting until Kutunza leaned right over him. Just then Vu sprang out from the bush. He slapped his paw on top of Kutunza’s nose and nipped at the older cub’s chin. His teeth weren’t sharp enough to draw blood, but they were sharp.
While alert and cautious, Vu's coat gave him the advantage and when he jumped out towards the darker cub, Kutunza was entirely caught off guard. Vu's paw cut into the older cub's nose, but when he went in for a bite, Kutunza was prepared, jumping off to the side in order to avoid the crazy cub! "Woah!" Kutunza called out, entirely surprised by whatever had jumped out to get him! He had thought he was following his father's direction carefully, stalking the prey in silence, but somehow the prey beast got the upper hand! What had he done wrong? Jumping to his feet, Kutunza quickly looked around for his attacker. When his eyes laid upon a younger lion cub, he narrowed his eyes and his fur stood on end, "What's your problem?" He barked, lifting a paw to rub his bleeding nose.
Kutunza's yell had Chani's back arched and her fur standing on end. Not paying attention to her uncle, the cub didn't see the event unfold until it had already been concluded. With Kutunza sitting off to the side with a bleeding nose, Chani quickly made her way to her uncle's side, glaring at the new cub. He was roughly their age and while Chani's first guess would have been that he simply wanted to play, her uncle's bleeding nose begged otherwise. "Do you know who we are?" Chani demanded, chest puffed and attitude fully displayed.
When Kutunza recoiled Vu lost his balance hit the ground. He picked himself up, giggling exuberantly and looking quite proud of himself. Sticks tangled his white mane and his fur was a mess from crawling around in the dirt and with that mischievous grin he looked every bit like the troublesome cub he was born to be. Suddenly he noticed the red liquid brimming over Kutunza’s fur and his smile slowly faded. The sight of blood was new to him, but he recognized the smell from smelling his mother’s breath after she came home from a hunt. He looked at the girl cub as if startled, though it was this strange new feeling of guilt that bothered him most. He felt as if he should be in trouble with someone. “I uh… oh, come on. I was just having fun! And he’s bigger than me!”
Chani stepped in front of Kutunza, very much more the type of cub to involve herself in a confrontation than her uncle. She continued to narrow her eyes on the cub. "His mother is Sarabi's sister, which means that we are related to the royal line. That is no way to treat royalty! You should be bowing before us and offering to help us with whatever we need." What Chani said was mostly true, though she was only related through marriage and not directly in the royal line, despite what she might have thought. With so many generations between her and Sarabi's family most of the royalty did not even know of her existance. This, however, did not stop the firey young cub from fully believing she was more important than Vu. With a stern voice she pointed a paw towards her uncle, "You should apologise!"
Kutunza's nose stung, but he understood the desire to play and pounce on some unsuspecting creature. In fact he had been on his way to get what he believed to be a meercat when the cub caught him by surprise. By the time Chani stepped forward and began to yell at the poor cub, Kutunza gathered himself and knew his sudden outburst had been wrong. Using a paw to push his neice from the way and step forward again, the cub's ears lowered and he tried to explain himself, "Don't mind Chani, she's a bit... hot tempered. I'm alright. In fact, that was pretty amazing how well hidden you were in the grass!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:12 pm
Well, Vu was related to royalty too, albeit more distantly through his great great grandmother, one of the daughters of Sarabi and Mufasa, but decided not to mention his family line. Judging by Chani’s tone he decided not to mention it. She probably wouldn’t care anyway. Vu puffed up his chest and straightened out his tail, wanting to look like he was in control. He grinned when Kutunza pushed his sister aside. “That’s because I’m going to be a warrior someday and warriors have to be sneaky sometimes! And I practice every day.” His ears arched back sheepishly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I mean.”
When Vu announced that he was going to be a warrior, Kutunza looked curiously towards him. He knew that his older sister and her mate were hunters for the pride and that there were various other positions available, but he had never really thought about what he wanted to do or what he might be good at. Shrugging lightly, the cub lifted a paw to wipe his nose again before continuing, "I have no idea what I want to do.. How do you know you want to be a warrior? Is your dad a warrior? What do warriors even do anyways?" While older than Vu, Kutunza was still young and full of curiousity. Because of his parents old age he often learned things from his eldest sister or her sons.
When Kutunza began to show interest, Chani's cheeks flushed red and she quickly turned her head away as though she wasn't interested. Crossing her paws, the cub listened quietly to the conversation between the two boys, frustrated that she wasn't really taken seriously and that the two boys had something in common and didn't really need her around. Lowering her ears, Chani began to head in the direction of the den. "I'm going home!" She said, lifting her tai in a 'harumph' sort of manner.
Vu would have stuck out his tongue at Chani as she turned to go, but Chani was Kutunza’s relative or something and Kutunza seemed nice, so he would have to be nice too if he wanted to make friends. He sat on his hunches, ears going back again as Chani left. When she was gone he smiled brightly at Kutunza. Vu was an expert on warriors. “Well my parents are hunters, but they’re warriors too. Anyone can be a warrior if they’re strong, brave, and practice every day. Warriors stand up for family, honor, and power, because sometimes when there’s a problem, and none of the grown ups can talk their way out of it, they need somebody big and strong to come and make the problem go away. That’s what being a warrior is all about.”
While Kutunza was eager to hear Vu's explanation of a warrior, it was obvious that the cub was a bit uncomfortable when his neice left the pair of them alone. Still he allowed Vu to finish and smiled happily once the other cub was done. "That sounds really exciting! I'd like to look into being a warrior! Perhaps the two of us can practice together?" Kutunza had such a large family with so many neices and nephews his own age he didn't get out much to make a lot of friends outside his family. It was exciting to think that he had finally made a friend on his own. Glancing towards the direction in which Chani was leaving, Kutunza let out a light sigh. Meakly, the cub tried to explain himself, "I would love to stay and play games, but I probably shouldn't let Chani go home by herself. I don't want her to get into any trouble.." Kutunza's voice trailed off and he kept his gaze away from Vu. He hoped the cub didn't find him stupid for leaving for such a reason. Afterall, family was the most important thing.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:08 pm
“Mother might not like that,” Vu said thoughtfully, the tuft of his tail swishing. “I mean, if she saw us together. She says we – my brothers and sisters and me – we shouldn’t trust strange lions. Strangers don’t scare me though. Nobody scares me.” He grinned delightedly.
When the other cub started acting funny he frowned a little. He decided he didn’t like Chani much. She acted like a princess and Vu was sure she wasn’t, since he never heard of her before. “I bet she gets into trouble a lot,” he chuckled, feeling sure of himself. “What’s your name?”
When Vu explained that his mother wouldn't like the two playing together, Kutunza felt hurt. What was wrong with him? He wasn't a strange lion! Lowering his ears, now more uncomfortable than before, the cub lifted himself onto his feet and prepared to excuse himself. Perhaps he hadn't actually made a friend afterall. With another sigh, the cub feigned a smile and glanced back towards Chani before he bid, what he hoped would have been his new friend, farewell. "Oh. Well then.. maybe we'll just see each other around sometime?" When Vu commented on how Chani probably got in trouble a lot, Kutunza couldn't help but smile. He certainly was smart. "Yea. She is pretty adventurous sometimes and a little bossy, but she grows on you. Oh. My name is Kutunza. What about yours?" By now Chani was a good distance of the way towards the den and Kutunza was trying to hurry the conversation.
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