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 Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:36 pm
 Early on Vu discovered that it was nearly impossible to move quickly with the big necklace rattling between his front legs. The large ivory thorn – Vu called it the giant fang – dragged on the ground at times and was always getting caught on bushes, so much so that he started carrying it in his mouth when he walked, and the string that held it all together kept falling over one shoulder. Finally Vu gave up on wearing the necklace. His family would probably break it anyway, like Fyja’s family tore up his pelt, but even though Vu thought tearing up Fyja’s special pelt sounded like fun he hated the idea of his family destroying the necklace Fyja helped him find. So he buried the necklace someplace special, where he was sure to find it in the future. He padded down the earth until the ground was flat and nudged a big rock over the location for good measure, and after taking one last look over his shoulder trotted home with his tail in the air, looking triumphant.
His dusty golden pelt shined as he went, blending in with the grass. On the way back to his mother’s den, while crossing a dry, grassless patch of cracked earth, Vu spotted a creature entirely new to him perched on a rock. The creature was small – but not to Vu. To Vu it was huge! It was furless with a long, shiny body the color of earth, stubby legs with long, clawed fingers, an impossibly long tail that ended in a whiplash, beady eyes and a flat head that came to a point at the nose. Come to think of it, Vu wasn’t sure if it had a nose (or ears for that matter). Maybe it would play with him.
The critter wasn’t a very friendly one. When Vu crept over, hoping to play, the critter turned to him and puffed up its cheeks and hissed grumpily. Thinking that this critter obviously needed to be taught a lesson, Vu tried to grab it in his teeth, but the critter was quick and darted away in a flash. Not to be ditched so easily, Vu gave chase with a cubbish roar. Without the necklace slowing him down he caught up with the critter just enough to pounce and capture it under his paws. “Got you!”
Well the critter didn’t like that one bit. It wriggled and puffed up its cheeks and hissed some more and even tried to bite him. “Don’t be scared! I’m not going to eat you.” Vu laughed, finding it funny that his new friend was so scared of him when all he wanted to do was play.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:39 pm
 Boredom was perhaps the most inconvenient thing Jasira had ever encountered in her entire life. Granted that she'd only been alive for a short time, but she had already decided that boredom could never again be an option. Too bad she couldn't seem to do much about it. Whenever their mother let them off training for a bit to relax and actually be...well, cubs, she always found herself idly lying about watching the sky. It did little to nothing to ease the boredom, so after a few days of watching the clouds cross the sky (and very slowly, she noticed) the little brown cub finally decided that enough was enough. Today, she would go out and do something with her free time. Anything! It didn't matter what it was, just so long as it kept her entertained.
That's how it started, anyway. Despite her effort though, she couldn't seem to find anybody to play with. Being the rough and tumble girl that she was, it was hard to find playmates that would playfight and wrestle with her. The other girls didn't want to, and the boys shied away because she was a girl. They said she wouldn't be able to 'keep up' with them. Hurtful as it was, Sira was too proud to show them that they had affected her, and simply turned up her nose and walked away. And just like that she was back at square one. As opposed to just lying around, though, she went for a walk. It was the next best thing anyway, even if she was alone. It gave her some time to herself for a change, since training was very much a family thing. She had five brothers and sisters, so it didn't really surprise her that alone time was fairly hard to come by.
While she walked Sira caught sight of one of her brothers, Vu, on the run - probably chasing something. He had always been on the livelier side, and Sira knew that even she wouldn't be able to keep up with him. Still...it'd probably help curb her boredom, and it was better than nothing. So with a sigh the young female followed after him, raising a brow when he pounced, then rolled her eyes when he started talking to whatever it was that he just caught.
She jogged the small distance that was left between them, then slowed down to a stop when she got close enough to see that he'd caught a...funny looking thing underneath his paw. She'd never seen one before, but as curious as she was she kept it to herself. Instead, Sira took a seat and smiled at her brother.
"So what have you got there Vu?" she asked, golden gaze on the little creature.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:28 pm
Vu flattened his ears, thinking Sira was some other lion. When his sister walked into view his tail swished through the dirt with instinctive playfulness. Deep down he felt a little put off that she snuck up on him, probably without even trying, but his self-doubt vanished in the moment of play. “Oh, hi Sira!”
He glanced at the funny critter struggling beneath his paws. He wanted it to be something impressive. “It’s a baby crocodile. I caught it!”
Of course, Vu had never seen a crocodile. Neither had Sira (at least, he couldn’t imagine she would have, even though they didn’t always play together). But Vu did hear some grown-ups talking about a crocodile that lived in a river one time, and even though he couldn’t remember everything the grown-ups said, he felt sure as sure could be that the funny critter was most definitely a crocodile.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:49 pm
Baby crocodile huh? Sira had once asked a grown-up what those were, having been warned by their mother about staying safely away from these creatures that look like logs in the water. She and one of her other brothers had once ventured a little too close to the riverbank and caught sight of a 'log' that she swore she saw blink its eyes. Imara had scolded them about it, so she hadn't gone back to do some more investigating.
The thing that Vu had beneath his paws didn't look like a 'baby log' though. It was much lighter in color, and significantly smaller. She knew better than to believe that it could grow to look like such a thing. Still, she wouldn't kill her brother's buzz. He was excited about it, and she'd never been the type to spoil another cub's fun.
"Cool," she replied calmly, her smile getting bigger. "D'you think mom's gonna let you keep it?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:13 pm
“I hope so! Or maybe we could hide him and be his parents. I’d be the dad. When he grows up—” Now, something quite funny happened before Vu could finish his sentence. He never got to tell Sira that when the baby grew up he would make the crocodile his bonded, making the two of them the greatest heroes on the savanna. After all, nobody would dare cross a lion with a crocodile for his best friend. Everyone would fear them and do what they said. Of course, Vu was a very good cub who understood the difference between right and wrong. He would tell all the animals to be good and just and kind, and so everyone would be good and just and kind to each other and they would all live in peace, because they feared Vu so much. But before Vu explained his brilliant idea, he leaned over the baby crocodile, as if to whisper in its ear, and that was when the funny thing happened.
If Vu knew this funny thing would happen he would have kept his face far away from the baby crocodile. The future Greatest Warrior of All was about to look very silly.
The baby crocodile snapped its sharp little teeth on Vu’s nose. Vu let out a very undignified scream and jumped to his feet with the baby crocodile dangling off his face, whipping back and fourth as Vu desperately shook his head and stumbled backward with his tail between his legs. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Getitoffame!!!”
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:13 pm
Sira listened intently to her brother's idea, ears perking forward a bit. She was genuinely interested, after all - it was a cool idea! The cub raised a brow though, when her brother abruptly stopped talking and leaned his face down close to his new friend, tiling her head curiously. It seemed to be a secret, and she took the chance to scoot a little forward and lean towards her brother to see if she could listen in on what he was about to say. What happened next was something she really didn't expect.
As soon as Vu let out a scream, Sira was up on her feet, eyes wide and somewhat freaked out at the sudden outburst. She lost her cool though, when she saw the little crocodile dangling off of his nose. The little femme started laughing, tears forming on the corners of her eyes. It was just too funny! Here he was, planning on taking the little critter under his wing, and it decides to have his nose for lunch! Sira had to take a seat, lowering her head as she tried to take control of her laughter.
When she finally did (though she was still giggling), she stood and ambled over to her brother, swatting the little creature carefully off his nose. It tried to skitter away, but she managed to catch up with a single pounce. She moved swiftly, wanting to catch it for her brother, and caught it beneath her paw. She was now sitting, still giggling as she watched the little thing writhe in frustration. Sira glanced over at her brother, grinning.
"You okay, Vu?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:34 pm
Vu plopped onto his rump, covering his nose with one paw. A few tiny drops of blood glistened on his fur when he lifted his paw and Vu’s eyes swelled with tears. He licked his nose and sniffled. Then he licked the back of his paw and wiped at his eyes in silence while his sister laughed and ran after the baby crocodile, shaken by the attack. He looked up, mouth hanging open as if coming out of a mild shock. Suddenly his eyebrows hunched together and his ears plastered against his head and his neck sank between his shoulder blades as he glared sulkily at his sister.
She thought this was sooooooo funny. He scoffed and padded over to her, his disgust with the situation present in his heavy gait. He stopped beside her and swished his tail. “That wasn’t funny!” His dark gaze turned on the baby crocodile. “If you ever do that again,” he said to the croc, “I’ll bite off your head. Hmph.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:13 pm
"Lighten up, it was so funny!" the cub giggled, glancing back down toward the little crocodile. It didn't seem to pay any attention to what Vu had to say, as it continued to wriggle about as if her brother hadn't said a word. At this Sira raised her brow, then lifted her gaze back to Vu. She'd given it a bit more thought in the past few moments, particularly after she noticed the little bite mark on her brother's nose. "You know Vu," she started, trying to find the right words for what she was about to suggest. "It might be better if you make friends with something that won't bite off your nose. Y'know..something less violent. Like...um...a bird! Those are fun, too."
It just seemed a little too weird for a cub to be raising a crocodile. For one, those are meant to live in water, while lions were made for land. Also, they were dangerous, according to their mother. And another thing, she highly doubted that their mother would let him keep it. Sira had been scolded about it, and would probably get into even more trouble if Vu went ahead and brought a baby one home and she knew about it. She wanted to see her brother happy, sure, but...well, she didn't want to get in trouble for it. All she'd get out of helping him was an earful from Imara..
"Mom would never let you keep it anyway. It'll distract you from our training.."
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:26 pm
Make friends with a bird? At first Vu felt embarrassed just thinking about it, but then he started to remember that some birds, hawks and vultures, were actually dangerous. At his age he found them especially frightening. Mother once told him to be wary of playing in big open places with little cover because of the hawks. He sat down beside his sister and licked his nose again. “It just caught me off guard,” he muttered indignantly.
His ears arched forward, listening to the baby crocodile’s claws scratch little grooves into the ground. Now that he was less excited about finding the little critter, he was beginning to doubt that it was really what he said it was. Mother said crocodiles lived in water and the nearest pool was small enough for Vu to jump in without going under water, a good ten minutes walk, too. Whatever it was, if it was this vicious as a baby he sure didn’t want to meet it when it was all grown up. “You’re probably right about mom. And it would be a lot of work, being a dad… It’s too bad. I really wanted a crocodile.”
Of course, he didn’t want to admit that it wasn’t a crocodile.
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:36 pm
Sira heaved a sigh as he licked his nose again, shaking her head a little. "Yep. And then think about when this little guy gets bigger." It was weird, playing along with his little lie concerning what the thing really was. Lying, though, somehow came easier then ruining it for Vu. He seemed content with assuming it was a baby crocodile, so she could stand to amuse him for a while.
At that she lifted her paw, and the thing scurried away into the grass. As soon as it was gone Sira got back on all fours, smiling apologetically at her brother. He seemed a bit let down about it, so she wanted to make it up to him somehow. It was her idea to let the thing go anyway, so she felt she had to do something about it.
"C'mon," she said as she gave him a nudge. "Maybe if we get lucky we'll run into a baby bird you could maybe bring home. Mom would probably let you keep something like that."
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:51 pm
Vu felt his shoulder muscles tense as he watched the baby crocodile – or whatever it was – scurry into the grass. He turned to her, smiling, and tugged at her ear affectionately. While most cubs would nuzzle one another, Vu tugged ears, tails, batted paws and sometimes even head butted his siblings, but he did it all in love without understanding that other cubs (and sometimes his siblings, too) might be made uncomfortable by it, especially when he got excited.
“I don’t think I want a bird though,” he said thoughtfully. “I mean, I guess they could be useful, like if you wanted to send a message or find somebody. I saw a lion traveling with a big dog once. Someone told me it was a manned wolf.” Vu thought it was a hyena, which didn’t make a lot of sense. Hyenas were banned from the Pridelands. That just made the thought of having a bonded hyena all the more appealing.
He frowned. “Mom probably wouldn’t let me keep a dog, huh?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:06 pm
The femme gave a laugh as he gave her ear a tug. She pulled away, flicking her ears as she did. It felt funny, but she didn't really mind. That's just how Vu was, and that was perfectly fine with her. It's always in good fun, so she'd never seen it as a problem. Sira started walking, giving his words a bit of thought. She'd seen such a thing before too, a lion and dog hanging around together. With the Pridelands being fairly open to any all creatures, she wasn't really surprised. It was just...a little funny to think about.
"Mmm.." she mused, not really sure how to answer. "Maybe. I don't really know, but there's always a chance that she would. Maybe if you treated it as something like a training partner, in case there's no one else to spar with you." She paused and furrowed her brows a tad.
"You should probably stick to something our size though. At least you'll be able to take it down in case something happens, y'know?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:19 pm
“Like what, if it tries to eat my nose?” Vu put on a smile, trying to shrug off the event. This was the first time anything ever attacked him like it actually wanted to cause him pain. With his brothers and sisters, mother always watched over their play fights. It shook him a little to realize that among all the fun, great things about being a warrior, there were real animals who wanted to hurt or even kill him. For the first time ever he had been in a real fight. True, it wasn’t much of a fight, and he lost, but he had tasted his own blood and decided that that was a taste he would like to avoid in the future.
He tried to imagine a scenario where he would have to kill his bonded for turning its back on him. Maybe his bonded would turn out to be a spy for an evil pride and Vu would have to kill it before it could return to its true master and tell them the secret of how to get into the Pridelands. He chuckled out loud as he imagined them exchanging lines across a dusty plain before he ripped out its throat. “Yeah, I might want to show it whose boss. But I dunno where I’d find anything like that around here.”
He padded along beside his sister and finally said, “Maybe a bird wouldn’t be so bad. It would have to be a really cool bird though. What do you want your bonded to be?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:38 pm
"Something like that," the girl replied with a giggle. "Just something you can handle for now. How embarassing would it be for a soon-to-be warrior to get taken down by his own bonded?" Sira grinned teasingly at her brother, then gave him a nudge. "You can always get a stronger bonded later on anyway. There's no rush, as far as I'm concerned."
At his question she kind of just shrugged. She'd never given it much thought, considering she had four other siblings she could train and play with. Right now, there wasn't any need for a bonded. At least not for her.
"I dunno," came her answer. "I don't think I really need one right now. There's all of you guys to train with so I don't think I'd be able to take care of one all that well. Maybe later on though, definitely. What about you?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:45 pm
Vu nudged her back with a laugh. Like any cub, Vu had a big imagination. Sometimes he took his daydreams seriously, certain that one day they would come true. This time he was only kidding. “When I’m all grown up…. I want a big water buffalo! Or maybe an elephant, so I could ride on its back and pretend I was flying. By then I’ll be so big and strong even the elephants will be scared of me,” he chuckled.
Up ahead, Vu spotted a medium sized marula tree growing near a small pile of rocks. Smiling with excitement, Vu jogged over to the tree and put his front paws on one of the stones, peering up into the twisty branches and listening for the sound of bird song. He nodded his sister over, whispering, “Do you think there are any birds up there?”
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