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 Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:59 pm
 The large, long limbed lion was resting under a tree, his limbs stretched out, his tail flicking listlessly. He had his head on his paw, his eyes closed, ears perked forward. He was just napping, the sun filtering through the leaves above, casting odd shadows over his long, thin, but muscular frame.
He had been hunting, but hadn't managed to produce anything for his efforts. Apparently Jethro's lessons weren't rubbing off as much as he had thought they were. Or maybe he had just learned the bullet notes. He could recite what made a good hunter, but the actual application seemed to be failing.
He'd get it some day. He just hoped he wasn't old and starving to death at that point.
Huffing, kicking up a small cloud of dust in front of his nose, he tried to tell himself he wasn't embarrassed, but he couldn't help but feel a bit dejected by it. In a few minutes, he silently encouraged, he would try again and this time he would catch enough for two lions. Maybe three.
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:43 pm
For instance, she had had no idea that her legs could spring her up to the shortest branch of a tree and, for an instant, she could hang there before she fell to the ground again. This was too much like a leopard, but Omoa enjoyed it. One of these days, when she had more time, she would push herself to actually sit on the branch. One day.
But at the moment, she was simply trotting out of the trees and spotted a cloud of dust a foot or so above the grasses, near a tree. Her ears perked forward and she crept closer, stealthy, and peered through the grasses to see what it was that had created such a cloud. Her eyes blinked and she grinned at the sight before her.
"Hadaya!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:48 pm
Hadaya lifted his head a bit too fast, nearly yanking his front paws off the floor with the force of his surprise. His ears were flat against his head for a moment as he looked around, lost within the fluffy mass that was his mane until he spotted the lioness and recognized her nearly instantly. His ears popped forward and he got to his feet in excitement.
"Omoa!" He said, not even having to force himself to recall the name. He remembered her from when he was much younger, and was surprised by how clearly their fleeting interaction was in his mind. He grinned at her, padding closer.
She had certainly grown a lot since the last time he saw her. She was much smaller in his memory, just a cub, offering him friendly words and telling him about how she was going to go with her dad to the ocean. It struck him then that he had managed to get himself to a home by the ocean, and he smiled at the fortune of it. The changes in her were profound, and he imagined he was meeting her for the first time again.
After all, he had changed a lot since those days. There was no reason why she wouldn't have.
"How are you?" he asked, stumbling a bit as he came to a stop, his paws a bit too eager to close the distance between them. So he hadn't changed that much. He was still too awkward for his own good.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:19 am
She laughed and pranced forward a bit to meet him halfway. Hadaya had gotten so big! Granted, he had been taller than she when they were cubs, too, but it was still great to see him after all this time.
Omoa did not stop when he did, and instead, laid her head on his shoulder for just a moment in a small, greeting hug. They were friends, after all, and don't friends show a little bit of affection after not seeing each other for a long time?
"You've gotten so much bigger than me!" she laughed. "I'm good. I came back from my family's pride to visit with my best friend and see how she was doing. How are you? What have you been up to lately?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:43 am
Hadaya purred and rubbed her affectionately when she broke the awkwardness barrier and hugged him as lions were able. He smiled at her, puffy mane sticking out all over the place in his excitement, save for where it had been smoothed down by the contact with the other lion.
"That's a relief, too," Hadaya said with a grin, "I always thought I was going to be a very small lion. But now I've got these big long legs I don't know what to do with. Ha! I'm doing pretty good, too. I live with Thili and Sen by the ocean, in their pride. Jethro is teaching me how to hunt! Er. Well. I know how to hunt. He's just teaching me how to... not do it with so much... uh. Non-killing."
He shook his head, bouncing on his paws. He hadn't really been in this situation before, and the excitement was a bit much. He didn't know what to do with it. So he babbled. A lot.
"Wait, no, I'm talking about myself. Plus, I don't think you know any of them. I shouldn't be talking about myself. That's not right. You! You look great! How's life? Have you seen your friend yet? How long are you going to be around this area? Are you happy where you live? Whoa, too many questions. Uh. Sorry."
He grinned, a goofy expression that seemed to fit him perfectly.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:04 am
Omoa laughed again and shook her head.
"What, you become a smaller lion? I knew it was destined for me, but even when we were little, your paws were huge. I saw you tripping over them once, but now I see you know how to use them." Then she paused and tilted her head to one side, listening to the names he listed off as the lions he was living with. By the ocean. In a pride.
With Jethro.
Who was, apparently, teaching Hadaya how to hunt.
She shuddered slightly at the sense of deja vu creeping up her spine. She laughed it off. "Thank you! Yes, I met up with her a while ago. But since her family is here, too, some days she has to spend time with them and I go do my own thing wherever I want. I'll be around here for a while, actually! How long will you be here?" Omoa giggled and shook her head. "It's fine, I don't mind questions."
Then again, it was her turn to ask him some now.
"Before...did you say you were living with Thili and Sen? And...Jethro was teaching you how to hunt?" Her eyes darted to the ground quickly before meeting his gaze again. "Does this Jethro have a mate named Kam? And do they have 3 cubs, a boy and two girls? Dark colors with spots?"
What a small world it was, if it turned out that Hadaya was a part of her family's pride.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:13 am
Hadaya nodded. He had always had very large paws and lanky limbs. He had simply grown into them. He didn't tell her that he was about as good on those big pads as he had been back then, because he didn't find it important enough. Plus, he didn't want to embarrass himself with something he could avoid.
If he was going to look like a fool, he'd rather it not be his direct fault.
"I just wander most of the time, so I can be around for... you know... however long I want. I am all grown up now, after all," he puffed out his chest in a mock display of pride that had some truth in it, holding his head up proudly. A gust of wind ruffled his poofy mane, and he felt the hairs tickling his skin underneath. Shivering, he shrank back into himself.
"Yeah, we all live together! Or near each other. Jethro's den is a bit off from mine, but we meet in the middle to hunt. And... yeah... that's his family. I haven't met them, but I've seen them and they look nice. Jethro talks about them a lot... uh... why? Do you know them?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:19 am
Omoa nodded. "Very true. It's odd being so grown up, with no one to tell you what to do or how to do it. I like it, but I kind of miss that security." With growing up, the lioness had learned much. She had learned to slow down and not be too talkative and hyperactive. It had taken a while, but she had learned. And now she was more likely to laugh than to jump and prance around someone because she knew that it was okay for a cub to do it, just not an adult her size (age, really, since she was probably the same size as a normal cub).
But she did smile keenly at him and puff out her chest with pride. "I know a lot about them because they're my family. Jethro adopted me when I was a cub (that's who I was talking about when I told you we were going to the ocean) and we met back with his mate, Kam (my mother) once we go to the sea. But things didn't work out with the pride there, so we joined back with Uncle Thili and Aunt Sen and made our own pride. Then my aunt and uncle had cubs, and so did my parents. I took care of my little sisters and brother for a good while until they got older, and then I left to come back to visit my friend.
"I had no idea you were a part of the pride! When did you join? How come I've never seen you there before, I wonder," she smiled at him.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:26 am
Hadaya nodded, a few too many times. He definitely agreed that being grown up was a whole lot of hassle, though it was pretty cool. He had always been on his own, growing up, so he didn't have to deal with the novelty of making his own decisions. But somehow being an adult made things easier, in a way. Others respected him more, and he was more readily allowed to do what he wanted. Still, it felt like more was expected of him, and that was not as fun. He was renown for letting people down.
Hadaya blinked.
"I... never put that together... and I never asked Jethro. He mentioned his adopted daughter. Wow. I'm... dumb. Yeah." He coughed, shaking his head woefully, "so we were living in the same place and we never saw each other? That is... too weird. Wow. I'm sorry, it's probably my fault. It usually is." He smiled, flashing his teeth.
"I uh. I joined when I was younger. I was running from this... bad lion that made me have this vision. I get those, visions of the future or the past or something. I can never tell. But I anyway I was running for days and I pretty much passed out in the pride lands and Thili found me. He adopted me and I stayed with him. I have my own den now. But I do wander a whole lot, so maybe we were just never in the same place at the same time?"
He shook his head, still dumbstruck that they had been so close for so long, and neither of them had known.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:35 am
Then again, being a cub, most didn't really think to manipulate you as much because of your innocence. Nor did they neglect to help you in anyway because as an adult, it is their responsibility to help out any of those younger than themselves. At least, that's what Omoa does (or would do) when she meets younger creatures.
She giggled though and pranced around a bit like she used to do when she was younger. "Imagine that! Always there but never at the same time. I wonder what they would think if we came back to visit at the same time. I don't think Father knows that we've met. If we had, I'm sure he would have mentioned me by name more often or something. I didn't know Thili had adopted you, though. I suppose it runs in the family." She grinned. "Lucky for us." Indeed, they had a lot to catch up on.
But she frowned questioningly at him. "You...See? The past and future? What kinds of things?" She'd heard of Seers seeing the three times, past, present, and future, but had never met anyone that could do something like that. Until now, actually, since apparently Hadaya could.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:45 am
Hadaya nodded.
"Yeah, it's uh... it's not too useful. It started happening a while after I met you, I think, but so far it hasn't been anything to brag about," he shook his head, sighing. He often grew irritated when he thought about his stupid abilities. He only had himself to blame, of course. He knew other Seers who could actually use their visions to help people, or at least understood them.
"My friend Sinasina, a leopard, told me they're a gift from the Gods. The visions, I mean. But mine only happen when my heart is racing, like I'm running or I'm scared, and usually when one happens I get blinded by it and run into something. Or fall off something. Or trip. So I'm not... uh... really a fan."
He shrugged his thin shoulders, smiling.
"I'm sure I'll figure them out one day. I've seen a bunch of lions I don't know, and things happening in places I've never been to. I never know when they're taking place, either. I'm just waiting for the one where I can actually help someone, or something, you know?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:20 pm
"Oh," Omoa said simply. "I never knew it could be like that. I just thought everyone who could See something had it so easy, like they would just be standing there, have a vision, and then go about their way. I guess it's harder than it sounds," she chuckled weakly. "I'm sorry that it didn't work out so perfectly for you." She offered a better smile.
"Have you not been able to help others with your visions before? I'm sure you are, even if they don't say so. I know that if you saw something for me, or involving me, I would be grateful. Because who knows what you would see? If it was in the future, it would be a warning or a promise of good fortune. If it was in the past, it could let me know that I missed something the first time around. I'd need to pay attention for the second time." She giggled.
Omoa sat down for a moment, stretching her front legs. She had been creeping around on them a lot so far, today, and they needed to rest for a moment. Then her stomach growled, and she blushed. "Sorry. I'm a bit hungry."
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:44 pm
Hadaya grinned. For some reason he wasn't embarrassed to tell her about his short comings, because he knew she would understand. He didn't feel stupid or like as much of a failure, though hew knew he must still be just the same lion he always was. But it was just him, and with a friend he had already made, and didn't have to try to impress, that was okay.
"I don't think I've met anyone I've had a vision about, except for that one lion. But he was terrible, and I didn't tell him what I saw. I can't even really remember, which is another problem. It fades in my head, because it's not a real memory so... I guess I just don't subconsciously think they're important enough to hang on to. That's not very good of me."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged again, smiling. His gentle eyes were bright and happy.
"Hey, maybe that hunting I'm doing with Jethro is paying off! I could try and catch us something? I haven't eaten yet today," he left off that this was because he had tried and failed to catch something.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:03 pm
It seemed to her that Hadaya was one of those people she could simply talk to for the sake of talking, and to get something off her chest. He would listen to her and offer support, just like she would for him. It was a very, very good feeling knowing that she had such a good friend like that to rely on.
Omoa shook her head and flicked her tail at him. "It's not your fault that you forget the visions. If your subconscious says so, then they must not be important enough to remember for the rest of your life. If you can let the lions involved know what happened, or at least help them in some way, then you've done your duty as a Seer. And that's all anyone can really ask of you. Silly," she added as a tease.
She laughed, though, at his suggestion. "If you don't mind. I could help, too, if you'd like. I can try and find something and you can catch it, or the other way around. Whatever you'd like to do." She was kind of wanting to see Hadaya in action, though, since they both had the same teacher for hunting practice.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:09 pm
He seemed to get more poofy when she teased him, his extremely soft mane reacting. His ears were sticking forward in his happiness, but still almost entirely lost under the mass of yellowish, creamy fur. He grinned.
"Nah, let me! It'll be my pleasure," he bowed his head a bit, gentlemanly, then nodded and bounced away, stopping to look back and make sure she wasn't going to leave while he was away. That had happened before, and he wasn't really a fan of it. Smiling reassuringly, though it was more a gesture for himself than of any meaning to her, he turned away and made his way toward the place where he had hunted before.
There were zebra grazing, seeming to have forgotten his previous attempts at them, and he crouched low, his fur making him blend easily with the surrounding grasses. He flicked his tail, all confidence and eagerness. When he saw an opening he charged and though it wasn't the most graceful or impressive of kills he managed to wrestle a good sized zebra down, though he nearly got himself kicked in the head for his troubles.
He dragged it back, getting caught a couple of times and being pulled back awkwardly, but eventually he got the heavy kill to her. Breathless, but exhilarated, he plopped himself down beside it.
"There!" he managed to pant, not quite up to speaking in full sentences just yet.
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