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 Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:25 pm
 The heavy rains beat down on the Savannah, saturating the ground and filling up the cracks into deep pools. The animals had fled to their havens, and Elphaba watched from the sanctity of a group of rocks and a fallen tree that was providing her with enough shelter to survive the storm. She was already drenched, having raced for a place to find sanctuary and after traveling in the rain for the better part of the night, happened upon the vacant, makeshift crevice. In rocks she found leaned against each other in a pile, the largest, topmost rocks forming a peak as it’s roof with rocks about it, providing a space for about 3 lions to crouch into the opening and into the shelter inside, which opened up to a larger room, but not one Elphaba could fully stand in. Instead, she laid down, beads of rain dripping off her ears and muzzle, and licking off the rest as best she could as she watched shadows move in the curtain of rain.
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:57 pm
Devya had made it safely out of the jungle and was headed in the right direction, back to his mother, his sisters and his pride. Currently however it was pouring and Devya was trying to haul a rather large baby antelope somewhere dry so that he could enjoy his meal. It was the first antelope he'd ever caught and he was extremely proud, he'd even managed to catch it in the rain. The poor baby got separated from it mother and became very confused in the down pour. Devya wondered briefly what spooked the antelope, but did not dwell on it because he'd benefited from their sudden flight.
Devya stopped and looked around for a moment before he noticed the makeshift crevice and grinned. It was definitely big enough for him and his meal. Devya once again began to drag his killing making his way toward the crevice and it occupant.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:42 am
It was hard to see in the darkness and becoming calm, the lioness started to take care in grooming herself. She despised water, as it irritated her skin to the point that it burned, and she licked savagely at her fur to remove every drop from her body. As she did, her attention was taken at the ruffle by what you might call the door. With the rain beating on the stones outside, she had not heard the creature approach else she would have gave a warning growl to show that this place was taken, but as it was, she noticed just in time to see the shadow block the entrance. Her ears went back and her body hunched. Despite being large, the roof was low and she did not know how sturdy the rocks overhead were. A fight in these close quarters would either be cramped and in turn, hard to maneuver in, resulting in a very difficult and messy battle, and if the fight escalated into something severe, could potentially cause the rocks to fall, resulting in death. If it was a larger lion, their two large bodies would cause the rocks to fall if they decided to fight for the space or, if Elphaba knew anything with run in with other lions before, just fighting to preserve herself from an overpowering force. If it was a smaller animal, the advantage would be to the smaller creature, seeing as they would have more room to move about.
The idea of an encounter was not something she wanted, and she moved back, crouching and digging her claws into the soft dirt. It was then that she noticed a rump scooting it’s way inside, and adjusting her sight, noticed the tail was something akin to hers. Not only this, but the pungent smell of a wet antelope filled the cavern, and she stopped herself from making a warning growl. It seemed a lion of young age was coming in with it’s meal, and in it’s rush, had forgotten to give a warning growl incase someone was inside. Not only this, it had dinner. Elphaba was famished, having spent the better part of the day trying to get out of the rain than finding a meal. To her, getting wet was worse than starving. Now the idea dawned on her that, seeing as the lion was younger, she could overtake him, scare him off, and steal his meal. It would both mean she would be fed, alone, and would not have to venture outside incase the rain continued. Yet, her better morals kept her in check. She was above such actions, and she instead moved to a sandstone rock, crouching in the darkness to let her red fur mesh with the color of the red stone, watching the lion come in. In the dank rain, she could smell he was male, the musk a familiar one, and part of her had that familiar thought of a lost loved one.
Against the rock, the boy and his meal full entered, and she watched. If the boy ran if she spoke, it was luck that she got a free meal. If he stayed, then company or not, it was up to him to remain. Just when the silence of the rain took over and the calm darkness settled, she spoke. “It is a young one’s mistake to go into a place without knowing what is inside first. Did your elders never teach you to call out before entering a unknown space?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:24 pm
Devya entered the cave struggling with his meal, focused on the task and completely unaware of his intrusion upon the lioness in the small space. It took a few moments before he was able to maneuver him and his meal out of the rain and into the crevice. When the voice spoke Devya jumped turning around and putting the gazelle in between himself and the lioness.
He quickly uttered an apology for his intrusion before thinking on the lioness' words. His mother had indeed warned him of the dangers of going into an unknown place without calling out, but he was young and until he'd gotten lost he spent most of his time in his pride. He'd never really had to head those words, so for the most part they'd slipped him mind.
"My mother has warned me and from now on I will try not to forget, but it is raining rather hard and this gazelle is a bit bigger than I am. I guess I was rather focused on securing my dinner. I have not eaten in a while."
Devya looked over the female and smiled. She reminded him slightly of his mother, having red coloring. "I will leave if I am unwelcome, but if I can stay until the rain in gone I'd be happy to share."
Devya gestered the the meal which he was sure he wouldn't even be able to eat half of, but his hunger had felt great and his eyes had been bigger than his stomach. He happily took advantage of the rain and confusion to procure him meal.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:27 pm
“If you let your stomach rule you, then what’s the point of your mother teaching you? You fail her in the end when you forget.” Elphaba said, her eyes ignoring the boy and looking at the large gazelle. “And when you eat with your eyes, you wind up focusing on your meal and not on your surroundings. If you want to live to grow a mane, I suggest you use your mind and leave your eyes around you. Taking such a big gazelle for yourself is shameful. You waste it.” She said, but she rose from her spot, removing herself from the backdrop of red rocks to move closer, which wasn’t too far considering the limited space. In the darkness, her red form could be seen, and her vivid eyes stood out from her blue eye markings.
“…it’s good you bring food, or else another creature might have eaten you first. If I was a male, I could have simply killed you to rid of future competition and had a good meal for the night. Don’t forget next time, or you’ll die.” She placed her paw on the gazelle, sniffing it and flipping it over, letting the body roll on it’s side.
“…as it is, I’m not a male and have no reason to kill you. Who am I to deny a meal? You may sit and live another day so you can go to your mother and recount your lesson. I’m sure she will have to repeat herself so it can stick.” The lioness sniffed the carcass and laid back down, her body strained from couching as her back rubbed against the roof of the cave. With a shove, she rolled the carcass to him, before taking her paw and licking the water from it with a great deal of annoyance. It was still wet, and she didn’t like the idea of working around the fur.
“Eat. I’ll take my pick afterwards. I’m still drying.” She said, more showing that she was ALLOWING him to eat first, and not following any male - female etiquette that most prides enforced. Her pink tongue worked on her paw as she watched the boy from the corner of her eye.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:08 am
Devya listened carefully to the female and nodded as she spoke. He did not wish to fail his mother. However, he frowned when she said it was shameful to take a big gazelle for himself. He did not think it was all that big. It just like him was barely half her size, and he knew had he been out on the savannah a scavenger would have quickly devoured what he'd left behind.
"It would not have been wasted," he said," a scavenger would certainly have found the rest."
Devya's frown only intensified, he understood he'd made a mistake. He knew he would not do it again. He simply did not understand why she had to be so serious and sharp tongued. He was not sure he liked her all too much, but he was certain he did not want to be out in the rain.
He watched as she inspected the gazelle, gave him a few more stern words, than rolled it to him and instructed him to eat. His obedient nature kicked in full force and he nodded before tearing into the hind quarters on the gazelle. He had no thoughts on male - female etiquette as there was no such thing in his pride. They ate together at meals.
He ate with gusto, having not eaten in days, but eventually he slowed moving around to the gazelles stomach and eating. He watched the female the whole time feeling awkward that she was not eating as well and wondering if he should stop to let her eat. However, his stomach and the command to eat were enough to continue on until he was finished, having devoured much of the gazelle stomach and one of its thighs.
He stepped back slightly and smiled, "I done."
He moved away from the carcass, over closer to the wall where he started clumsily cleaning his fur. He wished terribly that his mother was there. If she was she could scoop him up for a quick bath and a nice cuddle. He sighed and continued attacking his fur with his tongue.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:49 pm
“Yes, feed the scavengers. I’m sure we are here to help them.” She pointed out with a broad tone, using a claw to pick off a thistle that was stuck to her side before plucking it off with her teeth. True, she had nothing against scavengers, seeing as smaller animals were often seen as insignificant to lions, but helping their population often meant large groups of hyenas. Since living in the rouge lands, she learned that helping out scavengers too much meant a large group could be well enough to attack you. Lion meet or gazelle meat were all the same to a starving scavenger as she had learned.
As the boy finished eating, she went over and set herself beside the animal. Already torn, she worked around the ripped sections, moving to the other side of the animal and with her more powerful jaws and claws, tore a wider area to eat the meet on the other side. The meal was appreciated, and she took her time to eat her fill, not wanting to rush it and wind up getting full too fast. She made sure to try to touch the wet pelt as much as she could and after a good meal, moved aside to clean herself once more. As she did so, she looked out to the boy who clumsily licked himself, working on a odd system to clean himself. To someone who cleaned herself often and disliking water, she judged his sloppy method.
It wasn’t so much as she cared, as she was bored and wanted to pass on what she knew. Watching him go over the same spot and miss others only made her more uneased, and licking her paws, she rose and went over, flopping down beside the boy, but not touching him. He was wet after all.
“You are missing spots. If you don’t work in a order, you miss spots and wind up wasting time and getting cold. You could die if you spent too much time getting clean from the water on your body.” She said, and then started to show him how to lick his paws as a way to collect the water and also to start to dry off. “Turn yourself on your side and get your sides and stomach, but paws first, so you can use them to wash.” She said between cleaning the blood off her paws.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:31 pm
Devya looked up to see the female approaching him and stiffen slightly as she sat down beside him. He looked up at her in anticipation of another lecture and sure enough that was what he received. He frowned at yet another mention of death from the female and was beginning to think if she mentioned him dying once more he would actually keel over on the spot.
However, at her instruction to flip over on his side, he immediately obeyed. Quickly cleaning his paws before moving to his stomach. He'd always been an extremely obedient cub, to the point where one day it might not be such a good thing. For whatever reason he was almost inclined to obey, as if at some points her couldn't disobey, not that he'd really ever tried.
His attempt to clean himself was still clumsy, but he was getting much drier using the females method and he had to admit his was much warmer. He was quick work of the bath, his attempt not amazing, but satisfactory.
Devya looked over to the female and smiled, "Thank you. I am much warmer."
It suddenly remember that he had not introduced himself nor asked for the other's name. He knew even after he did so they would still be virtually strangers, but it would put him at ease to know her name.
"My name is Devya, by the name. What is your name?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:39 pm
Most lionesses would wonder if they were similar when they were that age when looking at a youth, but she didn’t have any doubts that she had been marginally different. This boy seemed to have no younger siblings that were dependent upon him, nor did he have the same aggression Elphaba had when she was young. They were from two different worlds of being raised. She, being a female, being raised to take care of a crippled sister, and used as an example for other lions as being cursed by the gods, and he was out, hunting on his own, with that normalcy that she often saw. Was she envious –maybe to his lack of responsibility, but nothing more.
She neither felt the need to clean him or warm him. He was young and would grow to find company in others. Their time was short, and she was not here to replace a mother. She didn’t see herself ever taking that role.
At the start of introductions, she paused in her intensive cleaning and turned. “My name is Elphaba.” She said, looking to him with intense blue eyes. “Why were you out in the storm aside from hunting? Is this practice for you, or is your family in need of a meal.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:00 pm
Devya smiled at the lioness after she had given her name, "It is very nice to meet you Elphaba." He sat up and listened as she questioned him, but his smile turned to a frown, fore he knew he would probably once more be scolded by this new female.
"I was practicing my tracking and I followed a herd of antelope very far a few days ago. They settled in to rest and I took a nap, when I woke up they were gone. I guess I was very tired, since I did not wake while they left." Devya looked miserable admitting is plunder.
"My tracking isnt that great apparently," he mumbled on, " because when I tried to get back home I ended up more lost. I found myself in a jungle and I met another cub there. Um Persephone and she helped me out of the jungle because she knew it well, it being her pridelands. After I got out I finally found my way in the right direction."
Devya turned and looked to the rain pouring down across the savannah, "Only now all the scents will be washed away, but I'm pretty sure of which way to go. I think."
Devya turned to Elphaba again, "As for hunting in a storm, it helped create confusion and I took advantage. I have not eaten for days. I was rather focused on trying to get home as quickly as possible."
If he was nothing else Devya thought himself to be a decent hunter, especially for only just being considered a juvenile.
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