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 Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:29 pm
It was a typical afternoon, weather wise. The sun shone, minor clouds in the sky and everything seemed hunky dory around the pride. That was except for a lump of purple blue fur that sat on the shore of the lake looking like he was deep in thought over something.
Indeed, Lucianus was deep in thought. It showed on his face from the wrinkles in his forehead he was thinking long and hard about something. The cubs tail twitched from side to side, in a soft fluid motion, but the rest of him could have been made of stone.
It was a fish that sent the cub soaring back to reality. The little fish jumped up and made a soft plop sound in the water. So much for concentration. Lucianus slowly got up and stretched. The cub had been sitting in that position for hours just thinking.
Anyone who knew Atia could probably assume that her cubs were trained and tested quite often. And that her cubs were just as motivated as she was. That was Lucianus, not the spitting image of his mother in some ways but he was ambitious to work his way up as high as he could get.
His orange eyes scanned the pound in announce, daring the fish to show it self. His concentration had been broken and now that fish would pay, that was , if it showed it self. Lucianus had never swam in his life.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:32 am
 Risasi wasn't paying attention to the weather. He had too much to think about: his eyes never turned toward the sky. Padding slowly from his den, he let his feet wander where they wanted to as he turned too many thoughts over in his mind. Everything seemed so strange and different, but he had made an oath, and he wasn't about to let these changes deter him from keeping it. That was, after all, one of the laws of the land and he was determined to uphold it.
More than that, it was a personal promise, and he never broke those, either.
She had been pregnant? When he saw her she had just looked a little tired. He hadn't realized she was carrying cubs inside her. But now they had been born, and the father was apparently someone from outside the pride. Risasi didn't know how he felt about that, but he had told Atia he would protect her. From anything. Everything. And now that promise would stretch to her cubs.
Somehow, he knew that was what she had wanted.
He looked up when he caught a familiar, but not too much so, scent on the air. A cub. One of Atia's. He looked like he was fishing. Frowning, Risasi padded toward the young one.
"What are you doing, Lucianus?" He asked, already familiar with their names from his own research. Atia wasn't the only one who could find things out when she needed to.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:02 pm
An unfamiliar scent filled the air and an unfamiliar voice. Lucianus turned, slowly, to face the likes of a creature he had never seen before but had heard about. So this must be a half lion and half leopard hybrid that he had heard about. The cub had yet to meet a lion yet but had heard they had a strange puff of fur at the ends of their tails. This creature did not have one of those.
Lucianus wasn't angry but rather releaved that the stranger had happened upon him before he mad the stupid mistake of hopping into the water and teaching that fish a lesson. Now that his mind was cleared of anger it seemed more like a stupid idea.
"Fishing.... no," His tone was just matter of fact and all business. He didn't know this creature and was surprised that he had known his name, but, didn't state his surprise. The leopard merely moved a little closer to the new , not such a stranger, and peered up at him. His expression the same lidded arrogant mask he usually used in front of his siblings or mother.
"And you are.... ?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:35 pm
Risasi tilted his head. He had been around the cubs a lot, of course, as they came into their awareness. Apparently not as much as he had thought, though, since this one didn't seem to know who he was, or what he did. He didn't think anything of it.
Watching the oddly refined cub, despite his age, Risasi blinked and shook his head.
"Risasi. I'm a friend of your mother's. I guess I knew you all a lot better when you were smaller. Sorry if I startled you. So. Uh. If you weren't fishing, what were you doing?"
He was feeling off. Something about Atia's cubs put him ill at ease, but it wouldn't keep him from keeping his promises. He would sort his way through all the confusion, he hoped, soon enough. All he needed to do was keep talking to Atia about it all. She always knew the right things to say. So far, that had not struck him as a bad thing.
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:03 pm
The leopard showed no sign of embarrassment of not knowing this not so stranger. He wasn't the type to feel bad or really socially awkward about things and only felt regret when it was something truly bad. His orange lidded eyes just stayed the same and his expression blank except for the arrogant airs he carried. The leopards tail swished a little out of curiosity, and, annoyance from such curiosity. Lucian didn't like to be curious, he liked to know things.
"Risasi, I'll not forget your face nor name again," The cub gave him a formal nod. In the back of his mind his curious nature clawed to dig deeper about this leopon. Lucian would have to make a note to get to know this new face better and find out exactly who he was and his connections. Already at an early age his political mind gears were turning.
In truth, Lucian had not gotten out of his brother and sister social circle. He still had research to do and alot of studies he'd need to do about the social circle of the entire pride.
"I was just thinking," The cub looked back at the pound, "The fish happened to splash at the wrong moment and I lost my train of thought. Execution was the only rightful punishment fit fr such a crime, " Lucian's eyes rolled back to Risasi. Already the cub's eyes were a little cold and all business.
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Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:06 pm
"That's a bit harsh. You'll get no where in life if you kill everyone and every thing that irritates you slightly," Risasi sighed.
He had thought himself capable of dealing with cubs, but these kids all seemed to be too old for their age, and not interested in growing up. They all struck him as thinking themselves adults already. No doubt Atia's influence. But it wasn't his place to try and raise them.
All he knew was when he was young he had been a different little guy. Happy, always learning. He had grown into himself, and still felt himself changing, particularly in this new home and with these new friends. But he had still be a typical cub, playful and eager, stupid and oblivious to a lot of the world. Maybe it was this setting that was having such a profound affect on the cubs born to the pride. Or maybe he was the odd one. He couldn't really be sure, having no cubs of his own.
"You never know when even an annoyance will be useful to you."
Tilting his head, the soft spoken, friendly hybrid tilted his head. He flicked his leopard-like tail in a manner similar to the cub, still fascinated by the similarities in himself and pure leopards, despite being exposed to them his whole life.
"Should you be off on your own like this?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:06 pm
The cubs orange eyes flickered something innocent when he was told that killing off an annoyance was not really in his best interest. All the cub could do was look a little dumb struck and listen to this leopon. He did have a point after all. Atia wouldn't allow any of the cubs to kill off their brothers or sisters and they were a huge annoyance in Lucianus's plotting. Not that he didn't like his brothers and sisters; it was more he wanted them out of the picture. Course, you were talking to a cub that had yet to really kill anything he'd miss later.
The question about him being down here alone got a twist of the cubs face back to his arrogant mask. "It's free time," Lucian said flatly. In truth, he wasn't sure if he was allowed down here by him self and was sure he wasn't but the cub wasn't going to give the newly met leopon that bit of information. Lucianus figured that the leopon probably figured that out on his own any ways given the half assed answer the cub had just given.
"What about you...." Orange eyes focused now on the hybrid. "What are you doing all the way down here."
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:43 am
Risasi smiled, curling his long tail around his legs out of habit. He liked to keep it close, as it was liable to get trampled on if he wasn't careful with it. Truthfully, he liked his tail a lot, and considered it the best thing about himself. It offered balance and had a strength about it, and seemed to reflect his view on his genetics in its nature of being. But those were thoughts he kept to himself.
He didn't want people to think he was weird.
"Free time is always good. I'm giving myself a bit of that, too," he grinned sheepishly, knowing he should be training. And he had been, rather hard, he just... needed to switch up his schedule every now and then. Plus, visiting friends was just as useful as honing his fighting skills a lot of the time. He liked learning from them, as well as keeping his relationships strong.
He tilted his head at the cub, getting the feeling that Atia probably wouldn't let her cubs wander around without knowing where they were and what they were doing. Because that was just who she was.
"So I'm not really doing anything, except walking around and saying hi to my friends." He looked thoughtful, trying to come up with another question. "Oh, ah. Have you and your siblings started training for any jobs in the pride? Do you know what you want to do?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:16 pm
Lucianus watched the others tail for a short moment. The cub fought back the urge to pounce on it. That would just have been silly.
"Friends?" The cub's orange eyes trained onto Risasi's face. "You are familiar with the pride?" The gears started to turn in the cubs small head. He knew people and he knew the pride, it was a perfect chance to learn more. "Can I come with you?" The cub tilted his head to the side.
The cub got up and took a closer step to the other, his eyes shined with a hunger and his arrogant mask fell for a moment to show a curious cub. He wanted to go and he wanted to get away from his family if only for a short period of time.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:21 pm
Risasi blinked.
"I know a few people around, I guess. I'm not sure I'm familiar with everyone, though," he laughed. He really didn't know as many of the others as he probably should, but that was fine by him. He had friends in various jobs, and they taught him about their skills, which only helped him improve his own. For that, he was thankful.
"Sure, you can tag along if you want to! Of course, I haven't seen your mom yet today, so I'll be stopping by to say hi to her, too," he smiled, not knowing if the cub wanted to go back home just yet or not. Or if Atia might step in and make him stay there if they did go.
Smiling warmly, he indicated for the cub to follow, if he wanted to.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:54 am
Lucianus's face showed a bit of protest when the other mentioned stopping in to see his mother. The cub was sure that Atia would stop the adventure if the two saw her first. Yet , at the same time, there was a good chance she wasn't at the den today either and Lucianus did want to see the rest of the pride. Choices choices.
"Alright, " The cubs orange eyes fell lidded again and he smiled at the leopon, "Fine then. Let us go visit mother," With that the leopard cub got up and circled around the leopon. At first, Lucianus hadn't noticed, but the leopon was much bigger then he had thought at first. The cub hadn't gotten the full show from just watching him. Walking around him gave that much more of what his size really was.
Though, then again, Lucianus was quite small, even for a leopard male cub. He wasn't short, just skinny and not in an unhealthy way. Unlike Octavian, he wasn't muscular, but, the cub made up for his lack of size with his calculating and plotting mind. When you couldn't fight your way physically to the top you needed something else under the table.
"So," The cub looked over his shoulder at Risasi, already starting up toward the den, "Lets go then." Lucianus started the climb up toward the den only to slip on a wet rock. The cub didn't complain or make any sound of pain, just continued up like nothing had just happened.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:54 am
The leopon waited for the cub to debate, smiling at the apparent inner choice making process. He raised an eyebrow when the leopard looked up at him, and nodded at the final decision. Letting the cub do his circle, he stood patiently, wondering what the other was thinking about. He then swung his tail, padding in no great hurry toward Atia's den.
He nodded, shaking his head slightly as they walked. He noticed the cub stumble, and moved to help, but the younger male's reaction made him stop. It seemed he wasn't much for public displays, and Risasi didn't know if it was his place to offer one, anyway. So he just walked on, heavy, lion-like paws moving slowly so his much smaller companion could keep up.
"You're a little guy," he commented off handedly, not meaning any offense, "I was small in my family, too. On the boys side, anyway. Maybe that's just more leopard than lion in me, or something." He grinned.
He let the cub walk at his own pace, but eventually they reached the den together. It didn't look like Atia was in, and Risasi frowned. His plan sort of relied on the mother being home, so he could leave the cub with her. It wasn't that he didn't like hanging out with the younger male, really, he just had some specific things to speak to some of the pride about, and he didn't think it would do him any good for the contemplative leopard to overhear it all. For better or worse, this one seemed to be his mother's son, and Risasi knew now that he needed to be more on his guard around those character types.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:42 am
Lucianus's brow raised at the comment made about his size. He knew he was small, but it was interesting that the other had made the observation out loud. The leopard respected that, "Really?" A smile started to curl on his maw for a brief moment, "You don't look like you were ever small." His voice was matter of fact but had edges of curiousity laced with in. Truly, he was amazed such a massive creature could ever have been small. Though, he figured that everything had to start some where in life.
When the two reached the top of the den and Atia wasn't with in, the cub gave a coy smile. Perfect. He hadn't been sure if his mother would be in today or not, but his gamble had been well worth it. The lucky devil of a cub turned and gave the other a small nod and a smug smile.
"Looks like we can continue on then," The cub gave the other his best toothy smile before it desolved in to his usual arrogant mask.
Lucianus started back off into a random direction before stopping, realizing that he had no earthly idea where the leopon was headed. Puzzled, Lucianus turned back to his unwilling companion for guidence.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:05 pm
"Oh yeah, I was. I thought I was going to be a little guy, but I guess I just hit my growth spurt a bit late," he grinned. He was quiet proud with how large he had become, the lion side of his genes turning him into a rather solid mass of muscle. Worthy of his position in the pride, at any rate. And he would use his size to his advantage, as well as continue his work on counterbalancing what weaknesses came with his build.
"It looks that way," he said, smiling and trying not to sound put off by Atia now being there. What would be the harm in showing the cub around? Maybe he would just go visit Nyao. Though, now that he thought about it, she had cubs of her own and it might not be the best idea to just drop in on them.
Following the cub without thinking, he blinked when they came to a stop.
Oh, right. He was supposed to be leading.
"Well, we might as well just do a round around the pride, huh? See who's about, and what's going on. It's a great way to get to know everyone, even at a distance. You see what faces belong here, and which ones are new."
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