|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:44 am
 While the afternoon was bright and sunny, Tukutu found no enjoyment in it. She'd messed around with both Jinichongo and Shinda, so far, and a few minor ones here and there, but pranks on the royal family would have to be held off for a while until her plan developed further into motion.
Which meant, naturally, that she'd have to find tricks and pranks elsewhere to pull, giving Sakata and the others time to deal with their own situation at hand. She'd pay them more visits, soon enough.
Until then... arghhhh, what was she going to do?
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:29 am
 Raruo couldn't shake the uneasiness that had been creeping into his body recently. His mind was always on alert, and it made sleeping a bit of a complicated task. With as little as he had been getting he felt his rope, which he had always kept purposefully short anyway, was as frayed as his nerves. It made him even more grumpy than usual. He snapped and he growled, was constantly clenching his jaw or flexing his claws threateningly.
Except when he was with or even thinking about Kaihdhin.
Or rather, when he found himself thinking about her and no one was around. Then he was free to be in a good mood, and maybe almost let himself feel like he was making a friend. Or something. When others wandered up to him while he was in the middle of these gooey feelings, however, he got mad at them (even if they weren't actually interacting with him) and himself. He was too old to be making new friends.
Damn it.
Stalking around his rounds of the borders, Raruo didn't know if he was hoping to run into her, hoping she was gone, or just looking for a fight. Whatever the case, he was in a foul mood, and wore it on his face. Scowling, grumbling to himself, the older lion was definitely not in the mood to be messed with. Which, of course, made him a great target for exactly that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:10 am
It wasn't too terribly long before Tukutu spotted the Veteran, who was obviously being quite the dutiful Warrior at his post.
Smiling, it took all of a few moments for her shift to mortal form, and she happily took a few moments to study the stranger. It was no doubt by his apparent age, that he was well experienced in the field of battle. Perhaps he was just a Warrior. Or could he be a Veteran, one of the few and elite among the group of Warriors?
Humming to herself, the goddess watched as the male would pace, growling. Was he upset over something? Perhaps he'd been reprimanded, or had lost a fight? And was he on border patrol, or had he just wandered towards the border by himself?
Tired of wondering and intent on finding out the answers for herself, Tukutu made her way towards the older-looking being, a smile spread wide across her cheerful face.
"Hello there!" She called out, her voice chipper and bright, her mind racing with ideas. "And how goes the border guarding for today, Sir Veteran?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:53 am
Raruo looked out over the lands beyond their established border, toward the area where he had first encountered the rogue, and their subsequent not-date that followed. Sighing, he wondered if he was getting soft, which only further irritated him. Of course he wasn't. Snorting, he turned his face away, back toward the pride, then spotted a lioness approaching him.
She was smiling. Peh.
Not returning the joviality of the greeting, he nodded at her when she said hello with only a slight air that he was actually responding, and not just getting some mane hair out of his face. She seemed to be in the complete opposite mood of him, and the stark contrast did little to improve his glower of an expression.
"It was going fine, until it was interrupted," he said as casually as he could, tilting his head at her pointedly. "And don't call me sir. Just Raruo. If you have to call me anything at all."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:27 pm
"Oh but I must call you something. Everything needs to be called something, after all!"
It was more than clear that this lion was in no mood for chat, much less a spirited conversation. Which was good for Tukutu, because she wanted to chat, and there was no better fun in having a conversation than with someone who wished not to be in one!
Continuing to smile, she nodded her head in greeting towards him. He didn't argue with her calling her Veteran, so either he was one or wished to be one and refrained from correcting her. She'd also concluded that he was overall a fine upstanding grump. Which was, in fact, terribly delightful to discover.
"A frown is a very horrible thing to see," she stated plainly, walking up to him and ignoring any personal space he might have. "Why aren't you smiling, Raruo? Did you have a fight with your mate? Lose a fight, perhaps?" Giggling, she shook her head, "Maybe even lose a fight to your mate?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:28 pm
Raruo sighed.
It was going to be a long day.
The older lion shook his graying mane, some of the fur getting in his ear and making it itch. Or, at least, that's what he was ready to blame it on. Sitting down in irritation, he brought his back foot forward and tilted his head down to scratch at the annoyance with gusto, acting as if he wasn't in company. Maybe if he pretended she wasn't there long enough, she would just go away?
And yet some how, he doubted it.
Looking up at her, putting his foot back down, he straightened his posture. "If you don't like my frown," he said, making no effort to curve his muzzle upwards as he spoke, "maybe you should go elsewhere? Then you wouldn't have to look at it."
He tried not to bristle at the mention of the word 'mate'. That had been a weird word for him as of late. Never having one, he was a bit perplexed and nonplussed when he suddenly found himself with a bit of a crush, no not even a crush, on a lady he had met only a short while ago. Hearing anything like 'mate' or 'girlfriend' or 'female' made him think of her, and it had a strange, unpleasant and unavoidable affect on him that he begrudgingly liked.
It was irritating at best.
"I don't lose fights, to anyone," he snorted, not meaning a word of it but now finding he just wanted to be petulant, "and I wouldn't fight my mate in any fashion. Anyway, why would even jump right to mate? Bad moods aren't always caused by girls. Well. Actually, given the present company and situation, I guess that's not too far from the truth after all." He grumbled, hoping he had covered his defensive ramble with the sarcasm well enough.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:04 am
"Oh you must be jesting, good sir!" Tukutu exclaimed, stepping closer as she watched him scratch himself. "A fine Veteran such as yourself must be quite the catch for many young Followers, or Scryers, even!"
In truth, it was clearly obvious that this lion valued his duty to his pride far greater than his own personal needs and wants. Which, of course, was the perfect sort of set-up that she needed for a perfect sort of joke!
Turning to the side, she moved her face away from his vision while she pretended to scratch an itch on her own smaller body. Opening her mouth, she inhaled a deep breath, before throwing her voice to the distance.
"Raruo! You are needed!"
Smiling, Tukutu turned back around, her eyes wide and innocent. Taking one step to the left, she was now blocking the older Veteran's direct path towards the voice that had beckoned him.
"Oh please tell me of some of your war stories, Veteran," she pleaded at him, moving to get closer, to the point she could feel her body pressing against his. It would take a mighty Veteran indeed, to be able to fight against the strength of a god, and the goddess of mischief was more than happy to test his skill!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:02 pm
Raruo snorted at her comment. He was not a catch for anyone, let alone the lower ranks or those of the Heart. For a moment he wondered if this lioness knew he had an affinity for that side of their pride, though he lacked the skills to let it be anything more than a deep interest. A plague of curiosity he could never really satiate. More likely than her reading him so easily, of course, was her just taking a lucky stab.
He bristled, looking away just a moment before she turned her head, completely missing whatever it was she was doing. He didn't want to be talking to her, after all, and if he continued to make eye contact he was never going to be allowed to leave. His ear twitched, one responding slightly faster than the other, when he heard a familiar voice in the air.
Oh crap.
Not one to flake on orders, he almost bound off in the direction he thought, maybe, that the voice had come from. It sounded a bit weird, but he was almost sure it was to the right. Or was it the left? He started to move, taking an educated guess, and then he was stopped quite literally by a completely unexpected obstacle.
"My... what?" he said, completely distracted by her being so close. He never got this close to another lion unless he was beating the crap out of it. He watched her keenly, scowling and shaking his head to steel himself. No, now was not the time for stories: he was being summoned!
"I don't have the time. Get out of my way," he said sharply, then relented a bit, but not much, by adding a completely feigned, "please."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:56 am
She laughed, high and shrill, as if she were trying to drown out any future calls the "Warleader" might have for Raruo.
"What ever are you talking about, Raruo? There is no war going on, there is no fight to be had!"
She batted her eyes in his direction and gave him the sweetest smile she could muster up. "Nonsense, nonsense. Please, tell me a story! You must be very modest, for I can hardly keep my own eyes off of you; I wonder how many admirers you must have and not even realize it!"
She debated on using Sakata's voice once more, and decided to wait a bit before calling again. It was clear from some of his movements and head turning that the poor Veteran was having a slight bit of difficulty hearing. Well, that made the situation even more fun, in Tukutu's opinion! Not only would he struggle to get to "Sakata", but now he'd even question whether or not Sakata had even called to him!
"Can you hear the birds sing, Raruo?" She asked dreamily, moving to rest her head against his shoulder and neck, "They're begging to hear a story too! Tell us a story, please?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:56 pm
Raruo frowned, perking his ears forward in an effort to scan the air for the sound of the summon. He was absolutely certain he had heard that familiar voice, and he did not want to be kept here when he was needed elsewhere. Still, with her cackling he couldn't even hear most of his own thoughts.
He looked at her again, red eyes looking equal parts annoyed and nonplussed. Why was she so adamant on hearing his stories? In that moment he couldn't even remember if he had any stories: her physical closeness was really, really destroying his ability to concentrate on anything else.
It wasn't fair. He had been alone a very long time. He had been no time to anticipate or prepare, and now suddenly he had to deal with her rubbing on him? The older male was completely out of sorts.
But fighting really hard not to show it. And it was only kind of working.
"Birds? What are you babbling about?" he said, not even bothering to try and reign in the irritation in his voice. The only way to escape was to wrench himself free by any means necessary. He tried to duck away from her head when she placed it on his neck, dropping his shoulder down and pulling himself back in a less than graceful way.
Too close, too close, too close.
"I don't have any stories for you! Or your invisible birds. I need to go. Didn't you hear Sakata calling me? And you're keeping me here! What do you want from me? And don't say stories again, or I swear I'll-"
He wouldn't do anything, but he felt like he would.
"-be really... annoyed. Look, I have to go."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:18 am
He was irritated and it was obvious. Tukutu knew that playing a damsel in distress or one of those overemotional types would have no effect on the old Veteran, so she would just have to make due with obnoxious optimism.
"Oh, the creatures of the land, you silly beast!" She giggled, watching him pull away from her. Whether or not he wanted her there was irrelevant; she was having fun, so he was doomed to be stuck with her for a few moments longer.
"And I didn't hear any voices," she remarked coyly, batting her eyelashes once more. "Perhaps your ears aren't as strong as they were, seasons ago when you fought? Or I guess it would mean your mind is falling apart, if you're imagining voices. Please, Raruo, please tell me your stories before your entire mind goes!"
Turning to the side, she threw her voice in the opposite direction than she had before.
"Raruo! NOW!
Grinning practically from cheek to cheek, Tukutu moved to stand once more between the 'voice' and Veteran. Oh what fun she was having!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:06 am
Raruo squinted at her pointedly when she commented about his hearing. Of course he had noticed some weird things about his ear, but he didn't attribute it to his getting older. And he certainly wasn't a fan of someone else picking up on it, and applying it to that. Seasons ago? When she put it that way, he sounded like a walking fossil.
"There's nothing wrong with my mind," the Veteran scoffed, holding his chest up proudly. He shook his big head, graying mane poofing out with his furthered agitation. He beat the ground under him with his paws impatiently, feeling thoroughly insulted.
Deaf and senile? She was really pushing his buttons.
"Would you stop that!" he said, his voice filled with his exasperation. He was still trying to be relatively nice. By his standards, anyway. But his tone was sharp, annoyed, and edging toward defeat. He would have to change his tactic if he couldn't disengage by asking. "My mind isn't going anywhere, you're just making everything complicated and-"
His ears perked forward. Great. Now he was really in trouble. Except... where had that come from? He turned his head. Was that the other way? Or... over there? Seriously, if Sakata was playing silly buggers with him, too, he was really going to get angry.
And there she was again, right in front of him. She was grinning. This had to be some kind of elaborate ruse, right?
"Okay, that's it. I'm going to ask you one more time to get out of my way. You must have heard that. He's getting mad. I need to go. I don't know who you are or why you've deigned to make my life hard today, but it needs to end." He shook his head, snorting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:46 am
"Heard what?" she aasked innocently, tilting her head, giving him a confused and slightly hurt expression. "I didn't hear anything Raruo, except yours and mine's coversation, which you clearly don't value very highly!"
She stomped her own paw on the ground, mimicking his angry gesture. Tukutu knew it wouldn't be terribly long before he'd strike out at her to get to his destination, what with her holding him up at every turn. No, it was time for him to really be confused, when "Sakata" revealed himself to be nothing more than thin air.
The goddess rather hoped he'd run into the real Sakata, oh what amusement that would be for the Veteran to try to explain!
"B-but fine. If you would rather leave a lonely, love-struck female behind to chase after phantom voices, I won't stop you, you crazy old lion." She huffed, faking a sniffle or two in between her words.
She turned around abruptly, letting out a louder sob. She paused to finally throw her voice one last time, in a third direction.
"Raruo! Raruo where the HELL are you!?"
Quickly covering up her trick with another sob, Tukutu dashed away dramatically, hoping to perplex the old lion even further.
It was a shame, really, that she couldn't find a way to sneak back and watch the further confusion unfold, but Tukutu comforted herself with the knowledge that she was sure to run into old Raruo once more.
Definitely sure of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:16 am
"Love-struck?" he echoed. He let out a long, exasperated sigh. Now she had to be messing with him. And quite meanly! He fluffed up a bit, ruffled, muscles tight as he rigorously shook his head. His mouth opened but he didn't actually know if he was going to say anything, so he shut it again and looked irritated and perplexed.
Befuddled, was probably the most accurate description of his face in that moment, with a slight effort to be mad but it losing to his utter discombobulation.
"Hey! I am not old!" he managed to shoot back, watching her turn to sob. He wasn't buying it for a second. Not really. Of course not. Even though he was moving to comfort her, not knowing how he might accomplish that once he got close. Maybe nudge her with his shoulder? Did girls like that, or was that just a man thing? He didn't want to knock her over. Except he totally did. It would probably relieve a lot of the tension that had built up inside him.
And there was another yell. He winced and knew he had to run for it, and try desperately to explain where the hell he had been. Not that he would be able to. He was still very confused about this whole thing. And angry. Couldn't forget angry.
She was running before he knew it and he moved almost to follow her, but stopped short. Why would he try and comfort her? She was the one that was messing with him! Letting out a terrific roar of annoyance and confusion, he shook his head as if to clear all this weirdness out of it before he turned and bounded off to find his boss.
Raruo was slated to be very angry, even more so than he was in that moment, very soon. Once he realized he had just been expertly and keenly duped.
End!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
