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 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:22 pm
After a long day at the office savannah, Sakata returns to his den. The den that he is still getting used to sharing with the Queen, and their cubs. So it's not really his den, since his 'bachelor pad' has been abandoned since the cubs arrived, and yet it is more his den than any other place could be.
Of course, he's not thinking about any of that nonsense right now. He's thinking of a warm place to rest, with his family, and the night's sleep he has to look forward to before rising tomorrow and doing it all again. The darkness gives way to the darker forms of his slumbering family, and their quiet sleepy murmurings reach his ears.
Smiling quietly to himself - an expression that most members of the pride would be shocked to see - the massive lion moves carefully through the den. He counts the cubs as he passes, a habit he's fallen into as they've grown more mobile. One, two three, four, five, si-- wait, no. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Only five! A moment of pure terror grips his heart as his gaze darts among the cubs, identifying each by their markings. Jadi and Kali, both missing!
The urge to immediately run in search is almost overwhelming, but then reason takes hold. Perhaps the duo are staying with a Minder for the night. Jini will know. She'll have the answers. So he leans down, nudging her gently with his massive head. "Jini, wake up," he hisses quietly, trying not to wake the others.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:46 pm
She could hear the voice, vaguely, amid her delightful dream filled with Sacrifices and gore. It nagged at her, pulling her back into reality while she wished to remain among her dreams of conquest and victory.
"Whaaaat is it?" she murmured grumpily, opening her good eye to examine the lion who dared risk his life to awaken the slumbering Queen.
Sakata.
She should have known it would be him; who else had the balls and the ego to disturb her while she slept?
"This had better be good, Sakata." She growled, moving to turn her head away from him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:05 pm
It would be foolish of him to expect that the Queen would welcome being disturbed while she sleeps. But then he didn't expect that, and he doesn't really care that she's annoyed. The situation is (in his opinion) dire enough that he feels fully justified in intruding rather rudely upon her personal space, pushing forward so that she can't turn her head away quite so easily.
His voice is still low, urgent. "Where are Kali and Jadi?" the Warleader asks, gesturing towards the five sleeping cubs beyond his form.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:27 am
Nudge, nudge, push, push. If that b*****d didn't stop harassing her while she slept, she'd nudge his a** right into the next Sacrifice opening, Warleader status be damned!
A low growl grew from her throat as she forced her head back around, shooting him a venomous glare through half-lidded eyes.
"Where do you think they'd be, you old fart?" she hissed, moving to nuzzle her offspring that snuggled against her and each other. "They're asleep with their mother, who, if you hadn't noticed, is trying to sleep, herself!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:12 am
It may come as a bit of a surprise to Jini when Sakata doesn't offer any sort of exasperated rebuttal or witty remark. Instead, he emits a rather odd noise - a mix of growl, snarl, and yelp - and whirls away without a word. And then he is silent, deadly silent while he stares at the ground, searching for tracks or signs of a struggle.
Ah! There! "Stay with them," he growls, his voice strained with worry. Without waiting to summon his Warriors or get Jini to consult with the Heart, he bounds off into the night, following the faint trail he has found. Two sets of cubs paws. Just two. They're alone... for now.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:34 am
Her eyelids flew open completely when her mate let out such a strange sound, and she quickly found herself straightening upwards, confused and dazed from the sudden change of events.
Where was he running off to, in such a rush? Wait... Jadi? Kali?
Orange and white eyes flew down and studied her offspring. Silently counting off by name, her heart stopped as she realized that both of them, both Jadi and Kali... weren't there?
"Sakata!" she cried out, the frozen heart now beating more rapidly than before, the shock of her two missing children overwhelming her.
His last words burn into her mind. She wanted to search for her little ones; it was her fault that the two were gone, it would be her fault if they were out there, injured, dead or devoured.
Crumpling over, her shock finally gave way into a mournful, frightened sob.
Oh spirits, why hadn't she been watching them?!
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:41 am
Sakata moves swiftly, pausing only to check the trail. It's not easy, tracking over the rocky terrain at night. If he was thinking about such things, he'd be very glad that he spends so much of his free time hunting and honing those skills... but right now his thoughts are full of his missing children, and the horrors that could easily befall them. Alone in the night! And with the borders compromised, no less.
A moment's thought threatens to become a dangerous obsession, as his imagination spirals down towards the worst possible outcomes. So he stops, takes a deep breath, and forces himself to calm.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:16 am
As the remaining cubs begin to stir, mewing in confusion over being awoken so abruptly, Jinichongo returned to laying beside them, her forlorn gaze never leaving the entrance to the cavern.
Studying the remainder of the cubs, none of them looked to be out of sorts, save for the two that had begun to cry fussily. She gently began to clean away their salty tears with her tongue, her heart longing to know where her missing two babies were.
What sort of horrible mother was she, to allow two of her little ones to run off, or worse, be stolen off into the night?
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:21 am
Peace doesn't come easily to him, but years of practice and experience in battle eventually win out of the blinding terror that the loss of his cubs brings. That's when he notices that the trail he's following has changed.
They're heading in another direction, now. And they're running. And if he hadn't stopped to calm himself, he'd have run right past it.
A low growl begins to rumble in his chest as he picks up the pace, moving as quickly as he dares. They're running. Why are they running? What could they be running from? He can't spy any other tracks, but it's dark and there are so many rocks in the ground...
Oh, spirits, please keep them safe!
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:26 am
Sakata will find them, she thought to herself, attempting to force herself to believe such a notion.
As harsh and judgmental as she was towards him, she knew Sakata was a good father. If anyone could find their little ones, it would be him. Both determined and intelligent, he would be their only hope this evening, as Jinichongo didn't dare move to find help from any other, not when she would be watching her cubs for the remainder of the evening.
Two had been lost, and she'd be damned if she allowed any more of them to leave her sight, this night.
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