[PRP] Playtime is fun time! (Suha, Zarha & Dareia)

[Sergeant Sargent]

Zarha’s father had just finished telling a story about all the strange creatures he saw on his travels through the rogue lands. With her imagination set on fire, Zarha tried to become just like one of those creatures.

First she tried to be a hyena. She practiced laughing manically, which troubled her mother and confused her sister. Then she decided she wanted to be a leopard but when Afsar joined in she decided to go play by herself. Afsar wouldn’t follow her rules.

Now Zarha wanted to be a cheetah. Papa said cheetahs ran very fast so that’s what she would do, too. First she needed to find some other cubs to run with. What good is running fast if you can’t have a race?  

[RuIerr]

Dareia. Was. Bored. All day she hadn't been quite sure what to do, so she had spent her time searching out odd tasks - like chasing down a butterfly, and rolling a stray rock to a small pile of rocks she had found earlier. After that, she was doing what she was doing now - wandering around aimlessly, hoping to catch the attention of someone else so she'd have something to do.

This method, she soon found out, was not working. Huffing with impatience, Dareia decided that the next lion she spotted, she'd go up and speak to. Almost immediately she spotted a pretty black and tan-marked female cub. Smiling, Dareia pranced up to the other girl. "Hey!" She said pleasantly, flicking her tail in excitement. Cubs were always good - she knew that someone her age always seemed to want to play.

 

[zephira738]

Suha had found herself feeling almost...dare she say it... almost bored. She'd been daydreaming all day, watching the sky for any clouds that might pass so she could pick out shapes and make up stories about the places that they'd been. But there weren't that many clouds, and she found herself wishing her daddy would tell her another story instead of trying to make some up for herself. Her daddy was so much better at it, his stories were always much more interesting than the ones in her head. It was fun to fantasize about having adventures and falling in love. But she found herself wishing she could have an adventure herself, which made her nervous a little. Adventures seemed almost like they'd be scary to have all alone...

Her ears perked up as she caught sight of one of her half sisters, and she lifted her head from where it had lowered to her paws to see the other Banu prancing off to greet...a new girl. Oooh, maybe she could go too? It would be fun to meet someone else who wasn't family, she seemed to have so very much family. Maybe they could even have an adventure together!

With this thought gleefully in mind, Suha rose to her paws and bounded over to her white furred half sister and the new black and tan cub.

"Hello," she greeted, looking hopefully from one to the other, suddenly wondering if she might be interrupting something. What if they were already friends?  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Zarha lifted her head at the black and white cub. One of Ali's daughters? Someone told her the Sultan had a litter recently. Oh, Zarha wished her father was the Sultan. Having a warrior for a father was wonderful enough - but the Sultan! Zarha felt her heart swoon.

"Oh, hi there! My name's Zarha, what's your's?" She smiled at the black and white cub, whose colors reminded her of her family. Zarha felt relieved to meet a cub whose markings didn't glimmer and blaze like the cubs in Vizer Faiz's litter, for they always made her self-concious.

Just then another cub bounded their way. Zarha's smile was tempered with curiosity. Was this cub related to Ali, too? "Hi!"

How perfect, two new friends! Now she could really have some fun.  

[RuIerr]

Dareia grinned. The other Banu seemed quite friendly, and she was so pretty! Often she found herself jealous of those with the colors of the earth, she found herself to love her own coat all the same. "I'm Dareia!" She exclaimed excitedly, noting the other female's name. Just then, she heard another exclamation of "hello" and turned her head to see one of her step-siblings.

"Hey," she said, smiling pleasantly. Dareia found herself unable to name many of her step-siblings, and decided to play it safe while waiting for the other Banu to introduce herself to Zarha. Looking at the two others, she couldn't help but to find herself giddy with excitement. Three Banu cubs in the Ukuucha'Wafalme - she was sure they could get into tons of trouble together! And 'trouble' was almost synonymous for 'fun,' right?

 

[zephira738]

Suha felt herself beginning to grin at the dark furred cub, she seemed to be so… vibrant. That was a new word, Suha liked new words to make her stories sound more eloquent. Yes, that was another newer word. It sounded lovely to say it too, el-oh-quent. Rolled right off her tongue with at tiny little click at the end. Perfect.

“I’m Suha,” she said, having caught her step-sister’s introduction and assumed that they had both just met a possible new friend. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Someone to maybe possibly have a few sort of smallish adventures with! And, looking over the soft splotches of tan on the other’s black coat, Suha was betting this was someone she wasn’t related to after all. No bright swirls like her cousins, and her littermates she at least new by sight if not name. Not yet anyway. She’d learn them all soon, she just hadn’t had enough time yet… oh wait!

“It’s nice to meet you,” Suha added quickly, having not meant to forget to be polite. It wasn’t as vital since she was only talking to another Banu-cub like herself, but it was still a nice thing to say.  

[Sergeant Sargent]

Outgoing like her father, Zarha smiled at the two new friends. She was an energetic cub, cool as her pelt was black, not a shy bone in her body.

Dareia. What a wonderful name! Zarha wished she had the word ‘dare’ in her name. She assumed someone with such a great name must be adventurous. Suha’s manners reminded Zarha that she should mind her own, the way her mother and father kept telling her to, though they weren’t here right now. So she might have ignored the thought if Suha hadn’t spoken first. Now she felt obligated to say something.

“Nice to meet you, too!” she exclaimed. That should do. She looked back and fourth between the two cubs, comparing them. “Are you two sisters?” she asked curiously.  

[RuIerr]

Smiling widely at both of them, Dareia found herself blushing a deep scarlet. "Fantastic to meet you two, too!" She quickly blurted out, ashamed that she had forgotten her manners. She usually wasn't this informal with others; she liked to keep up her family's good name, and forgetting things like this wasn't like her at all.

Shrugging it off, Dareia nodded at Zarha's question. "Sort of - we're half-sisters. We have different mommies," she said with a smile. Glancing over at Suha, she felt herself to be very prideful in her family - the entirety of her family was just so great - she couldn't imagine living with anyone else. She didn't mind the fact that she was, technically, some sort of royalty - that meant nothing to her. The fact that she had a totally amazing family, though, that was what mattered most. And now, here, it seemed she was making a possible friend in both a half-sibling and another cub? It just seemed too good to be true!

 

[zephira738]

Suha’s paws wanted to do a tiny little dance on the ground before her as she looked from her half sibling to the new cub. Already she was feeling giddy and excited, and they’d done nothing more than introduce themselves. She grinned at Dareia when the other glanced at her, happy to be spending time with part of her vast family. There was no doubt that daddy was still her favorite, with his lovely deep voice and seemingly endless supply of wonderfully fascinating stories. But she wanted to play with all her family. It was saddening that she wasn’t even sure how many of them there were. She knew her daddy, and her mommies, and most of her brothers and sisters. But then she had her half-sisters and half-brothers, whom she only knew half as well as she should have liked. And then she had uncle and aunts and lots and lots of cousins. She’d only even met one of them so far, when she wanted to meet everyone.

Nodding agreement to Dareia’s explanation of their having two mommies, Suha couldn’t help but ask, “What’s your daddy’s name?” Curiosity you see. Perhaps she should have said ‘father’, it sounded more grown-up. It was easier to learn about other daddies though, since cubs probably had lots and lots of mommies, like she did. There was just so much to keep track of, she had to start somewhere. Someday she’d have met everyone in the whole pride. Maybe she’d even meet the perfect Pad too! Oh, she certainly hoped so!  

[Sergeant Sargent]

So they were both the Sultan's daughters. Now Zarha would have to work hard to impress them. She loved being the center of attention and felt she would have to up her game if she wanted these two to think she was cool.

"My father's name is Misilivuma. He used to be a rogue. That makes him extra tough, because he had to survive in the wild and fight off bad rogues all the time. He was a good rogue, of course," she added thoughtfully.  

[zephira738]

Suha’s eyes widened as Zarha spoke. Her father had been a rogue? He’d lived outside the pride? True, she knew her daddy and the other Pads had traveled outside the pride before, that’s where they brought their mommies back from sometimes. Her brothers would do it too, someday. But to have been born out there, where she knew it must surely be so very dangerous… what with the strange males and the Kajira-like females that didn’t live with a Pad to protect them.

“Wow,” she breathed, “He must know a whole lot about things outside!”

Not that her daddy wasn’t knowledgeable and full of stories and wisdom and…stuff like that. But she couldn’t help but wonder what things… Misl… Misve… Zarha’s daddy might know. Maybe he knew about other things that her daddy hadn’t told her about! Maybe he’d told Zarha, Suha’s daddy told her stories all the time, so surely Zarha’s must have too. Maybe Zarha would tell her some of them too! Oh, she certainly hoped so!  

[RuIerr]

As Zarha answered Suha's question, Dareia felt her own eyes widen with curiosity. Zarha daddy had been a rogue? Dareia had only ever heard stories of the rogues that roamed the outskirts of the pridelands; they sounded like such fascinating creatures, but some of them sounded quite scary and intimidating.

Not knowing what else to say on the subject, Dareia smiled and said, "Your daddy was really a rogue? That's so cool!" Dareia had heard before of things called "book smarts" and "street smarts." 'If these two smarts really do exist,' though Dareia, 'then daddy is probably a book smart guy - and Zarha's daddy is a street smart guy!' Grinning a bit wider at feeling the least bit clever, she looked back between the two, and nodded at Suha's statement. It was quite true that Zarha's daddy probably did know a lot about land outside the Ukuucha'Wafalme lands, which lead to the beginning of Dareia's wondering; 'What would life outside the pride be like?'

 

[Sergeant Sargent]

Zarha didn't realize that her friends thought her father had been born in the rogue lands. After all, she never said that. All she said was that he used to be a rogue. Even if she knew what they really thought she probably wouldn't try to correct herself. If anyone found out the truth, that her father was born a Pridelander, she would simply feign ignorance.

She continued her story with gusto, "He just finished telling me a story about some of the animals he met while he lived there, in the wild. One of them was named Sellion." She loved that name! "He was all black with really bright pink stripes, even brighter than Dareia's purple stripes, all over his body. He was a cheetah. Cheetahs are these really skinny cats, smaller than a lion, with looooooong legs and tails, and their manes go back like this." She licked her paw and pushed back her mane, giving herself a little mohawk. "My dad says Sellion must have been dropped on his head when he was a cub because he believed in all sorts of crazy things, demons and monsters. He even thought my dad was a monster!

"But not all cheetahs are as nutzo as Sellion. My dad knew another cheetah, a female named Zito. She was cunning and could run faster than the wind. If she was in our pride, she would have been a kajira for sure. Even though she was rebellious and loved to fight, she still respected my dad because he's a warrior."  

[zephira738]

Cheetah? She'd never seen a cheetah. Daddy hadn't told her about cheetah either, or cheetahs? It must be cheetahs. Other words got an 's' at the end for more than one. So it must be cheetahs. Yes. Yes that must be it. Words were important, really crucial to a story. She had to get them right when she said them...but she didn't want to be really annoying and ask a lot.

Pale eyes wide, Suha watched the other cub as she spoke, eyes going to the hair Zarha had made to stand up as she struggled to picture what she was describing. If her mental image was correct, cheetahs were really funny looking creatures... Skinny long legged lions with sticky-up hair. But Sellion... that sounded like it had 'lion' in it. Sellion. And he was pink too? Suha knew what color pink was, but she mostly saw it on flowers and such. Were there pink lions in the pride? ...yes. Yes, there were. She'd seen a few cubs with pink on them, but none of them with brighter colors than Dareia's stripes.

And a cheetah who was like a kajira? Suha had never met a kajira before, and she didn't think she wanted to. They weren't really good for the pride, they didn't get along with the males and didn't like them and caused trouble and... bad stuff like that.

"Is your daddy scary?" she asked hesitantly, after a few moments. After all, if Sellion the cheetah thought he was a monster, and Zito the cheetah-kajira respected him... Oh! Zarha wouldn't be offended would she? Suha hadn't meant it like that at all!

"I...I just meant... if Sellion thought he was a monster! Was he scary?" Suha hastened to attempt to clarify. She didn't want to upset her new friend!

 

[RuIerr]

As Zarha continued to speak of her daddy, Dareia's eyes were widening more and more with a sense of awe. The creature that the other girl had been describing sounded so utterly surreal to Dareia. "A cheetah?" she whispered; not meaning for verification, but moreso to be sure she could pronounce the name correctly for when she spoke more of this animal in the future.

When Zarha slipped her spit-laden paw up to her head and forced her fur into standing position, Dareia found herself suppressing a giggle. The image of these creatures that she had thus far created in her head just looked so funny! They had long, spindly legs which made them appear to be clumsy, but made them quite fast. They also had strange head-fur that stood on end at all times, quite like an animal whose fur along their spine stood up due to being frightened. She also imagined them to be quite skinny, rough-looking creatures; after all, as she saw it, that's how rogue-landers were.

Dareia frowned when Zarha stated that the cheetah was lika a kajira. Never did Dareia meet a kajira, as she didn't have much of a desire to. They sounded like mean, unruly lionesses, and she often wondered why they were allowed in the pride in the first place. But, of course, they did work towards becoming well-mannered, so she supposed they did prove useful in the end.

When Suha proposed her question, Dareia felt a bit sorry for Zarha - she didn't suppose she'd meant for her new friends to think that her father was some sort of a monster. Dareia really didn't view Zarha's daddy that way - she thought he sounded really fascinating, all in all. A rogue who'd met cheetah before? He had to be a really cool lion, Dareia thought.