Solo RP
Dodonna & Coryth
He had traveled far away from any known pride's territory, deep into the wilderness, where the brush was sparse and game rare. Any sensible creature would've stayed where it was lush, but Dodonna thought in a different way. His shame at losing a recent battle had driven him to increase his training regimen. He had wandered into the dry terrain not out of guilt, but a drive to prove himself a survivor. If he could live in the rough, maybe he wasn't as weak as he thought.
Once he had settled the matters of water and meat for the day, he sought out a good target, and found it in a large boulder with strange patterns in it, perfectly shaped for him to take out his frustrations on. He assumed the stance, a low crouch, and bolted for the rock, smacking it viciously with his paws as if it were an enemy.
Coryth padded cheerfully along, her coat caked with the dust of her favorite hobby, especially on her legs. She was in especially high spirits this day. This area was a lot hotter than her homeland, but just as dry, and perfect for what she loved to do. She found all her best discoveries in dry places. Something about water lowered the odds, or so it seemed.
But she had stumbled across something else. A large red lion male, performing what looked like a battle dance. He was so wrapped up in his own activity that she easily walked up without his noticing. She sat and watched him for awhile, enjoying the display for lack of other entertainment. At least, until she noticed the interesting shape of the rock he was attacking. Excited, she rushed forward to get a better look.
He circled, spun and kicked, bit savagely until his teeth ached, raked claws on unforgiving stone, and battered himself against his unmoving opponent. Normally he would be critiquing and correcting his movements to improve his skill, but his temper had gotten the better of him. He just wanted to win against something, even if it was inanimate.
But as he closed in for the kill, suddenly there was a green shape in his way. He stumbled to a halt and scrambled backwards. A foe! Snarling, he backed away to get a better look. What he saw surprised him; it was a lioness! He hadn't expected to see anyone in this barren waste, much less have them suddenly show up right in his face!
Coryth heard the male lion making noises behind her, but it was of minor importance. The patterns on the rock were fascinating and very encouraging. She huffed gently to blow away stray sand from the formation, tracing the markings with her eyes. Yes, yes, this was an excellent prospect. None of the other rocks in this area had such markings, which was even better.
It looked like there might be much more to the rock below the surface, so she eagerly set about tearing up the ground near it with her rough, seasoned paws. Soon she had a trench along one side, and began the more careful task of pushing the dirt away from the surface of the rock without damaging it.
Growling and posturing, it took Dodonna a long moment for him to realize that he was being completely ignored. He was baffled and befuddled. He'd been threatened before plenty, and chased and bloodied and kicked, but never treated as if he weren't there. Perhaps the lioness was deaf. He roared loudly, but got no response. Yes, maybe deaf.
He paced behind her, annoyed, and watched her behavior. She had taken over his rock! And she was digging around it, and he didn't have a clue why. He watched her huff and dig, the purpose completely eluding him. He snorted to himself. Females. Who could understand them?
Coryth kept at her labor until she had removed a good layer of dirt and dust from one side of the rock. Pulling back, she carefully studied the markings. It didn't look like it was a bone-stone, she thought with disappointment. Those were always the most exciting, especially the big ones. Neither was it one of the plant-stones, like the ones that had pretty prints of ferns and leaves. Nor were they shell-stones, like the ones that looked like snail shells.
There was not one large marking, but instead many small black markings. Each was an indent into the stone, as if it was pocked with raindrops, except it hardly ever rained here. She tilted her head left and right, trying to make sense of them.
Wandering restlessly around the female and her rock, no, his rock, Dodonna felt very conflicted. On one hand, a lioness had waltzed right in and stolen his practice target, and was completely ignoring him. It was enough to puff up any male's anger, and he almost wanted to growl in her face or shove her to force her to look at him.
But on the other hand, his ethics dictated that he not attack provoked. And he even felt loathe to interrupt the work she seemed to find so fascinating. He found himself slowly inching closer to her, to get a better look at just what it was she was doing. She kept staring at the boulder for some reason. Soon he was also staring at it, trying to see what was so special about it.
Coryth examined the black spots thoroughly, trying to rack her mind what they could mean. She felt her spirits sinking. Maybe she hadn't found anything special at all. She pawed at the boulder as if she could change the results just by wanting it. She had journeyed into the dry lands to improve her chances of a good find, and instead she had found almost nothing.
A golden nose in her view startled her, and she jerked back. It was the male again, looking at the rock alongside her. Maybe he was curious? Her mood lifted again. She always enjoyed babbling about her hobby to others, even if they didn't always find it as much fun. "It might be a living-stone, you see," she explained. "Because of the markings, you see. I was just making sure, but now I think it might not be one."
Tensing away nervously, Dodonna was surprised that she didn't immediately lash out at him. Her words only puzzled him more. He peered at the little black specks, squinting to see better in the glaring light. He hadn't noticed them before, and he couldn't see why they might be so important. They were just black specks, weren't they? Rocks had all sorts of spots and shiny bits, that was what rocks were.
But her words made him pull back with concern. "Living-stones? Stones can be living?" He eyed the boulder skeptically. The idea that his pretend foe could actually be a real foe made him worried. He frequently attacked trees and stones as part of his training regimen. Could some of them attack back? Did they hold grudges for his behavior?
His had provided her with the perfect opening. Coryth grinned eagerly. "Not exactly. See, I look at stones alot. And some stones have shapes in them that look like things that aren't stone. I've found some that look like shells, or plants, and some look like bones. They're made of rock, but they look exactly as if someone took the living thing, turned it into rock, and stuck it in another rock."
"I don't know where they come, or what they are." She shrugged and glanced at the disappointing boulder. "People keep asking me that, and I really don't know. I just know that they exist, and you can find tons of them if you know where to look." She shot a look at him. "You do believe me, don't you?"
The news of these strange stones shocked Dodonna, and he reeled inside his mind. No one could say he was a particularly clever lion, so higher concept of the world like this only barely registered with him. The fact that such stones might exist was almost more than he could handle. The thought of where they might come from couldn't make it through his head at all.
He closed in on the border to see the black specks closer up. "I... don't see it," he muttered. He tried tilting his head sideways like she had, but it still didn't make any better sense. "Are they... plants?" He nudged one with a toe and watched it, but nothing happened. "Are they still alive?"
Coryth began laughing at his questions. "No no no, there are no living-stone shapes in this boulder. I thought there might be, but there aren't." Could he not see that? But he was an interested party, so she kept pressing on. "If there were shapes, you'd be able to tell what they were easily. They look exactly like the real thing, only made of stone."
"For example, I've found leaves that look like real leaves, right down to the tiny veins, only they were stone. And the bones are often laying in the shape of a real creature." She leaned in as if to share a secret. "In fact, I think they might be real bones, but from stone creatures. Stone bones, stone creatures. And some of the stones I've found are huge, so there must be huge stone creatures roaming around! It makes sense, right?"
Dodonna was eating it up completely, and now he was getting rather worked up. Her excitement was infectious. "Stone creatures!" he shouted, and looked around the terrain as if he'd be able to spot one that very second. But nothing moved out there. Even the stones stayed still, and refused to turn into living things to confirm this new concept.
He growled suspiciously. There was only so much nonsense someone could feed him before he got a clue. "You're putting me on, aren't you." He scoffed. "You saw me out here on my own, and decided to try to make fun of me, didn't you? Well I won't put up with it!" He took an aggressive stance and tried to loom over her. "I won't be made a fool."
Coryth cowered and shifted away from the angry male, cursing herself. She should never have brought her silly theories up! They never went over well. "No, no, I wasn't trying to lie to you! I really think there are stone creatures!" She tried to make herself look as benign as possible. "I've never seen any before, but I've never seen a God before, and people always talk about them existing." She wished she had a better example of living-stones to show him, instead of this stupid boulder.
Seeing an opportunity, she tread backwards quickly, then turned and bolted as fast as she could. He might chase after, but she bet she was better at keeping up the pace in this sort of landscape than he was.
Roaring after her, Dodonna only followed a few short paces. She hadn't attacked, and therefore he couldn't do anything about her. That was the code. Besides, she was only a female. "Run, woman!" he hollered after her. "And don't tell such stupid stories to the next person you see, or they might do what I didn't!" He roared mightily to make his point.
Scowling, he turned back to the boulder, and made as if to rake his claws across it in spite. But he hesitated at the last moment, as he finally placed what the specks reminded him of. "Hm, they kind of look like lichen," he pondered. He gazed at them for a long moment, then savaged them with his claws until he had blighted out most of them. That might keep other females from getting similar silly notions. Shaking his head, he resumed his training exercises.
Dodonna & Coryth
He had traveled far away from any known pride's territory, deep into the wilderness, where the brush was sparse and game rare. Any sensible creature would've stayed where it was lush, but Dodonna thought in a different way. His shame at losing a recent battle had driven him to increase his training regimen. He had wandered into the dry terrain not out of guilt, but a drive to prove himself a survivor. If he could live in the rough, maybe he wasn't as weak as he thought.
Once he had settled the matters of water and meat for the day, he sought out a good target, and found it in a large boulder with strange patterns in it, perfectly shaped for him to take out his frustrations on. He assumed the stance, a low crouch, and bolted for the rock, smacking it viciously with his paws as if it were an enemy.
Coryth padded cheerfully along, her coat caked with the dust of her favorite hobby, especially on her legs. She was in especially high spirits this day. This area was a lot hotter than her homeland, but just as dry, and perfect for what she loved to do. She found all her best discoveries in dry places. Something about water lowered the odds, or so it seemed.
But she had stumbled across something else. A large red lion male, performing what looked like a battle dance. He was so wrapped up in his own activity that she easily walked up without his noticing. She sat and watched him for awhile, enjoying the display for lack of other entertainment. At least, until she noticed the interesting shape of the rock he was attacking. Excited, she rushed forward to get a better look.
He circled, spun and kicked, bit savagely until his teeth ached, raked claws on unforgiving stone, and battered himself against his unmoving opponent. Normally he would be critiquing and correcting his movements to improve his skill, but his temper had gotten the better of him. He just wanted to win against something, even if it was inanimate.
But as he closed in for the kill, suddenly there was a green shape in his way. He stumbled to a halt and scrambled backwards. A foe! Snarling, he backed away to get a better look. What he saw surprised him; it was a lioness! He hadn't expected to see anyone in this barren waste, much less have them suddenly show up right in his face!
Coryth heard the male lion making noises behind her, but it was of minor importance. The patterns on the rock were fascinating and very encouraging. She huffed gently to blow away stray sand from the formation, tracing the markings with her eyes. Yes, yes, this was an excellent prospect. None of the other rocks in this area had such markings, which was even better.
It looked like there might be much more to the rock below the surface, so she eagerly set about tearing up the ground near it with her rough, seasoned paws. Soon she had a trench along one side, and began the more careful task of pushing the dirt away from the surface of the rock without damaging it.
Growling and posturing, it took Dodonna a long moment for him to realize that he was being completely ignored. He was baffled and befuddled. He'd been threatened before plenty, and chased and bloodied and kicked, but never treated as if he weren't there. Perhaps the lioness was deaf. He roared loudly, but got no response. Yes, maybe deaf.
He paced behind her, annoyed, and watched her behavior. She had taken over his rock! And she was digging around it, and he didn't have a clue why. He watched her huff and dig, the purpose completely eluding him. He snorted to himself. Females. Who could understand them?
Coryth kept at her labor until she had removed a good layer of dirt and dust from one side of the rock. Pulling back, she carefully studied the markings. It didn't look like it was a bone-stone, she thought with disappointment. Those were always the most exciting, especially the big ones. Neither was it one of the plant-stones, like the ones that had pretty prints of ferns and leaves. Nor were they shell-stones, like the ones that looked like snail shells.
There was not one large marking, but instead many small black markings. Each was an indent into the stone, as if it was pocked with raindrops, except it hardly ever rained here. She tilted her head left and right, trying to make sense of them.
Wandering restlessly around the female and her rock, no, his rock, Dodonna felt very conflicted. On one hand, a lioness had waltzed right in and stolen his practice target, and was completely ignoring him. It was enough to puff up any male's anger, and he almost wanted to growl in her face or shove her to force her to look at him.
But on the other hand, his ethics dictated that he not attack provoked. And he even felt loathe to interrupt the work she seemed to find so fascinating. He found himself slowly inching closer to her, to get a better look at just what it was she was doing. She kept staring at the boulder for some reason. Soon he was also staring at it, trying to see what was so special about it.
Coryth examined the black spots thoroughly, trying to rack her mind what they could mean. She felt her spirits sinking. Maybe she hadn't found anything special at all. She pawed at the boulder as if she could change the results just by wanting it. She had journeyed into the dry lands to improve her chances of a good find, and instead she had found almost nothing.
A golden nose in her view startled her, and she jerked back. It was the male again, looking at the rock alongside her. Maybe he was curious? Her mood lifted again. She always enjoyed babbling about her hobby to others, even if they didn't always find it as much fun. "It might be a living-stone, you see," she explained. "Because of the markings, you see. I was just making sure, but now I think it might not be one."
Tensing away nervously, Dodonna was surprised that she didn't immediately lash out at him. Her words only puzzled him more. He peered at the little black specks, squinting to see better in the glaring light. He hadn't noticed them before, and he couldn't see why they might be so important. They were just black specks, weren't they? Rocks had all sorts of spots and shiny bits, that was what rocks were.
But her words made him pull back with concern. "Living-stones? Stones can be living?" He eyed the boulder skeptically. The idea that his pretend foe could actually be a real foe made him worried. He frequently attacked trees and stones as part of his training regimen. Could some of them attack back? Did they hold grudges for his behavior?
His had provided her with the perfect opening. Coryth grinned eagerly. "Not exactly. See, I look at stones alot. And some stones have shapes in them that look like things that aren't stone. I've found some that look like shells, or plants, and some look like bones. They're made of rock, but they look exactly as if someone took the living thing, turned it into rock, and stuck it in another rock."
"I don't know where they come, or what they are." She shrugged and glanced at the disappointing boulder. "People keep asking me that, and I really don't know. I just know that they exist, and you can find tons of them if you know where to look." She shot a look at him. "You do believe me, don't you?"
The news of these strange stones shocked Dodonna, and he reeled inside his mind. No one could say he was a particularly clever lion, so higher concept of the world like this only barely registered with him. The fact that such stones might exist was almost more than he could handle. The thought of where they might come from couldn't make it through his head at all.
He closed in on the border to see the black specks closer up. "I... don't see it," he muttered. He tried tilting his head sideways like she had, but it still didn't make any better sense. "Are they... plants?" He nudged one with a toe and watched it, but nothing happened. "Are they still alive?"
Coryth began laughing at his questions. "No no no, there are no living-stone shapes in this boulder. I thought there might be, but there aren't." Could he not see that? But he was an interested party, so she kept pressing on. "If there were shapes, you'd be able to tell what they were easily. They look exactly like the real thing, only made of stone."
"For example, I've found leaves that look like real leaves, right down to the tiny veins, only they were stone. And the bones are often laying in the shape of a real creature." She leaned in as if to share a secret. "In fact, I think they might be real bones, but from stone creatures. Stone bones, stone creatures. And some of the stones I've found are huge, so there must be huge stone creatures roaming around! It makes sense, right?"
Dodonna was eating it up completely, and now he was getting rather worked up. Her excitement was infectious. "Stone creatures!" he shouted, and looked around the terrain as if he'd be able to spot one that very second. But nothing moved out there. Even the stones stayed still, and refused to turn into living things to confirm this new concept.
He growled suspiciously. There was only so much nonsense someone could feed him before he got a clue. "You're putting me on, aren't you." He scoffed. "You saw me out here on my own, and decided to try to make fun of me, didn't you? Well I won't put up with it!" He took an aggressive stance and tried to loom over her. "I won't be made a fool."
Coryth cowered and shifted away from the angry male, cursing herself. She should never have brought her silly theories up! They never went over well. "No, no, I wasn't trying to lie to you! I really think there are stone creatures!" She tried to make herself look as benign as possible. "I've never seen any before, but I've never seen a God before, and people always talk about them existing." She wished she had a better example of living-stones to show him, instead of this stupid boulder.
Seeing an opportunity, she tread backwards quickly, then turned and bolted as fast as she could. He might chase after, but she bet she was better at keeping up the pace in this sort of landscape than he was.
Roaring after her, Dodonna only followed a few short paces. She hadn't attacked, and therefore he couldn't do anything about her. That was the code. Besides, she was only a female. "Run, woman!" he hollered after her. "And don't tell such stupid stories to the next person you see, or they might do what I didn't!" He roared mightily to make his point.
Scowling, he turned back to the boulder, and made as if to rake his claws across it in spite. But he hesitated at the last moment, as he finally placed what the specks reminded him of. "Hm, they kind of look like lichen," he pondered. He gazed at them for a long moment, then savaged them with his claws until he had blighted out most of them. That might keep other females from getting similar silly notions. Shaking his head, he resumed his training exercises.