|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:21 pm
Dodonna stretched against a rock, rubbing out the tension from his muscles. It was a beautiful morning, the air fresh and blowing full of scents, and his spirits were high and ambitious. It was days like this that inspired him towards greatness; with so much opportunity in the world, what wasn't possible? Who would dare dream small goals when there was so much to be achieved?
Loose and ready, he began his slow stalk. Deep in the grass, shifting carefully with tense muscles, he circled his quarry, eyes fixed to it. As he did, he kept a constant tally running in his mind of mistakes he needed to work on, to improve his stalking technique. Finally he launched himself upon his prey, and savaged the fallen log that served as his practice target, raking it with his claws.
Melda couldn't place the noises she heard as she had been walking. Scratching of some kind, but not just to sharpen one's claws as she might have been anticipating. No, it seemed to carry on differently in the air, similar yet entirely different. Looking around, following her ears, the pink female hunted for the source of the sign, finally coming across the reason behind the noises.
It was a lion... attacking a log?
"Did the log try to attack you?" the female asked, her tone light enough to suggest that she wasn't being a sarcastic butt head. She was actually wondering if the former tree had somehow offended the male. Maybe it fell on him?
Startled at the sudden voice, Dodonna whirled around. His leg bumped against the log, throwing off his balance, and he had to stumble backwards to catch himself. He cursed his poor response instinct. He should've reacted better than that, should've been able to handle the unexpected situation! Pulling himself up sternly, he faced down the newcomer, ready to do battle if it came to that.
But he deflated at what he saw. Oh, it was a female. Well... he didn't really know what to do about that. Males he knew exactly what to do with; it almost always involved fighting over their territory. But he still hadn't quite figured out where females fit into his ethical code. Growling halfheartedly, he said "What do you want?" Then he realized she'd already said. "Oh. Ehm, I was... just practice fighting."
The female let her ears sink against her head as she watched in horror the reaction of the male in front of her. She hadn't meant o give him a heart attack! Unfortunately, she hadn't thought he wouldn't have heard her coming up on him, too busy wondering about what he was doing to give precaution for either of them any kind of thought.
Whoops.
"Oh! Practicing! Well that's very good, isn't it? I should probably try that too..." wouldn't get attacked again as she had before. It wasn't something she liked to reflect on. This lion, though tense, didn't seem as terrible as that other one. Still, she kept her distance, unsure of herself in the face of a growl. "I didn't mean to disturb you... I hope you're not upset with me," she offered softly.
Shuffling his feet awkwardly, he felt himself responding to her timidness with a flush of embarassment. It reminded him of his mother's admonishments over treating his sisters gently. Even if they did beat him up nine times out of ten, heaven forbid he raise a paw against them. He tried to make himself seem less intimidating, so as not to upset this new female any further, or scare her off.
"No you..." he coughed and tried again. "You didn't disturb me. I was just... concentrating, so I didn't hear you. I was just..." he waved at the log, which now he wanted to glare at for starting this whole mess. "I find it helps to plan attacks out in advance, you see. You can give it a try if you like." He stepped off to the side, relinquishing his target quickly just in case she wanted it.
"Oh, may I? I would like to try! Though... I don't think I'll be as good at it as you seem to be. Will you watch and tell me what I should do better?" She asked lightly, moving around to get a better angle with the log. Maybe she should just charge at it? It was supposed to be like an attack... leaning back, the female raised her butt in the air, shaking it about as she readied herself for a leap.
Springing forward, she pounced on the log, finding it a whole lot hard than she had thought it would be. Her claws struck the bark expertly enough, but her nose slammed against the wood soon after, not as expertly. Yelping, she jumped from the log, a splinter or two in her nose for her trouble.
Dodonna obligingly circled to watch the ensuing attack, unable to keep from feeling pleased with himself a little. Someone wanted him to teach them attacks! Finally, an opportunity to share the culmination of his effort. He couldn't really say if he was up to the task or not, but he would give it his best effort. He focused carefully, studying the other lion's posture, though he reflexively looked away during the butt wiggle.
He winced in sympathy at the splinter. "That was pretty good," he commented. "I tend to keep my head back on the first assault, keep my back arched. If you lead with your claws, it makes it harder for the other lion to get at your throat, and it gives you more room to bite. He demonstrated by turning on the log, rearing up to land on it with his claws, his head held back, then leaning in to snap his teeth at a stray branch.
"Yeah... I guess that would make it better..." Melda said. She should have known better than to throw her head forward like that. It wasn't like biting the neck of an animal she was hunting- it would be much too hard to get through any manes if she were to get in a fight with a large male. Moving a paw to her nose, she carefully rubbed out the splinters, huffing through her nostrils to make sure they were both still working.
Everything checked out.
She watched him, her tail happily beating against the ground as she sat herself down. "Oh! That was very good! You make it look so easy! Haven't you ever gotten a splinter attacking the log?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:22 pm
Trying to keep down a blush, Dodonna didn't really know what to make of her praise. He'd never really received any before, and it was a little unsettling. He struck an arrogant pose to keep from showing her how awkward she was making him feel. "Oh sure, I used to get tons of splinters when I first started," he said nonchalantly. "To be honest I've probably got more scars from splinters than from fights. But after awhile you get a hang of avoiding them. I tried fighting without a target for awhile, but it just wasn't the same. I couldn't really visualize the attacks."
He shrugged. "That's a thing I do. Visualize. At least I think that's the word for it. I try to picture my opponent in my head." He knew that probably sounded pretty silly, but he refused to be ashamed for it. He did what he had to, to improve.
It made her feel a bit better about her failed attempt to hear that he had gotten splinters before. If someone so ready for battle as he used to get splinters, well, maybe she wasn't completely hopeless then. The only thing to do was to keep on practicing, even if fighting didn't top her list of things to do. She just didn't want to get hurt again.
Or almost hurt, anyway.
"That makes sense," she replied, "if you try and picture it against someone real, it does make it a lot easier to see what you should be attacking, rather than just jumping on a log." She giggled lightly. It made sense to her- she wasn't thinking it was silly. Impressive, actually, that he could do something like that. "My name is Melda, by the way, what's your name?"
Dodonna was a little relieved she didn't mock him for his techniques, like a few others had in the past. That was always the trouble, trying to explain himself to people, and then having to kick their butt over their reaction to it. Still, it was good training. Giving the log one last good kick for measure, he took a close look at her nose, but it didn't look like it had been damaged too bad. That was good.
"I'm Dodonna," he responded. "Not of any pride. Which reminds me, this is probably your land isn't it?" He glanced around, but all territory looked the same to him. He'd never really understood the concept of staking a claim to land, anyway. "It's... very nice. I'm not trying to take over or anything, just so you know. Just passing through. You live here with your pride, then?"
"Dodonna," Melda repeated happily, "I think that's a very nice name!" She had told her friend that M names were the best names of all, but that didn't mean other names weren't special in their own ways. His had a nice ring to it. She watched him a moment, looking over his odd coloring. The designs on his fur were unlike anything she had seen before.
"My land? Oh, no," she assured him, "I don't have any land. I don't know if this area belongs to any pride, either. If it does, I'm not a part of it. I'm not in a pride myself. I guess we're both just wanderers, you know? Though I did visit a pride not that long ago, and I really enjoyed myself."
Hearing, that, Dodonna made a note in his mind that the land wasn't owned, or at least wasn't to her knowledge. Good, he could remember to come back here when he wanted privacy. Having to respond to challenges in the middle of his endurance exercises could really be a pain, sometimes. Especially if the other male was bigger and stronger, and then tried to chase him out of the boundaries. It could be downright exhausting.
"I don't really approve the concept of prides myself," he responded, stretching absently to keep his muscles warm. "Keeping to one place, staying where the living is easy, instead of heading out to test onesself... it stunts the lion species." He shook his head, reminding himself that such conversation wasn't best for first meetings. "Anyway, so, what do you do with yourself. Melda, was it? Just travel around?"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Melda replied lightly, "having a home to go to each night, a nice place with warmth and friends all around. I don't think there's anything stunting about that. You still have to go out hunting and working for your pride mates. Helping when they get sick, and looking after the young if something happens to one of the parents... it seems like there would be a lot to do. There's also making sure other lions don't invade the pride lands, you know?"
Maybe they could just agree to disagree on that one.
"I've been looking around," she replied lightly, "trying to find one of those stunting prides to settle down in. But so far none seem right for me. I know there's a place out there for me, I just need to find it. And I'm enjoying my search. I get to meet lots of nice lions like you." She smiled happily at that. "What about you?"
Dodonna tried not to grimace at her talk of home. As nice as she made it sound, the only home he'd ever had was with his mother and siblings, and he'd gotten out of there as quick as he could. They hadn't been bad in particular, they had just been... seven females against him, the solitary male. It had been way too much for him to handle. But he nodded sympathetically, and meant it; she seemed to be on a quest of her own, just like him. It was something he could admire in anyone, no matter the reason.
"I hope you find your place someday. Afraid I can't really recommend any prides, as I've never gotten to know them too well. There was this one pride up in the mountains, and the fellow I met seemed alright. But that's about it. As for me, well, you pretty much know it all by now. I'm training to improve myself, to become a great fighter, and to find other great fighters out there to train under."
"A fighter. That sounds like something that would take a lot of work, but I think you can do it. You seem very strong," she offered encouragingly, smiling at the other as she continued to watch him. He was a different kind of lion, that was for sure. So interested in fighting, but not really the kind of animal that really seemed like a mean person. Maybe she was just too eager to see the good in others.
But he seemed nice enough.
"I should get going," she said after a little while, "I think I got in the way of your training long enough. I hope you get to accomplish everything you want, and I hope your fighting doesn't get you hurt. Maybe we can meet each other again some day!"
He accepted her praise with his best effort at grace, and found himself hoping he could agree with her one day. So far his history was nothing but lost battles, but maybe if he kept up the pace, he might prove her right. "Perhaps we will meet again," he agreed, and chuckled ruefully. "Don't worry, I'll try not to knock myself out against a rock or a log."
Stepping back, he turned to stride off, and mused over the encounter. As different as it was from his usual interactions, it gave him a new appreciation for the female gender. They weren't all shrieking harridans afterall, perhaps. He made a mental note to keep an eye on prides he encountered, in case he ever found a nice one. Then if he met her again, he could let her know. As he passed the log, he gave it one more rake of his claws absently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
