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 Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 8:05 pm
 Night had just arrived. In the pale moonlight that fell on the vast plain, something bright darted through the tall savannah grass. It wasn’t long until another shape – one much darker in color - followed closely in pursuit of the shining prize. The bright creature, however, a young lioness named Fenja did not seem too keen on being caught at the moment. The prism-colored lioness had almost bumped into a male lion just as she was preparing to take down a young antelope only to suddenly become the prey herself.
They had just stared at each other for a brief moment. And then the male’s expression had changed lighting up all sorts of danger alarms in Fenja. The minute that smirk had formed on the male’s muzzle, she knew she was in trouble and she bolted.
So she was now running for dear life, desperately trying to put some distance between them which wasn’t an easy task considering the full moon caused her to shine like a fricking pearl in the middle of the ocean.
A tree, I just need a tree!, Fenja shouted inside her head as she tried not to slow down while looking in every direction before glancing behind her. No trees, no trees. No water. Just grass and bush. I can't hide, he'll find me! Damn, damn! Is he still behind me?
He was. From the dark red male came the sound of a low roar, filled with something akin to nasty anticipation. He also seemed a little winded as if he was getting tired but then again, so was Fenja. She wouldn’t be able to keep running for much longer.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:27 pm
What the hell was going on?
Curious enough to move away from his observation post, he put his nightly brood on hold to investigate things further, he sprinted towards the white figure. It wasn’t until he closed the distance, hearing the roar of a feisty lion looking for fun, that he knew he needed to stop investigating and start rescuing. Letting out a warning roar of his own, the deep gray lion propelled himself onward, thick legs tensing as his claws started to rip at the dirt beneath his pads.
Whether by accident or by some undisclosed plan, Jeraha slammed into the dark male lion, sending the enemy legs over head from the force of the collision. The spots in his eyes were just proof that he had hit the other hard.
He had not placed himself between the dark red male and the white female, just in case his attack was not enough to send the message that the chase was over.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:54 pm
Jeraha’s roar reached the bright lioness before she could see or smell him but Fenja could tell by the sound that the commotion had been spotted by a male. Another one. Great. Still, knowing that someone else was around and close enough interfere – possibly even help but she didn’t dare to hope at this point – was enough create a surge of relief that she quickly disregarded in favor of caution and a rather odd question.
Did darkness move? Because Fenja could swear there was a pretty big piece of dark moving dangerously close to her location. It wasn’t long before the proximity turned the dark moving thing into the shape of a black-maned grey lion and Fenja whirled around on just in time to see the collision. Whoa!
The impact must’ve been something because the red lion sounded like he had just lost all the air in his lungs as he rolled sideways a couple of times before finally stopping with a loud thud. It could be wishful thinking but she could tell the grey lion was placing himself in front of her in a somewhat protective - possessive? No… - way and Fenja resisted the urge to ask him if he was alright. The pale lioness positioned herself shamelessly behind the new arrival and only her head was visible as she sent a low growl towards the red male with a clear message: You’re tired and outnumbered, buddy. Shoo.
The red lion got up looking downright pissed but after briefly analyzing the situation and finding it no longer in his favor – note the big mean looking lion between himself and his prize – he started moving away, tail lashing out in all directions.
What do you know? He was smarter than he looked! Fenja turned to face her savior, wondering briefly if he was going to leave it at that, but her bright smile faltered a bit when she saw the creepy image that shone on his front leg. She took one step back only to notice something else reflecting the pale moonlight on the lion’s back. Scars. Lots of them. Who was this guy?! Some kind of warrior, a bully, a killer…? Fenja’s neck seemed to double in width as every single hair stood on end and her ears shot backwards, a wide-eyed look of fear still glued on the older marks. She jumped backwards, chest moving rapidly as she was still trying to catch her breath.
Oh, where was a tree when you needed one?
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:15 pm
Jeraha wasn’t so intently locked on the male in front of him that he couldn’t feel the female behind him get just a little bit closer. If he had to guess, he would say the other was mooching off his mean-face and trying to look like she was ready for a fight as well. The growl was a little incriminating as well, though without looking he would probably never know for certain. Jeraha was one happy to jump to conclusions. Annoying, yes, but not an offense so great as to abandon her before the confrontation was fully drawn to a close. That being the case, he kept his eyes ahead, glaring green daggers at the red lion he had decided to randomly pick a fight with.
Watching the other’s quick, and more than a little huffy, retreat, Jeraha let out a grunt, feeling his body relax before his mind had allowed them to. No fight, that was probably a good thing: Chikala would kill him if he came home with any more injuries. The only thing he had to worry about hiding now was a mild headache.
Angry lions? No problem. The angry misses? Now THAT was scary.
Peering over his shoulder in a rather disinterested fashion, as though he were only checking on her through obligation rather than concern, he looked back at the female, turning slightly to face her to better see if she had sustained any kind of injury before he had come on the scene. What could this white, seemingly innocent lioness have done to make that male so mad? Or aroused, perhaps.
Not that he had been expecting gratitude, but the look of what seemed to be fear on the face of the white creature had Jeraha deeply perplexed. Did she think he had saved her because he wanted to have her all to himself? She looked ready to explode in her fright, his gaze shifting to his back, where her eyes had led him. “Do they not please you?” he grunted after a moment, voice low and impassive, “or are you looking acquire some of your own? Keep staring at me like that and we’ll see how it goes.”
Good job Jeraha: make the lioness wet herself. That was a great way to get her to relax. Sighing shortly, he sat himself down with a slight thud, tail wrapping around him as he watched the other. “Are you alright?” he asked faintly, “did that thug hurt you at all? Can you speak, or am I too frightening?”
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 11:17 pm
Jeraha’s initial reaction did indeed chill Fenja to the core. It was a brief thought but for an instant she wondered if her rogue days were finally going to be ended by the dark lion in front of her. Against him, the lioness realized she had absolutely no chance even in her best condition much less in her current – rather winded - state.
But considering the possibility of being killed didn’t mean she accepted it and with a slightly pathetic delay she hopped backwards and dropped to a defensive stance with a snarl that quickly got turned into a cough as the rapid breathing caused her to choke. Now that was a little more pathetic.
But when someone who has just saved your butt asks you if they are too frightening, you must assume you’re the one in the wrong... After processing most of the male’s words Fenja looked positively mortified.
“No… no, no, no... Sorry.” She spoke a little too fast and her ears didn’t raise – most like likely due to her own embarrassment - but she took one cautious step forward as she made a mental note not to answer the male’s last question truthfully. “No, I didn’t mean…you look…” she didn’t even know what she was saying so she shook her and took a deep breath before adding “I’m fine. Thank you. Really, t-thank you, I'm fine…” Are you?, she managed to silence her last question but her eyes darted towards the scars nonetheless.
He was a nice guy, right? He obviously didn’t like people looking at his scars but he’d saved her. He had even sat down in a very non-threatening way as he asked her if she as alright. He called the other guy a “thug”. So he was nice, right?
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:09 pm
Jeraha watched her, listening to her babble on in fright absently. All the while, he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from showing the amusement dancing around inside of him. It probably wasn’t everyday she got helped by a lion who looked much more like a mass murderer than any kind of hero. Obviously she was a bit thrown by his appearance. Something he didn’t take as personally as he was letting her believe. With his scars, dark fur and thick black mane, he hardly looked like he could fit into any other role aside from ‘one bad dude’.
But looks weren’t always the thing to believe. Evil, and not to forget good, came in many different packages.
“I’m glad you’re not injured. It would have made my efforts a rather large waste of my time if I hadn’t actually managed to protect anyone,” he offered, after taking a deep breath to even out his tone a bit more. He didn’t want to make it look like he was a complete jerk. Before long she would be asking him what she would need to do to make things up to him.
“What did you do, if I may ask, that put that creature in such a foul mood?” He didn’t really make it sound like he was going to let her opt out of telling him about what had happened even if she didn’t want to talk about it.
He wasn’t the really kind of lion to skip out. Anyway, he wanted to know he had helped the right animal. Sure, she looked innocent enough, but Jeraha wasn’t one to judge on appearance, clearly. Maybe she had been the one to provoke the male and had gotten chased rightfully. Then… he would know better than to assume every female was one who needed help. In his defense, that didn’t mean he judged on her looks. No, it was her genitalia he based his actions on.
Completely different.
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:52 pm
Fenja usually responded well to authority especially from those older than her – and quite honestly many fit that profile - at least, of course, until she found a way to escape the grasp of said authority. And this guy had just saved her butt, she owed him to be polite and she would gladly answer anything he asked. But that didn’t mean she liked the way he’d phrased his question.
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault!” Fenja said defensively standing up a little straighter, an angry frown suddenly taking over the previously gentle expression. “I didn’t do anything, I just ran. I was hunting and nearly bumped into him but I’ve got good reflexes. He didn’t even budge. I didn’t touch him, I didn’t even say a word! I don’t know, maybe I should’ve talked to him, said something…? But he just had this weird expression, this creepy smile that gave me chills and I didn’t think. I just… ran.”
Why is it that I had to do something? As if the world isn’t filed with shady characters that would do awful things unprovoked…. Are those scars your fault, tough guy? She kept those thoughts to herself, mostly because she was a little ashamed of badmouthing her savior even in the privacy of her mind but also because mentioning his scars sounded like a very stupid – and probably mean - thing to do. Aware that she was getting just a tad too defensive, the brigth lioness cleared her throat and avoided his gaze, trying to sound a little more relaxed.
“I’m usually pretty good at taking care of myself, you know? I stay out of danger. It’s not like I was looking for trouble.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:06 pm
The male smiled. At least she wasn’t all nerves and worry- he would have felt a little guilty if he had actually saved someone who had honestly been attacked completely randomly and wasn’t at fault at all. That, however, never REALLY happened, did it? She wasn’t as innocent as she claimed to be, he just knew it. The sudden change in expression and tone only helped him feel more confident in his belief.
She seemed suddenly more interesting now.
“I see,” he hummed. Maybe… he had been wrong about that whole ‘always being a reason’ thing. Or she was leaving out some kind of key piece of information. Still, interrupting hunting and being rather beautiful were good ways to get a needy male hunting after you. Not that he would know that on a personal level, of course. “Well, I suppose the important thing is that you weren’t injured.” He seemed only mildly sincere in that statement, but at least he wasn’t as seemingly cross with her as he had been moments before. Now he was more interested in just looking at her, figuring her out.
Wondering how she managed to catch anything with that bright coat of hers.
“I understand,” he said at length, doing his best to be the not-a*****e he was with his family. Branching out wasn’t really his specialty, “I suppose sometimes… things do just happen without just cause. My name is Jeraha, by the way.” Might as well know the name of the guy who went out of his way to save her.
Even though he had been thanked already, he didn’t feel a great deal of gratitude for his deed from her. Probably because he had been such a jerk about it.
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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:53 am
If Jeraha was trying to figure Fenja out, he was probably having a little less trouble than she was with him. She held her breath for every single one of his words as she tried to make sense of his reactions – which only caused her to breathe rather rapidly for a few seconds after. He sounded unconvinced as if he didn’t quite believe her words which only served to put her off, of course, but then he reminded her about what might’ve happened and the bright girl couldn’t in good conscience continue to feel angry.
“No injuries, no… thanks to you.” She said in a low sigh, slowly deflating as she avoided his gaze, looking a little uncomfortable.
“I suppose sometimes… things do just happen without just cause. My name is Jeraha, by the way.”
What… he was just finally reaching that conclusion? Without even looking all that sure about it?
“Just cause? What…?” she looked deeply focused for an instant as if couldn’t quite believe her ears and then burst out in a string of words, looking mildly annoyed. In spite of being a little worked up she instinctively took one step away from the imposing dark lion almost as if she was considering bolting again. “What does that mean? Bad things happen all the time to people you have done nothing wrong! What world do you live in? You look…” (way) “…older than me. Were all the bad things that ever happened to you your fault?” It would really suck if he said yes to that, killing her argument instantly. But she continued, apparently getting more upset by the second. “Like all the lions and leopards and and and Gods! Like all of them are just and kind and follow some universal rules of conduct and then the exceptions are the one that go bad and do something wrong and then get what they deserve in the end. Bah! As if bad things don’t happen to good people all the time!”
No that she could complain, of course. It had been a while since something bad had actually happened to her. Things had a way of working out in her favor... so far, at least. She was breathing rapidly again eyeing the dark male with a ridiculously stern gaze that didn’t suit her at all. Her prism-colored eyes went wide for an instant as she realized she’d been berating him quite loudly. He wouldn’t lash out at her, would he? If he was the type to do that, he would’ve showed it already, right? Still, a flicker of fear betrayed the annoyance in her gaze.
“Fenja! I’m sorry, that was so rude…” she dropped her ears even lower until they seemed to be glued to her head. “I mean… my name is Fenja.” She wanted to sit but didn’t feel confident enough in doing so right now. “I’m… sorry. Didn’t mean to get… but you speak very little and it’s really hard to understand what you’re really thinking, you know?” Her last sentence, spoken with surprising speed, was a poor defense but she said it with a little more confidence and frustration, like a stubborn child who’s having trouble putting her own thoughts into words.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:33 pm
The male listened to her rant, keeping his expression void until the very end, where he offered her a small, amused smile that seemed to hint he had either found her words more hilarious than meaningful, or had ignored her completely and was thinking about something else altogether. “I do believe I agreed with you just now,” the male responded with a casual shrug of his massive shoulders, “why you’re getting on my case about something I have already conceded to you, I’ll never know, but I honestly have nothing to say in response. As I said before- things happen to good lions all the time. Bad things, I can admit that much. Why don’t you calm down before you make another enemy?” He asked calmly enough, one eyebrow arching slightly.
As he sat there, looking completely composed, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was ruffling the feathers of this female. She had just been through an ordeal and now he was more or less making things worse. Albeit, it had been an accidental ruffling, but nonetheless he wasn’t making his best effort at setting things straight.
Then she seemed afraid, the male rolling his eyes at the startled apology.
“Yeah yeah,” he said, “we’ll just chalk that up to another thing happening without any real reason for it to, alright? Now we’re even: we’ve had it happen to the both of us tonight. There’s really no need to talk about that anymore, wouldn’t you agree?”
He let his tail flick against the ground, beating the dirt slowly as he let her apologize for what she had said. Really, he wasn’t angry with her- he was well aware of his prickly personality, and how it tended to rub lions and lionesses the wrong way every now and again. Figuring out the right way to say something was kind of hard! How other lions had it down to a science he couldn’t say, but he envied their talent.
She, however, seemed as awkward with conversation as he did.
“I know. I’m not a very easy-to-read lion. It’s fine, really. I’m not going to chase you, so you don’t have to look like you’re two seconds away from wetting your fur. Just relax, Fenja, and tell me if there’s anything else you might need from me. Do you know this area? Are you lost? I know you’re not exactly a fan of mine right now, but I do live in a safe area if you a place to rest.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:35 pm
“Oh. Right. It just kind of sounded like you weren’t too sure about it… Sorry.” The pale lioness whispered softly. Honestly, she was getting tired of apologizing! “Yeah… alright.” No point in arguing with him, right? She was just feeling a little too prissy right now probably due to the fact she was still really frustrated with her own helplessness.
“I’m usually a pretty easy one to read… I guess you’ve noticed that already.” Some of her hairs stood on end as Jeraha talked about her wetting herself but Fenja took a deep breath and let that one go. “I’m not being fair… you do sound nice when you talk more.” Which didn’t mean she was prepared to go to a “safe area” alone with a male she barely knew.
“I’m not lost…” That would imply she was going somewhere in particular. ”But I don’t know this area.” Wait, did that make sense? “I mean, I’ll be fine. You just have to point me in the direction of the greatest amount of trees… or water. I hunt best near the water. But what do you mean by safe area? Is your pride nearby? Did I miss the scents…?” She didn’t want to follow Jeraha to another location but she looked more comfortable now, dropping her rump to the ground with a loud thud and meeting the dark lion’s gaze with a little more ease. Fenja was also both curious and wary of prides so her ears jumped forward immediately betraying her interest.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 11:20 am
“I sound nice? Charming,” the male replied with a light chuckle, “I suppose that’s something.” What, exactly, he wasn’t sure, but it made him feel a bit better.
“I don’t live in a pride, too many lions and I’m not exactly the groupie type,” as she was probably well aware of, “I live in a territory of my own by a waterfall. It’s large and coated in trees- there’s food enough for me to let you hunt there if you’re really that hungry. The only other lions who live here are my mate and our family. Though it seems some strays wander in from time to time.” He had actually meant the male who had chased her, though he was fairly certain he had just made it sound like he was talking about her as well.
He watched her a moment, noticing how she finally seemed to be less afraid of him. Maybe that was a good thing- not that he was trying very hard to win her trust with his grumpy attitude.
Never save someone after thinking about troubling things: that was the lesson here.
“You’re welcome to do as you please. You don’t have stay in this area any longer than you want to, I won’t take it personally.” Maybe he would, but he wouldn’t say anything about it. If she hurried off without doing anything like getting food or water just because she didn’t trust him, anyway. Smile more: that’s what he needed to do. Somehow, however, he imagined his smile would only make others all the more uncomfortable. Like he was trying to go for their throat.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:06 pm
Fenja was conflicted and visibly so. She didn’t really want to go with a complete stranger to an undetermined location but the notion of a safe haven where she could hunt was far more tempting than she’d anticipated. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like to rely on the kindness of others (on the contrary, she was quite used to it) but she almost felt like she needed to prove herself to the dark male and show him she was more than self-sufficient. Jeraha’s attempt at an inviting smile – at least she was pretty sure that’s what the strange little smirk was – forced a chuckle out of her.
Oh, well. Why not? She could hunt something big and leave the rest of the carcass as sign of her appreciation. Yes, that sounded like a plan and without the threat of pride to trap her, she was just about ready to give in.
“Family? Do you have cubs?” She sounded hopeful really. She could handle cubs, she loved the little balls of fluff as long as they weren’t her responsibility. Maybe she could even teach them something useful, like fishing! If she actually got to see the family that is.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:22 pm
“Yes I do,” the male replied, without tacking on a sarcastic ‘does that surprise you’ to the end of his response, “they’re getting a bit larger now, but they’re still not ready to go out on their own just yet.” He had already learned when it was time to say good bye to his cubs from his previous litter. “Three cubs,” he added after a moment, as though it were some kind of important detail he had somehow managed to let slip off the radar. Did she need to know how many cubs he had? Probably not.
“You can meet them if you want. As soon as they know I’m coming they’ll be rushing to see me anyway,” he offered with a shrug of his large, furry shoulders, the lion getting himself to his feet and moving slowly in the direction of his home. She didn’t look like someone to worry about, and he doubted she was some kind of baby-eating killer in disguise.
If she was, she wouldn’t manage to get to them before he attacked.
“Don’t think you’ll be spending the night in my den,” he hummed as he moved away from her, leaving it up to her if she wanted to follow or not, “there are plenty of other places to rest in my territory if you need it.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:30 pm
The revelation seemed to instantly take months off the pale lioness and Fenja stood on four legs like an overgrown cub, trembling with excitement. The existence of cubs definitely sealed the deal.
“Really? Oh, then they’re still pretty small. Do they still trip on their paws? Or are… like… bigger but still learning to hunt?” her front paws twitched, taking tiny steps to the side only to quickly return to the previous position. Her eyes shone like multicolored beacons. “Three of them huh? They must worship you.”
She had to admit she would. A strong lion like Jeraha, noble and fierce when protecting someone. Ah, the old strong and silent type. Good character, strength and maybe even a hidden sense of humor, Fenja suspected. Yep, they had to worship him.
“Oh, I wouldn’t go to your den, I’m sure your mate wouldn’t like the intrusion.” She giggled as moved to the dark lion’s side, a playful bounce in each step.
“Well, lead the way!”
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