(Will edit in Ela cert >.<)
It had been a pretty normal day of not doing much. Lihu had wandered around, somewhat further away from where most of the clan was settled, but not too far, for her own safety. And still really within the bounds, to avoid the dangers of rogues or other creatures. She was old enough to be granted a liberty like this, since now she could... kind of outrun things. For a little while. At least until she managed to get in earshot of someone to help her!
Something she was honestly considering, as she glared down at a badger. Okay, maybe she kind of deserved this predicament, but she honestly thought it was a rabbit hole she was digging at! The badger had just moved in and the rabbit scent had still overpowered it’s own, and thinking to simply harass some bunnies a little bit, Liku had managed to get herself in trouble.
Well, she was a bit too proud to call her parents, so she figured she could wait a bit more. It had to give up soon, right?
Luken was wandering around not aimlessly of course, never aimlessly! Not, he was exploring, yes that was the word for it exploration. Exploring was what every great hero did, and Luken fancied himself quite the heroic figure. Except his pappa seemed to do such a good job protecting his mamma that he was often left rather bored. He needed something new, someone fresh, a damsel in distress would be good! Except of course the pride was so well protected that most of the damsels were hardly in need of protection from anything except boredom.
He blinked as he heard the chitter of a badger and grinned his head lifting. Aha! A foe to vanquish, this was exactly what his day needed. He puffed up his chest trying to make his growing mane look more impressive then the tuft it currently was. Then one paw infront of the other he raced to meet his enemy, the mighty badger! He threw his paws out infront of him and tried to come to a halt as he realized there was already another lion confronting the creature. No, not a lion...a lioness...a damsel in distress!
Normally, Lihu would be too distracted to notice another lion. Really, she had that habit of zoning out sometimes. Even when there wasn’t something like a badger to pay attention to, she was just the distracted sort. Not that she ever got startled, either. Well, sure, maybe if a badger runs out and attacks you, you get startled. But she never worried when lions suddenly materialized next to her.
This was a different case, though. Because he was purple. Really, really purple. So that stood out enough. She blinked, glancing awkwardly from the male to the badger, trying to decide the best way to proceed.
…
“Hi! I’m Tsilihu! What’s your name? “
Yep, badger’s trying to kill me. Happens all the time!
"I am Luken! Don't be afraid I'm here to save you!" Yes, yes first one had to calm down the victim...of course Tsilihu seemed pretty calm already so maybe he didn't need to reassure her. He crouched and tried to look intimidating...to the badger anyway. He growled low in his throat and his paw shot out to whap the creatures head. It probably wasn't the wisest mood since that only seemed to make it angrier judging by the sounds it was making now.
"Uhh...maybe you should stand back until I've handled the situation, I wouldn't want you to get hurt you know this is very dangero-OUCH!" He snarled and recoiled as the badger lunged out and hit his paw with its razor sharp claws.
Okay, now she was a little confused. She appreciated the saving and all, but this guy was talking really… funny. She tilted her head, sitting up on her branch and furrowing her brows. Lihu watched as the purple male crouched down, and then as the badger clawed at him. “Hey, careful! “
So Lihu decided she didn’t want to be that helpless little girl. Besides, the badger might just run away if it noticed how outnumbered it was! So, she quickly leapt down from her branch and charged at the badgers back, leaping on it…
Then immediately jumping off and hurrying to stand beside Luken. Well, a little behind him, but that’s because he was big enough to take a hit. “Uuh, you don’t have to kill him! “ She said loudly enough. Really, Lihu would feel a little guilty if this badger died, because it –was- kind of her fault that all this was happening in the first place!
Luken shook his paw a few drop of blood hitting the ground, but really his pride stung far more then the minor cut on his paw. He put on a brave face and then watched startled as Lihu leapt on the badger and then behind him. He smiled and looked at her in awe "That was great!" He turned his attention back to the badger and nodded.
"Yes well...I guess we don't have to kill it...but it doesn't look like it's going to give up either. Did you uhh need something from it's den?" He asked curiously wondering how she had come under attack in the first place.
Lihu took a brief moment to smile at the compliment to her bravery, but that shrunk quickly at his question. “Uuuh, noo… I stepped…on it? “ She didn’t want to admit to this stranger that she had been digging up the badger’s den, thinking it was inhabited by rabbits! He might tell her dad!
“Anyway, it was kind of my fault and I think you could just scare it off! At least, both of us should be able to, right? “ She glanced at the badger, that was bristling and growling very menacingly at her.
"Well, your not hurt right?" He asked but this time kept his focus on the angry growling creature infront of him. His own paw still throbbed a bit where he had been scratched. Well at least Lihu took responsibility and she didn't want the badger hurt, or dead. Still he didn't think the creature was gonna scare that easily.
"We can try...but it looks pretty determined...maybe we should just leave...." He didn't like the of retreat but if they both stayed and fought then Lihu might get hurt. He snarled and advanced on the badger hoping to intimidate it back a bit.
“No, I’m not hurt. “ She nodded. Thankfully! Lihu hated lying to her parents, and she didn’t want to tell them about the badger. They might ground her or something! Well, the her clan was that way… “Lets go this way. “ She indicated the opposite direction.
“There’s a little creek, and I’m don’t imagine he’d really bother swimming across! “ She smiled up at him, then frowned slightly when she looked at the badger. The creature was still snarling and bristling and threatening to attack, but it wasn’t so sure about attacking an adolescent male such as Luken, especially not when he had back up.
"Alright, lead the way..." It felt odd to let her lead, after all what if there was danger that way too? Still he had to guard her back until they were a bit farther away from the badger. He growled again in warning and then turned and followed her quickly unwilling to leave his back exposed. He smiled as he followed her and glanced back once or twice glad to see the surly creature wasn't following them.
"I think we're safe...but better go to the creek just incase, and I think I need to uhh soak my paw." He added with a slight wince. Pity he had let his guard down, but Lihu was safe, so he still considered it a job well done.
“Oh, right. “ She frowned slightly as she glanced back at his paw. “Sorry you got hurt. “ Especially cause it was her fault. But oh well! Lihu knew better than to mope too much about it. It didn’t take long to reach the creek and she happily waded into it, swimming once the water was too high for her shorter legs. She didn’t love water much, but it was alright.
Once to the other side, Lihu shook her fur out to get dry. “Thanks for sowing up! “ She wouldn’t say ‘thanks for saving me’, though. That would be lowww.
"It's fine, barely a scratch!" He followed her to the creek and waded in letting his paw soak in the cool water. Ahh that felt much better, he threw himself forward and swam over climbing out and giving a quick shake. He flicked his paws off giving his hind ones extra shakes to get the moisture off. The sun would probably dry them soon enough anyway.
"No problem, I'm glad I did. It was a pretty boring day up until that." He laughed and sat down. "What are you doing so far out alone anyway?" He asked with a tilt of his head, was she lost maybe? He wouldn't mind offering her some actually helpful help.
Lihu was licking her fur back into place, watching the lion from the corner of her eyes. Once he was finished, and sat, she raised her head so she wouldn’t seem uninterested. Because that was rude! “Oh, well, my parents let me and my siblings go out, so long as it’s not too far! My clan is settled nearby, I was almost calling someone for help when you came around. “
Actually, she probably would still be sitting on that branch, probably taking a nap or something, because Lihu was great at sleeping, no matter what the occasion.
"Oh..." He nodded realizing he really hadn't been that useful after all, still...he had sort of saved her...sort of. "Well...I could escort you home?" Hmm, that sounded pretty pathetic even to him, but it was worth trying to be polite anyway. Even if her family was close who knew what dangers might lie in wait between here and...there.
He gave a sheepish smile and shrugged "Sorry I just hoped I could be of a little more use..." She had seemingly been a damsel in distress after all, then again the way she leapt on that badger she probably could have handled it herself.
She blinked up at him, not fully understanding the disappointment. And then it all clicked. Oh! He’d been hoping to save someone! Lihu stopped herself from frowning, lest she worried him. “Oh, um, sure! That’d be great! I wouldn’t want to run into that badger again! “ She managed to blurt out, lamely. Poor guy, maybe she could at least pretend to be a little helpless!
Even if she hated seeming helpless. “Oh, no! I’m really grateful! You saved me from.. being grounded! “ She nodded sagely. Yes, that was a good thing to be rescued from!
"Really!?" He tried to tone his voice down as he smiled and his chest puffed a bit with pride. "Well yeah, I mean it could try and follow you, I would feel awful if I just abandoned you here." Despite the fact she could handle herself he was grateful for her at least pretending to need him for a little while.
"Well I wouldn't want you to get grounded, don't worry your badger den stepping secret is safe with me! Besides it would be a silly thing to get into trouble over especially since we handled it just fine." He stood and shook off looking much happier. "Lets get you home."
“Yeah! That sounds great! “ She nodded, hopping back onto her paws and eying the creek she had to cross again. Oh well, she could dry off as she walked. “Well, tanks again for helping me out, and keeping my secret! “ Because Lihu really hated being grounded.
Well, okay, it wasn’t that bad. She could sleep through it no problem! But for some reason, when grounded, not doing anything was the last thing she wanted to do, just because she wasn’t allowed to do anything. Horray, reverse psychology! Well, enough mental rambling, Lihu decided, as she waded and swam through the creek once again, quickly shaking her fur at the other side and waiting for Luken.
Luken chuckled and leapt into the water with the wild abandon of youth before leaping out onto the other side. He gave a quick shake off again and smiled. "At least we'll be going home clean eh?" He laughed before moving to walk along beside her. He scanned the area still looking for any potential signs of danger. Not likely but it wouldn't do to let his guard down and end up in trouble.
Still the walk was uneventful, but he still considered it an escort mission of sorts. He was going to get Lihu home safe and sound and protect her from being grounded. It didn't sound like much, but it wasn't bad considering he'd never really had a chance to be heroic at all before.
Lihu laughed lightly at his comment. “My parents can’t complain about that! “ Not that her parents really complained too much anyways. She glanced around, also keeping an eye out for the badger or anything she could react to so he could save her from. Without being, well, too obvious, anyways. She wouldn’t shriek at a spider or anything.
But the walk back was, in fact, uneventful, and soon enough Lihu stopped. “Well, my clan is settled right beyond that hiss there. “ She nodded towards them. “I think you can leave me here. I’m safe.“ She supposed she didn’t mind he went to the pride, but then people would… ask. And she’d rather not have the badger incident reported.
"No they can't." He agreed with a smile, his own mother would probably be glad he looked so well bathed. He gave a little stretch as they reached their destination and he tipped his head in a little bow. "Take care of yourself Tsilihu, I hope if we meet again your not in trouble!" He smiled and waited until she was almost out of sight before turning and heading for home himself feeling quite accomplished.
