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 Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:56 am
 Gliri woke slowly, as was her preference, and reflected on her morning routine.
She was capable of being awake in an instant, and of fleeing in just another moment after that, but she much preferred to have time to wake up slowly. She liked to lie still with her eyes closed, trying to hold onto her dreams until they faded completely. Then she liked to stretch and work out all the kinks from her shoulders and spine. Sometimes she even yawned so greatly that her jaw creaked, which was more painful than anything else, but it was all part of a thorough stretch.
Muscardini, her twin, was still asleep, of course. He tended to need more sleep than Gliri did. She reasoned that it was because he had to hunt and fight for the pair of them, but Muscar said it made little sense that she wasn't usually the more tired of the two. He thought that having her nerves keyed up all the time as she did ought to be more exhausting than simply hunting from time to time. It was a point on which they merely agreed to disagree.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:16 am
 The sun was up, which meant it was time for Gintare to get moving. The young lioness had begun to wake the moment the sun crested the horizon, but she had resisted opening her eyes until the sun was actually visible. The night before had been a full one for the dark-colored lioness, and she had spent most of it fleeing a pair of older, stronger lionesses who had taken umbrage at her presence in their territory.
There had been something queer about the pair of lionesses. The one had been green and pink striped, and the other orange and grey spots, but their color hadn't been what was unusual about them. It had been their manner, toward each other and toward her. For one thing, she had come across them in a very unusual position, with the spotted female crouched behind the striped one, licking enthusiastically beneath her tail. The striped one had been making mewling sounds and kneading the ground while her hindquarters moved.
When she'd come across them she'd made a small surprised sound, but they'd heard her. They both turned and eyed her speculatively, and then the spotted one had asked if she would like to join them. Her refusal had earned her their immediate enmity. Or maybe it had been her confusion and revulsion with what they were doing. Either way, they had been quick to turn against her, going at her with tooth and claw.
But it was morning and they were creatures of the night and of her past, Gintare reminded herself. Now she was thirsty, and fortunately she was very close to a quick-running stream.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:39 am
Gliri didn't bother to take any care to move quietly as she left the den she and her brother shared. Muscardini was not a light sleeper, and her steps were always quiet. It was a trait she had developed over the course of her short, fearful life, along with the ability to move very quickly at need. However, she was confident this morning that she wouldn't need to sneak nor to flee. She was going to get a drink of water, after all.
She emerged from the den into the sunlight. Its bright rays caused her to blink, but it didn't take very long for her blue eyes to adjust. Once they had, she moved forward. It was a silly, perhaps unnecessary precaution, but it was habit for her to be cautious, no matter how secure she felt. She walked gingerly toward the fast-running stream by the den. The soreness, Muscardini told her, came from a severe injury she'd sustained to her hindquarters during a mudslide. She'd been feverish and wounded for so long...and she couldn't remember any of it.
It troubled her not to know what had happened, but she accepted Muscar's explanation. He was her brother - her twin - and there was no reason for him to lie to her. In truth, she was just relieved to have survived the experience. Muscar said it had been a very near thing. But she had lived, and here she was, greeting a new day and walking by herself to water. The thought brought a pleased expression to her face.
The expression did not last long, however, for once she reached the stream her sensitive nose caught the scent of another lion, or possibly lioness. She was not so concerned about lionesses, but lions were dangerous. She and her brother knew that well enough. She began to sneak toward the water, her thirst outweighing her fear for the time being.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:47 am
Gintare drank deeply. The water was fast and clear and cold. It was the sweetest thing she could ever recall tasting. She'd thought that before, she knew, about other water sources, but that didn't make it any less true about this one. She was the sort to live in the moment, and at this moment, this was the best water she had ever drunk. She didn't even want to raise her head and chin to swallow.
She wouldn't have done so, either, had she not had her attention captured by an adolescent-sized shadow moving toward the water. Tare was hardly afraid of such a small-looking thing, and so she stood her ground, standing up tall and striking a defiant pose with her chin raised and her amber eyes flashing in the morning sunlight. She knew she wasn't as big as some, but she was certainly larger than this small creature coming to drink.
"I know you're there," she called, taking charge of the situation immediately. "So you may as well show yourself. I'll do you no harm so long as you'll keep to the same promise."
She wasn't interested in fighting at the moment. In fact, she was rarely interested in fighting. It just happened to be something she occasionally had to do to preserve her independence. At the moment, she would far rather sate her thirst, and possibly learn where she was. She didn't think she had been in these lands before, which seemed to be home to some strange lions.
Belatedly it occurred to her to hope that she was not greeting one of the lionesses from last night, or one of their fellows.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 8:52 am
Gliri froze at the sound of a female voice. Female was good - better than male, anyway - but it wasn't ideal. She had been under the impression that the den she shared with Muscar was in a safe place. Safe, to Gliri's mind, meant isolated as well as well-hidden and easily defensible. She no longer felt safe, and this was evinced in her rapid heartbeat and the sick feeling in her stomach.
It was only the promise that she would not be harmed which prevented her from taking flight at once. That, and her thirst. It was as if there was a second sun within her gut, drying her from the inside out. Her throat felt so dry she could barely make an audible response to the other lioness's demands that she show herself. A part of her was dismayed that she had been seen at all, and she would have liked to know how she'd been spotted.
"I only came to drink," she said softly as she emerged from the shrubs she'd thought were hiding her.
It was not until she emerged completely that she was able to see the lioness who had addressed her, a large, dark figure on the same shore. Gliri had rather been hoping that the other lioness would be on the other side of the water. Not that the stream was uncrossable, but it would have been just enough of a barrier to reassure her somewhat.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:08 am
Tare laughed. "If that's so, then we'll have no problems. My desires are similar."
Speaking of desire reminded her once more of the lionesses from the night before. It was obvious that this half-starved looking creature was not one of those two, but it was possible that she might be part of the same pride. Tare looked at her sharply, evaluating her for signs of potential aggression, and trying to spot anything which might mark her as one of those strange females who had threatened her last night.
Unable to see anything outwardly distinguishing, Tare asked suspiciously, "You're not the sort of lioness who likes to take her pleasure with other females, are you?"
No virgin herself, Tare speculated that if the grey lioness was such a one, the meek little thing would hold whichever role was the submissive, female role in such a pairing. She didn't think there was anything to be feared in the little mouse, at any rate, and Tare prided herself on being skilled at reading people's personalities, even on a minute's acquaintance. People like this lioness just made the task easy.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:19 am
Gliri was at once reassured and taken aback by the larger lioness's words. Neither she nor her brother had ever minded when other lions passed through their territory. In truth, it was only recently that Muscar had grown enough muscle and ferocity to even imagine defending a territory, and Gliri still hated to ask it of him, too afraid that something would happen to him and that she would be left alone.
"I...I had no idea such a thing was even possible," Gliri admitted, hoping suddenly that she was not in some new kind of danger. "So I don't see how I could be that sort of lioness. Are you?"
She wasn't sure how such a thing could be bad, but the way the dark lioness had spoken the words, with disapproval dripping from every word, indicated that she really shouldn't evince too much curiosity about this unheard-of phenomenon. Maybe Muscar had heard something of it, but she doubted it. He usually tended to tell her anything strange or interesting that he learned when she wasn't around. It helped her make up better stories.
Gliri was still trying to make herself small and unobtrusive, she realized, even though she had already been seen. It was only with an effort that she made herself stop shrinking in on herself, and having done so, her tail twitched furiously with anxiety.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:29 am
Tare laughed once more at the adolescent's innocence. She had no idea that she addressed was simply an undersized adult who had only recently recovered from a very long period of illness and weakness.
"It's possible, but it's not natural." She wasn't going to dignify that question about whether she was one of those sorts with a response. If the mousey lioness couldn't figure it out for herself, she had to be simple-minded.
"You remind me of a mouse, with your coloration and your meekness. However do you survive on your own? And what do you call yourself?"
Tare went back to drinking from the stream as she waited for the nervous lioness to make her replies. It had not occurred to her that the newcomer had yet to take a drink, though she had noted the high, pinched tone of her voice. She assumed that was from fear, rather than a dry throat, though now that she was drinking herself she remembered.
"You should probably drink, by the way, or I'll begin to suspect that you came here for some other purpose."
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:51 am
Gliri tried to imagine how that would work, two lionesses, and quickly gave it up. She was not interested in females. Not that way. Though now she had one more thing to be concerned about. Before she had thought only males might be interested in taking her, but now this dark lioness had introduced the possibility that there might be some risk from females, either. What a lovely morning this was turning out to be.
"No. I really did come here to drink," Gliri said hastily, lowering her head to the water and lapping at the cold liquid. She didn't take her blue eyes off the larger lioness as she drank. She was almost certain by now that she was in no danger, but she was conditioned to wariness.
"I'm Gliri," she said. "And I don't. Survive on my own, that is. I have a brother. He mostly takes care of me. He's good at it, too."
Ordinarily when she said this, she meant it to scare others away. It convinced them, sometimes, that although she wasn't particularly fearsome, her brother might be, and he might not be the sort to tangle with. It had had mixed results, but the fact that it was ever successful meant she had not given up using it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:58 am
Tare smiled to herself as she finished drinking. Gliri, was it? Herself, Tare didn't need anyone, but Gliri was such a small, mousey creature. It was a good thing she had her brother to care for her. Not everyone was cut out for independence, after all. Tare got the feeling that Gliri was one of those poor creatures who would always need someone to look after her, male, female, or whatever.
"I'm Gintare," Tare said, raising her head from the water and lapping the droplets off her chin and muzzle. She stood up all the way once more. "I'm also leaving. It's been interesting meeting you, Gliri. Take care of yourself."
She stepped back from the water and turned around. It had not escaped her notice that Gliri had watched her while she drank, and she didn't doubt that the younger lioness wouldn't feel comfortable or safe drinking there until she'd left. Well, fine. Tare had places to go and people to see anyway. Or at the very least adventures to have.
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