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 Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:06 pm
Two of his family members were missing but judging by his mother’s calm demeanor, they should’ve been right at the den’s entrance. Before he actually considered what he was doing, the cub stretched tensely, nodded towards his mother and quietly made his way towards the soft light of the colorful sky.
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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:22 am
Jak was frustrated. She'd woken to find that their mother was actually there, for once, but upon looking around she'd come to the unpleasant realization that Riddiq, her favorite sibling, was not. Jak had made her way across slumbering siblings to ask her mother where Riddiq was, and Gintare had told her that he had gone outside, but promised not to go too far. When she'd heard that, Jak's heart had sunk. There was no way she'd find Riddiq at this point. Particularly if he didn't want to be found, which he probably didn't.
Even so, the small, dark cub had made her way outside and begun to systematically search for her eldest brother. It took her until she was actually quite some distance from the den to resign herself to two facts. One, she wasn't particularly good at tracking. Two, she probably wouldn't find Riddiq unless he chose to let her find him. A third fact which hovered on the edge of her mind was that he probably wouldn't choose to do so, but she refused to let it actually become a thought.
Rather than think about what she couldn't do, Jak decided to practice pouncing, which was something she could do on her own, and would probably do much better without Riddiq around to make fun of her for her awkwardness anyway. Her chosen target, a dried leaf which skittered according to the direction of the wind, was just unpredictable enough to provide a challenge, and so whenever a pounce actually brought her to land on her quarry she could be heard to make a soft exclamation: "Hah!"
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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:23 am
Riddiq was nowhere to be found and Vaako was not foolish enough to think he’d be able to find him easily. If he were to be honest with himself, even though the area was small Vaako was quite sure that he could look for his older brother all day and never actually succeed if Riddiq didn’t want to be found – and usually he didn’t. He supposed he could make a game out of it even though the cub suspected that it would have the usual outcome: after a few hours Riddiq would just miraculously appear inside the den as if he’d been there all along or Vaako would turn around and find his brother right next to him – most likely with a sharp claw pressing against the blood vessels of Vaako’s neck.
Light colored eyes were narrowed as the cub snarled silently. Damn that guy! Always so serious and unaffected and just different. Vaako prided himself of being a sound sleeper – honestly he could sleep through a thunderstorm without even batting an eye – but on few times he woke up in the middle of the night, he would usually find the shape of the larger cub silently watching the den and his siblings. Didn’t he sleep?! It wasn’t normal! Like he wasn’t a cub like Vaako and their sisters and was just waiting for his body to catch up with his very adult mind. It was weird!
“You’re getting better at that but you’re still clumsy, Jak.” The brown cub said as he watched the youngest sister following the leaf’s movements, his annoyance dispersing for a moment. He almost smiled when she caught it but he forced his face to remain neutral and unaffected – he could be just as tough as his brother! “Where’s Riddiq?” She’d know. If anyone knew where his older brother was, it would be Jakyra.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:18 am
Jak didn't completely fail to notice Vaako approaching. He just didn't register as a threat on her radar, and so she had decided not to say anything to him unless he said something first to her. She didn't think it likely he would say anything to her, in all honesty. Her allegiance, almost from the moment of birth, had been to Riddiq, and everyone in the family knew it. Gintare had told her that even before their eyes were open, Jak had had sort of an instinct for where her eldest brother was, and had tried to snuggle with him. Unsuccessfully, in most cases, Gintare would add with an odd smile.
Vaako spoke to her, though, and criticized her. Jak ground her teeth together and released the much-mauled leaf to go about its business without further molestation. She sat back on her haunches and took another few seconds to convince herself not to hiss at her brother for his intrusion and his criticism. Most likely he didn't mean it to sound like it had. Not that Jak was about to start crying or anything. She was convinced (mistakenly) that she could handle the unvarnished truth as well as anyone else. Or at least as well as Riddiq, since he was her standard for all that was good in the world.
"I'd like to see you do any better," she grumbled, meeting Vaako's eyes with a rebellious glare.
His eyes were blue, like hers, but he had a chin stripe like Riddiq did. None of the girls in the family had one, and she wondered if their father had. She didn't often think about their father, and Gintare didn't talk about him, except to say in passing that they hadn't appeared out of thin air, that they'd had a father. Even getting her to elaborate on that point had been difficult, and full of words Jak hadn't understood. What she got out of the whole experience was that she never wanted to have cubs.
Her next words were equally testy. "I don't know where he is. He doesn't need me to look out for him. He can look after himself."
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:25 am
Ah, she didn’t know either. In that case, it would probably be a while until their older brother decided to grace them with his presence. Vaako snorted at his sister’s words.
“Tss. Know your place, Jakyra. As the youngest you should at least be a little more polite.” He was oblivious to the fact that he was the one at fault when it came to eliciting defensive reactions from his sisters. For his point of view, he had tried to complement and encourage his youngest sister but Jakyra was just too spoiled to accept it. Or maybe she would only value someone else’s compliments… and that was even more infuriating. “I wasn’t expecting you to be taking care of him, obviously.”
He considered returning to the den but there was nothing better to do and Jakyra’s words sounded too much like an interesting challenge. He practiced this kind of thing all the time – in his endless and most likely wasted efforts to keep up with Riddiq – so it was with a confident grin and a smug expression that he took a step towards his sister.
“Do you want me to try it on a bigger target?” Vaako said as he dropped his front paws to the ground, a hint of a grin appearing as his posture implied he was about to pounce on Jakyra. For a brief moment, Vaako wondered if He would show himself if Jakyra made a fuss. Probably not but he was still tempted to try. An yet a part of Vaako – the strongest one – quickly decided that such and action would seem disgustingly playful and pointless to his current objective: get his sister to pounce properly. At the last minute, Vaako’s back paws kicked the dirt and he landed right on Jakyra’s leaf.
Considering the fact that Vaako was still just a normal cub, it wasn’t that bad of an attempt. Even if he did practice a lot, there was still a hint of clumsiness in his movements but the notion that there was someone who could’ve done it a lot better was what annoyed him the most. He almost expected Riddiq to come out from the bushes looking smug and superior. Anyway, for the most part, he was happy with his himself and he dropped the leaf and moved a few steps back, lowering his head as if to imply that it was now Jak’s turn.
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:47 pm
"Why should I be polite to you? You're nothing special. Just my brother. I've got two, you know."
Jak had no idea how much potential for hurt feelings her words had. As far as she was concerned, she was merely pointing out that they were family, which meant that there wasn't any need for formality and good manners, and that he couldn't try to use his being a boy as an excuse. Jak had heard Gintare talk about men often enough to know they weren't anything special, even if they did tend to be bigger, stronger, and faster.
"Then why did you ask?" she challenged him. Actually, she knew why he had asked. If anyone knew where Riddiq went when he disappeared, it would probably be her, since she did try to make it a point to follow him, but that being the case, Jak thought it fairly obvious that if she wasn't with Riddiq, she didn't know where he was, or else she'd be there.
She didn't think too long about it, however, because Vaako had dropped into a crouch and seemed to be about to pounce on her. She shifted into what she hoped was a defensive stance and made ready to be pounced on. If he did, she'd show him...She'd trounce him so thoroughly he'd be feeling it until tomorrow!
However, Vaako decided to go for the leaf instead. He did a better job of it than she had, she couldn't help noticing with an irritated tail twitch. It was her offended pride which prompted her to glance scornfully at Vaako's leaf prey. She'd been pouncing at a leaf earlier, but now leaves were no longer acceptable. Vaako himself had put the thought into her head. And so when he offered her a go she looked at both him and the leaf, fixing Vaako's position in her head as she looked at the leaf, and leaped at her brother, exclaiming, "Rah!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 6:33 pm
His sister’s words were hurtful but Vaako had grown a little too accustomed to Jakyra’s obvious preference of Riddiq – who she’d probably never answer this way. But just because he was used to it didn’t mean he liked it. In fact, he really hated that infuriating adoration that Jak openly showed towards Riddiq and the way that sometimes her persistence actually paid off, earning her some sort of unspoken permission to stick around their older brother... not that he was jealous of course, what a silly thought.
“I asked because I wanted to know if he was hiding from you, as well.” He felt bad for saying it so bluntly, knowing that Jakyra was angry and maybe even sad that Riddiq had left her behind but he tried not to show it too much. There was at least one good thing about having Jak dogging their brother’s every move: at the very least, that way Vaako knew that his older brother would always come back even if he went missing for a whole day. Because sometimes, when Vaako caught his brother’s gaze firmly set on the horizon, a part of him feared that maybe – just maybe – one of these days Riddiq wouldn’t return to them. But no… he wouldn’t leave Jak behind and he would never fail to return her safely home. No matter how he felt about the rest of the family (something Vaako would very much like to know), he trusted Riddiq to always look after Jakyra and bring her back to the den.
“JAAAAK.” Vaako growled as his (really serious!) thoughts were interrupted by Jakyra’s pounce, leaving him on the ground with his dark colored sister on top of him. He was obviously caught off guard and didn’t even move one muscle to answer her “attack”. Playing with Jakyra sometimes left a bitter taste in his mouth. As the only male in the family - other than Riddiq – Vaako suspected the others would always be silently comparing him against his older brother. When it came to Jakyra, he knew she would. She was probably doing it right now, thinking how easy it had been to jump him when it would’ve been an impossible feat if she tried it against Riddiq!
“You were supposed to pounce the leaf properly. As if you were hunting a mouse or a bird.” If the beginning was filled with obvious irritation, the blue-eyed cub’s last words were downright condescending. “Can’t you see that you have to practice for the future? Do you want to wrestle instead, is that it?” He could do that too, of course. As long as they worked it out first and planned an adequate exercise, Vaako was more than happy to help strengthen his sisters.
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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:48 am
Jak's fur twitched down her spine from her shoulders to her rump. She had been trying not to think those words all morning. Riddiq was hiding from her. Well, not hiding. He was Riddiq, after all, and Riddiq never hid. He might be avoiding her by concealing himself, but it wasn't the same thing. Scaredy cats hid, and Jak didn't think there was anything in the world that could scare her big brother into hiding. He'd just tear it into little shreds.
She tried to disguise her unhappy reaction with a shrug. Pouncing on Vaako did more to dispel her suddenly gloomy thoughts. The action was just what her body had needed, and the fact that Vaako had thoroughly deserved it for being so smug and reminding her that Riddiq didn't really like spending time with her, either, made it that much more satisfying. She hadn't expected it to be so easy, though, and took it to be a sign of her own prowess as a huntress.
"So I pounced you properly instead," Jak said dismissively. "Though I think a mouse or a bird might've moved faster to get out of my way."
Vaako's condescension wasn't lost on her, but it was easy enough to ignore. His opinion, while not worthless, was not the ultimate authority for Jak, and so while she would listen to what he had to say, if it turned out later that Riddiq said anything which conflicted with it, she would take Riddiq's word over Vaako's any day. In any event, it didn't bother her that he wasn't pleased. He was probably just miffed that she'd pounced him.
"Wrestle? With you?" He was bigger than she was, but so would any other male be. Jak knew their mother wasn't afraid to take on full-grown males, and decided on the spur of the moment that she would be like Gintare in this , and learn to hold her own against bigger opponents, even at close quarters.
"Sure."
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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:27 pm
“Yes, that you did.” Vaako admitted with mild resentment though he was somewhat proud that she’d been able to tackle him that well. He was just a little surprised that she took him up on his offer – he’d expected a witty retort firmly denying her interest – but Jakyra surprised him instead. As he wiggled somewhat roughly from under his dark sister, the cub almost smiled despite himself and his tail danced a little before he could stop it. He wasn’t excited, of course not. He didn’t anticipate wrestling with his sister, this wasn’t fun, this wasn’t “play”. Vaako didn’t play. He trained… And what if the blood was suddenly pumping faster in his veins, his paws tingling, his muscles tensing, a grin forming? He was just eager to improve Jakyra’s abilities (and his, he supposed) as part of his big brother duties. Yeah. That was it.
“Very well.” The cub said backing up a few steps, lowering his body to a tense position, bristling visibly. “Come at me!” he bellowed the three snarly words. This time he was ready for her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 12:40 pm
Jak shifted so it would be easier for her brother to disengage himself from her pounce. She had yet to master the ability to pounce on a person and then disentangle her limbs from theirs in any sort of haste. Mostly she had to hope that she took them by surprise from the first and found a good place to bite or claw, or else she'd either be thrown off or otherwise taken down. But Vaako hadn't tried either of those things, perhaps because he was taking it easy on her, and perhaps because it hadn't occurred to him. She hoped it was the second one, since she didn't want anyone to take it easy with her. She didn't need that kind of special treatment. She wasn't a baby!
"Rah!" Jak cried as she took a few running steps to help her plow into her larger sibling with greater force.
The dark cub wasn't much good at wrestling. Not yet anyway. So far, her plan of action was to try to find someplace soft on Vaako and bite it until he gave up. He'd probably say that wasn't fair wrestling, but Jak had heard their mother say time and time again that life wasn't fair. If life wasn't fair, there was no reason she should have to fight fairly. Particularly not against a larger opponent who was more talented than she at that form of combat. She was sure her mother would approve, though maybe not of the potential for accidentally damaging one of her siblings.
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Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:13 pm
Jakyra needn’t worry about how her brother might interpret the intense nipping than ensued.
Though Vaako could be known for his deep respect of rules, order and general Everything-In-Its-Rightful-Place view of the world, he wasn’t against using any means possible in order to win a fight. After all, the world wasn’t fair and expecting to find fairness in battle would be foolish. Males were bigger than females and had manes protecting their necks. Some males were bigger than others (Riddiq was shaping up to become a giant as an adult) or stronger or more agile… there was never a truly fair fight. So when it came to battle, Vaako believe you had to win any way you could. Nothing more, nothing else.
Vaako took one step back and allowed his sister’s attack to connect. He wanted to endure it stoically as he prepared his move but when her sharp canines grabbed his skin, he couldn’t help but to visibly cringe and his mild growling turned into a thunderstorm inside his throat. As soon as Jakyra was within range, Vaako rotated his shoulders back and the second he felt her teeth, he rotated them back into place against the smaller cub as he trying to ram Jakyra into the ground. Not his move originally but he was trying to mimic it as best as possible. He grinned as he did it and no matter how much he might try to deny it, it was obvious that he was having fun with this.
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:22 am
Jak struggled to keep her balance as Vaako shifted his shoulders, but her grip was nothing like secure enough to keep her atop him, nor did she want to seriously hurt him by biting any harder than she already was, which left her with two options. She could disengage or get taken down. Disengaging would have been the wiser of the two choices, but that would have defeated the purpose of the exercise. She was supposed to be wrestling.
So Jak continued to cling to her brother as he threw his weight against her and her onto the ground. All her breath left her body in one sharp, sudden exhalation upon impact. It hurt a lot more than she'd thought it would, and it was only with an effort that she kept herself from emitting more than a grunt of discomfort and dismay.
It took her a second or two to get her head to stop spinning, but once it had Jak twisted and squirmed, trying to find a way to dislodge Vaako from her so she could maneuver herself into a better position from which she could vanquish Vaako. She knew for a fact that she could do it, if she could just figure out how to break his hold and then send him crashing to the ground. For the time being, her more immediate concern was getting out from under her big brother.
"Mrr," she growled fiercely, having recovered her breath. She was not going to admit the futility of her position, even if she had learned from it: never let a larger opponent get on top of you.
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:34 pm
“You can bite harder than that, Jak.” Though he hoped he hadn’t hurt his sister too much, Vaako didn’t verbalize that thought. He didn’t like that she hadn’t been able to react for a few instants because of what he’d done but it annoyed it far more that she could be rougher than she was being. Now she was trapped under his body and while having the upper hand was mildly satisfying, as her brother Vaako couldn’t help but to worry that one day Jakyra would find herself dazed and trapped under the body of a larger foe. This was his sister! He’d kill anyone – any guy - that would dare to push his sister down like this. But he wouldn’t always be by Jakyra’s side and while there was a good chance that Riddiq would, Vaako wanted all his sisters to be able to fight any opponent, regardless of size and ferocity. “Push me with your back paws, hit me in the stomach. Grab my head with your front paws, bite my nose. Hit my head, use your own if you have to!”
“You don’t have to scratch my eyes out when we’re wrestling like this but get out of there.” He spoke almost angrily now but made not motions to ease her exit.
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:18 pm
"I can do it!" she growled, pointedly disregarding Vaako's instructions.
He was correct, of course, but the problem was that he'd phrased it in such a way that Jak felt like he was giving her pity points. If some lion had said something like that to their mother, Jak guessed Gintare would've torn him limb from limb just for being so superior. Their mother probably wouldn't have gotten into this predicament though, so the comparison wasn't all that apt.
She twisted and squirmed some more, struggling to find a way to free herself which wasn't the one Vaako had recommended. It had become a point of pride for her to do it herself. Scratching his eyes out had momentary appeal, but even if he was annoying he was also her brother, and she wouldn't do that to him. Not for something like this. If she'd been able to read his thoughts about what he'd do to someone else who attacked her, though, she might've gone for it.
Finally and at last Jakyra was forced to admit that she could think of no other way to break his hold and so she reluctantly (and yet with enthusiasm) used her hind paws to kick the soft part of his belly between his ribs and his hips. It wasn't ideal because all of her squirming had placed her in a somewhat awkward position, but it should prove sufficient to shift his weight and get him off her enough that she could launch another attack.
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:37 pm
“Just do it, Jakyra!” Vaako snorted obviously not amused by the way his sister seemed to be trying to free herself without using her brother’s “friendly” advice. Why he was surrounded by stubborn fools he’d never know - though to be fair he was just as guilty as the rest of them on that regard. Still, Riddiq would always win first place on the most stubborn idiot of all times as far as Vaako was concerned and Jakyra seemed to be following his example in more ways than it should be allowed.
“Good…” the cub coughed quietly when his sister finally kicked him off and took a step back as he regained his breath. “…one.” Finally. He took a moment to figure out what Jakyra was getting the most out of this exercise, whether offense or defense training, and Vaako decided that it was a good time to have her practice defensive moves - not really bothering to consider Jakyra’s opinion on the matter. As such, the instant his sister looked as if she was getting back on her paws, Vaako sprinted to the other cub and jumped towards Jakyra as he tried to land a pounce. Even though he felt a twinge of guilt, Vaako didn’t hold back one bit but the cub did hope that he wouldn’t find his sister under his body once again. He didn’t give any verbal warning but he did growl quite loudly to show her he meant business.
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