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 Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:33 pm
"Aiolos! Aiolos!" Xenia frantically scanned the thick jungle, searching the crevices between the trees for any signs of her son's bright pink coat.
Achana was a safe haven for all species. There had not been a cubnapping in the pride's entire history, yet still Xenia worried for her boy. Even though he was always running away and, more importantly, always coming back in one piece, Xenia felt her fur turn a little grayer every time he went missing.
But Aiolos didn't come all this way just to smell the air and look at plants. He was here on a mission: a mission to get away from his mother! Oh, he loved her dearly, but Aiolos was a man now, at least by his own standards. He couldn't spend all day hanging around with his mother. He had to strike out on his own, start his own adventures, maybe flirt with the ladies. Unlike his mother, Aiolos had no interest in cubs. He hoped to be one of those lucky infertile hybrids.
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:06 pm
She had taken down a baby zebra by herself not too far from here. Unfortunately, a few hyenas were hanging around at the same time, which made the pink leopardess uneasy. So she'd pulled it a long ways away, occasionally having to growl, spat, and swipe at the hyenas that got so close to her. It was something she really was good at: fighting hyenas. That's where she was now, laying on a big flat area near the trees, eating one the small animal. Her coat stained in blood, blue eyes looking around for anyone that might be near. In the back of her mind, Hasnaa felt she was near a pride. Which meant things could get ugly if she didn't hurry up and eat."Something smells good," Aiolos said to himself. He liked to hear himself talk, for he had such a nice voice and many interesting things to say. Maybe one of the hunters had made a kill near the boarder. Aiolos would have to bring out his charm to get a bite. He bounded along toward the smell, making no effort to hide his footsteps. Everyone in this pride was friendly so Aiolos believed he had nothing to fear.
When he came to the clearing where Hasnaa was lying, he was startled to find he did not recognize this leopardess. Strangers were hard to come by in Achana, but not unheard of, especially for a young cub who was still getting to know everyone in his pride. Perhaps they had simply never met before. When Aiolos saw the half-eaten carcass, only then did he begin to feel unsure of himself. The hunters were supposed to bring their catches into the communal den so everyone could have a piece. He watched from the buses for a couple of seconds and quickly came up with a plan. If she wanted to break the rules, she would have to bribe him to keep his mouth shut.
He trotted out of the bushes and approached her with a sweet smile. "Hiya miss leopardess! What'cha doing all the way out here?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:51 pm
A voice caused her to look up, tense and growl low in her throat. She situated herself over the body and glared. that was, until she saw it was only a cub. With a roll of her eyes, she untensed herself and eyed the small thing with annoyance on her face. "I'm eating, what does it look like?" Well, she was forever blunt and completely uncaring of that fact. "What is a cub doing here alone? Didn't your mother teach you to stay away from strangers? Especially when they're eating?" Kids today pissed her off. Moving away from the zebra, she sat down and tried to look eye to eye at the cub, eyes narrowing again.
Aiolos gasped and jumped back. He pressed himself against the ground, ears flat and tail wrapped tightly around his legs, eyes bulging with fright. No one had ever growled at him before, not like that. For the first time in his life Aiolos felt afraid for himself.
Fortunately, the moment didn't last for long. Once Hansaa relaxed Aiolos slowly began to uncoil himself. His mind was a blur. What was going on? Who was this strange person? Why did she seem so angry? Was he going to be in trouble?
"N-n-no, m-miss. N-nobody's a stranger in Achana," Aiolos stammered, body still pressed to the ground.
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:19 pm
"What's the Achana?" She asked, attempting to soften her voice for the cub. No use scaring the poor kid. He obviously was far from home. Probably wandered away from his mother and whatever this Achana was. Mothers who didn't keep an eye on their cubs annoyed her slightly. It would be understandable.
"Would you quit shaking and get up? I'm not going to hurt you." She might be brash, but unless she had reason, she didn't hurt others.
"S-sorry!" Aiolos quickly stood up. Although he was afraid to look at her he was also too frightened to take his eyes off her, so he kept glancing away from her to his foot and back.
His eyes darted around, heart beating like a woodpecker drilling against his ribs. Aiolos never knew what it was like to be frightened. There must have been a guard near by, he told himself, they always kept a close eye on the boarders. Then again Aiolos was still half a mile from the edge of Achana territory. What if the guards couldn't see him? What if they didn't know there was a stranger here? Where was his mother?
"H-here. This is Achana. It's a place where lions and leopards and cheetahs and hybrids and wild dogs and everybody lives together a-and we all get along." He looked at her again and this time he kept looking at her. Hesitantly, he said, "I've never met a stranger before. If you told me your name I'd feel a little better." Although she frightened him, he couldn't help but be curious about her.
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:04 pm
"I'm... Hasnaa." Anything to get that look off his face. The pink leopard laid down on her stimach and eyed him a little more before yawning, as if bored. "Now I'm not a stranger."
So she was near a pride and an active one from the looks of things. Still, cubs made her uncomfortable. "...where your mom? ....Do I have to worry about guards?"
Aiolos forced a smile. He still felt a little nervous, but it was an excited kind of nervous. "She's around here somewhere. She won't hurt you, though. She doesn't even like to hunt," he said with a giggle. "The guards won't hurt you. They're just here to make sure no dangerous rogues get into the pride. Once they see you're not dangerous they'll leave you alone." He sat down, puffed out his chest and held his head high, as though he had never been afraid. "My name's Aiolos. I'm a leopon!"
His mother always told him that all the species in Achana were equals. That was a nice idea, sure, but Aiolos secretly thought that being a leopon was just a little bit better than being a leopard or a lion.
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:35 pm
This kid was nuts. There was no way he was a leopon. She had leopon friends, and he was most definately a leopard. "Who told you you are a leopon?" Surely not his mother. Mothers didn't lie flat out like that. Ear flicking a bit, she looked around for his mother or someone to come get him. She turned her head for a moment and smirked. What if she told him he was a leopard? "Hate to burst your little bubble there, kiddo, but you ain't no leopon. You're a straight up leopard."
Aiolos's jaw came a little loose and he raised an eyebrow. A few in the pride had remarked that he was a bit short for a leopon. His mother assured him that he was simply a late bloomer. He did feel a little self-conscious about his appearance, especially since Prinny's mane started growing in, but it never crossed his mind that the reason for these differences might be that he was a completely different species. How was that even possible?
And yet he did not laugh. The significance of his own silence did not dawn on Aiolos. If Hansaa had called him a lion, he would have laughed. If Hansaa had called him a cheetah, he would have laughed. If Hansaa had called him a wild dog, he would have rolled on the ground laughing. But when Hansaa called him a leopard Aiolos took her seriously, even when in his heart he believed she was wrong.
He shook his head. "No, I am. My mother says so...." Just then Aiolos's ear flicked to the side, hearing a rustle in the bushes. He turned his head just in time to see his mother running toward them through the trees.
"Aiolos! Aiolos baby, I'm coming!" Xenia skid to a stop and crouched over Aiolos, shielding him under her body. She was much larger than a leopard, though not as large as a lioness, and her enormous head and paws clearly showed her heritage. Even from a distance she knew Hansaa was not one of her pride. She glared at her, though did not bare her teeth. She was not that fierce.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:54 pm
She watched him as he processed and mentally sighed. Why would his mother think he was a leopon? Clearly he looked nothing like one, yet he firmly believed it. So, she let him have all the silence he needed. And while he processed, she grew restless and moved to sit up.
That's when she heard the rustling and saw the large female she'd heard yelling. Apparently for this cub, too. Go figure. This must be the mother. Clearly this girl was a hybrid. And a lucky fertile one, which cleared up the confusion as to why she'd lie to her cub about his species.
"I'm Hasnaa. I came here to eat and I was going to be on my way. Your boy here, however, came up to me as I was eating my zebra and started talking about him being a leopon."
"I am!" Aiolos shouted out, crouching between his mother's front paws. He knew that he would be in trouble soon. Once they made it back to his mother's den she would probably force him to sit quietly in the corner, face to the wall, for an hour, which was his least favorite punishment, so he wasn't going to be shy about talking while he still had the chance.
Xenia's muscles relaxed, though her gaze did not. Her readiness to drop her defensive posture indicated either a willingness to trust in strangers or a total lack of combat experience to back up her tough gesture. She seemed more concerned with Hasnaa's words than her actual intentions. "That's because he is," she said dismissively. "I'm sorry he disturbed you, Hasnaa. I'm sure he thought you were someone else."
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:19 pm
His shout hurt Hasnaa's ears and she flinched at it. Guuh, cubs were so annoying. Especially male ones. Males in general were annoying. Her blue gaze focused on him, and then back on his mother and rolled her eyes. OK, so this hybrid was nuts, clearly. Maybe it was a hybrid thing. All of the ones she had met seemed to be kind of mental. Committing that to memory, Hasnaa shook her head. "Sorry, ..... uhm. Yeah, but he's not a hybrid. Can't you see he's rather on the short side? Leopon cubs are bigger than him in general. And he's got no mane growing. Leopon males always are born with some kind of mane." Well, didn't she sound like the expert.
Now this lady was calling his mother stupid! Aiolos flattened his ears and curled his upper lip. He silently hoped his mother would kick her a**.
Sadly, Xenia was not raised to deliver any a** kickings. She was simply a nanny. However, when Hasnaa brought Aiolos's heritage into question again, Xenia's tail whipped through the air like a viper. "I know what a leopon looks like," she stated curtly. "My son is just as much a leopon as I am because I gave birth to him. Clearly you don't know anything about motherhood. Now I suggest you be on your way before I report you to the guards for harassing my son."
Yes, she would call the guards on Hasnaa! That would teach this crude rouge not to bad mouth her in front of her cub!
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Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:37 pm
She rolled her eyes again and mumbled something about mental hybrids. Turning back to the Zebra body, Hasnaa carefully considered what would happen if she had to drag it anymore. Those hyena's would find it if she left it, so why not. She was more than a little annoyed with the pair of 'hybrids'.
"Alright, I'm going. But watch. I'll be right. He'll grow up to be a leopard." With that, she turned her back on the pair and started to saunter off back into the tall grasses. Hopefully that mother wouldn't be following her. Then she would have to get physical.
After Hasnaa turned her back Aiolos pulled back his eyelid and stuck a big pink tongue at her. Haha, stupid leopard! That'll teach her to--
Xenia turned on him with a furious glare and bludgeoned him with a rant practically devoid of punctuation. "Aiolos how many times have I told you not to go wandering off by yourself especially when I told you specifically to stay with Nashia!? I can't turn my back on you for one second without you causing trouble do you have any idea how much you worried Nashia and I; I looked everywhere for you and here you are practically in the rogue lands by yourself talking to strangers!" She paused to gasp for breath, her eyes beginning to ripple with tears. All she wanted was a nice perfect family with well behaved cubs. Was that really too much to ask for?
Reeling with despair, she placed a paw on Aiolos's shoulder and nudged him in the direction of their den. "Come on, we're going home. And when we get there you're going to sit in the corner and think about how much you scared me!"
((Fin~))
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