Uruloke was hungry. There would be food eventually, but eventually was not now, and the cub was hungry now. He was too young to appreciate that having a litter of thirteen cubs to feed, plus two parents, would probably require a great deal of time spent hunting, and so he was only aware of the fact that he was hungry and yet unfed. He was also aware that there was a solution."Kuza," he said, naming one of his many siblings that he'd noticed was nearby. There seemed always to be one of his siblings nearby. Came from having a dozen of them. "I think we should go hunting."
He didn't need to explain how he'd reached that conclusion as his stomach growled far more impressively than he'd ever been able to manage when he tried to be menacing. He hoped that his rumbling stomach would emphasize his point and persuade her to see things his way. He knew she was good at hunting, and thought he'd stand a better chance with her around than he would on his own. It would mean sharing their prey, of course, but if they brought down something big that wouldn't make much of a difference.
"I just need to fix Warmee before we go." Warmee was what he called the jackal skin his mother had brought him to help him keep warm. He wore it always, even when he wasn't actually cold.
As soon as the words left his mouth Loke knew he had misspoken, because his sister's expression became coldly disinterested. Loke wasn't unaware of how his siblings viewed Warmee, but he didn't tend to let their derision bother him. He worried sometimes that some of the meaner ones might do something to the pelt if he left it unguarded in their presence, but so far no one had done anything of the sort.
"You know, never mind. I'm not sure I really want to go hunting after all. I think I'd rather just curl up somewhere warm and take a nap."
In truth, Loke wasn't the least bit tired, but experience had taught him that his siblings were significantly less interested in spending time with him if he said that all he wanted to do was nap. And since he was usually perfectly serious when he spoke of napping, they rarely pestered him to do anything with them once he had declared his intention to take a nap.
It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with Kuza. Not on a personal basis or anything. He just decided very suddenly that he would rather be on his own. Maybe he would take the lioness's advice and find a lizard to watch. It didn't seem like a very interesting way to spend the afternoon, but perhaps he would be surprised on that front. And even if it turned out to be dull, he could always convert it into a nap. Napping was Loke's favorite way to get warm. Also he could practice his hunting with the lizard, and maybe eat it if he got too hungry to watch any longer.
He wandered off, trying to do a good impression of a cub looking for a place to curl up and nap, but in reality keeping his blue eyes wide open in search of a lizard to observe. The first thing he observed, and this was to himself and in an undertone, had to do with lizards' camouflage abilities:
"Lizards are very good at hiding and blending in. But I don't know whether it's a matter of hiding or blending in! Something to find out, once I find one."
Meanwhile Loke's stomach continued to growl, though only sporadically and not with any sort of impressive volume. It could never be mistaken for a lion's actual growl, even the growl of a cub like Uruloke, but since Loke tended to hear these things differently, being inside his body as well, it seemed to him that he was making an unconscionable amount of noise as he hunted for his lizard. Maybe his stomach was scaring them away?
"Be quiet," he muttered to his stomach, which paid him no mind, of course. Stomachs are not known for being convenient about their grumblings and growlings, after all. However, for all that, his stomach did settle down a little bit and restrict itself to the occasional burble, which he thought far more acceptable, though still not entirely satisfactory. Entirely satisfactory would probably have to wait until he had eaten though.
After nearly an hour Loke remembered that lizards tended to sun themselves on rocks, and so maybe he ought to be looking for rocks. Though he should also be wary of scorpions, he remembered, because they liked to hide in the shade rocks made, and they were nasty if they stung you. Nasty here having the meaning of "probably fatal but at the very least very painful and possibly paralyzing." It would be better, Loke thought, if he could manage to avoid them completely.
But he had to find a lizard. And lizards liked rocks. So he would have to be brave and sneaky, and also very fast. Brave to go there in the first place, sneaky to go and find a lizard without disturbing anything else, and fast in case he did disturb something else. Loke thought he could handle that.
And so with these goals in mind he set out for a place he knew had lots of nice rocks for sunning. He knew this because he frequently ended up around the area doing the exact same thing, and though he couldn't remember having seen any lizards there before, he also hadn't seen any scorpions. Things balanced out. Though he could eat a lizard if he found it. More and more that was what he was leaning toward. He could watch the next lizard he went looking for.
He wasn't moving very quickly, since he was concentrating so very hard on being stealthy, but in Loke's opinion he had never moved more quietly in his life. Each paw was carefully placed, like he was trying to follow a path only he could see, and where there was only one correct place to put his paw, and any other location would end in utter destruction. Still, he got himself there and was colossally disappointed that after all that effort and planning he found no lizard. Not even a scorpion.
