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 Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:40 am
 It must have been all those stories Aunt Gliri told, but Sciuri was ready - more than ready - to go out on her first adventure. She'd considered bringing a sibling along, or one of her parents, or even Aunt Gliri, but in the end she decided if she made it a small adventure, of the sort which would get her back to the den before sundown, it would be all right if she went on her own.
It wasn't just that she wanted to have her first adventure all by herself. It was far more practical. She knew that she had a lot of siblings, and if she took away either of her parents, the other one would have a harder time looking after her remaining siblings. If she took any of her siblings, they would all want to come on her marvelous adventure, and while she didn't blame them, she also didn't want to bring all of them. That would just be too many people. And the idea of bringing Aunt Gliri was just laughable. Iuri knew her aunt was no adventuress.
So, just after everyone had taken their midday nap, Sciuri very obviously said she was going out to play and then scampered off before anyone could stop her from having her day. Very soon she was out of sight of the den, which was very well-concealed considering its size and the number of lions inhabiting it, and about to embark on an adventure in the west, chasing the sun a little bit
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:47 am
 Ghazaala had been lazy that day, sleeping in late and then taking a very long nap in the afternoon sun. If she had been part of a pride, that sort of thing might have been frowned upon, but one of the distinct advantages of living on her own was that she could set her own hours and she had no one to look out for or worry about except herself. Thus, if she didn't feel like waking up early or hunting, no one was bothered by her decision. She enjoyed the freedom.
Oh, of a surety there were days when she felt she might die from loneliness, or wished she would die, but they always passed and she was eventually fine. She wasn't a depressive lioness by nature, but neither was she a solitary one, and so sometimes her solitude weighed heavily on her. In those instances, she knew of a few prides and a few other rogues like herself where she could seek companionship and conversation. She always remembered very carefully the locations and general circuits of such people, just in case.
But today was a good day. There had been sun and much sleep, and although she hadn't eaten in a day or two, she also wasn't really very hungry. She had long ago learned that she didn't need to eat daily, and was therefore able to free up a great deal of her time. Hunting took forever, particularly when one was a lioness alone. As she walked, it occurred to her that perhaps she ought to give some thought to hunting something smallish, though. Just to tide her over.
As if it was a sign, she noticed movement on the savanna.
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:00 am
Iuri made no effort to be stealthy or sneaky as she made her way westward. She knew that the area was safe, for her father would never have settled in a place which was less than safe. Aunt Gliri was too much afraid of dangers for her twin, Sciuri's father, to ever make a home somewhere where there was even the possibility of something dangerous appearing. It was a very nice feeling to know that she could have her adventure without having any sort of real danger to contend with.
After a while she decided that her adventure wasn't coming fast enough and reasoned that she would be best off if maybe she moved faster to go meet it. With that in mind, she increased her pace to a run with her tail waving about like a flag to help her keep her balance as she sometimes had to move around rocks or holes in the ground, or other obstacles. It was great fun, she thought, to just run like this, with no one trying to keep up or telling her that she ought to be careful.
Obviously she was completely unaware that her movement had attracted somewhat predatory attention, but had she known she would have been extremely surprised. Because she had never known real danger, she didn't really know what danger looked like, and had no real idea of what sort of threats there were to young lions. In her limited experience, lions were on the top of the food chain.
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:41 am
Ghazaala dropped into a hunter's crouch, slinking forward until she could get a better view of her prey. At just that moment, her prey seemed to sense her and broke into a run. With a frustrated huff, Ghazaala picked up her own pace until at last she could actually see what she was pursuing, and when she saw that she stopped dead in her tracks. She had been stalking a cub. What a horrible, horrible thought.
Well, maybe not that horrible. Ghazaala knew that cubs had many dangers to contend with, some of which were inclined to eat them. Into that category fell baboons, hyenas, wild dogs, other lions, leopards, and any number of other predators. Or scavengers. For an eater of broken meats, a cub would be the sort of prey they could actually bring down, and then they could enjoy live, well, fresh meat. Ghazaala, however, was no scavenger, and she was certainly not hungry enough to eat the young of her own kind.
"But I think I could," she said softly to herself. "If I had to."
The thought neither repulsed her nor pleased her. If anything, it intrigued her. She had never given much thought to the possibility before, and while she was not interested in killing and eating this cub, she did wonder what it would taste like if she did. Or if she consumed another lion's flesh of any age. Not that she was likely to do that. A cub she could see as potential prey because they didn't really have personalities. An adult would be more difficult. At least to bring down. Some lions she'd met would have served the world better as someone else's meal.
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:57 am
Although nowhere near the tracker her father was, and nowhere near as astute at picking up on minute noises as her aunt was, Sciuri did have keen senses and had been trained from an early age to use them. Therefore, the sound of someone speaking softly caught her attention and brought her up short. Very few people in her family ever raised their voices, and so she was conditioned to listen to and for softly-spoken words anyway.
"Hello?" she called as she turned around in small circles to try to catch a glimpse of whomever had spoken.
She didn't think that the speaker had been addressing her. In fact, there was a good chance they hadn't expected to be overheard at all. She wondered who they were talking to, and how she'd managed not to notice them before. Either way, she knew for certain that this was the beginning of her adventure for the day, and she was very excited about it. She hoped they would answer quickly so she her adventure could start right away.
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:17 am
Ghazaala stepped out of the brush which had concealed her and presented herself so that the cub could actually see her. It was obvious, after all, that was what the grey cub was trying to do, after all. She wondered a little that she had been overheard, but neither seen nor smelled. The cub must have a very keen sense of hearing, but little training in the hunt.
Such was not the case with Ghazaala, who could smell many other lions' scents on the cub, scents she probably wasn't aware she carried with her. Those smells would probably protect her better than she knew, for any predator of sense would pick up on them and realize that there would be vengeance wrought on any who did her harm. It stood to reason, of course, that some of those scents would belong to other cubs, her littermates, but Ghazaala would have bet several toes that there was more than one adult in the mix.
"Hello," she greeted the cub. "Where were you running to so quickly?"
It didn't seem likely that there was any other predator in pursuit. Not a real one, anyway, but cubs would play games of make believe, she knew, and perhaps that was what this one was doing. It was possible that there were other cubs lurking in the tall grasses, though Ghazaala doubted that, too. She would have noticed, unless they were holding very still and keeping very silent.
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Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:47 am
Although the grown-up's arrival had startled her, Sciuri though she had done a very good job of not jumping or squeaking or doing any of those other things surprised cubs did. After all, she was more than just a surprised cub. She was a cub on an adventure, and that meant that she had to behave less like a cub and more like a grown-up. A grown-up wouldn't squeak or startle.
Actually, that wasn't true, and Iuri knew it. Gliri did both, and she was definitely a grown-up. She was a very different kind of grown-up though, and there was no denying that. Gliri had such an imagination, it didn't surprise Iuri that she was easy to frighten. She actually wasn't so easy to startle, come to think of it. She usually heard cubs sneaking up on her long before they were close enough to pounce, and had this habit of just looking at you before you did it. Iuri had not yet been able to bring herself to pounce on her aunt.
"I was going to have an adventure," Sciuri explained. "But I wasn't getting anywhere, so I thought if I went faster, I'd get there faster."
It still made sense to her, even if it might seem a bit nonsensical to the older lioness. It occurred to Iuri that this lioness might be interested in trying to kidnap her, and that would be very exciting indeed. She didn't doubt for an instant that her family could get her back if that was the case, and so she hoped a little that would happen.
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:00 pm
Ghazaala nodded. The cub's reasoning wasn't perfect, but Ghazaala could actually understand how she came to that conclusion. The chance of running into adventure as a cub while traveling at speed was increased, though probably not for the reasons this cub was figuring with. By behaving like prey and being generally small and edible and defenseless, she was making herself a lovely target for all sorts of horrible adventures involving being hunted.
"All right. What sort of adventure were you planning to have?"
Ghazaala wasn't sure why she was bothering to ask the cub any sort of question. She didn't really care, to be honest, and wasn't at all interested in befriending the grey girl. Their paths had crossed by chance - Ghazaala didn't believe in fate - and that was all. It didn't mean she had to expend any energy getting to know the cub or learning about her hopes, dreams, and goals for adventuring. What she ought to do was send the cub home, and have that be that.
"Because, really, I don't think this is the best place to be having it. I'm not the only predator in the area, and you do an awfully good impression of being edible." With any luck that wouldn't entice the small thing to decide to risk it and stick around. Ghazaala would have felt bad, and a little responsible, if something happened to the cub because she failed to take an interest.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:11 am
"Oh, I don't know," Sciuri answered. "Anything would be fine with me, but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure if maybe I shouldn't have left myself a better trail to find my way back home afterward. I don't want to be out too late. My family will worry."
She thought she was being very clever by implying that she had a family waiting for her and worrying about her to this stranger. She didn't think the lioness meant her any harm, but she had been warned to be careful every time she left the den, and Aunt Gliri's fertile imagination had infected her enough that she could easily imagine anyone as a potential threat.
She didn't realize that she'd also managed to admit that she wasn't one hundred percent sure where she was or how she'd gotten to this point. Being lost was excellent for adventuring, she knew, and that was why she'd mentioned it at all. A small part of her hoped, just a little, that the lioness might offer to help her get home.
"I know they'd be unhappy if I was eaten," she added.
Ghazaala mentioning that she was doing a good impression of being edible gave her an unpleasant shock. It had never occurred to her that something might want to eat her. She was a lion, and that meant that she was on top of the food chain. Or so she thought. Aunt Gliri had impressed upon her and all of her siblings the dangers posed by hyenas and strangers, but none of those dangers had included the potential for being eaten.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:39 am
"Hm," was all Ghazaala said in response to Sciuri's assertion that any kind of adventure would be all right with her. After a few moments she added, "I'm not sure you really mean that, or should be saying it too loudly. The gods have a sense of humor that can be very, very cruel."
Ghazaala didn't think it likely that she would scare the cub, and she didn't intend to by issuing her warning about the gods and their sense of humor. It was just something she'd observed in her own life and felt compelled to share. In her experience it was never, never a good idea to leave open invitations like that. Saying something like, "I'd be happy with any kind of adventure," was just like asking for something really, really nasty to happen.
"I don't doubt they would be. I'd been tracking you for a bit before I actually showed myself, so I could probably get you part of the way home."
Ghazaala probably could have taken the cub all the way back to the den, but she wasn't really in the mood for meeting new people and exchanging pleasantries (assuming the cub's family was happy to see her) or threats (if they were hostile and aggressive). She just wanted to be about her business, and maybe get her claws on something to eat.
"I'm Ghazaala, by the way."
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:42 am
Sciuri didn't doubt it. Aunt Gliri sometimes told stories about how the gods might conspire to make a lion's life, or even that of a while pride, very difficult. Sometimes they did it because they were angry or bored or as part of a gamble, but they didn't always have a reason, Aunt Gliri said. They didn't have to because they were gods. In response to Ghazaala's remark, Iuri just shrugged.
"I'd appreciate it if you would," she said politely.
For all her talk about the dangers out there in the world, Iuri didn't think Ghazaala was one of them. And the more she thought about it, the gladder she was. She wasn't sure she was really prepared for that sort of adventure anyway. The kind with true danger and the chance of becoming permanently lost. She'd rather undertake that sort of thing with company. Like a sibling, or a parent. Not forever, of course, but until she was a little bigger, and not likely to be mistaken for food.
"I'm Sciuri," she added. "I'm glad to have met you Ghazaala."
And with that the pair set off.
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