AIM RP LOG between Sapphire-Cyanide and Green Ever After
Mapenzi (Adolescent Lioness) x Zuri'Zola (Adult Lioness)
Blue text = Sapphire-CyanideBlack = Green Ever After
25 Posts
It was early morning as Mapenzi woke up in the Roguelands, stretching out her majority-white colored form and yawning. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon and the morning sky was spalshed with the same colors on her arms and legs. After sitting to admire the view for a bit, she got up and started off on her way, brain still slightly groggy as she walked. She was always considered a little slow in the head to most, but this wasn't exactly the fact.
The sky was plastered with the colors of a rising sun, it's rays spread broadly along the horizon and found it's way to her pelt, making the white bits shimmer in a sparkly, blinding feat. Zuri found herself yawning, the sight was one of the most beautiful to awake to, the mornings were her favorite when she was younger, her Mother cuddled her a little while then was off to hunt. Zuri followed this habit on a regular basis, rising with the sun to hunt then resting in a different place. Today was different, she could already feel it. It had started with her luck of finding a den, she hadn't slept on the cold soil of a shaded den in weeks, many moons and suns had passed and her memory tried to find it's last encounter with the loved, cooling comfort. She counted herself lucky. "Day, what do you bring me that has brought on such luck?" She knew well that misfortune was usually where good luck had ended, it was on a very lucky day that she had lost her family. With this sad thought she drifted into a staring contest with a cloud that seemed to pop from no where.
As soon as she was off to a nice Jog, Mapenzi had traveled a bit to a area that was not so crowded by the tall grass and where dirt started to make it's way on the land. It was here that Mapenzi learned that simple little snacks such as mice lurked below the shallow ground, and it was also here that she would practice her new technique taught by Raimi the white lion of the Suka'fumo pride on how to catch these rodents. Crouching low, the young lioness tilted her ears downward, trying to listen for any stry scurrying below the ground on this beautifully peaceful morning. But alas... no such sounds, even though she had slunk to several different spots already. "Drats... maybe they're all still asleep." Mapenzi mumbled to herself as she slinked off back into the grass to lurk on the outbrinks of this dusty dirt space. Hopefully today she would remember to catch herself a meal. A bad habit of hers was to usually forget to feed or drink for herself to keep the body going. "C'mon mousey... I'm hungry."
Zuri was wandering now, the hunt was on. The day would not start until she caught at least a small meal. That was when she caught her first glance of a lioness who seemed to have caught the colors of the rainbow in her paws, right up to her belly! Zuri was stunned into spot, ears pricked forward and tail low. She listened carefully and it seemed luck was more on her side. Instinct took over, her body locked into a low position, while listening to the female that approached her without knowing it she had caught the scritching sounds of a couple mice wandering up to the surface. She grinned fiercely and just as the mice peeked out and pulled out of their safety net she was on them. Didn't take her long to kill the mice, a nice snack they would make. Her mind came back slowly from the hunt, it returned in time to remember the lioness that was wandering. Zuri then noticed the look on the lionesses face and her size. The lioness was young, hungry and tired. She appeared to be alone and that tugged hard at Zuri's heart strings. Snagging up the two mice she had been lucky enough to catch she moved towards the lioness. Making herself approachable.
Not hearing the scritching as well as Zuri had, Mapenzi lay low in the grass, still waiting and stalking for other mice to come up, but amazingly did not notice the other large lioness that was in her vacinity at the time as well. She was probably lost in thought again; this was usually how she did not notice others who wandered by her. Her dark magenta eyes were locked on the soil in front of her from beyond the few blades of long grass in her face. Patiently waiting but not realizing the white and lavender marked female approaching her with possible food. Her striped tail twitched gently as she tried a little too hard to concentrate. Knowing her at this point, she would probably get spooked by the newcomer.
This was quite the scene Zuri had approached. The lioness whom had her head held high for some time was now nose down, butt high in the air and tail swaying behind her. Her throat tensed lightly as she held back a light giggle at the sight and as if to announce her arrival and prescense Zuri let her tail drop, creating a thumping sound against the tough soil. Clearing her throat she smiled bravely and removed a mouse from her jaws, dropping it to her claws. Catching the limp body smoothly she offered the mouse to her new friend? "Hello." She said pleasantly.
"EEP!!" The young lioness jumped and seemingly failed at landing from the surprise that someone else other than herself was right by her! Picking herself up with a groan and looking over to the lioness in front of her, Mapenzi's ears laid backl embarassed and unsure what this new cat in front of her was going to do. But upon showing the mouse in her paw and offering a hello, Mapenzi sat up a bit more, calming down. "G-Good morning Ma'am." she stated softly with a stutter. "N-Nice m-morning it's been so far, hm?"
"Ma`am was my Mother darling, my name is Zuri`zola, but no need to be so formal. Call me Zuri." She seemed to say more then she should, but could appear easily as just enough. Her smile stayed gently on her face and she dropped the mouse at the lionesses paws. "There you go, will make the morning you say is nice even nicer I assume?" Zuri smiled even brighter. "I'm sorry I startled you, ..." She paused notably, she was waiting on a name to match the brightly colored, easily embarressed female before her. Zuri was enjoying the company she hadn't even begun to have and wanted to hear the name. "What is your name?" She asked bluntly.
Mapenzi was already embrassed for being so formal. She didn't know any other way to be though. If she was this way towards males, why not towards females as well? She wasn't really... raised with manners, from what she could remember. Heck, she couldn't remember a lot about her family or past. but that wasn't the point. Looking to the mouse now at her paws she glanced back up to the lioness nervously. "M-Mapenzi, Zuri. Is this for m-me?" Her paw batted at it lightly. Already dead... darn. She really felt horrid. Others felt so bad for her they were catching her meals now. Just like Raimi had offered to do.
Zuri watched Mapenzi, the named rolled off in her mind so well, she was fidgeting nervously which made Zuri smile even bigger. "It's nice to meet you Mapenzi, yes the mouse is for you. Turns out the world gave me two mice, as the world has given me company." She said slowly. "I had caught the mice just before spotting you, don't worry about it. We can hunt more as soon as this snack is done." She offered this because a sense washed over her. She imagined that the hurt glint in the lionesses eye was one of shame. Zuri could only think of one thing the lioness coudl be shameful of. Perhaps she ahd thought the food was caught for her, instead of by accident. Zuri had had this happen before, which is why this was more common knowledge then it was a guess. "Maybe you can catch me a mouse in return?" She offered.
She pawed the mouse over closer, keeping it near but looking down. She was too nervous to look the older lioness in the eye and was indeed ashamed. "T-Too bad honest, Zuri, I'm n-not very good at hunting. I always seem to do it wrong and screw up, and lose the food. I can barely feed or take care of myself. It's terrible." She sighed and mumbled out the words, looking to Zuri's toes and saw them wiggle a bit. "I c-ould try though if you like! I'm not good but... I do know I need to practice to get better. Just that these darn mice are tricky to me." Mapenzi wasn't proud of admitting she was no good. You'd think though with a young liones at her age, she'd know how to hunt by now! "I don't... remember my mother teaching me how to hunt before I went away."
Zuri, quick to be comforting was laying a gentle paw on the flushed cheek of little Mapenzi. "Don't fret, I can help you, by the end of our hanging out you will be able to take care of yourself!" She gave the young female a very confident smile, she felt indeed confident that the young girl coudl hunt. All lions could hunt, some just needed more practice and needed to work just that little bit harder to get where some are with ease. "Have faith in yourself Mapenzi, now come along. Hurry up and finish that meal!" Zuri was encouraging, her ears were forward showing their listening. The ever enthusiastic Zuri was not about to let the poor thing feel this way for very long.
Ears perking up at Zuri's encouraging words, she dipped low and her jaws picked up the dead meal that lay at her feat and chomped on the quickly before swallowing it down. "A-Alright! I'll try. Hopefully I'll get better with you teaching me. A lion tried to teach me by showing me, but I tried and failed." again, another huffy sigh before she stood and stretched out her back legs. She was much shorter than Zuri for now, but she knew she would be growing quickly soon and would have to remember to keep herself healthy! "Are we going to try here Zuri?" Eyes wandered over to the dirt field full of possible skittering rodents.
"Well, different methods work for different lions. Patience is always key though. Just because you don't hear something the first time, doesn't mean you can up and move." She began the lessen with vigor, not skipping a beat as she chewed and demolished her snack withe ease. That was just the beginning of her meals, luck was usually on her side and she found herself with already downed boars and more, but when there is no such luck she finds herself eating leaves and more, anything to keep a full stomach. "Watch your paws, sometimes they cover what you seek. I'd like you to close your eyes Mapenzi, trust me and just listen. You may not find food right away, but it's a great start." Zuri closed her eye's to show the trust she had mentioned and heaved in a deep breath to promote concentration.
Though as nervous as the youngin' was to close her eyes, it was still early morning and a lot of the bigger, male lions and other possible 'threats' to her well being were asleep or away. So she tried, her dusty dull pink eyelids setting over the maganta orbs that were her eyes. She stayed quiet, even calming her breathing to try and concentrate. That was one of the things Mapenzi was also terrible at; concentration. Her mind usually liked to wander off or get sucked back into hazy past memories, but today she was really going to try! "Hmmmn..." Her ears quirked a bit, rotating and waiting for a sound of some sort so she could dart her attention to it. Nothing so far, but still she waited instead of moving off, like she usually would if there was no current sign of a critter to kill about. "This is sort of hard..." Mapenzi whispered to Zuri.
"Hard will be become easy as you practice and work at it. I remember I couldn't sit still when my Mother first tried to teach me. She scolded me for days, telling me how I would starve and such. Gratefully, for both her and I, I got much better." Zuri hoped her story would encourage the lioness further, it was true she had failed the test more than she can say. Even now sitting still was a hard thing for her to do, but to survive she could do anything. "Just relaaax, concentrate. Hear those little paw steps?" The scritching had begun again, it was conveniently straight ahead of them and coudl be easily followed. This gave Mapenzi a strong paw forward, rather then the pitter patter be goinng another way.
Black ears stood straight up as she could hear the scratching sounds beneath the dirt coming their way around the outside of the dirt area. "I do hear it...!" Mapenzi squeaked with a high voice as she tried slowly to take a step forward, as lightly and quietly as she could. She was excited now to be hearing these sounds. Why couldn't she with her eyes open? Probably because she was focusing more on sight at the time. "I-It's getting close. Should I try soon??" Her tail flicked to the side, getting antsy but trying to stay still as possible.
Zuri was happily impressed by the young ones work, she had heard what most didn't take the time to pay attention too. For as much as hunting was a trade well learned by most, it wasn't well done by many. Zuri was brought up with patience. Her Mother had taught to wait for the moments and they will come, she enjoyed the wait more then ever. It was always filled with anticipation, something she found made her eager to the brim.
"You can go when you feel it's right Mapenzi. Listen to you and you will know more then I do." Zuri smiled excitedly. The quote rang brightly in her mind, her Mothers voice twanged at her heart strings and she almost got giddy, but hid the unruly emotion away behind a broader smile.
The excited and eager young lioness' tongue stuck out between her muzzle slightly, as if trying to figure out juuuuust the right time to pounce and break the surface in on the poor, unsuspecting rodent below it. Listening to Zuri's words, Mapenzi flinched her tail in response, eyes still closed under rosey, dusty lids. The right time was coming soon because the skittering of the mice below were nearing closer to her large rainbow paws. It was getting almost too close... would she miss her chance and screw up, or nail a catch to give in offer to the lioness behind her who was helpign her on this fine morning?
Ever so suddenly, Mapenzi's paw stomped right below her and caved ina small, shallow area that was just below her left paw! A bit of the red dust from the dirt shot up and she had her leg pressed down firmly, eyes open and glaring down at her foot. Did she do it right? She would have at least stun the mouse by crushing it so suddenly if anything. Gently she started to brush the dirt away and there beneath it...
"M-Miss Zuri! I did it! I caught one!!" Excitedly shouted, all the other scurrying sounds dashed the opposite direction, but Mapenzi could have cared less! this was her first real mouse she had caught! Plucking it out from the small dirt pile and brushing off the stunned and startled critter she gingerly placed it in front of the lavender lioness. "I-I caught it for you as thanks!"
Zuri was pleasantly startled by the sudden rush of the female, she had been gazing at the young ones pelt, enjoying the comfort of it's bright colors. "Oh! Oh great job Mapenzi!" She did the first thing that came to her mind and brought a large paw to the other of the female, trapping her in a congratulatory hug. Zuri simply watched the mouse, stunned, laying on the ground before her. Giving a few seconds of thought she swoops down and gobbles up the prize.
Mapenzi never remembered being hugged by anyone before. Probably as a cub by her mother or siblings, but they were hazy in her memory for the second that she was surprised by Zuri pulling her into one with her paw before eating the gift given to her. She was especially proud right now though; this was a big step towards remembering to care for herself. Eating, drinking water, and the like. Now that she could hunt, she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon to feed herself and trying top remember what to do. "Th-Thank you very much for teaching me how to listen for them. I-It was hard, but it really helped when my eyes were closed and I could only hear!" Her striped tail curled up around herself and though she was neverous, she cracked a smile to Zuri.
Feeling the moment dragging on for a little to long Zuri gave a smile right back and released her, it was, though they might not know this yet, one of first many encounters. "You taught yourself, by listening at all. I was a stranger, I had no right to interfere. You gave me a good dash of reminder as well. My Mother was very dear to me... This reminded me of when she first taught me to hunt. ThanK you Mapenzi..." Zuri gave into a shallow sigh and fought bought tears that had already caused her eyes to glisten brightly. She missed her Mum more then she could express, but didn't feel that she wanted to express it anyway. "You've done well." She sighs again, but happily.
Mapenzi's ears flattened slightly at seeing Zuri's eyes wet with tears that she fought back. She felt bad for bringing up a sad memory to the person that had helped her. "Thank you..." She muttered as the sun was now over the horizon and only growing stronger and higher into the sky. The light pastel colors lightly remained in the air, but soon enough they would fade and it would be cold, clear cut blue for the day with barely and clouds, as it always was over these lands. "I'm sure I've bothered you for far too long. it's already getting warmer and I'm sure you have other errands to do."
Shocked from her thoughts she smiled graciously at Mapenzi. "Thank you." She replied. "And yes, other errands..." Zuri tried to think of what she possibly might have to do for the rest of the time. She was sure there was something. "Hopefully we can see eachother again. May the Gods will it!" She smiled for Mapenzi one last time before getting up and travelling from there spot. Decidely heading For her den again, to sleep and think about the day.
"Y-Yes. I hope to bump into you again too...~" The young lioness flustered as she watched the other female head off to enjoy the rest of her day peacefully. After sitting for a bit she crouched low again, "Here I come mice. I'm not done with you all yet!" She whispered to herself with a smirk and closed her eyes once again to practice her newfound technique.
