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 Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 6:27 pm
 It had been...unexpected. The day the pink leopardess came and found him and dumped three cubs on him. He couldn't deny that they were his, not when they all bore similar colors and markings and one was almost a miniature replica of himself. Piscor hadn't wanted the reminder that his fun could end in real responsibility.
But it had totally been worth it. The leopardess in question had wanted nothing to do with him, had even scratched him across the face when he first came up to her. But he'd worn her down and she'd given in in the end.
He'd thought that would be the end of it.
Now...now he was learning that that was just the beginning. It would be many months before the cubs were capable of taking care of themselves and just because he hadn't expected (or wanted) to be a father didn't mean he'd just abandon them. Ladies didn't like men who did those kinds of things. Besides...there were a lot of...options available now.
"All right kids," he addressed his offspring, "the way to a girl's heart - or to a boy's," he added for Cordula's benefit, "is through their stomach. It's a lot easier to...ah...get along with someone if you can bring them food that few others can." Piscor gestured at the river behind him with his head. "Fish."Arundo wasn't paying much attention to his dad. Nor was he particularly interested in the big river behind the adult leopard. Instead, he was seeing how close he could get his paw to Cordula's tail without her noticing. It wasn't that he picked on her just because she was the only girl or because Dad always saw their vanished mom when he looked at Arundo.
It was because Eremurus would hit him much harder. That's all.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 6:39 pm
Cordula was sitting as straight and tall as she could manage, and for a chubby little cub, it wasn't all that impressive. She was doing her best to pay attention- and ignore her brothers, though she could tell that Arundo was up to something. Her ears twitched as he inched closer and closer but she refused to break eye contact with her father. She leaned over to see past Piscor to the river and very suddenly, very unexpectedly, Arundo became impossible to ignore.
"Stop it!" she screeched, turning to scowl at her brother.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:10 am
Hit him much harder? Yes, Eremerus would probably introduce him to a whole new world of pain in comparison to what their sister was capable of. It was just as well that he wasn't easily irritated by his sibling's 'trivial' antics, particular in the face of what appeared to be a lesson. Suffice to say it wasn't very often that their father took an interest in their education and for that reason, and perhaps that reason alone, the young cub's interest and eyes were firmly set on the adult before him. He was going to teach them how to hunt and since everyone needed to eat (something he'd found out quite recently) this seemed like one of those lessons he should probably listen to.
...That being said, if Arundo made any move towards him then such lessons would be momentarily distracted while his brother was systematically pinned and declared subservient to all swamp life! Of course, there was no way that it would come out in language quite so elegant given his age but in his head it sounded that good. Other than that, there was no way that he was going to take an interest in the dispute beside him, or at least he was trying to ignore the dispute beside him - his success was limited, particularly when his sister elected to nearly shatter his eardrums.
Ears ringing, he turned round to regard both siblings with a wrinkled nose and disgruntled expression. He couldn't even see what his sister was shrieking about, Arundo hadn't even touched her!
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 8:31 pm
The grown leopard raised a mental eyebrow and considered whether or not it was worth it to get involved in his childrens' quarrel. As usual, it seemed like a waste of effort, considering that no one was actually getting hurt. So he continued on.
"Fish are uncommon food in these lands, because there are few rivers and fewer people skilled in hunting them." Piscor paused and looked each cub in the eye sternly, making sure they were paying attention.
"Today you're going to learn how to hunt those fish."
"Stoppit!" he teased Cordula, mocking her higher voice. He almost lost control and gave in to a giggle fit right then and there, but calmed himself abruptly as Dad gave him a long look. Nevermind that the older leopard was giving Cordula and Eremerus the same looks, he knew that if he kept that up while Piscor was trying to teach them something, he'd get swatted.
The lilac cub was immediately on his best behavior.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 3:29 pm
"Stoooop!" Cordula whined, glaring fiercely at her offending brother for a moment more getting up, taking two big steps to the side and sitting down again, separating herself from her brother so she could pay attention- but that didn't stop her from taking a second to glare at Arundo one last time before looking up as Piscor explained how skillful fish-hunters were.
She was staring up with wide eyes eyes as Piscor explained that they were going to learn to hunt the fish- and her eyes went back to the river. It couldn't be that hard, could it? It wasn't like the plains where things could run all over the place, it was just a river.
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 2:19 am
Why was Piscor looking at him like that? He hadn't even done anything! The cub was a touch affronted by his own father but elected to keep his mouth shut. He'd only turned round to look at his siblings, he hadn't said a word or made moves to stop them. The only thing he could fathom was perhaps that he was expected to do something? A guess at most, but he anticipated this was not in fact what he was expected to do. Perhaps his father's stare was simply a generic one? His cubbish mind quickly concluded that it was best not to over think on the issue and he pushed the inner monologue from his own mind.
Stupid siblings, why couldn't they just be sensible for once! They didn't seem capable of it, apparently he was the only one who was sane and if they were going to keep getting him in trouble then... well, then there would be words said. He didn't know what those words were yet, but he was fairly certain he would come up with something eventually.
Something really good.
Just wait.
Regardless, he returned his attention to his father when Cordula seemed to have relocated her rear end out of Arundo's immediate reach (although it hadn't been in his reach before either). They could arse about all they wanted, he was going to pay attention and figure this out, that way he'd be well equipped for anything - well that's how it went in theory, practically speaking, his success remained to be seen.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:11 am
"Pay attention you two!" Piscor rumbled at Arundo and Cordula, the edge of a roar in his voice. He wasn't going to repeat this and gods help his eldest and youngest if only Eremurus learned the lesson.
Once he was sure he had six eyes on him again, he returned to the teaching, sticking one paw into the cold water. "It's a delicate art, fishing, and you'll have to have exquisite timing. The movement is simple, just a flick of the paw, and--"
Suiting action to word, Piscor made a quick movement and a small fish was batted out of the river and onto the bank in front of the cubs.
"Now, who wants to try first?"
Arundo was shaking, trying hard not to giggle out loud at how he'd managed to provoke Cordula. She was so...so girly! It was so easy! He loved it.
But then Dad got angry and you could hear it in his voice and see it in how tense he was and Arunda immediately stopped shaking and crouched closer to the ground, in case Piscor was minded to swat him. He was just having a little fun, honest! It was Cordula's fault for being so easy to tease. Really.
He watched as Piscor skillfully removed a fish from the river and stared, eyes wide, as it flopped around in front of the three cubs. How'd he do that?
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:28 pm
Cordula couldn't help but cower when they were scolded, glaring at her father's feet to avoid looking back to glare at Arundo and causing more trouble. It was hard to focus now she was so cranky but she forced her eyes back up to Piscor so they could finish their lesson.
She was successfully distracted from the little fight with her brother when Piscor very suddenly took a fish from he water. He made it look so simple while making it sound so tricky, it was hard to decide what to think of that.
One thing was certain, she wasn't going to try first. She looked over to her brothers expectantly.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:50 pm
Well, let's not all offer up at once, eh?
Eremerus gave a little snort of exasperation as his dad finally put his siblings in place, and then gave a very prompt demonstration. Admittedly, the tiny cub hadn't seen exactly what his father had done, but given the rukus that Cordula and Arundo had made, he'd half expected them to leap up and declare that they wanted to try first...if only to see if they could best one another. Alas, Eremerus was left rather disappointed in this respect as neither stepped forward leaving a void of silence - he would have been so bold as to declare it 'absolute' silence, but given he could hear birds, that would've been inaccurate.
The green cub allowed this silence to continue for a while until he came to his own conclusion that neither Arundo or Cordula had any backbone. Granted, this may not have been right and Arundo might have been considering but why bother wasting time? Thus, the tiny cub puffed out his cheeks in a similar fashion to a hamster, regarded both of his siblings in mild irritation and pushed himself to his paws. A little wiggle of his rump, a flick of his tail and he finally gave a wave of his paw to indicate his interest to his father.
"I'll do it," he said at last, resisting the urge to wrinkle his nose in the process. Already he could sense that he was going to fail in an overwhelming manner but he'd give it a shot - practice made perfect and all that jazz, right?
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:42 pm
To tell the truth, he really wasn't surprised. After all, of the three cubs, it was Eremurus who reminded Piscor most of himself. Arundo and Cordula were...easily distracted and seemed to spend most of their time distracting each other. Leaving Eremurus free to concentrate on the lesson. Not at all a bad position to be in, but it made the adult leopard despair of teaching his other two offspring anything useful.
"Very well." Piscor gestured for Eremurus to come join him on the riverbank and where he'd like the cub to sit.
"I'm only going to show you once more each," he warned the cubs as a group. The leopard thought about adding "so pay attention" but decided that was overkill. And leaving it out would be much like the real world he was trying to prepare them for. Hopefully, that lesson would stick even if this one didn't.
Wait...what? How come Eremurus got to go first? He'd wanted to! So he'd been a little distracted by the fact that their father had gotten a fish out of the river with nothing more than a flick of the paw, and now suddenly he couldn't go first? Where was the fun in that.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered sulkily, a whine in his voice, at Piscor's warning. It wasn't fair that he didn't get to go first. Annoyed, Arundo paid even less attention now than he had before, and his paw, idly tracing designs in the dirt, inched its way towards Cordula's tail again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 5:40 pm
Cordula stared shamelessly back at Eremerus as he sat quietly and hoped someone would be daring enough to jump up. She had no problem with going last, she wasn't as competitive as she was aware of looking foolish. Giving them the chance to mess up first would make it OK for her to mess up. She'd prefer that to having the opportunity to rub it in their faces if they made fun of her for messing up and then messed up themselves.
Of course, that was assuming they messed up.
She looked up to her father when he warned them he would not be going over the methods again, nodding to show she understood. Luckily for her, she didn't noticed Arundo beginning to creep her way again. Even more lucky, she stood up and walked a step to the side, eying the river. Piscor had only gestured to Eremerus to join him but she wanted a good view!
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:14 am
Eremerus wasn't one for embarassment, as far as the cub was concerned it was all about practicality. He'd very quickly grown a thick skin when it came to his siblings and there was a tiny bit of pride in this, they could laugh all that they wanted but at least he would learn. After all if the leopard didn't manage to learn these sorts of things then how on earth was he supposed to leave home as soon as possible? Suffice to say that that would prove difficult if he couldn't hunt properly because unlike preybeast, he wasn't an avid fan of grass!
Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before he did as he was told and sat himself down. He then glanced back at his siblings, one of which looked rather put out and the other who seemed to be reasonably neutral in the greater scheme of things - honestly, one might be so bold as to proclaim that his sister could become the biggest prima donna possible if given the opportunity! He made a mental note to run far, far away if she ever ended up with a harem of men at her beck and call.
Nevertheless, once settled he turned his gaze expectantly towards his father and waited to be shown exactly what to do...
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:51 pm
Content that Eremerus was paying attention, Piscor lowered his forepaw towards the running water again. The adult waited patiently while fish, of varying sizes and colors, swam by. Then, one came in headed unknowingly and unerringly for the hovering paw.
A flash of movement as the leopard's paw went into the water and came back up again, and the fish was batted up into the air above the bank. The leopard nodded to himself silently and flicked it back in with a swift flash of his tail. Yellow eyes regarded his older son.
"Now let's see you try it," he said, moving back a little so that the cub could take his place on the bank.
Now Arundo remembered why he hadn't volunteered first - because fishing looked so boring. You waited forever, it seemed, before you struck, and the cub's foreleg was going to get tired really fast if he had to hold some weird pose like that for so long!
But it didn't hurt or tire him to draw random things in the dust. In fact, he noted that if he used his claws and angled them a bit against the earth, he could flick up the dry surface soil. Which not only added more depth to his pictures (literally), but it happened to land on things. Such as...Cordula's tail-
-except it wasn't where it had been! While he'd been sulking, his sister had moved closer to their father and brother. To see, or something stupid like that. Which only made Arundo pout more. He decided to ignore the fishing lesson entirely and concentrate on his drawing. That'd show them!
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:16 pm
Cordula looked back and forth between her braver brother and her father as they began the more practical lesson in fishing now that lecture was over. She still wasn't paying any attention to Arundo, though. Her eyes widened when her father caught the fish, still very impressed. When Eremerus' turn to try was up, she inched closer and closer to the water's edge, still trying to get a good view.
Could he do it?
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:48 am
Their father was clearly more skilled at this than Eremerus was going to be. In fact, it was safe to assume that while Eremerus was a studious little cub, he wasn't a master of all things. Consequently, he was destined to failure in some form and miracles were not to be expected. Nevertheless, the cub wasn't one to be deterred quite so easily and he studied his father's paws closely as the adult fished. It was clear that Piscor held himself in a very particular manner and it wasn't an easy pose either, but there was method to it and the cub could almost appreciate why it was a necessary discomfort...
This in mind, the cub approached the edge of the river and mimicked his father's moves, lowering his own forepaw to wait for the next unexpectant fish to pass by. Fish by fish went by, each scattering as though they were still disturbed by their previous interruption and then he saw one - smaller than his father's, but a reasonable size for him, it was perfect! It was in these moments that his paw swept across to catch the fish and it almost seemed as though he would be successful - almost, until he fell head first into the river.
With a flurry of paws and a small splash, the cub tumbled forward and vanished beneath the surface!
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