Lucia:
Lucia wandered about the temple, exploring just a bit. She was curious of things, very much so, but she never wandered to far from home. She didn't want to get lost, or worse get someone upset at her because they didn't know where she had gone. The bottle she had found with her as usual, her eyes trailed over the pictures on the walls, fascinated by the stories they told even though she really couldn't read them. Maybe one day she'd be able to, that would be nice.
She stopped in a patch of sunlight that had somehow found its way in and pawed at a picture on the wall, her tail flicking behind her.
Saul:
His prey was in sight... oblivious to the master hunter lurking just a few yards behind her.
The scene was set- it was a canyon, not a temple, and in place of a curious cub stood the biggest, meanest gazelle that the desert had ever seen. The hunter? The bravest, smartest, and best looking guardian in the history of guardianship!
Over-sized paws padded silently as the red-maned cub crawled forward, his belly draging along the ancient stones as his michevious eyes narrowed against the dim light.
There! It was distracted by.... the wall. Not very dramatic- so in his mind he exchanged it for an ancient spell. Yes! The gazelle was a witch-doctor! An abomination of nature, preparing a spell for the final showdown.
He padded closer...closer.... faster! Faster!!!
With a mew that, in his mental scenerio broke the sound barrier and sent the stones trembling, Saul leapt out, padded paws outstretched for Luci's shoulders.
Lucia:
The mew broke through Luci's revere and she was just about to turn around when something struck her shoulders, sending her down and forward a bit. Her head just grazed the wall but enough to hurt a bit and as she tried to blink the pain away, she could feel the weight of someone pressing her to the floor. Was it one of her brothers? No, they usually said her name before they pounced on her, if at all. She wasn't really the baby in the family, she was actually smack-dab in the middle. So it was kind of okay to play a little rough with her. Especially since she never really complained about it. She was too nice to spoil her brothers' fun.
But whomever this cub was, she didn't know. And that really wasn't okay. She didn't like strangers pouncing on her.
"Get off me!" she mewled unhappily as she struggled. She felt water on her paws, but she hadn't heard any breaking sounds. Had she just spilled? Oh, she hoped whoever had pounced on her hadn't broken her bottle! "Please got off!"
Saul:
Victory swelled his chest and the cub, ignoring Luci's please, struck a pose on top of his downed foe. He looked about, his brows raised high as he surveyed his surroundings.
There could be more... every corner, every shadow could hold another foe! Surely the witch-doctor of the gazelled had backup.
He sucked in a long breath and proclaimed his victory in another loud mew. It was then that a bit of water met his paw.
"What is this!?" He jumped off and landed just beside Luci. He'd spilled the contents of her bottle but thankfully- he'd not damaged it. Still, the water on his paw only played into his game. "Witchcraft! In bringing down my prey I've been cursed!"
Lucia:
Luci scrambled away as soon as he was off of her. He took his time of it, though!
"You spilled my water!" she cried back, saddened by it. Sometimes she liked to pretend that a great god blessed the water she carried around, that if could help heal wounded lions, like her uncle. Father didn't really seem to like his brother much, and her uncle didn't seem to like having any of her siblings around him, but she still cared about him and it bothered her that he was so hurt. He wore a pelt on his back so no one could see what had happened, but she noticed he walked really stiffly, so it must pain him.
But right now she wished her water did have healing properties, she could help the (tiny) bump on her head.
"It's not witchcraft! It's just water and you spilled it and why did you attack me?" Her words came out in a rush, ears back as she faced the cub she didn't know. She almost looked like she was about to cry, though she would try her absolute best not to.
Saul:
Saul stood himself upright, his chest thrown out and his tail curled proudly behind him. Brows raised, he tipped his chin upwards and shrugged his shoulders.
"It's called playing, dope. I was playing a game. Sheesh-", he shook his paw out, his tiny nose wrinkling up into a sneer. "I try to be nice and I get wet and yelled at! You should be thanking me! It was either play- or look at walls."
Lucia:
"But... but I didn't ask you to play with me and you pounced me and I don't even know you," Luci replied, bringing a paw up to rub her head a bit. He seemed pretty annoyed at her. Well, she had every right to act the way she did. He had surprised her and... Well, he didn't ask if she wanted to play, too. She'd rather play exploring than fighting. At least exploring it was less likely someone could get hurt.
She sighed.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you..."
Saul:
"That's why it's called a suprise attack. Duh. Suprise-games are the best. You should really thank me." He pointed a claw over her way, his mouth twisting into a sneer.
Oh right. They didn't know eachother. Well...whatever.
"I'm Saul. And one day- I'm gonna be the lead guardian. You....are a little too apologetic."
Lucia:
"Surprises are nice, but surprise-attacks aren't so much..." Luci said with a bit of a shrug. Oh no, he wasn't happy with her, he was making a face. Her ears and head sunk a bit more. She didn't like it when others got mad at her, she tried really hard to make other people happy.
"My name's Lucia, but my family calls me Luci." She smiled a bit when she introduced herself, trying to be friendly. But he said she was too apologetic and her ears dropped again.
"I... really am sorry. You seem mad at me and I feel bad when others get mad at me."
Saul:
"Well if you were better prepared, I wouldn't have attacked you- you could have played back you know. For a witch-doctor gazelle you were easy to beat."
He raised a brow again and brought a paw up to smack his forehead. "Geeze, you're a whiner aren't you?"
Lucia:
Luci's eyes narrowed a bit.
"I'm not whining, I'm apologizing. You're just being rude and mean," she shot back, letting a bit of spunk through her sweet exterior. She didn't really have the drive to be an aggressive female, but sometimes she was pretty no-nonsense.
"Well, maybe I don't want to be a witch-doctor or a gazelle. Did you ever think of that?"
Saul:
"You're being whiney!" He threw back, sticking his tongue out. Maybe he was being over-the-top, but honestly if she was going to get upset over a little, harmless joke that was her own fault!
He tipped his head, frowned, then looked back to her. "Nope. Never crossed my mind."
Lucia:
"Am not, whiney is more like this." With that said, Luci scrunched up her nose. She pitched her voice to be more nasally and an even higher pitch than her own.
"You hurt me, you're not supposed to do that, I'm telling!"
She squared off her shoulders then, standing firm.
"That's whining and I don't ever do it 'cept right then when I was showing you what whining was," she replied in her normal voice. She hadn't been whining at all. She'd been defensive and she almost cried, but she'd been more timid than whiney. And she had tried to be nice, apologizing for yelling at him.
Wait...
"You never said sorry for pouncing on me! And spilling my water!"
Saul:
His ears flattened back as the female demonstrated, quite accurately, what whining was. Well she was right- that was whining, and far more annoying.
"Oh. Well. That's because I'm not sorry." Sneering, the cub turned around, flicked his tail upwards, and padded for the mouth of the cave.
Lucia:
Luci's jaw dropped and she simply blinked at him for a couple of moments, watching him walk away. Did he really just say that? He'd been so mean, why wasn't he sorry? Whenever her brothers did something that upset her, they apologized. Why didn't this boy??
After a moment, she took up after him, running until she could stop in his way.
"What do you mean you're not sorry? You hurt me by pouncing on me, you know? And you made me a bad guy. Are you really not sorry? Not even a little?"
Saul:
The cub froze as Luci rounded on him, cutting off his smooth escape and demanding an answer. Grunting, he flattened his ears and hunched his shoulders. Were all girls this way!? It would explain a few things.
"No. I'm not sorry." He looked up again. "I didn't hurt you that bad, and besides, it was just a game. All in good fun."
Lucia:
Luci frowned at him even more. He wasn't sorry? All in good fun?!
"I didn't have any fun!" she snapped back. Why was he being so mean? Her brothers weren't this mean. She almost thought about getting her brothers to help her, but then she shouldn't really bother them with her problems all time. Even though she really wanted to rely on her brothers. They were strong and she wasn't, and they would help her if she asked them. She loved that about them. If she was ever in trouble, they would help her, at least some of them, she had that faith.
"Why are you so mean?"
Saul:
The cub continued to walk, his ears pinned back against his mane and his tail flicked up behind him. In his mind, he was trying to be friendly. it was a game and he wanted her to be a part of it! Her loss for not getting it.
"Later Luci!" Was his only response.
Lucia:
Luci huffed as she watched him go rather than chasing him anymore. He was just mean! He'd have to tell her broth-... Her papa... Her mama... No, she couldn't really tell any of her family, now that she thought of it. Her brothers might say she was a wuss, or they might get mad at the other cub. Her mama and papa certainly wouldn't be happy with the male.
She sighed. There was no one she could complain to, because even if he was mean, she didn't want to get Saul in trouble, she didn't want to get anyone in trouble.
Uncle Gloz! She could complain all she wanted to him and he wouldn't do anything! Well, he'd probably try and get her to leave him alone, but if she asked him not to tell her mama and papa, she knew in her heart that he wouldn't, and he avoided more of the other pride members so he wouldn't go looking for Saul himself. Yes, it would be a bother to him, but she needed to talk to someone.
