[PRP] One Hot Afternoon {Imarogbe, A'asifa Ramliya & Ilyas}

[Boudaihobbit]

Imarogbe was laying a little ways away from the den in a patch of grass. It was at a part of the day where he wasn’t in the best mood because the sun’s rays continuously blanketed him in heat, however, the den was quiet and not much fun with hardly anyone in. He had no clue where his brothers had gone off too, and there was nothing to do at the moment.

Although, the longer he was outside, the more he was considering simply laying in the den by himself. He felt as though he would melt if he were outside any longer. With his body feeling much heavier than it usually did, Ima lifted himself out of the grass and began to trudge his way toward the den.

At times such as this, he wished that he was older and able to wander his pride’s lands more freely. If there were more for him to do, than he wouldn’t have to lay around in the hot sun during the afternoons. At least, that was what he believed in his young mind.

Upon reaching the den, he began to walk inside, but stopped in his tracks as he spied his golden brother Ramliya laying inside. Watching him for a moment, Ima saw that his brother hadn’t seemed to notice him.

Crouching down, he decided that he would take this opportunity to have some fun. Dragging himself along the ground as quietly as he could, Ima waited until he was closer to Ramliya and leapt up behind him.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

Ram had been up most of the night, inexplicably unable to sleep. It wasn't that he'd been plagued by bad dreams or anything like that. He just hadn't been able to sleep. He'd lain there almost the entire night with his eyes closed, trying to will himself to sleep, or bore himself to sleep, or anything.

His efforts must have been successful at some point, since he did wake up in the morning, but it hadn't been very restful for him and he had woken up groggy and grumpy. It hadn't taken long for his mother to tell him that if he couldn't be nice, he should just go back to sleep and try to start the morning over when he felt like being pleasant. It had seemed like an excellent idea, and so that was what Ram had done, curling up in the sun outside of the den.

As soon as the sunlight struck his eyelids he found the sounds of the den around him receding and dreams coming to the forefront. In a few more minutes the cub was asleep, and so he remained until he became his brother's victim, to which his oh-so-clever response was to whine:

"Hey! I was sleeping!"

Ilyas

Ilyas stepped out of the den his sister Farrah shared with Pad Naim'Namir. His sister was Namir's beybanu, though she had lived as part of his harem for some time because their father had so many cubs his den was overcrowded. Ilyas hadn't minded. He and his sister had always been very close, which was why he continued to pay her visits whenever he could manage it.

She and Namir were still trying for their first litter of cubs, and while they both seemed to genuinely love Ilyas' sons he got the feeling that it made his sister a little sad and jealous that she hadn't any cubs of her own yet, and made Namir feel a little threatened. After all, Ilyas did have five sons. It was something any pad should be very proud of, and Ilyas was. His beybanu, the cubs' mother, was also proud, though her litter was smaller than her sister's.

Still, it had been a pleasant visit with Farrah and he left with a smile, debating whether he ought to also pay his father and mother a visit while he was out or whether he wanted to go home and play with his sons.

 

[Boudaihobbit]

Giggling to himself, Ima grinned at the fact that he had managed to surprise his brother. Any opportunity that arose for Ima to get the better of his brother’s was taken immediately. Looking at Ram’s disgruntled face and reaction, he decided not to press his small victory. There would be time for that later.

He then walked around and unceremoniously flopped down by Ram and said with a yawn, as though he had not just woken his brother, “What are you doing sleeping, are you still tired?”

Ima enjoyed the morning himself, and usually rose soon after the sun. However, he did recall Ram being a little ill-natured that morning. Did he not get much sleep last night? Well, he supposed that he would find out later. He briefly wondered where everyone else was, but didn’t dwell on the thought.

“I’m bored,” Ima complained to his brother. Momentarily forgetting about his heat fatigue, Ima wondered if he would be able to convince Ram to do something with him.

“Let’s do something.”  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

Ram eyed his brother as warily as he could, given his present state of exhaustion. He wasn't sure he could trust him not to attack again. Fortunately, Ima seemed content to lie there and leave him be. Or not. Ima wanted to talk. Worse, Ima wanted to ask stupid questions.

"Of course I'm still tired," Ram grumbled. "Why else would I be sleeping?"

To him, this was embarrassingly self-evident and that Ima had asked about it at all meant that he was either very stupid or very cruel. The second option came about as a suspicion that Ima knew talking to Ram would force him to remain conscious, and the longer Ram had to stay conscious, the less likely it was he'd be able to go back to sleep. Either way, Ram was not best pleased with his sib.

"I was doing something. I was sleeping," Ram pointed out, but without much rancor. The prospect of doing something was too intriguing for him to deliberately put Ima off just for being annoying.

"What did you want to do?"

Ilyas

Ilyas came quickly to the conclusion that his parents could survive without seeing him. This was mostly prompted by a sudden and nearly overwhelming thirst which demanded he go to the lake before he went anywhere else. It wasn't usual that physical needs made themselves so keenly felt, and so rather than be irritated by it, Ilyas opted to go with it. Probably if his body felt so strong an urge to hydrate, he needed it.

So his path changed and he began to make his way to the lake. He had always liked the lake, and even liked to paddle around in the shallower portions of it, though he didn't like for his paws not to touch the bottom or for his head to go under water. He was not a strong swimmer, and was too much aware of his responsibilities to the pride to take risks that might leave his banu and cubs without him to look after them.

At the lakeside he lowered his head to the water and drank greedily, confident that no matter how much he drank, there was no risk he would consume it all. The pride's lake was massive, so much that he couldn't even see the farthest shore from where he stood. It was a wonderful, glorious thing.

 

[Boudaihobbit]

Expecting some backlash for intruding upon his brother, Ima snickered to himself at Ram’s cranky attitude. Despite his feelings toward being disturbed, Ima still had his attention. Therefore, Ram was game for being bothered.

Feeling restless, he decided that he would like to go somewhere with his brother. He had been laying around outside the den all day and felt as though he would die of boredom if he stayed there any longer.

Thinking about places in the surrounding area that weren’t too far from their den, Ima considered the things that they could do. Ima was kind of in the mood to harass his cousins, but they lived too far for them to go by themselves. So another idea struck the blue cub’s mind.

“Lets go to the river!”

Ima believed that this was a great idea. The cool water would be wonderful on this treacherously hot day. Gazing at his brother expectantly, he prepared himself to convince his brother to join him should he refuse.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

"Not the river," Ram said firmly. "I don't want to have to swim against a current."

In truth, he thought he might be too tired to swim in a current, either with it or against it. But the lure of swimming, of getting thoroughly wet so that he could spend the rest of the day cooling off gradually, that was very appealing to him.

"How about the lake instead," he suggested. "There are more people there, anyway, so maybe we can find someone there to play with."

He was still a little cranky from having been woken so suddenly, but there wasn't much point in holding onto a grudge for something so minor. It was over and done with, and with luck Ima wouldn't do it again, though that seemed unlikely since he was getting his way now after doing it once. Ram was too young to make that kind of connection consciously though.

"I'll race you there," he said as he got to his feet with deceptive slowness. He thought he might have enough energy for a run to the lake. It wasn't any farther than the river, after all. But he couldn't lose if they did race. His pride wouldn't allow that. He'd just have to run quickly.

Ilyas

Ilyas settled into a comfortable crouch by the waterside and continued to survey the area around the lake, watching as other lions came to drink. A few banu dragged containers to carry water back to their dens. They worked very carefully to fill them and then seal them so that a minimum of water would be lost as they traveled. Ilyas doubted that they had developed the carriers themselves, but whoever had done so had been a fairly clever cat. He wondered if the design could be adapted for other purposes, and then wondered what other purpose they could possibly be needed for. Maybe dragging prey back to the den after a kill?

He drank lazily and mulled over the possibilities for a sling or harness to drag kills back. It would have to be made very strong, but not too complicated for a banu to use. Making such a thing would require a great deal of dexterity and skill, too, since it involved the finicky practice of knot-tying, which was a great mystery to Ilyas, who could barely manage the simplest of knots and preferred to avoid that sort of monkey fiddling.

One or two pride members stopped by to greet him, which was not inappropriate, given he was the eldest son of one of the sultan's viziers, and was actually related to the sultan himself. He was used to this and returned their greetings and made small talk. It seemed he had been doing this sort of thing his whole life. He liked it. He liked that his position in the pride allowed him to be at ease all day if he so chose, doing nothing more than sitting by the lake and socializing.

 

[Boudaihobbit]

Initially, Ima bunched up his face and was ready to argue with his brother, however, he quickly relinquished when his brother suggested the lake instead. He supposed that Ram had a point. Ima enjoyed swimming, and the river currents were a challenge for him when they weren’t too strong for the growing cub.

However, the lake was not a bad alternative. At least he would still get to get in the water. Besides, he was still successfully getting Ram to come out of the den, he thought cheekily. He briefly wondered if any of his cousins would be there, he did like playing with them.

“Alight, we’ll go to the lake,” he said finally. Standing to his brother’s challenge, he stood at the mouth of the den ready to run. He enjoyed competing against Ram. His brother’s passion for victory always made things more fun.

Glancing at Ram, he said with excitement,“You ready? Let’s go!”, he shouted before taking off.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

Ram sprang forward to meet his brother's challenge. Meet it and beat it, he vowed. His paws pounded heavily on the ground, making more noise tha a cub his size ought to have made, but he was running hard. The idea of pacing himself was still only a vague thought in the back of his mind and it was very hard to hold himself back, even i f it meant he would be better able to run closer to the lake, and could even allow him to suddenly speed up and beat Ima.

Even so, he thought he was moving at a very good speed and shortly the vast expanse of water which was the pride's lake came into view. There were lions of various ages around it, drinking and even a few dipping their paws in to cool off. Ram knew he probably ought to stop, or at least slow down so that he wouldn't collide with anyone, but he had the idea that if he were to run into a shallow portion of the lake he would be able to claim unequivocal victory because he went all the way.

So Ram charged ahead, paying his brother's progress no mind, and threw himself into the water with a great deal of splashing. He was similarly oblivious of anyone he might have disturbed in doing so. They'd forgive him or he'd bite their tails. He was just having fun and a little water never hurt anyone. When he found his footing he turned to face his brother and declare himself the winner, even though he might not have won.

Ilyas

Ilyas' conversation with a lioness who was a friend of his sister Farrah was cut off by the arrival of a pair of cubs rushing full-speed toward the lake. It didn't take more than the briefest of glances for the blue-eyed pad to recognize that the cubs were his sons. Ram was easy to recognize for his golden coat, but it took him half a second longer to identify Ima. Several others of his sons had darker coats like his own, after all.

"Excuse me," he said to the banu he'd been speaking with. "I may have to stop one of my sons from drowning himself."

He was about twenty yards away, perhaps, when he stood up and began to slowly approach the portion of the lake where Ram had plunged headlong into the water. At least the cub had chosen a shallow place to do so, and so if he had enough sense to put his paws down he shouldn't drown. Just the same Ilyas deliberately stepped into what must be line of sight for his two cubs, just to remind them that they were being observed. He hoped he looked stern enough to curb their rambunctiousness before they got themselves into trouble.

 

[Boudaihobbit]

Imarogbe took off running as fast as he could. He coughed as his brother kicked up a large cloud of dust right in his face as he hoofed past. Ima hacked a bit, but he still kept up on his brother’s heels and rapidly catching up to him.

That is, up until he saw the rather sizable crowd ahead. His fast pace quickly slowed as he focused on ducking and doging the other lions. Nevertheless, Ima continued to run after his brother. His small legs were moving so fast that he almost wasn’t able to stop them when the lake suddenly appeared in front of them.

The heels of his paws dug into the dirt as he skidded to a halt. Looking to his side to find his brother, he heard a big splash and a rain of water flew at him. He heard the sounds of several lionesses gasping in offense. Ima stood and shook as much of the water off of himself as he could, before looking up to see what had become of his brother.

Rolling his eyes at Ram as he proclaimed his victory over the race with water dripping off of him, Ima couldn’t help but snicker at his soaking brother. Seeing a flash of blue in his line of sight, Ima looked to see their father not too far away.

“Hi Dad!,” Ima called out and ran towards him.  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

The sounds of outraged and offended lionesses were music to Ram's ears. His mind turned them into gasps of astonishment and awe at his speed and agility. A wide, sharp-toothed grin spread across his face as he marched proudly out of the water to sit on the bank beside Ima.

"Hi, Dad," he echoed, still grinning irrepressibly. Apparently his father's sternness was not going to be hugely effective in quelling this sort of behavior in the future.

He bumped Ima with his shoulder, finding a certain perverse delight in getting his brother wet in the process, and reminded him in an undertone, "I won."

He might have gloated more, but he wasn't sure if it would be excessive. Not that Ram ever minded a bit of excess, particularly when it came to gloating, but his dad was right there, and Ilyas didn't look too well on gloating as an activity. Or boasting. Just the same, Ram looked forward to doing that, too, when he got back to the den. Telling his mum about his epic victory, that is.

"Did you see, Dad? I won." Just in case his father hadn't gotten that message.

Ilyas

Ilyas bit back a sigh when he realized that neither Ram nor Ima was in any sort of mood to be impressed by his show of paternal imperiousness. He still felt obliged to try, though. Particularly with what seemed like most of the pride looking on. He knew it was only a small fraction of the pride, in truth, but it mattered a great deal to him that no one think he couldn't enforce discipline in his family.

"I saw you running through a great many people, any one of whom could have been injured if you'd actually hit them. And then I saw you run straight into the lake and splash even more people, A'asifa Ramliya." Maybe using the cub's full name would make more of an impact.

He didn't do more than turn a stern eye on Ima. It didn't seem likely that any of this was Ima's fault. And even if it had been his idea to begin with, it wasn't Ima who was making a spectacle of himself. At least not compared to Ram. Gods, he loved his boys, but they were a pawful.

 

[Boudaihobbit]

Looking away from their approaching father, Ima surveyed the damage that had been done. He had to admit, this may have been his brother’s greatest feat yet. Unfortunately, Ilyas didn’t seem to think so if the look on his face said anything.

So distracted by their father, the little blue cub didn’t notice his brother heading right toward him still dripping wet, and he was unable to move in time. Ima lowered his ears back and glared at Ram as he now had one wet side of him.

His fur stuck out oddly on that side, but the water clinging to his fur was already cooling him down. So he decided not to stay upset about it as he usually would. Ima huffed to himself, but took satisfaction in the fact that at least he could make fun of his brother later for being the one to get in trouble.

Having stopped listening to his father in boredom, Ima looked off into the lake. Well, that was the real reason that they came here right? Seeking an escape route the young cub quickly turned and said, “Sorry daddy! We won’t do it again! Let’s go play in the lake!”

As soon as the last word left his mouth, he took off toward the water and leapt in much more gracefully and with many less offended lions than his brother. Looking back at his brother and father, Ima beaconed them,

“Come on!”  

[Princess_Feylin]

Ram

Ram was well-satisfied with his successes that morning. Despite Ima having woken him up from a sound sleep by pouncing on him, probably hoping that he would be made slow by sleepiness, Ram had won the race. Of course, his dad was also annoyed at him. He'd even used his full name. That wasn't a good sign. Maybe a show of contrition would be good enough, and then he could join Ima in the lake.

"I'm sorry, Dad. It won't happen again. Like Ima said."

There was a very good possibility that it would happen again, but right now he was more or less in earnest. He didn't foresee the situation coming up again. Not like this. He wouldn't be caught off-guard by any of his siblings again. He'd find a way to deal with his insomnia if it came back and he'd sleep, by the gods.

"So...can I go?"

Ilyas

Ilyas watched Ima run off and wished that he might have at least asked before darting away. It would have reinforced the idea that Ilyas was an authority figure in his family. Given his audience included a great many of the pride's adults, he was frustrated by the image his cubs were giving him, even if he was proud of their vim and vigour.

"Be back in the den in an hour, Ima," Ilyas called after his dark-colored son. "And try not to splash anyone else."

He frowned down at Ram, whose insincere apology didn't fool him. Oh, he knew it was seriously meant at the time, but only because it would get him what he wanted, and Ilyas wasn't about to give in to that. Someone had to be punished for misbehaving, and since Ima had already taken off it would have to be Ram, who was probably at fault anyway.

"No," he told him. "You're going back to the den now. Come with me."

 

[Boudaihobbit]

“Okay!”, Ima shouted to Ilyas. Sighing in disappointment, he watched as his father and brother left. Huffing, he considered following them as his plan to get them in the water had not worked. Besides what was the fun in being here all by himself.

He began to trudge out the lake to head home, when he though, Well, I might as well cool off a little while I’m here. So, he turned back and waded in the water a bit. Careful not to splash anyone, least he risk getting in trouble too, the small blue cub paddled around near the shore.

Even though he hadn’t had his brother to play with, Ima didn’t mind being by himself unlike many cubs his age. Holding his breath, he plunged beneath the surface of the water and swam down a bit. He had gotten better at swimming as he did it more often.

The colorful life forms that lived beneath the surface were fascinating to him. Feeling the strain for air, he popped his head out of the water and began to swim back to shore. Walking a bit away from the others, he shook himself as dry as he could before heading home to his family.

Mother wouldn’t like it if he got water everywhere.