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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:19 pm
 "Come on, Kisu, I want to see this evil cat thing," Kombe shouted, running back and shooing his sister along toward the den where he knew the cats would be. Kombe wasn't entirely sure why they were evil, but everyone seemed to think so. So the correct thing to do would be to . . . make them suffer for their evil. And bring Kisu along, because she was such a baby about everything. It was time for her to get a good look at evil now so she could prepare for it.
Kombe went over the lip of the den and peered in. They didn't look that impressive.
"Come on, Kisu!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:43 pm
After meeting Tundu and holding the brief conversation they shared, the cub lulled to sleep. Crying can really sap your energy! Curled up and as comfortable as she could muster, the tired cub dozed in the unfamiliar den. Almost difficult to see on account of her tiny form and brown coloration.
Her round belly rose and fell evenly with each breath. Tail coiled protectively around herself with her chin nestled between the wedge formed by her paws. Hima's puffy eyes were glued shut. Twitching to her facial features and eyes rolling under closed eyelids. A hint she was dreaming. But the cub wasn't even granted that for long. Getting pulled back into harsh reality when the loud, distinctly MALE voice filtered into the den. Her features wrinkled and Hima's head turned to the side as her ears flattened further against her head. The cub's body tensed briefly and finally those tiny eyes fluttered open. Waking up from a dream, to return to her nightmare. Glowering at the entrance of the den, Hima growled at the pair of pint sized hyena. The girl was afraid of adults. Not pups her same size.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:48 pm
 Kisukuku didn't want to be here. In fact, she wanted to be as far from the strange captured feline as possible. She would prefer to be back with her grandfather, hiding in his safe shadow and clinging to the faded memory of her lost mother. "But Kombe, I don't want to do this," she protested, nevertheless following him. Protesting wouldn't really do any good; Kombe was much too good at coercing her into doing what he liked.
"Why do we have to see it? It's not safe!" She protested, stepping forward and edging close to the den on trembling paws. "We should go back. What if someone's looking for us?"
The young female would have turned to go, but she was no match for her braver and stronger brother. When she peered inside and saw the small lion, she fell silent and tried to hide behind Kombe - it was growling at her! And it had claws - and - oh couldn't they just get out of here?
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:54 pm
 Kombe and Kisukuku. Tundu recognized the voices that rang out, one eager and the other apprehensive. Tundu knew both pups by sight and by name, though she'd never spent very much time with either of them. In hopes of dispelling any and all altercations that could even possibly happen, Tundu drew herself up to her paws and placed herself between the siblings and Hima. Giving a vague dip of her head that was intended to show something of submission to the hyena pups, Tundu kept her eyes intent on the male and female siblings that had crept into the mouth of her den. Being a nanny, she would not hesitate to correct either hyena pup if they deigned it necessary to harass the lion cub. Tundu would not allow that to happen. "Kombe and Kisukuku. What brings you to my humble den?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:42 am
Tundu wasn't impressive. She was just kind of there, and had been for a while. She wasn't exciting. Kombe was much more interested in seeing the new addition - although what exactly would be happening with her, he wasn't sure. Either way though, he wanted a good look at her. A lion like her had killed his mom.
"We want to see the evil lion," Kombe said, with a sharp glare at his sister, daring her to disagree with him. "So move over and let us see her."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:26 am
Hima fidgeted once Tundu shielded her. Weaving side to side in a vain attempt to peek past the leopard's legs. Her folded ears perked forward, slightly put off when her view was hindered. But despite that, Hima could still hear. Being talked about as if she wasn't there.
She was partially annoyed by that ever present male voice, but self conscious as well. 'Evil?' She thought to herself, 'No, that has to be wrong... THEY are the bad guys.' Despite her self consciousness, there was one thing conditioned into her. Being protective of those she cares about. Learning that out of love for her siblings.
In their short time together, Hima bonded to Tundu. So when the male's voice dismissively talked down to the leopardess, it might as well have been a slap to her face. So they wanted to see an 'evil' lion? Kombe did a fine job of stoking the fire, even if he didn't intend to. Fur stood on end, as the cub arched her back with narrowed eyes refracting the light from the den's entrance with an almost sinister glow. Well, as sinister as a ball of fluff can manage to look.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:55 pm
Kisukuku yelped at the force of her brother's glare and backpedaled. "I just want to go back," she protested quietly, nevertheless peering at the frightening "evil" lion. It was scary, but... "This is what - what killed Mom?" she asked, her voice quavering as she peeked at it. "The grown-ups must be a - a lot bigger..." It was so small! Even with all of that fur, it wasn't nearly as big as she'd been afraid of. How could something this small be dangerous?
How big did the monsters get, anyway? She looked at Tundu, wondering if the small fluffball would be as big or bigger than her - but she didn't dare ask. Her brother was threatening enough, and he was her brother. She didn't dare speak up to ask something as big as the leopard, slave or not!
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:38 pm
Tundu narrowed her eyes at the more outspoken Kombe, then shook her head. "I assure you, brave Kombe, this cub is not evil at all." The leopard slave took in the information that the milder Kisukuku spoke. She had not been aware that a lion had taken the life of their mother.
Death, war and destruction all were terrible things, and it pained Tundu that all of these babes would grow up in the throes of dissent. Her heart ached for all of them but most especially for the gentler Kisukuku and the sweet Hima that reminded her so dearly of her own cubs.
As it was, Tundu refused to move, though her stance -- for now -- was one of unassuming obedience.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:50 pm
Kombe started craning his neck to see around Tundu. "I want to see the lion, Tundu. Move over. I'm not going to attack her." He got a look at the lions face. It was a tiny little thing. And weird looking. Ugh. Why was its face so flat like that?
He talked over his shoulder to his sister. "It can't have been that lion because the one that killed mom was huge. It had a paw the size of your body, and it was taller then Dad or Granddad, and it just broke mom, even though she was just trying to feed us. So that lion was evil. Maybe this one will grow up to be evil like that one, even though it's just a little scruffy fuzzball now. Weird looking thing.""
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:05 am
Hima lost her parents young, she is still a cub after all. So whatever a matured and loving adult could have taught her thus far has been replaced with the limited knowledge of her older brother (who hasn't finished growing either). He has tried, but there is a distinct gap between the intelligence of an adult and an adolescent. It made sense that Hima's view was skewed due to the circumstances. Even if Kombe understood that this lion cub wasn't necessarily evil... yet.
Hima thought these two hyena pups were evil by proxy.
His explanation of what was going on with his sister did make the cub feel sorry for them... Hima knew what it meant to loose parents. But her desire to be free overshadowed her pity. "If I'm not the lion why I am here!?" She then glanced at Tundu, "Why is she here?! We didn't do anything!"
While he didn't say she was 'evil', the fact he was making fun of her looks was enough to get heated. Childish pride causing her to fight back with the same kiddie responses she might with any cub teasing her or her sister. "Well... you have a fat NOSE!" A girlish voice shot back in an annoying tone. "S-so, be quiet Big Nose!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:31 pm
Kisukuku shot her brother a timid glance, and looked back at the lion. Did it really just say that Kombe had a fat nose? She had to look at his nose again, after that. She didn't see what was so big or fat about it... The lion cub, though, it really did have a wide, flat face - a little bit like Tundu's, but not completely. Maybe it was just a feline thing, not an ugly thing?
She wasn't really sure what to do, though - stand up to her brother and sound like she was defending a lion and a slave, or join in and - and act meaner than she was? Really she just wanted to get out of here, but Kombe would never let her. Instead, she looked up at Tundu, then at the cub."I'd wondered w-what a lion looked like," she said quietly, trying and failing at keeping her voice steady.
"But... this one's too little," she said, then surprised herself by actually addressing the 'evil' feline. "My Mom didn't do anything either, and that lion killed her." Her green eyes closed once, and she backed away as she swallowed roughly. "So what does doing anything have to do with bad things?"
...She probably shouldn't be addressing a captive like this, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care. She just wanted to go back to her grandfather and curl up beside him where it was safe, protected, and as far from the scary things of the world as she could get.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:49 pm
Tundu shh'd at Hima, the sound soft and soothing more than it was chiding, and Tundu turned her attention back to the pups that had approached them.
"Hima, Kisukuku, Kombe. You have all lost someone that you loved dearly. Hima's mother was killed by a hyena, and your mother," she lifted a paw and gestured at the hyena pups before her, "was killed by a lion." Tundu shook her head and glanced between the pups and the cub with sad eyes.
"Hima, these pups do not deserve your wrath. They have done no harm to you," she said softly, hoping that Hima understood the point that Tundu was trying to make.
"And Kombe," Tundu spoke kindly and with respect, "this cub is not a vicious monster, as you can see. She does not deserve to bear the brunt of your anger, either."
Tundu's heart ached for all of the babes. Yes, even Kombe.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:19 am
Kombe was in no mood to hear the leopard out. "She doesn't look like a monster, she looks like a sappy little baby. But I don't think the Alpha will let her grow up into a monster like the lion that killed my mom. Well maybe she'll be kept so she can be a nanny like you, Tundu, and then I'll get used to her flat face laying around. So she might as well get used to the den because she won't be going home anytime soon."
Kombe wasn't interested in insults from the lion cub. She was so ugly, it was pretty obvious that her perception had to be skewed. She didn't even have a proper snout.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:48 am
'Fat Nose' went back to speaking as if Hima wasn't even there. And that shy little female... what was her name? Kisuk-? She finally spoke. Hima couldn't tell between the genders for their kind, but she knew a female voice when she heard one.
Hima asked with hopes of freedom, or understanding. What she received were skewed perceptions of logic. What can be expected? They are young too. This was frustrating. Moreso that Tundu was in the way so she couldn't make a lunge at one of the pups and maybe scramble out and... urgh it was hopeless.
Stepping forward Hima lightly bit at the end of Tundu's tail and lightly yanked. Finally tired of being put in display on the peanut gallery. Atleast this way she was directly out of sight from the spiteful male and his sister. "Don't get used to me being here. I don't plan on staying." The cub said defiantly.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:02 pm
Kisukuku stepped back, away from the den - mere seconds and one more scary moment away from running off to cower next to the nearest trusted adult. "It - she is vicious th-though," she said quietly, daring to look Tundu in the eyes for the first time since, well, ever. "And she's only going to get meaner." and wasn't that the truth? Even if she hadn't been mean before, now that she'd been taken, if she ever got away, she'd be like Mafuu, and want to hurt everyone of the opposite species she could find, so she would be mean and a monster someday, if just because of this.
But - but if she never left, maybe she wouldn't? Maybe they could keep her here, and Tundu could make her know how to grow up and be nice to hyenas, since Tundu was nice enough for a cat. Maybe it would all be okay? Kisukuku hoped so, but she was afraid that it wouldn't, and for the moment, at last, her fear was winning.
"Kombe, let's go back. Please?"
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