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 Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:38 pm
 It had started off as a sunny enough day, but Tawa could tell rain was coming. It was early afternoon now and the sky was getting darker with some oncoming clouds. The clouds weren't too dark, so it didn't seem like it would rain very hard. Which was good enough for Tawa. It was so annoying when your mane got all wet and heavy!
As per usual, Tawa had separated somewhat from his clan to do strange things like dig holes and see what would fall in them. With the rain coming, though, he'd found it was wiser to cover up his latest hole and try to pat it down. And now he had a new task at hand: shelter.
He'd really been wanting to try this out for a while now, having seen apes do it once or twice. They made it look easy. As it was now, Tawa seemed rather foolish, dragging large branches and leaves around. The idea was to get them to fit on another tree, and make a... roof, of some sort. Like a cave. But not really.
So far, he had found an ideal tree as a base; not too tall, not too short, with two main branches that would serve to support the... roof. And Tawa had also succeeded in getting a few large, fallen branches stuck on these two branches. He'd also discovered why lions didn't usually shelter in trees. They were hard to climb.
Now he was gingerly perched on one of the branches of the tree, trying to place another, one that still had some leaves in it, above what her already had. He leaned forwards.
"Ouch!"
Tawa leaned too far and fell.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:26 pm
 Ah, rainy days. Green eyes turned towards the sky as the lioness thought about how it would ruin the paint that managed to stain her fur when it came. Earlier, she had been clawing through a clay deposit next to a small pond a bit away from her clan territory; she was absorbed by how thick this particular pigment was, spending a majority of her day simply painting on herself. But when she saw the sky darkening, the ominous presence of the spreading clouds, she pawed away from the area, not exactly feeling the need to additionally paint herself with mud - not least, not today.
Along her walk, she started to see a series of holes. As soon as she saw them, her steps paused and she looked around for a clue, but there was no one to be found. Something peculiar must have caused them, but she couldn't quite put her claw on it. She wasn't that worried about the cause of the holes being any danger to her, really, as it was rare that harm came to these lands.
So she continued her walk, even following the row of holes. Leaves started to appear. Well, now either someone was trying to set up a clever trap or wanted a lot of holes in the Ela'wadiyi lands. This creative thinking intrigued the girl, being a like-minded individual. Her pace quickened, but it wasn't long before she heard a loud thump on the ground, and saw a vaguely yellow figure in the distance. This must be a culprit!
Her white body flashed to reach the source of all the commotion and holes, and she found...
"A Kanati," she stated, now hovering above the Kanati child's fallen body.
A couple seconds of inspection told her he wasn't hurt that badly - or that was what she would think, anyways - she didn't deal with medicines and healing!
Another quick peek above herself told her he had definitely been up to something. And this something was rather odd. The tree the lion seemed to have fallen from had some branches organized in a strange formation. It wasn't neat, to say the least, which made it difficult to discern what he had actually intended for the structure.
Regardless, she looked back at the male to continue to stare at him, not even thinking about what she could do to aid his situation. Surely he'd get up by himself.
"What were you thinking of, making all those holes?!" she scolded in exclamation instead, "What if I fell into one of them, it started to rain, and I drowned?!"
She swatted a tail at his body and gave a loud snort, "Lions simply do not think. Hmph."
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:36 pm
Tawa was on the floor for a little while, quietly staring up at what he'd managed to get up on the tree and thinking about what he'd just knocked down with his fall. About half his work had come with him! Maybe he should give up... nah.
Just as that though, he heard his name. Or part of it, anyways. "A Kanati?" He repeatedly, dumbly. Oh. Oh! In a hurry, he scrambled to his feet, only to lose balance and he backed away and plop down on his rump. Got up too fast, maybe. And, he was a little sore.
"The holes?" Tawa said, gaping for a moment. "Oh, right! the holes! oh my!" He frowned, peering past the lioness. He thought he had covered them up... Must of missed some, gotten distracted with his shelter building. Not too unlikely!
"I assure you that wasn't my intention, miss!!" Okay, he should know this. she looked like a Waya. But which one? "I thought I had covered them up." he wasn't so sure he wanted to explain that he was, indeed, hoping things would fall n his holes. He just didn't want lions.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:51 pm
This Kanati sure was clumsy. Seeing him stumble on himself with all the mess around him - she wasn't so sure if she wanted to be close to him at all, or even within talking distance. To boot, not only his physical state was slow - but his mind seemed to be as well.
Well, at least he seemed to be sorry for his cruel misdeeds against her.
"Covered the holes up?" she almost barked back, "Now, those ones I stepped away from because I knew they were covered. I could have as easily stepped on those by mistake and fallen! Doing this to a cloud-marked is simply... simply... Well, it's bad!"
Her eyes looked at him fiercely, yet a smirk had formed and remained on her face. Aw, she shouldn't be this harsh on him - at least, not at the very start. He was, after all, the late Tawa'di's son. But then again... even Tawa'di's children had nothing on her!
"So what was your intention? And which Kanati were you again?" she asked, sure that this one wasn't their current wanidatsi, at least, "...And... can I assist you, in whatever you're doing?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:59 pm
It was silly, but Tawa felt very pathetic right now. He wasn't usually this clumsy. She just caught him by surprise, that's all. And, he didn't react well to pressure. He subconsciously shrunk back a bit. "No, I mean, I thought I had filled them in. So no one would fall."
"I wasn't trying to make you, or any other lion, for that matter, fall. I will guarantee you that! I was merely testing out new ways to catch food." Not so much catch food as any strange creature he could stare at for a bit before figuring out a way to release. But she didn't need to know that. Not everyone understood. Skan understood more. He remembered when they were cubs. Skan had seemed pretty impressed with that baby crocodile.
"Tawa Kanati, it is a pleasure." He said, out of practiced politeness. "...And you?" Had to be a Waya. Looked very Waya-ish. He really should know this. He was Tawa'di's son, and Skan's brother!
At her offer for assistance, the yellow male looked up at the tree, then abck at the female. "Uhm. I'm not sure if you'd... want to? I'm attempting to... build a shelter." He'd seen baboons make small shelters. Very small ones. He was just trying to make a big one! Suited for a lion. "For the rain."
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:15 pm
Ah, new ways to catch food. It was this type of ingenuity that she admired, but she was also unfortunately one of the rare few who displayed it. Was it possible this clumsy male was also a creative genius like her?
"Of course it's a pleasure," she remarked in her usual snotty way, "I am Ari Waya, of course."
And as Tawa explained (although hesitantly) about what he was doing, Ari further inspected his tree and the branches that laid on the ground. Sure, the idea initially seemed foolish, and she could have immediately thought of a hundred other better alternatives, but... This lion had a goal! Though it wasn't an efficient one, it was definitely a unique and worthy one to pursue.
"Okay, let's do it!" she exclaimed, and without further comment, proceeded to pounce towards the branches that had fallen and jump at the tree to try and place them back where Tawa must have intended for them.
"You're only doing this so our paws don't get wet on our trek home, huh? Well... Tawa, I approve!"
Despite the lack of space and viability of lions on a tree, much less two, Ari had much hope for this new activity of the day.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:25 pm
Suffice to say, Tawa was rather surprised in her change of heart. Or kind-of change of heart, anyways. He supposed he really couldn't judge where her heart was in the first place, so who was he to say it had changed at all?
"Oh! uhm. Be careful?!" He wasn't sure if she was the kind of lioness that liked being told to be careful. Probably not. Even he didn't like it so much. But, if she wasn't careful and got hurt, at least she couldn't claim he didn't warn her.
And then Tawa realized that he was still on the floor while she was climbing up the tree to do work he had initiated. Not keen on being left behind, the yellow male quickly grabbed a branch and hurried over to the tree, climbing a bit more carefully after his fall.
"You could say that." Well, no. Tawa really just wanted to see if it would work.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:50 pm
Ignoring Tawa's unnecessary order, Ari proceeded to fit in the branches in an orderly manner. Definitely more orderly than anything that would have come out of the male's paws. He seemed too scatterbrained to think about organization and... well, making something fine art!
She didn't mind that he had sat on the ground for some time in the confusion from the rush of all the things happening at once. Perhaps it was even from being dazzled by her presence. She did that sometimes.
"Mmmm," she purred out as she crossed some branches, laying the big ones across the tree's two main large ones, "This is a new art I could appreciate."
It was a half lie, but still, it was less boring than simply standing or walking around like most everyone else did. She preferred her own ideas, but this Kanati was proving to be someone she could find familiarity with, which normally far and few.
"Are all the Kanati like this? I haven't spent actual time with another, more than a quick greeting and stroll," she admitted, "Or maybe it's just you? Or maybe green eyes are an indicator of geniuses?"
Her mind raced with all the explanations, but yet she waited for Tawa's answer. Oh, boy, she could do a lot with an accomplice - her last one had suddenly stopped getting too close to her home... after she accidentally set a flock of angry eagles on him. How was she supposed to know that giving her "apprentice" one of their eggs to study was bad!
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:01 pm
Well, okay. Tawa could admit she seemed better at placing his branches then he did. Maybe it's because she was a girl, and they were more elegant, or something like that. He was sure he'd heard that at some point. Maybe from Hari. But Hari was kind of crazy.
It seemed that since this cloud-marked female showed up, Tawa was getting dumbstruck an unusual amount of times. Like this what? Like... Uh. 'Artsy'? He considered the question. "I'm not sure. Skan is pretty smart, if that's what you mean?" There were his other brothers and sisters. "My other brother, Sahale, is our nvwati."
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:05 am
Some part of Ari didn't really want Tawa to answer, but he did anyways. And it wasn't exactly anywhere near the words or explanation Ari wanted to hear, and so she gave a discreet giggle at his perceived incompetence and slowness. Oh, boys. At least he tried.
"Artsy and smart. Both things I very much am. But I'm not talking about being the nvwati or wanidatsi or whatever! Anyone can be those with their claws over their eyes all the time!"
Well, she was exaggerating of course, but still - she felt at times more important and prominent than their leaders. How could anyone deny that, in all her beauty and talent?
"You know what? You can learn a lot from me. Maybe you should come around the wolf clan more often, huh, Tawa?" she sort of asked, a sly smile coming onto her face.
And as if that suggestion was an omen, the sky started to drip with the coming rain, and Ari turned up to look at the falling water as well as their slightly unfinished shelter.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:49 pm
For a moment, Tawa briefly considered whether or not he should defend the accomplishments of his siblings. After all, they were family, and she was kind-of sort-of calling them unintelligent. But even he could get that it would be pointless. Besides, like it or not, he found Ari funny. So long as she wasn't annoyed with him, or anything. Best just let her talk!
"I suppose I could." He said, though not being totally sure he would. It might be awkward, or something! The yellow male was bad enough at being social in his clan, imagine trying to visit someone else in theirs!
...And then it started to rain. Ooooh. Right.
"We should get this done with." An with that statement of the obvious, Tawa half hurried half slipped down the tree to get more of the branches he'd gathered. They would have to be quick if they wanted to finish before the tree got too wet to climb!
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:06 am
Ari giggled in a partly maniacal way - unbeknownst to Tawa, Ari quite liked to think that she could one day be known enough to amass some followers. Her minions, she could call them! Tawa could just be the start of a new life. All these thoughts swirled in her head, making her feel quite fond of the future, though her smiling stare at Tawa could have been misinterpreted affection - or worse, appreciation.
It didn't matter that rain was now dripping on her fur, now washing away some of the dirt and clay that stained her pure white pelt.
"Oh, no!" she remarked, trying to hide some parts of her fur under what could have acted as a sliver of cover on the tree, "I spent all day getting this on!"
She grunted then, frustrated at the rain's act, and hurried to gather as many branches meshed with twigs as she could in her mouth - which held a few of them, surprisingly enough - and swung back up to connect them to the others.
On her second trip down, she scooped up what seemed to be a wide piece of bark. Ahh, maybe this would work. When she jumped back up to the tree, she placed it on top of the already-placed branches, and it was big enough to cover her head and a bit more of her small body. She looked back at the working Tawa, pretty sure of not wanting to make a third trip, else more of her fur would get wet - meaning more clay stains lost.
"So, uh... Tawa, right? I'd hate to ask this, but, uh... You're not as smart or skillful as you think, huh? I mean, if you covered the top of the holes you dug instead of the whole thing, we could have had a mid-rain meal. Or maybe a pool to bask in!" she said, perhaps getting a little ahead of herself, "I mean, if you were a good hunter, you wouldn't have needed to dig up those holes to do the work of a good ol' sharpened claw."
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 8:41 am
Tawa's ears folded back awkwardly at the giggling, assuming that he had done something dumb. He tried to figure out what that might have been, but couldn't, so he figured he would just leave it be. If it were so bad a thing, she'd probably mention it rather than just sit there and smile.
He was very surprised at her sudden remark, and then her efforts to keep herself dirty. Tawa himself was okay with getting dirty, but he certainly didn't complain when he got cleaned up! He watched her efforts from the corner of his eyes as he worked on the covering for his little shelter. Maybe it was best just not to comment on that. Ari Waya seemed to just be happy doing whatever she felt like doing, and he might as well just let her do it.
Tawa was working above her, simply out of politeness so she could be out of the rain sooner. She had managed to make a nice enough cover for herself, but Tawa figured he'd best just finish off her side first, then work on his own. When she spoke to him, the yellow lion wondered if he should be offended. Had he ever thought himself smart or skillful? Wasn't she basically calling him dumb?
... He came to the conclusion that he wasn't the sort of lion to get his mane all knotted up over what she said.
"I suppose you're right." He said nonchalantly. Besides, that was a smart idea. If he took this canopy he had made and covered a hole, anything would probably just wander right onto it. "As for hunting, I hunt... Okay, I guess. I just wanted to try out the holes." If he thought about it seriously, making a good enough hole to use as a trap might actually end up being more trouble than just hunting.
"What I was thinking was, if you made a really large hole, you could chase more than just one animal into it. So you'd get more food at a time, and it would be less tiring for the huntresses." He had watched them hunt sometimes. Good as they were, there were always more misses than there were hits.
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