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 Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:49 pm
 Theluji wasn't keeping track of the time since she'd first started her quest. She didn't want to know how long she'd been away from the Swamps or her family and friends, her mother. She knew it wasn't that long, but it would still upset Theluji counting every second, minute, hour, day that passed that she was away from home. It would probably hurt more than having to leave in the first place, so Theluji refused to keep time. Any time. She slept when she was tire with no regard to the day or the night. She hunted when she was hungry, making several attempts before she got the hang of pouncing prey here outside the swamps.
Hunting outside the swamps was the worst part. Hunting was so lonely here without small creatures doing their own hunting in the foliage, noisy, chirping, hissing, rubbing legs together. Here in the lands outside of the pride, a lioness was truly alone except for the herds of prey that could be just as dangerous as a lone predator. She hadn't even seen other lions, felines or predators.
Theluji felt the hunger pains of an empty stomach becoming insistent. She stalked the lands searching for prey to take down, a straggler, a loner, a single prey without its herd to protect it.
After a little while, she spotted an oldish gazelle, limping. She would do just fine.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:12 pm
 Shabnam kept quiet as she approached the gazelle. It was an old one and limping. It probably had been attacked before but was lucky enough to get away. This time the gazelle had run out of luck. It was going to die eventually due to the limp. She may as well put it out of it's misery right now. Her stomach was empty and she needed food too. The gazelle was actually too much for her to eat but it would have to do. She was not stupid enough to attempt one of the bigger prey wandering around.
Shabnam waited till the gazelle felt comfortable enough to start eating again. It's head was facing away from her and it was occupied. Now was the time. She pushed her hind legs against the ground and chased after the gazelle. It started to run but the limp made it slow. She chased after it and eventually got a hold of it's hind leg. It slammed into the ground and she quickly went to cut off it's breathing. It was something she learned from watching prides of lions hunt. She didn't like her prey to suffer.
It was while Shabnam was eating that she noticed a lioness not far away. She bared her teeth and backed away from her meal. She had only taken a few bites but she would not risk her life for a meal. Where there was one lion, there were certain to be more. Her eyes swept the landscape, looking for the others that were with the lioness.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:28 pm
Theluji watched the hyena take down the gazelle she'd planned to take as prey in awe. The rainbow haired hyena was amazing. She'd taking it down without making the gazelle suffer and quicker than anything Theluji could have done. She was like a lion! All quick and agile and - pounce! Down went the prey.
"Wow, that was amazing." Theluji said sitting on her haunches and smiling at the hyena. She didn't want to get in her way of her meal, and she didn't really want to be pounced on like that either. "Where did you learn to do that? I was taught how to pounce in the swamps, so out here it doesn't work the same way, at least for me it doesn't." Unlike with all the boys she'd somehow befriended, the hyena wasn't a boy and so Theluji found herself being more friendly and talkative. She refused to admit it was because she was really very lonely.
"I'd like to learn how to do that. Every time I take down my prey, it takes awhile for the thing to die and me to eat. And I'm sure the prey would prefer a quicker death than the slow deaths I've been giving them. Could you teach me?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:54 pm
Shabnam kept backing up, her eyes looking for more lions. Surely there were more. It was odd to see a lioness wandering the lands by herself, much less one that wasn't fully grown. Shabnam growled at the lioness, even though she seemed to be nice. That just confused her.
Unsure of what was going on, she cautiously went back to her meal and dragged it away from the lioness. Then Shabnam sat back on her haunches with her prey in front of her. It was a few seconds before she finally bent down to start eating again though her eyes rarely ever left the lioness in front of her. She heard the question that was asked and was even more confused. How could a lioness not know how to take down a prey like that? It was from lions she had learned it.
It wasn't until after sating her hunger that she answered. "You should know how to hunt lioness. It is lions I learned from. Perhaps you could just watch and learn." She looked around. "What is it that brings you here alone? Where is your pride?" There was a good amount of meat left on the gazelle and Shabnam was not going to finish it. She may as well give it to the most curious female in front of her. With her nose, she pushes the food forward and then quickly backs away.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 10:37 pm
Theluji frowned in curiousity and looked around wondering what the hyena was looking for. When she saw nothing but the herds of prey about, she shrugged and settled down to bask in the sunlight and the company. She didn't take offense to the hyena backing away with her downed gazelle and quietly eating on her own. Theluji could be patient and was. She thought about trying to take down the gazelle or any prey animal the way the hyena did and it kept her occupied while the hyena ate.
When the hyena spoke, Theluji perked up. "Really, you learned that from lions? In the swamps even thing is kind of closed in and not as open as it is here, so it's easier to corner prey rather than take it down, though I'm sure that talented hunters and huntresses could do it. But I'm not a huntress. I'm a pilgrim from the swamps." Theluji gestured toward home so far away now. "I need to find my name and so I left the pride because you have to find your name on your own. Do you know where you could find a name? I really would like a name. Then I could go back to mommy. And it would be a very quick Naming Quest."
As the hyena offered Theluji the remainer of her hunt, Theluji's stomach rumbled. She'd forgotten about her hunger. She blushed. "Excuse me." She slowly, because the hyena was still worried about something and Theluji wanted to make sure she moved with out distracting her from whatever it was she was guarding again, walked over to the offered meat, sat back down on her haunches and smiled. "Thank you." Mommy had taught her good manners. Theluji tucked into the meal feeling the pangs of hungry slowly ebb away as she ate.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:27 pm
Shabnam finally accepted that this one was alone. What a strange lioness indeed. She had no idea what a naming quest was. How could one go through their life without a name? Why would her mother send her off alone in the rogue lands, especially when she was clearly out of her element? All these questions had no answers that she knew of. Clearly this lioness was from a pride. Swamps, Shabnam had never been to that area of the lands. She had not grown up there and avoided it. No wonder she didn't know how to hunt like the other prides she had seen.
"You don't have a name?" Despite being wary of this lioness, she did not feel threatened. "What is a naming quest?" Shabnam wanted the answers. That way if she ever encountered any others from this swamp pride, she would know what it is they are doing. She would have left if she didn't want to know these things.
She frowned and said without emotion, "Your welcome." The lioness had been really hungry. Probably because she couldn't hunt. She still could not understand why a mother would send out their child when she was not fully an adult and could not hunt in these lands. The possibility of starvation was high.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:30 am
Theluji ate slowly, having already experienced the mistake of gobbling food. It hurt her stomach more than a hungry pang. "I used to have a name, but it was my baby name. I need to find my adult name, otherwise I will never be an adult and can not be any help to the pride, our queen and to Mama Asali." Taking a few more bites of the meal, Theluji smiled. Gazelle really did taste good, especially when she didn't have to wait for all the blood to drain out of the prey before it died. It was as dry.
"You do have naming quests here?" She tilted her head and thought about that. Lions and hyenas and other predators kept their baby names. While it seemed weird to Theluji at first, she studied the hyena while she chewed. Whatever the hyena's name was, even given to her at birth, that name obviously grew with them and became an adult name. She couldn't see the awesome huntress's name being a baby when it was so obvious that she wasn't. Names grew here.
"In my pride, names don't grow. So when we become a certain age, we are sent out into the world to find our real names, our adult names. The Queen or one of her littermates sends us on our way when we become old enough to survive. Some return relatively quickly, having found their names in a short period of time, but others like my mommy, don't return until they are adults with adult names and even cubs."
Theluji finished the meal, having peeled almost all of the meat from the bones. "That was very good, thank you. Not as dry and tough as the prey I've had so far." Theluji got up and stretched out, popping her spine and her neck. "I don't have a real name yet, but if you want you can call me Theluji. That's the baby name mommy gave me after I was born. Your name grew, what is your name?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:31 pm
Shabnam listened to everything that the young lioness said with her full attention. This may be important for any future events. She would have to remember this even if she did not fully understand it. Still, she could accept the differences that they had. The lioness was still very much strange and a stranger to her.
It took Shabnam awhile to kind of put together what she was saying into something she could understand in her mind. So that was what a naming quest was. It was like a coming of age thing for those in her pride. That made a lot more sense than a naming quest. I guess it was a test to make sure that only the strong came back to the pride. That was somewhat cruel but logical. A weak pride would not survive and would not be able to fend off attackers. She could definitely appreciate their traditions since she believed in hard work herself. "If you really need it. I'll show you how to hunt like I do." It would not do to have her starve and Shabnam would consider it cruel to let her go without teaching her a basic survival skill. It was something this young ones mother should have done.
Shabnam still did not trust the lioness but she was given a name and that deserved a response. “My name is Shabnam.” She dipped her head slightly without taking her eyes off of Theluji, “Nice to meet you.” A thought came to her and she voiced it to the young Theluji. “How do you know when you've found your adult name?” She wanted to know more about this tradition from the pride in the swamps.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:11 pm
Theluji perked up. If she had been excited before, now she was hyper. She practically vibrated, bouncing on the tips of her paws. "Really? You'll teach me to hunt like you? To pounce the prey so there isn't much time between the pouncing and the eating? Really, really?"
Shabnam. That was a nice name, but Theluji didn't think that Shabnam would appreciate her telling her that. Shabnam might think Theluji was trying to steal her name for herself, and she didn't want to upset her friend. Because that's what Shabnam had become to her, a friend. Someone to talk to and hunt with, even if it was for a little while. "It is very nice to meet you, Shabnam."
Theluji sat down suddenly lost. She hadn't thought of that. How [i[was she supposed to find her name? Would she recognize it when she heard it? "I don't know." Theluji sunk to the earth, her shoulders slumping and her excitement gone. "Why didn't I ever ask Mommy about her naming quest?" Theluji whispered the last, staring at the ground and the dirt. She really wanted to cry, and a few tears escaped before she could stop them. Mommy would have told her if only Theluji had asked, but she never did.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:56 am
Shabnam frowned at how overly enthusiastic Theluji seemed. Did this young ones mother not teach her that you shouldn't trust strangers? Just because another seemed nice didn't mean that their intentions were good. She was just about to give Theluji a piece of advice on her quest when the young lioness suddenly seemed quite lost.
Shabnam sighed. She sincerely hoped that Theluji survived this naming quest that she was on. This made her even more convinced that when she had her own little hyenas, that she would equip them with all the knowledge they needed to live life on their own. In an attempt to console Theluji, she gave a few words of wisdom. Well, they were wisdom to Shabnam at least. "Usually, answers come to you when you are not looking for them. The trick is to keep pushing forward and to do your best in whatever it is you set out to do." She hoped it made sense to Theluji.
Shabnam looked up at the sky. The sun would set soon. Night was when the predators really came out. Prey couldn't see as well. Shabnam usually preferred to hunt at night but if the opportunity presented itself like it did today, she took it. These lands were dangerous to a lone hyena and a lone lioness, a young one at that. Maybe Theluji could get away from any prides or survive an encounter because she was a lion. Shabnam did not have the same luxury. She knew all too well that lions did not tolerate hyenas in their territory. It made her smile that she ran into the one friendly one. "We'll need to look for a safe place to sleep. It is not safe to be out at night in these lands."
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:40 am
Theluji nodded. Shabnam made sense, even if Theluji didn't understand how she was supposed to find her name when she shouldn't look for it. But moving foward and not dwelling on her past mistakes was very wise. If she could follow it was a different story and Theluji wasn't all that sure she could. She thought about Mommy and her siblings all the time and about the swamps, comparing these lands outside to them constantly. Because the terrain was so different, hunting skills were different and it only continued to be different.
Shabnam suggested they find a place to sleep for the night and Theluji stood up again, looking around for shelter. Usually she slept under trees or out in the sun, but Theluji didn't think Shabnam would approve of those venues. They were shelter after all, and so weren't safe for the nights. "Are those lent-to rocks over there suitable?" Theluji asked pointing to the massive red rocks to the northwest.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:47 pm
Shabnam looked in the direction that Theluji pointed. The massive rocks were definitely suitable. She nodded and said a simple, "Yes." Perhaps she had underestimated Theluji's survival skills. It was always good to find a safe spot to sleep. The rocks would also make a good scouting point. They could look for prey as well as any other predators like them.
Shabnam started to walk towards the rocks that would become their shelter. She didn't look back to see if Theluji would follow. If the young lioness wished to stay by her, then it was not Shabnam's choice. "Which way were you heading?" She wondered if they all went a specific way or if the direction they traveled in was random, unpredictable. Slowly she was beginning to trust Theluji. The lioness did not pose her any harm from what she could tell and was friendly enough. That did not mean that they were friends of any sort though. For now, they were traveling companions till Theluji could hunt without any problems by herself.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:12 pm
Theluji shook her head as she hurried to catch up to Shabnam. She didn't hurry too quickly, feeling that the hyena, hyena-ess?, was still on alert, and she didn't want to distract her in any way.
She was proud that she'd pick a good spot. Even if she hadn't been sleeping in it before she'd met Shabnam. Theluji would be sure to find safe and suitable places to sleep from now on, even if she and Shabnam never saw each other after this encouter. Theluji would feel that she'd let her friend down and didn't take anything from their meeting. And that wouldn't be right.
"Any way, Shabnam. I wandered at first and then I followed the prey. And of course, avoiding the big fluffy males." Theluji answered. "I wandered to the waterfall first and went for a dip but that was some time ago. I still liked that waterfall. Maybe on my way home after I find my name, I'll be able to stop by it again."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:21 pm
Shabnam surveyed the giant rocks that Theluji had picked out for their shelter. She nodded as she looked at them, a slight smile upon her face. One of them would be good to climb onto to scout out the land. "Good job Theluji. Remember to always seek out good shelter. There are those in this land that will not hesitate to attack you. Not all will be like me, especially other hyenas." While Shabnam had grown up with other hyenas, she did not like to steal meals from others that worked hard and was not usually aggressive. She didn't want Theluji to leave her with the idea that all hyenas were nice.
The mention of big fluffy males made Shabnam look at Theluji funny. "Big fluffy males?" She did not even know what that meant. The males of any species were always bigger but fluffy was not something she'd call any of them. The waterfall sounded nice though. Shabnam usually avoided places with a lot of water because other predators were just as drawn to it. Perhaps after Theluji found her name, she'd seek the lioness out and together they could visit the waterfall. It would be interesting to see how Theluji would turn out after her naming quest and what her new name would be.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:08 pm
Theluji nodded looking around their temporary den. She'd make sure to always look for safe shelter. From now on. And hopefully Shabnam would never find out about her careless travels before Theluji had met her.
"Yeah, the big fluffy lions. With all that mane and tuff, they end up taking up more space than they can physically." Theluji explained, settling down into a comfortable spot and position. "I don't know why they have so much fluff? I understand why they're bigger, but the fluff makes them three times bigger. And then females all fall all over them and I don't really get that either. Males are need to make the cubs, but females can just raise the cubs themselves, like Mommy. Maybe if there was a lot of boy cubs born in a litter, a partner was needed and a male would help, but if there's only one or two, then why can't the Mommy just raise them?" Theluji shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't trust them and all that fluff."
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