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 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:57 pm
Fido was out on his own, playing in the mud. Already, he was the only one in his entire family (that he knew of) that was already the color of mud. His goal for the afternoon seemed to be to get his white patches completely covered-- and just covered wouldn't do, it had to look like the rest of his fur. Or it had to look natural. It definitely wasn't an easy task, the mud wasn't quite right where he started so he'd ended up wandering farther away. And then, of course, he needed to be near the water so he could control how much mud he was covered..
So far, he was really only succeeding in getting wet and dirty.. and he was OK with that. He had no idea how long he had been off on his own or where his siblings were, either, but that was OK too.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:09 pm
It was hot and it was somewhat humid. Another beautiful day in the swamp. And really, S'chor did love the swamp. It was the only home she'd ever known, after all, though she feared the nebulous day that would come soon, when she'd have to leave and find her name. She doubted it would be in the familiar swamplands. Of course, home had a few less than perfect aspects. Like mud. Mud was to be avoided at all costs. It felt disgusting when wet, and it looked horrible on her fur when it dried. And really, black and brown did not mix. That included her brother Fido's unfortunate combination of mane and body colors. S'chor hated to say it, but they just didn't work as well as her own black and white. Then again, Fido also had a distressing love of mud. Which made the lioness wonder just what it was that found her roaming the muddy swamplands, finally finding her brother. Who was, big surprise, playing in the mud. As usual. "What are you doing?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:13 pm
Fido, happily off in his own little world, nearly jumped out of his fur when his sister very suddenly appeared and questioned his activities. He looked over at her with wide orange eyes and, with only the slightest hesitation, sighed. Silly sister.
"I'm playing in the mud," he said, turning back to his efforts to hide his white foreleg, "Trying to see if I can get the white to match the brown- what do you think?"
He held up a muddy leg and looked at S'chor expectantly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:16 pm
Well, that was probably the most obvious answer anyone could have come up with. S'chor sighed inwardly. Why did brothers have to be so stupid? Of course he was playing in the mud. What else would he possibly be doing, getting so dirty? He couldn't even think up a sufficiently diverting explanation.
S'chor gazed critically at Fido's handiwork. All she saw was a mud-covered leg that was dripping - unexpectedly - more mud.
"If it matches, it's because you're practically coated with mud from head to toe," she sniffed derisively.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:23 pm
Fido hummed, looking from his sister to his leg and back again. He wasn't sure he liked the tone she was using but he didn't necessarily want to pick a fight about it. She wasn't very much fun, but then he wasn't surprised by that. She never liked to play in the mud, which was a shame because it wasn't easy to avoid in the swamp-- and it was a lot of fun.
"I guess that's something, then," he said agreeably, though somewhat begrudgingly, "Maybe I should start over."
He looked to the shallow water he was sitting by, glancing back to his sister once before getting up and wading in. He wasn't a huge fan of water on its own but it was useful enough and shallow wasn't bad.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:28 pm
S'chor considered a scathing comment about her brother getting the water all muddy, but what was the point? It was too late to do anything about it now and they did live in a swamp. Mud had a tendency to get everywhere. Even if the young lioness was fastidiously clean for the most part, her paws still squelched with every step and she knew she'd have to be especially thorough in her cleaning when she got home.
She didn't bother hiding her snort at her brother's comments. As if starting over was going to seriously make a difference in any way. Finally she sighed.
"You know the mud here's too light to really blend in with your fur. It's going to look two-toned unless if you cover yourself from head to tail. You should probably go by the gully and the big rock. The mud's darker there," the words came out fast, resigned and only slightly sarcastically.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:32 pm
Splashing around, Fido was happily entertaining himself again, expecting his sister to be.. well, herself and ultimately walk off when it became apparent he wasn't going to stop playing in the water and the mud. He would much rather seem like a jerk for ignoring her than getting into a fight and being scolded when he got home.
He stopped when, unexpectedly, S'chor offered advice. Looking up, he thought about what she said.
"No no," he said, shaking his head, "That's too dark, I tried there already."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:37 pm
She wasn't sure whether to be surprised that he'd actually tried that already or resigned to the fact that her brother preferred spending his days covering himself in mud all over the pridelands. The lioness settled for something closer to the latter as she thought.
There were many kinds of mud to be found in the swamp, if you knew where to look. She didn't doubt that Fido knew them all well, but it wasn't like she spent all her time with Mommy and Daddy either!
"What about the bit near the quicksand? It's lighter than by the gully, but still darker than this stuff," she offered. S'chor might hate mud on her beautiful fur, but she wasn't going to let Fido weasel his way out of this!
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:00 pm
Fido frowned at her when she suggested another place, shaking his head.
"No, I already looked everywhere, this is the best mud," he said stubbornly, refusing to accept that his sister might actually be helpful- she didn't even like mud, she wasn't supposed to figure this out easier than him, "I'll make it work!"
He ducked himself down so he was up to his chest in water, flailing around his front leg to try to clean it off.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:05 pm
S'chor made a face. It was just like a boy to refuse to listen to his sister. Especially when she was right. Obviously that was the only reason he was insisting that this mud was the best for his purposes.
Hmph. And the way he was playing in the water now made it look like he was trying to chew his own leg off. Which was just awkward and strange.
"The only way that mud is going to 'work' is if you roll around in it like a cub," she pointed out disdainfully. "No one who saw you would ever believe you were almost old enough to be a Pilgrim, and they might just think you were an evil spirit."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:14 pm
He stopped flailing when she called him childish and compared him to an evil spirit, staring at her in shock- and slowly he transitioned to hurt and settled at angry. He was being stubborn but she didn't have to be mean.
"At least I'm fun!" he said, not knowing what else to say as he stood up so he was only ankle deep in the water once more. There was a slight hesitation between what he said and the action he decided to take- extending his little claws, he scooped up some wet mud from the shallows and flung it at S'chor, glaring.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:18 pm
S'chor had been planning loftily ignoring her brother and leaving again. That was her goal.
Then Fido had thrown mud in her face. Filthy, disgusting, wet mud that covered her beautiful markings and got everywhere and made a royal mess of her fur.
Orange eyes opened wide and the young lioness gaped in surprise at the unexpected attack. Some of the mud dripped into her open mouth and she closed it with a snap. He'd gotten her dirty! Did her brother have no respect for a sister at all?
An adult would probably be mature enough to just leave at that point. S'chor, however, was just a juvenile.
So it wasn't entirely surprising when her own claws extended and she launched herself into the shallow water and onto her brother with a wordless snarl.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:24 pm
Fido wasn't surprised that it was that easy to get S'chor to fight back- though he was surprised he managed to hit her right in the face. He barely had time to grin triumphantly before she was lunging at him. He squeaked and made an effort to duck but he wasn't quick enough. He fell into the water with a splash, unable to properly counter his sister, he simply flailed, claws extended, trying to push her off.
"S'chor! Get off!!"
Their fight might have been rather quiet- and that much more safe- if they weren't in the shallow water. As it was, there was a lot of splashing.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:27 pm
Water and mud was going everywhere and for once it wasn't important enough for S'chor to notice. Instead she was much more concerned with how much damage she could do to her brother without getting into trouble with Mommy or Daddy.
"Not 'til you apologize for throwing mud in my face!" she squealed as she tried to restrain his forelegs with her own. Those claws were as sharp as her own and they'd hurt and scratch and draw blood if she wasn't careful.
Of course hers could do the same to him. But that wasn't nearly as important to the black juvenile.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:36 pm
Jitokeza was doing well not to be an overprotective father, considering his previous experience being a parent.. but once all the cubs had dispersed, he figured it was OK for him to go off and look to see what they were up to. Especially since they'd been gone for a while, which was true for Fido at the least. He wasn't trying very hard until he heard splashing and the familiar squeaks and squeals of his own offspring. He emerged from the shadows quickly, his eyes on the two flailing cubs in the shallow water. "Never!" he shrieked, continuing to fight against his sister. He wasn't thinking about her claws at all, though he seemed determined to use his own- which only made it more frustrating when she worked to stop him. He wriggled around, trying to free a leg to get at her face to push her-- "Fido! S'chor!" Jitokeza didn't need to see very much to realize it was good he was here to intervene. They might be allowed to settle some of their own disputes but this looked like it was starting to get out of hand. He splashed into the shallow water and reached down, grabbing S'chor, who was on top of her brother, by the scruff of the neck and pulling her off of him. This wasn't as easy as it used to be but he was still bigger than them.
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