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 Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:17 pm
 The fresh scent of rain was already in the air, fall had descended but that was only noticeable by the change of weather. The plains were hot or not, but never too cold or wet.
Tafari had long since learned that right after the rain was the best time to hunt mortal birds scrambling about for their worm meals. The mud didn't bother him, he loved it, it added a challenge to this hunt. Much of the exposed dirt became slippery, the task was not to stumble.
A wide toothy grin stretched across his face as he spotted his first prey. short legged birds were the best. He crouched further letting the fur on his belly squish into the thick mud. All focus was on the bird now. His tail flicked back and fourth slowly.
Last he had checked the area was clear of mortals, but to be sure he still remained in his young mortal form. Who would second look a normal colored lion? It wouldn't matter anyways. He could take anything and anyone. But for now, the bird. He wanted that bird.
His fingers flexed and chin pressed against the mud. Almost time.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 6:38 pm
 One minute the bird was there, pecking away at the ground, the next moment there was a woosh and a thud, a flurry of feathers, and then there were two birds, the original and the grayish-white, brown- and cream-winged falcon that had killed it. The bird's small crest rose and he hopped a bit on his kill, looking up at the sky. "I told you it wouldn't hear me coming, old raptor! You owe me half a snake!" the bird, Altair, called shaking out his feathers. A large, and familiar, secretary bird suddenly swooped out of the sky and managed a hopping landing next to the younger bird of prey, clacking his beak in disapproval. "Aye, but did you scout the area like we taught you? No!" Hermes asked before knocking the falcon off of the dead bird with a wave of his large wing. "Oh, Hermie, he's just trying to make you proud," Tari's voice spoke before she dropped her invisibility to reveal herself sitting on a nearby rock. Her boys had gotten used to her flying invisible long before. She didn't want mortals freaking out when they saw a lioness flying and her bird form could be so taxing at times. Hermes just shook his head and began grumbling in a language that Altair hadn't quite picked up on yet, something from his and Tari's travels before the young falcon had been born. "It's a very good kill, Altair. I'm very proud of you," Tari added, smiling as the young bird beamed up at her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:28 pm
Tafari almost jumped on the second bird before the big familiar blue thing arrived. He had seen that before. He remained crouched and listened to their discussion a bit as he debated jumping on the one that had taken his prey.
One, two, and there was the answer. Tafari blinked as he looked at the familiar multicolored goddess. Touf? No, it was almost like his name... Tari! She was all grown up! It had been a long time since he had last seen her. Funny how he still hadn't changed a bit.
Well, she could pay price for the lost pray. He could get the bird back easily. It's not like they pray was easily lost, he could have gotten it before the other bird came in. Tafari mentally assured himself that he was in no way bested by a young avian.
One, two, and he launched himself toward Tari with claws still sheathed.
"Tari!" He called at the last second in midair. In the excitement he had not bothered to drop his mortal form.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:41 pm
"EEK!" the very WHITE lioness cried as another creature came flying at her, calling her name and sending them both straight into a puddle of mud. Her eyes widened when she finally recognized the face and smell of the slightly smaller lion, the god she had met what felt like a lifetime ago... Tafari!
"Tafari!" she exclaimed, looking surprised for a moment before she whapped him with a heavy paw.
"What's the big idea tackling me like that! You've gotten me all muddied!" She definitely sounded a bit annoyed, but she didn't seem mad at him. In fact, her face showed her rather happy to see an old face again. Besides Hermie and Altair, she never ran into the same creature twice. It was getting annoying.
Hermes and Altair had leapt into the air, ready to defend their goddess when her exclamation gave them pause. Hermes just rolled his eyes and set back down on the ground, turning his head to preen his feathers. Altair, on the other hand, landed closer to the gods and hopped even more so, trying to figure out who this new male was.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:59 pm
Tafari puffed out his chest in victory only to be smacked by. "Hey..." He half laughed half mumbled. His mortal form washed away as he recovered from the heavy smack. Still looked the same as he had the first time he meet. A 'problem' he had yet to explain to anyone.
He paused as he looked over her new adult self. She was taller, mind you not by much, but enough for the man consciousness to feel a bit threatened. Without realizing it he puffed again. Maybe she wouldn't notice.
"Nothin' wrong witha little mud. Makes ya feel more alive!!" He laughed and gave the approaching hawk a side glance. Of course it had to have been her's.
"So, uh, what'cha been up to this time? It's been like forever! And it looks like ya got yourself another bird thing!"
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:08 pm
"Ugh, all your fur is brown, I have white fur. You know how hard it is to keep myself looking clean?" Yeah, Tari was complaining, but the wasn't really any reason to try and be all noble about it. She didn't really like mud, especially not on her fur.
She sat up and started to try and clean herself off, her own mortal form fading away. Lucky for Tafari, she was too busy dealing with the mud to notice that he was shorter than she was.
"Running around, getting to know prides and people, looking for my papa, still." She didn't mention her cubs, she felt so bad about it that she didn't want to talk about it. She glanced at Altair when Tafari mentioned him, saw the falcon hopping closer and closer. She just gave him a small smile and a jerk of her head and he flew to perch on her shoulder, something Hermes was too big to do.
"I met a falcon who worshiped me. She gave me her egg as an offering and Altair's been with us since he hatched. What have you been up to?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:20 pm
He shook himself off starting from nose tip and ending in tail tip. The long blond fur on his head puffed out after the process.
"A lighter brown." He shrugged and took a closer look at the bird. "That is awesome! Never had that happen to me before."
Tafari sat back on his haunches.
"Strange we haven't crossed paths before this. Heh, I've just been wonderin'..." and avoiding his own old man. But he decided not to dig much into that topic. "Life is a big game and I'm still winning."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:29 am
Altair's feathers ruffled as he stared at Tafari from his perch on his goddess' shoulder.
"Tari, make him quit it," he mumbled, making his goddess laugh. She shook her head slowly, still giggling a bit.
"He doesn't like being overly observed," she explained, giving the falcon an affectionate little nuzzle. Not wanting to be left out, Hermes walked over with the dead bird and plopped it down.
"Don't waste food, Altair." The secretary bird's voice was stern as he frowned at the falcon, his beak clacking as it always did when he was annoyed about something. Somehow managing to look sheepish, Altair hopped down and started plucking the feathers from his kill.
Tari looked a little bit uncomfortable when Tafari called life a game, but she did her best to hide it. She didn't think it was much of a game, more like a flight in a hurricane sometimes. So much had happened to her since she had met Tafari... Things she wanted to tell him, things she didn't think she could.
"Sometimes Fate just has different plans for us, I guess."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:57 pm
Tafari couldn't help but look at the prey he had lost with a little bit of jealousy. He hated to loose anything. Not wanting Tari to catch on to his little miff he promptly looked back at her with his casual smile.
"Nothin' wrong with being looked at too much. Means others like what'cha got. Well, hopefully... It's good to think so. Makes ya feel better." He laughed.
His tail flicked behind him. Luckily for Tari he had not picked up on her unease at his description of life.
"I'd say so. But ya can't let that beat'cha." He nodded.
Life, everything really, was a game or a competition to him. Not that he would go out of his way to force others to 'loose' (prey aside), in fact it was something he encouraged greatly was for one to live and enjoy the long game of it.
"Always come out on top and you'll do just fine right?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:15 pm
"He's just a little skittish around new people and sometimes worries that other creatures look at him as food," Tari replied, starting to clean her fur off. As usual, Hermes started helping her get the mud out.
He was right. Life seemed to throw a lot of gusts at her, but she couldn't let that beat her, or her boys. Altair didn't know much about his goddess' past, just knew that she was looking for people. At least not to her knowledge. She normally waited for him to fall asleep before she let all of her feelings catch up with her. Hermes was her confidant, Altair was her adopted baby.
"Sometimes you have to sit back and let someone else win, though, you know? I mean... You'd let me win sometimes, right?" When she paused, she grinned a little and batted her eyes at Tafari in mock flirtation.
"Oh brother," Altair muttered with a beak full of feathers, earning him another buff from Hermes' wing.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:19 pm
Tafari gave the bird another glance before he was literally slapped with her statement. He blinked at the bird before looking at Tari with a rather lost expression.
"Uhh..." He paused in thought. "Well... It wouldn't be a real win if someone let'cha."
He nervously scratched behind his ear with his hind leg as a wild dog would. It was a whole new game she had presented with that question.
"I mean, wouldn't you like to feel better about winning by actually winning something?" He spoke as if unsure of his own answer. It was a terrible question to have asked an ambitious individual.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:29 pm
Tari giggled and put on even more of that fake charm. Tafari was getting all flustered with it and, frankly, she was finding it rather adorable.
"Right, but there wouldn't be any harm in going a little bit easier on me, now would there? In fact, I think I'd see it as being rather gentlemanly. Oh, don't let me win all the time, but, like, every once in a while's not bad. Right boys?" With her last question she looked from Hermes to Altair. The former of the two birds nodded solemnly. He'd learned a long time ago that it was okay to let Tari win their races or little games every once in a while if she normally wouldn't. Losing made her try harder and winning, even if she wouldn't have, made her feel accomplished.
Altair, on the other hand, ignored the statement in favor of his catch. A stern clack from Hermes had him nodding as well.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:38 pm
Gentlemanly? Letting someone win was unheard of in Tafari's books. That wasn't much of a sport. What kind of gentleman would let a lady feel unaccomplished?
Tafari stopped scratching his ear and sat up straighter than a pole. He combed his mind for a way to answer these questions. Such a touch game she had created!
"But, you wouldn't feel so accomplished that your opponent wasn't giving his all right? It just seems unfair to go against someone not even trying. Kind of insulting to your ability." Tafari shifted his weight from side to side. "That wouldn't be very gentlemanly-like would it?" he added nervously.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:50 pm
Tari just smiled and shrugged.
"You never know. Some ladies might like it, some might. I get less frustrated when Hermes sometimes lets me win at our little betting games," she replied and stuck her tongue out at him when he ruffled his feathers and started sputtering.
"I know you do it, don't even try denying it!" she added before he could say anything and drew him into a hug with one paw.
"I know you do it because I work so hard to improve and you're always going to be a better hunter than I am, but I don't feel like I'm fighting a losing battle if you let me win sometimes." The tall bird melted in the embrace and snuggled close to his goddess.
"It's my lot in life to make you smile, babe, even if my pride sometimes has to take the blow."
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:17 pm
Tafari's brow raised at the display of the lioness and the bird. The concept was still so alien he could hardly understand what she meant by any of that. Why would the ladies like feeling?
"I still don't get it..." Tafari admitted sheepishly. "It's a weird thing to like. I'd want to make sure the lady felt she was good enough for all my effort."
His tail flicked and he let out a laugh. "Ha, unless this is some other kind of contest. I could do it than I guess. See who can make their lady happier..." He let out another laugh. "I think I'd be pretty good at that."
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