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 Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:12 pm
Laka, who had been jogging at Kalanu's side, pulled ahead in her excitement, pausing at the edge of the shallow stream and then reaching up with a paw to point in the direction she was taking them. "Do you see that, over there, Kala?" She asked, stepping aside to make room for the other female. "I found it a while back when looking out for a friend."
On the other side of the stream - where the water deepened with the natural curve - was the mouth of a cave. It was not a large cave by any means, wide enough for one lion, perhaps..
"It's narrow but quite deep. Deep enough to be able to shelter in. Anyway, when I found it, I was with my brother, Fala. It's really echo-y inside and we were yelling and laughing and the cave made our voices all distorted; just like a monster!" She leapt onto one of the rocks and then began to wade across the stream, giving a small chirp of surprise as the water got deeper and reached her stomach. Scrabbling back up onto the far bank, she sat by the entrance and then growled into the cave to demonstrate. The growl ended with a chuckle of amusement. Then, she continued her explanation: "I think, since you have dark fur, if you hid at the back, we could convince Poa to think it's a monster hiding inside and then you can jump out and scare him." She grinned. "What do you think? Could it work?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:47 pm
Kalanu was happily following along with Laka, excited to play a trick on Poa to help him have a little more fun. Normal fun, anyway- she didn't want to think he didn't ever have fun after trying to convince him he did have fun being a guard. This just sounded like way more fun to her, and it helped that Laka was so excited, too.
She had no idea where they were going or what exactly was about to happen but she was all for it. When Laka came to a stop and indicated out across the stream, Kalanu hopped up beside her and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully throughout Laka's explanation. She was silent until suddenly her companion was on the rocks to head for the cave. With a squeak, she followed after her.
"That sounds like fun!" she agreed brightly, "I can do that!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:44 am
"Excellent!" Laka's eyes brightened and, spinning around on her paws, she turned to glance in the direction that she was sure Poa could be. "Alright, I shouldn't be too long. He's never far away. I'll talk loudly so you can hear us coming." Talking loudly was all she ever seemed to do. "Be right back!" And then she skittered off in search of her brother who she did manage to find a few minutes later. By the time she arrived she was slightly out of breath and that helped her act as she stumbled up to where he was on patrol. "Brother! Brother! You have to come quick!"
Poa startled and trotted across to meet her. "What's wrong? Laka?" He lowered his head to peer at her but she seemed only to be out of breath.
"I ran all the way here as fast as I could. There's...there's a monster!"
Poa looked unconvinced. "You saw this monster?"
"Well...no." She admitted. "But I heard him! It was in the cave, the one by the stream. I heard it growling and grumbling. Poa, what are we going to do?"
He looked at her a long moment as if to try to find the lie in her face. She still panted but her eyes were large and darting. "I'll go and check it out, that's what. You'd best stay here just in case its a rogue hiding in there waiting to cause trouble. I don't want you getting hurt, do you hear me?"
"No!" Laka interrupted. "I'll come with you. I'll hang back and get ready to run if it attacks! I won't get in the way, I promise!"
And reluctantly he agreed - so long as she remained well back so that she could flee if danger did rear its ugly head. She was still chattering about how horrifying it was when the cave came back into view. "Is that it? In there?" He asked, hesitating a moment.
"Yes!" She huddled close to him a moment. "Do you hear anything?"
"Keep your voice down!" He warned. "And stay right here. I mean it, Laka." He put as much authority into his voice as possible and then, with one last look he turned and made his way across to the cave, his paws splashing in the shallows as he neared.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:09 am
Once she reached the mouth of the cave, Kalanu stared in with wide eyes. She had never really spent so much time playing games like this, the idea of being alone in a dark,strange cave was a bit unsettling now she was looking at it. But Laka was right there, encouraging her, so of course she went in as soon as Laka ran off to find Poa. Kalanu used her toes to judge how far back she could go- when she couldn't see the white of her toes anymore, she was far back enough. She did think about her eyes adjusting to the dark but her eyes would be fine, it was Poa who shouldn't be able to see her.
She was starting to get nervous again when she heard Laka and Poa approach, it was hard to hear but it was quiet. The idea of the game put a smile back on her face and she hesitated only a moment before letting out a low test-growl. The echo was hard to hear at first but continued when she stopped growling, so she let another louder but short growl out. It was hard to tell through her own growling but it certainly didn't sound normal when it echoed. Random, short and changing bursts of growls seemed to be best. So that was what she did.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:30 am
And as he neared, he heard a low sound. A sound odd enough to give him reason to pause. It was much like a growl except that he couldn't judge whether it came from a big or a small creature (or monster, as Laka would put it). Even still, his heart had quickened and the only thing that kept him goign was the fact that his sister was watching. He didn't want her to think that he was a coward!
Moving closer to the cave, he tried to pretend that the growling sounds were nothing more than the wind whistling through the rocks.
It would be okay. There was no such things as monsters! What was the worst that could happen?!
"I can hear it!" Laka hissed from somewhere behind him.
He swished his tail in a silent sign for her to be quiet - though she likely didn't understand that's what it was for - and took another step, summoning his courage. "Who's there? Come out right this instant!" He tried to make his voice sound authoritative but it sounded rather flat and his ears flicked back nervously. "Do you here me? Come out!" His own voice echoed in the cave as he took another short step forwards, not really wanting to go into the cave in case he ended up getting stuck.
Behind him, Laka smothered a giggle into a paw.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:51 am
"Eee!"
Very suddenly there was a loud yelp and Kalanu came scrambling out of the cave, bowling right into Poa in her hurry to get out. It all happened so fast, and even she wasn't ready to meet any opposition in her sudden escape attempt, and ultimately she landed on the ground. Disoriented, it took a minute before she can say anything.
"Something touched me," she said, "I panicked!"
What was going on now?
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:02 pm
The darkness grew eyes - wide and wild - and then he felt the impact of the collision that threw him backwards into the stream. He let out a strangled cry of fear and thrashed a moment in an attempt to get up - except that the monster was on him and he couldn't seem to get leverage. And then, as quickly as it had come, the weight was gone and he scrambled to his paws, panting with the shock of being attacked.
He turned to defend himself and his sister when a loud, familiar voice gave him reason to pause.
His maw fell open. "K-Kalanu?" A shocked blink and then: "Kalanu Kalisetsi of Mantis Clan!? W-what?!"
Behind him, Laka erupted into amused laughter and crashed through the water to join them. "Fooled you! Fooled you! Good one, Kalanu! You were brilliant. Did you see his face? It was all--OH! Kalanu! You've got a spider on you!!" The little grey female waved her paws in a panic.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:14 pm
Now that everything was light- and her eyes had the time to adjust as she lay there awkwardly half on the rocks, half in the stream- it didn't seem so scary anymore. She looked at Poa, giving him a sheepish, almost apologetic smile. She didn't look over to Laka until she suddenly exclaimed there was a spider on her. With a squeak, feeling far less panicked in the sunshine, she pushed herself up to her feet and shook herself off in her a hurry.
"Is it gone?" she asked, feeling a little dizzy, "Next- next time, you can hide in the cave, Laka."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:20 pm
Poa just stared for a moment and then everything fell into place and as he watched Kalanu shake the spider free, he gave a gruff sound and sat right there in the shallows. He was soaked through anyway, so it didn't really matter now.
Laka dashed over to Kalanu to inspect. "Seems gone to me!" Then she dusted off some stray webs from the dark fur and gave a nod. "Yep! All gone!" And then she giggled again. "Next time? Okay, that's a deal."
Poa huffed. "There's not likely to be a 'next time'. I'm not going to fall for the same trick twice. I hope you two had your fun."
Laka's face fell. She had obviously been hoping that Poa would have seen the funny side. "We were only playing, Poa..." A pause and then she dropped her head lower and added: "Sorry..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:03 pm
Kalanu sighed in relief when Laka declared her spider free, backing up a bit so she wasn't in the water and sitting herself down. She looked at Laka with a smile-- until Poa huffily scolded them for playing a trick on him.
"Aren't you glad it was me and not a monster, Poa?" she asked, still smiling even when Laka apologized, apparently gaining the optimism Laka gave up now that she was over her little scare with the spider. She wasn't really expecting it would work a second time, she didn't literally mean next time they would be hiding in a cave again. Poa's point did not affect her at all.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:18 pm
He opened his mouth to respond but apparently rethought it as he then clamped his jaw shut and mulled over his response for a moment. "I...suppose so." He admitted after a moment. "But that's not the point! What happens if next time there is a monster and you come running but I ignore you because I think it's a trick?"
He stood quickly, shook the water from his fur and regarded them with stern eyes.
Laka's eyes were still large and pleading forgiveness.
"I've got no chance, have I?" He asked after a moment. "Not with you two teaming up on me." The corner of his mouth quirked...in amusement, maybe? "What did I do to deserve this, I wonder?" He was, after all, one of many siblings in his family. Surely there were others who had better senses of humour than he did.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:26 pm
Kalanu was almost relieved when he admitted it was better that it was her than a monster- he couldn't be that upset if he was willing to say that so soon after, right? She even dared to smile at him, despite his next statement and his stern expression.
She didn't want to say it in front of Laka but she was certain he'd come every time, trick or not.
"This is what happens when you make friends," she answered, smiling at Poa.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:28 pm
Poa made a show of looking exasperated. "Friends? Well, I guess Mother and Father will be happy that I'm not the 'sad little loner' any more." He eyed Laka who kept her mouth firmly shut - though only for a moment.
Sensing that the worst of his grumpiness had passed, she was back on her paws and moving back into the water, splashing her paws in the shallows. "No one called you that, Poa. Well...not in those exact words. They're only worried about you, you know. Besides, wouldn't guard patrol be a lot more boring without us to stir things up?"
She eyed her partner in crime with amusement. "Anyway, we'll make it up to you! We'll spend the rest of the day keeping you company, right Kal?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:42 pm
Despite Poa calling himself a sad little loner, she kept on smiling at him. She wasn't sure how serious he was about it and she wasn't sure there really was a good way to respond to it. She finally glanced over to Laka when she tried to be encouraging, nodding to show her approval. Kalanu definitely enjoyed stirring things up for Poa while he was on patrol, even he had to know that by now.
"Right," she agreed, looking back at Poa, knowing he'd probably argue with the idea of being stuck with them the rest of the day, "Doesn't that sound fun?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:47 pm
"Uh...fun is not the word I would use." He supposed he could think of more irritating things, which was odd, because at one time, he would not have been able to. Clearly he'd gotten used to their antics by now. Perhaps he even expected them.
"Well whatever the word, it's not going to change that fact. Although...actually, I do have to go help Mother with a hunt today. I sort of promised since she found out I had been slacking." Her ears drooped sheepishly. "But Kalanu will still be here so you won't be alone." She bobbed her head enthusiastically. "So have fun you two! See you later!"
And then she was off, leaving a rather confused Poa standing by the stream. After a moment he turned and glanced at Kalanu, almost apologetically. "Sometimes...I wonder how we could be related."
/FIN.
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