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 Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:27 am
For once in her life, La'u Khara'i was being indecisive. What male should she choose to be her Consort? The options were quite varied, which was certainly a good thing, but in some ways, it made the decision that much harder. They weren't so easy to compare to each other. She had, for the most part, ruled out the rogue-born Safi'bora and Theluji'Kilele, preferring native swamp lions based mostly on principle, but there was something still very appealing about Koda, the familiarity of someone she had already...known, as it were. She'd had cubs with him, although she hadn't been expecting to see him again at the time - her sight hadn't caught that he'd be coming back because he'd fallen in love with her! That, in itself, held great appeal for the vain Queen.
The others had potential, too, though. Penda kwa Upenzi was a seer, like her, although he was a complete neat freak. That, she suspected, would get on her nerves sooner or later. They lived in a swamp, for gods' sakes - they were never going to be clean, and anyone who disliked it should just get over it already. When it came to the two swamp-born, she was relatively certain she preferred Vyoga-kwaa.
But Koda...hmm. Maybe she would hold off on deciding until her children came back, and she saw them grown into themselves. Or maybe not. That would take time, and she'd already taken quite a bit. She had determined, at the start of all this, that one of the ways to ensure her legacy was to be very, ah, productive, much as her grandmother had been. She wanted desperately to be well-loved and well-remembered, and was willing to do whatever it took to do so - including having more children. And, when the time came - not anytime soon, though! - she would have more potential heirs to choose from. But who would give her the best heirs? That was the question at the heart of this.
Khara frowned to herself while she went back and forth for the umpteenth time, swirling her paw in a murky pool of swamp water.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:51 am
The thoughts about her upcoming quest were knocked short when a dark green frog hopped in her path. Not one to leave miss the chance of a tasty snack, Phailin crouched low to the ground, wanting to pounce on it. She was a clumsy little lioness, but she still would try.
After the first miss, the frog began to hop away, only to have Phailin follow it. She watched as it jumped into a murky swamp pool, before she launched herself right after it.
She didn’t notice the other lioness, the queen for that matter, near the water, or else she probably would have resisted the urge to chase the frog into the bog. But when she had, she gulped slightly. What was done was done. The light green (now covered in the murkish brown liquid) juvenile, turned her blue eyes towards the form of the land’s queen, a sheepish green on her face.
“…uh…Hello Miss Khara!” As she got older, she would likely address the queen with more of a proper greeting, but to Phailin now, all adults were Misses and Misters. She’d learn soon what ranks everyone held.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:02 am
Fortunately, along the lines that she had just been thinking to herself, the Queen didn't mind getting dirty, so the unexpected splash when the juvenile leapt into the pool after a frog didn't bother her too terribly. It was a little bit of a surprise, and she jerked her head up as her thoughts were interrupted, but she didn't scold the youth. Cubs would be cubs, and she could hardly be displeased with them for it.
Rather, her lips curled in a mischievous smile, and she flicked a little water at the green cub. She'd been in the frog-catching, hadn't she? Khara couldn't recall her name, though, as she didn't usually try to keep track of which cub was which outside of her own family. There were so many of them, after all, and they'd just be changing their names later, anyway.
"Hell, Miss...?" she trailed off, indicating that the little lioness should tell her her name. "Hunting frogs, I see. Are you hungry?"
Though she might not bother to remember all their names, she did make it a point to be nice to them - she wanted them to like her, especially when they were older.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:11 am
Phailin wasn’t use to hearing other call her by Miss, so the statement had caused the smaller lion to tilt her head. When she had trailed off, she guessed that the Queen was wanting her name. “Oh! Phailin! That’s what mommy calls me at least.” She also knew what her mother had told her about the name quest, and that one day she would find a name that would suit her even better than Phailin.
“I love hunting frogs! But…I’m not very good at it.” She remembered the competition she was in as a cub where they were asked to catch frogs. She had caught a few, but the slimy creatures had managed to slip out of her paws a few time, leaving her to not win at that game. She didn’t care if she won or loss though, she had fun doing it, and that was all that matter.
“Uhm…Kinda.” She knew it wasn’t near dinner time, but already she could feel her tummy rumbling slightly. She was a growing girl after all, and needed nutrients!
“I was gonna try getting this frog.” She looked at the murky water, and the now invisible frog hiding somewhere in its depth. “…but I think I lost it.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:55 pm
"Lovely to meet you, Phailin," Khara said with a slight dip of her head, rising from where she lay. "You'll get better the more you do it - growing helps, too. Bigger paws make it easier to catch them."
Once they escaped into the water, though, it was a different story altogether. But this was just a little pool, not connected to anything, so maybe... Peering into the stirred up water intently, the tip of her tail flicking busily behind her, she all of a sudden stuck her head down into the water. When she came up, her white forelock plastered to her face, she had a mouthful of frog.
She dropped it before her young companion. "There you go!"
Safe to say that Khara would not have done that for anyone but a cub, as it was rather undignified, but again, she did so want the little ones to like her.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:06 pm
Phailin couldn’t wait to be big just like her mother, or even the queen that stood before her. Being big meant she could do a lot more things. And, if she was able to catch more frogs on her own, that was always a plus.
Her eyes widened as she watched the Queen’s quick response to find a seemingly invisible frog in the pong. How did she…? Her jaw literally dropped as the lioness dropped the frog at her feet.
“Oh…thank you!” She said with a happy smile, pawing at the frog. She didn’t snack on it just yet, instead, turned towards the elder lioness.
“You gotta teach me how to do that!”
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:35 pm
"You're welcome," Khara said graciously, sitting back and flipping her hair out of her eyes. "It's about patience, really, learning how to see what's under the surface. Things moving in the water make the water move, you just have to try to see it. The rest is luck, and being quick enough."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:40 pm
The seafoam green female decided to give it a try. Her light blue eyes turned towards the water, looking for any kind of movement. There was small ripples, but she just thought it was from when she had jumped in the water earlier, or when Khara had dunked her to grab the frog for her.
But, when the water continued to move even moments after neither had been in the water, Phailin got the idea that this was the frog. Wriggling around, she watched for one more moment, before pouncing in the water, certainly splashing at the Queen again. When she came up, she felt something squirming in her paws. It was small and slimy.
“I got one!” She shouted proudly, holding up the wiggling frog in her paw. She hadn’t had a good grip on it, for it quickly jumped out of her grasp.
“…I had one…”
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:49 pm
"Very good!" Khara was no more bothered by being splashed this time than she had been the first - less so, even, as she was already wet and no longer lost in thought. And Phailin had done very well, catching a frog already!
...although she lost it soon after. The purple lioness chuckled gently. "It helps if you kill it as quickly as you can, then in can't get away."
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:56 pm
Phailin was proud at the compliment the Queen gave her! She would definitely have to go home and tell her mother what had happened! She would make her so proud, and probably get her two brothers very jealous too!
“…That would be a good idea…” She agreed with the Queen.
She was about to go for another round, but the time suddenly dawned on her. “Oh!” She gasped lightly. “I should get home! I promised mama I wouldn’t be out that long!” Grabbing the little frog in her maw, the lioness began to bound off, but stopped quickly.
“Thank you for the lesson Miss Khara!” she said with her mouth full, so it really came out as a jumbled mess. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell her mother everything today.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:17 pm
"Go on then, I wouldn't want to get in trouble for making you late." Khara laughed lightly - kids really could be cute, sometimes. She watched Phailin leave, then turned to go herself. Now that her moment of distraction was finished, it was time to get back to thinking, to making a decision.
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