[FIN!] Grown But Not Mature (Saagar’tarang, Clermellie-Pie

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clermellie-Pie could not help how silently she moved through the jungles. She was a huntress, it was what she did naturally. She was just about to turn back toward Home Tree and tell her hunting partner what signs she had seen of game for their hunting tomorrow, when she heard a commotion nearby. She changed course toward it to see what was going on. The sight she found was quite amusing. Saagar'Tarang was being accosted by a bird. The irony was not lost on Clerm, whom knew the Whisperer adored other creatures and tried not to harm any one of them in any way.

It would have been less amusing if not for the chuckling of her winged companion on her back. "You know, Saagar'Tarang, you are supposed to be nice to the birds. They are not something we hunt." She grinned at him teasingly, knowing full well he would never hunt anything unless he absolutely had to. He was not exactly one that liked hunting since it caused harm to other creatures. "What do you think, Pikelis? Think the big old lion, should apologize more to the poor ickle birdy?"

Pikelis hopped from the lioness' back up onto her head. She had to quiet her laughing a bit to answer, but that was only took a moment or two. "That depends on what he did to the poor ickle birdy. His apology might have been accepted... maybe." The green and yellow bird could not help finding amusement at seeing such a big lion being scolded by such a little bird. She settled herself rather smugly down onto Clerm's head like a hat and chirped another laugh.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

"I see you, Brother." Clermelli-Pie chuckled and remembered the first time she had met the male in front of her. "So from poking your nose in at weaver birds with supervision, to tormenting young birds barely old enough to fly. I see the mighty have fallen a bit, young Whisperer." She kept an eye on the bird to see what it would do. It had seemed like it had the flying part under control earlier when it was accosting the male. Birds could be so fickle and strange sometimes.

She watched the bird as it took flight again and flapped about oh so merrily. "Yes, I see he has taken to flight rather well. Perhaps he will stay around and find ways to curb that out of control curiosity of yours?" She grinned to show she was only teasing and set herself down to watch further. Her tail went around her paws and her head tilted to the side, which forced Pikelis to shift a bit as well. It did not dislodge her from her perch, though.

Pikelis repositioned herself as Clerm's head tilted, managing to keep her seat and let the lioness do her normal head tilted like a bird thing while talking. She thought it was amusing even if nobody else did. The bright bird looked at the younger one and chuckled as she spoke to him. "Every bird should have a lion to bother. It makes life interesting, and scares off the nasty critters that would try to eat us."  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clermelli-Pie chuckled at the male and shook her head in amusement. Sata was such an odd male at times, or so she thought. Then again she was a huntress and he was one that believed in harming none, so there were decided reasons there was a gap in understanding between them. "You cannot even keep from laughing at the idea of it being unfair slander, Sata, for you know it to be true." She winked at him and grinned wider. "I am sure you will ever be the curious male and get your muzzle into trouble. Just take it from me, pythons are not sensible creatures."

She watched the bird flit off and knew very well that Pikelis would not follow. The bird rather liked being able to sit on the lioness and let the lioness do the traveling. It was one of the many things that Clermelli found amusing about her little winged friend. "Perhaps just not meant to be yet, hmm? One should never give up completely on the idea of companionship." Clerm rolled her eyes up as if trying to look at the bird on her head. "How did we meet... well, Pikelis was stuck in a fern."

Pikelis gave a negative little chirp to the other bird before settling down more on the lioness' head. She was not going to go flying off and leave her lioness! Clerm was much better than following another bird. "I got hit with something while I was flying, a stone I think, and fell into the ferns. They broke my fall rather nicely and are probably why I did not break a wing, but I could not get myself untangled and free of them afterwards." She very gently pecked Clerm's head. "I was trying to hold still to not attract attention and think of a way out of it, when Clerm spotted me and used some claws to help get me loose."  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clerm chuckled and leveled her head back out to give Pikelis a better perch. In her opinion the bird was being overly flattering, but that was just her opinion. Everyone perceived things differently and in this Pikelis had a very different perception than Clermelli-Pie. Clerm saw it as just doing what was right. What point was there in letting a bird to die or killing it? This bird was not the sort that one killed for food, and there was no point in killing or letting die what was not going to be used. The lioness also knew she would not have wanted to be let in such a situation if she ever found herself in it. "I have been well enough, Brother."

To the blue lioness, she had simply done what should be done and found a good friend out of it. She did not regret having the bird's wings to help spot prey on the hunt, or to carry messages to others. Of course, she also loved the bird's company, for the creature had a sense of humor rather close to her own. It was amusing to have Pikelis voice things that Clerm might keep in her head. Of course having someone to have a 'battle of wits' with was amusing too. They did have their fun and for that Clerm was grateful of having the little winged creature. "Warthogs are not easy hunting especially the young bores. I will be leaving those alone as will most of the hunters... especially if they are still near the borders. I am one of the few that goes so far from home tree to hunt, and my partner is not always up for such a long trek to hunt."

Pikelis preened herself and looked quite smug on her head perch on the lioness. She very much was a green and yellow hat at the moment, but that was find by the bird. "And then of course there are days she takes me along to be her hunting partner and we bring back smaller things." The bird was quite proud of what she could do to help the lioness do her duty to the pride. She could not complain about the company either. Who would want to? The lioness was very nice, shared the bird's sense of humor, and scared away most things that would find a bird Pikelis' size worth eating. There were definitely good reasons for hanging around the lioness.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clerm was amazed at how serious and grown up Sata sounded when he said about the warthogs. It was so different than usual. He never seemed so mature on nearly anything else she had seen him undertake or heard him speak of. It was a nice, refreshing change for the lioness's ears. Her yellow eyes sparkled as she watched the male closely. His interest in Pikelis gave her the perfect opportunity to watch him without too much notice. Of course, she was not expecting him to turn his attention back to her so soon.

"It is a very good partnership. Pikelis is a wonderful friend and very considerate." Clerm was shocked at the question about her time outside the pride. It had been sometime since anyone asked about that. Then come to think of it, Sata was young enough to not have seen her come into the pride with her cubs and have gotten that story, even if he was a good enough friend in her opinion to have been told it. "Yes, I was born and raised outside the pride... on the borders of a swamp. My parents looked like myself, and spoke of Eywa, but they never spoke of where they came from. I think they thought the pride was lost. My brother is out there somewhere as well."

Pikelis noticed how Sata looked at Clerm and chuckled to herself. Oh yes, this male was just amusing. Between the googoo eyes as he looked into her eyes and his questioning of private matters as if he really cared to know her, the bird was starting to think this male might actually like her lioness. Who knew if anything would come of it, but at least Pikelis could sit here and listen while he prodded Clerm into telling things she rarely spoke of. That information was good to have when one was so close with another.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clermelli-Pie looked out into the distance for a moment and sighed. Shaking her head, the lioness brought herself back to the here and now. She had pretty much three families now: One here, one out in the roguelands, and one that was two of her cubs with Roth. She missed the two cubs more than her brother and parents, but she missed them all. Even if she did get her parents and brother here to the pride, she still would missing two cubs. It was the way of things. She at least had gotten to visit with Marinette once.

Thanks to some old friends, the red female with black stripes had found her way to the borders of the pride and waited for Clermelli to come near before she made her presence known to speak to her. Mari was not nearly as cheerful as Clerm had remembered her, but the pride the cub was taken to explained much of that. "Maybe one day he will, and perhaps one day my parents will come here, but my family will never quite be whole. There are two offspring of mine that will never come here. One red with black stripes, and one black with red stripes."

Pikelis kept watching the two and found Clerm's wistful tone rather odd. The lioness hardly ever allowed herself the impractical 'what ifs' and regrets. Her outlook was always things that happened could not be changed, learn from it and move on. It was nice to know Clerm was not immune to such thoughts, even if she had learned to move past them. The other cubs was something the bird did know about, but not all the details.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Clermelli-Pie laughed at Sata's abashed look. To her it was so funny the way he looked all droopy and sad at asking the question. "My dear friend, why do you look so ashamed? You have not said anything wrong... do you not like hearing about the less than pleasant in life?" She moved to nuzzle his cheek. "Do not look so upset if it is on my account. Things that have happened cannot be changed. Marinette and Crue are with their father and his pride... I have seen Mari, but I am sure from what she has told me, I never want to see Crue again. He has turned out much like his father."

The lioness put a paw up on Sata's nose. "I need a mate to create a family, silly. And there are more than enough other pretty younger females, including your sisters, to take the attention of the males off an old lioness with cubs like me." She hoped he would cheer up. The world was not perfect, but letting it worry a lion so young was a shame. Of course, the lioness should have taken her own advice on that, since she let things like not having a mate get her down.

Pikelis chirped and took flight as the lioness moved forward suddenly. She landed on Sata's head for a moment to let the lioness finish her affection before returning to her. Once Clerm's head was still again. The little bird eyed her but decided to stay on Sata for a bit. "Better weather up here, huh. All these white fluffy clouds to stick your head in." It was a slightly masked jab at the fact that he seemed a bit innocent of the ways of the world.