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 Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:22 pm
Lutum was exploring, something Nawiri had been encouraging him to do ever since he and Eione had gotten, well, not comfortable, but used to living in the Kitwana'antara. The cub understood that this was a safe place to be overall, with many adults to protect cubs like himself, so long as he was only exploring within the pride's lands. He still wasn't sure he liked living here. Lutum missed Aestivus, but he was starting to understand that his father...just wasn't a very good father. And living here came with steady, reliable meals, and not having to walk too far every day was pretty nice. But he still walked anyway. If he was going to be here for who knew how long, he might as well know his way around.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:34 pm
Pingana was having a quiet, uneventful afternoon without anything in particular demanding his attention. He had decidedly found himself a nice, shady and out-of-the-way spot to lay and just keep an eye on the goings-on around him. He didn't care for days like this, he didn't have anybody he spent any amount of time with so his time tended to drag on and on until it was time to patrol again.
He did seem to have a talent for spotting wandering cubs, though. He noticed Lutum heading his way even from a distance and he kept watching the strange little fellow as he kept moving. It was hard to decide if he looked busy or bored. Pingana recognized him as the little prince recently presented by Nawiri'chiwa, though he hadn't ever gotten such a good look at him before.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:39 pm
Lutum was wandering aimlessly when he caught sight of a big lion. It was the first time he'd really met an adult lion other than Aestivus.
And the lion was looking right at him.
The brown cub had no idea what to do. He was new to this sort of thing, and Nawiri hadn't really had anyone else near her den before. Well, Ezekial and the like. But no big lions like this black and white one.
Nawiri had been teaching him and Eione about manners and how there were things you were supposed to say when you saw people and when you asked things and when you got things and there was so much that Lutum just couldn't keep it all straight.
What was the one she'd kept emphasizing? That's what he'd say.
Lutum headed for the lion determinedly. He was going to...to talk to him!
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:46 pm
If Pingana hadn't had so much practice, he might not have been able to hide his smile when he saw Lutum stop and stare at him before heading for him looking like a little lion on a mission. So the large lion simply stayed where he was, watching passively as the cub marched up to him. The closer he got, the harder it was for Pingana to stay silent and passive but he was most determined to let the little prince make the first move.
He had absolutely no idea what to expect. He might simply get a greeting or he might get scolded for staring- or he might get both. Or he could completely ignore both obvious choices and go for something more observational, like that little green cub had.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:49 pm
Lutum came right up to the white and black lion and sat himself down less than a foot away, looking up. Wow, this lion was biiiiiiiiiig. Bigger than Aestivus. It was easy to tell from the cub's current viewpoint.
So he was going to talk to him. He was going to say the words that Nawiri kept trying to get him to say all the time and then...something would happen. He was going to say them all right. He'd say them...right now.
"Thank you."
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:03 pm
That was probably the very last thing Pingana was expecting the cub to walk up and say to him. Obviously he had been learning how to be polite, her must not have a complete grasp on when it was most appropriate to say what. He wasn't sure how to respond, though, so he said the first thing he could think of.
"You're welcome," he said, now openly smiling, looking a touch puzzled but generally amused. It took another quiet moment before he continued.
"Where are you off to by yourself?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:06 pm
Well, that wasn't so bad! And he remembered that "you're welcome" followed "thank you" so obviously he must've done that right! That made Lutum feel much better about this whole exploring thing. It was so weird though, being without Eione. Weirder than it had been to be without Aestivus, but both had been strange. At first. He'd gotten used to his father not being here. Mostly because he just couldn't imagine Aestivus spending any length of time anywhere.
"Just the pride," he answered. "Who're you?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:14 pm
"Ah, exploring your home?" he asked, half-wondering if Lutum had sneaked away or gone off exploring with permission. That last cub turned out to be sneaking around but there was something stranger about questioning the prince. Even if he was sneaking, more eyes would be drawn to him anyway so perhaps he was better supervised regardless.
"My name is Pingana," he introduced himself, "You're the little prince Lutum, aren't you?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:18 pm
The cub rolled his shoulders in a shrug. He supposed the big male could call it a home, but he wasn't sure. It was a place he was living, that was all. Lutum was afraid that the only way he'd ever feel this place was "home" was if Aestivus came back and he didn't think that was happening. Ever. Not to mention that each day he was here, Aestivus was getting farther and farther away and even when Lutum was as big was his father, the odds of him ever being able to find said father were so small as to not exist at all.
Pingana, huh? That was an interesting name. Well, all names were interesting. He just hadn't heard many before coming to the Kitwana'antara.
"Yeah, I'm Lutum." He didn't like being called a "prince" though. He still wasn't certain what it meant. Nawiri kept saying it meant that he was her adopted son, since she was the Queen and ruled the pride. It just didn't make sense to him yet. Then again, a lot of things didn't make sense to the brown cub yet.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:09 pm
There was no easy way to guess why Lutum shrugged at the question about exploring his home, though it did make him more curious to know if Lutum was wandering with permission or not. There wasn't much else to talk about now, small talk was hard enough with adults.
"Pleased to meet you, Lutum," he said, "Do you like wandering around by yourself?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:16 pm
"I guess," the cub replied. Doing anything without Eione at least was still sort of weird, but he was getting used to it. Doing anything with anyone other than his sister was just plain bizarre and Lutum wasn't certain he cared for it.
What was "pleased to meet you" though? He knew all the words, knew "please" was an important manners word that Nawiri liked him to use when he asked for something. But he didn't think Pingana was asking him for anything.
"Well, bye." The cub turned and left. He had no idea what else to say to Pingana, and he didn't feel much like wandering around more today. There was always tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that...
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:35 pm
Prince Lutum obviously wasn't much of a talker and when he ran out of things to say he had a very direct approach to ending conversations. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Goodbye," he called after the cub, watching him go back in the direction he had come from. Very interesting. Even more interesting that cubs seemed most eager to approach him to chat lately. Perhaps it was just a sign that the pride was happy and growing. It certainly seemed peaceful enough, even with the fairly recent disappearance of the king.
It wasn't all that bad, though, he decided as he got up to his feet, determined to go find a new place to go camp out in for the afternoon.
Fin!
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