|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:27 pm
Shula was looking for one Azar'bijan and for the life of her couldn't manage to find him. She blamed her tiny cub paws that didn't move as fast as those of adults. For all she knew, she kept just barely missing him! How frustrating.
Shula was determined to tell him just how often she was practicing. The fatalities of imaginary Nergui she would keep to herself, assuming he would not see the value of vanquished enemies that weren't real. But he would get a run-down of every beetle, rock, and grain of sand she had "guarded" for hours on end.
Unfortunately, the old guy she came across that afternoon was not the one she'd been looking for. Shula stopped and stared at him, trying to remember who he was -- or if she even knew who he was.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 6:56 pm
He did notice the cub right away, but Moto'spaki took a little while longer to decide to engage her.
Having settled down for a break after a few sparring matches with some of the other sentinels, the white male wasn't doing much. He had settled down beside a rock recently uncovered by the shifting sands, and was enjoying a bit of thinking time, though enjoyment might seem a strange word considering he had a slight frown on his face.
But it did seem like the cub was staring at him for quite a while, and it did eventually get a little distracting. Perhaps he needed a distraction. Besides, he liked cubs enough, sort of, despite barely ever spending time with them.
"Good afternoon, cub." He greeted her, turning his head to focus fully on the cub. The wings on her back seemed to indicate she was one of Kidondo and No's descendants, if he recalled correctly those markings were common enough in that line. "Is something the matter?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:19 pm
You bet something was the matter! Her name was not "cub", thank you. Ugh, she haaaated when they did that! She had a name, you know. They could ask for it -- or just take a freaking guess. If they picked Azar or Shula there was a 50% chance they had it right anyway.
"I'm..." Shula minded her manners as her parents (one of whom was named Azar) and Azar'bijan told her. In the case of the latter, she wondered what he'd think if she recruited help to find him. Probably that she was a loser.
"--I'm just wondering if I met you before." There. It was an answer that wasn't a lie. Not telling the full truth was different. "I'm Shula. One of them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:51 pm
"Ah." He said. A strange reason to stare at someone in such a large pride, but, whatever. Cubs would be cubs. "You probably haven't. I've been away."
Her introduction was amusing enough, though, he'd give her that. It even earned a slight, upwards quirk of his lips. "It's a good name. That's probably why so many use it." He shrugged.
"I'm Moto'spaki." Moto was also very common in these parts, so he could relate on some level, though the fact that there were so many other Moto's had never bothered him. Perhaps because he had never met or heard of another Spaki.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:34 am
Try as she might to maintain self-control over the muscles in her face, it was no use. Shula's nose twisted to the side and her eyes got smaller as if squinting against a glare of light. "I guess it is," she said sourly. "It's not like I picked it myself."
Her expression eased into one less caustic as his name settled in her ears. The first part, like hers, was familiar. The second was not at all, but being a cub (and an introverted one no less), Shula focused more on what she could relate to than what she couldn't. In light of this she told him, "My sister's name is Moto," which was not important to busy adult, but was always relevant to her. Without taking a breath, she went on to ask, "Away doing what?"
Was he a guard?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:53 am
Fair enough, he supposed. He might point out that she could probably change it, once she was older. If she really cared that much about being 'just another Shula'. But he didn't.
He also didn't comment on her sister's name, but that was because, first, she didn't give him time, and second, because it wasn't honestly all that interesting. "I was under Moto'seide's command, along with many others. We were acting as sentinels, looking for water sources abroad, and information on the Nergui." Among other things. Moto'spaki didn't mind telling the cub, since the nature of their mission wasn't really a secret.
"We will probably leave again sometime soon." Though this time, it seemed, without Moto'seide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:18 pm
Shula had no opinion of Moto'Seide. Granted, she had no opportunity to make one: a cub like her never interacted with an adult like that. Then again, she had never seen a Nergui and had plenty to say on that matter.
"Have you seen one? A real Nergui?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:00 pm
Probably the sort of question he could expect from a cub. "Yes." Though only a couple. Spaki had not been around for their most 'exciting' appearances, at least as far as cub-fancy went, when they had ambushed a group of firekin. But he had seen the arrival of Miah (and the Hongshan with him), and also been present at the meeting when the strange Nergui 'ambassador' showed up.
"Why do you ask?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:54 pm
Shula was very careful how she phrased things from that point on. If only she were as good at masking her hesitation and masquerading it as something else -- like a short attention span or losing her train of thought. She looked intense for one so small: her brows drew closer together and Azar'bijan himself may have been proud of a scowl like that.
"I was just wondering," Shula said slowly. It was half of a lie and half of a truth. Yes, she had wanted to know, but not "just" to know. "What are they like? Are they bigger? What about their teeth?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:38 pm
He might have laughed at her intense scowl, but the best he did was let out a quick huff of air. Besides, laughing probably wouldn't have pleased the cub.
Moto'spaki could understand why a cub might imagine the Nergui as more than just lions, the questions amused him nonetheless. "No, most of us are bigger than the ones I've seen." Especially old-blood Firekin, like himself, some of the newer rogue-bloods were closer in size. "We have one captive. Perhaps you might get a glimpse from afar." He wouldn't condone her running up close to the strange lion, but he imagined the guards taking care of Miah knew how to keep the curious cubs at bay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
