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 Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:01 am
Imbali was creeping around at night. She had been tracking earlier in the evening after sundown before a pack of wild dogs ruined her stalking. They made the game wander off. She growled at them while they whined and sat with her about what was she going to eat. She just pretended to be giving up. The last thing she needed was a bunch of animals lurking behind her waiting to share a meal they didn't help procure. No way. She wasn't the charitable sort, and she wasn't treating anyone to a free meal.
She was out keeping an eye out for a late night wee morning our snack. It was at least around midnight or later. Most of the savannah was asleep. This was her favorite time of the day. This was when she truly felt like herself. Her nocturnal side made her feel empowered and at her best. She felt like all good things happened at night. This was soon validated as she happened on a large patch of grass near a tree with branches hanging so low and wide spread. This lion laying there was completely shrouded.
Her eyes ticked from one side to the other. All the ideas rushed into her mind at once, but before she would dare to make a move and start something. She wanted to be sure no one else was here to ambush her while she was doing the ambushing. She made a quick reconnaissance of the area. Finding it nice and empty of others, she returned to her entertainment. She thought silently to herself, ~Oh look who it is... sleeping like a little baby. Aw.. how sweet... just like the little cub he is... He could be dreaming of elephant hunts, hyena chases, and lazy afternoons. But, OH DEAR! What if he were having a nightmare about some firekins coming to enslave him. Well.. that would be a shame. I best make sure he isn't suffering.~
What her last line meant was that she would make sure he was in fact suffering. The same kind of suffering he inflicted upon her. She wondered how she ought to do it. She then looked around again. A mischevious grin played across her features. She wouldn't be obnoxious and noisy. No. She'd do this Imbali style. That meant something devious. She slithered up behind him and started to oh so very lightly pet and stroke him all over with her tail.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 1:49 pm
Naruto’d had a very long previous day, having accidentally wandered upon a mother wart hog and her little of little ones. He hadn’t even been hunting, and wasn’t interested in eating them besides – for some reason warthog always left a funny taste in his mouth – but Mama warthog hadn’t known that of course. All she saw was a big lion, and subsequently, all Naruto had time to see before being chased away was some red fur and a flash of tusks. Then all he heard as he quickly avoided what would have been a nasty slash to the side was irate squealing.
Thankfully he’d gotten away scratch and gouge free, but it’d been somewhat of a close one. Thankfully for him, warthogs couldn’t climb, and he’d simply treed himself at the first opportunity. The angry mother hog had decided better of her persuit once she had him up the tree however, figuring perhaps that maybe right underneath a large predator wasn’t the best place to be, especially with little piglets to take care of. So happily he hadn’t been forced to tree for very long – not that he would have minded, he loved trees – and was able to go about his day afterwards.
For some reason the encounter with the hog had set him on edge though, and he’d been jumpy the rest of the day. He’d decided to find a nice napping spot around mid afternoon or so, figuring he could wake back up after dark if he felt hungry. It was there that Imbali found him, fast asleep.
In his dreams, the tickling and stroking of her tail became near misses of the warthog’s tusks swiping at him, and his tail twitched in response, one of his paws jerking in the fashion any sleeping animal’s does, giving the faint impression of running.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:26 pm
Naturally, as Imbali wasn't quite as divine as she considered herself. Thus, she had no way of seeing anyone's dreams, but she could see these little movements of his in his sleep. His reflex of running in his sleep made her freeze. She stopped and listened, smelled, and watched. After a few seconds without him waking up, she grinned to herself.
She crept up and then began to very lightly groom his ears. She did it lightly and gently. It was so light; the very sensation felt as though you both feel like you're being touched and yet you don't. She had done it to others, and they usually had goosebumps ripple up their forearms or shoulders. She then started to gently massage his neck and shoulders. Every now and then allowing her claws to slide out and p***k him a tad. Not roughly or enough to pierce his fur and skin. They were just occassional sharp tingling sensations that made many a feline go 'woooooaahhhh' as it makes you feel like something hurtful is about to happen though it doesn't. It's like a tactile version of when someone eats a spicy food that tastes like it's about to be spicy but doesn't get hot.
She went on to amuse herself with him in such a way. From time to time in times past, she had found herself in a couple tight spots. More mature and advanced lions would trap her and make her pay the price for her fun and games. She didn't give this guy a second worry. She never even gave him the first worry. She figured he was much too juvenile to give such a concern to.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 5:29 pm
His nervous dreams of being chased by angry wart hog mothers and their over sized tusked piglets squealing faded slowly away, the scenery of his dream shifting amorphously as dreams do, from a dark landscape of savanna and scrub brush to a more mountainous area, one he’d traveled through with his mother as a cub.
The fur and skin of his shoulders twitching in response to the gentle rubbing and pricking, remembering in his dream his mother grooming him roughly to clean him of the dirt and dust of the mountain desert. The large lion shifting to curl up more, as if submitting to being groomed by a parent or a mate, a faint purr starting to crawl from his throat, intermitten and soft, and still very unconscious, nothing the leopard was doing unpleasant enough to wake him.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:10 pm
She rolled her eyes at watching his responses. Bah. That was boring. She sat there looking at him with eyes that were formulating other possible plans. Part of her just wanted to swipe at him and claw the crap out of him somehow. Still, he hadn't woke her up with any kind of violent attack. He was just being annoying.
Finally, she came up with a new idea. It would require time, so she snuck off to bring a few sticks. She then left to go kill a few small rodents. She brought them back, and then she sat with the sticks. She tried to remember how she someone skilled with something that was called fire. She wasn't afraid of it, but she rarely bothered with such a thing. It was normally a waste of time, and she was never interested in spending time heating up food that she could just suck down in all it's bloody goodness.
She sat for a while wiggling the stick on another stick on a log. When it finally got a spark, she laid the other sticks on it and sat at her little campfire. She stuck her head up in the air in a rather smug way. Of course she did it. She was too fabulous not to. She was pretty sure the wood would have lit itself on fire to please her in fact. Then, she started to hold each of hte rodents over the flame and cook them. She then watched the sleeping lion to see if the smell of cooked meat would rouse him.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:42 pm
While the leopardess prepared her cook out, Naruto curled over on his side and snoozed on, his rest returning to a dreamless state. It wasn’t out of character for him to sleep deeply even when danger might be around, so the rustling of sticks and otherwise quiet shuffling noises of her preparation of the fire didn’t disturb him nearly as much as it really should have.
His nose and sense of smell really should have been better at picking up the signs that someone was near him, but he was woefully undertrained in detecting danger, not that he would ever admit such a thing. Nor was he quite completely aware of it either. Not that either of those things bothered him in the slightest.
Naruto turned over in his sleep as Imbali got the fire started, nose twitching slightly as the first tufts of smoke flickered into the air and across his face, snorting in his sleep a minute or so after as it really got going.
But, in insult to his instincts, he didn’t wake to the smell until the rats fur started singing and getting nice and cooked. Finally he snorted himself awake, the smell of burning and cooked meat and fur at last jerking him into consciousness. “Huh? Wha?” he stumbled sleepily to all four paws, moving away from the smell of fire in fear.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:48 pm
Her eyes flicked over excitedly when she saw him rustle awake. She had felt on the verge of giving up. She was all for fun and games,but it just wasn't fun to poke at a dead body. Someone who was too hard to wake was just as good as dead. His sudden moving away in fear appealed to her greatly. She smiled an honest to goodness fully entertained grin. Score. Hot diggity.
She then set down besides her the cooked rat. She then took a badger. She split it open with one of her claws and took the fur off. The smell of the fur though helpful in waking him up. If she were planning to eat any of this; she'd have to defur it all. She hated eating the dirty, flea ridden fur of other animals. She just wanted the muscle or whatever there was to be had on the inside.
"Why..... look who it is... I didn't even see you sleeping there. I'm sorry... Did I wake you up?" She tried to look as sincere as possible. She didn't know if she was pulling it off very well. Of course, she was lying through her teeth there.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:54 pm
The sound of rending fur and flesh brought him fully around whereas for some reason the fire hadn’t. Then his stomach grumbled and it suddenly made more sense why that would be the case. Not that he consciously realized any of this. What he consciously realized was that the leopard he’d seen rather recently was for some reason sitting not too far from him, delicately clawing apart a scorched mini animal corpse of some kind.
“Uhh…..” he stammered, blinding the sleep from his eyes still, lifting a paw to rub at them, no longer afraid really, just… very weirded out. What the hell was with this lady?! The orange and black lion blinked a couple times in succession.
For some reason he bullshitting didn’t even phase him. It was obvious she had meant to wake him up, she’d built a damn FIRE, and then started COOKING things! “…You didn’t mean to wake me up yet you made me a midnight snack???” For some reason a grin started to crawl over his face. The smell of cooked meat… it was just too nice. Even if the fire had freaked him out, and he wasn’t eager to put his paws near it.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:22 pm
Well even if she had been found out so quickly, she wasn't just gonna give it up. She planned to have a little more fun. She then looked partiall coy and partially caught off guard and slightly confused. "What do you mean made YOU a snack? Well, I do suppose I could let you have the little rat. It ended up cooking more than I like. I also got ahead of myself and forgot to take the fur off. I absolutely despise a mouth full of fur."
Not only was she retaining the bigger piece of her meat for herself, selfishly as usual. She also flicked her tail from one side to the next. She had planned to be even more devious. However, the smell of the piece of meat she was cooking finally got to her. She realized she couldn't continue to torment this kid unless she ate something. She then conceded. "Here.. just take this one..." She flung the nicely cooked rat at him.
She turned and plucked the larger animal off the campfire. She devoured it greedily. Then, she grew a smirk. "I didn't even know you were there. I just happened to be in the mood to sit down and eat something. Anyways, it serves you right. One good turn deserves another some say. You woke me up. Now, I woke you up."
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:02 pm
His blue eyes had been riveted on the meat until she spoke, then they snapped up to her face, and he lifted his head as they did so, making him look somewhat awkward. “Fur isn’t so bad. I don’t think I’ve eaten burnt fur before though…” Naruto eyed the small sort of burn object that she referred to. Hm. Maybe it would be tasty. Either way his stomach said go for it, so what the hell, why not? What was the worst that could happen after all?
Eager teeth and mouth snatched up the fat rat as it was slung his way, snapping it neatly out of the air. Whatever else he lacked, the young lion had quick reflexes once he was awake. When he was anticipating something at least. He had always liked hunting, and he kept himself well fed. Things that were fun were naturally easier for him to get good at, and hunting was one of them. Fighting… not so much yet. It was something he thought he ought to work on, but he preferred to get along with people when he could.
Naruto crunched up the rat, finding the taste…. oddly charcoalish. Though it’d be reasonable, since the way things smelled was usually the way that they tasted, after all. But he’d never put it in his mouth to find out. But once his teeth got down to the good stuff, well that wasn’t so bad at all. Juicy and red and fresh, just warm in a different way than he was used to. And it did taste different, being mostly cooked. It was an odd taste, but one he could grow to like, and one he wouldn’t mind trying again.
It wasn’t until after he had finished eating that he registered what the leopardess had said, his ears perking forward and a snort working its way from his nose. “You big liar. Nobody is stupid enough to just make a fire so close to somebody in this kinda land where you can easily see most everything without noticing them. Not unless they’re blind or can’t smell.” He stuck out his tongue at her for childish emphasis.
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:09 am
Well his calling her a liar didn't phase her in the least. He merely earned a wink. "Still serves you right though. It was pretty entertaining. Which by the way, I am a big fat liar. I totally saw you there sleeping. What were you dreaming about? You were totally jerking in your sleep. Running like a cute scared little boy..."
She went back to finishing off her snack. She had already eaten most of what was inside. Now, she was just sucking on bones as she was taking them apart. She did approve of her own what was that they called this method of eating... cooking? Yes yes... And of course, why wouldn't it? It was blessed with her own paws. Naturally, it should be delightful. If the universe wasn't such a clown about the incident of not having been born to a god actually; that was a joke. If she actually were, she was quite sure her food would have healing properties. It would make felines feel like they were born again just about.
"My name is Imbali by the way. You may call me "Your Highness", "goddess", or just Imbali. I have spared you from a vicious attack as would have been my first inclination when I laid eyes on you. However, where is the fun in mauling someone who's sleeping. That's such a cowardly act. Instead, since I have spared you that suffering, I shall accept you as a pupil and apprentice." She said so in a most benevolent tone. She even believed every word that came out of her mouth just then.
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Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:57 am
Naruto snorted at the wink. Cocking his head to the side a little as he listened to what she said, squinting his eyes – not because he couldn’t see but just because it was his habit – when she admitted to being a liar. But he pouted a little and looked away when she asked him about his dreams. He didn’t want to admit to dreaming about his mother. He hadn’t seen her or his siblings in ages, and he often just told people he was an orphan and had never known his parents, because he liked to avoid the subject of family. Besides, it was more fun to pretend he didn’t have one, for some reason.
“Nothing much, I can’t really remember.” It was a decent lie, but he didn’t really care if she saw through it. For some reason he thought she might have been messing with him while he was sleeping, just evidenced by the fact that she bothered to ask. Or she could just be messing with him by asking…
He tipped his head to the other side, watching her get caught up in a few moments contemplation over her food before she spoke again. He wondered what she was thinking, but he wasn’t going to ask. This lady happily shared her thoughts way more than most people would probably like, and he wasn’t about to ask for more.
“Er…. Thanks Imbali.” A ‘nice to meet you’ wanted to come out, but there hadn’t really been much that was very nice about meeting her the first time, and this time, well, she had given him food, but other than that, she kind of weirded him out still. So saying ‘nice to meet you’ just didn’t feel right. “I’m Naruto. And, uh, thanks for the offer, but I’m not really interested in becoming anyone’s student at the moment. Besides I think you’d get pissed off and try to kill me or something.” He spoke with a hesitant grimace as if the words would provoke such action themselves, but from her previous actions, he had every reason to suspect they might…
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:24 am
Her eyes narrowed for a moment. Fury burned inside of her for a few moments. This being rejected though it was mild and not over anything serious in the slightest. After all, she hadn't really come to recruit him to anything. She had merely made a gesture since he had provided her with some entertainment.
She let that expression leave her face quickly. She had a poker face like a steel trap, and she had no intention of allowing anyone to see how effected she felt by things unless it was by rage or flattery. Though she wasn't opposed to showing rage; she decided it best not to lest this piece of trash see her bothered. If he could even tell, then she rolled her eyes. Of course, he wouldn't be able to tell. He was thick as a buffalo hide.
"Well. it's been real. I best shove off and go find someone who's been on my mind as of late. Try not to be so obnoxious and wake people up all the time, will ya...." As she got up, stretched, and sauntered away; she jetted her rear leg as she passed; kicking him good in the side.
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