- “Hello!” Siri called out, bounding across the thicket that separated them. It was nearly noon on a brilliantly sunny day, and yet the air remained cool. The hills were active and occupied as a result, the lounging of adults and the squirming of children a sight to be seen for miles. Siri was bored with the company of her siblings and had taken to the plains for a bit of fun. Wimbi, the boy at the other end of the greeting, delayed his wheeling about until after his critter chase had ended. At first he looked to his guardian, then to the shutter of leaves in the wind, and finally to the female nearly upon him.
While it wasn’t much of a distance to cover, Siri’s exertion in the approach landed all fours in front of the blue and black cub in a heavy pant. From there she continued to vibrate with an energy Wimbi could relate to, having spent the majority of his time until present with his energized siblings. Stranger or not, the whip of her tail too and fro jerked his head in a similar motion -- rocking his tiny frame from paw to paw -- and a slight stumble, coupled with her recline in a stretch, would encourage him forward. His motivation for play was known to change quickly, and without a word (to neither Siri nor his guardian) the cub was making his way around the female and to her rear, where the sashay had since captured his fancy.
“I said hello!” Siri repeated with a bit of an edge, sidestepping away from Wimbi only to face him once settled.
“Hello…” He muttered without the weight of his true excitement, the show of it more his tempo. Deep blue eyes wandered over the females form while the rest of him paused for the sake of balance. He was mesmerized, true to the very essence of it, but not for the reason Siri might think. If he were able to hold a thought long enough, he might have asked about her double; the one he'd seen wandering about, and who had been clearly a male.
Taking notice, the lavender lioness turned her nose up at the cub and lengthened her frame. A slight shift would give him just enough of a view of her perfectly groomed coat, and from there she’d inform him matter-of-factly, “I am all clean and ready for the day.” The directional thrust of her head suggested one of the adults in that area had done the job. And done it well.
Wimbi wasn't involved enough in her antics to understand, and sent a final, empty glance across her side in passing. With the initial adjustment of her stance the cub had blinked, both baffled and lured by her game of keep away. He tried to step around her in the opposite direction, that black tuft of fur moving in ways he couldn’t ignore, but was again evaded by the slightest of turns. Much too slow to keep up and much too young to keep focused for long, the cub lost interest quickly and meandered to the left of the female toward a curious wiggle of grass.
Siri, realizing the loss of her audience a moment too late, swiveled her head right and then left before leaping to his side. “Hey! It’s rude to walk away from a conversation!”
Wimbi, absorbed in his current task, pounced the ground only a few inches in front of him. While it wasn’t out of disrespect that the cub would ignore the older lioness, ultimately he would end up ignoring her.
“A conversation! You know, I was talking to you and you were suppose to talk back!”
Nothing.
Siri’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. All the signs of frustration that should have sent her marching in the opposite direction instead gnawed at her ego and had her tailing after him. She spoke as if he hadn’t lost track, and was satisfied by the sideways look he gave in acknowledgement. “So, your one of the fresh ones. Wimbi.” Not a question. Pure fact.
“Fresh ones?”
“Yeah, like… just born. New. I heard you have fifty brothers and sisters…”
“Fif—fift--?” Confusion was enough to break him away once again. He rotated his entire body to face hers, a strong tilt of his head nearly toppling him over. She was playful in the roll of her eyes and stopped along with him to clarify. Ahh, youth. “I’m Siri. It's fif-ty. A really big number.” Her stride outmatched his then, taking her several steps ahead to ensure his (relatively) undivided attention. “Where are they, anyway?”
His brothers and sisters? He only had one... two... seven... eleven... four... “I don’t know.” The cub faltered some in his reply, having stumbled over his own footing to watch her glide in front. Lifting his head high, Wimbi gave the hills beyond Siri a broad sweep before shrugging his shoulders. “I tried to catch a monster, but it got away. They didn’t follow me.”
“A monster?” The lionesses ears flicked forward. At first she appeared to humor the idea, somewhat intrigued at the thought that there would be something she didn't know about. Then, logic set in and her lips would press into a fine line before she'd shake her head in disagreement. “There aren't any monsters here. The grownups makes sure of that.”
“Yes there are!” Wimbi was quick on the defense, pausing as if a long hard look would instill in her the same level of faith he had in his claim. "They're big and wet an-and fer-fero-- UGLY."
"Frogs are big and wet and ugly, but that doesn't make them monsters." Siri replied cooly, hiking a brow.
He knew exactly what frogs were, but they weren't just frogs. "Yes it does. They are monsters trying to take over the waterhole." He challenged her head shake with a firm nod of his own. "I almost caught one of them heading that way."
She leaned back and away from the cub then, looking over a shoulder briefly. "Riight." It was a game, one that the female had little interest in playing. Frogs were... gross. And definitely ugly. And while she'd test her limitations with all things in the company of her brother, outside of it she'd gladly succumb to her own comforts. "They aren't taking over the waterhole, that's just silly. And stop calling them monsters. They're frogs."
"You'll see." His voice cracked some, still firm with belief. His ears had turned back against his skill briefly, but were twitching and rotating moments after, when the call of an adult echoed their way.
"Anyway... " She was quick to move the conversation along, shifting on her paws anxiously. While the lionesses was a rather desperate sort, she suddenly felt inclined to search elsewhere for her fun. "I'd play with you, but like I said I'm all clean. So..."
Wimbi stared at her, sniffed, and then rolled his shoulders again. "I gotta go." Turning on his heels to walk toward the guardian that had watch over him, the cub began his waddle back-- only stopping every now and then to swat at stones.
She didn't expect his indifference. It might as well have been rejection. And Siri didn't fancy that. She huffed, and then spat, "Fine then. Go catch your frogs you stinky cub! Have fun make-believing they're monsters... Which they're NOT!" quickly, before the youth was out of ear-shot.
Wimbi, having reached the top of a hill, looked over his shoulder to stick his tongue out before tumbling down the other end.
