[PRP] Leopons Everywhere (Mez x Luka)

[SilverLutz]

Storm clouds gathered over the rouge lands, huge, towering thunderheads that promised a storm like none other. Off in the distance lightning struck the ground, and a low rumble of thunder warned the creatures on the plains to ready themselves for some rough weather. Mez peered over his shoulder at the clouds, frowning just a bit. When he walked he kept the clouds just out of reach, but when he stopped they snuck up on him. His paws were achy and he knew he'd need somewhere to take shelter for the night. He couldn't walk much further.

So, rather than pressing on, he began to scour the area for a cave or hollowed out tree. It was pretty slim pickings, but finally he found a nice outcropping in the rocks. It was more of a ceiling than a real cave, but it would do the trick, even though his paws might get a bit muddy. Better his paws than his whole body!

Mez settled down happily, pleased with his discovery. He'd be able to spend the night here, for certain, and tomorrow he might even make it back home. Ah, that would be wonderful...he hadn't been home in what felt like ages.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Luka sniffled and tried his best to hold in a growing sneeze as he walked proudly and as tall as his little toes would allow through the grasslands of the savannah. Everything was so tall, and he was so little! It was almost impossible to tell where he was going! “Hmm… This way.” He walked a few paces to his right. “No, no, no… This way.” He turned direction and began wiggling his way left. The grass made it difficult to see where he was going, and as the first drops of rain began to lightly drizzle, his sense of smell became blurred. Luka was lost but he wasn’t about to admit it. He could still faintly smell his mother leopard’s scent in the distance… Or maybe he smelt himself. Either way, he travelled forward in hopes of finding her. Eventually finding his footing on a new rocky surface Luka bumbled around like a little red bump on the stones.

What he found though was not his mother, or father, but someone new entirely. As he made his way to a roof-like outcrop Luka shook off his moist hide and turned to stare in awe at the big, full grown Leopon before him. He didn’t even notice that the hybrid resembled him; all he knew was that the other was huge! Comparable to a lion! “Hello.” He barked cheerfully. “Are you hiding from the storm too? Storms are scary…”

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Mez watched the dirt outside his little shelter dance as fat raindrops started to fall, kicking up the dry soil and making little patterns of beaded water on its surface. The ground was so dry it was repelling the water rather than absorbing it for the time being. The leopon smiled a bit as the rain increased, finally starting to saturate the ground. This area really needed the water.

Suddenly the grass before him rustled and a red cub appeared in the rain. Mez sat up a bit straighter in surprise, golden eyes wide. He gave a quick sniff as the cub moved forward, but all he could smell was the rain. Where was his mother?

"Hello," Mez returned, smiling as he realized the cub was a leopon as well. Aw...he was so cute! "Yes, it looks like a big one. Not safe to be out in them when they're like this," he said with a nod, settling down again now that the cub had joined him under the little bit of shelter. "Is your mother close behind? It's not very big under here but we could all squish." Unless she were a lion...then they'd have some problems. Maybe Mez could find a different place to hide out and let the mother and her cub have this place.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

Luka flipped his head backwards to check and see if he could spot out with his little red eyes his mother or siblings anywhere. From what he could see there was no trace of them. And also from what he could see was that the world was completely upside down! Everything looked funny from this perspective, but Luka enjoyed staring at everything so differently. It allowed him to see details he had previously missed out on just because he had stared at them from a new angle.

"Hmm. Nope." He flipped his head back over so that he was staring at the adult leopon again. "But that's okay, I'm sure she's fine. Mom's a tough leopard Y'know?" At the very least in Luka's mind she was, without a doubt, the toughest leopard he knew. Sure he had met scarier leopards and meaner leopards, but mom was still tougher than all of them!

Because to a kid, what parent wasn't invincible?

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Mez tilted his head as he watched the little cub look backwards and upside down at the lands beyond their little shelter. He had to laugh just a bit, finding enjoyment from the leopon's antics. Ah, to be young again...he enjoyed being older with more responsibility, of course, but to have the innocence of youth was something that was taken for granted.

"Oh, she's around then," he said as the red feline spoke. "All right. We'll keep an eye and an ear out for her just in case she's looking for you. But for now, you can stay here with me, I'll protect you from the storm," he added, his large, fluffy tail flicking slightly as a few raindrops landed on it. "I'm Mez, by the way," he said, reaching out a paw to beckon for the cub to come closer. The wind was picking up and blowing the rain into the shelter just a bit. "What's your name, little friend?"

He glanced up as he thought he heard a roar, but it was just the encroaching thunder. Hopefully his mother wasn't too worried. The last thing he needed was to get into a fight with an angry leopard.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"I'm Luka." He introduced himself with a bow, his head dipping so low to the ground that he had to bring up a paw and brush off the dirt that got onto it. He giggled at how silly it was that he had got dirt on his nice red fur, and wore a cheeky smile when he lifted his face off the ground. Luka was glad that the adult hybrid was being friendly. Some rogues were really mean, like his brother, but this one seemed okay. Oh, but...

"Are you a rogue?" He asked curiously, titling his head to the left slightly as he looked at Mez. "Do you belong to a pride? What pride is it? Is it around here?" Luka knew they were heading to a pride. And that he had to decide then whether he was going to leave the pride to follow mom or stay in the pride and live with dad. It was a pretty complicated choice for a young cub, but Luka knew that he'd follow whoever answered his questions more. He didn't have time to not be tolerated.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

"It's very nice to meet you, Luka," Mez said with a little bow of his head to match the younger leopon, laughing softly as some dirt got on the red male's nose. How cute...

The questions that followed made Mez chuckle once again. Ah, he could forget how curious cubs were! That was good, though. It was the sign of an independent and smart individual that wouldn't need to lean on anyone for support should they find themselves out on their own. It was nice to have a pride and family to be with, but Mez was out on his own often enough that he knew the benefits of being okay with being alone.

"I am from a pride," he informed Luka with a smile. "It's...oh...perhaps a half a moon's journey from here. I'm not that fast of a walker, though," he added with a grin. "I like to stop and chat. It's called the Kitwana'antara," he added, realizing he hadn't answered all of Luka's questions.

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"Hmm. I don't think that's the pride we're heading too." Luka sounded disappointed as he came to that realization. If it wasn't near the pride they were heading towards then that meant they have to walk more. And that Luka disputed whether he liked the long walk with his family or not. He just wished they'd get to the place they were heading too soon. Luka quickly snapped out of his thoughts however, and asked more questions with a cheer look captivating his face.

"What kind of pride is it? Is it nice there?" He inched closer to the grown up in curiosity. "Why'd you leave? Are you going to go back?"

SilverLutz

I swear I replied to this yesterday. 0w0""

 

[SilverLutz]

"Oh? You're heading for a pride?" Mez asked, interested to know where the family was heading. He rested his head on his paws, watching the little leopon with interest. "Which one?" He gave a little grin as he spoke. The tables had turned! Now he was asking the questions.

Luka began asking more questions, though, and Mez was more than happy to give him answers. Questions were important for cubs, after all. How were you to learn without them?

"It's a very accepting, but very troubled pride," he said gently. "There's an illness that affects the lions very badly, so the other creatures - cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, and hybrids - all work together to help them. We're like one big family, though...helping everyone through the hard times together."

He reached out to pat Luka's head, laughing just a bit. "I think it's very nice. The sense of love there is very strong. And I've left because it's my job to wander the rouge lands and warn other prides of lions to approach our borders with care. We don't want anyone to get sick that doesn't wish to. I'm on my way back right now...but this storm has interrupted my journey."

CaliWolfe

 

[CaliWolfe]

"That's nice of you." Luka pointed out. "Warning people. It's a nice thing to do." An ugly itch had started to grow on the back of his neck and he was trying to move his head back so he could bite it. He ended up just falling over making a small "oof" sound as he did. Flipping over he struggled to sit up but once he had Luka answered Mez question.

"It's called the Mizani'Ulimwengu." He said, very proudly at that. "My grandpa lives there so my dad and mom are taking us to see him. But... If he doesn't like us then we can leave."

That was only really part of the story. From what Luka understood by what he had overheard his fathering saying grandpa wanted to see this "potential" thing about him and all his siblings. If grandpa didn't see any in Luka then the small red ball "was probably best to leave him alone". Luka took "leaving alone" as living elsewhere, with mom preferably. That might not have been the case, but it was nicer than being all by himself.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Mez's ear flicked at the name of the pride. He knew it existed, but he'd never visited it before. An odd pride that consisted of 'good' and 'evil' from what he understood...hopefully this cub was going to the good side.

"Well, if your grandfather doesn't like you, you can always come back and find ol' Mez for company," he said with a little chuckle. The storm outside was starting to blow over, thankfully, and the leopon was itching to get moving again. He'd wait just a bit longer, though, so hopefully Luka's mother would make herself known to them.

"That's very exciting, though. Going to a pride...I've never been there before, so if you do stay and we bump into each other again when you're a big leopon, you'll have to tell me how it is," he said with a toothy grin. "I always enjoy exploring new prides." And if it were a pride that was friendly towards all types of animals, it was a pride worth exploring in his book. Actually...now that he thought about it...

"You know what? I think I do know someone in that pride," he exclaimed. "Her name is Shukura and she's a brown lioness. I had to bring her a gift from a friend of hers...a very shiny stone. So if you see a brown lioness with a shiny stone on her somewhere, tell her Mez and Mlinzi say hello! Can you do that for me?"

CaliWolfe

Want to wrap it up in the next post?

 

[CaliWolfe]

"I can do that." Luka nodded. It was an exciting thought to think he was going to run into somehow who knew Mez when he was in the pride. A brown lioness... That part was easy, the difficult part for Luka was names. He'd have to spend all night repeating the names in his head over and over and over again so he didn't forget them. But it would be worth it if he met somebody new who would answer all his questions! He hoped she was on the same side that he was... As far as he knew his grandpa lived in a certain part of the pride, and they weren't allowed to go to the other part because of... What was the phrase his father used? "Bad blood".

As the storm was letting up Luka let a familiar smell waft up his nose. He began to sniff loudly and turned his ears about in order to tell where the person who owned the scent was. A faint cry of Luka's name in the distance confirmed it was indeed, his mother.

"Mom!" He bounced up and began to run back into the tall grass! He couldn't believe she actually had managed to find him all the way out here! It was a miracle! "Oh wait." He stopped running, and circled back to where Mez was to bow again while saying goodbye. "Your fun, but I have to go. See you later!" He added in cheerfully and began skipping over to where his mom was in delight.

Later when him, dad and mom were all eating he'd have a new story to tell! About getting lost and big blue adults who looked kind of like him and all his siblings...

SilverLutz

The end!