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 Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
If there was anyhing in the world that Idobo'Intombi loved, it was grooming. If there was any other thing in the world that she loved, it was playing. Of course, these can, on occasion, cancel eachother out. She was a cub, however, and the need for social stimulation from her ownage group was always high up on her priority list. The gods had graced her with a brother to romp with, but she was getting tired of it. Constantly seeing the same grey face everyday could get annoying, and the little brown lioness wished for a new face more than anything. Gender or actualy age wasn't a huge issue, so long as they were still young enough to enjoy a good run in the mud and had never met her before. Of course, the only creatures in the savannah that /did/ know her were her mama and brother, so the second requirement wouldn't be all that hard to meet. Just so long as they had a good attitude, and seemingly enjoyed life, the cub would be happy.
She had wandered off from her small family of three earlier in the day, deciding that the only way to track down a playmate would be to do it alone. Mama might fuss too much, and her sibling might be too focused on his pink tuft of a mane. Plus, if she did stumble along a cub, it would be HER playmate, not anyone elses. Inombi at times could be possessive, especially if she was defending something she had done some work to get. Wandering about the rogue lands in the heat of day could easily be considered work, and the last thing she wanted was someone to snatch up her treasure. After loosing herself in the savannah, however, she lost sight of her goal and quickly took shelter under an old, knarled tree. Little did she know she was at the border of a pride.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:13 pm
A golden body trotted along a well-worn path through the savanah grass, little paws drawing little puffs of dust. The few lions that cared to play sentry used this path to patrol the border, and it filled Ushukuru with excitement to be following the pawprints of his idols, traversing the edge of his known universe.
Lifting his head with its little shock of brown, what could grow into a mane, he cast ruby eyes out over the land. It was hard to tell where the Pridelands stopped, and where the rest of the world began... but to this cub, the Pridelands were the world. Everything else was the great, sometimes scary, unknown. Anything could be out there... lurking, stalking, waiting for him to turn his back...
Ushu started at that thought, quickly whirling to stare frantically behind him, giving a shout of challenge. When nothing met his roving eyes, he spun again to face the outer lands, searching again for something that might have snuck up on him. Oh, this was exciting buisness! It wasn't scary at all, no, not one bit.... not for a cub as brave as he was!
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:03 am
It seemed it was years before any sign of life passed the cub by. It came in the form of a chirping bird, flitting about for some food in the heat. Intombi perked her ears forward, watching the avian with all her attentions, pulling herself into a pouncing position. She wiggled her rump in the air, preparing her hind legs for what was to come. With the ancient art of hunting engrained in her very being, she flew through the air, claws stretched out to grasp her prize, eyes full of pride for such perfect execution... WHAMP. Her brown little body crashed to the earth, a pace short of the bird. Spooked by the sudden appearance of a feline, it flew off to search for food else where in the Pridelands, leaving the cub in a cloud of dust. In this situation, some would have a wounded ego and sulk off to brood. Intombi, however, had no idea of what an ego was, and only knew she had a healthy self esteem. A silly event such as missing a prey was hardley a disappointment to her, and instead of licking a wounded pride, she scuttled back to the tree to groom the sand from her fur.
After a short while of clensing, the cub held out her paw to examine her work. Much to her glee, the pink markings on her paws were cute as ever, something that any lioness could take some pride in. As she admired her grooming skills, another sign of life came to the scragly tree in the form of sound. Intombi let her paw drop, looking about for the source of the shout, sniffing at the light breeze. Of course, nothing was in eye sight, but the cub's curiosity had been perked, and she couldn't help but prance off in the direction of the noise. It wasn't long at all before she was on a well trodden path, completely oblivious to the scent markers everywhere about her that signaled she was no longer in the rogue lands. To her surprise, there was a lion standing on the path, but with its back facing her. Never having grasped the whole 'don't talk to strangers' deal, she grinned excitedly and bounded towards the figure with a sheer giggle. "Hi!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:49 pm
No, he wasn't afraid in the least bit...
"Iieee!" The golden body launched into the air at the call from behind him, panic gripping him as he twisted around to land facing the other way, paws spread to brace his weight. The fur stood up down his spine, poofing him up as his red eyes darted around. He might have been imagining something sneaking up on him, but he was definitely not ready for something to actually do it.
"Hey!" Fear turned quickly to irritation as he spotted nothing more than a cub on the path behind him... and a girl no less. "What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that? I... I could have hurt you!" He bared his fangs for emphasis, showing her his needle-sharp little claws. "Besides, there are rogues around here... what if one of those found you? You'd be in big trouble."
Rounded sides heaved with his short, panting breathes, fur slowly falling to lay along his body as it should, though it remained rumpled. Just a cub... nothing at all to worry about.
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:00 am
The reaction the other lion had was far from what Intombi had been expecting. She sank to the ground, her eyes wide with terror and her ears flat on her skull. Her little mouth opened pathetically, and she wrapped her tail around her to protect her. She looked up at the other with scared, blue eyes, trying not to cry. Aww, too late. It happened. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls, her little nose trying to sniffle as best it could in the situation. "I'm sorry!" She practically yelled the words at the male, positively bawling. "I didn't mean to get in trouble! Please, don't eat me!" Her mind couldn't connect anything between danger in rogues, but her tears washed the confusion away quickly. She was a rogue, after all, and she didn't consider herself a danger. The way the male had put it, though, it seemed rogues were a very real danger.
Whimpering, she backed away a little, trying to hide her now dirtied fur from the male. If she was going to be eaten, she didn't want to look ugly. Most unfortunatley, it was not working, which only added to her sorrow. She should've listened to Mama and she should've stayed with her brother. Now she was going to be this lion's meal, and she'd never see them again. That very though doubled her tear production, and she turned into nothing more than a heap of sobbing brown and pink fur. "Don't eat me! Let me see Mama again!" She wailed at the male, lost in her flood of tears. Perhaps he would take pity on her and not have her for dinner.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:33 pm
Ushu stared at the female cub, dumbstruck. Was she... crying? Horrified that this little girl was crying, he shuffled from paw to paw, struggling to think of something, anyting to say.
"Hey! S-stop that! Don't cry..." His ruby eyes were wide in his tan face, ears pressed back tightly to his skull. "Please, stop crying... I didn't mean to scare you, but you scar-... uh, suprised me!" Oh, geez, what had he gotten into now? Girls and their tears... his sisters were just as bad, and it never failed that he'd do something to reduce them to sobbing, which left him looking like he'd done something wrong.
Her pleads for him not to eat her eventually penetrated, and he frowned. "Eat you? Why would I eat you, you're a lion! Lions don't eat lions, don't be silly." Ushu scoffed, stalking up to poke her shoulder with his paw.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:01 pm
After a few moments of sobbing, the tea stained cub slowed her rate of water loss significantly, and managed to pipe out a few words. "I-I'm s-sorryyy." She sniffled, wiping at her eye with a paw, only dirtying her appearance further. Looking sullied was something Intombi hated with a passion, and through her sniffling she was growing uncomfortable with the situation. Here she was with a male she'd never met before, crying and dirty. That was just no good! "I didn't mean to surprise you." She managed to muster up a half-hearted grin. She shifted her weight a little from one paw to the other, not sure if she should groom right there and then or run away first. Curiosity kept her glued to the spot, however. If she left now, she'd never learn anything about the older cub, which just wouldn't do at all. The only male she knew was her brother, but he was as old as her and not all that different. This tan male was far more exciting.
The unexpected poke nearly knocked the brown cub off blanace, but she managed to catch herself on her hind feet, and triedto make it look like she was just stretching. Of course, that looked ridiculous, but little ones can be like that. Playfuly, she whacked at his paw with her own, and even giggled. "Who are you, mister?" After the embarrasing crying fest, she was eager to change topics. Since it was established that he wouldn't be eating her, perhaps a playmate could be made out of him? So long as he didn't reduce her to tears again. That'd have to be a rule.
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Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:46 pm
Ushu made a face at her blubbering, his tail flicking back and forth. He was greateful beyond words when the crying stopped and she seemed to come back to herself. Crying made him uncomfortable... he never knew what to do to get them to stop. He shuffled his paws a little, then sat back with a little puff of dust, smiling as he avoided her swatting paw. "Its okay... don't worry about it." The male said, brushing off her attempt to appologize. He didn't want to let on that she'd suprised him... it made him look back to admit it.
Ushu was curious about this strange cub. What was she doing here? Where had she come from? He didn't remember her as one of the Pride's cubs. She was kinda funny... like how she'd looked when almost fell over. "I'm Ushukuru, Son of Rehani and Denahi, Grandson of Mufasa and Sarabi, prince of the Pridelands." He puffed up his chest in pride, grinning.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:55 am
The little cub cocked her head some, her eyes focusing hard on the older male's face. This facade of deep concentration was hardly believable, if not slightly hilarious. If the names of the four other lions Ushukuru had given were supposed to be ringing a bell, his plan was failing. Prince sounded mightily important, though, and Pridelands was very familiar. Her playmate, Noyana, was from there! With an excited jump, the little girl swished her tail and practically tap danced in place. "I know whate the Pridelands are! My friend is from there!" She let out a happy giggle, amazed to have found another creature from ths place of fantasy. The stories Noyana had told, coupled with the scraps of information from her mother, had painted a picture of paradise in the youngster's mind. It was so wonderful sounded that she had even gone so far as to dream of a day that her family might live there. Cubs galore and plenty of water, what little one wouldn't love the idea?
"I'm Idobo'Intombi." It had taken much practice to learn to pronounce her full name. Most of the time, she was just called and Intombi. For that reason, she usually only gave out the second half of her name, but Ushukuru's very long introduction prompted something more official. "...Daughter of Nelu." She quickly added her mother's name in there to make it sound more like the male's speech, though she had no idea what the lioness's full name was. Her father had never been part of the picture, so she didn't bother mentioning him. "Oh, and I'm a rogue. We don't live in a pride..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:38 pm
Ushu frowned as he watched the other cub, his puffed up chest deflating as she spoke. She was rather silly... but all girls were like that. Or, at least, the ones he knew.
"Its nice to meet you." He said, being 'polite' like his mother had taught him. It was only when she mentioned being a rogue that his eyes widened in suprise, and he took a step back from her. "A... a rogue?! No way... You can't be a rogue..." He scoffed, snering. Rogues were terrible beings to his cub mind, associated with all the bad things in life.
"Rogues are... big... and scary! They're dirty and mean and stupid! If you're a bad cub, they'll come and get you...They're monsters! So you can't be a rogue." He nodded as he dismissed her claim, deciding that this silly little cub couldn't possibly be one of the creatures who haunted his childish dreams at night.
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:40 am
Intombi was a bit confused by this new piece of information. Rogues were... big and scary? She certainly was niether, so perhaps she had been misinformed. Being so young and naive, she was falling under the belief very rapidly that she was indeed not a rogue. "Oh." She simply stated, unsure what to say next. If she wasn't a rogue, then were Mama or her brother pride lions? Or was she the only one who wasn't a rogue? Scratching absently at her ear, she stared at the older male a bit dumbly. None of this was making sense any more. If she wasn't in a pride, and she wasn't a rogue, what was there left to be? "Well then... what am I?" She looked up at Ushu expectantly, completely positive that he had all of life's answers locked away in his mind somewhere. He was older than she, right? That made him her elder. And didn't elders know about life?
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:29 am
Ushu blinked rather blankly at Intombi, his ears tilting back.
"Um... I guess, then, that you're a..." Words escaped him, and for the first time in his life, Ushu didn't have a ready answer to the question posed to him. Life had always been black and white for him... Good and Bad, Pridelander and Rogue, Family and Not Famiy... Yet here was a cub that defied everything in his expierience that tried to shove her into one of those neat little categories. It brought up all sorts of new and scary possibilities, and the tan cub sat down in a puff of dust.
"Rogues are bad... at least, from what I've heard. But... you're not bad, or mean, or scary... But if you're not a rogue, you must be a Pridelander... except, you're not..." His mind whirled, and he struggled, getting more and more frustrated. Finally, a huff came and he rose up, turning to pace back and forth with a harshly flicking tail. "Don't you know what you are? I mean, you know yourself, you should know what you are..." It was putting off the question, not really answering, but it was all he could think of right now. This would take a lot of private thought, and maybe a long talk with his mother, to figure out.
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:28 am
Intombi was a rater niave lioness, more especially at such an early stage of life. If Ushu had told her she was really a goose, she would've believed him at least for a little while. She had no concept of there being a difference between rogue and pride, so this entire subject was confusing her. She followed his thought train as best she could, her little pink tongue sticking out of the edge of her mouth in concentration. His logic seemed to work up until a point, and then it all fell to pieces. For someone who doesn't usually think things through all that much, this was dizzying. By the time the male started to pace, Intombi had already given up on finding an answer and was grooming.
His question flew right over her head. She was staring at him, her sandpaper tongue caressing away at her left front paw. Her eyes were a little dull, as there was hardly a thought flickering behind them. After a few moments of silence on her part, she realized that he had quit his jabbering and had possibly asked something. Little brows shot up in shock. "Oh.. uh..." She scrambled for words, trying to figure what he might've asked. She assumed it had to do with the same topic, so she just kind of went with it. "Mama said we're rogues." A smile planted itself on her maw. That response seemed fitting for the topic.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:20 am
A frown curled over Ushu's features as he looked the girl cub over, his tail flicking.
"Hey... are you even listening to me?" A snort left him as he plopped his backside in the dirt, looking suspiciously at Intombi before he sighed and shook his head. Girls were truly strange and stupid creatues. At least, as far as he'd seen.
"You know what, nevermid. The hunters wouldn't let a rogue inside the Pridelands, so since you're here, you must be okay." An idea occured to him and he perked up, ears lifting. "Hey... you wanna play a game? Since, you know, I don't have anything better to do." The tan male shrugged his shoulders, trying to seem the suave and world-wise lion, graciously lowering himself to playing with a... girl.
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