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 Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:13 pm
It had been a while since Uovu had been left alone. Since joining Lord Roho's pride, he'd been run ragged. In pride-life there was so much to do... so many enemies to trap, so many nasty plans to hatch, so many cub-nappings to do.
Now, he had been ordered to go out and patrol the borders of the Southlands... and frankly, he was all but too happy to oblige. He needed a break from the rustle and bustle of pride-life. He needed to get away from camp, and all it's formalities.
That's right. Patroling was like a break. And this tawney brown and raggedy lion loved nothing better.
"Let's see," he said, shoulders relaxed and loose as he padded through his home, "Nothing here, nothing there. Looks like nobody's planning to invade Lord Roho's territory today."
His sharp green eyes flickered over everything... an occasional mouse would streak past as he went, but everything else seemed to be in order. Until he came across a scent, and found himself wondering who exactly it belonged to.
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:48 pm
'Stay here' He'd said. 'its safer' He'd said.. He always said that. Embamba sighed lightly to herself, gazing out about the area her family had stopped upon that day. They were almost home, she could smell it, it seemed as if it were just over the next rise in the hill top, but they could never reach it. Always over that horizon... she shook her head, brushing the indian red tuft from her eyes and nestled her chin between her paws once more. Ndege and the other two had taken upon them the task of teaching the children about hunting. Of course, Embamba was left by herself during this--after all, she was too weak for such sports, right?
A distastefull snort issued itself from deep within her, and Embamba's candy apple eyes rolled skyward. She loved Ndege, truly and deeply, but his pesistance in viewing her as a china doll ground her nerves to their very core. What was worse, he was influencing their children's thoughts!
Embamba surged to her feet faster than she knew what she was doing. Turning about, she found herself marching back down the hill they had come up a few hours before. Ndege had pointed out a hare's tracks to the kids, though they hadn't stopped to chase it. Perhaps she could hunt down that hare! The thought was a scary one, as she'd never attempted such a feat before, but filled her with a sense of power at the same time.
Yes. She would find that hare, and she would make it her dinner. Embamba took a deep breath, imagining that she looked rather fearsome and forboding. To others, she probably looked more than a little silly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:02 am
Uovu's ears perked up, curiously, as he heard a faint scuffle in the distance. He was positioned in such a way that the stranger's scent drifted towards him on the wind, and he, with much interest, breathed it in, deeply.
"Seems like I'm not the only one out and about the Southlands today," he murmered, falling to a crouch and sniffing the earth, eyes darting this way and that in search of tracks. Instead of tracks, however, Uovu found himself peeking at a rabbit... a hare, perhaps.
He grinned, salivating a little in anticipation of this free meal. So that's what he had scented. Tensing, and kneading the earth with his claws, Uovu pressed as low as he could under the longer blades of grass. Stalking this hare would be fun... and rewarding, if he caught it.
The creature was right there, right under his nose!
It blinked, stupidly, and Uovu secretly sneered as he realised that the animal couldn't see him. Slowly, the adult lion progressed forward, placing one forepaw in front of the other.
'It's mine,' he thought, grinning from ear-to-ear, and not noticing the prescence of the lioness nearby...
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:20 am
There it was! Embamba fell into a crouch as she'd seen other lionesses do before. It was odd, trying to hunt... she'd never even been allowed to try as a cub, when all the other girls were out with their mothers. But she could do this! She was confident...
Embamba slowly circled the hapless hare who didn't even seem to notice that she was there---neither did she notice the male also stalking the bit of prey, for her attention was too rapt upon the long, furry ears. The rabbit twitched a little, scurrying through the grass lands a few paces. it stopped, and raised upon its hind lands to sniff the wind.
Perhaps it was instinct, but something in Embamba's chest seemed to knot into a ball of embers. They glowed inside her and out through her eyes as she narrowed them. Slowly her claws extended further, digging furrows between the stalks of grass as she passed them. Her tail lashed a little, and the rabbit turned its head towards her. It was watching the grass move, she knew it, but it still didn't seem to see her. Perhaps this was better camoflage than she knew, but it was likely to be her last chance.
Embamba leapt---
And the rabbit ran. In open ground the hare had the upper hand when running, and it turned on its tail to run flat out back across the prarie as the inexperienced lioness ate dust. Upon handing, that hard knot of hunter's instinct turned into something else entirely, and the lioness found herself sputtering and hacking as the pain jolted through her body.
She curled in on herself, deep shudders running down her spine and legs and into her paws to cause her to flutter like a leaf in a hurricane. Tucking her head in, the lioness tried to controll her coughing only to end up with a deeper, more robust sound that scraped at her esophogus and rattled her rib cage. They were right after all...
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:12 pm
Uovu, at first, was frustrated. Extremely frustrated. He'd leapt, half-heartedly, and much too late, when the lioness had gone after the hare. In the end, the prey had gone to no-one... and Uovu found himself left with an empty stomach, and much bitterness.
This had happened before, of course. Why was it that lionesses always stole the prey away? Well, there went his afternoon snack. His shoulders slumped, and Uovu started away, disheartened.
Suddenly, he straightened, realising that he had a job to do. He was a scout, after all... and it was his duty to protect and patrol the borders of the Southlands. This lioness was not part of the Tononeka Following Pride, he didn't think. She had a different scent, of different lions from different places... an unusual scent that he hadn't smelt before. Plus, her face was not familiar to the raggedy lion. A trespasser, eh? For his Lord, he'd drink her blood for stepping onto owned land.
Growling, Uovu stepped out from the long grass, revealing himself, and bracing himself for attack. This girly was going down.
But then came the coughing. Uovu paused, and shrunk back, as he heard the rattling bark of the lioness - it was unlike something he'd ever listened to before. And he didn't like the sound of it. It was... like she was choking - or something of the kind.
Suddenly worried, and forgetting all of his duties, he pulled to her side.
"Are you alright?" he asked, eyes wide and genuinely concerned, "Water? Do you need water?"
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