|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:25 pm
"Too bad I couldn't meet Cam today!" Siri muttered and flounced down a path towards the lower pridelands. They could have played in the mud! Then she wouldn't have minded so much. But now...
Well, no one else seemed to want to play in the rain. Except for her. A fat raindrop fell on her head and she winced. Quickly more drops feel until she was forced to scamper for cover under a large tree at the edge of the path. Darn darn darn! At least there wasn't any lightning!
The small purple cub huffed a sigh and settled with her back against the tree. Maybe the storm would pass quickly and she could be off and out again!
... everything happened for a reason, right? Maybe something would happen to her here! She pricked her ears and cast about with bright blue eyes, searching for her destined entertainment.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:19 am
Ever since returning to the Pridelands, Kiuma had thought about little beyond her pain. It made her restless and irritable, more likely to lash out than react calmly to others that approached her. For the most part, she was left alone now, exactly as she liked it. Thus, why she was out in a thunderstorm, wandering the Pridelands alone. Rain fell to soak her coat and turn it the color of old blood, but she paid it no mind at all. What did it matter? She wasn't going to melt from the water, and at worse, it would chill her, something easily remedied when she returned to the warm pride's den.
A heavy sigh ghosted from her maw, near soundless under the steady fall of rain. Her name ment 'something that brings pain', yet it seemed she was the one forever being hurt, betrayed, and abandoned... the gods must be laughing right now, it was the only explaination. The circle of life cared little for trivial things like mates, love, emotions, and relationships. It cared only for the passage of time, things born, growing, and dying... only a god would care how miserable she was right now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:08 pm
Something was moving out there! Siri squinted through the storm and streaming water. The tree above her acted like an umbrela, but the rain poured over the branches like a mini waterfall, and she could barely see through it. Ugh. Only one way to get this done.
Blinking and wrinkling her nose, Siri lept into the diluge. This had better be worth it, gods! She admonished sternly, her eyes blinking rapidly to keep the water at bay.
There it was again! Something - no, someONE, big and red! Siri sniffed the air, but didn't recognize any scents in the air. Not that she could have with all this rain! The cub shook her head and decided that there was only one way to find out who this was!
With a determined huff Siri began slogging her way up the muddy trail. As she got closer she recognized the mane - or lack of one - and perked up. A female! Maybe she'd play with Siri! Before the child could open her mouth to call out a flash of lightening split the sky and thunder rumbled out. With a small shriek the cub darted forwards to stand trembling next to the large female.
"I'm Siri." She grinned sheepishly up at the other lioness. "Sorry..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:13 am
Kiuma came to a stiff halt as... something burst from the cover of the tree nearby. The flash of lighting and the roll of thunder never even phazed her, the light of it illuminating the snarl that pulled at her maw, before it and the light faded away. Huffing grumpily, she looked down at the female cub that had tumbled to a stop by her paws. Water ran down both their hides, and something in the lioness responded to it.
"You shouldn't be out here in the cold and wet. You'll get sick." She grated out, a rather unpleasant expression on her face that was at odds with the words. "Where are your parents, and why aren't you with them?" Kiuma was a mother, if an absent one of late, and she couldn't resist the instincts that told her to protect and nurture. Its what had gotten her Baala, after all... though she was still waiting to see if that was going to work out. Kiuma wasn't a 'group' kinda lioness... at least, not casually.
She sighed as her tail swung lightly back and forth, and she lowered her head to nudge the cub back towards the shelter of the tree, following close behind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:03 pm
Siri didn't notice the grimace on the lioness' face, illuminated by the lightening though it was - her eyes had been squinched shut in fear of the great blaze. Now open, she regarded the female with frank interest, albiet tinged with a hint of suspicion.
"My parents are... busy! They said I could go an' explore! Really, honest, I swear!" Granted, they HAD told her to keep close to the den because it looked like a storm was growing, but that was just silly. Why would she do that when there was the whole pridelands to explore? A little rain never hurt anyone!
... a little lightning had though...
Shush! She ignored the small voice in her head and trotted (or stumbled) forward cheerfully through the mud at the scarlet lioness' urging. "I won' get sick! I'm healthy as a..." What was it Daddy always said? Healthy as a... "... as a ZEBRA!"
The cub arched her neck, held her tail high, and pranced (as well as she could through the thick mud) to prove just how true this statement was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:45 am
The red lioness resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she padded after the cub, head and tail slung low under the onslaught of the rain.
"I very much doubt that your parents are 'buisy' in a storm like this, or that they know how far you've wandered from the den. Good parents don't loose track of their cubs, especially during a thunderstorm." She eyed the prancing little form and reached out to bump the little backside with the back of her paw, urging the cub forward. "You may be healthy now, but cold and wet has a way of turning a healthy cub into a sickly cub. The faster you get warm and dry, the better."
Kiuma sighed as she shook her head and asked herself, yet again, why she even bothered? She wasn't Kiuma's cub, nor anyone's that she knew, and Kiuma wasn't a particularly caring lioness... yet her paws kept moving forward, herding the cub towards the shelter of the tree.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:27 pm
Whoa, this lady meant business! She must've been a Momma before; she sure sounded like one! Her poor cubs were probably kept close to home, and that's why she hadn't met them. How could you learn if you couldn't get out and explore?
... even if said exploration was occurring during a thunderstorm.
"Ooph!" Siri scooted forwards as Kiuma nudged her, ears flicking back and forth. Finally she decided that, while annoying, this new lady really just wanted the best for her. She broke into a clumsy lope and made it to the tree before the next flash of lightning.
"Are you a momma?" Siri craned her neck and smiled up at the red lioness. "Where are your cubs? Can I meet them?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:48 am
Kiuma heaved a sigh as the patter of rain on her red coat came to a stop. Her thick body shook hard to shed the rain drops, then she settled back on her haunches to try an dry at least part of her fur. Her tongue slid over her fur for a few long mintues before her eyes rose at the questions.
"Yes, I have five children from my first litter." Her eyes darkened as she groomed the back of her paw a few times. "They're grown now though. I havn't seen them in a long time, so I don't really know where they all are. And as for meeting them... that's up to the Circle." She shook her head as her black-tipped tail curled around her paws and she went back to her grooming.
"You should lick the water out of your fur... it will help you dry out." Kiuma said it more off hand and casual than she actually felt. The cub needed to get dry, but she'd be damned if she both saved someone's child from a cold AND cleaned her up. Huffing stubbornly, she groomed herself to a sort of dampness that was a far cry better than the soaked she'd been before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:59 pm
Siri watched the red lioness closely. Mama had shown her how to clean herself, but she still wasn't really sure how it was done. And this lady was dry so fast! Well... only one way to get better!
Copying Kiuma, Siri planted all four paws and shook out her coat, then set to work with her tongue. Even with all this effort, her fur was slow in drying and kinked all out of place. The cub frowned at her unruly coat and shivered as a chilly breeze swept under the tree.
She wrinkled her nose. The circle? "What's that?"
Why would you have to ask permission of a circle?
"I have five other brothers and sisters!" She announced. "Vinaya, and Sukari, and Hantu, and Kiasiadia, and Amesi!" The cub forgot her coat in her excitement. "What's your name, lady?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:09 am
Kiuma turned back to the cub with a frown. "You don't know what the Circle of Life is?" She asked, rather shocked. The circle was... everything! What kind of parents did this cub have, that they didn't teach her the founding religion of her homeland?
Holding back a sneer of distaste, she snorted lightly, directing her attention instead on the next question asked. "My name is Kiuma, which means something that brings pain, because my birth hurt my mother." An old pain flared up, squeezing her heart. Was it because of her, the last born, that had Sarabi had become so damaged? As it her fault that her mother spent the rest of her days as a near invalid? A shudder rippled down her spine. To a lioness as robust and strong as Kiuma, that was a fate worse than death, and she was surprised her mother had lived so long. Shaking off that old train of thought, she eyed the cub again, debating with herself.
"What is your name, cub? And who are you parents?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:42 pm
"OOOOH." Siri shook her head. "No, I know what the Circle of Life is! Mama and Daddy told me." She grinned sheepishly. "I thought you were talkin' about some lion or something'! Or... or 'nother pride!"
Seriously. This lady was nice, but she needed to talk straight! Siri wasn't a mind reader, after all! The cub resumed her work on her coat, but her eyes still followed Kiuma's movements. The red lioness' shudder caused a frown to mar the child's face. Was she sick? Siri opened her mouth, intending to ask that very question when Kiuma continued.
"I told you my name, earlier!" Wasn't she listening at all? "My name's Siri. It means secret." The purple cub wrinkled her nose. "I don't know why I'm called that though! I'm not a secret or anythin'."
At the mention of her parents, the cub arched her neck and beamed with pride. "My mama's Kitengele, and m'daddy's Ashki!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:47 am
Kiuma turned her face away as she lifted her eyes to the weeping sky. This child was getting on her last, strained nerve. She was not in the mood to deal with young ones... her own were never so silly.... were they?
"No, I did mean the circle of Life... And I don't know those names. Great." She sighed as she searched her memory for some hint of who the two lions were, but she kept coming up with a big blank. Now what was she going to do with this cub? She couldn't just leave her out here... she was too small, and the rain was still coming down like someone had up-ended a giant leaf over the Pridelands.
"Sometimes, names are just nice things to call a cub. Othertimes, they can mean something." At a loss what to say now, she went with something simple. "Maybe you aren't a secret, and they just liked the name, or maybe you are a secret, but you just don't know from who." Her own name... that had a lot of meaning, yet seemed to be tainted as well. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but not the first time it had entered her mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:11 am
((Sorry I'm so slow. ;; *totally didn't realize she needed to reply*))
"Well, y'should know them! They're real nice and my Mama's reeeeaal pretty." The small cub smiled at the thought of her, and a purr escaped. "'n my Daddy's very strong and brave." After all, they hadn't always lived in the pridelands, and everyone new that the OUTSIDE world was TEEMING with monsters.
The cub paused, eyed her coat once, and decided it was good enough. Still, it was rather chilly! Without a moments hesitation, she climbed to her feet and relocated next to Kiuma, her small body huddled against the lioness' for warmth.
"Hmm. Maybe." Siri canted her head to the side and cast Kiuma a curious gaze. "But I think I'd know if I was a secret from someone! Or maybe it's cuz they're keepin' a secret from ME." The cub grinned. "OR. Or maybe they just KNEW I'd be super sneaky."
That had to be it! There was no question. After all, she DID know a lot about sneakin' now, from Mr. Cloud.
"Does YOUR name mean anything, lady?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:34 pm
Kiuma listened with only half an ear to the cubs prattling, starting when she felt a small, wet body against her side. She lifted a paw and leaned a little as she looked down at the cub, then sighed and set her paw down again, accepting the cub's need for a warm body. It was getting cool out, and she was so very small...
Squashing the motherly feelings, Kiuma thought about how much to tell Siri. "My name means... Something that Brings Pain." She said softly, casting her red eyes out into the rain-drenched lands. "Because when I was born, I hurt my mother quite a lot." An easy answer... though there was so much more to it. For a moment, she found herself wondering if maybe she had been the reason her mother had been so sickly for all of Kiuma's life. Had her birth somehow damaged the once healthy and robust queen? Was that why they had given her the name they did? She'd never thought about it that way, but it was plausible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
