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 Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:52 am
Another morning, another run, however, it’s not gonna just be “just” any run this time around. From the shoreline of the oceanfront to the Ngorogoro Crater, Zeki had wanted to see more of the world around the Pride Lands to the point of becoming near begging. Ger had planned to take him somewhere that day, a place he had gone twice in his lifetime, three if one considers the Maziko. Not too far from the border and Pride Rock was a den that the adult had come to know as Jamaa’s family den. That was where they would rest today.
Ger entered cautiously remembering that it was abandoned now, but always a refuge for anyone that happened to come across it. He peered in, the cub behind him as he scanned it. With a flick of his tail deemed it safe for his son to follow.
“We rest here. We can go back home after, don’t want your mother mad at me,” Ger chuckled as he flopped down slowly, letting out a loud yawn-roar from the reluctant sleep from that morning/night.
“But I wanted to go out today, somewhere different,” Ezekiel, aka Zeki, complained, climbing upon his father’s chest. “You promised…”
“Promises will be fulfilled, little one. I am good on my word, you will go somewhere today, but not right now. Your father’s tired as are you, you should rest some.”
“But I wanted to…”
“Now, Zeki, remember your code, you are acting like a child.”
“That’s because I am one! I’m only a cub, remember, I only act the way I do because Uncle Trig had taught me that a cub gets what he wants, but I want to get things done because I am able to. You still have to remember that.” Zeki cried, pawing at his father’s chest. “I’m just a cub…”
“Alright, alright, I am sorry. Forgive me. I won’t forget next time, just do me a favor and get some rest. The place we are going will need some attention and focus.” Ger smiled and licked his son before relaxing his head and closing his eyes. Zeki sighed and laid his head down.
.:. ~ .:.
With Ger safely sleeping, Zeki had wandered off on his own, wanting to see more. He would not go too far, but it was just gonna be a little walk. He walked proudly around the territory that belonged to his pride, the Pride Landers, enjoying the things that it offered. The pile of rocks mounted up against a tree looked like a good place to get a good view of things around here. With an easy jump, he managed to land upon the pinnacle of the rock mound. Crimson eyes looked around to see the sun starting to rise up beyond the horizon meaning that mother and the other lions should be waking up soon and that the animals of the Pride Lands are around here somewhere. Maybe there is someone to play with too. Purring, he moved slowly around the rock mound when a single stone gave way causing a slide of rock and pebbles into a rather awkward hole. Soon, the sunlight was taken away as the cub fell inside.
“DAD!”
Darkness, that was all he could see, darkness, Zeki looked around the best he could but all he could see was the inky darkness. Nothing ahead of him but black and behind him black, above him was the dim light of the sun above but even its rays cannot reach him down here. He sighed and began to sniff around. A scent was wafting around in this area, it smelled different than anything he had smelt before. It smelt vaguely of the dinner he had last night and yet the scent of another animal that was more commonly found in the south and oddly of the den that he had left his father at. Curiosity killed the cat… however; he was a lion so he had to be exempted from that little thing. Taking very cautious steps, Zeki moved along in the darkness to where the scent grew stronger and stronger. Before long, the light of an opening appeared before him, but he still had to be careful. Inching out slowly, he noticed three bodies and a tail sticking out of the far wall. He took a moment to think this through. One large blue body, scarred on its showing leg and between his paws were two smaller ones, one yellow and the other blue… sort of, it was too hard to tell. In the wall was a small black and white tail, ratel perhaps? They were rather abundant where he was from, but these three bodies were something new to him. Where was he? What were these beings? Why did it smell of dead meat? Having a bad feeling, he moved a bit away. He just hopped that these three were all there were from a family of some sort, and the rest were out.
He had to go find his father before these four awaken to his presence. He was trespassing…
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 2:08 pm
Omoa was the first to wake to the new presence. She'd become rather paranoid lately, and found sleep difficult anyway. With one quick motion, she jumped out of her little tunnel and faced the other, the one that she knew led somewhere, but where... The place had no significance to her, but there had to be a reason for the tunnel, and it smelled strongly of Yakuti and Topaz, her father. Another smell was there, one she had only smelled a few times, and always she had run in fear, but this time she had Yakuti with her, she'd be safe. Right?
"Who's there?" She called defensively, inching closer to the tunnel's entrance. "Come on out." She didn't bother keeping her voice down for Yaku and the pups, she knew that if there was an intruder, they'd want to know about it.
The massive hyena's ear flicked tiredly at Omoa's voice. He too had only been half asleep, but somehow hadn't noticed the smell of lion in his den.
"What's that, Omoa?" He asked with a yawn, his teeth shining slightly in the partial light of the underground den. "Someone there?" He sniffed the air, and his eyes widened. There was a lion nearby. He stood up as quickly as he could without disturbing his children, and glared into the darkness of the tunnel. Something was there, but he couldn't yet be sure how much of a danger it was to them. A faint snarl was upon his maw, and his red eyes gleamed with determination. He'd not let anything harm his children.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 3:33 pm
Zeki's eyes grew wide as the crimson color became a small drop in a pool of white. Oh no, he's been detected! What was it that Uncle Kinari and Uncle Trigger had taught him? A lion must defend his pride, to overwhelm with power, to strike at the foe's weakness, to... there were too many to remember! It was then that he remembered what Uncle Trig had told him.
"Never fight when either side is unmatched. Fight fairly or not fight at all. Fighting is only to defend oneself, never to fall another."
Zeki had no other choice, he had to go back to his father. Though it may seem like a cowardly tactic, it was a wise one. His paws trembled as he took a few steps back as he ran down the dark tunnel. His footsteps gave off a sound; pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat in a fast two-four rhythme. The sound echoes in the narrow passage, vibrating around and eventually confused him. Were those his own? Were those of another? Were they behind him? The sound was confusing.
"DAD! DAD!"
He called out. Just as he could see the very dim light from the hole above the rock mound, he tripped in the darkness causing him to fall. It seems the clumsiness from his father's side had passed down to him. He scrambled to his feet and hopped up against the wall as if to climb up.
"DAD!"
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:11 pm
Omoa shifted nervously, she didn't like lions, but she didn't want to seem like she was scared either. "I think I'll stay here with the kids." She said simply, trotting over to them and plopping down, eyeing their sleeping forms as if she were studying them. If one didn't know better, they could think that she was very proud of the good child-watching job she was doing. "You may want to go after the cat though."
Yakuti nodded, but just as he was about to bolt down the tunnel after the little lion, he heard a tiny squeak from behind him.
"Where ya going dad? Can I come?" Zua asked, perking up instantly. It was as if she hadn't been asleep at all. Without waiting for a response, she pawed at her brother. "Ophos! Wake up, dad's going to take us through that tunnel!" She said with unnecessary loudness.
"No, I'm not." Yakuti said firmly, "Just stay here with your brother and please, do what Omoa says. I don't want you sneaking out like you always do." He gave her a very serious look, to show that he was serious, and bolted after the lion, quickly disappearing down the tunnel.
The footsteps guided his way for a time, but the frantic cries were what really led him to him. Yakuti smiled as he saw the bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and the cub that was calling for his father. He seemed almost familiar, as if they had met before, but it couldn't be. He had never let a cub go before, except for that Ger... But that lion must be quite a bit older than a cub by now, it had been such a long time.
Yaku shook his head and stalked toward the cub, smirking.
"Well look at this, we have an intruder." He growled, swishing his tail slightly. He loved toying with lions who invaded the graveyard, but he couldn't do it for long. If this one was calling for his father, it was possible that things could get dangerous very quickly.
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave with daddy. There are consequences to things like this, and I'm afraid lions don't get much mercy around these parts."
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:23 pm
Ophos sighed as he laid there. "Mom's not gonna be happy about this. Dad should either kill it or deal with Mom. I'm not gonna watch this time around. Legs hurt... leave alone."
------
Zeki's eyes grew wide as he was cornered in the tunnel. Was this it? Was this all that fate had for him? All his trainings and teachings for for naught? How could this be, he had never harmed anyone other than for food, it was how nature went... was this what Nature dictated? Just as he was about to cry out, a flash of dim gold blurred down from above him and the ear-splitting, silent-slicing roar and snarl followed. It was hard to tell who, but the scent gave it away. Dad.
The large entity was hard to see in the dark and the scent was clouded with lions, ratels, and hyenas. The larger entity was not afraid to retaliate as he moved closer, even to the point of touching his against his if he must to push him back as his paws took heavy, stern steps.
"Don't you dare touch my son!"
A step.
"Don't you dare harm a single hair upon his head!"
A step.
"Harm him and I shall rend you asunder!"
Another step, nearing the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Let Mohatu help if you so dare cross me, you damned b*****d!"
The light poured slightly over his form revealing the dark brown mane and the teal eyes that glowed of rage and the parted maw to reveal the fangs he had developed. A side he had never considered about, never thought of... a side that appeared upon father's insticts to protect his son.
Zeki cowered where he was as the larger entity moved from him. His voice... the gleam in his eyes... that growl... was this... really his father? It was a side he had never seen before, a side that even... scared him.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:38 pm
Yakuti should have seen this coming, he knew to what lengths a parent would go to protect their young, being one himself. He didn't expect him to arrive this soon though... He flinched slightly, but did not allow any other sign of surprise escape him.
For a moment, Yakuti merely stared. He knew he had recognized that cub, or rather, he reminded him of his father. So this was what had become of that cub so long ago.
"I thought I told you to never come here again. I suppose you didn't think to warn your son of how dangerous it is here." He snarled. He remembered all too well this lion... How shameful he had felt after letting him escape alive, but now he had a good excuse for killing him. Ger had been warned, and he would suffer the consequences just like any other lion.
"I've become rather dangerous myself, actually." He snapped his bone-crushing jaws, taunting him. "But I let you escape with your life once before. That's a mistake I'll not make again. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to get that that fur ball of yours afterwards, then you won't have to see it."
"Dad?" Zua asked, inching in closer to her father. "You're not going to hurt them, are you?" her voice trembled as she stepped into the little light that there was available. Her eyes showed that she was on the verge of fearful tears. She had never realized how frightening her father could be...
"I-I know you told me to stay there, but... P-please don't be mad at me dad." She whimpered, tail between her legs in fear.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 4:51 pm
Ophos growled and lifted himself up and stared rather lazily at his sister.
"Shut up, Zua. We are hyenas, it is what we do. We protect our territory from the Pride Landers just as they do with us. It's been like this before we were born," the pup jerked himself to his feet and moved past his father. "I'll take the cub."
Ger's eyes darted to the smaller hyena and with a swift swipe made him tumble back into a paw making the cub give a soft release of air and falling down.
"Don't any of you harm him. I don't care what you do to me, but I will not let my son be hurt." Ger snarled once again, this time louder than before.
"No.... d-don't, you'll call for the others..." Ophos murmured as he struggled to get up. "We can take care of this ourselves... no need to get the others involved. Dad, tell him..."
Zeki approached slowly from behind and stayed in his father's shadows. "Calling for the others would the numbers uneven... fighting on an uneven field... it's unfair Dad, we shouldn't fight when we have no reason to."
"But-"
"No! Uncle Trig told me that fighting is wrong and only should be done to defend oneself! We did them no harm, but when you hit hi-"
"It was to protect you! I won't anyone hurt you, not even I would. I would kill anyone who dared to harm you..."
Zeki was, for once, at a loss of words as he looked up at his father and to the den of hyenas...
What had he done?
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:09 pm
"Ophos!" Zua squeaked, rushing to his side, "Are you okay?" She asked, glaring at Ger. "That's not fair! You're so big and we're so little." She shook her head, trotting over to Zeki. "I agree with him, we don't have to fight anyone!" She snorted, looking from her father to Ger and back. To her horror, Yakuti looked on the verge of losing his temper.
"Leave him out of this!" He barked harshly, "You speak of defending your own and yet have no mercy for those of others! " He snapped, barely hearing what Zua had to say.
With that he lunged at Ger, full force. Nobody would hurt his children, even in defense of his own.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:26 pm
Ger snarled as the mass impacted with his own. As the hyena had jaws strong enough to break bone, he had claws and fangs to puncture the skin causing the body to die slowly over time. He had to defend himself now, it was alright for this sort of fighting to happen now. Ger roared and slashed as he tried to get the other male off of him.
As the brawl went on, Ophos raised to his paws slowly only to fall back down again shortly after. He sighed and glared at his sister, "I don't need your help! Get your hands off of me." he growled as he was replied with a thwack to the head. Jerking his head over he saw that is was the lion cub, staring at him.
"Make them stop! Make them stop fighting! Stop your Dad and I will stop mine, this is pointless!" he shouted as his crimson eyes darted over to the two males. This wasn't how it was suppose to be, he was suppose to go on an adventure with his Dad but this....
Ophos got to his feet and growled, but not to the cub but to his Dad. "Dad, stop fighting, you'll call Mom home! .... or do you want me to tell her that you let a lion slip from your paws before? Oh would she have a fit on you. That sounds like something fun to watch, would you rather have that?" the cub smirked and grinned at his father. Zeki stared at the hyena Ophos with a strange feeling. Was this how all hyenas were? Suppose it was his turn.
"Dad, please stop! What do you think Uncle Trig would think? Mom with be angry if she were to find out that you were in a fight if you get scars from this! And then we could never go out anymore and I'll never see Uncle Trig or Kinari or Trigger again."
"STOP IT OR... OR I'M TELLING MOM!"
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:52 pm
Yakuti and Ger seemed locked in fierce combat, the hyena's body was constantly thrashing about, trying to get into a position where he could deliver a single, fatal blow. His jaws snapped shut at the slightest sign that he could do damage, but always just managed to rip out some fur at best. They were both simply moving too fast.
Then he heard it, the faint voice of his son, and he stopped, panting and snarling. His shoulder was bleeding from a series of small cuts caused by the rage, either from sharp rocks, teeth, or claws, he didn't know.
He eyed his son, why was he stopping him? This one, the little one that seemed like he would be killing lions left and right when he grew up, was asking him to show mercy to this creature?
"I'm sure that killing him now would make up for a childhood mistake." He panted, but stopped his attack nonetheless. He growled slightly, but left it at that. So long as the lion left them alone, he'd listen to what they had to say... For now.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:12 pm
Ger growled and got to his feet and glared at his son.
"Ezekiel, come here." Zeki nodded and approached slowly. He knew he had crossed his father, just a little bit to side with a hyena, the very one who tried to harm him. He was after all the one who started all this. "Yakuti, I feared I would run into you again... I knew I would be able to defend myself and possibly kill you if I had to, but I bound to my word to your father. I am doing what every father must for his son. You have many while I only have my son. Take him from me and I will break my promise to your father. You listen here, Yaku, if you were not Jamaa's son, I would have killed everyone in this room if you touched him."
"Dad! Drop it, I don't want to hear it anymore! I came here on my own, this is my fault. I was taught to be able to take care of myself, I can fight if I must but stop this none-sense!" Zeki looked back at the older male, the father of Zua and Ophos, he sighed. "Forgive our intrusion... we should be going..."
Ophos scoffed and stood beside his father.
"Sorry Dad, but you should really pick your battles. The lions that are most important right now are those of the Maziko. Leaves these two alone... if they were to come back again, well, that's future to tell," glancing at the other two. "I suggest you two leave... I am about ready to call my mother..."
Ger scoffed and glared at Yaku one last time.
"You are a disgrace to your father if you acted like this before him. Attacking a cub..."
Zeki nudged his father and ran first down the tunnel as Ger turned slightly and shook his head as he moved into the darkness.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 2:19 pm
Yakuti snorted, "Having many would not make up for the loss of one of them." He said simply, glancing at Ophos. "I suppose you are right, my son." He nodded before turning back to the lions. "I'll give your son the same warning I gave you. Never come here again, are we clear? You're already getting more mercy than you deserve for coming back again. You've got some nerve."
The last comment nearly caused him to lose his temper again, "I never touched the cub. Last I checked, you're the one who attacked mine first." He growled. "Now get your pathetic hides out of here or I'll get my mate involved. If she finds you here the both of you will be dead before you knew what hit you."
Would Jamaa have been ashamed of him? Once, he would have felt overwhelming guilt for such a statement, but now he was much harder. "My father knows many things, but he cannot understand this. I love him dearly, but in these matters... He has no way to know our reasons for what we do."
Zua sighed. Why did everyone want to fight all the time? At least it was all over. She wagged her tail happily and sat beside Ophos, listening to what he said. This was their territory after all, so maybe it was best that they left. Mother would not be happy with them being here. "Yeah, if mom gets here, I doubt you'll get out alive." Her tone wasn't threatening, but almost helpful, as if she didn't want them to be hurt.
"You should probably get out of here."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 2:33 pm
Ophos sniffed at the den and perked up an ear as a few stray pebbles clicked down the tunnel. When the silences came he knew they were gone. With a glance back to his father and back down the tunnel, he sighed.
"They're gone... I don't think they'll be coming back. Lets just forget it and get back to sleep. Omoa, think you could hide their scents somehow? I mean, possibly mask it with your own? I know mother would easily pick it out and then there will be some hell to pay afterwards."
Ophos spoke as he limped back into the corner. Looking up at his Dad he anticipated a lecture or a concern to come from him, something he did not want to deal with.
"I'm fine... I was the one who went ahead and decided to cross him anyways. So it's partially my fault and that cubs that started the fight."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 2:44 pm
Omoa poked her head out of the tunnel she had been hiding in for most of the time, "Yeah fine." She said shakily, scampering over to the scene of the fight and looking at all the fur on the ground. She sighed and started to relocate it to a spare tunnel before kicking dirt over the area and rolling around in it. She grumbled all the while, feeling incredibly silly for rolling in the dirt for no apparent reason.
Yakuti looked at Ophos sternly, "No, you're not fine. I want you to take it easy for a bit, okay?" He looked at his son's leg for a moment. It deffinately wasn't broken, but it was obviously was causing him some pain.
"The blame is my own, my son." He said simply, "I went after the cub in the first place, and though it is our duty to keep them out of our home, I should not have been so rash." He admitted. "Try to get back to sleep. With any luck, your mother won't have a clue what happened."
Zua watched Ophos sadly, but refrained from fussing over him like she normally would. He didn't seem to be in a good mood, but she couldn't help flinching every time he took a limping step.
"Dad, why do we have to fight the lions? Why can't we just share the graveyard with them?" She asked innocently, curling up beside him and yawning.
"That is an explanation for another time. For now, just rest. I'll tell you later." Yakuti responded simply, laying his head beside her and closing his eyes.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 2:56 pm
Ophos scoffed.
"I'm not some weakling that whines about pain. I go with mother sometimes during patrols, I have had far worse pains. What I don't understand is, why do we face other lions when the Maziko the ones trespassing on our turf? Those two were Pride Landers, they were defending themselves against us as we were against them. Take the blame again and I will have to hurt you, Dad. The blame was mine and mine alone."
Resisting his father's orders, he raised to his feet and scoffed again.
"Now if you don't mind, I want to be alone," he sighed. "Just leave me alone for a while and if mother asks, tell her I am with Mafa."
Ophos moved down the tunnel and laid himself down. Peace and quiet, the bridge between two territories and an escape from them as well. His paws acted as a cushion as it was pressed upon by his head as he closed his eyes. Rest.
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