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 Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:49 am
 Noyana sprinted across the grassy plains of the pridelands as fast as she could go. That hare that was running from her didn't stand a chance, Noyana was determined to teach herself how to hunt and to be able to catch her wonderful meal. She made a final bound, extended her claws and reached for a leg. That resistance meant that she'd succeeded. As quickly as she could, she brought the thing to her mouth, finishing it off with a swift turn of the head- a snap of the neck for the creature.
Many things were different about this hunt. She hadn't stuck her tail in the air, but kept it down, she didn't really think, but let herself go, and she hadn't really felt like herself when she killed the rabbit, nor did she care to think of what she'd just killed- all she knew was that she was hungry, and that this was food. Yes, Noyana was well on her way to being a wonderful huntress and a mature adult.
She sat and nibbled on her kill, oblivious to what or who was around her. She was quite pleased, she'd brought it down herself! Without any help or training! That made it taste at least ten times better. She crunched a bone between her teeth, the sound making it perfect for anyone to sneak up on her, even if they weren't sneaking.
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:18 am
 Sekizen had been walking along when he heard a terrified squeak, a snap, and a crunch in the distance. He had been looking for a quiet place all day long, and had only run into more noise- which just so happened to have come from over the crest of a small hill. What's more, the smell of blood drifted over. He figured it was someone who had made a kill and lept to the top of the hill. He loved to eat meat, but he would never like killing some himself. The boy shuddered at the thought of it.
When he peeked over the ridge, he could see nothing. Not a trace of a lion, but he knew someone was there. Whoever it was had a good coat, and could hide quite well amongst the grasses.
"H-hello?" Sekizen offered tentatively, hoping that whoever was there would be willing to share some food with him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:13 am
Noyana perked up at the sound of the voice, but didn't allow her head above the grasses. Whoever it was sounded like they hoped to be able to run off with her meal. A disgruntled look spread across her face. She knew that eventually it was her duty to feed other members of the pride and share her kills, but... This was her biggest kill yet! She couldn't, no, she wouldn't share her gorgeous kill with this other creature (Who sounded about her age and had the tone of a male, she could tell.)
However, she had to deal with whoever this was. She perked her head over the grasses and looked in the direction of the speaker. The mostly-white male seemed odd to her... He was far too scrawny to ever be able to sustain himself, and she'd never seen him around the Pridelands. Who knew if he was even in local. No harm in feeding strangers, but she could see no good reason to give any scrap of her symbol of triumph to this stranger, not unless he could earn it.
Well, he hasn't asked for any, yet. Maybe he doesn't know I've got it, Noyana thought hopefully to herself, ignoring the fact that she was upwind of him. She quickly cleaned any signs of fresh meat off herself and headed over, keeping one ear tilted back towards her kill.
"Hi!" She said friendlily to the white lightning-marked male. "Are you from around here? I haven't seen you before, and I've seen quite a few Pridelanders," she said, eyeing him funny. She couldn't place a family member.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:03 pm
Sekizen was concerned when whoever had made the kill didn't make a move, but once the yellow female about his age had risen from the grasses he was relieved and headed over towards her.
He was mildly offended by the lioness's rudeness, but didn't show anything besides his usual straight face. "Of course I'm from the Pridelands," He said calmly, almost quietly. "I was born and raised here. I've not seen you around, either, but you're a pridelander. My mother is Tufani," he said, hoping to spark a connection for her. "And my name is Sekizen." His stomach growled again. "You don't have any food, do you? I smelled a kill, was it you?" His sense of smell was pretty weak, all things considered, but he knew that somewhere around here was some food...
So if she hadn't killed it, he wondered who would've. There was nobody else around, and the food smelled fresh. His mind immediately worked these facts out and came to the conclusion that she knew where the food was. He guessed it was in the direction of her ear, because only the huntress would care so much as to keep an ever-keen ear on the location of her prey. He'd wait and see, though, how honest she was.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 4:20 pm
Noyana eyed him funny again. What the heck was up with this guy? He acted strange... Strange indeed.
His mother's name did ring a bell. "I've seen Tufani. Never talked to her, but I've seen her and heard of her," Noyana said. So he is a Pride member after all... She really didn't want to offer up her food to the stranger, but... It was her civic duty to feed any hungry mouths. Why not start early? Besides, she would've given the food to Chaka, or any of her siblings. This was a relative, if not by blood, then by pride. However, she wasn't happy about giving it up. "There's not much meat on it, Sekizen," Noyana said reluctantly, "But you can have some of..." she paused, "my kill." She could feel her legs stiffening up with the frustration, but she nonetheless stepped aside for him to go eat. "By the way," she said as he made his way, "My name's Noyana. I'm the best lioness the world's ever known." With this, she puffed out her chest with pride. If she was going to gain a reputation, she wanted it to be good. People talk about you if you're nice, that's what she'd noticed with the adults. Perhaps an attitude change was in order, if she was going to be an infamous lioness.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 8:55 pm
Sekizen proceeded towards the food, following the line her ear had made, and the way his nose told him to go. He wasn't entirely sure the lioness would allow him to have a bite at the kill that she'd made, but... He decided he'd take the risk.
"You know, if you don't want me to eat it, I can not eat it," He said as he glanced up to see a shaking head for a reaction. Sekizen then semi-reluctantly dug into the food. He was sure hungry, he hadn't eaten in quite a while. He was very thankful for the offer, and for the food in general. He paused between bites and thanked the bright female again. It was an awkward moment that followed- her staring while he ate, but he was hungry. He, however, ate less than what he normally would have to avoid the awkward situation.
"So..." He tried to think of a question to ask. He was about to ask, "who are your best friends," but realized he had none his age himself. He decided a different one and, after cleaning up after his meal, asked, "What do you do for fun, Noyana?" He had left over half the kill untouched.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:28 pm
Noyana was overjoyed that he left her most of the kill. She dug in, pondering how to answer the question. "I like to hang out with friends, go on adventures and go exploring, and go hunting..." She said, pondering yet more. "Swimming is always fun, I'm a good swimmer. I like meeting new people too." She noted how... flat his face was. Not much changed about it- except for his mouth. That seemed to move every now and then. She pondered it too, but then decided that it was just what he did. "You look lightningy like your mother," She pointed out, having seen Tufani before. She was sure it was a trait that ran in the male's family... Just as her swirly things were in her own family.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:38 pm
"Yeah, I am lightningy," He said, looking the yellow lioness in the eyes. The last one to comment positively on his coat was... Nix. He'd been developing, though he'd deny it in an instant, a liking for the goddess. He daydreamed about his last meeting with her, and the incredible view of the Pridelands from above before he said anything else.
"I haven't ever been swimming, is it hard?" Sekizen asked Noyana, only letting his voice carry some curiousity.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:49 pm
Noyana immediately knew how to remedy his question. She completely forgot about her kill and the pride she had about it and nipped his ear. "Come with me, I'll show you how to swim!" When he showed reluctance, she gave him a nudge. "It's easy, and it doesn't hurt or anything, come on!" Glad to see that, despite an eye roll, he was coming, Noyana started bounding towards the nearest water hole.
She checked to make sure he was coming, and he was. He seemed a bit winded, so she sat and got a drink, pretending to need it. She raised her head, backed up, and dove in. The water wasn't too deep- perfect for a lesson. "You should be able to do it by instinct, but you can teach yourself to swim different ways," she told him as she flipped over onto her back in the water.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:06 pm
Sekizen followed, and was glad when she stopped at a water hole. Thirsty, he started drinking immediately, glad that the water was crisp.
After being enticed, Sekizen eyed the female carefully. "I don't really want to go in..." He didn't know her all that well either. Swimming with an almost-complete stranger didn't seem wise. However, she seemed nice enough. He wasn't distrusting, just he didn't feel he knew her enough to be taking orders from her. Reluctantly, he backed up as she had and dove in too, shivering slightly at the immediate cold that hit him. He was happy, though, that it came- the day was too hot. To his amazement, Noyana had been right and instinct did kick in. He paddled over to her. "This isn't so bad!" And he was surprised, too, that he didn't even get any water in his mouth. He watched her, though, floating on her back without doing any work. He rolled over and attempted it, and was amazed again at how well it worked. He glanced over at the female, proud of himself.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:00 pm
"There, you learned an important life skill today, Sekizen," She said, rolling over in the water and swimming towards shore. "It was nice to have met you, but I'd better get going, the sun is starting to set. You know how mothers are," She said from shore, shaking off. "I'll see you around, Sekizen!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:51 pm
Sekizen swam as fast as he could to keep up with the female. "Noyana, we'll get together and play again, right?" he asked. The words were strange, but the female seemed fun, in an oddly mature way. She'd make a good friend, that's for sure. He didn't want to lose contact with the lioness. She seemed to know how to live, and that was rare for one his age. He thought that perhaps she knew more than he did.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:55 pm
Noyana paused and turned around as the male spoke again. "Of course we can meet up again, silly! Just keep an eye out for me, we can hang out any time you want!" She said. "Just make sure it's not my twin, Chane. He's not mean or anything, but just check for the start of a mane, that's the difference between us," she told him. Often Chane complained about being called Noyana from afar, Noyana was called Chane more than once.
"I gotta get home, though. See you later!" She said, shooting the male an honest smile before darting back to her den.
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