Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a day much like any other. The sun was in the sky, the grass was green underpaw, and all throughout the territory members of the pride were going about their business. Not that any of what they did was any of his business, but that had never stopped the Vizar’s young son from being interested. Maybe it was merely a curiosity killed the cat sort of thing. Maybe there was another motive behind it. But regardless, Anwar had begun to grow tired from hanging around the den he shared with his fairly extensive family and his… father…

Surely his father, who always seemed to have some task outside the sight of the den Anwar had spent the majority of his short life in, would have no qualms about any of his sons striking out and having a look around. Anwar had no need to leave the pride’s territories after all, and he supposed that so long as he stayed within the borders, there would be no trouble. He was growing tired of watching, there was so much more to learn if he had the opportunity to see for himself. And now, with no adults nearby to tell him otherwise, the pesar intended to take this opportunity to do just that.

Quietly, his dark striped olive colored pelt mostly blending with the grass, the cub crept away from the spot he’d come to know as his home, a few glances over his shoulder assuring him that no one had thought to come and stop him leaving. That seemed promising. Still, it was with some degree of hesitation that he ventured forth, for all his conviction he was still uncertain if his actions would make his father upset with him. Part of him would be glad for any attention from the big dark male, but at the same time, it was his father’s approval that he craved, not his wrath. But there was little he could do to earn either around here. It was time for him to take some chances, to see what he could see… and what he might overhear.

Anwar paused once he was quite out of sight of the den, flicking his pale gold tufted tail. This was further than he’d come on his own before, and he now had to chose a direction to wander in. He had an idea of where some of the other members of the pride were, he’d seen them at a distance on occasion, heading here and there. But he couldn’t decide which of them he wanted to seek out. It irked him to know so little about so many, he simply didn’t know where…to…start…?

Blinking his deep red eyes, the cub stared at a young lioness. She was new to him, though there was something about the tan splotches on her coat that made him think of a white-maned lion he’d seen from time to time while he sat outside his den. That one had had white splotches though, not tan ones, and his fur had been pale, not black. Maybe this cub was related to that one? Anwar knew his siblings and himself looked like a combination of their mothers and their father. So…perhaps her dark was from her mother’s fur?

Well… it seemed that standing here watching and listening wasn’t going to work this time. Curiosity spurred him forward, his inexplicable desire to ,learn more, to learn everything drove him to approach the stranger… but shyly. For all he was a pesar and she a banu, he’d very little confidence in himself at the moment, he knew males were ‘above’ females but…

“…hello?” he finally tried, watching uncertainly from several feet away. She didn’t seem to be that busy… but how he was going to find out what he wanted from her he didn’t know. He didn’t want to just ask, then she might tell someone he’d been asking, or maybe she wouldn’t give him the answers. There had to be a way to sneak the information he wanted out of her…somehow…

Anwar shuffled his paws, feeling slightly awkward as she just… stared at him. Without saying anything. He knew she’d heard him at least, otherwise she wouldn’t have looked up…

He offered her a faint smile when she finally responded to his quiet ‘hello’ with a ‘good morning’. But then she asked him a question. It wasn’t a hard question, but…Anwar had wanted to find out what she knew, not tell her everything he knew! He liked knowing things people didn’t know he knew!

…maybe…a trade. That might work. He could tell her a tiny little bit, answer her questions. And then she would answer his. That was fair. He’d like to have just gleaned all the knowledge he could without having to give up some of his own precious information, but… it would be worth it.

“I’m Anwar. Who’re you?” he asked, taking a few shy steps forward before sitting down and cocking his head curiously, “And…what’re you doing?”

Maybe he could get two answers from her in return for his one. That would be a good trade.

Oh wow...it actually worked. He told her the answer to her question, and got two answers back. Anwar smiled to himself a little on the inside. This might actually work. It really might. She'd even told him more than he'd asked for, though a lot of it was just what she thought about stuff. Still, any information was good to know...

Wondering if other banu were as keen to invent new things as this one, Zarha, Anwar cocked his head slightly to one side, ears perking forward. Ah curiosity... even that odd glint was not enough to dissuade him from being interested...

"What kind of test subject?" he asked after a moment. If she was inventing a new game, and he learned it... he'd know a game only one other person knew, at least for a while anyway. Maybe he could convince her to keep it 'their secret' for a little bit, then he'd know it for longer and they would be the only ones in the whole pride, maybe even the whole world, to ever play it...

'Aisee'? What was that? He knew what hide and seek was, and he knew how to play tag. But he'd never heard of an 'aisee' before...

Curiosity caught, hook line and sinker, Anwar watched the black and tan female from his seat in the grass. She looked like she was thinking about something, and he really wanted to ask her what an 'aisee' was, but he didn't want to interrupt and make her forget something or, possibly even worse, change her mind about telling him. He blinked when she hopped down and looked him over, feeling like he was trying to pass a test he'd not prepared for. His ears lowered slightly when she proclamation him to be scrawny, he hated being smallish, but at least she seemed to have decided to let him help. And since he was helping, he was going to get to learn all about it.

As she bounded away excitably, Anwar rose to his paws and padded after her, listening attentively as she explained why she was drawing in the dirt and feeling a mild twinge of impatience when she skipped a detail to come back to 'later'. When would 'later' be? And why couldn't she just tell him now?

At her stern look and demand for secrecy, Anwar felt his ears lowering slightly. Yes, she was a Banu, and yes, he was aware of positions in the pride and the 'superiority of males'. But the way she was acting made it feel like she was supposed to be in charge, and on some level Anwar felt the need to react accordingly. He was still a cub after all, he was used to doing what he was told. Not to mention, he really wanted to know what she was talking about...and if he reacted the way she expected, she'd be more likely to tell him more. Right?

"I promise," he agreed meekly, adding hopefully after a second, "It'll be our secret."

Yes, don't tell anyone about it. Let it be another tiny bit of secret knowing that he didn't have to share with anyone else.

"So... what do you want me to do?" Anwar offered after a moment of staring at the circle in the dirt.

Anwar watching with interest as the Banu scampered about. There seemed to be a point to everything she was doing, but he hadn’t quite figured it out yet. He would though. For now, he’d do what she wanted until she satisfied his curiosity. Or at least part of it, a very small little bit. If everything worked out, maybe he could get her to tell him all sorts of other things too. The game was fine for now, especially while no one else knew it, but… it hadn’t been very hard for him to get her to tell him her name. Surely getting her to tell him other things would be no different…

He moved to stand in the center of the ring she’d drawn in the dirt, looking around at the space he had inside for a few moments before returning his red gaze to her while she explained. So he was now the ‘aisee’. Which made Zarha, and anyone else who might have been playing, an ‘ati’. The five times rule seemed a bit odd, why did it matter how many spins so long as he didn’t know what direction he was facing? But it didn’t seem to be terribly important. Maybe it was to make sure everyone had the same chance.

Nodding once when she asked if he understood, Anwar looked back at the lines in the dirt that marked the boundaries.

“How will I know if I step over the lines?” he asked after a moment, “With my eyes closed, I might not notice.”

Anwar tipped his head as she thought, curious. Had she not thought of that before? But... but it was her game. Surely she knew all the rules... oh wait. She'd said she was inventing it. Which meant... would it be his game too? Kinda sorta? Just a little bit? That would be... really cool.

"Oh," he said as she explained, nodding slightly. Of course. Only someone who really wasn't paying attention should wander outside the circle. Looking for the Ati, who had to stay inside, should help the Asiee stay inside. And with the circle, all the Ati would be closer to the Asiee. It would be much easier to catch them. If there wasn't a boundary, they could run all over everywhere, and the Asiee might walk into someone who wasn't playing, or walk into a tree or something. Then the game wouldn't be as fun...or well, he didn't think so.

"That sounds like fun," Anwar decided after a moment. It was much cleverer than tag, which seemed to only be good if you were fast. In this game, being smart was just as important. It was something he could be good at... which seemed like a good thing to him. "So...I'm Asiee. I should close my eyes?"

Someone else to test the game out with???

No!

It was supposed to be just them! Just a secret for them! At least for now... he figured she'd have shared it eventually, but...but... it wasn't fair. Why couldn't it be a secret for just a little longer?

Anwar listened, nodding as she explained the last rule, but... but...

"What if we make the circle smaller?" he asked, "Just this once. Then there wouldn't be as much room for you to run away..."

Wouldn't that work? Then they could play, and this game would still be a secret game. He loved secrets, even if it was just a game. Secrets were... were awesome. And knowing lots and lots of secret things was the best sort of thing to be good at. He didn't want to share the game...

Anwar shrank some under her puzzled look. Was it so odd that he liked secrets? Although, if he said he liked secrets, then it wouldn't be secret anymore. And it might not seem like such a good reason either...

Hadn't she said something about needing a test subject? She wanted to invent a game that was better than all the other games her family played, and so far Anwar found himself agreeing. It was better than plain old tag, and better than hide and seek too. To win, the Ati had to use their wits and pay attention. It was finally a game about something he was good at! Not at being stronger or faster than the other player, at being smarter. He could be clever, it seemed like it was all he was good at really...

"Well...if it's just us, we can make sure it's perfect before we show anyone else," he tried, it sounded better than saying he liked to know things no one else did. "You're welcome, this is fun," Anwar added when she thanked him, giving her a slightly crooked half-smile in return. He watched as she marked out a new boundary, this one seemed fair to both of them. So she was creative and pretty and smart. Maybe he might like her more than a few of his siblings... she had a better game too.

"So, now I close my eyes?" he asked once she'd finished the circle, head tilted curiously to the side. He thought he might like this game, he didn't want to do it wrong.