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 Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 7:45 pm
 The light bounced off the calm surface of Lake Tanganika like a thousand glittering stars. In the blaze of the afternoon, Zarha's dark fur felt as hot as a stone that had been sitting all afternoon in the sun and she dove into the shallows with a grin of joy and relief. She galloped and leapt through the water, exploding the shimmering water in huge splashes of crystal light. She almost seemed to give herself up to the joy of play, yet she moved with a natural gracefulness that made her look somehow grown-up. She sent a look over her shoulder, daring Anwar to join her.
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:11 pm
It was hot today, the sun blazing like wildfires at the peak of the sky. Too bright to look at, and even its reflection on the lake dazzled his eyes. Coming down to the lake had seemed a wonderful idea, a chance to cool off a bit and slake his slowly growing thirst.
And going with Zarha certainly promised to be...interesting.
Slitted red eyes followed the young Banu's progress through the water as the olive-furred juvenile lapped up a few mouthfuls of coolness. He shook himself slightly as the glimmering spray from her playful splashing reached him, and straightened to watch her for a moment. She seemed almost more... more like...like a Pad than he did. But that was alright with him. He was more than capable of looking after a harem, his ability to soothe his brother as he gleaned the information from him proved that. Obadias trusted him beyond anything, told him everything he wanted to know. If Anwar could convince him, surely he could then work with a female as well.
Besides, the last time they'd been together... she was smart, this Banu. There was something clever about her fiery eyes, and it...intrigued him. Curiosity killed the cat after all. It was why he'd been looking forward to seeing her again, to learning more about her, discovering what she knew for himself.
But still, he hesitated on the shore, fur prickling at her daring glance. He wasn't a competitive cub, not really. But he wasn't so little anymore. And he would need to prove himself someday... small pawsteps. Bit by bit he would rise until no one could deny he was great...
Gingerly, he placed one paw in the lakewater, the cold of it did feel nice after the hot sun. But it was also wet. He wasn't quite sure he approved of wet. And hadn't the sultan's son nearly drowned not all that long ago? He couldn't ignore Zarha though! Determinedly, he waded forward until all four paws rested on the muddy lakebottom, his tail lifted to keep it from dragging in the wet.
"Be careful," he heard himself saying softly, watching as the Banu leaped through the water. He doubted he'd be strong enough to pull her out if she went under, he wasn't such a great swimmer...
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:32 pm
Zarha giggled at his cautious wading. "Come on, Anwar! You're not afraid of crocodiles are you?"
There were no crocodiles. The largest animals in the lake at this moment were two juvenile lions. She was joking, toying with him, but as a friend. Her lioness mane dripped into her eyes, soaked from all her splashing. Lately Zarha had taken a greater interest in the other banus. She watched how they moved, how they behaved and spoke, and she learned from them. She might have looked a mess, her fur glossy and beaten down with water, except that she held herself with such confidence that she made the beauty of Lake Tanganika her own.
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:40 pm
...crocodiles?
Anwar stopped altogether, frowning down at the water all around him. Crocodiles? He'd never seen one before, he didn't think they were in the lake. Surely he would have heard something about it if they were. Someone would have been bitten or chased, the lake would likely even be guarded. Certainly two young lions like them would not have been allowed to come here all on their own...not that Anwar had exactly said he was going. No one would care after all... because...because there weren't any crocodiles in Lake Tanganika!
Uncertain in spite of this, he glanced back at the shore, not too far away. Crocodiles...they buried their eggs on the banks, right? So wouldn't someone have found a nest if they were in here?
"There...there aren't any crocodiles in the lake," Anwar announced, trying to sound more confident than he felt right now. All the facts lined up after all. Hesitantly, he took a few more steps towards her, stopping when the water started to tickle his belly. How deep did she plan on going anyway? Surely she was too smart to just...let herself drown, right?
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:57 pm
"I know, I was just teasing." She smiled sweetly, holding back a giggle without much success. Anwar always over-thought everything. She liked that about him, because he thought of things that she might have overlooked on her own. Zarha was good at thinking on her feet. They complimented each other.
With Anwar close beside her Zarha began to move into deeper water. Soon the tips of her toes lifted off the bottom and she started to swim around, pretending she was a bird. She stuck close to the shallows. She didn't have webbed paws, which made swimming difficult, but she enjoyed it all the same.
"Mmm, the water is so perfect. This is the best time of day to go swimming, don't you think?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:05 pm
Just teasing.
Anwar wasn't sure how he should feel about that. But, with a smile that sweet, maybe she was just being playful. Having fun. It could have been innocent after all.
Still, in spite of the crocodiles, or rather, the lack thereof, Anwar was reluctant to follow the dark-furred Banu much deeper. When he reached the limit of where he could stand with his chin above water and his paws flat on the ground, he stopped.
Zarha didn't. Grah.
"It does feel cool after the sun," he admitted, before adding, "Kind of deep though," his eyes now firmly affixed on her as she paddled around. What he was going to do if she suddenly went under, he had no idea. But a Pad protected Banu, right? Just because he wasn't exactly a Pad yet didn't mean he wasn't supposed to be, to some degree at least, responsible.
At least one of them should be!
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:15 pm
But Zarha wasn't thinking about drowning. Because of her dark coat she spent more time cooling off in the water than other cubs and she thought of herself as an accomplished swimmer. She heard about the Sultan's son, but thought little of it. Obviously that cub wasn't any good at swimming.
The temperature was so high that the tuft of tan fur over her eyes was starting to dry. "I wish I was a crocodile. My father says that crocodiles can swim under the water without making any ripples on the surface, and that makes them the best swimmers. Sometimes I want to dive under water and stay down there for hours where its nice and cool."
She swam back to where Anwar was standing to rest her legs for a little while, her head floating just above the surface of the lake as she looked around. "Hey, look over there. I think I see an island. It's hard to tell, the sun is so bright."
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:36 pm
Anwar's fur might not be black, much to his dismay, but it was still fairly dark. And everyone must feel the heat, even the pale-furred cubs that belonged to the sultan. It was a matter of how one dealt with it. Laying in the shade of a bush whilst observing the intricate life of a bustling anthill worked quite well for him.
He was pretty sure swimming was not his thing.
"If you were a crocodile, you would be greenish and scaly and think about food all the time." Or so he believed. What else was there to do sitting at the bottom of a lake or river? He'd heard they were quite fierce, with a long mouth filled with teeth. Something like that... Zarha was far prettier as a lioness. Of that he was certain. "And your legs would be short and stubby," he added, remembering the conversation he'd... ... overheard.
Of course, when she pointed out the island, or what may have been an island, his curiosity was piqued slightly. Slightly. He'd not heard about an island. Maybe they would be the first to discover it!
...islands were surrounded by water, common sense informed him. And they couldn't even really see it. What if they swam all the way out and it wasn't even there? The flying Pad who'd saved the sultan's son surely wasn't going to just happen to be by the lake again now! He had things to do after all... Anwar should know, he'd followed the winged lion around for most of a day, trying to figure out how the wings worked.
"...I don't know..." Anwar said slowly, squinting against the sunlight in vain, "I...I'm not sure if I can see anything over there..."
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:57 pm
Well, Zarha still thought it would be fun to be a crocodile. She had never seen one and she didn't think Anwar had either, so he couldn't know that much about them.
But now her attention was focused on that strange shape in the distance. Without realizing it, Zarha echoed Anwar's thoughts and started to float-walk back toward the shallows. "We can see it better from over here."
With her head well above the sparkling film of the lake, with the water below her elbows, she could clearly see the shape of a small island out on the lake. The sparkling water made the distance hard to estimate. She walked in a straight line through the shallows to a place where she could see it a little more clearly. The water looked deep out there. At least that was what she thought. The surface was too bright to see through. "Do you think anyone's ever been out there before?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:01 pm
He was somewhat relieved to be heading in towards shallower waters. Granted, it was nice to be cool. But he didn't think he much enjoyed being wet. Maybe next time he'd lie in the shade instead. Maybe.
Anwar followed closely beside Zarha, looking with resignation towards the island. She was right, it was there. But it seemed so very far away...
"I don't know," he admitted after a while. He hated not knowing things! "But it does seem pretty far. And the water must be pretty deep too." Perhaps that might dissuade her. Not likely, but perhaps. "I'd guess that not many people have been there, if any..."
Alright, so he was kind of curious himself. And he did want to see what was on it. But. He was not curious, not nearly, to find out what drowning felt like.
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:16 pm
Zarha would never admit to weakness, but she wondered whether she could swim the distance without exhausting herself. But it was there. They saw it. There was no changing it. Although she felt cautious, she knew she had to try, somehow, to reach that island. And just like that she had an idea.
It was a crazy idea. She knew it was a crazy idea, but she also knew that if there was a way to make it work Anwar would find it. "We could make it if we didn't have to swim. If we could float on the water, like a leaf, it would hardly take any energy at all to get there."
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:24 pm
She wasn't going to let it go was she. Not that he could blame her. Anwar himself was practically dying to get there, now that he knew it was there. But he didn't want to literally die over it. It wasn't worth that, that was for sure.
The young lion glanced sharply at Zarha as she spoke, frowning slightly. But not out of irritation or exasperation. He was...thinking... Actually, that might work. He grinned, flexing his toes into the muck briefly. He'd known she was clever.
"I have an idea."
And with that, he turned and waded out of the water, giving himself a good shake once he reached the shore, no point in being dripping wet after all. They'd passed a fallen treebranch on their way, it wasn't too far back. And it was huge, bigger around than both his legs side by side. Surely it could hold them up, or at least help. Little bits of wood floated on the lake, he'd seen them when twigs fell in. And they could hold up little things, like tiny pebbles, if they were big enough.
He'd never tested it with a lion before, but, in theory, it had worked quite well. Even though the branch, or almost half a tree it sort of looked like to him now, might feel heavy on the ground, it would float in the water. And then it should help them to float too.
"Help me roll this down into the water..." Anwar said, shoving it with all his might. It rocked, the branches poking out making it harder to move. A more forceful shove snapped a few off, and he cringed at the sudden thought of splinters in his eyes. Well, he'd just be careful then. "Watch your eyes," he added, not wanting Zarha to get hurt either.
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:44 pm
Zarha followed him without asking. She knew it was better to leave him alone when he was thinking and she knew he always had good ideas. Of all the pads she knew, she hoped he would be her's one day. She could trust Anwar. He trusted her too and favored her quick wits.
For her desire for him, 'love' was the wrong word. She saw that they complimented each other and knew they made a good team. Anwar was the son of a Vizer. Power was Zarha's ambition. They were just perfect together.
But when she saw the huge branch her heart sank. That huge thing looked like it would sink as soon as they got it into the water. Instead of arguing with Anwar, which would have been rude for a female, she would just have to trust his judgment for now. If she didn't already trust him it would have been a lot harder.
"Hold on, Anwar," she said, and used her teeth to snap off the smaller branches that where in the way. She could see they were going to get broken anyway. This would make rolling the branch a lot easier.
When that was done, she grabbed one end of the branch and started to pull it down to the water while Anwar pushed from the other side. She was surprised when they made it to the water and the branch suddenly became much lighter and, though it almost sank at first, started to float.
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:58 pm
She didn't doubt him. Of course, a Banu was supposed to obey and listen to a Pad. But he wasn't exactly a Pad, and he'd never acted as though she ought to be subservient to him. So long as no one else noticed, he didn't care. He liked making use of her quick wits, even if she seemed to lead him into trouble. Potentially anyway. But his plan should work! So there shouldn't be trouble.
Anwar paused when she told him to, watching as she snapped off the sticky-out branches. He'd just been going to roll them off, no splinters in his teeth. But if she wanted to do it that way...he wasn't going to stop her.
Together they managed to move the heavy thing down to the lake. He held his breath when it seemed like it would sink, perhaps only the smaller ones floated. Hopefully she wouldn't notice the small sigh of relief when it bobbed back to the surface.
"Branches float. It should help us float too..." He pushed it out further, hooking his forepaws over it and lifting his hindlegs from the bottom. The branch dipped slightly, his weight tugging it a little lower in the water. But it still floated. "I want to test it before we go too far though, I never tried a big branch before."
Why was he explaining? He only ever explained things, or told things, to Obadias. And then only when his poor brother had one of his real-dreams that always frightened him so badly... Of course, he only did that so that Obadias would come tell him all about what he'd seen. Mostly it seemed to have to do with murder...which could definitely come in handy. Especially if it was something that hadn't happened yet, though neither of them really understood how it worked. He needed to find mother Ukoo and ask...but now didn't seem an ideal time. Not after that yelling, with her and mother Otep walking about all covered in wounds.
"I think this will work," he confirmed, pushing downward on his end of the branch. So long as they kicked their paws, it should be enough to keep them from sinking if they got a little tired...
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Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:18 pm
Zarha didn't say anything. She was still a little skeptical deep down. The branch felt so heavy when they were pushing it to the shallows. She felt so surprised when they got to deeper water and she felt her back legs lifting off the bottom with the branch that she let out a little gasp. "Oh my god! This is incredible!"
She adjusted her grip on the branch. Now that they were free floating she thought she would need to hold on tighter, but the water supported the branch and her weight astonishingly well. Ordinarily it took a lot of effort for her to stay near the surface. Now she could put all her concentration into swimming.
Suddenly they started to drift off course. The water in the lake was completely still, for there was hardly a breeze today. It didn't take Zarha long to find the problem. "Anwar, stop. We need to kick together or we're going to go all over the place."
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