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Jvalana was searching.

And she knew exactly who for.

Prancing across the sandy terrain a little clumsily, it was clear that the juvenile had had a recent growth spurt, her appearance in general looking a little clumsy - not unlike her movements. Her legs were a little too long for the length of her body and her tail was a lot longer, making it clear that her body had a little catching up to do. But the female, instead of hating that she wasn't quite able to coordinate her movements properly, was loving it. She was so much taller than she had been, and there was only one lion she wanted to tell, or more importantly, show.

Skidding to a halt in front of his family's den with a slight stumble, Lana was quick to recover as she merrily chortled out his nickname, "Can Caaaaaaaan~! Come out come out wherever you are!"

The quietness of his den was shattered by a voice he knew all too well. And a voice he NEVER wanted to hear again. Lana.

His eyes closed as he covered his head with his paws. Why did she have to come and harass him today? Wasn't she stupid enough to make friends and leave him alone?! He grumbled and yelled angrily in his mind before his eyes widen in surprise.

HOW DID SHE FIND HIS DEN?! This was not good! He didn't want her knowing where he lived. Oh dear, now he'd have to live with his Uncle. There was a no way he could risk -her- coming to his den every day to annoy the crap out of him.

He hissed angrily, "Hurias are to be with the Storytellers and not wandering by themselves!"

Lana giggled as she heard the familiar grumpy noise that was Canicus' voice. So he was in! Now knowing she was at the right den Lana ventured forwards a little further, peeking in and trying to spot him. She didn't want to go in - that was rude and ill-mannered, and he might actually swipe at her. She wouldn't put it past him. So instead she danced at the entrance, a wide grin on her face. "Ohhh give it a rest, grumpy-butt. We both know I'm not actually a Huria, so stop being so stupid. Now come out here and look at this!"

She didn't want to spoil the surprise by telling him specifically what she wanted him to see. Now that wouldn't be any fun at all!

Why couldn't she just leave him alone? He wanted nothing to do with her, she was just an annoying, stupid female. And then his train of thought stopped abruptly.

What if his mothers came back and saw this? What would they say? Oh dear, he could only imagine the punishment he'd receive and it'd be much worse than having that pest out there near him.

Grudgingly, he stood up and made his way towards the entrance of his den. Once Lana came into view, he noticed that she was indeed larger than last time. Was that what she wanted to show him? Could she get any more annoying?

His eyes narrowed to slits as he grumbled, "What do you want? I don't want to be near an overgrown Huria."

Yay, he was coming out! Figuring that she much have succeeded in finally getting him to stop being such a grumpy-butt, Lana backed away to allowed him space outside the den. It was a lovely sunny day today - even if he was napping, why was he doing it in the dark, secluded area of his den? Why not nap out in the sunshine? That was where Fin had been. Dopey lion had been so sleepy he hadn't even thought twice about giving her directions to his den. Lana grinned just at the memory.

"I wanted to show you how much bigger and stronger I've gotten," she stated simply, smirking as she made a show of flexing her claws, "Look, I'm bigger than you. So don't," she began to pronounce the words carefully and pointedly, a hiss creeping into her tone, "Call me a Huria."

At her attempt to be intimidating, he couldn't help but snort loudly. "Do you think your puny claws and overgrown size scares me? They'd probably break on contact with sand!" He prodded the jab at her.

His eyes shifted away from Lana to the surrounding desert. It was a nice day out, but it was much better when he was alone. Without a last glance at Lana, he started to stalk in the area of his favorite dunes.

Why was he snorting!? She was threatening him, he should be scared! Feeling her short fuse getting shorter, Lana growled softly under her breath, swiping at him as he prodded her with a jab. And then...was he ignoring her!? He just...he just walked away, without even saying anything!? Why did he always think she was no better than some stinking Huria!? She was better than that, she was!

Snarling, which in afterthought was probably a bad thing as it warned him of her approach, Lana kicked off hard, launching herself through the air and hopefully onto Canicus' back.

His ears flicked back and he was about to ignore Lana until his curiosity got the better of him and he turned around just in time to see her approach. And she called him grumpy? Man, did she have issues! Why did he attract bad lions? He thought angrily.

He sprang forward to come in contact with Lana head-on. Why was she such a coward to attack him from behind anyways? Didn't she have the courage to do it from the front? He smirked with glee as he lashed at her with his claws unsheathed.

Oh damn.

Canicus turned around, so the pair ended up meeting head-on. Lana snarled fiercely, trying to sink her teeth into the first flesh it came into contact with - his shoulder. Claws as always furiously tried to slash at whatever it could get to, but due to her sudden increase in side her movements were noticeably clumsily and uncoordinated, and she was struggling from the start. "You're so horrible!" she snarled, trying to justify her actions, "Why are you always so horrible to me!?"

He felt the sting of her teeth on her shoulder and hissed slightly under his breath. As his claws were going at anything he could get, it worked well enough for him. After a few good swipes he jumped back to scowl at her seething.

"Because you never leave me alone when I want to! And because you're a coward for attacking me from behind." His tail flicked irately behind him.

His claws hit her stomach well, the usually white fur staining red as cuts were made - mostly shallow, none worth worrying about. But they still stang, and when the pair parted she was breathing heavily, hising lightly both as a warning and a way to cope with the pain. "I'm trying to be friendly! You're so anti-social! And you were leaving! Where else was I supposed to attack you from!?"

He rolled his eyes, "Friendly! Showing off isn't friendly! It's rude and ill-mannered!!"

As his sides heaved slightly from the shortness of breath his shoulder twitched as he turned his head to glance down at it. Oh, that's going to leave a mark for a while. And lords, did it hurt like anything! This was definitely a wound he couldn't hide from his mothers and could only imagine what they'd say when he told them where he got it from as he'd never lie to them.

He looked back at Lana, "Why do you want to be friends with me anyway, I have no interest in it."

She wasn't showing off!

...Well, okay, maybe a little! But she just wanted to get his attention. Growling softly, not haivng any witty comeback that didn't sound stupid, Lana followed his gaze as he turned to look at the damage she'd done. The mark on his shoulder looked sore, she hadn't meant to hurt him quite that badly. But she was too full of pride to say sorry, that'd just make him more grumpy and angry at her! So instead she stood strong, puffing her chest out proudly.
"I dunno!" she snapped irritably, shrugging alongside, "You kinda seem like you need some friends."

Well she certainly wasn't going to tell him she had a crush on him!

Her answer didn't please him any. She decided that he looked like he needed friends? Well great, that probably meant she'd never get tired of him now and he'd never be able to go anywhere without tagging along.

"There are plenty of cubs in this pride, and you just had to pick me! I am sure my siblings can use friends more than I need them."

But because of this little spat he hadn't reached his destination after all and he wasn't going to let some overgrown Huria stop him! He told her, "Now before you rudely interrupted me, I am going to finish going to where I wanted to go." And begrudgingly came to the conclusion that he'd just have to tolerate her presence at least.

Now to his favorite dunes, here he comes!

Lana kept a straight face, watching Cani carefully, anger welling up inside her as he spoke but she refused to shout or stamp. That'd just prove his point! She pouted, a short growl escaping but nothing else as she watched him leave. Should she follow him? She wasn't sure - would that make him more angry, or was he expecting it now? To test it out a little, she followed him a little, keeping a fair way behind and stopping after a short while to see if he'd say anything.

As his ears were pinned against his head in annoyance, he could hear the little pitter-patter of paws some distance back. At least he wasn't wrong when he knew that she'd tag along.

After going over a few dunes here and there, he finally came to his destination. A large, wide dune that he liked to sit on the top of. He scrambled up the side of the dune, stumbling a few times as he winced slightly at his shoulder but went forward. A little wound like that wouldn't stop him!

On the top of the dune, he looked out into the vastness of the golden desert. It was so beautiful to him and he couldn't imagine anything else. He lay down and glanced back to see how far along Lana was. Once she was close enough to see him, he pointed to his right in a motion to let her know to go there and not right next to him. He was still mad at her.

She continued following as he walked, picking up the pace a little, eventually deciding that she would follow him and she didn't want to get left behind. He seemed to be heading to the dune, and she was proved right, stopping at the edge and watching as he scrambled to the top of one, cocking her head to the left a little, curious of where she should go. She wanted to sit on the same one as him, prove she could climb dunes just as well as he could. But he was still angry, she was sure.

She soon noticed him pointing to one on his right, and with a short growl begrudgingly accepted it, scrambling up the dune to his right. She struggled due to her mis-matched limbs, but managed eventually, settling herself down with a snort.

Out of the corner of right eye, he watched her go to where he had pointed. Good! He didn't want to be right next to her at this moment. Anger still welled up inside of him at the obnoxious female and didn't want to do something he'd regret later on.

But before he could do anything, he reached his head to the side and licked his wound. After a few winces and hisses here and there, he felt it was moderately clean and not going to be infected. A scar, who knows but if it did he'd just give Lana one to match. That thought made the corners of his mouth curl up.

And then he stood up, took one look the large dune before he went to the edge. He lowered his body and tucked his legs under his body and rolled down the dune happily. It was one of his favorite things to do! It was so much fun! Once he reached the bottom, he scrambled to go back up top to do it again.

Lana curled up carefully on top of the dune, positioning herself in a way that she was sure she wouldn't fall off. And in a way such that she could watch Cani, and hopefully look like she wasn't. She watched as he cleaned the wound, once again feeling a little guilty, but too proud of apologise. And she watched with more interest, and less subtlty, as he stood and rolled down the dune. Her mouth fell open a little, surprised that the lion would do such a thing. She hadn't thought he was the type to enjoy stuff like that.

He seemed...happy. Happy like he wasn't usually, definitely not around her. She frowned, slowly standing up, turning herself around and positioning herself in the same way...and then the sand gave way underneath her, meaning she rolled down, but not in the game that Canicus was after. No, she rolled down awkwardly and with yelps of pain and embarrassment, finally rolling to a stop at the bottom with a low groan, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

After another go at the dune, he heard Lana's attempt as she was really loud. He glanced over in her direction and watched her. With a shake of his head, didn't she know any better? He trotted towards her, "The sand is too soft on that dune. You have to do it on harder sand or else you'll lose the roll!"
He pointed to his dune, "Try that one."

She pushed herself to her feet, shaking the sand from her fur, growling in irritation as she furiously brushed it from her fur. Arrrrghhh, she'd need a bath now! Looking up, she jumped a little in surprise, not having heard Cani approach, setting her face in a pout once again. She wasn't angry with Cani - he was just trying to help. She was angry at herself, at the sand. She looked up at his dune, frowning a little in confusion. "...But that's your dune."

He snorted, "I don't own the desert, you overgrown Huria!" And here he was trying to help and she just had to say something stupid like that!

With a shrug, he went back towards his dune to do another round. "You're just scared!" He threw the jab at her once he was near the top of the dune.

There he went again! Lana hissed sharply at him, ears pinned back. Why did he have to be so horrible!? This was exactly what she was on about!? His taunts only made her more determined, Lana scaling the dune without much trouble. She bowed her head, a fun idea entering her head as she didn't stop, instead charging right for him. "HEY CAN CAN!" she screamed, not wanting him to give her the whole 'you attacked from behind' riot act, instead wanting to crash into him head on and send them tumbling down as a pair.

Now didn't that sound like fun?

Just as he was going to congradulate himself on successfully getting Lana to go on "his" dune, he was caught by surprise. Her nickname for him made him snarl angrily, he hated that very much!!

But her charge was what caught him by surprise as he tried to move out of the way but instead backed up towards the edge of the dune, ready to fall over and with Lana's combined weight it was only a matter of time before the pair would be tumbling down the dune.

Lana gave the extra push necessary, back legs sinking a little into the sand before being dragged out again as she sent the pair over the edge, unable to stop the grin that plastered itself on her face as they began rolling down the dune, holding in her squeal of excitement. They'd only annoy Canicus. Once they'd finally stopped rolling, Lana splayed out on the sand at the bottom of the dune, she allowed herself a giggle, "...Made you look!"

As they tumbled down the dune, he hissed angrily caught by Lana's surprise. What a pest!

When they finally leveled out at the bottom, he took a moment to catch his breath before he stood up and shook himself off, right next to Lana. Through narrowed eyes, he looked at her annoyed before he took advantage of her position and sat down on her tail, making sure that it was placed firmly under a paw he could hold on to for safe keeping.

She rolled over onto her back, giggling a little manically. That had been so much fun! She wanted to do that again! Making to sit up, she soon realized what Canicus had done, first reaction being to hiss at him as she furiously made to tug her tail from underneath his paw. She soon realized what a terrible mistake that was, however, when she gave a loud yowl of pain, hurriedly moving back towards her tail to lessen to pain. "Get off!" she hissed, meaning to sound intimidating, but instead whining slightly

At her yowl he felt the corners of his mouth curl up in delight. Oh, what fun it was to have power! Her hissing did nothing to deter him, afterall he could beat her anyday he wanted!

He kept his paw firmly on her tail as he jabbed at her, "Now why would I want to do that?" Having much fun he looked at her, "Don't tell me, you're afraid!"

A permanent snarl was fixed on her face, Lana trying to stare him down, do anything to get him off. Except attack him. That wouldn't help things, not one bit! Her hissing continued, Lana snorting softly as she made a fake swipe at him - she didn't plan to hit him, expecting him to move out of the way. "Afraid of what!?" she spat, anger welling up inside.

As she swiped at him, he didn't expect her to hit him or else she might get claws in her tail. And he knew she prided her appearance as it was one of her top priorities and marks wouldn't bode well with her!

As she spat, his face widen more in happiness as he could feel her getting more angry at him. Payback was fun! He lowered himself slightly before he closed the short distance between the pair to land on her squarely, "That I will always beat you, even if you are an overgrown Huria!" Just as she had a nickname for him, he had one for her.

She narrowed her eyes, watching him carefully as he lowered his body, eyes suddenly widened as she realized what he was about to do. He wouldn't, surely!? But he did, and she felt the air rush out of her lungs as he landed squarely on her chest, the lionness struggling to gasp in breaths to replace the lost air. "You idiot!" she hissed, struggling to do much else as she furiously tried to kick him off, "And I'm not a Huria! Get off of me!"

As she struggled, he wiggled a bit to get a better hold on Lana as he ignored her. Why would he want to do that? He had to get her back somehow!

He looked down at her and watched her struggle for a few moments before he felt his shoulder hurt from the effort and jumped off of her quickly. To make sure he was out of the way of any wayward claws she might try to swing at him. "If you can't handle it, then don't provoke me!"

She did indeed swipe at him as soon as she got the chance, but he was too far away as she struggled to her feet, tail limp behind her. She hissed at him, claws flexing into the sand beneath her as she sat herself down and proceeded grooming, determined not to rise to the bait his taunts provided. No, she was better than that!

He couldn't help but to chuckle at her. Lana was so amusing when she was mad and trying to not attack him. Perhaps....she can be some fun afterall. Though, he'd never, ever say that to her! It'd inflate her big ego even bigger than it already is!

As she groomed herself, he raised his paw slightly and flicked the sand at her before turning around and dashing back up the dune.

"STOP IT!" the lionness practically roared, anger bursting out as he flicked the sand at her. That was the last straw! Argh, he was so horrible and stupid and FAT. She didn't chase him, still determined to gain some of the upper hand. Besides, now he was gone she could clean her fur in peace! "Stupid grumpybutt," she grumbled under her breath, trying to make herself feel better.

As he made his way towards the top of the dune, he looked down at Lana. He had such brilliant ideas, he loved them. Especially since they involved annoying the crap out of Lana. Since she liked to do that to him, he'd return the favor and see how she liked it!

He crouched low on the top of the dune and let her think she had gotten rid of him. He waited a little bit before he pushed his paws in front of him and slid down the dune. In doing this, he was spraying sand everything, and as he went further down, where Lana was.

Lana licked her paw, carefully removing pesky grains on sand from between her toes. She hated it when they were there, rubbing against her toes and hurting. This was why you needed to stay clean! Refusing to look at Canicus, knowing he'd just be grinning 'cause he thought he'd won, Lana eventually gave in to temptation, glancing up the slope. And was utterly horrified by what she saw. She yelled loudly, practically screaming as she tried to dive out of the way.

Of course, it didn't work.

"YOU'RE HORRIBLE," she roared, after finally managing to make her way out of the sand that had engulfed her. It was everywhere! It'd take hours to clean it all off! "I HATE YOU!" she screamed, although it was soon fading to sobs. Perhaps Cani had gone a step too far? "You're a horrible, stupid, pathetic, stupid cub!" she began to sob, shivering. With anger, embarrassment, heck, the sand might be cold too. She carefully tried to pick her way out of the new layer of sand that had formed, but it was made difficult due to her shaking limbs.

Once he reached the bottom, he was greeted to Lana's scream. Oh, it was just the reaction he was hoping for! As she was seething with angry, he watched her tremors turn into sobs.

What the heck?! Why was she crying? Because she got covered in sand? They live in the desert, how does she expect, to not get any sand on her!! He didn't understand it at all. He didn't understand why she was crying and so upset. Sure, she had always said that he was horrible, but hate. She'd never said that to him. "How can you live in a desert and be so against the sand on your fur!" He just didn't understand, and being so young was working against him at the moment.

But as he took a good look at her, she was clearly and visibly upset. And if anyone else were to walk upon them, it wouldn't look good for him. And if his parents caught wind of this, he was dead meat for sure! Begrudgingly, he muttered under his breath, "I'm sorry!"

Lana was still shaking as she sat herself down on a stable bit of sand, trying to shake the majority of the sand off of her. But of course, it didn't work as well as she'd hoped. It was everywhere, between her toes, under her tail, in her ears, up her nose. Tiny little grains that were the most annoying, horrible thing ever. "I don't care about a little sand!" she hissed, voice still wobbly, "But it's EVERYWHERE! And it's horrible and annoying and won't go away!" The sobs returned, though her shaking had lessened a little.

She'd ignored his apology. She didn't care, not at the moment. At the moment she cared about the sand up her nose that wouldn't budge!

He narrowed his eyes at her, getting annoyed with her sobbing. What kind of display is this? He wants to feel bad, but is starting not to. He's getting extremely irritated with each sob Lana does.

His ears were pinned against his head as he replied, "Why don't you just go to the watering hole and wash it off?"