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 Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:44 pm
It also did not mean, however, that Nahmba teaching hunting in general was a good idea. She had found a series of rodent holes, thinking the brains and the chase would be good for Gakere.
Unfortunately, they were baffling her far more than she had assumed. Who knew it was so hard to catch tiny game! It explained why she had not had much success as a child, either, and she thought that was just hunting inexperience. By now, of course, it became a game that Nahmba was determined to win.
"Alright, Gakere, get ready. I'm going to blow on the count of three, and you catch him when he comes out the other side!" Rump stuck in the air, face staring intently down a hole, and tail swishing, Nahmba looked more than a little involved with this newfound purpose. She had trapped, or at least she thought so, the prarie dog in its hole. It would have to choose between her side and Gakere's and she was attempting to make the decision for it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:54 pm
Gakere sighed.
Mother seemed to show a zeal for this kind of activity that he did not share, as they had been at it long enough that the sun was almost overhead. It had started as a learning exercise for him, but she had ended up taking most of the activity on herself, once the first rodent or two had evaded her capture.
Perhaps it was a point of pride.
Crouching down into what he had been told was a good hunting stance, the cub wondered if the prairie dog would be forced out this particular hole, or instead another, as he had realized early on in the day that one hold led to many others, possibly through intersecting tunnels of a sort...
"Yes, Mother." Little claws dug into the earth in preparation.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:01 pm
The moment had come! Nahmba counted down, sure that her plan would work. When the numbers in her head reached three, she lept forwards, putting as much force in her breath as she could. It came out with quite an impressive sound and it would certainly be enough to chase the creature out.
It did, of course, leave its hiding spot, out through a completely different hole that Nahmba had not seen.
She could not know this with her head stuffed down the prarie dog's burrow, and she was about to find out a completely different problem was at hand.
Attempting to shove her paws on either side of her head and pull back, Nahmba discovered she didn't have the strength or the leverage to do so. She was inhaling dirt, and despite her best wiggling efforts, the ground remained clamped behind her ears.
Despite the urge to panic, Nahmba made her voice as loud as she could get it, though it was still severely dampened by the ground it had to travel through.
"Gakere. Go get help. Mother is stuck."
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:16 pm
Gakere had sat back on his haunches as Nahmba leaned down to the earth, thrusting her jaw into the hole. He watched with more idle curiosity than concern as the prairie dog fled out a hole far away from either of them, and as his mother attempted to free herself.
It was unsuccessful, he noted, a thought confirmed by her somewhat calm shout. It was laced with adrenaline however, something he had only heard once or twice before. He liked it.
"Stuck?"
Getting to his feet, the cub padded over to his mother's side, briefly bumping against her, presumably in reassurance, on his way back toward the pridal lands.
He did wonder what happened when a lioness stayed stuck in a hole... Perhaps he would find out when he returned.
-------------
It was not too terribly long after that a sleek, brown and white lioness happened by. She had been considering a hunt and having her thoughts to herself for a short time when she spotted a furred rump in the air. One without a head.
An amused growl rumbled in her throat as she padded closer, attempting to see what, exactly, was afoot.
It was hard to tell who exactly, it was, being relatively new to the pride, but it was a light hide, and therefore one of her 'group'. She had yet to become entirely used to such things, after all.
Her voice was a low purr, close to the ground so that it would hopefully be heard.
"Are you enjoying yourself, or are you in need of assistance, lioness?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:23 pm
Nahmba had sailed past the panicked stage. Eventually, she'd given up to the idea that she may die there in the hole. The last thing she would have seen, at least, was her cubs determined face.
Still, she hoped that Gakere had found someone. She hoped even more that he had not gotten lost, or that the lionesses had not laughed at him and ignored him. All of these irrational fears were fit for a creature who thought she was running out of air and, with it, life.
The voice, no matter what it said, could not have been more welcome. Moving her tail about as she could not use her ears, Nahmba attempted to look at the stranger. Nothing but pitch black.
"Help, please!" she piped out. "I can't get out!" Her voice was a bit hoarse and cracked from the dirt that had lodged itself there. She could only imagine how filthy she must have looked. There was a feeling for this. It was shame.
But there was someone here to rescue her! Gakere must have been successful after all.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:30 pm
Mpenzi rubbed Nahmba's side with her face, reassuring that she would help once she sensed the other female's resignation mixed with fear. Stepping back to assess the problem, the busisa padded to another hole, experimentally striking it with her paw. The dry earth cracked a bit, closest to the hole's edge. Good.
Returning, she leaned close to the earth to raise her voice, attempting to give Nahmba some idea of her plan. "This may hurt! Do not move until I touch you again!"
After all, Nahmba's head would get smaller, toward her nose, so they only needed to widen the entrance. Mpenzi stomped the edges of the hole around Nahmba's neck, digging at it with her claws as the cracks became wider.
Positioning herself so that she could claw at the earth as Nahmba pulled, hopefully freeing her, she tapped the lioness with a paw. "PULL!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:40 pm
The gentle touch was all that Nahmba needed to relax. Letting her legs buckle, she simply sat down, her head still lodged quite securely in the hole.
The other lioness' voice, however, worked on her like magic. There seemed to be no reason to fret when she knew there was someone there to help her. Everything was safe and okay. Only the dirty scent that filled her nostrils reminded Nahmba that there was any danger.
When the banging started, Nahmba didn't even think to flinch, and in a matter of seconds after Mpenzi's command, Nahmba was stumbling backwards and free.
Red dirt coated her face and spattered down her front and Nahmba had to take the time to sneeze. Eyes still watery, she was just able to make out the figure in front of her.
The face was a fairly new one, and though she recognized it, she had an impossibly hard time with names. "Uh, thank you," she squeaked out, trying to rub her eyes out with a paw but ending up only getting more dirt incrusted in them.
"I am so silly to have gotten stuck in a hole." A pause, and then a smile. "I'm Nahmba. You haven't been here long, have you?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:48 pm
Nahmba. The name struck a chord, and though it was slightly more difficult to recognize her without it, due to the dirt, Mpezni knew they had at least met in passing. She had heard that the lioness was a bit of a dreamer.
Smiling easily, she sat back to examine the, now obliterated, hole. "Mpenzi. I am recent busisa, yes." Rolling her shoulders, she glanced back toward the area the pride was lounging.
"You must have had ample reason to end up caught in that hole, I'm sure. What are you doing alone, though?" Not that there was anything wrong with being alone, but most of the pride seemed quite company-oriented, so far.
"I will accompany you to bathe, if you do not mind."
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:07 pm
Taking in a rather large breath after a rather fitful sneeze, all Nahmba could do was nod at Mpenzi's confirmation. She always loved seeing knew faces, and this one was already so helfpul!
Then, reality struck. Alone.
Although she felt rude for not answering Mpenzi's request immediately, there were other, more pressing matters on her mind.
"Is Gakere with the other lionesses?" It was blurted out quite quickly as Nahmba took the remaining time to strain her eyes in the direction of her fellow group members.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:51 pm
"Gakere?" Mpenzi turned the name over on her tongue, yawning as she considered it. It sounded masculine, yet it was not the name of the males. Then, she recalled the small, dark creature she had seen lurking in Nahmba's shadow.
"Is that your cub?" Thinking back, she could not recall seeing him on her way out here. "I do not know, Nahmba. I have not see him since the two of you left this morning."
Was it a concern? Then again. The two had left together, perhaps he had been here when she had become stuck? They had better start looking.
"I will help you find him."
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:58 pm
Nahmba nodded hastily when Mpenzi asked her stream of questions. Both of her ears were forwards. Nahmba would not miss a word that was said.
The second that 'I do not know' began, those very same ears went completely flat to her skull. With them, the tension in her eyebrows became apparent and her forehead wrinkled and tightened.
"You must have seen him!" Nahmba insisted. But it was not too be. The last, easy going words that found her ears confirmed this fact.
"No, no, no," Nahmba muttered allowed. At first, she could do nothing but stand in disbelief. The dread of losing him kept her muscles locked and her jaw clenched. Motion would come in its own time, however, and it would be explosive.
Without looking back to see if Mpenzi would hold true to her word, Nahmba lurched forwards, the name, "Gakere!" yelled out strongly from her lungs. "Where are you!?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:06 pm
Well, this wasn't good. For some reason, Nahmba displayed a fear and concern that many would not, for their male cub. Either he was particularly weak, or particularly important to her. Mpenzi wondered why, if it was the latter. Females had many cubs!
Still, it was clear that Nhamba was panicked, and Mpenzi's long legs broke into a run as she kept pace with the other lioness. She shouted over her shoulder to the paler of the two as she broke off in a different direction.
"I will search by the water!" Perhaps he had become thirsty as he ventured home?
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:15 pm
"Don't let it be the water," Nahmba choked out, her ears having just barely heard Mpenzi's words. Even in her supposed innocence, Nahmba could still see the cubs poor body floating downstream, its face upturned and lifeless, tail swaying limply in the current.
She let Mpenzi go, because she could not deal with the horror of it if it were true, and because splitting up was a better way to locate her cub.
Heading farther out to the dry lands, Nahmba left no rock unturned. What few trees existed were all searched, and Nahmba climbed a few to get a better vantage point.
She never left hearing range of Mpenzi out of need, but she desired to when finding him in the nearby area began to become an impossibility.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:21 pm
Mpenzi found him. The cub had fallen asleep, close by the river, but far enough to be out of danger. He had found a shady patch, his paws and jaw a bit dirty, and had collapsed. It had been too tiring, in the direct heat of the day, to go all the way back to the pride after getting himself a drink. He was still very young.
Prior to lifting him, Mpenzi gave a roar to notify his mother, "NAHAMBA!" and then picked the cub up in her mouth, trotting back toward where she had last seen the lioness. He laid limp from her jaw.
It wasn't until they got closer that he opened his bright eyes, more than a little confused, and therefore irritated. This was a strange female! "Who are you?"
She didn't answer, growling something as she saw Nahmba approach. She set him on the earth where he idly scratched an ear with his back leg.
"... Mother?" She was alright then, but very dirty...
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:27 pm
Nahmba delayed no time in following after Mpenzi's call. A mother's hope and a mother's dread were making a dangerous tango in her mind. The latter seemed to take flight as she watched the limp cub brought to her.
But when he began to stir, Nahmba's face lit up with hope and she finished the rest of the distance with a relieved sprint.
Saying nothing, Nahmba nudged the cubs head with hers. She was quick to wash him, for he was awfully filthy from the river dirt. No inch was missed and it was only when she had finished that she allowed herself to believe Gakere was okay.
When she did speak, her voice was stern and slightly broken with the leftovers of stress and worry.
"Do not ever do that again." She picked him up by the scruff and pulled him closer to her between her words. "You were gone, and I didn't know, and it is very frustrating when you do this. I am upset with you, Gakere."
Nahmba looked up to Mpenzi for some sort of support in the matter. She would have to thank the lioness many times over for having found him.
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