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 Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:48 am
 Imbra was not in a good mood. Usually the cub had a quick grin for Tomkrie as she dashed out of the den in the mornings, delighting in her new freedom to do so. The cheetah minding Imbra and her siblings had allowed them not long ago to begin spending their mornings outside the den. These excursions were largely unsupervised as long as they didn't get into trouble, but if Tomkrie received word that any of her charges had misbehaved or done anything which would displease or embarrass their father the privilege would be revoked for all of them. So far it had worked pretty well as an incentive for good behavior without Tomkrie's constant vigilance.
This morning she had no grins to spare for the cheetah who cared for her so well, and had done practically since the moment she was born. She stalked out of the den, rather than bounding or running as was her habit, and instead of going toward the corridors which led above ground, she took one of the downward slanting corridors which led, theoretically, to the river's underground branch. Tomkrie had taken Imbra and her siblings there once before, but the long journey in the dark had unsettled most of them - they'd been much younger - and so she had not made a return trip.
Now Imbra went there to test her mettle against this thing which had made her so uncomfortable when she was a cub. It was meant to be practice for what her next task for the morning would be: confronting her father about why her siblings had gotten to meet Nyoka, but she hadn't. She had always been under the impression that her father secretly liked her best out of the litter, but now as she thought about it, drawing near to the underground water source, she wondered. She would have to confront him. But first she would have to see how long she could stand the darkness and rushing water sounds.
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:24 pm
Of whispers, and greetings. She was adored by a few of the males. Telling her how well she still looked, how they hoped that the heads would make a son or a daughter.. maybe in a big litter. Some girls had joined in a adored her with attention too, but Nyoka wasn't always interested in girls and their flatteries. Noting that they had sharp tongues behind ones back. Today she was lead by one of her trusted females. Getting bathed not in her private one but in the public one, to watch over and be along her fellow cheetah members. It was where even hybrids could bath if they pleased.
But of course, sometimes they were not welcomed. So she stayed there to observe as her female member put a what seemed to look like a bowl in to the water then pour it around her skin. It was warm water for the above ground was heated and even scorching around this time. As she looked out.. some shadows dancing within the only other light source other than the one behind her. It trickles ...and its dances made her slowly raise her head.. and oh and behold what the shadows had pulled in. A smile crossed her maw. It was like faith that she were there and so was the child. Allowing her to single out the cub she had been wanting to single for a while. To watch her grow and to watch as bravery was the only this cub could come down here- and alone it seemed.
Cubs- usually weren't used to the darkness that was the caverns below the pride but little did they know the use of them. She leaned back in to the female.. A soft whisper. "Shall we try to fright this one." A little play for the cub that was coming down the caverns.. With that. The female made herself scarce.. and disappeared within the darkness. As Nyoka laid there watching in amusement.
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:14 am
Oblivious to the Boss Lady's presence or plots, Imbra continued into the dark. The caverns weren't completely dark. There were places where the sun shone into the underground, little pockets of light that dappled the ground on sunny days. They weren't hugely helpful when it was overcast, since the weak light couldn't quite penetrate the underground cavern.
Tomkrie had mentioned within Imbra's hearing that Mananakbo sometimes came down here to be alone. She felt a little guilty about intruding on her father's private time, given how little of it she guessed he got, but at the same time it wasn't difficult to recall her fury and indignation at being kept from meeting the Boss Lady. She was not happy with anyone, not even her father.
Imbra followed the water, familiar with its path and comfortable walking along its edge. Every so often she would dip her paw into the chilly water, testing it. She wondered if her father was here at all. Surely if he was, he would have said something to her or approached her. He was her father, after all, and that was what fathers did when they saw their children, even if they usually left their children in the care of others.
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:42 pm
With the female, she slyly went in to gears upon plotting to spook the child. Yes, it was probably a bad thing but for Lady Nyoka, everyone did everything just for her. Or so she thought. For a moment her paw steps were silenced but then out of no where. She made her steps sound like a raid! Millions of echoing steps across the tunnels and dipped in and out of other tunnels to echo the sound louder and louder! Nyoka's paws quickly made haste as she went almost head first to where the cub was until the female went quiet... the darker spots... Only a step away from the girl. Looking for the exact moment to pop out on her and surprise her.
She almost rarely ever did it, and having fun was never on her list of things to do but today, it was quite apparent that she was being impishly playful.
Everything around the darkness... was silenced in an instant. Awaiting for the right move, right moment to pounce...
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:56 am
The sound of many paws moving through the tunnels made Imbra drop instinctively into a defensive crouch. Her eyes were already open wide and her pupils were as large as they could be to capitalize on whatever light they could pick up, but her ears now swiveled in all directions. Figuring out which direction the noise had come from wasn't actually that difficult for someone raised to be used to the odd way tunnels carried sound, particularly since there were only so many entrances to this area, but figuring out how far away they were was another matter.
In any event, she was not impressed. Imbra knew she was perfectly safe in the pride, protected by the guards who protected the pride from without and protected by her father's status within. Not that everyone knew who he was, it was true, and to many he seemed no more than a high grunt, but Imbra knew and she knew that if anything happened to her, her father would see to it the guilty person was made to suffer. Even if he hadn't introduced his eldest daughter to the boss lady first. Her tail twitched irritably at that.
"My nanny says only people who can't help it make that much noise," Imbra observed aloud, wondering if she would be heard. "We're taught to move quietly. People who can't be quiet are asking to be in trouble."
There might have been some criticism implied there, as well as a bit of a threat toward the end. Imbra had three siblings. She knew how to make threats. And she knew how to follow through on them, too. If there was someone out there, the same someone or someones who had made all that noise, and they tried to mess with her, she'd show them.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:54 pm
The simplicity was very unique with this one. So much like her father, except he wouldn't crouch down. Not to her measurement. So sure in his own skin, something that she thought all his cubs would develop. She was oh so sure that Mana's offspring would do great things and she had mentioned it to him many times before. Then slowly she came up in front of the cub, measuring the amount of light and dictated how close she could get without being discovered. She was a pro at it, as she was the one whom helped others get through the mazes of the caves.
For a brief moment, she lowered herself before she threw herself at the girl and pinned her, using almost all her weight to surge to one side or the next depending on how she moved. Taking her down and rolling only to pin.
As if she were a prey animal before she heightened her body.. looking down at the cub she had pinned. Eyeing the cub. "I heard you were afraid of the dark.." Her words strong yet but a whisper.. A smirk curling over her cheeks as she lifted her chin. "You know.. you surprise me.. So lonesome and so strong. What is it that pushes you so far.. Very far from your brothers, and not nearly as questionable as your sister.. who is little Imbra.. Oh so brave.." Letting the cub go and sitting down, curling her neck oh so naturally and sitting with the posture and the position of beauty itself. Softly taking up the cub's chin, lifting her head just slightly.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:46 am
Imbra snarled as a larger body plowed into her, pinning her to the ground. She had begun to struggle in an attempt to break free even in the brief moments between the initial impact and the harder impact when she hit the ground, but it proved to be for naught. She was smaller than her foe and overpowered. This was exactly the sort of thing her father had warned her about - enemies being larger and stronger and able to overpower her easily. She couldn't believe she'd allowed this to happen.
She did her best to bring her hind paws up toward her stomach so that she could at least try to tear into her attacker's underside, which had to be at least somewhat exposed by their position atop Imbra. This close, it was obvious that her attacker was female, and smaller than the average adult cheetah, but still larger than Imbra was. It was not an ideal situation. Had she had more experience with the boss lady, she would have recognized her scent, but alas she did not.
"You heard wrong," Imbra snarled, replying to the cheetah's assertion that she was afraid of the dark. It wasn't quite the truth, but there was no way she was willing to admit to that particular difficulty. Only babies were afraid of the dark, and Imbra wasn't a baby. She was being grown up and facing her problems alone. "I'm not afraid of anything. Not even people who attack from the dark."
As soon as she was allowed up she scrambled to her feet and assumed a defensive, defiant stance that didn't relax until she heard her attacker speak again, at which point she realized that she recognized the voice and the way of speaking.
"s**t," she said softly but distinctly as she came to the conclusion that she had been snarling at Lady Nyoka.
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