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 Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:41 pm
With a yawn and quick stretch, Thuli rose slowly to her paws. Her mother appeared to be napping with her siblings but within a few seconds the little girl was ready to wreck some havoc and she was confident she could do it on her own.
Searching the area for a suitable target, Thuli’s bright blue eyes drifted towards one of the lionesses who were watching a few cubs that were playing nearby. Oh, that was a good one. She had a similar coat to a stupid cub who had called Thuli that name she hated so much – Lusizi, bah! - and the young cub decided it was time to do something naughty. She didn’t have a plan yet but as she crouched and started moving closer to the brown lioness, Thuli was certain she would come up with something before she reached the adult.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:01 pm
If Thuli was under the impression that she could pull something off without a sibling's help or interference, then Orabela was poised to prove her sister wrong. Pale eyes snapped open at the sound of light footfalls, and she watched as Thuli went into a crouch. Ears pricked as she recognized the opportunity for some... not mischief, but well-intentioned... "distraction."
The little cub scrambled, leaping less-than-gracefully over her sleeping siblings. Getting places had always been more of a hassle for her. Short legs and compact body simply didn't allow for much movement with ease. She had come to realize that she had to take two steps for every one of her larger siblings', and any distance traveled was actually twice as far for her little self. No matter. What she lacked in size, she made up for in pure awesome.
The little lioness made her way hastily to her sister's side, and head-butted her less-than-gently. "PSST!" She said, as if the headbutt wasn't enough to catch Thuli's attention. "Whatchoo up to?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:27 pm
 Poor Buna, she didn't see it coming. She was keeping an eye out for mischief, but she was watching the cubs playing in front of her and not the two sneaking up behind her. She hadn't paid a lot of attention to the poor luzisi that had been born into her group not long ago. It wasn't their fault, of course, but it was unfortunate for them that their father had been defeated so shortly after their birth. It was heart warming to see and hear cubs - any cubs - after the recent hard times. Her cousin had lost her first born, and she hadn't been the only one suffering.
In a way it was strange that Njalo's cubs were considered the unlucky ones. She hadn't resorted to seeking a male outside the pride at least, and Buna respected her for that. The rogue swap... Better not start thinking about that. She didn't have to participate, so she wouldn't. And since she had no nice things to say or think about it she was going to keep her mouth shut on the matter. The tip of her tail started moving, betraying her irritation.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 2:53 pm
“SHHHHHHH!” Thuli whispered with obvious surprise – actually managing to be louder than Orabela – when her sister almost made her lose her footing. The initial shock was quickly overcome and it wasn’t long until the cub was already considering her own intentions. It was amazing how quickly she could come up with a new form of mischief.
“I’m going to tie a few twigs to that lioness’s tail. Can you distract her for me?” she had a wicked grin now, already anticipating the outcome of her actions. All she needed was for someone to keep the attention of the brown lioness on what was ahead of her instead of what was lurking behind her up to good. And she certainly had no second thoughts about sharing the action with her sister.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 12:56 pm
"SORRY!" Orabela whispered back in equally loud hushed tones, squeezing herself next to Thuli as she stared at the brown lioness standing not too far away. They made quite the pair, even if Thuli was a good bit taller than Ora. That size difference would only grow as they matured into adults, but being short had never yet gotten the little lioness down. Most likely, it never would because she simply wouldn't let it.
Just let somebody try to call her short. By the time Ora was down, they would wish they'd never been born. So there.
"Sure I can!" She said with a giggle, eager to partake in some well-intended trouble-making. After all, they were just going to prettify Buna's tail with some sticks. No doubt, the lioness would be pleased to see their handiwork and not at all angry.
Scampering up to the lioness, Ora darted nimbly under Buna's belly and skirted around to her front. She was as quick on her feet as she was with her words, and by the time she had reached the lioness, she had already thought of several distracting topics.
"'Scuse me!" Ora piped up merrily, tilting her head back to stare adorably up at the adult. "I was wunnering. Could y'tell me about my daddy? You know. The dead one." Best to play the pity card as well.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:10 am
"Um... Err..." was all Buna managed to say at first. She looked around to see if she could find any support among the other adults, but every lioness suddenly looked extremely busy watching cubs or needlessly washing cubs or anything but meeting her gaze. Bugger. She tried to smile at the innocent little cub, "Sure, little one."
She supposed they'd need to be told some day, even if she had preferred if a lioness closer to the cubs had done the talking. But perhaps that was it... The little girl might feel more comfortable asking a relative stranger to tell her about her dad instead of making her mother uncomfortable and sad. Njalo'sasa had cared about Matifu, and it showed. It couldn't be easy to talk to the cubs when it was all still so fresh and sore in all of them. She stilled her tail and tried to look and sound as motherly and patient as she could.
"What would you like to know about Matifu?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:52 pm
Oh wow. Thuli’s awed expression said it all: her sister was simply A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. To come up with a topic like that so quickly and casually, it was better than anything Thuli could have thought up. Now pretty much every single adult was avoiding this lioness and with the brown lioness’ tail finally still, the little cub could work her magic. She winked at her sister in approval before looking down again.
For one so impulsive, this little cub could be remarkably patient when it came down to designing and executing elaborate pranks. She started tying up small twigs, making her very best effort not to pull the long hairs and make her presence known. She loved to play the part of the innocent little angel and it would be rather difficult to do so if she were to be caught holding the tail tuft with a silly apologetic grin. So when she spotted a nice rough pebble it took all her self-control not to tie it in as well. It would’ve been beautiful that much was certain but it would probably bring forth an early detection and that was no fun.
Keep going, her blue eyes seemed to ask her sister as she gathered up a few dead leaves. They would look tremendously decorative but they would make crunching sounds if she was too rough so Thuli proceeded slowly, biting her lower lip as her eyes widened progressively.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:10 pm
"Uhm," Ora said ponderously, momentarily distracted as her pale eyes sidled gently sideways to watch her sister's progress. Thuli seemed better suited for the task of tying twigs into Buna's tail than Ora was. The little cub had difficulty enough sitting still for several moments, and doing something that took such painstaking concentration simply didn't seem like anything she would excel at. She probably would have accidentally pulled some hairs out already if she had been tying the twigs.
"Did you like him?" She decided to say, returning her gaze to Buna and fixing a grin of interest on her face. It wasn't as though the grin was anything fake, either. Ora had always been genuinely interested in learning more about her father, but the opportunities didn't often present themselves to her. Now, she was killing too birds with one stone. Spectacular. Maybe if they played her cards right, they would get a good history lesson out of it too.
Not that that was their first goal.
"I heard he died from a fight," she added, proud of her own investigative abilities even though it was just a little tidbit of information that she had picked up while walking past a conversation.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:21 am
Buna had always been a bit slow to accept change. Sure, she dealt with the consequences, but she didn't like it. Moving the pride hadn't been the disaster she first thought, but she was not about to admit that to anyone. And on the topic of Matifu... Buna knew that the Abaholi would only stick around as long as they could defend their position. The males came and went, and that was the way it was. It didn't mean she was happy about it. She had liked Matifu in her own way, and given a choice she would have been happy to have his cubs. However, he had never approached her, and she hadn't tried to instigate anything either.
"He was a good Umholi," she said, without really answering the question, "The lionesses held him in high regard. He was considered attractive due to his dark mane."
The cub in front of her had inherited a fair amount of that dark colour, even if it was a lot of Nja in the cub too. The lusizi that had got the worst deal of the lot had to be the yellow male in the litter. Light coloured, male and fathered by an ex-Umholi. Gakere didn't seem to mind keeping his half siblings around so they seemed to be safe for now.
"That's usually what happens," she said, wondering who had talked to the cub about how Matifu was killed. But that was the way life in their pride worked, and the sooner the cubs learned the better, "When an Umholi can't defend his position any longer he is usually killed or chased away. If they can't survive without the pride they will die then. We need strong males to keep the pride safe and that's why males leave when they grow their mane. Matifu's son grew strong in the rogueands and he managed to win his place here."
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:12 am
Thuli had just finished adding a pretty green leaf to her masterpiece when Buna began her answer. The cub felt compelled to look up, taking in the information regarding her father with a serious expression.
Finally, she looked down at her work and decided to call it done. In all honesty, her attention had already drifted towards the conversation and Thuli wanted to be able to join in. So she made her way towards her sister - it was a rather annoying process as it forced her to make a wide circle to avoid raising suspicion - and she spoke up as she reached Ora.
“I don’t remember much about him. I saw his body once but he was dead and mom told me not to touch it… him.” She looked at her sister with a small frown and then up at the adult for confirmation. “Will our brothers leave, too?” She wasn’t all that happy about that idea. She was quite fond of her brothers, after all.((Sorry for the delay. I'm having some serious computer troubles. <3))
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