|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:42 am
The games of tag and hide-and-seek between the three of them were slowly but surely replaced with the more intricate adventures of Princess Badriya, the best huntress in all the lands, who fought as well as the males did and was never mean, so everyone loved her.
Character flaws? Psh. It was her game and she could be as great as she wanted, thank you very much.
She found her inspiration in lurking around Kha-t. No doubt the lioness had noticed her once or twice, if not several times by now. Nothing inconspicuous at first, as Badriya tended to blend in with the crowd. Eventually, though, she was bold enough to follow without them.
Whether Kha-t was alone sunbathing or just walking by herself, Badriya always just-so-happened to be playing right there. In the same place. Glancing at her, but never saying anything. Always.
Today was no different.
Badriya was hunting a beetle nearby, totally nonchalant about it.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 6:13 pm
It had taken Sher-Kha-t awhile to notice that she had a stalker, perhaps a bit longer than it should have. In her defense, she was still relatively new to the pride, and consequently preoccupied with finding her place in it. She wanted to fit in, to truly accepted by the other lionesses, and that meant being productive; unfortunately, being productive was not something Kha-t had a lot of experience with. She'd been a spoiled layabout and proud of it, once upon a time, but the resulting lack of skill was now embarrassing. And the below-average athletic ability? Downright shameful. It was why she'd been a disaster as a rogue, and still had the ribs to show for it. She had a lot of catching up to do if she was ever going to be a capable huntress.
She was trying, though, putting actual effort into her life, which was pretty much a first. A first that made her very, very tired, but no matter how tired she was, she always refused to fall asleep until after she'd groomed herself. She might not be a princess anymore, but she could still look like one, dammit.
It was one day, while grooming, that she glanced up and noticed the juvenile beetle-hunting in her vicinity, and finally realized that she'd been noticing that same juvenile a lot recently. Hmm. Coincidence, or the attraction of shiny jewelry, or just of something new? Rather than call her out, Kha-t simply stopped what she was doing and watched.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 6:05 pm
Badriya's vast imagination seeped into reality now and then. It could convince her a lie she told was believable, be it spoken or a pretend game. Her every move was too stiff and she missed pouncing the beetle half a dozen times. A baby bird could have made that last jump. But if she caught it, the game was over, and she had no excuse to dawdle here.
The agitated, hissing bug landed on the trunk of a tree nearby, the wiry grass around it tall as Badriya herself. She lunged.
"Oof!" A flurry of dirt and fur rose into the air. Seemed a rabbit had dug her burrow deep, but not wide. Badriya was stuck up to her round belly, her hind end flailing in the open air.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:26 pm
Okay, that was cute. That was adorably, amusingly cute, in the way that only children were capable of. And children were one thing that Kha-t was actually good at, caring for them one redeeming skill she had amidst all the shortcomings. Raising her children was one task she'd never pawned off on anyone else, even if it was only because no one else was good enough or worthy of them. She had spoiled them too much, of course, lavished her little royal-blooded, god-sired seers with attention until they were grown and strong, and then it had all fallen apart.
She often wondered where they were, and how they fared. They almost certainly weren't stuck in rabbit holes, at least. They were far too big for that. Smiling to herself, she went to the flailing youth to try to pluck her out of her predicament.
Unfortunately, 'delicate' was a lost cause when grabbing someone by the tail and pulling them out of a hole. Hopefully she wouldn't be as offended as Kha-t would have been at her age (or, well, ever).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:43 pm
The only offense was by the hare, or whatever creature was responsible for excavating this burrow. Badriya's pride was wounded but the damage to her fur only skin deep, covered in dirt. Lots of dirt. Came in handy to have a natural coat that resembled a lovely alabaster someone had smeared mud across this time.
"Thanks," she wheezed, shaking the pesky specks of earth from her eyes. What was it? What was it they called them? "Your Highest." Highness. Highest. Close enough. Neither were accurate for every monarchy, not that she knew as much.
The beetle flew over ahead, up, up, and away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:55 pm
"Highness," Sher-Kha-t corrected offhand, sitting back with a soft smile. "Although it's a title I no longer have much of a right to, I suppose. I've left it behind. If you call me anything, you should call me Kha-t. What are you called?"
She could identify a fair number of the adults by now, but not the young.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:14 am
"Kha-t." It had a nice ring to it, a certain foreign quality that rolled off the tongue. An appropriate name for a princess; her mother had picked well. "I'm Badriya," she provided, "like the moon." Or that's what they told her the passed down meaning was. "Since it likes it to come out at night."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
