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 Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:22 am
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:22 pm
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Another burst of laughter, Ufunuo slid from his father's back until his rear landed on the earth with a small thud. Springing to his paws a moment later, he hoped about in his excitement, unable to keep his paws still.
"Okay!"
Lizards, he could do that. He was already bouncing through the grass, nose to the ground in search of the elusive lizards, his steps loud enough to wake even a sleeping def lizard burrowed five feet underground. Then suddenly he stopped, in his excitement he had forgotten that he didn't know what to do. Calming his steps, he turned back to his father, settling to sit on his haunches and wait for the lesson.
"How do we find the lizards?"
Daga sighed in relief, there would be no wildebeests, at least not today, not ever if he had anything to say about it. Lizards, he could deal with that, not as small as the grasshopper he had hoped for, but a lizard seemed harmless enough. |
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:14 pm
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Umoja settled his mane on his shoulders again, a sly smile growing across his face. This was going too well, and he was too excited to go show his son a few pointers. It never was a bad thing to know how to do everything yourself~!
"All right," Umoja said, pulling himself up onto his paws to ready himself for an adventure. "The best place to find lizards are by rocks. But they gotta have lots of grass around 'em, too." Umoja felt Mfalme launch himself into the sky, probably off to try and spot some lizards for the pair to find. They were harmless, and the worst that could happen was they would lose a tail, right?
He dropped his smile, putting on a serious face. "Time to go hunting! Now, make sure that you're reeeeal quiet..." he lowered himself to the ground, slowly creeping off towards where Mfalme was circling in the sky. His movements were a little exaggerated, but he couldn't help himself when he was with his son.
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:32 am
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"Okay."
Taking his father's advice, he spoke in a whisper, trying to be as quiet as possible while still being heard, which was still perhaps louder than he would have spoken had he known better. But that wasn't what he was thinking about, he only knew he was going hunting with his father, he could barely contain his excitement.
Ufunuo mimicked his father as best he could, crouching low against the ground as Umoja had done, though he did have trouble maintaining his 'stalk' and keeping up with his father's larger strides. The result was an odd gate, creeping several paces until he fell too far behind, followed by a quick bound before creeping again.
Oh he just couldn't wait, he wanted to find a lizard and then he wanted to catch it (and then he would let it go, because he really didn't want to hurt the lizard). He would catch a lizard and then Papa would be proud of him, then maybe they could chase something bigger, like a hare.
Oh what a sight the two of them made, a pair of children enjoying a game. Daga smirked to himself, taking flight, circling to glide the sky above his bonded, eyes keeping sharp watch on the young cub. This was sure to be entertaining, and he intended to have the best view to watch. |
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Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:58 pm
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"All right," he whispered. They had finally reached a small outcropping of rocks. With the sun's rays warming up the world, the rocks were the perfect temperature range to have lizards basking out in the sunlight. The little buggers were tricky when they were sun bathing, though. They always seemed to move quicker than when they were merely skirting around in the grass.
"There's our target." He motioned to the rocks, just far enough away that it was hard to see the details of any lizards dozing on the rocks. If they weren't out in the open, they had to be at least lingering around in the warm shadows on the rocks.
"Lizards don't react to sound like you and I do; they react to movement. So you gotta be smooth when you shift your legs...and keep your tail low, too." He stifled a chuckle, as when he himself was young it was hard to keep his tail from moving. His excitement was usually released through his tail movements, but after main failed hunting attemps he had learned how to keep himself perfectly still.
"One paw in front of the other," he mumbled, demonstrating. It wasn't too comfortable, but as Ufunuo was small he could probably do it with ease. After these lessons, his son could be quite a stealthy kid. Umoja would be proud regardless, though.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:19 pm
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"Like this?"
Quietly, cautiously, eyes focused on the rocks ahead, one paw raised, a step, followed by another, then another. This was hard! So much excited running through his small form, it was a struggle to restrain himself, to not burst right out into a run and pounce on those unsuspecting lizards! As for his tail, well, engaged in the struggle as he was, he hadn't even noticed out it flicked about.
"Where are the lizards, Papa?"
It wasn't that he doubted his father, far from it, if Papa said there were lizards on the rocks, then they were there. But his young eyes couldn't see them yet, perhaps he simply had learned to see through their attempts to hide, or his vision had not matured enough to see as far as Umoja could. But if he couldn't see them, he didn't know how he could hunt them, how could he pounce on what he couldn't see?
But there was another question that had entered his mind. One that caused him to pause in his steps, eyes turned toward his father.
"Papa, did you hunt lizards with grandpa when you were little? Do you think, he'll ever come back?" |
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:58 pm
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Umoja nodded his head, encouraging his son to go on. He felt pride grow within his heart when he watches how well Ufunuo was doing. Soon, he'd be graduating to something larger. Lizards were fun and all, but Umjoa always liked to chase after hares.
Motioning to certain areas of the rocks, he slipped his secrets to his son, just as his own father had. "Look for parts on the rock that seem unusually high; if a lizard is still, they blend into the rock flawlessly. Keep your eyes on those areas, and they'll eventually move, even if it's just to blink." Chuckling to himself, he continued: "And they're usually on the sunniest parts. They like to sun themselves almost as much as the elders do on days like this."
His voice had fallen as he waited for his son to reply with glee at finding them. Instead, his expectant ears heard something quite unexpected. Questions about his own father.
After losing Nyonda, Umoja painfully determined that anyone else missing was most likely dead. If they returned, a celebration could be gathered, but Umoja refused to keep his hopes up. He had a pride to lead and protect, and to be a single father to his two beloved children.
Grudgingly, he replied, if only to soothe his son. "He did teach me this," he said softly, nudging his son's backside. "As you will probably teach your own children one day." A long pause grew between them until he found his voice again. "And I don't know, little Ufunuo. He might, but he might not." Telling the truth was better than lies to protect something that was inevitable.
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:57 am
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"I hope he does."
Young, still holding his childish hope, Ufunuo had not yet come to the conclusion that his grandfather was lost. They had been told that there were others of their pride out there, they had begun their return home, who was to say his grandfather wasn't among them, Umoja had returned after all. But that didn't mean he was foolish either, he knew better than to expect or to watch, but he just couldn't give up home.
A smile on his maw, his mind turned back to the matter at hand, to the father at his side, and the lizards lurking just out of sight. Determination in his eyes, the young prince crept forward, slowly (or at least -he- thought he was moving slowly). Right, watch the high spots, watch for movement. Tail twitching behind him, the hunter crouched, watching, waiting.
Too much waiting, why didn't they move? Wait, was that one there? He thought he saw an eye, but he wasn't sure. Why weren't they move? There! He saw it, a flash of movement.
A squeak of a roar, the cub pounced, the lizard ran, but he wasn't going to let it get away! Paws reached, almost there, he got it! Or so he thought, he was sure he felt it wriggling under his paw, but wait, it was still running, vanishing into the grass beneath the rocks, joining the others that had scattered at his pounce.
But, how could it still be under his paw then? He was sure he had caught it, then how could it be--He looked down, purple eyes falling on what wriggled beneath his paw, the stub of a tail, with lizard no longer attached.
"Ewwwww!" |
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:37 am
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His thoughts distracting him, Umoja kept quiet. Perhaps his son hadn't noticed as they were 'hunting', but Umoja didn't realize the time that had passed from Ufunuo's soft comment. Umoja was about to say something when he realized that his son had caught onto something.
His own eyes soon caught sight of what his son had found. Patience had paid off, and they were now looking at quite the lizard.
Waiting patiently, still as a stone, Umoja froze until Ufunuo had caught his prey. Or, well, attempted. Cracking a grin, he realized that Ufunuo had only managed to catch the tail.
"Well done, Ufunuo. It got away from you this time, but you didn't turn up empty-pawed." He nudged his son gently on the shoulder. "You'll be quick enough soon to catch them left and right." Pride swelled within Umoja. He had taken a lot longer to even manage a tail! And here his son had done taht just in his first lesson.
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:06 pm
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Ufunuo's eyes hadn't shifted from the wriggling tail beneath his paw, staring in disbelief even as it began to still and then fell silent. He had caught the tail? How as that even possible? How could a creature run off without it's tail? Didn't that hurt?! He winced at the thought of his own tail falling off, ow, he didn't like that idea.
"I didn't know their tails could come off!"
Slightly horrified at the thought that had just pass through his mind, he pushed the tail away before retreating to his father's side. He'd leave the tail there, just in case the lizard came back for it, though he doubted it would.
Fortunately the mind of a child was easily distracted, quickly moving on to other thoughts. Smiling, he looked up at his father, his small form weaving between the larger's legs before a wide yawn parted his maw. He shook his head, no, not tired, he wanted to hunt more lizards with his Papa! He wasn't tired, not tired. |
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:22 pm
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:44 pm
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"No..."
He shook his head, trying in vain to fight another yawn, settling on his haunches between his father's paws. Well, maybe he was a little tired... Why did he have to get tired now, he wasn't done hunting.
"Papa, can we go home?"
Surrender, he couldn't fight it. Sleepily, he curled against his father, soft, warm, the quiet breeze a gentle lullaby, he could have fallen asleep where he stood, maybe he already had.
A nap, that sounded like a good idea, the lizards could wait, they would still be there. And when he woke up, Papa would be there, and they would hunt again, and then those lizards had been watch out! But for now, sleep, and in his dreams he would continue the hunt, lizards (and rabbits) beware. |
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