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 Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:48 pm
 Hakuna sauntered into the den she shared with her cubs and her nephew, recently returned from her latest border patrol. She was a bit tired...but still very much awake, since it was the middle of the night. The large lioness lay down, a slight smile on her face. Life was good...and getting better. Her little ones, both biological and 'adopted', were growing so well. Some had even decided where they wanted to go in life. It was a good omen for the pride, she thought, that its first cubs were doing so well.
She settled down to enjoy a few moments of peace in the empty den when a familiar scent caught her nose and caused her to look behind her, slightly to her left. And she raised a brow, no longer hidden by the skull she usually wore. "Bavu? What are you still in here for?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:49 pm
No one cared enough to, it seemed.
The older he got, the less he felt he would ever be rescued. The less he felt he even needed saving at all. There wasn’t anything wrong with where he was. The place had cubs to play with, food to eat, lessons to learn… so what if he had to stay there? He was starting to enjoy himself, though still he felt rather detached from the others. Different from them. Lifting his head, he looked over at Hakuna when she entered the den, waiting a moment for her to notice him before speaking.
“I was just thinking…” he said softly, “do you think I’m… not good enough? Because I’m not… a lion.” He wasn't thinking it because anyone had talked down to him bout it- he just couldn't shake his own sense that he wasn't meant to be there for one reason or another.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:18 pm
Hakuna sighed. She...should have expected this at some point. The lioness moved closer to her hybrid nephew. "You have a demon within you, yes? Though you cannot hold higher ranks, you are still a demon. You are strong and smart. Besides..." She smirked. "The pride can't run without us low-ranked demons. Without us, the pride would fall apart." Hakuna was infinitely proud of her position as a 'common guard'. She could protect the pride better that way.
"Have you ever thought of what you wanted to do, Bavu?" Even if her nephew chose a Morifaer rank, she would support him. After all...every rank played a part within the pride...a vital part. Which reminded her...she would need to talk with Mvua later...Her slave was doing very well in her lessons.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:20 am
Bavu frowned. He wasn’t sure he found the chat remotely helpful. He hadn’t even been thinking about how he would never have a higher position in the ranks. Now he couldn’t get it out of his mind. The boy always dreamed about being important. Doing something to make himself shine, since his childhood had been such a failure. It would never happen. He would always be a common member of a pride destined to be great, never one that was making it powerful.
“I guess…” he said lowly, ears raising as she asked him if he had put any thought into what he wanted to do with himself within the pride. Of course he had. Sometimes it was all he could think about before bed.
“I want to protect,” he said after a moment to consider his words and options, “like you. But… I don’t know if it’s possible or not. I’ve only seen lions with any rank at all. And I’m not a lion. What positions are open to something like me?” He wondered. After all, he was larger than lions, at least he was larger than the cubs his age, and he felt more agile than they were. Couldn’t he be useful?
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:51 pm
Hakuna chuckled. "Bavu, you can be like me." She felt a swelling of pride that he wanted to guard like she did. "Almost every rank is open to you, should you prove worthy of it...just like every other pride member. I had to prove I was suited to guard. Just as your cousins will have to prove they are suited to the tasks they choose." She gave him a smile that was...almost motherly. A smile that was obviously meant to show her pride in him and comfort him.
"Our priestess, Abeni, had to prove herself too. She had to prove she was given visions from the gods." If her nephew truly did want to become a guard...she would teach him. She would take he and Drathir on some of her patrols, show them what was done.
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:27 pm
“Really?!” At least one weight had been lifted from his shoulders- he could actually have a place in the pride that wouldn’t make him feel like he wasn’t helping with anything. Once he got larger he would be able to prove himself and become a guard like a normal lion would.
Sweet.
“That’s good! I want to be able to be useful more than anything. I’ll show any lion around here that I’m just as good as they are. Then I won’t have to feel like this anymore! Will you teach me?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:47 pm
The lioness nodded. "If you want, then yes." She carefully pat the top of her nephew's head. He had the starts of a mane...one that would likely be quite thick. "No matter the blood on your other side, you are still of my blood as well. And I will help in whatever way I can. After all...demons stick together, no matter our differences. And you are a demon."
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:54 pm
“I am a demon!” Bavu said, smiling, “and I’ll prove it if I have to.” He sat contently for a moment, tail beating the floor. Then a rather thoughtful expression took over his face, the boy tilting his head to one side.
He wasn’t Bavu if he wasn’t thinking about something.
“So have the other kids decided what they want to do when they get bigger?” He asked lightly, wanting to know, “have you talked to them about it too?”
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:56 pm
Hakuna laughed. "That's right! You have the strength, the mind, and the soul!" The laugh dimmed into a chuckle. "I am certain you will. And give them scars to remind them of it!" Her nephew. One of the demons she protected.
"I am not sure. I am certain some have. Others likely haven't quite decided yet."
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:06 am
Bavu smiled at the thought of it. Giving scars was not something he was remotely against if the animal attacking him had it coming. And, to that point, if they were attacking him then there was already a very good chance of them deserving it. So whatever the case, he would do his part to make them regret it.
And live with that regret for the rest of their lives.
“Well, that’s fine. Not everyone can be as ahead of the game as me!” He grinned, now brimming with a confidence he hadn’t had five minutes ago. “I’m going to go hone my skills right now! Thank you Hakuna!” He moved to leave the den, stopping for a moment to peer over his shoulder.
“Uh… this might be random but… since my mother isn’t around… and you’ve been kind of taking care of me… do you think… it would be okay for me to call you mom?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:00 pm
Yes...not everyone was as sure of where they were going. As Bavu headed off, Hakuna wiggled a bit to get comfortable...and then startled a bit, blinking at her nephew. Did he...? He did. She smiled, more motherly than anything...not a trace of her normal insanity in it.
"If that is what you want, Bavu. And if you want to call me that...would you mind if I call you son?" He'd been more of a son than a nephew...Her strong son, who stood against the tests of adversity.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:49 pm
To Bavu, Hakuna was as normal as they came. He had grown to her ways and seen her changes as he himself changed along with her. For him, any other kind of female mother-type would have come across as very strange to him. She was his version of normalcy.
So it made sense to him that he should call the creature that had always been there for him mother. Why should he consider someone his mother who had never come for him? Never tried to rescue him when he had first been taken away? Admittedly, now he might resent her for showing up and taking him from his home, but back then it had been all he could think about.
This was better.
“Of course not!” he chirped happily at her question, “it’s settled then! I’m happy, mother, with this arrangement.” He grinned goofily, rubbing his head against her leg for a moment.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:23 pm
Hakuna nuzzled him. Just because she was a demon didn't mean she couldn't show momentary signs of affection. Especially when a young one earned it. And Bavu had very much earned it.
"I am glad...Now...get along. Enjoy this night before your training begins." Her son...her student...Yes, life had certainly gotten better.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:10 pm
Bavu smiled back at Hakuna, nodding. Yes, he would have to enjoy his last night of freedom. Come tomorrow he would need to get serious and get to work on becoming a valuable member of the pride just like she was.
He would show everyone that a hybred was good as good as a pureblood. Resolved, he sprang from the den, heading out to find something to play with while there was the time.
It was suddenly a great day.
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