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 Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:58 pm
( AIM log between Thal and Kim )
So the weakling female had given birth again... he'd only seen the cubs from a distance, so he was aware they existed, and he had a general idea of how they looked. However, he hadn't bothered to seek them out just yet. When they were old enough to walk, and adventurous to leave their mother's side, he'd see them. Another large litter, he gloated quietly, his bloodling remained strong- and the lionesses in the pride easy to manipulate. So long as his luck held out, he'd soon fill the pride with his blood...then it was only a matter of time.
The last litter, his oldest, seemed to be coming along just fine. Sure a few weren't as loyal to their blood as he had hoped- it just meant that their more devoted siblings would out-rank them. Ali-Baba had a more subtle approach than the others, he was a smooth talker, a little small for a firekin, but his mind was dangerous enough to make up for it.
Sinbad smirked, he'd still not given his name to the mother of his most recent litter. Poor thing.
He stretched himself out, working out a few stiff knots from his last hunt. It hadn't been much- just a young gazelle, but it was enough.
---
Naar-ehuka. Her name meant, literally translated, Fire be Seized with Madness. An ominous name that would someday spell out her very soul. Mother didn't talk of Father. She did not know what he looked like. Did not know that she even had one. She had yet to age enough that she started to question things like that.
The only thing she had been questioning recently was her sister's pelt. Recalling the moment that male lion had turned and sneered, had all but said that her sister would have to leave.
Have to leave?
Was it because she had that pelt? The pelt that Naar had once thought odd and unique was now transforming, becoming ugly. If her sister was odd and different, what did it mean for them? Would they receive sneers, too? Well, she didn't want that! As far as she was concerned, her pelt blazed red, just as it should.
And yet...
She shook her head as she stalked along the sand, moving carefully so she left perfect imprints of her little paws in the sand. A trail she was leaving to see if one of her siblings could follow it and find her before the wind swept it away. A challenge none had yet completed.
---
Sinbad busied himself with nibbling at a rough edge on one of his claws. As a cub he'd let himself go quite ungroomed. His mane had been everywhere, always tangled, and always dirty. His claws had been underkept, rugged, splintered, and far too long. Now, he spent more time grooming himself and working his body than anything. The goddess had given them a mixed message- he translated it the way he damn well wanted to. It wouldn't do for her servant to look like a savage.
Gaddith cracked an eye as something stirred from the den. Fighting off the blur from his afternoon nap, he took a quick count of the little rounded bodies...they were down one. His nose creased as he pushed himself up to a stand.It wasn't a good time to go running out! Their mother had left to go hunt- which meant it would be feeding time soon.
He glanced back to the others as he crept to the mouth of the cave, his black pelt hidden quite well in the shadows- something that would change as he followed the tracks out into the full sunlight of the day.
---
Subtle, Naar was not. The moment she saw the large lion grooming there, unaware that a little red ball of fur was coming his way, she felt a sudden urge to pounce at him, to bite his ears, to hear him cry out in submission. Yes. She'd do it! Clearly she hadn't learnt anything from pouncing one of the adolescents a few days ago.
A smirk crawling its way across her face, she puffed herself up and ran as fast as a clumsy little cub could - unstead across the sand - and as she ran she lifted her head and parted her miniature jaws and roared. "RARRR!!" And, with firm sand beneath her she pounced, envisioning herself bowling the huge male across the sand and landing a good bite to his throat.
That'd show him!!
---
Gaddith froze as his younger sister made her move... was she insane?! That male's paws were as big as she was! No doubt one of his claws could end it right then and there if he wanted to. The cub arched his back, tiny furs stood up on end from the nape of his neck down to the curve of his rump.
Sinbad's pleasent grooming session was interrupted by...a squeek and a thump to his side. "Wha?" He glanced down, paw slamming to the ground in suprise. His aggressor turned out to be none other than...a little ball of red. An angry ball of red obviously.
"Oh great..." He stood himself up, very likely leaving the cub to roll out to meet with her darker brother. He glanced between the two of them, mismatched eyes widening in reconition. "Well well... you're tired of your ma already? Or are you just looking for trouble?"
"She didn't mean it!" Gaddith growled, "She's...weird in the morning."
---
Ouch! Her head struck the male's side and it was harder than it looked! Mother's side was soft and snuggly but...well...this was the opposite. She rolled backwards across the sand and sat up to rub at her head, helping to ease the ache from the impact.
Note to self: get a harder skull!!!
Then the male stood and she looked up at him. The sun was behind him, casting his face into shadow and she squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at him.
"Looking for troubles." She replied, thinking she had a smart mouth by saying the thing the male would least expect.
Then she allowed herself to tip backwards and lifted her chin, head pressed to the sand, to glance at her dark-pelted brother. "Shut up." She replied, sticking out her tongue briefly. "Not weird, ever and I did mean it! He deserved it since he weren't paying no attentions!"
---
"He can eat you, stupid!" He snapped, a witty response in his mind. His posture hadn't relaxed in the slightest, if anything he'd tensed himself further. He didn't like how...BIG this male was. Or how he was looking at the two of them. "We don't taste good though!" He added as an after-thought. Perhaps it'd be enough to discourage any...unwanted behavior.
Sinbad only chuckled. He liked them! One was aggressive already! A good trait- not to mention fearless. She wasn't exactly bright, he could have been another male from the pride- or a passing rogue. That very well could have been the end of them right then and there. "Trouble eh?" He reached out and poked at the female's forehead lightly. "Well, what did you get for a name?"
---
She was about to shout at her brother to stop being such a dimwitted, scaredy cat, when the large male leaned forwards and poked her just above the eyes. She bristled and rolled onto her belly before rising up onto all fours, lifting her head high.
"You want to know my name?" She asked with a snirk, kicking backwards with a hind leg in an attempt to spray the darker cub with sand. It'd serve him right if he got it in the face.
"Naar-ehuka. Most just call me Naar." She smiled and her whiskers flinched upwards proudly.
Yes, fearless, somewhat aggresive tendencies, but it was yet to be told whether she'd ever be able to develop the brains well enough to harness that strength in her.
---
Sinbad chuckled. In so many ways, the little fireball reminded him of himself when he was a cub. He hadn't exactly been the most...mentally stable- or the most inteligent when it came to self-preservation. It was good to see that their mother's weakness hadn't bred true.
He laid himself down once more, bringing a paw up to rest under his chin, "Is that right? It suits you... what about you, black spot?"
Gaddith hissed and sat back to rub at his face and eyes. The jerk! See if he came out to help her again. The sand itched and bit at his eyes, causing them to tear up. If not for the male, he'd have run back to tell on her! She'd deserve getting grounded. Or worse.
He blinked and squinted his eyes as he was addressed once more, "It's Gaddith. No one calls me anything else. 'cause I have a -good- name."
"Hmph." He glanced between the two, "Well... I have a secret to share with you both. Can you keep a secret?"
---
She beamed proudly. Her name suited her? Well, of course it did! It was hers and no one elses. Hers to keep forever and ever, the one thing that no one could take from her. She was Naar-ehuka. Firekin. And then the attention was directed to her brother and a scowl appeared briefly on her face.
What did the male care about her brother, for? He was a stupid oaf.
However, the sourness was quickly crushed beneath the adult male's next words. A secret? Secrets were fun and...well..secret!! She drew herself up again, eyes gleaming with the innocent eagerness to be expected of one her age.
"A secret? Yes please! I can keep a secret! Promise, promise, promise!"
---
"Naar, we shouldn't be talking to him...", He muttered over, still blinking and rubbing roughtly at his face. He'd get her for that- but now wasn't exactly the best time for rough-housing and name-calling.
"Both of you." Sinbad reached over to poke the male cub between his eyes as well, "Keep this secret- especially from your mother. It's more fun this way."
"I don't like secrets....", he batted at the large paw, irritated by the contact.
He chuckled, "Well... my name's Sinbad...and you both are my cubs. Now you can stay with your mom if you want- you still have to until your teeth are strong enough for meat. But if you come visit me often, I can teach you to fight."
---
A secret so secret that they couldn't even tell mother? Wow this was going to be big. It was going to be bigger than big, it was going to be! Well, she didn't know! And when her brother's stupid whining came at her again she was almost tempted to smack him one right across the mouth to silence him.
"Well you go, then." She hissed. "Because I'm staying." And that was that. She wouldn't move unless he physically dragged her back to the den and that would be no easy thing with her digging her claws into the sand and screaming and wriggling to get free.
And then it came, her wide eyes twinkling. "Father?" She echoed. Was this really her father? She hadn't even thought about him and now a tickle of guilt worked its way into her chest. "But won't Mother be mad if we do that?" She asked. "Mother...well...I don't think she likes fighting all that much."
---
"She doesn't like fighting...she's weak and crippled." He sneered, "If this was the old pride, she likely wouldn't survive, she'd be a slave at best. There's no room for weakness in our blood."
"Don't talk about mama that way you....you....big stupid head!" Gaddith snapped, his tiny back arching up once more, "She's smart and nice. If you're my father you should be nice to her too!" At least...he hoped that's what was supposed to happen. He'd never met a father before. Not his, not anyone else's.
He paused and glanced to his sister, his expression somewhat lost and confused.
"I'll give you time to think about it. You've got a big family you know. Half-sisters and brothers everywhere, aunts and uncles, even a grandfather...somewhere." He shrugged.
---
Weak and crippled? Yes...Mother did find it hard to get about at times, but Naar had never thought of her as weak. She remembered the day she had confronted that male, fierce and angry. Naar certainly wouldn't mess with her when she wore that sort of dangerous looking expression.
But maybe looking fierce wasn't enough...
Even still, she loved Mother dearly and though she didn't word it as her brother so vehemently did, she knew she would always love her, weak or not. Mother was Mother, after all and you only ever got one of them in a lifetime.
"I don't need time, Father!" She burst out suddenly, feeling as if she might lose him then and there if she didn't speak her mind and heart. "I have Mother but I want you, too. I want you to teach me to fight. Firekin are supposed to fight. So I'll do it. I'll come and see you whenever I can."
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:33 pm
"Heh, good answer." He glanced to the black cub. Gaddith didn't seem nearly as eager as his younger sister, but he offered a short, shallow nod in response.
"Very good. You two should wrestle a lot. You learn a good deal from play- but as far as your approach..." He reached his paw out to pull the two cubs closer, perhaps a little roughly, but he'd never exactly been a gentle individual. "If you want to pounce someone, you have to get in closer before roaring. Roar when you feel their flesh in your claws- it'll make them panic further, confuse them. If you announce yourself too early, they'll have time to react and defend themselves."
Gaddith shuddered slightly, first at the paw pulling him close, secondly at the mental image that Sinbad had painted for them. Flesh in his claws?
---
The paw that scooped her made her feel very small. Very weak. It reminded her that she still had a lot of growing to do. She was nothing but a tiny cub now, only a few weeks into this world, into her life. Sad thing it was for a child to wish her life away, but she couldn't wait until she was bigger so she could put up a bigger and better fight.
She nodded in response, thinking up a lot of tricks she could use against her brother in order to win the wrestling matches. If one was to be a winner, one had to start by being a winner. She smirked and her eyes glinted with excitement.
"Not too early." She replied, not seeming to truly take notice of her father's words. All she heard was the pouncing bit. The roaring bit. Flesh and claws had somehow been blotted out as unimportant for now.
With another smile she lifted a paw and aimed it at her brother, intending to battle him for their Father's attention - and maybe, approval?
---
"....that's just..." He shook his head, "We should be going back home. It'll be time to eat, and... I don't wanna miss out again." He leaned over and tugged lightly on his sister's ear. Something about the male still didn't sit right with him, he'd feel better against his mother's side.
"You got it." He winked and released his loose hold on the two. "Maybe you should be getting back. You need all the food you can get right now, especially if you want to grow up to be big."
Much as he disrespected their mother, he couldn't be happier with how the cubs had turned out. Lovely pelts- minus the one- strong ambitions, and an eagerness to learn.
---
Sad to be leaving so soon after meeting, but not wanting to miss out on food, Naar was easily convinced. She loved to eat and there was no way she was going to be last! She was no runty little cub! She'd be first in line if she could!
She gave a small squeak as he drew his paw away and bounced backwards a few steps. Her shining eyes sought her father's face and she gave him a smile that spoke volumes. He'd made quite an impact. Big, strong, sharing secrets. Yes, he didn't seem to like Mother much but he seemed to like his children!
"Goodbye, Father!" She called out to him, and with a squeal, dashed back across the sand as fast as her paws could take her! Fooooood~!
/fin.
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