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 Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:11 pm
Fafnir was stupid, she didn't need him, she didn't need anybody. Of course, it was hard to shove it all from her mind, she had only just stormed away from her old friend when he announced it would be best if they stayed apart. Stupid, stupid..! Having a hard time calming down or knowing what to do, she'd started running, and with no particular aim. It was fortunate nobody seemed to notice her, if it were not so dark she would have been all too obvious. She came to a stop when she ran out of air, and stood, panting as she tried to catch her breath. Looking around, it took her a moment to figure out exactly where she was. It wasn't too far to one of the small waterholes, she could use a drink, she figured.
So she walked, slowly now, still breathing deeply.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:19 pm
He didn't fully understand what had happened to him. The small dark chick had hatched unexpectedly in the nest of a rather brightly colored pair of birds. It was fortunate for him they were kind enough to allow him to live, but it ended as soon as he could move freely about. He wasn't yet able to fly, but he could hop and with effort he could climb a bit. Still, he didn't understand why he was not allowed to stay and had been on the ground for the majority of his time on his own. He was tired of hopping around trying to figure out where he was going and he was getting hungry. So he stopped and plopped onto the ground to rest. He had no idea he was in a lion territory, or that he was so close to a water source or a rather upset lioness.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:38 pm
Stupid.. stupid..
Still fighting back tears, rather pointlessly now that she was alone, she took a moment to pause. With a sigh, she rubbed her eyes against her paws to dry them off and to try to stop the burning feeling that came with it. She could be calm, she could feel distressed but she could not show it. There was no guarantee she would remain alone at a public and well-known area like the waterhole. Fafnir was the only one who knew how she was feeling, how lonely and upset she had been.. and it had been dumb to tell him that, obviously. Straightening back up, she headed to the water's edge.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:46 pm
The small dark chick was alerted to the fact that someone was around when Alcmene sighed, and then again when she started moving. With a blink, he looked around but he could not see over the grass. He was a small bird, and he always would be, even when he did grow up. It was almost too late when he finally spotted the lioness, she was walking towards him, almost directly onto him.
"Waait!!" he cried in alarm, hopping up dramatically with as shrill a chirp as he could manage, "Don't step on me!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:53 pm
Already on edge, she was surprised when she heard a sudden cry from by her feet. She put a surprising amount of effort into not stepping down, stumbling back and ultimately front first onto the ground, her nose just brushed against the chick. Shocked to be face to face with someone so suddenly and so randomly, she lifted her head back up and stared dumbly.
"Whaa-" she murmured, "Where did you come from?" Completely and totally distracted for the moment, she stared. It was such a small thing, and so hard to see in the full moonlight- except for the shine of its eyes.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:02 pm
Just as the lioness jumped back, so did he. It very nearly was the reason he was not squished, he shivered against the cold nose of the lioness when she fell before him. He blinked, looking up at her with wide purple eyes. She sure was big! It was a good thing he'd said something, she might not even have noticed stepping on him. He didn't even know what kind of thing she was, she was one strange bird if birds were all there were.
"I came from a egg," he blinked, making a face, "I mean, I dunno! What are you? Hopping around like that, have to be more careful." He leaned over to try to get a better look at the entirety of the creature before him. Very odd indeed!
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:11 pm
"An egg?" Ally repeated, already knowing this about birds. She did not need a lot of personal experience with birds to know some of the simple and obvious facts, like the hatching from an egg thing. That wasn't what she meant at all, but by the sounds of it she assumed he must be lost if he didn't know where he'd come from.
"I'm sorry about that, you're too small to be sitting in the tall grass," she apologized but offered a warning in return, then moving on to introduce herself, "I'm a lion, my name is Alcmene." Still distracted, she no longer looked so sad but she was far from looking cheerful.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:15 pm
"I can't really go anywhere else, I'm not real good at flying," he pointed out, hopping another step back and spreading his small wings for emphasis. He had not been given very clear instructions on just how to manage it, just enough so that the foster-parents abandoning him did not have to feel too guilty about it. Either way, he wasn't a fast enough learner though he could have already gotten a handle on it if he was.
"You're a lion?" he repeated thoughtfully, hopping to the side and looking over her again, "What's that? Alcmene?" He seemed to be full of questions! Truly, he was very curious.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:22 pm
"What's a lion?" Ally was puzzled by the question, never having had to really think about such things before, "Well, we're big cats, a lot bigger than you are. Some of us live in prides, like the lions here. Prides are for groups of lions with similar values and beliefs, you're in the Mwezi'Johari lands right now." She didn't know how much he might want to know about the pride, but she was struck by his poor response to her introduction. The polite thing to do was to introduce yourself, but he was so young and confused seeming.. could she really blame him?
"What's your name?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:31 pm
The chick was much more interested in what Alcmene had to say than the introductions, only one question really found its way to his mind when she pointed out that he was where a pride lived. He knew enough about birds eating insects, which were alive, to wonder if maybe lions ate birds. Particularly, birds like him. She didn't look like she was planning on eating him, but did he always look like he intended to eat the bugs he tried to sneak up on? To be fair, he hadn't done much 'hunting' for himself either. So maybe..
"Name? I don't have one," he said with a shrug, not so concerned with that fact, whether or not he might be eaten was more important to know, "Do lions eat birds? Birds eat bugs, I mean, I was just thinking.."
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:38 pm
Surprised by this bit of information, Alcmene made a face back at the chick. He didn't have a name? But he was old enough to speak well, and hop around and fly, or so he implied before.. surely by now he should have a name! Her immediate response to the question of if lions ate birds was to shake her head, though it was not the entire truth.
"No! You don't have to worry about being eaten now," she said, leaving out the truth for now, "Why don't you have a name? Are you lost? You can't fly, you're so small, you shouldn't be out here all by yourself!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:48 pm
He was relieved to hear that he was in no danger of being eaten and then allowed himself to plop back onto the ground to continue the talk with Alcmene, he was still tired! He hummed quietly when she asked about why he was alone, he didn't realize the unusual situation he was in exactly. He knew he was different from the other hatchlings in the nest he was in, and that was why he wasn't there anymore now but.. he didn't know how it happened or that he could be upset about it.
"I was left here, or, back that way," he said, looking back the way he had hopped from, "I couldn't stay with them for very long I guess, I didn't get a name but they tried to teach me to fly and stuff. I stopped here to try to find something to eat." He chirped cheerily, looking around the ground curiously. Would something tasty appear?
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:01 pm
She didn't understand, she only looked at the little bird as he explained very plainly the situation he was in. She wasn't sure she would be able to handle being abandoned like that, but he was so calm. Then she was reminded of just how things had been looking for her, and she felt more empathy than just pity for him. The poor little guy! She didn't want to upset him when he seemed so content with how things were, but she had so many questions. Was he even able to survive on his own? He'd avoided being stepped on, sure, but he wasn't looking very active in hunting and if he couldn't fly he'd always risk being stepped on. At least while he was this small and couldn't fly.
"A-are you OK?" she asked, unable to hide her concern, "I mean, do you want any help?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:12 pm
The nameless chick looked the lioness up and down, and leaned over to look again. She looked a bit big to be catching small bugs, but maybe she would be good at catching a whoooole bunch at once! That might be helpful. Or, she lived here, maybe she would know where he could look.
"Can you catch bugs?" he asked, shuffling to his feet again, "Or do you know where to find any of them? I haven't really looked but if you're from here, you might know, right?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:24 pm
"I've never really tried," she admitted, managing her first smile of the night when he got back onto his feet. He was so antsy, it was rather funny. And he was so optimistic and calm it was reassuring. The fact he didn't know anything about who she was, what kind of rules and respects were in her pride and that he wasn't even a lion and thus didn't even have the rules apply to him was also a big plus. Maybe she didn't have to be so alone, and neither did he.
"But I'll help you look," she offered, pushing herself up to her feet and then holding out a paw, "Climb aboard."
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