[LOG] What do Banus do? [Pavi x Cedderwyn]

[Feral Mule]

The sun was really bright on her eyes today. Squinting hard, Cedderwyn wandered out of her den for the first time this morning and stretched herself out. Her father seemed to be gone today and her den mothers weren't anywhere in sight. A frown appeared on the girl's face as her unmatching eyes scanned the areas she could see. Red paws moved forward until she came up on a big rock, in which she climbed and perched herself on it to see what Banu's did through out the day. She was supposed to be learning for when she was old enough to have a Pad of her own that wasn't her father... But since her mother was always gone, even at night, and she wasn't comfortable asking one of the other Banu in the den, it would seem she needed to find a Banu she was comfortable with.

Jumping down from the rock, the girl moved through the pride silently, pausing to stop to watch mothers interact with their cubs. These scenes often put a pang in her heart. Why wouldn't mommy play with her and her siblings like that? Why was mom always gone? Another frown came to her face.

No one seemed to notice her. Or if they did they gave her a strange sort of look and then paid no more attention to her. "Am I supposed to be wandering by myself?" She asked herself out loud. Her voice was high pitched, like every cubs was, and laced with doubt and sadness.  

[Feral Mule]

Pavi

"Not really, little one, but you're not by yourself now," came a soft, kind, almost motherly voice from behind the cub. Parvana was a large lioness, daughter of a vizier, Bey to the son of the other vizier, niece to the sultan. There was a veil over her maw, as it always was when she wasn't leading her harem-sisters in a hunt, as she wasn't now. The little banu had wandered her way into Obi's part of the pridelands, Pavi coming across the cub while she was stretching her legs. She didn't recognize the little girl's coat, but then there were so many lions in the pride, she could hardly keep track.

"What's your name?" she asked, lowering herself closer to the cub's level, a smile on her face.

 

[Feral Mule]

The voice caught her by surprise. Her fur stood up on end and she let out a yelp as she pressed herself closer to the ground. Now she was in trouble! That wasn't supposed to happen! Clearing her throat, she opened her purple eye first, then her silver to see a very pretty blue lioness with a veil on her muzzle. Oh, she wanted something like that, too! Her ears flicked this way and that way before she sighed and hung her head. She was in trouble. Cedderwyn just knew it! Well, maybe not. She didn't know she couldn't wander by herself, no one had told her that!

"I'm.. Cedderwyn. My parents are Elam and Mirima..." She listend off her parents because, for some reason, she always heard the others ask cubs about who their parents were. To keep track of things, she supposed. "I didn't know I couldn't wander... Momma isn't home, ever, and my daddy does... whatever he does all the time.. So I'm sorry! Don't punish me!" Her voice wavered, as if on the verge of tears.  

[Feral Mule]

Pavi

Pavi's heart broke at how upset the little cub seemed. Another lioness might had said something to reassure her or even softened her smile, but not Parvana. She reached out and drew the cub close with one paw and gave her a careful hug.
"It's okay, Cedderwyn, you're not in trouble. You shouldn't wander on your own, but I'd never ever punish a cub for wandering about the pridelands," she replied, giving the little girl a squeeze.

She smiled down at Cedderwyn and tilted her head.
"There now, no reason to be upset then, right?"

 

[Feral Mule]

She sniffled a little when she was hugged and pressed closer to the female. Hugging wasn't commonplace in her family, but it was nice. She'd probably get her siblings to hug more. Swallowing thickly she pulled away from the blue lioness and sighed, rubbing her face with her paw. "Thank you..." Of course, Cedderwy was mumbling that, still rubbing her face. She was embarrassed that she got so worked up about something so silly, but at the same time, she'd heard of cubs getting scoldings for it.

"Sorry... I was... Uhm... I was looking for... a Banu to help me learn what I need to do. As a banu, you know?" Her ears flicked when she realized how stupid she sounded as she talked. Why was she so hesitant? It wasn't like this with her siblings.  

[Feral Mule]

Pavi

The cub moved away and Pavi smiled while she dried her eyes, waiting to see what she was doing out here.
"Oh, well, that really is something your mothers should teach you, but it wouldn't be uncommon if they were too busy, a banu's life is, after all," she replied in that soft tone. She was often the role of mother, her Obi had a several cubs, though none hers yet. She spent most of her time with her duties and when the day was over she was perfectly content to curl up with the love of her life and sleep. Not that they hadn't tried, she just knew that the time just wasn't right. When it was, the gods would bless them with cubs.

"There are a lot of things banu do. We make sure our pad is happy, that the den is clean and the cubs taken care of. I think the most important thing, though, is that we're the huntresses. We go out and get the food to feed our families. And Beybanu," she puffed up there, looking very proud of her role, "We are the ones who organize the hunts, if it is singular or in groups, who takes what position, who stays at home to look after you cubs. And if it's a group hunt, we lead."

 

[Feral Mule]

Oh wow... She hadn't realized that Banu and Beybanu had so many duties. She thought they just had cubs for their Pads and that was all they were good for! Momma didn't tell her anything different. Neither did the other Banu, but she supposed she could have picked up on it. Often they did come home with blood on them. Her unmatching eyes lit up as a smile spread across her face. She liked this female already. She was friendly and helped calm down Cedderyn's nerves. It was an uncommon things to do.

"Oh! Well.. I guess I need to learn to hunt, right?" She wasn't interested in Pads right now, or making the den clean. That was all really boring work to a cub! But hunting meant lessons, and lessons were sometimes very fun! Like when daddy showed them all how to pounce one day. "Do I get to pounce in hunting? Like I do when I chase bugs around, or play with my brothers and sisters?"

It hadn't even crossed her mind she didn't know what the blue female's name was. Right now, Cedderwyn didn't care. She hoped, though, the older one got the hint and would teach her something.  

[Feral Mule]

Pavi

Parvana laughed and nodded her head.
"Yes, you get to pounce in hunting. It's a lot more complicated than that, but the most basic answer is yes," she replied and remembered that she had not introduced herself.
"My name is Parvana, but the way," she added and looked off. She should probably get the little cub back to her family before someone missed her, but it was difficult telling herself to do so. She was Bey in a harem with cubs, but she wasn't a true mother and she didn't really get to be one. They weren't her daughters to train. Some day she wanted cubs of her own.

"We should get you back to your family, but we can talk more on the way, if you'd like?"

 

[Feral Mule]

"Parvana... That's a pretty name! Better than Cedderwyn.." Her voice trailed off after that before huffing a bit and nodding. Home. Home was so boring! Maybe if she walked slow enough that Pavana wouldn't notice and just keep talking with her. Her ears flicked this way and that before she let out a big grin and turned around.

"Home is this way! Do you know my mom or dad? Can you tell me about momma?" She didn't want to say her mother was outright missing, as well as one of her siblings, because she had a feeling that wouldn't go over well at all.  

[Feral Mule]

Pavi

"Don't say that! Cedderwyn is a lovely name," Pavi replied with a nod, standing up and touch her nose to the top of Cedderwyn's head. She started following the cub.

"I'm afraid I don't, but I could tell you more about hunting if you'd like?" she asked, tilting her head. Although, she wasn't sure if it was really her place. Her mothers were the ones who were supposed to teach her how to hunt, would she be overstepping her bounds by telling the cub things?

 

[Feral Mule]

Oh, well, what did she really expect? Not everyone could keep up with everyone else. That was more than alright though, Cedderwyn wouldn't let it dampen her spirits. She was starting to feel more and more relaxed with Pavi. Walking with the adult, Ced grew a little anxious.

"Well.. I wanna know everything! Momma... doesn't come home much. I haven't seen her at all these past days, not even when we're sleeping! I don't know where she went..." She hoped she didn't just get her daddy into trouble. "So I'm looking for someone to teach me about these things, hunting and what not. It seems like a lot of fun! One of my brothers told me that we get to pounce while we hunt. I try to pounce crickets all the time, but they're so fast!"  

[Reeshie Hack]

Pavi tilted her head, frowning a little for a moment. She hadn't seen her mother in that long? She wondered if something was wrong, maybe she would talk to Obi about it later. For the meantime, she would just let the topic slide.

"Well, you should go ahead and ask your other mothers to see if one of them would like to teach you how to hunt. But pouncing crickets is a good start! Hunting is a lot of quiet and patience. You have to sniff around for the smell of a preybeast, and then when you find one, you have to sneak up on it and then pounce!"  

[Reeshie Hack]

Cedderwyn nodded and humed as she thought a moment. Sniffing around and being quiet didn't sound fun, but she knew it was important. It's why she couldn't sneak up on her brothers! She liked to be loud and playful. Maybe, just maybe, she would start practicing more seriously by herself. "I could ask my other mothers, but I don't know them very well. They don't stay to talk, really, just make sure we're doing alright and then go about their day." She nodded sagely and then laughed. "That's OK though. Because it means I get to be closer to my siblings!"  

[Reeshie Hack]

"Oh, well, then... Yeah, it would probably be good to work with your siblings on it. Practice sneaking up on them and pouncing them. Chase each other around, things like that. I don't know what your brothers are like, so if they're a little touchy, just practice with your sisters. My brothers didn't much care for us girls pretending to hunt them, so we just worked with each other," Pavi replied with a nod.

And they hadn't, not really. Her father didn't care, he'd gotten his tail pounced several hundred times by her sisters in their cub years. But then, her mothers were also there to help her and her sisters learn how to hunt. She couldn't imagine how lax this girl's mothers were, if they weren't going to teach their daughters how to hunt.  

[Reeshie Hack]

To be honest, she wasn't sure if her brothers would care if she got sneaky. They didn't seem to mind when she played rough with them, so why would they mind if she practiced on them? After all, they practiced on her, isn't it only fair? Laughing to herself a little more, the pale cub looked to her den and huffed. Her siblings weren't in sight, which meant it was nap time or lunch time. "Well.. I live here, so..." She looked up to Pavi again and frowned.

"Will you come visit? You can talk to me and teach me things when the mothers are away!"