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 Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:38 am
 There were many things that Hewne enjoyed doing but lately she had taken to dancing, cheerfully imitating the artisans’ performances in front of anyone who would have the patience to endure the long but somewhat clumsy attempts of the still fairly young cub. After failing to secure a small amount of paint from an adult who seemed certain she was going to engage in a very messy activity – she had been right – the blue cub had decided to use mud instead.
And that took us to the current situation as a very dirty cub who was now more brown than blue “danced” happily under the watchful eyes of a few adults. Their expressions varied from amusement to horror, depending on who was at risk of giving the cub a much needed bath.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:16 pm
 Clermelli-Pie had been hunting all day. The cubs were with the Sitters, so there was nothing to worry about there. When she got home, though, the kill from her and her partner turned in for those that would prepare it for the pride's evening meal, the first thing she did was go to find her cubs. Just like with her first litter, they were her life. It was just that this time she had a mate to share the responsibility and love of cubs with. She was both slightly jealous of sharing that and vastly relieved to have someone to share everything with. Clerm's reflections got cut short rather abruptly as she saw one of her daughters, covered in mud, and trying to dance. She sighed to herself. This was one of those things she wished she could pawn off on Sata, but she knew that would not be fair to him. The blue lioness stepped forward and looked down at her daughter. "Hewne, dear one, I know you love to dance, but mud is not good paint. Let us get you cleaned up and then you can practice dancing, minus the paint." She did not wait for a response before picking up her offspring and heading out. She took the cub to a nearby stream, just outside Home Tree. She knew the rest of the cubs would be able to be under Zimo's watchful eyes even if the other babysitters would not be okay with watching them extra. It helped to have a best friend among the babysitters. You always knew that no matter what happened someone was looking out for you and your family. The stream was not deep enough for the cub to go under, where Clerm put her. Clerm stepped into the water, and set her daughter in front of her and between her paws. She started cleaning the cub immediately. The current pushed the cub gently into her mother's paws, keeping her trapped.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:53 pm
Aided by a few whispering comments around her, Hewne realized her mother had just arrived. She looked at the blue lioness with wide brilliant eyes full of cubbish excitement and then lookedquite sad when her mother spoke. Still, the cub recovered her spirit quickly.
“Oh but mom look, look! I can do this…! Ouuf!” the cub started excitedly, ready to begin the long routine once again but was suddenly stopped when her mother picked her up. “Moom!” she piped up indignantly before quieting down. It didn’t feel right to talk when she was being held by the scruff of the neck like that.
“It’s cold!” she complained with a dramatic frown, looking up at her mother with a pitiful expression.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:04 pm
Clermeilli-Pie nuzzled her daughter as she cleaned her off. "I know it is cold, but how else am I to get all that mud off you? It dried in place. The dancers come out here to clean their paint off too, so you might wish to become accustomed to the feel of it now rather than later." She got the last bits of mud off her daughter and then picked the cub up again and set her on a nearby log to dry her off. "You will be warmer in a bit." She slowly started drying off her cub's fur, not worried about her own just now. She would get to that AFTER the cub was seen to.
Clermeilli-Pie finished drying Hewne with ease and when that was done she let the cub stay on the log as she dried herself off. "You have to learn the dances before you paint yourself up, dear." Clerm kept pausing between licks to talk her daughter. It was one of those things that one had to do to make sure the cub's interest stayed where it needed to. The last thing the lioness needed was her daughter disappearing out here while she was trying to get herself dry.
Pikelis flew down to sit beside the cub and chirped at her happily. "It is pretty dancing, but the mud was not attractive, little one. When Clerm is dry, we can all go back in Home Tree and watch you dance, but this time see your beautiful fur as you do so." The bird was rather good with the cubs, or so it seemed to her and her lioness. Pikelis rather wondered if she would get to have chicks of her own soon, then the cubs would have a distraction for certain.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 2:00 pm
The cub purred contently as her mother’s rough tongue removed the greater part of the water from her coat and then sat down as she watched the adult clean herself, her tail wrapping neatly around the cub’s legs.
“I made up this amazing move. I have to show it to you! It starts with a twirl and then…!” she spoke every time Clerm lowered her head to clean herself.
“Pikelis!” She greeted the bird with a bright smile as she jumped to her paws.
“Did you see it, Pikelis? Did you see me dancing? Wasn’t it really good? I’ll show it to you again!” perhaps her enthusiasm could hide the fact that she was blatantly ignoring any remarks regarding the unsuitability of mud as a paint material.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 2:16 pm
Clermeilli-Pie did not miss how she was being ignored on certain things, but she would not press the issue unless her daughter repeated the transgression. THEN there would be problems. She listened to her daughter and her familiar talking. The bird was a wonderful creature, and a very helpful one for distracting the cubs. When they were very little Pikelis was the bright thing that would get their attention away from what should not catch their interest, now she was a much needed, helpful wing to keep them chattering happily.
When the blue striped lioness had herself all died, she gave herself a little shake to fluff her fur back up a bit. She liked looking attractive for her mate and the slight fluff to her fur would also make her softer for her cub to snuggle against later. Cubs always had so much energy, but this batch definitely had more than her first. Mari had been a pawful before she was taken by her father, but nothing had prepared Clerm for several hyper children. It was an interesting litter. She blamed Sata. "Come on, in we go." She gently picked up her cub and put her on her back just between the shoulders.
"I did see you dancing, little one. You are doing very well at it, yes. When we get back in Home Tree, then you can show us again." The bird nodded sagely and fluffed the cubs ears while her mother finished drying off. When they were ready to go, Pikelis flew up and landed on top of Clerm's head. She could watch to make sure the cub kept her perch from there, which would help Clerm. "Perhaps you will want to show your father and the little winged fluff, yes?"
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 2:32 pm
Hewne tried to keep her balance which wasn’t that easy even before her mother started moving because the cub still lacked the feline grace that would come with age and she was trying to hold on without using her claws. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her mother, after all.
“Do you think daddy is back yet? The last time I showed it to him he said it was really good and he danced with me. He said I needed to put more energy into it!” Hewne laughed, a little cub already filled with happy memories she wished she’d never forget. “Ahah, you’re calling Sipho weird names again, Pikelis.” It was clear the young girl loved the birds that had bonded with her parents. As far as she was concerned, they were part of her family.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 2:41 pm
Clerm looked slightly sly, which her cub could not see. If her daughter put more energy into the dancing, perhaps she would tire herself out during the day and make the whole going to bed at night thing easier? Hmm, her mate probably had not thought of this, but that was okay. Clerm's mind was a bit more practical oriented than Sata's at times. The huntress loved her mate dearly, but sometimes he made her want to shake her head and call him a cub. "He may be back. We will not know until we get back ourselves."
Clerm was careful how she moved so that her daughter would not fall. She had carried her first litter like this countless times. It was just something she did. Hell, she'd carried SATA like that when he was little. And now she felt old again. Damn that thought. "He is right you should put more energy into your dancing... just not the painting yet." She could not help feeling very old and very tired suddenly. The thought that her mate was younger than her first litter of cubs... it was a depressing thought. It was as if she was a den robber!
Pikelis leaned over to make a face at the cub. "Of course I am calling Sipho weird names. He is a weird bird." She winked and looked happy with herself. She seemed to live for getting jabs in at Sipho. When she was not flirting with him, that was. The birds went between hitting on each other and insulting each other sometimes. Pikelis loved the challenge of having someone else to pick on while Clerm was distracted. And cubs were very distracting.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:11 am
“But, but…” the cub started, trying to find a way to circumvent this no-paint rule. “We can paint together… right? We can ask for pretty paints or look for berries in the jungle! It won’t be messy if you help me, right?” If her mother was around, surely it would be no problem. Hewne eyed the back of her mother’s head intensely as she waited for an answer. Belatedly, the cub realized it had been a wrong move on her part to ask her mother and risk having her reject the ingenious proposal. The easier path would’ve been to simply ask her father instead because Sata was someone who rarely said “no” to anything, no matter how silly it seemed.
“He’s not weird!” the cub giggled at Pikelis. “Aren’t you two going to have little birds soon? It would be so nice to have little brothers and sisters… with wings!” she chuckled happily and almost fell off in a small moment of distraction but thankfully she regained her balance quickly.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 5:11 pm
Clermeilli-Pie had to give her daughter credit for trying to get around the paint thing. "You may paint with supervision, but not on yourself. I am sure your father will find today's mishap amusing, but I know he also will want you to remain healthy and a matted up coat from paint is not healthy for a lioness so young." She was using logic on her child, which may or may not work. The lioness had found that sometimes it did and sometimes it did not. "What would you do if you ended up as small as I am because you get sick? You would never be seen with the other dancers towering over you if you ended up as small as I am. It is best not to risk such things."
Clerm knew what it was like to be sick as a cub, and knew that her parents were much larger than she, and that her brother had also been much larger. She had a very good idea that her being sick more than her brother had something to do with her lack of size. What caused the difference in health, was still questionable, but she hoped this argument would get through to the cub. "I would love to see you tall and lean like your father, so you might be the best artisan in the pride." Ah, and there was that sneak in the support so the cub doesn't think you are against their cause.
Pikelis had to give the lioness credit. The way she worded things was rather brilliant. It might not work on her cub, but it was still brilliant. The depths of her friend's mind amazed her sometimes. She tilted her head around almost upside down, and watched the cub. "Why would you think I will have little birds with the flying fluffball? Perhaps he has another lady bird, or I have a male bird elsewhere to go see. You do not know." She winked at the cub before adding. "Yes if I have chicks they will be with Sipho, but that does not mean it will happen." There were days she wasn't sure she could keep from pecking Sipho on the head after all.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 6:04 am
“I don’t want to get sick…” There were two things Hewne was taking from this conversation. One was that too much paint would apparently make her feel bad and grow less. The other – a more positive one – was that her mother had actually given her permission to play with paint so as long as the cub was being supervised. She didn’t actually say who had to do the supervising and the cub suspected that if her father was the one overseeing the activity, Hewne would get away with a lot more than Clerm was hoping for. She decided not to share her reasoning this time and focus on something else her mother had said. “And you’re not that small, mommy.”
“You two are so silly, yayo.” The blue cub said lovingly, letting out a string of crystal clear giggles as she hugged her mother tigher. “If you have… little fluffballs... do you think one of them might want to be with me? Like you are with mommy and Sipho is with daddy?”
Note: “yayo” means “bird” in Na’vi.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 10:19 am
Clermeilli-Pie looked over her shoulder at her cub and smiled softly. "I know you do not want to get sick, dear one." She wondered if her cub really noticed the fact that Sata was quite a bit taller than her, or that any of the others that were old blood and raised in the pride were as well. Clerm was used to being smaller than everyone, her family had been the same way, but apparently her cubs did not see the difference. That was a little odd to her. Then again, they might be basing that on the outside blood that was everywhere now. Clerm certainly was not that small compared to THEM. Heck she was about the same size as a lot of the former rogues.
"I was born of old blood, dear. I should be almost as tall as your father. Perhaps some day my brother will come here and you can see what I mean. He is as tall as most of the warriors here. I am quite small in comparison." Clerm chuckled at Pikelis. The bird was something else. The blue lioness new that her companion really did like Sipho and wanted chicks with him, but the bird was not going to admit that to the cub. She would rather pick on Sipho at every turn, just like Sipho did to Sata. Clerm had a feeling that was part of why Pikelis did it. She liked Sata almost as much as she liked Clerm.
Pikelis moved her wings up at an angel and made a funny face at the cub. When she put her wings down and resumed looking normal, she started speaking again. "Why would you say we are silly, little lion? I am sure that I will have enough chicks over my life time that you will end up finding one that you like." Pikelis had no doubts that if she had chicks at least some of them would end up with Clerm's cubs. It was rather hard for it to be any other way really. They would be raised with these lions around them. It was only logical that they stay with them.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 2:29 pm
Hugging her mother’s shoulders tightly as she was carried back to the heart of the pride, Hewne was starting to feel a little drowsy. She didn’t quite get what her mother meant by “old blood” but she did understand part of her mother’s words.
“So you should be bigger? Were you sick when you were little…?” the slow and somewhat slurred tone betrayed her tiredness. She merely chuckled with obvious amusement at the green and yellow bird, picturing herself with a tiny little ball of feathers on her shoulder. “It would be nice…”
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:25 am
Clermeilli-Pie looked back and shifted the cub both to make sure she did not fall off and to wake her up a bit. They did not have much longer to go before they were home and then the cub could sleep all she liked. The tiredness in that little voice was hard to miss, and Clerm knew it would not go away easily. Perhaps she could get the cub to hold off a little longer, though. She hated having to carry the cubs in her mouth if she could avoid it. They preferred this perch on her back too from what she had noticed.
Clerm could not claim her children were stupid. Hewne's question proved that she was a very smart cub. "I was sick at your age... for much of the time. As I got older the sickness came less, but I never got overly big. I am nimble and strong, but there are things in the pride I must work very hard at because of my smallness. You should be like your older siblings and be the same size as I when you are only half grown!" It was true enough, her first litter had been the same size as Clerm by the time they were Adolescents. They had a huge father as well.
Pikelis poked the cub when Clerm put her back down. "Not sleepy time yet, fluffball." The bird cocked her head to the side and watched the cub. "Where is all that energy, hmm? Are you getting sick already? Tsk tsk." She was teasing the cub of course, but she was trying to keep the creature awake until they got back to the hammocks. Clerm still had to either get the other cubs from the babysitters or send Sata for them. Pikelis wanted to make sure that they did not have to send poor Sata off on errands.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 11:40 am
The cub’s eyes narrowed a little as she took in the new information without saying a word. Right now, her mother still seemed very big to her but it probably wouldn’t be long until she started seeing the difference in size when one compared her to other adults in the pride. It was something to consider, that much was certain.
“I’m not sick!” she proclaimed almost defensively as the word “sick” now carried a much greater meaning than it had before. The cub slid down from her mother and landed rather ungracefully, quickly running ahead of the little group. “See? I’m fine!” she looked around in the direction they were heading before looking back with a huge smile. “We’re close! I’m going to go find the others!” and without another word, the cub sprang forward to find her siblings and tell them that Clerm was going to pick them up soon.
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