[FIN] Effing Ow! (Kestven & Nagua)

[mouselet]

Having made up his mind to stay, Nagua had taken a good, long look at all the different ranks available to an adult of the Kitwana'antara before arbitrarily choosing one. None of them had called out to him, so he'd been forced to compare the varying duties against his own abilities.

The young lion wasn't particularly strong, didn't have a good memory, wasn't certain he wanted to worship Pestilence, wasn't very good at combat, had laughable hunting skills and didn't want to spend all of his days with cubs.

That left Scout.

It seemed he was required to participate in a lot of the training they gave to Guards and Warriors in order to achieve his stated goal, but that was okay. It wasn't quite as bad as it could have been. And he was learning! The teal lion was determined to give his all for his new home.

So it was that he could be found practicing several of the motions the pink lioness - Mittere - had shown him and a few others, before being called away to deal with something else.  

[Excited Apathy]

Kestven, on the other paw, was both quick and relatively strong for his breed. Whoever his lion parent had been, they had been large and powerful enough to partially offset the delicate nature of a cheetah's build. He was taking well to the increased training that came with his recent growth spurt, and hoped to prove himself fit to become a warrior.

Those hopes weren't particularly at the forefront of his mind, as he came upon the stranger who'd been so disgusted by him not so very long ago. The adolescent watched for a few moments, frowning. Why, that wasn't how you did that at all. And what did he think he was accomplishing by that?

"You're doing it wrong," he finally announced.  

[mouselet]

Panting slightly, Nagua turned to face...the...hybrid. It was the same coloration as the boy he'd...met...before, though the kid had clearly gone through a growth spurt since they'd last met. Even so, the teal lion still had to force himself to swallow his immediate reaction to being confronted with any creature of mixed blood. There weren't that many he'd run into here, but if he was going to make a life among the Kitwana, he could just dismiss them out of hand as lesser creatures.

The Jini-msemi would, he know, have either put them to death or run them and their parents off with claws and teeth, and declared those bloodlines anathema.

But in the Kitwana'antara, they were considered to be full members, alongside wild dogs and other odd races that Nagua hadn't had much exposure to. He'd even managed to pick up on the fact that hybrids weren't usually able to have children...which had made it even more disconcerting to hear that there was a pair of leopon parents somewhere in the pride. Still, he had some practice in keeping his opinions between his teeth, so he'd hold to that course for now and focus on the hybrid before him. The one that had attacked him before.

Yellow eyes narrowed. What did the boy want? His tone wasn't given the lion any clues, but Nagua doubted the other had forgotten their last encounter.

"Oh?" he asked in return, doing his best to keep his voice neutral and to not give away how hard he was fighting to not run or attack the source of his internal discomfort.  

[Excited Apathy]

Well, at least the teal lion wasn't staring at him like he'd grown a second head this time. There was that much improvement. Shaking his head with a small snort, he eyed Nagua critically. "You're leaving yourself way too open. If you keep on like that, I could knock you on your tail before you knew it." Arrogant? Yes. He knew he had a lot to learn, sure, but he also knew he'd likely learn it from Mittere. Catching the other's yellow eyes, he added, "Although it might be less embarassing for you now."

His tailtuft twitched. No, he hadn't forgotten their last encounter.  

[mouselet]

Hmmm. The blue creature sounded as if he knew what he was talking about. Which meant the advice was probably good. Though he didn't like the implication that the hybrid was intending to "knock him on his tail".

This whole encounter was rubbing Nagua the wrong way and he had a sudden urge to shake himself from head to tail and resettle his fur. Not that he'd give into such a childish instinct. Still, he could practically feel the tension.

"I see," the teal lion responded, trying to keep his tone as even as possible.  

[Excited Apathy]

"Of course you do." Kestven's tone was flat. The other was acting far better than he had during their last encounter, but the cheeton was getting the distinct impression that he was merely being tolerated. It rankled, that feeling that settled between his shoulder blades like a faintly painful itch that he simply couldn't reach. "How about instead of telling me, you show me."

As quickly as that, he was assuming a defensive position. His tail lashed slowly behind him, as his his eyes dared the teal lion to make the first move.  

[mouselet]

Nagua blinked at the hybrid's speed. He hadn't seen anyone move that fast before - the pink lioness had moved too fast for him to see at all. But what on earth? The boy wanted the lion to attack him?

No. No. No. This was a terrible idea. He'd probably brought it on himself, given how he'd acted the last time they'd...met...but still! The teal lion was certain that if he gave into the blue boy now, they'd be at each other's throats.

It was clear to him that this was the goal of the younger male.

"No thanks," Nagua replied firmly.  

[Excited Apathy]

Training, refused? Now that stung. Regardless of any secondary motives or amusement he might have gained, Kestven's offer had been honest enough. For a long moment the cheeton froze in that defensive pose, all too still. Then he straightened, his lip curling as he gave the lion a hard stare. "Still too good for the unnatural, then." A snort. "I should have figured."  

[mouselet]

Nagua winced as the creature threw his own words back at him. This...was going to take some time to...fix. If it could be. If he wanted to. He still wasn't certain what he thought about hybrids, but he didn't want to force the issue now.

Not when there was an angry blue feline standing in front him, just looking for an excuse to fight. He knew that while he was just starting his training, the other had likely been doing this all his life. So it was probably not a good idea to actually give the kid the fight he was looking for.

So the teal lion disdained to answer, turning so that he wasn't quite facing the other male anymore, and continued practiciing the movements.  

[Excited Apathy]

Kestven bit back a growl with visible effort. The other couldn't even be bothered to answer him now? Ignored him? A younger self might have lashed out at this point, but that younger self had seen enough extra training for such a thing that he held back. Instead he watched for several long moments, eyes boring into the other male, before resolutely turning his back and stalking away.

He'd find someone else to train with.  

[mouselet]

The teal lion relaxed slightly as the feeling that he was being watched subsided. A quick glance around revealed that the blue hybrid had taken himself off elsewhere. Thank goodness.

This was hard enough without having to deal with that particular creature. Hopefully they wouldn't run into each other much in the future.