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 Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:17 am
But now she thought of how much like her mother her situation was. How close she was to following in her mother's footsteps after all. Laini would not let that happen. She would not stoop that low. She would not die from a depression or from the fact of how she came to conceive this cub. She would not. And so, she brought her young cub here today for his first lesson.
About a mile away from where she stood in the opposite direction from the jungle was a lone tree. This was not the tree she was often under. For that was on the other side of the jungle. There was an animal beneath it. She could tell from the scent that reached her nose. Her son needed to practice long distance running if he was to become strong. She gestured to the tree with her paw. "Run to there," she instructed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:27 am
Orifiel jumped from foot to foot. Since he had been born, he had been confined to within the pride in a small cave that his mother had claimed for their home. This was his first time going anywhere! Sure, his mother told him he wasn't allowed to do very much. Playing with a lightening bug in their home had caused him to accidentally ram into the wall and force himself into "sickbed" for a couple days. He often had seen cubs running around the grounds of the pride and knew in an instant that they were not limited like him. But then again, when had they been brought outside?
Now he would actually be able to do something. Run there? He squinted towards the far off tree ...which, as stated, looked too far for him. But his mother had asked it of him so he would do it. Quickly, he bounded off in that direction.
Radi'Utengo lay under his usual tree with his usual hopes: that the herd would return. They never had and probably never would. But he still hoped. After all, he was keeping it safe for them, wasn't he? No predators came here. This place was safe. And that was his belief. And the wind blew away from him so he had no clue that he was even slightly wrong about that one.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:36 am
Laini smiled at her son's eagerness. She harbored a hope inside her that her baby would grow out of this condition, that it would prove to only be an ailment for his youth years. They would work past it and he would come out on top. She would make sure.
But for now, he was a disabled little boy who needed someone to watch after him. So she followed quickly behind -but not too quickly, he couldn't run that fast yet. But he was promising.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:44 am
Ori found running ...well, quickly tiring. His sides were burning before he was even close. Were cubs his age supposed to be able to do this, he wondered. He blinked and his face felt quite hot but he pushed himself harder to make sure his pace didn't slow. His feet felt almost numb but were otherwise throbbing in pain.
Before the tree, he ground to a halt. There was a waterbuck there, staring up at him unamused, as if it had known he was coming. "Gotcha!" Ori exclaimed as if the waterbuck had been the goal all along.
Radi had seen the cub coming for a couple minutes now. It had been running rather hard and had done nothing the entire time to hide its movements. Radi was unamused. What? Did it think that it could take him on? Could kill him, the size of a full-grown lion, and eat him for supper? Yea right. He rose to his feet at the cub's exclamation and stared blandly at him, a mild annoyance visible in his eye. "You," he said, "have got no one."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:42 pm
Laini quickly caught up to her son at a fast walk to walk in on the waterbuck's line. And why wasn't her son attacking it? Where were her son's instincts? She snapped at the waterbuck. "I do believe that you will soon have nothing, not even your bones ...unless they're too foul that not even the birds with peck at them," she taunted back with a half-smile. If her son simply needed to be shown how to take it down, then she would show him. Laini lunged.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:48 pm
Ori didn't understand the exercise. The waterbuck wasn't being very friendly and neither was his mother. His mother had not said there would be danger. But she seemed to think so. He flattened himself on the ground and quivered as she attacked the waterbuck. Ori flung his paws over his eyes. He really didn't want to know what was going on any more.
Radi laughed, tossing his head back slightly at her taunt. He felt no where near intimidated. Actually, he was still feeling rather invincible regardless of the appearance of a formidable enemy. She lunged and he held out until the last minute and dodged and watched in satisfaction as she missed. No female -or feline for that matter- would best him. She was on his lands and he knew them better than her. Even if they were rather simple.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:45 am
Laini may have missed but she would not be a good huntress if she could not adjust for it. She quickly spun around and, using her powerful, massive weight, caught him on his backside and pushed down, knocking him over. She had him in her power now. And just who did he think he was? A god? Well look at him now!
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:18 am
Ori peeked from between his paws. Oh no! he thought at the sight of his mom pinning down the waterbuck. He had known that his mother killed for food and that the food she gave him was once alive but his first time seeing such an action was shocking to him. He squirmed just a little and placed his paws over his eyes, murmuring foolishly "mommy."
Radi, just like Ori, found himself squirming. Then again, he was pinned down, his life at stake, and this all happened because of a female. One who should not be superior to a male, like himself. Her paw met a rib and he squealed in pain, trying to throw her. "Please..." he cried involuntarily.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:31 am
"What is that?" Laini snarled at the response from the waterbuck. "A cry of mercy?"
She paused for a moment as the sound of her son's voice reached her ears. She glanced over at him, hiding his face in fear. This prey beast had more guts than he did. There was even a good chance this beast would say nothing more now but she had an idea. And it was worth a try.
"I have an offer ...if you want to live."
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:45 am
Ori lifted up his head at his mother's offer. His eyes lit up and he sprang to his feet. "Take it, take it!" he said excitedly. He had no clue what it could be but his mom wasn't really mean. She only did what mothers are supposed to do ...or at least that was his reasoning. He didn't have the expose to even suspect that it might not be the case.
Radi'Utengo, still pinned beneath the lioness's mighty paws, looked up at her, disguising his hope as a look of hate, like he would detest to do anything for her. ...which was essentially true except that at this moment, he really wanted to be able to remain alive. "What... did you have in mind," he managed to say in a low, grinding voice so that he would sound not at all pleased by the offer. It wasn't too hard but he had to hide all indications that he did have a twinge of hope. It would never be enough to be called gratitude for servitude was next to death but it was a sliver of hope.
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:51 am
Laini tilted her head ever so slightly and smiled sweetly as if they were lovers. It was probably a really scary look for the prey-beast to see but that was one of the effects she was going for with it. She carried the look over to her son, who was jumping around rather too happily for her comfort, but she quickly shaded that emotion least it display itself too clearly.
"Well, since you're so willing for me to save you're life, you can do something for me," she nearly cooed as if he had been the one crying mercy and she hadn't even suggested the making of an offer. Laini gestured over to her son. "This is my son, Orifiel. He has a... condition and requires some... looking after. You could do it or..." she let her paw slide over his chest bone down to his throat where it rested rather heavily on his larnx. She simultaneously shrugged with her head and available shoulder.
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:00 am
Orifiel, convinced that everything was fine now, leapt into the tall grasses around the tree attacking a carefully camouflaged grasshopper that made the mistake of jumping when he came near it. He wiggled his bottom in anticipation for a jump and pounced, missing it of course. He continued the hunt of the unappetizing, unfilling creature.
Radi pondered over the offer and looked sideways at the cub, Orifiel, playing merrily in the grass. The kid didn't look like he needed help ...unless getting away from a crazed mother counted. Her look made him nervous, without a doubt. But he was just as good as she at hiding emotions, if not a little bit better at reading hidden ones. Thus, he easily knew what she thought of her son and his outburst ...and what she meant by he looking after the cub, as weird as it was. He also really didn't want to do it.
Upon reflection, he had little choice and the new position of her paw was choking him. He involuntarily tried to gag and choked but could not even sputter. "Ok," he mouthed whether she got the picture or not. Maybe he'd be dead in a moment. Hey, death actually didn't look so bad now ...now that he had sold his soul to a demon.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:01 am
Oh they caved too easily. She grinned, satisfied, smug, and superior. Of course she had won but there was that particular satisfaction in it. Not that his air of superiority was crushed had very much to do with it. It was the joy of constantly being reminded of how much stronger she was, of how good she was, of how she had managed to survive regardless of the situation in her cub years that would cause a cub to die ...not survive. At the same time it was a similar situation her son was in, more so with his condition than anything she had done. And with her help, he would become strong. Together, they would eradicate the weakness.
Bringing herself back on track, she loosened her grip on the waterbuck's neck. "Well," she said. "Let's just test your loyalties, eh?" She called to her son to gather him back to her and stop acting foolish. It was time to be mature again. "My son's hungry but he's not capable of hunting alone. Go help him get food."
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:08 am
Ori readily dropped what he was doing and trotted back to his mother. He was confident that things were going good now and that all was well. Now maybe they could have some fun?
Radi bit his lip to keep himself from betraying his anger as she seemed to go lost in thought, manipulating him, pushing him ...if not gloating. She had proved her point. Now she needed to get off of him before someone important came by. Arrogant, annoying lioness! Didn't have any sort of sense of her own place.
When she released him, he climbed to his feet with the incredible urge to clean himself off. "Fine," he said stoically although his face betrayed a certain uppity look to it as if this was all beneath him ...which of course he did think. "I'll take your son hunting. I hope you don't expect to enjoy the meal, however."
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:18 am
"Ha, like I need you for that," she laughed. She shook her head with amusement at who she believed to be a very foolish creature. "No, I'll watch from the distance. Trust me. I'll know if anything goes wrong." She displayed her most charming smile and then turned to her son with the same smile although it lost some of its glow. "Ori, now I want you to trust your better senses but if you need help, this waterbuck will help you, alright?"
Ori smiled up at his mother innocently and listening intently. He was being given so much responsibility today! He couldn't bare not thinking about all the wonderful things it could lead to. He was incredibly hopeful ((Laini: blah! he's just like his great-uncle ]<) (Mo: now I feel old D;)) He turned to the waterbuck and grinned broadly. "Hey, I'm Orifiel. What's your name?"
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