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 Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:11 pm
It had been a while since the loner Shida had found Kione Kiho wandering around aimlessly in the desert sand, but in that time the kitten seemed to grow twice her size and acquired a strong sense of direction and duty in their survival. The cub grew quite attached to the blue lioness, looking up to her as a protector, mentor, and in some cases, a mother. She nearly whorshipped the wanderer, finding her in her greatest time of need and taking care of her without a second thought. In return, Kione Kiho had grown the instinct to protect her loved ones and used this sense fully toward Shida, wanting nothing more than for her to be safe by her side. In this sense, she had grown slightly hostile toward strangers and other beasts that they came across. Luckily, they had not met many others in their travels even though they traveled through thickly-inhabited grasslands. She knew better than to steer them through another lion's pride!
Kione Kiho galloped ahead, a sudden burst of energy as she raced toward a lone tree in the middle of the plains, excited to see such a structure. "Shi! Shiiii! Lookit! It looks so pretty, way out here!" she called excitedly, long overdue to see a tree through her long travels through the desert. Coming to the trunk of it, she rubbed her head on the bark, tail flicking the air ecstatically. "Shi~da! Come over!" she called with a soft giggle.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:39 pm
Shida had always wondered why she accepted Kione Kiho so easily. It wasn't like her! The blue lioness was usually so cold towards others, wary of strangers. But when she had found the lovely little female cub, Shida found herself being protective.
Thinking this as Kiho raced ahead of her, she sighed. "I'm coming! I'm coming Kiho!" Shida called out, picking up the pace. "Just hold yer rodents!" Shida soon came caught up to the little cub. "I'm here... So..." She looked around, flicking her tail. "Hmm... Not too shabby," she chuckled, watching as Kiho rubbed against the bark. "You're learning quite fast!"
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:24 pm
As Shida caught up to the young cub, Kione Kiho found her grin widening. She wasn't usually so perky and full of energy, but the sight of the shady tree among the endless sea of grass just seemed to brighten her outlook, if only for a little. "It's a nice spot to rest. We've been traveling non-stop for a while now, I think we deserve it! How far do you think we've come?" Kiho asked, arching her back into a stretch. Her paws were rather sore from all the walking, but it was gaining her amazing stamina in all her practice.
At Shida's praise on her learning skills, Kione Kiho blushed slightly. She never really knew how to react to such kindness, but she was still learning. "Well, I have a good teacher!" she countered with a smile, strolling over to the lioness' side and reaching up to pull on one of Shida's ears with a tug of her mouth, balancing on her back feet.
Hopping back down on all fours, Kione Kiho nearly collapsed to the floor with a long sigh, relaxed. She curled her front paws under herself and wrapped her gold- and black-feathered tail around her body. The cool breeze that blew across them in the shade was a welcome change to the scorching heat out from under the tree, and Kiho closed her eyes for a couple minutes to take in the relaxation. After her time of silence, she perked her head back up, ear feathers swaying to the wind as she stared out over the plains. "I think there's some herdbeasts up ahead. Maybe we should get a bite to eat in a bit? I still need to practice hunting!" she offered, her tense muscles already in a relaxed state. Sitting still long wasn't in her nature as a wanderer, unless it was an express order.
(( I'm going to be working on her stats soon. Gotta get her information up here! XD ))
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:57 pm
((Okies! xD Haha!!))
"I must agree... Some shade does sound awfully nice." Shida grinned. "But you should get used to this wandering. As far as I know, we'll be doing this for quite awhile." Shida wasn't one to settle down anywhere. But the lioness chuckled as Kiho stretched. She certainly was growing...
And now she was blushing. How cute. "But of course! No one's better then me." Shida chuckled, puffing out her chest. She let out a playful growl as her ear was tugged. "What it, cub!" Shida warned, trying to sound menacing. But she was smiling so... It didn't quite work out.
When the purple cub fell back, Shida shook herself and rolled onto the ground. With a big breath, the azure lioness closed her eyes and enjoyed the cooler ground. Yes... a nice rest did feel rather nice.
An ear flicked when Kiho spoke. "Hm? Sure, some fesh kill sounds great." Shida rolled back onto her feet. "So, what's the first step in hunting?" she asked, yawning.
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 8:59 pm
Kione Kiho wiggled her toes through the grass, the soft blades between each toe feeling very good. She rubbed the top of her head against the much cooler ground floor, the equivalent of trying to dump some water on it to cool it down. It wasn't as efficient as water, but it was a good substitute! She lay there, kinked into a very odd lying position on her head as she opened her pale blue eyes and flicked her ears, trying to figure out exactly where the herdbeasts were, and at what speed they were traveling. It was still too difficult for her to discerne the last bit of information, but she was still just a cub and needed to absorb that kind of information through hunting practice.
Rolling back up, she fell over onto Shida with a huff of a sigh, goofing around slightly before the big hunt. She stood up onto her feet and sat back down on her haunches, finally sitting up. Flicking her tail from side to side in anticipation she grinned as she studies the horizon, but was unable to spot the herd from their vantage point over the hills. Turning back to her mentor, she answered, "Mmm... we first gotta figure out which direction the wind is blowing and where they are so we don't blow our scent in their direction when we stalk them, right?" She hoped her studying skills had not grown rusty.
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 9:08 pm
Shida watched the cub as she played around, shaking her head slightly. Kiho was so cute and funny! The lioness supposed that was one reason why she kept the cub around. She was fun to teach, play around with... And just to hang around! Kiho was someone to keep her company while they wandered.
But while Kiho was goofing around and fell over onto Shida, she was already beginning the first steps of hunting, sniffing to pinpoint where their prey was at and hear about how far away they were. Her ears twitched, swiveling from left to right, front to back. At Kiho's voice, Shida looked to her and nodded. "That's right. And what must we always do while hunting?" THAT was the most important part of hunting. Being silent.
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Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 4:45 pm
Kione Kiho continued to try to spot the moving herd over the hills, or at least hear from the exact area their steps were coming from. Her nose scrunched as she began getting frusterated with her mediocre hunting skills, but knew as well as anyone the skills took time to learn. She was already excelling for her age, but she wanted to be as good as Shida! She had seen the watery lioness hunt before, and it was magnificent. She knew lionesses often hunted in a pride with other huntresses to take down their prey, but Shida could do it single-handedly. True, the prey was much smaller than what a pride could do, but it was plenty large to fill the two of them up. She inhaled sharply, holding her breath for a bit, hoping she would be able to hunt like her one day.
At Shida's next question, Kiho blinked, staring off into space a little as she thought. She bit at her lip, coming to a blank before remembering what she had been doing before and hearing Shida's low tone. "Oh! Oh.... right," she murmured, trying to keep her voice down even though she knew the herdbeasts wouldn't be able to hear them this far away. Practice, she knew, was always a good thing before the big event. "We gotta keep quiet!" she whispered, one ear lowering in embarrassment as that rule almost slipped her mind entirely.
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Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 5:46 pm
The azure lioness watched Kiho as she thought. And she glanced continuously at their prey, making sure that they hadn't spotted the two. Shida was already proud of Kiho for learning to quickly. It wouldn't be long before the cub could hunt for herself, not that Shida would allow that of course! She was too fond of little Kione Kiho to just let her go! The cub was her companion.
A smile crossed the lioness's face. "That's right. And where are we, wind-wise, to the prey?" Shida asked. Questions, she taught with questions. To make the cub think before she spoke. That was important as well. To think. Knowledge came with thinking and asking questions.
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Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 6:51 pm
"Wind-wise, we are..." she began, lifting her head to the wind to feel for a breeze. It took a bit, the dry air barely blowing a puff their way, but when the wind blew, it blew! A gust of wind kicked up from behind them, drawing Kione Kiho's ear feathers forward and tickling her nose. She giggled as the wind died down again, rubbing her nose with a paw. "...We're downwind, master," she snickered behind a paw, grin wide. She couldn't wait to get out there and stalk their prey, but knew just as well that these questions were imperative to the catch. She had to know what she was doing, after all!
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Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 7:11 pm
Shida smirked as Kione's feathers tickled her nose. "Correct. So shall we get started on the hunt?" she asked, smiling. "I think you're ready to start. Just remember, don't get yourself into trouble. Because I may not be able to get to you in time." the lioness warned. She put a paw on top of the cub's head and licked her nose, "I'm too fond of you lose you now."
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 12:43 pm
Kione Kiho's tail whipped out from around her as she bounced to a stand, eager to get the hunt started. "I sure am ready!" she whispered loudly, trying to get the hang of being quiet before they got close to the herd. Her grin grew double in size as she stared out in the direction they were going to be headed, tail waving about slightly to the breath of air that blew lightly across the grassland to get her body ready for the fluid and precise movements she needed to do during the hunt. She tensed and untensed her leg muscles as a means of warm-up stretching before stretching out her back.
Her ear closest to Shida perked as she was in mid-stretch, catching her words. She was glad her mentor thought she was ready, because she not only wanted to watch the herd run, but she wanted to be a part of the chase this time! She giggled as Shida licked her nose, peering up at her with her ice blue eyes and answering, "Don't worry, Shi, I'll be fine! I'll be sure to get out of there and regroup with you if I get into any trouble. Now, let's get us something to eat, shall we?" With that, she jumped back to her feet and dashed off, slowing down after a bit before coming to a complete halt as she waited for Shida to follow.
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 12:53 pm
Shida smiled broadly at Kiho. "You better be." She was glad that the cub was ready to go and understood the consequences of hunting with so few lionesses. "Now you go over there," she gestured with her paw to the left, "and I'll go the opposite. Make sure to keep an eye out for me. When I signal, we'll attack.
"And let's get going before they decide to move." ruffling Kiho's fur, Shida turned her eyes back to the herd. Keeping low to the ground and crept in her direction and stepped carefully. Any little sound that was made could alert them. Then she and Kiho would have to go and find some other food.
But she was nervous... This was the first time they had gone after large prey. Before they were smaller, less dangerous. But these wildebeast, they could seriously hurt them. Or worse.
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 1:32 pm
AS they came closer to an outcropping of bushes, Kione Kiho followed Shida's lead and crouched low, chest coming in contact with the tops of the grass blades that lie beneath her as she stepped along slowly and carefully. She peeked her eyes through the entangled mass of branches to the herd beyond, taking a rest stop at a small lake for water. She hoped her dark and pale body didn't give her away to them through the leaves of the brush, praying the bushes were thick enough to hide them.
Her teeth clamped down on each other, she sunk her claws into the earth, trying to bite back at her worry. This was her first true hunt, and she didn't want to be a disappointment. Her answers to Shida's questions may have been on the mark, but what if her tactics failed her? Failure may be a concept associated with adolescent growth, but she wanted to be useful; useful enough to help Shida bring down a wildebeast for them to eat.
She looked to her mentor out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her signal. She didn't notice how much bigger they were from the other hunts, the very thing that made Shida tense. However, her mind happened to be playing with her nonetheless, as the herd seemed to be getting further away from them and their grasp. She breathed, Just stay calm and attack from the left. It'll be all right if I just wipe everything from my mind but the objective point. Her words to herself may have been encouraging, may have made a point, but that didn't stop her from continuing to be worried.
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 1:50 pm
Shida kept silent, her paws gently coming into contact with the ground. Her tail was low and kept glancing over at the cub. As soon as she was in place, she scanned the herd for the perfect target. And she found one. It was a nice fat, young male. His mother was in no sight and was off by himself. He was closer to Kiho.
After choosing that male, she looked at Kiho pointedly. As soon as Kiho looked at her, she looked back at the young male and back to Kiho. Hopefully, she understood that was to be their target. If they were able to bring him down, they would have a nice feast. They hadn't eaten well like that for quite some time. Ooohhh... Fresh meat. Just the thought made her mouth water all the more.
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 4:06 pm
As Shida looked over, Kione Kiho almost missed it because of her filing through her mind. She cocked her head to get a better view of where Shida was instructing her which was there objective point, trying to move her head slowly. Not attracting attention was hard work, but it all paid off in the end, she knew.
Following Shida's gaze, Kiho spotted the young herd beast off by himself. He looked to be well-fed, and an air of arrogance surrounded the young wildebeast as he set himself apart from the others. Rebellious stage, maybe? She knew teenagers got that way, and thought that perhaps that was the reason. The only other possible reason would be sickness, and that would help to slow it down enough for an easy catch. She wondered which it was, but figured since he walked without a limp it was the former.
After studying their prey, Kione Kiho turned back to Shida and gave her a slow nod, keeping her head from tickling the bush she was behind. Hopefully this wouldn't be too difficult, but she would never be sure until she tried.
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