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 Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 7:19 am
'Thank you, Rhee.' She said with feigned politeness, quirking an eyebrow. 'Not so much like a muffin, eh...?' She said, her voice dropping teasingly to a dangerously low tone. She burst into a fit of chuckling, unable to keep up a murderous look, and absentmindedly shooed Jax out from behind her, returning him to the group of cubs.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 8:08 am
Amaree laughed. "No, perhaps a blueberry cake now." She ignored the threatening look from the younger lioness and batted her with a paw. "I can still beat you." She giggled and pounced Brooke on the way out on the plains. Amaree frolocked through the plains until she caught sight of the Red King and his black friend. She pawed at him and smiled.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 8:19 am
'Cake, indeed!' She eyed Amaree carefully, neatfull sidestepping her pounce. 'Hah! Maybe not so! I have the speed of lightning! But then, that was a neat sidestep. Never knew I had it in me, wot?' She said comically. 'But still, I really don't think you'd ever catch me so off gua-AH!' Little Jax had pounced ahead of her, and as the lioness struggled to keep from stepping on him, her footfall landed awkwardly, and she was twisted off balance, collapsing onto the ground, jerking away from Jax at the last minute. She huffed as she picked herself up, her paw aching smartly.
'You liddle!' She exclaimed, whacking the baby's flakes with a paw. 'You've crippled me for life!'
Jax stared up at her boldly. 'You 'kay, no?' He demanded with little interest.
Brooke, seeing that the little lion didn't buy her joke, rolled her eyes, dangling her paw in front of him. 'No, my paw's broke and I'll have a limp forever!' She said sarcastically. 'Course I'm alright! Just a sprain. You could at least seem to play along!'
((Lat, new Brooke pic: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a66/Vaniartoll/brookecert4.jpg))
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 8:22 am
Amaree laughed at the newly grown lioness and her little cub friend. It reminded her of herself and Brooke. She fell out of the pounce and stumbled, but then laughed and rolled over on her stomach. She kicked her feet at the air scratching her back.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 8:26 am
Brooke joined in with the laughter. The new day brought a spring of energy into her, just waiting for the chance to uncoil. Her tail whipped about her once, as she settled in, watching the many figures of the returning party on the horizon. She caught Jax and held him in check with her 'injured' paw, and then stretched into a lazy lie-down.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 7:10 pm
Rellick turned and nosed Jay. "Come now Dark Prince.. Our Lady Shaman has fixed you, stand and we shall go to the den..."
He grinned and turned to his sister. "Everyone will be glad to see you sister dearest..."
Jadera laughed. "After living with you.. Why wouldn't they be?"
((Brooke's Pic showing up as an Image "being moved"... ))
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 9:10 pm
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 5:51 am
'Do I look different?' Jax suddenly piped up, prodding Brooke with a paw. He has suddenly felt lankier, and taller. Her looked up at her wonderingly.
'My, my, baby Jax has grown!' Brooke exclaimed, lowering her nose to nuzzle him. When his look of sheer innocence twisted into an angry scowl, she paused, and drew her head up again. 'Fine.' She said huffily. She would have plenty of time to find out about his past, either way. She turned, looking at all the cubs milling about her and Amaree. 'And you too, Revyn! Wow!'
((http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7421/male008cert24pl.jpg <-- Jax update))
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 8:49 am
Rell was pleased to see all the lionesses happy when he returned to the den, and eyed all the cubs with a smile.
"My!" He laughed. "Looks like you went ahead and started growing up while I was gone!"
He laughed and nosed Revyn. "Fine form all of you."
He glanced at the lionesses and smiled. "Everyone alright?"
Jadera smiled at the Pride from behind her brother, coloring faintly. "Hello everyone!"
((got it!))
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 10:24 am
Amaree nodded her head and smiled at the cubs as they showed off their newly grown bodies. "You all look just wonderful!" She glanced up, hearing Rellick's voice and ran over to him. "You're back!" She nuzzled his neck for a bit. "I was worried about you... and I missed you...." She looked over at Jadera and padded over. "Jade! Hey! How are you?" And nudged her on the head. It had been awhile.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 5:18 pm
Aygra scanned the herd, looking for any signs of injury, age or excessive nervousness that might mark an animal as vulnerable. The group was a small one, which he thanked. More then once his charge had faltered as he lost his targeted quarry admist a confusion of milling animals. He sat down and averted his head, a gesture he knew would draw a fascinated gazelle even closer.
Again he waited, monitering the prey with his ears and nose while his eyes searched for the Huntresses.
Excitement rose in the male, starting his heart to leaping. It was always so in the moment before the chase began. Aygra's body sang, his muscles shivering with joy as he prepared to unleash himself in a intoxicating burst of speed. Yet he remained still, facing away and letting the tension build within him until the right instant.
Aygra snapped his head around and sprang into a gallop. During his first strides, the prey stood rigidly as if trapped. Then a doe brayed in fear and broke from the edge of the herd. The rest wheeled to follow, but they disappeared from the lions mind. He saw only one gazelle whose premature flight announced its vulnerability.
As if an invisible cord had been strung and drawn taut between hunter and fleeing prey, Aygra was drawn after the gazelle. He could neither halt his charge nor choose another victim. Instinct drove him now and his intelligence could only observe from the sidelines. Later he would judge whether the choice was best, but now, in the heat of the chase, he could neither change nor question it.
The gazelle tore across the plain, its churning legs throwing up a line of dust. Aygra sprinted after it, increasing the length of his stride with each step. His breath surged in and out of his chest and the great muscles in his loins flexed.
He drew close enough to hear its hoarse whistling breath and see the white of the eye as it rolled back in terror. The slender legs shook, and Aygra didn't need the acrid tang of exhaustion in the quarry's smell to tell him that it was weakening. The lion called on his body's great reserves, pouring effort into his run until his straining muscles nearly cramped with intensity. Grit stung his eyes and breath burned in his throat, but through the haze he saw the bobbing hindquarters of the prey drawing nearer.
And then he saw the scars on the animal's rump. Two raised and puckered streaks showed where a predator's dew-claw had torn through flesh. Yet the gazelle still lived to run from him. The hunter, not the hunted, had lost that attack. Doubt sprang up in the back of Aygra's mind, but he pushed it aside savagely.
His hindquarters bunched and extended, launching him at the prey. He struck down with rigid forelegs, driving his own claws deep into the coarse fur. Throwing his weight backward, he lashed his tail, feeling the fierce pull in his shoulders as his claws sunk and held.
Staggering off-balance, the animal thrust its way forward a few paces before its rear legs folded and it collapsed beneath him. The lion ripped his claws loose, dodging frantic kicks. Before the prey could scramble to its feet, he attacked again, diving at the head and seizing it from behind with his fangs. Aygra pressed down its front quarters with his own forelegs and chest, hold himself stiff against heaves and jerks. The sweat-damp pelt slipped beneath his paws while the rise and fall of the gazelle's ribs rocked him up and down.
At last the prey subsided, sinking into lethargy. Aygra waited, panting between his teeth without releasing his bite. Now the chase was ended, but he still had to finish the kill. He knew his jaws were not powerful enough at his age to break the neck of a animal this large. The throat was the vulnerable area. He paused briefly before unlocking his jaws and lifting a forepaw to claw at the animal's head.
He felt himself fly backwards as the prey bucked and writhed in one last frantic struggle. Now he knew what those scars on the gazelle's flank meant. As he rolled and thrashed to escape the deadly hooves, he cursed the instinct that had chosen this creature as prey. Weak and nervous as it was, the animal had survived a previous attack. Its wounds were made by the dewclaws of another hunter, one who might have just lost more than a meal. Now Aygra's intelligence told him too late just how dangerous a quarry he had chosen. The creature had known he would have to loosen his grip to catch and turn its head with his forepaw and that his momentary shift would make him vulnerable.
Rage and hunger flooded through him. He sprang onto the animal's back, bouncing savagely on its rump to force the beast down. As it threw its head back, trying to impale him with a rearward jab of its horns, he flung his legs around its neck and seized its throat.
The animal plunged. He kept his jaws locked on its throat, squeezing hard and twisting the head to one side. It landed heavily on its side and gave a last stiff back-kick with two feet together. The lion felt the taut muscles beneath him relax as the gazelle fell into the trance that most prey animals assumed before death overtook them. It no longer seemed to feel his claws in its flesh or his suffocating grip on its throat. The gazelle became still long before it died, and Aygra knew that its life was gone only when he felt the full weight of the head sag in his jaws.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 6:20 pm
Areli walked back to the den, and laughed as she saw Jax. "Well, what-d'ya know?" she smiled, walking over to the cub and nosing him softly on the head.
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m r s - SUPER j u n i o r
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 6:59 pm
Rellick smiled and nuzzled Amaree back. "I brought guests!"
He laughed as she went to greet Jade, and eyed the cubs. Revyn and Jax caught his attention, for they were now good sized cubs. With a playful bat at them, he cocked his head. "Well! You certainly want to make me feel old, eh?"
He grinned and nuzzled Rev, winking at Jax. "Looking tough guys... The girls will be after you sooner than you'd like!"
"Amaree!" Jade laughed and bumped her cheek against the Lionesses. "It has been quite some time! You're looking well! How is my brother treating you?"
Tension- as fine and tart as berries -spilled over Jadera's flakes, pulling her attention away from her brother like SirenSong.
"Excuse me for a moment Amaree....."She turned, transfixed, and crested the rise between her and the bloody melody that called.
'Death.... Come greet Death, HuntDaughter.'
She could nearly hear the words, taste the hunt and feel the prey.
With a shiver, the adult lioness crested the Hill and looked down on a green swath of fur on a bed of blood and hide. A dying animal shuddered its last bit of life in the grip of a male cub.
Jade's eyes were a milky saffire, fading to normal as the preybeast died and the Hunt released its grip on her. With a shudder, she shook her head, and trotted down the rise.
"Well made Young Hunter." She murmured, speaking of the kill.
She eyed the animal, and its scars with interest and surprise. "And this one has fled before..."
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Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 3:51 am
Jax grinned, but pulled away somewhat sullenly.
'Yea, greeeeeat!' Brooke said, rolling her eyes at Rellick. 'Because that's just what we need, right?' She chuckled, and then caught sight of Jadera. 'Jade!' She exclaimed, making her way over to the green lioness.
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Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 6:39 am
Jax motioned his newly adopted mother over toward the rest of the adult lions, and then slipped silently from the group. He made for the edge of the pridelands, where he wanted some alone time to ponder his growth.
A small, delicate brown-spotted figured appeared at the edge of the pridelands, her nose lifted gently into the air. She caught sight of the golden cub. 'I wish to speak to the king?' She said politely. 'Before I cross his lands.' When the lion scowled moodily at her, she frowned. 'What are you, stupid? Show me to the king!' She demanded.
Jax pulled himself up with a shake of his head, a low growl erupting from deep in his throat. 'You're askin' for trouble, little missy.' He snarled. Then he turned. He wasn't about to attack a girl. 'Come with me, then, if you must.'
'Thank you!' She drew up next to him. 'Let's go then.' She hesitated. The lion was staring at her strangely, a frown creasing his handsome features. 'What?' She demanded curiously.
Jax shook his head, blinking. It wasn't just a coincidence, was it? This prissy little kit looked so much like... Brooke. He narrowed his eyes. 'Do you have... a sister?' The cub recoiled as his words hit her and she recalled her two stillborn brothers. She shook her head, staring at him. 'Nothing...' He muttered quickly. 'You just look... a lot like a... friend of mine. Come on.' He turned and padded back toward the lions.
'Jax? Jax!' Brooke exclaimed, relief washing over her as she caught sight of the cub returning back with another kit at his side, a puzzled look on his face. She bounded up to them. 'Jax, how could you just slip off like that? We were all so worr--' She stopped, a look a pure shock freezing upon her face. Standing slightly behind Jax was a lion that looked... Like her.
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