P-Where's the food?, [Private: Alyeska & Kuruka]

[Juffy]

A torn ear twitched towards a rustle. Followed slowly by the turn of a scrawny head. Kuruka laid low on the ground, his haunches up ready for the final leap. It was just the beginning of dawn. A faint taint of purple streaked the sky in the far horizon. Within moments, the sun would be up. Kuruka wanted to get the hunting done and finished before that happened. He knew the cubs woke up early each morning, but usually not before the sun rose. The Big Brother didn't want the cubs waking up with their stomach rumbling with no means to ease it. They had already skipped dinner last night because he had to tend to a small she-cub who was ill.

And what better place to hunt than the border of the Pridelands. It wasn't the closest boundary to his forest, but he knew this part of the Prideland's edge had food in plentiful. Kuruka's eyes were fixed on a lamed zebra stumbling on the edge of its own herd. The male licked his lips. Beyond the herd was the oddly shaped Pride Rock. He was careful not to step over the Pridelands borders but if the herd was to detect Kuruka's presence and run into the King's territory, Kuruka would have to abandon the hunt. And so he proceeded slowly, carefully, biding his time until the perfect opportune moment presented itself.

[Kita]

Morning was the perfect time to sneak out, to get a good feel for the Pridelands. Besides being the most peaceful time of the day, the beginning of the day was her only escape. In the mornings, her shadows were long--just like her freedom. And as the sun rose higher and higher, her shadow would gradually shrink farther and farther into the ground, until Alyeska was left with nothing but the beating sun overhead, and countless pride members at every turn.

This morning, the sky was a hazy purple--not unlike that one evening, weeks ago. Before she knew it, the paws of the princess pulled her past Pride Rock and towards the border closest to that forest. From here, she couldn't even see it--but she still knew that it was out there, along with that one lion. Yes, him. The one who hadn't told her his name, not unlike the way she hadn't said his. Unfortunately, it left her brain with a bit of a blank when it came to her thoughts about him. What was Alyeska supposed to call him? Just 'him?'

The lioness paused, re-evaluating her course of action. The sun was on its way to the sky, and if she found herself caught too close to the border--they might catch on about her trip to the forest, and maybe even start to watch that border. With a hesitant step, the princess turned her walk to another border--this time, one that faded into a patch of unclaimed land that served as a buffer between separate territories. Yes, that was a much better place to go.

There was even a zebra herd up ahead, she noted. As she drew nearer, the lioness pulled herself down a bit. With her reddish fur, she had a hard enough time blending in--but at least the golden ground helped to disguise her.

Just for kicks and giggles, Alyeska made the very unprofessional decision to scare off the zebras. Oh, how that would annoy the hunting parties later. Luckily, being the princess, she didn't have to worry about being obliged to hunt every day. Plus, it wasn't as if there was a shortage of food in the lands. The lionesses would find something else, no doubt about it.

With a slight 'heh', the princess sprinted at the group of zebras. When the burst in all directions, she let out a triumphant mmrowl. Dust flew in the air, and chaos ensued for a moment or two. As the debris cleared, though, the lioness sat herself down and grinned. What a fun morning so far.

[Juffy]

Kuruka crept closer. His breathing was deep and calm. One step forward. Then another. The male had a smirk on his face. Yes, come closer to me little zebra. Then you'll be dead meat. His concentration was so focused on the herd that he was oblivious to everything else. A mistake that he would note later on and correct.

It started off with a few startled zebra on the far end of the herd. Kuruka's ears flicked up, laying as still as a rock. Had he frightened them? It didn't make sense. If he had, the closer zebras would bolt towards the Pridelands and not -

Kuruka sat up, eyes wide in alarm and with his mouth hanging open. The zebra herd was running towards him! No, they were stampeding towards him! With an unnaturally high squeak, the Tawi leader scrambled onto all fours and leapt off and away from the wild herd, the hair on his neck raised fully up. Soon he found himself running with the zebra and then they were completely clear of him. Kuruka slowed down, panting and stared perplexed at the zebras retreating into no-man's land.

The lion spun around, a glare in his eyes to see who was responsibility for this monstrosity. And there, sitting among some tufts of grass was a lioness. A young one. 'Hey you!' he yelled out, storming back towards where the herd was. 'What do you think you're doing?' Not only did this petty lioness made him lose the herd, the cubs were now without a meal. As he got closer, Kuruka saw something familiar about her. With a jolt, he remembered who she was. He had taken her on a trip to the Tawi forest. She was still within the Prideland's borders, and thus the male sat a few metres away from her, still on no-man's land. The sun was already up, casting long shadows across the land. 'I suppose that was fun then,' he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

[Kita]

Between the thundering hooves of the herd and her laugher, Alyeska couldn't hear much else. However, one sound did catch her ear's attentions. A high pitched squeak radiated from the middle of the pack; a very unzebralike noise. Her grin faded from her face as she perked up a little bit to get a better view into the lingering dust.

A brief crease of worry crossed her face. What if another lion was in there, and got trampled from the stampede. What if it was a cub?. With growing worry, she paced a few steps closer, and a few steps closer to the invisible border.

Then, a voice. Hey you!.

Oh. A smirk rose on her muzzle as she lifted herself up and into a proud posture. Her tail flicked to the side as she stared over. The brown figure was glaring at her from the other side of the border, and was clearly not impressed by her surprise stampede.

"What do you mean, what was I doing?" She yelled back, raising herself onto all fours. "I was sending you guys some food!"

Alyeska glanced back over at the zebra herd. Sure enough, they were well into no man's land and a lot closer to the Tawi forest than they had been. Now that they were free game, the Tawi leader didn't have to worry about getting caught for poaching and trespassing. Sure, she might not have planned all of this out when she first ran at the zebras--but she had to admit, it had turned out nicely. At least now it looked like she'd done it on purpose.

As the adolescent walked closer to her, though, Alyeska was finally able to lower her voice. "Fun? What are you talking about? Zebra-chasing--not fun at all. Not even one bit." She shook her head in agreement, with a poorly-concealed smile.

[Juffy]

'Hmm,' he said in reply to her zebra act as a favour to him. Kuruka made a sidelong glance towards the herd, now some distance away. He saw a few curious zebra poking their heads up to see if the predators were still chasing their tails, otherwise most of them had reverted back to grazing the ground. 'I suppose it is closer to the forest..' he trailed, not very convinced.

The male turned his scruffy head back to the lioness. He could see that she was trying to hold back laughter. 'Riiiiight. So what are you doing so close to the border? Not trying to run away from home again, are you?' he snickered, not knowing just how close he was from the truth. 'There are monsters out there. Scary creatures with horns, beings as large as them trees! No, don't cross that line there, sweet peas.'

Kuruka blew a bit of hair out of his eyes. 'If you die, and they smell my scent around here, I'd have a hard time trying to explain myself to King Makavu,' he muttered, more to himself than to her.

[Kita]

Alyeska eyed the distance to the forest, and then swept a quick gaze back to the mess of trampled grass behind her. Thankfully, the Pridelands was used to the movement of the herds, and the land even more so. A few hours would be all that it took for the grass to right itself and return to the normal, as if nothing happened at all.

"It's a lot closer to the forest than they were before." She said, with an added bit of confidence. Just by her judgment, the zebras were in fact closer to Tawi. Sure, they were still a ways away, and still about as far away as they were before--but that didn't matter. It was the thought that counted, right?

"Why would I be running away? You know, there's plennnty of food over here, you know. At least I don't have to poach on the Pridelands all the time." She said cheerfully, attempting to steer the conversation away from that other topic. Oh, it would have been so much easier if she was just running away...

"Oh, yeah. There's tons of 'terrifying monsters' in that forest of yours." She said with an eye roll. "I mean, what's not to fear about a cute little cub dropping out of a tree?" A flash of golden yellow popped into her mind; a reminder from their previous meaning. While the little cub had certainly scared her, he was far from a creature with horns.

"You're afraid of me dying?" Aleyska added, with a raise of the eyebrows. "If anything, if should be you. You're the one that," she broke off with a laugh, "running around in a herd of crazy zebras."

Of course, she failed to remind him that she was the one to cause that in the first place...

[Juffy]

Kuruka glanced back at the zebra herd, hoping they'd be sticking around 'till he brings one of them things down. 'Yes, I'm sure you sent those zebras in our direction purposefully. I thank you,' he said, bowing sarcastically. The male grinned at the mention of Firo, one of the earliest cub he had encountered from his pride. 'Well, I was meaning rhinos with the horns, and elephants being as large as trees. But you're probably not scared of them if you can conquer the wrath of a Tawi cub.' He tossed his head roughly to ease his hair pricking into his eyes. 'There's a lot more of those forest monsters where I come from. You didn't see them all. Though they really can get nasty when they're hungry. Because aside from running around with zebras, as I sooo often do, I do have lots of mouths to feed.'

He eyed the lioness curiously. 'Care to join me?' he asked, jerking his head back at the zebras, which were well out of the Pridelands by now.

[Kita]

"Really?" Alyeska asked, peering over curiously at the clump of trees in the distance. "Just how many cubs do you have in there?" she asked with a slight tail twitch. "I guess that's what you get when you start a pride full of cubs" she laughed. In theory, it sounded like an excellent idea...until taking into account that the majority of the 'pride's members couldn't hunt anything larger than the occasional field mouse. It must be tough for him, to be constantly getting them food.

"And join you?" The lioness asked, with a question in her voice. She had crossed the border one time before, and that had gotten her in enough trouble. In fact, it was a miracle right now that no one had caught up to her. If Alyeska pushed this too much farther, they might never let her out of their sights...plus, as much as she hated to admit it--she couldn't hunt. Well, she knew the basics, and she knew how it all worked--she just wasn't good at it, at all.

"Are you trying to scare away every zebra on the savannah? Because you know that's what'll happen." She laughed, gesturing over to the suspicious herd.

[Juffy]

Ooc: lol the line 'just how many cubs do you have in there?' reminds me of the small comic strip of little simba drowning in muffy's mane xD

Kuruka twitched his nose in thought at her question. 'How many cubs...?' he didn't like to disclose information about his pride. It was part of keeping everyone safe. The less others knew about them, the more secure his pride is. 'Mmm there's enough of them to give me a headache, that's for sure,' he replied, giving a laugh and hoping she wouldn't press on.

The Tawi leader saw the reluctance in her eyes. Reluctance to hunt? Or a reluctance to leave the borders of her homeland? 'Listen, why don't you stay here, and I'll drive the herd towards you. That way, you can remain in the Pridelands and still help me hunt!' Kuruka took a lept back, taking him a step deeper into no-man's land. 'It's the least you can do. Afterall, you did ruin my hunt,' he said winking, and bolted off, before she has a chance to stop him, to bring the zebras back towards the Pridelands and her.

[Kita]

Ah. So he wasn't going to tell her just how many fluff-balls stalked the forest that he so loved. Well, it wasn't like it was anything new. This lion sure could be frustratingly vague at times...not to much unlike herself.

"And you're crazy enough to take care of them all." she replied. A plain statement. Not too much sarcasm in her voice, either. More like a realization, really. Most adult lions had enough troubles taking care of one or two cubs--and here this Tawi guy was, taking care of a forestful of cubs. He was either really good at his job, or really delusional. Alyeska hoped that it was the former, although right now it was teetering on the latter.

She turned to fire off another comment only to find the brown lion sprinting off again. "What are you DOING?" She yelled over at him as he quickly filled her in on his plan. "Are you crazy?" she continued. They'd just seen how 'well' things went when you drove a herd of animals at another...and here he was, ready to flip things and send the herd back at him?! He really was a bit crazy, that one.

[Juffy]

Kuruka decided to ignore the lioness' last comment about him being crazy. It was probably true, but she wasn't to know. The male made a wide arc, circling outside the herd to move himself into a position on the far side. It took him a while to do it though. The zebras were well and truly frightened by the Pridelander's antics and have moved a great distance.

It must have been half an hour by the time he made the full route of circling back towards the herd. He crouched low, ears flattened. With a start, he realised that it would have been much faster if he just caught a zebra by himself and returned home, than drive the herd back to the Pridelands. The lioness was right, the herd was now quite close to the forest.

Nevertheless, he didn't want to have her waiting (ooc: he didn't want to have stood her up lool), and hoped that she was actually still there waiting for the prey. With an overly exaggerated roar and quite flamboyant actions, he leapt from his hiding place. 'Rugh grouahhlaa roooghghh!' he battled cried, drooling everywhere as he went. The zebra, seeing an insane and retarded lion materialise out of nowhere, found themselves bolting for the second time that morning. They headed back towards the Pridelands, the onset of a deranged lion driving the earlier predator that lurked in the Pridelands' grass away from their collective minds.

Kuruka ran on, uttering gibberish and waving his limbs around madly. The herd was well on its way towards the lioness. Hope she was ready.

[Kita]

Alyeska's ears twitched as a few flies settled in. With a shake of her head, the red lioness shoo'd away the bothersome insects for the millionth time in the past minutes. She gave out a small huff of irritation before shaking her shoulders a bit. With a quick glance over at the mass of black and white, the lioness sunk back down to her position in the grass.

Well, this was boring. The princess felt as if she'd been sitting here for hours, and was beginning to think that the forest weirdo had completely forgotten about her by now. He probably has better things to do, she rationalized. Like hiding in trees and scaring unsuspecting visiors. Yep, that's probably what he's doing.

As of now, there was no movement from the herd. The lioness heaved out a big yawn, and slipped into the typical cat-stretch for a few seconds. Yep, it was about time to go--

A low rumbling caught her attention, and the princess's ears shot up. With a jerk, the lioness pulled herself back to the ground and into position. A mixture of roars and gibberish also floated back to her ears, and the lioness couldn't help but smirk a bit. So that was how the forest lion conviced the herd to come over here--he pulled a trick from her book, and just plain scared off the herd.

Nonetheless, Alyeksa tensed her muscles in preparation. So far, she had yet to have a successful hunt--but this would be a really bad time to mention it to her partner. Instead, the lioness decided that she was just going to deal with it, and at least fake her hunting abilities. Maybe if she got lucky enough, she would be able to convince him that she wasn't just another spoiled Prideland brat. From what she gathered, that's all they were in his eyes.

With a mini roar, the lioness jumped out of her spot at the nearest zebra. She wildly lunged at the animal, which had promply dug its hooves into the dirt at her sudden appearance. Aly tried to put on a menacing growl as she flailed after the zebra--which only took off in the opposite direction, and back to the brown lion on the other side of the border.

[Juffy]

ooc: Zebra tennis!


Satisfied that the herd was on its way to the Pridelander, Kuruka eased down his run to a trot. The male fluffed his hair out of his eyes and licked up the drool running down his chin. It would have been quite unsightly to have the lioness see it. The male continued to run half-heartedly towards the borders. He could see a red-brown blob dashing up and about. Kuruka couldn't see exactly what she was doing. He picked up his run, thinking that perhaps she needed his help. Funny how she didn't pick one of the lame ones. This zebra looked rather..

Before he had the time to finish his thought, the zebra suddenly turned and darted back towards him. Great, the Pridelander had decided to pick a big and healthy male zebra to prey upon. Caught off guard by its fast turn of direction, Kuruka found himself gaping openly at a zebra stampeding towards his way for the second time that day. Although it was only one zebra running back towards him, it was within a much closer range and both zebra and lion were approaching each other at a run.

Suddenly, the Tawi leader realised just how dangerous the situation was. One wrong move and a flailing hoof could catch Kuruka in a fatal kick. In the last second, the brown-grey male turned left. But it was a moment too late. He caught one of the hoofs in his right shoulder and he crashed to the ground, sliding a few meters before coming to a stop in the dirt.

[Kita]

Alyeska watched as the brown lion darted to the edge of the border, towards the zebra. She puffed out her chest a little bit in satisfaction, and followed the black and white beast at a trot. There was no need to hurry, after all. She was already out of range to try catching up with the zebra. Besides, she was certain that the other lion could handle himself.

When the lion didn't slow down his speed, Alyeska started to pick up her pace. Man, he sure was taking the thing head on. She broke into a run across the land now, leaving a trail of swishing grass in her wake. What was he doing now?

THere was a small poof of dust ahead. The zzebra had skidded to a brief stop in front of the brown lion, but then the lion--he disappeared. Aleyska sprinted to the border, and paused right on the edge. After thr trouble she'd gotten into after her last wandering out of the land, she wasn't too eager to do it again.

"What's going on?" she asked, raising her head as high as she could. The lioness could see a brown blur not too far away, but the zebra had already taken off in the other direction. So, whatever the lion was doing, he wasn't holding down a piece of prey.

"Are you okay?" she called, this time a bit louder. The red lioness paced the edge of the border, just waiting for him to lift his head--to say something.

[Juffy]

Kuruka was knocked clean to the ground. He was winded and he stayed on the ground for a long moment, eyes closed, just concentrating on breathing. To breath. It was so difficult. His head spun and somewhere, he registered a heavy dull ache on his right shoulder. Then, as he recovered more, the pain became acute. His eyes shot open and he snarled in pain.

Above a line of grass, he could make out the head of the Pridelander. Seeing how anxious she looked, he gave a shout. 'I'm alright,' he called. 'But...but I think I ... I think my shoulder is broken. Or...heavily bruised. I'm not sure.' His eyes welled up with tears as he tried to stand up, collapsing back down in a heap. 'I can't move.'