The Hunt

[Alex]

The sun was just rising over the horizon, when Azura, the oldest and wisest lioness, summoned the pride to a hunt. She stretched her long golden body and growled, "Get up, you lazy girls! Breakfast won't catch itself, you know!"
The other lions grumbled, but obeyed Azura. She gazed around at them for a moment, before commanding, "Shana! You stay behind and look after the cubs!"
Shana, a young, headstrong lioness, stopped in her tracks. She hadn't been hunting for days, and was eager to run off steam, and catch an antelope or two. She reluctantly walked back to the den, where the cubs were still sleeping, as the rest of the pride left. "It's not fair," she thought aloud, "I never get to go on hunts any more. Maybe I'm not good enough, or something..."

[growl1]

Wow, that's great! Mind if I join with my character, Kala?

[Alex]

Thanks!!
Of course you can, that would be great!!

[growl1]

You're welcome!

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Could I point out that when you start to RP in the real role plays we have, use the "OOC" when you're posting something that doesn't contain moving characters. ))

[Alex]

(OOC: Oh right, sorry - thanks for reminding me Kir! ;D)

[growl1]

Ok, here's my start.
"Stuck watching the cubs, huh?," a voice said from the shadows. Shana turned, startled.
"Who said that?"
"I did," and another young lioness stepped out from the shadows. She had dirty-blonde fur with gold rings around her blue eyes.
"I'm Kala," she said, introducing herself.
"Hi, Kala. I'm Shana."

[Silver]

((Hay, can I join with Kiona? She's a cub))

[Alex]

((OOC: Course you can Silver! Also, growl1, I'm not sure but I think you can only have speech which your character says - for example, in your post you put, "Hi Kala, I'm Shana." Seeing as Shana is my char, I'm the only one who can direct her actions, eg. speech. I'm not 100% on this however, correct me if I'm wrong!))
Shana, being a friendly, bubbly young lioness, grinned at Kala, curious.
"I haven't seen you around before... and how come you aren't out hunting? I thought I was the only one left behind?"
She glanced quickly at the cubs, who were mostly still asleep, curled up in bundles of golden fur, and, reassured that all was well, turned her attention back to Kala.

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Alex here is right, Growl. You can't control other player's characters, it's against the rules. =3
But that's why we have this handy practice area. Just don't play with other players char anymore. ^^ ))

[growl1]

Kala replied,
"You probably won't believe me, but I'm not from here. This isn't Pride Rock, is it? Because if it is, it's not the Pride Rock I know. God, I miss my family already."
Kala had that faraway look in her eyes, like when she was thinking about something.

[Alex]

"Wow!"
Shana had never been away from the pride's territory before, but she remembered when a pride of strange lions had come to their lands. She had only been very young at the time, however she recalled feeling very frightened as the whole pride leapt to defend their lands. In the end, it turned out that the strangers, a group of adolescents, were trying to find land to start their own pride, and meant Shana's pride no harm.
However, Shana knew that any strange lions who wished to enter their land should first ask her father, the current ruler, otherwise they could be driven out or even killed. Shana hadn't heard any news of this new lioness, which made her wonder if Kala had asked for permission to enter the pride's land. She felt a jolt of worry at this thought, but not enough to stop her feeling hugely curious. After all, Kala did not seem to be a threat in any way whatsoever; in fact, she seemed friendly. Now a thousand thoughts were running through Shana's head, tumbling over each other.
"No, this isn't the Pride Rock. I've heard of the Pride Lands though... I think they're quite far away from here. How do you know them? And... how come you're here?"
Her eyes wide, a thought struck Shana.
"Are you joining the pride?"

[growl1]

Kala replied,
"Because I'm from there. And no, I'm not joining your pride. I'm just passing through. I actually got lost on a hunt with my pride, and I've been wandering around for 5 days, trying to find them. No luck, unfortunatly. So I thought I'd camp here for the night. I'll be on my way tomorrow. I hope Kira's ok, running the pride without me." And she sighed, thinking of her sweet little girl.

[Alex]

Shana smiled sympathetically.
"Oh, that must be tough. I've never been away from my pride... I don't know what I'd do without them."
Even as she said this, Shana couldn't help wistfully imagining what life would be like away from the security, peace and (in her opinion) monotony of the pride. She shook herself, feeling guilty - here she was, wanting to leave her pride, while Kala clearly wanted nothing more than to return home to her pride.
"Well, you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you want, you know, if you need to rest or anything. Just ask my father when he shows up - he's the ruler of the pride, and I think he's off patrolling. For now, do you want to help me look after the cubs? We can sit up there and watch them."
Shana indicated a rocky outcrop overlooking the group of cubs, a few of whom had started to wake up and clean themselves. Smiling fondly at them, she turned back to Kala to hear her answer.

[growl1]

Kala smiled back.
"Sure, why not?," she replied, realizing she had absoluotly nothing else to do. She'd always loved cubs, and was more than happy to help out watching them. She also realized she was beginning to like Shana.

[Alex]

Shana led the way to the rock, where she stretched luxuriously before lying down.
Below the rock, most of the younger cubs were still sleeping contentedly, however a lot of the older cubs were now awake. Two or three young female cubs were grooming each other peacefully, while a few boisterous males were playfighting, trying to growl ferociously but only managing some comical squeaky sounds.
"Do you have any cubs, Kala?"

[growl1]

"Yes, my daughter, Kira," Kala replied. "She's almost a year old, and since I'm gone, she's the one running the pride, and she has very little experience, so I'm kinda worried about her. What about you, Shana? Do you have any?," Kala asked, keeping one eye on her and another on the cubs.

[Alex]

Shana's eyes widened.
"Wow! Running the pride at a year old - that's got to be tough. No, I don't have any cubs. In this pride, only the adult male has cubs, and the adult male is my dad, so... I'd have to leave the pride to have cubs."
Shana swallowed, and turned to look out across the horizon, her caramel-brown eyes clouded with pain.
"A while ago, I planned to leave the pride, to do just that - start a pride. I thought I'd found the love of my life..."
Shana's memories warmed her heart. She glanced round at Kala, as if coming out of a trance.
"I'm sorry, I'm just babbling on, you don't even know me..."

[growl1]

Kala giggled and said,
"No, it's ok. I do that myself sometimes. And I'd like to get to know you, be your friend. And don't worry, I'm good at keeping secrets. I end up forgetting them anyway. So you can go on and tell me. I don't mind."
Kala stretched out on the rock next to Shana and turned her head, eagerly waiting to hear what Shana had to say.

[Alex]

Shana gazed at Kala for a moment with a grateful smile. She's so kind! Shana thought. Turning her face away to hide the pain which came with her memories, she started her story:
"It was about six months ago, and the pride realised there was a stranger on our territory borders. A few lionesses were sent to find out about this stranger, and I went along with them. I was the first to spot him - a male about my age, at the time. He was resting in the shade near a small waterhole, and when we got nearer we realised he was injured... badly. Azura, the wisest lioness in our pride, called to him but he was either unconscious or too weak to reply. So Azura sent a couple of lionesses to inform my father, while the rest of us went to investigate..."
Shana shuddered at the memory.
"He was in a bad way. A really bad way... He was covered in blood, bite wounds, scratch marks, bruises... He was dehydrated, flitting in and out of consciousness and probably had a fever, too. I've never seen a lion in a worse state - and I'm so thankful for that."

[growl1]

Kala added,
"I've never heard of a lion in a worse state than that." Just then the wind blew over her, and she closed her eyes for a second enjoying the feel of it on her fur.
I really, really just want to go home, Kala thought, what if something happens to them and it ends up being my fault? Leaving those horrible thoughts behind, she waited for Shana to continue her story.

[Alex]

Shana grimly continued:
"Well, Azura was horrified at the state he was in, and she tried to revive him. But it was no use. We waited with him, constantly talking and trying to keep him conscious... finally, my father arrived. He decided straight away that we would nurse the strange lion back to health - after all, this stranger was only young and in no fit state to overthrow my father as leader. So we carried him back to the den, and all the lionesses took it in turns to look after him.
"Two days later, it was my turn to look after him. It was early morning and the other lionesses had gone to hunt, so I was the only one around, apart from the cubs. Then, he woke up. Just like that. He was so confused, didn't know where he was at all..."
Shana paused. Her breath caught in her throat.
"He kept - he kept saying... 'Am I dead?' When I told him he wasn't dead, he didn't believe me, and he tried to get out the cave. Of course, he could hardly walk, but he got himself in such a panic, I was really worried he might... I don't know, collapse again. I finally managed to make him settle down and tell me his name."
A slow smile spread across her face. She whispered her next word lovingly as if it was a wonderful secret, stored in her heart, which she was setting free into the glorious day.
"Kiume."

[growl1]

"Kiume," Kala repeated.
"What an interesting name. If we have time after you're done telling your story, and if your father hasn't gotten back, I could tell you mine. That is, if you want to hear it. But, come on, tell me more, this is getting interesting."
(OOC: Alex, you might want to look at Reply #6 where Kala first enters into the role-play, I added the color of her eyes to her description.)

[Kirsui]

((OOC: Very nice looking role play you two are having here. Make sure you'll do as fine in the real role plays. ^^))

[Alex]

((OOC: Thanks Kirsui! I'm having a lot of fun with this! And Growl, thanks for pointing that out. And btw I'm sorry if I'm dragging Shana's story out a bit and hogging the thread, but I don't want to end up writing just one huge post all about Shana - I'll try and finish her story up in this post so you can write Kala's story )
Shana smiled,
"Sure you can tell me your story - it's only fair after I've told you mine. Where was I...
"Well, Kiume was still disorientated and confused, so I explained that we'd found him in a bad way and nursed him back to health. That was when he remembered what had happened to him. He had been driven out of his pride by his own father, as he was old enough to be a threat to his father's throne, and had spent a week wandering around, trying to find somewhere to stay. But he had gone too close to another pride's territory without realising, and the ruler of that pride attacked him. Kiume was taken by surprise. The ruler of the pride was much older, stronger and more skilled in fighting, and Kiume didn't have a chance. He managed to escape after being badly injured and ran as far as he could - but he was exhausted and started to run a fever from his enormous loss of blood. That was when he collapsed on the outskirts of our pridelands, and when we found him.
"He was obviously very tired still, so he rested for another day after that. I really liked Kiume, so I spent as much time with him as I could. After a week with us, Kiume had recovered well from his fever and most of his wounds were healing well. By now we were good friends and we spent hours talking. I didn't know it at the time, but I soon realised I had fallen in love with him. So when he recovered fully, after nearly two weeks, I really didn't want him to leave. He stayed a few more days than was necessary, just enjoying living a normal life for a while, but then my father started to get a bit anxious. Having a young lion about who was now back to full health made him feel very threatened, so he told Kiume that he should move on. When I found out, I wanted to go with him. I had never wanted to be with someone more, and I knew Kiume felt the same. But my mother and father wouldn't let me - they told me I was too young."
Shana turned away, a tear in her eye.
"He left that night when I was asleep, after telling me he would always love me. I've never given up on the idea that one day I'll find him... but I know there's no use in even hoping. I may as well just move on."

[growl1]

Kala replied,
"No, you should never give up hope. There were times when I thought that was the best thing to do, but I soon found out otherwise. Now, where do I start?"
After looking off into the distance for a moment, she turned back to Shana and began her story.
"I was the third-born of quadruplets, future queen of Pride Rock. So with 3 sisters, there was always someone around to play with. One day, when I was an adolescent, my father suggested we visit a neighboring family of lions, who had 4 sons, just as our family had 4 daughters. Now, my sisters already had the other 3 sons for boyfriends, but they were hoping I'd fall for the 3rd-born son, Mufasa."
(OOC: This is not the Mufasa from TLK. This is an entirely different character.)
"Well, we met and talked and played around like the cubs we then were. I spent that night dreaming about nothing but him.," Kala said, that small smile brightening her face with memories.

[Alex]

Shana smiled. She knew exactly what Kala meant, and she remembered feeling so content every time she woke up, after dreaming about Kiume, to find that he was sleeping nearby, that he wasn't a figment of her imagination.
She nodded for Kala to continue.

[growl1]

Kala continued.
"Well, the next day, we happened to run into each other again. And we spent the entire day together. And, by the end of the day, I realized I loved him. And he told me he loved me. We dated for about 5 months. Then on a night with a full moon, by the river we have near the Pridelands, he asked me to share my life with him. And I said yes, and not long after that, we were married."
Kala wasn't sure she even wanted to go on, relive those horrible moments. She paused and waited for Shana to comment, while she gathered her thoughts.

[Alex]

"Oh, that's so lovely..."
Shana paused. She could sense that Kala's story, sadly, wasn't going to have a happy ending. Quietly, sombrely, she asked,
"What happened?"

[growl1]

"Well, we lived happily for a time after that and then, about a year ago, I found out I was pregnant with Kira. That night, I went out hunting, and I was going to tell him when I got back. Well, when I got back, I called his name, but he never answered. I went farther into the cave, and I was kind of getting scared now. Then I saw him lying on the ground, and I thought he was asleep, so I nipped him on the ear, that usually woke him up. It didn't. So I thought he was unconcious and bent down to check his breathing. That's when I realized he was..." Kala stopped for a moment, tears threatning to well up.
"Dead. I found out later that another lioness had seen a rouge lion go into Pride Rock and then she heard fighting and saw the other lion come out, covered in blood, and run off. And that's when she went in and found him. He died a hero. He was defending some cubs from this strange lion, who wanted to attack them. I wanted to die that day. I sometimes wonder if I hadn't been off hunting, maybe I could've saved him. But I've never given up hope that maybe someday, somehow, he'll return from the dead. I know, that sounds stupid. I've told Kira about it. Even though she never knew her father, she misses him, too."
Kala had to turn away to wipe her eyes, then she turned back to Shana, her blue eyes clouded with painful memories.