Post by Therdde on Apr 8, 2008 19:19:09 GMT -5
Characters:
Kein - Male Cougar Cub
Chesmu - Male Cougar
- Stone Formations -
Kein hasn't wandered far since he encountered that mouse. Until he learns what animals are safe to hunt and which aren't, there's nothing for him to do any distance away from the rocks. He's afraid to bring the topic up, though, because he doesn't want to admit anything that will get him in trouble. Currently, he's lying atop one of the larger rocks. Having spent several minutes just trying to get up to the top of /this/ rock, he doesn't want to abandon it immediately, and it does give him a good view of the surrounding area. Nevertheless, he's /bored/. His tail flicks regularly, and he peers out into the distance, letting out a sigh every so often.
Chesmu is in a good mood. The idea of walking around the territory each day seems to have kept its appeal if only for the fact Chesmu is accomplishing something. His cubs. The most important cougars in his life, really. More so than Maulisho or even Ayashe. To Ayashe Chesmu is more or less just a means for cubs and protection for the tribe. He also favors Maulisho's own cubs highly. It is this feeling that takes him to Kein. Checking on the cubs, making sure they are alright.
Kein is so busy wishing that he had /something/ to do, he doesn't see Chesmu immediately. It isn't until the chief comes closer that Kein's eyes focus on him, and he immediately grins and stands up, preparing to hop down from the stone. Maybe Chesmu won't be too busy, and he'll be able to play or, with the permission of his mom, accompany Chesmu for a while. Getting that permission can wait until after he actually joins the chief, though.
Chesmu spots Kein first. "Well, hello there, Kein." Chesmu says. A little pleased to see the cub. "I take it you were just preparing for a nap?" Chesmu wouldn't want to disturb the cub if that were true.
Kein doesn't speak until after he hops to the ground. He is quick to shake his head and answer, though. "Nuh-uh. Naps are boring." The young cub would sooner run himself ragged, until he drops from exhaustion, than agree to take a nap. It has been hard enough for him to agree to leave his siblings alone while they nap. While Kein still naps plenty, he almost never actually settles down or prepares for one.
Chesmu ahs sagely. So that's how it is. Chesmu smirks. "So you were just lying on a rock?" He chuckles and walks over to the cub and nuzzles him. "Though I would take a quick peek at you and your siblings, make sure you are all okay." Chesmu lowers down to Kein's level. "You are staying out of trouble, right?"
Kein purrs softly at the nuzzling, though it ends abruptly when Chesmu asks if he has been staying out of trouble. He doesn't feel guilty over what happened with the mouse, not really. He /is/, however, worried that he will get in trouble over it, if anyone finds out. Notably, he does not actually answer the question. Rather, he says, "I haven't wandered off at all, and I even let Pel and Ruut'h stop playign when they want to." That's behaving, right? And not always easy, either.
"Well good." Chesmu says, then turns to continue his rounds. Though he probably wouldn't mind if Kein follows. He is also getting a bit hungry, though mostly for a snack. "You want to come with me? I'm sure Maulisho trusts me enough to allow me the privilege of spending some time with her firstborn, right?"
Kein perks his ears up and smiles as the chief apparently had the same idea he did. "Yeah! Just lemme ask first, 'kay?" See? Behaving. He doesn't wait for an answer before running off to find his Mom, to get her permission to head out with the chief. Given his excited answer and his speed as he rushes to the place he last saw Mom, it's obvious he loves the idea.
Chesmu smiles as he watches Kein speed off. Yeah, some nice Chieftain/cub time. Something like that. Chesmu waits patiently.
It only takes Kein a couple minutes to come racing back. Given that he's still excited, it's pretty obvious what his mom's answer was. All the same, he calls out, "She said I can go!" This answer is called out even before Kein can see the chief, because he would hate it if the chief got a chance to leave before finding out if Kein could accompany him.
Chesmu is refreshed to see such enthusiasm coming from the cub. He can't say he was ever that excited when he was a cub, mostly because his mother's lack of love for him didn't make for much excitement. She did nothing for Chesmu's pleasure. And Chesmu grew up as a cub starved for affection and connection. So, seeing a cub this happy almost makes Chesmu's heart ache, but also leap for joy. "Come on then. I'll even take you to the edges of the territory."
Kein relaxes as it becomes obvious that the chief is still here, if only slightly. He doesn't stop running until he's actually by Chesmu's side. "Okay!" He hasn't gone anywhere in weeks, and the fact that he now gets to go somewhere again will keep him happy for a while. It doesn't bother him in the slightest that his mother made sure to warn him to stay by the chief. It's a small price to pay for getting to travel a bit, see something he maybe hasn't seen before.
Chesmu starts off, then. And for an hour or two, he and Kein are many places in the lands. Chesmu describes Amaranth do an almost nauseating detail as seen through the eyes of one who must walk it each day until his time is through. "...and always remember that you are SAFE in Amaranth, Kein." Chesmu finishes off a lecture he gave Kein about the brilliance of what he does.
The young cub blocks out about half of what the chieftain tells his over the course of their walk, more interested in trees, rocks, and other such things than he is in what Chesmu has to say, right this moment, after having been around the stone formations for so long. Kein only pays enough attention so that he can give appropriate, generally nonverbal, responses and maybe answer a few questions. He certainly doesn't ask any, because the first question he would want to ask is, if he's so safe, why can't he go where he wants to go? That would likely do nothing more than make these trips even rarer, and that's the last thing he wants. As Chesmu seems to be running out of things to say, Kein speaks up, the slightest hint of worry in his voice. "We don't gotta go back already, do we?" He /should/ be getting tired by now. Indeed, he doesn't walk with quite the same enthusiasm as he did when they started out. He would be loathe to admit it, though.
Chesmu looks over at Kein a moment and smirks, but is suddenly distracted by something. A mouse. Not much of a meal for a cougar adult, especially not a male. But Chesmu gets down and starts slowly... quietly... stalking the mouse. He doesn't make a sound, doesn't blink, shows an expert skill in gliding closer...
Kein glances directly at Chesmu when the large cougar suddenly crouches down. Curious, the young cub looks ahead in the direction the chief is heading. He doesn't see anything immediately, and he narrows his eyes, curious. Creeping forward a few steps, he whispers, "What is it?" Kein doesn't smell or see anything that would be a threat, and he's not used to the mannerisms of other cougars when they hunt.
Chesmu turns to Kein momentarily. "Shhh... Stay very quiet." Chesmu says. It won't leave if it thinks it is perfectly safe. Chesmu moves closer to the mouse. He is almost there. Ever closer now.... and then.... Chesmu leaps for the mouse.
Kein stops creeping forward when Chesmu tells him to be quiet, still confused. His eyes remain on the chieftain, since he couldn't see anything before. It isn't until Chesmu leaps that Kein spots the target, and his jaw drops. He doesn't say anything, just watches closely, trying to see if Chesmu got the mouse, and rather hoping that he didn't. It's bad to hunt mouses!
Chesmu catches the mouse and mercifully ends its life. Victorious, Chesmu quietly thanks the mouse for the gift of her life... then thinks about Kein. He is likely hungry. A mouse might be more of a meal to him. Chesmu takes the mouse by the tail and walks over to Kein and gently deposits the food before him.
Kein stares at Chesmu, eyes still narrowed and mouth still open as the chieftain walks over and deposits the mouse directly in front of him. Chesmu actually just killed it. It doesn't occur to the cub that the little mouse he spoke to might have lied. The tiny creature was so serious. Which means Chesmu just did something Really Bad, something worthy of severe punishment, perhaps even worse punishment than being expelled from the family. Shaking his head slowly, Kein backs up a couple steps away from the tiny dead mouse. "Wh-why'd you do that?"
Chesmu, totally unaware of lying mice speaking to Kein, looks befuddled and says, "I thought you might be hungry. So, I've decided to bring you something." Chesmu nods to the mouse. "And also, with this small meal comes an important lesson, Kein. One of many lessons I will hope to teach you over the course of time. And I want you to remember it when you hunt." Chesmu crouches down near to the mouse. "Something wrong?
This could all be cleared up in a moment, if not for Kein's reluctance to admit that he has done something else bad, his fear of never being forgiven, of having his brother never stop doubting him and his mother never stop worrying about him and what he might do. "I'm not... Not hungry. I wanna go home." No one else has ever brought him or his siblings a mouse to eat. He has no reason to think the tiny animal was lying. And he doesn't care what Chesmu is trying to teach him by doing something bad.
"Kein." Chesmu says. "It... doesn't bode well for me that you lie." Chesmu nudges the mouse toward the cub. "I know you are hungry. Go ahead, enjoy this meal." Chesmu says. "You are well on the road to being an adult cougar. Someone who must be proud of where he is. And the importance of this lesson will assure that your pride will not mean your downfall. Remember this mouse, for it gave its life for you. Be grateful to it."
Kein flattens his ears and takes another step backwards as Chesmu disapproves of his lie. Is Kein hungry? Maybe. Probably, even. But he scarcely notices, with the shock that he just received. How many times has Chesmu lectured him for doing something bad? With a hint of anger in his tone, he replies, in a slightly louder voice, "I don't wanna eat it. I wanna go home. Now." Chesmu may as well be asking him to eat another cougar cub.
Chesmu looks at Kein. What is wrong with the poor boy? Chesmu studies him a moment, and decides it wouldn't be healthy to attempt to bond with him and then force him to eat the mouse if he doesn't wish. But he might want to ask Kein about this. He is acting... unlike himself. He leans forward and picks up the mouse and then snaps it up and swallows it like a snack. Tasty. "I can take you home."
Kein turns away as Chesmu decides not to allow the mouse go to waste. As soon as the chief agrees, verbally, to take him home, the young cub begins walking. As is apparently the trend for the day, Kein is silent, nothing to say, as he begins walking, and the path he sets is straight. He doesn't bother looking around or exploring, not even within a safe distance from Chesmu. Of course, he expects the chief to walk ahead of them and turn them in a direction that will lead more directly to his family.
Chesmu does it that way, but he finds himself worried about Kein. Something about that mouse has affected him in a way the Chieftain does not feel is right. He tries to find a more or less subtle way of dealing with the problem. "Kein... you know you can talk to me about anything."
Kein doesn't say anything as he walks. He keeps his head down, scarcely looking at the chief, except for to make sure he's still there, that they're still heading home. Kein's trust in the chieftain may be shaken, but he /does/ trust Chesmu enough to lead him home. Maybe. Chesmu has to know that what he did was wrong. Adults know everything, or at least almost everything. Maybe the chief just thought Kein was bad enough that he wouldn't care. Well, Kein's /not/ that bad. He /tries/ to be good. Frowning, he says, "I don't wanna talk right now." Hopefully that statement will be enough.
Chesmu watches Kein, but he nods. He won't force Kein to say anything he doesn't like. But clearly something bad is going on with the cub. "I understand. Just talk to me when you do." Chesmu finally brings Kein back up the formations to the same rock he found Kein on. "Are you sure?"
Kein is a little surprised by how quickly the stone formations come into sight, but he's glad. It occurs to him that he /really/ ought to go tell Mom that he's back. It only takes him a little while to decide that it can wait until the chief is gone or she wanders by, though. He walks and hops up to one of the smaller stones before saying anything, and when he does, it's only a simple, "Yeah." He lies down on the rock before adding, "Uh... Thank you for letting me come with you..." The thank you may not sound particularly heartfelt, but... It doesn't matter. He was polite. He's a /good/ cub. See?
Chesmu nods. "Stay out of trouble. I hope my lesson for you will be remembered." And Chesmu thinks to himself, /The cub is hiding something. He is ashamed of something and is afraid to tell me. I might have to talk to Maulisho about this./
Kein lowers his head onto his paws and closes his eyes as Chesmu tells him to stay out of trouble. Any reply he could possibly say would /get/ him into trouble. He's not used to anger, but he /does/ know that it's bad to respond in anger, especially to an adult. Even an evil chieftain who has everyone else fooled.
Kein - Male Cougar Cub
Chesmu - Male Cougar
- Stone Formations -
Kein hasn't wandered far since he encountered that mouse. Until he learns what animals are safe to hunt and which aren't, there's nothing for him to do any distance away from the rocks. He's afraid to bring the topic up, though, because he doesn't want to admit anything that will get him in trouble. Currently, he's lying atop one of the larger rocks. Having spent several minutes just trying to get up to the top of /this/ rock, he doesn't want to abandon it immediately, and it does give him a good view of the surrounding area. Nevertheless, he's /bored/. His tail flicks regularly, and he peers out into the distance, letting out a sigh every so often.
Chesmu is in a good mood. The idea of walking around the territory each day seems to have kept its appeal if only for the fact Chesmu is accomplishing something. His cubs. The most important cougars in his life, really. More so than Maulisho or even Ayashe. To Ayashe Chesmu is more or less just a means for cubs and protection for the tribe. He also favors Maulisho's own cubs highly. It is this feeling that takes him to Kein. Checking on the cubs, making sure they are alright.
Kein is so busy wishing that he had /something/ to do, he doesn't see Chesmu immediately. It isn't until the chief comes closer that Kein's eyes focus on him, and he immediately grins and stands up, preparing to hop down from the stone. Maybe Chesmu won't be too busy, and he'll be able to play or, with the permission of his mom, accompany Chesmu for a while. Getting that permission can wait until after he actually joins the chief, though.
Chesmu spots Kein first. "Well, hello there, Kein." Chesmu says. A little pleased to see the cub. "I take it you were just preparing for a nap?" Chesmu wouldn't want to disturb the cub if that were true.
Kein doesn't speak until after he hops to the ground. He is quick to shake his head and answer, though. "Nuh-uh. Naps are boring." The young cub would sooner run himself ragged, until he drops from exhaustion, than agree to take a nap. It has been hard enough for him to agree to leave his siblings alone while they nap. While Kein still naps plenty, he almost never actually settles down or prepares for one.
Chesmu ahs sagely. So that's how it is. Chesmu smirks. "So you were just lying on a rock?" He chuckles and walks over to the cub and nuzzles him. "Though I would take a quick peek at you and your siblings, make sure you are all okay." Chesmu lowers down to Kein's level. "You are staying out of trouble, right?"
Kein purrs softly at the nuzzling, though it ends abruptly when Chesmu asks if he has been staying out of trouble. He doesn't feel guilty over what happened with the mouse, not really. He /is/, however, worried that he will get in trouble over it, if anyone finds out. Notably, he does not actually answer the question. Rather, he says, "I haven't wandered off at all, and I even let Pel and Ruut'h stop playign when they want to." That's behaving, right? And not always easy, either.
"Well good." Chesmu says, then turns to continue his rounds. Though he probably wouldn't mind if Kein follows. He is also getting a bit hungry, though mostly for a snack. "You want to come with me? I'm sure Maulisho trusts me enough to allow me the privilege of spending some time with her firstborn, right?"
Kein perks his ears up and smiles as the chief apparently had the same idea he did. "Yeah! Just lemme ask first, 'kay?" See? Behaving. He doesn't wait for an answer before running off to find his Mom, to get her permission to head out with the chief. Given his excited answer and his speed as he rushes to the place he last saw Mom, it's obvious he loves the idea.
Chesmu smiles as he watches Kein speed off. Yeah, some nice Chieftain/cub time. Something like that. Chesmu waits patiently.
It only takes Kein a couple minutes to come racing back. Given that he's still excited, it's pretty obvious what his mom's answer was. All the same, he calls out, "She said I can go!" This answer is called out even before Kein can see the chief, because he would hate it if the chief got a chance to leave before finding out if Kein could accompany him.
Chesmu is refreshed to see such enthusiasm coming from the cub. He can't say he was ever that excited when he was a cub, mostly because his mother's lack of love for him didn't make for much excitement. She did nothing for Chesmu's pleasure. And Chesmu grew up as a cub starved for affection and connection. So, seeing a cub this happy almost makes Chesmu's heart ache, but also leap for joy. "Come on then. I'll even take you to the edges of the territory."
Kein relaxes as it becomes obvious that the chief is still here, if only slightly. He doesn't stop running until he's actually by Chesmu's side. "Okay!" He hasn't gone anywhere in weeks, and the fact that he now gets to go somewhere again will keep him happy for a while. It doesn't bother him in the slightest that his mother made sure to warn him to stay by the chief. It's a small price to pay for getting to travel a bit, see something he maybe hasn't seen before.
Chesmu starts off, then. And for an hour or two, he and Kein are many places in the lands. Chesmu describes Amaranth do an almost nauseating detail as seen through the eyes of one who must walk it each day until his time is through. "...and always remember that you are SAFE in Amaranth, Kein." Chesmu finishes off a lecture he gave Kein about the brilliance of what he does.
The young cub blocks out about half of what the chieftain tells his over the course of their walk, more interested in trees, rocks, and other such things than he is in what Chesmu has to say, right this moment, after having been around the stone formations for so long. Kein only pays enough attention so that he can give appropriate, generally nonverbal, responses and maybe answer a few questions. He certainly doesn't ask any, because the first question he would want to ask is, if he's so safe, why can't he go where he wants to go? That would likely do nothing more than make these trips even rarer, and that's the last thing he wants. As Chesmu seems to be running out of things to say, Kein speaks up, the slightest hint of worry in his voice. "We don't gotta go back already, do we?" He /should/ be getting tired by now. Indeed, he doesn't walk with quite the same enthusiasm as he did when they started out. He would be loathe to admit it, though.
Chesmu looks over at Kein a moment and smirks, but is suddenly distracted by something. A mouse. Not much of a meal for a cougar adult, especially not a male. But Chesmu gets down and starts slowly... quietly... stalking the mouse. He doesn't make a sound, doesn't blink, shows an expert skill in gliding closer...
Kein glances directly at Chesmu when the large cougar suddenly crouches down. Curious, the young cub looks ahead in the direction the chief is heading. He doesn't see anything immediately, and he narrows his eyes, curious. Creeping forward a few steps, he whispers, "What is it?" Kein doesn't smell or see anything that would be a threat, and he's not used to the mannerisms of other cougars when they hunt.
Chesmu turns to Kein momentarily. "Shhh... Stay very quiet." Chesmu says. It won't leave if it thinks it is perfectly safe. Chesmu moves closer to the mouse. He is almost there. Ever closer now.... and then.... Chesmu leaps for the mouse.
Kein stops creeping forward when Chesmu tells him to be quiet, still confused. His eyes remain on the chieftain, since he couldn't see anything before. It isn't until Chesmu leaps that Kein spots the target, and his jaw drops. He doesn't say anything, just watches closely, trying to see if Chesmu got the mouse, and rather hoping that he didn't. It's bad to hunt mouses!
Chesmu catches the mouse and mercifully ends its life. Victorious, Chesmu quietly thanks the mouse for the gift of her life... then thinks about Kein. He is likely hungry. A mouse might be more of a meal to him. Chesmu takes the mouse by the tail and walks over to Kein and gently deposits the food before him.
Kein stares at Chesmu, eyes still narrowed and mouth still open as the chieftain walks over and deposits the mouse directly in front of him. Chesmu actually just killed it. It doesn't occur to the cub that the little mouse he spoke to might have lied. The tiny creature was so serious. Which means Chesmu just did something Really Bad, something worthy of severe punishment, perhaps even worse punishment than being expelled from the family. Shaking his head slowly, Kein backs up a couple steps away from the tiny dead mouse. "Wh-why'd you do that?"
Chesmu, totally unaware of lying mice speaking to Kein, looks befuddled and says, "I thought you might be hungry. So, I've decided to bring you something." Chesmu nods to the mouse. "And also, with this small meal comes an important lesson, Kein. One of many lessons I will hope to teach you over the course of time. And I want you to remember it when you hunt." Chesmu crouches down near to the mouse. "Something wrong?
This could all be cleared up in a moment, if not for Kein's reluctance to admit that he has done something else bad, his fear of never being forgiven, of having his brother never stop doubting him and his mother never stop worrying about him and what he might do. "I'm not... Not hungry. I wanna go home." No one else has ever brought him or his siblings a mouse to eat. He has no reason to think the tiny animal was lying. And he doesn't care what Chesmu is trying to teach him by doing something bad.
"Kein." Chesmu says. "It... doesn't bode well for me that you lie." Chesmu nudges the mouse toward the cub. "I know you are hungry. Go ahead, enjoy this meal." Chesmu says. "You are well on the road to being an adult cougar. Someone who must be proud of where he is. And the importance of this lesson will assure that your pride will not mean your downfall. Remember this mouse, for it gave its life for you. Be grateful to it."
Kein flattens his ears and takes another step backwards as Chesmu disapproves of his lie. Is Kein hungry? Maybe. Probably, even. But he scarcely notices, with the shock that he just received. How many times has Chesmu lectured him for doing something bad? With a hint of anger in his tone, he replies, in a slightly louder voice, "I don't wanna eat it. I wanna go home. Now." Chesmu may as well be asking him to eat another cougar cub.
Chesmu looks at Kein. What is wrong with the poor boy? Chesmu studies him a moment, and decides it wouldn't be healthy to attempt to bond with him and then force him to eat the mouse if he doesn't wish. But he might want to ask Kein about this. He is acting... unlike himself. He leans forward and picks up the mouse and then snaps it up and swallows it like a snack. Tasty. "I can take you home."
Kein turns away as Chesmu decides not to allow the mouse go to waste. As soon as the chief agrees, verbally, to take him home, the young cub begins walking. As is apparently the trend for the day, Kein is silent, nothing to say, as he begins walking, and the path he sets is straight. He doesn't bother looking around or exploring, not even within a safe distance from Chesmu. Of course, he expects the chief to walk ahead of them and turn them in a direction that will lead more directly to his family.
Chesmu does it that way, but he finds himself worried about Kein. Something about that mouse has affected him in a way the Chieftain does not feel is right. He tries to find a more or less subtle way of dealing with the problem. "Kein... you know you can talk to me about anything."
Kein doesn't say anything as he walks. He keeps his head down, scarcely looking at the chief, except for to make sure he's still there, that they're still heading home. Kein's trust in the chieftain may be shaken, but he /does/ trust Chesmu enough to lead him home. Maybe. Chesmu has to know that what he did was wrong. Adults know everything, or at least almost everything. Maybe the chief just thought Kein was bad enough that he wouldn't care. Well, Kein's /not/ that bad. He /tries/ to be good. Frowning, he says, "I don't wanna talk right now." Hopefully that statement will be enough.
Chesmu watches Kein, but he nods. He won't force Kein to say anything he doesn't like. But clearly something bad is going on with the cub. "I understand. Just talk to me when you do." Chesmu finally brings Kein back up the formations to the same rock he found Kein on. "Are you sure?"
Kein is a little surprised by how quickly the stone formations come into sight, but he's glad. It occurs to him that he /really/ ought to go tell Mom that he's back. It only takes him a little while to decide that it can wait until the chief is gone or she wanders by, though. He walks and hops up to one of the smaller stones before saying anything, and when he does, it's only a simple, "Yeah." He lies down on the rock before adding, "Uh... Thank you for letting me come with you..." The thank you may not sound particularly heartfelt, but... It doesn't matter. He was polite. He's a /good/ cub. See?
Chesmu nods. "Stay out of trouble. I hope my lesson for you will be remembered." And Chesmu thinks to himself, /The cub is hiding something. He is ashamed of something and is afraid to tell me. I might have to talk to Maulisho about this./
Kein lowers his head onto his paws and closes his eyes as Chesmu tells him to stay out of trouble. Any reply he could possibly say would /get/ him into trouble. He's not used to anger, but he /does/ know that it's bad to respond in anger, especially to an adult. Even an evil chieftain who has everyone else fooled.