=--------------------------------------------------------------------------= ___ _ _ ___ ' | ` |__| |__` oooo | | | |__, .ooooo. o 88 ---------------------------------------------------- o8" `"o8 88 ooo oo888oo ooo ooo ooo oo ooo ooo ooo d8' " 88 8 ,8' `8. 8"8 8 8 o8' 8 8"8 8 d8 88 8 88 88 8 8 8 8o' 8 8 8 8 88 oooo 88 8 88 88 8 8 8 88o 8 8 8 8 88 di 88 ,o 8 `8. ,8' 8 8.8 8 `8. 8 8 8.8 `88. ,8i o88ooooo'o8o `"ooooo"' o8o o8o o8o `8o o8o o8oo o8 (c)"88oood' =--------------------------------------------------------------------------= The Lion King is copyright 1994 by the Walt Disney Company. This MUCK in no way constitutes a challenge to this copyright. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------= [ October 15, 2005 ] ~~ Uzima ~~ Patchy Grasslands An extension of the hunting grounds, the grass in the area is much the same. Soft and springy, it provides an excellent area for sunning, relaxing, and playing. Patches of tall, dry grasses, some barely large enough for a rabbit and others large enough for several lions, dot the area. It is because of these patches that the herds tend to avoid the area, making it more ideal for lounging than hunting. A small river snakes through the grasses in the distance. Towards the [R]iver You can see... [IC ] Balana, no longer a buffalo! [ZZZ] Haiba [ZZZ] Tahlili [IC ] Kizingo [IC ] Mzohari [ZZZ] Chiboa, Balana's property! Balana Balana has definitely seen a fair share of life. Her features show signs of age, the few grey furs intermixed into her pelt and the look in her eyes suggesting she's nearing the end of her prime. A tawny color covers her topside, a lighter tawny/off white on the underside, as well as the inside of her ears. Her eyes are a deep brown, almost the same dark chestnut as her tailtuft. Despite her age, this lioness is in excellent physical condition, of average build and standing slightly taller than most lionesses. She has a few visible scars, all of which appear to be minor. She carries herself with a certain confidence and nobility, even though her days as a ruler have long since passed. Some habits stay around for life. Currently, her rounded belly has shrunk, though she still carries evidence of being a nursing mother. Chanika Somewhere around a month old, Chanika is a sturdy young Lioness cub, with the fluff-edged lightness of youth and the inevitable cute look, but so far not much about her which proclaims delicacy. Her head is proportionally large at this stage, of course, with fringed, round ears jutting out. Places on her face are tinged with white, a little lighter than the rest of her: a dry-grass tawny liberally scattered with ruddy spots, these blotches a deeper brown along her back. Her tail is getting a little more length these days, although it's still relatively stubby, and with only the beginnings of a darker tuft at the end. Chanika is wide-eyed, fascinated at least with others' interest in her if not, yet, too much of the world beyond that. Her large eyes are changing from a newborn's misted blue through into what is currently a silvery hazel, and will likely further shift in color as she ages. Chanika is most of the way awake, hunched up like a short, fuzzy caterpillar in the grass. She's starting to get a bit more co-ordinated these days, and for now is keeping her paws still in front of her. Her head's slightly canted as she gazes at the ground, apparently waiting for it to do something interesting--or at least for something interesting to happen. Having been thinking about when to bring the cubs back to the pride and trying to find Maboo, Balana has been a little more scarce, leaving the cubs alone for longer stretches. Today she comes back with a small impala for herself, panting somewhat heavily around it. It's been far too long since she's hunted for herself, and will probably take a little bit for her to get fully in shape again. Putting it down a bit from the grasses, the lioness lets out a few soft grunts as a call, more to see if anyone at least tries to come to her. Chanika lifts her head, her mouth opening to answer--thankfully with a fairly subdued, if grating, mewl rather than her often-characteristic wailing. This gets her a great gulp of the freshly-killed Impala's scent, and she looks startled, before pushing herself to stand. She moves with a rolling gait, eagerly moving towards her mother and this rich sensory experience. The lioness doesn't expect her cubs to be interested in eating meat just yet, but it's not a bad idea to at least start getting them used to it, plus getting them walking a bit better. She hears her daughter's response, settling down on her side next to the fresh kill. She gives another welcoming grunt, calling her daughter towards her. "Hey Chanika..." Chanika grins at Balana as she comes to a less than delicately-timed stop, her front legs spreading wide to try and keep herself balanced as she suddenly stops moving, though of course her tail keeps whipping behind. She actually looks a little anxious, not sure how to get onwards from this braced standing pose. Balana chuckles softly, smiling back at Chanika, speaking to her in a lighthearted tone. "You're doing very well! Come on now, you just put one paw in front of the other..." The lioness scoots a little bit closer to her daughter, lowering her head and clicking her tongue a little. "I know you can do it if you try." Chanika gives Balana a thoroughly suspicious look. She's stuck! She's supposed to be lovingly helped instead of merely encouraged to do ... something. But after some moments of staring she does put one of her forepaws foreward, and finds that she doesn't immediately collapse. That one down on the ground, a few more uneasy steps, and Chanika flops down next to Balana, with an expression of pride. She did it! She'll figure out this walking smoothly thing soon. /Now/ she's lovingly helped. Putting a foreleg around Chanika, Balana lowers her head to nose at and nuzzle her daughter. "You did very well, you know. Soon I'll be able to take you all to the rest of the pride. Of course, that's as much to give you someone new to meet as it is to give me some help watching all of you before you go running all over." She smiles, head tilting. "Now. I wonder if you might be hungry? Food?" Has her daughter been able to associate any of the words with the actions yet? Chanika leans so ahrd into the nuzzling that she might have fallen over were she not already down on her belly. Clearly she's going to keep right on soaking up affection, this one. She mewls once more in response to the talk, clearly aware of being focused on and that the words are something beyond less verbal sounds, but how much she understand beyond that is far from obvious. Balana smiles softly, head tilting. "Can't tell me? Well, we'll get it figured out soon enough and get you communicating." She gives her daughter another few loving licks before picking Chanika up and placing her by her own belly. "Are you hungry? It's been a bit since you all last ate." And herself too. Fascinated though she was by the rich-blood scent, that isn't something she yet percieves as associated with food, and Chanika noses against her mother's light-furred belly, seeking the milk she is perfectly content with still. After a time she begins to purr, her grey-brown eyes squinting shut in evidence of this young creature's secure happiness. Balana can't help but smile, settling herself a bit more comfortably as Chanika begins to feed. A moment later, she to begins to feed, turning about to face her kill. Lowering her head, the lioness partakes in nourishment herself, so she can go on feeding her cubs as she has been doing. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------=