=--------------------------------------------------------------------------= ___ _ _ ___ ' | ` |__| |__` 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. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------= [ June 14, 1999 ] Grassy Spot Downslope At the lower end of the Savannah Slope is this small grassy spot, almost totally enclosed by trees, a shaded, peaceful area. The grass is short, but a healthy bright green, especially near the small spring that runs across the ground. On the other side of the clearing, where the land begins to slope upwards, is an opening in the undergrowth and ground, leading to a (den). Through the trees to the [L]ush [G]rassland [Up] to the Savannah Slope -A small (den) where the ground slopes upward- You can see... [IC ] Zalirah, little serval slumbering close to her mother. [ZZZ] Jadyyr [ZZZ] Masali [ZZZ] Kwafeli _________ _________________________________________________________ | ____ | | | ||---\ |evra is a female Serval, a long-legged, delicately built | | ||__ | small feline somewhat less than half a meter tall at | | ||--| | the shoulder, and perhaps a meter long, not including | | || | the short tail which is a quarter again of that length. | | || | | |_________| The base color of her sleek pelt is a rich copper-- | | rather darker than is usual for her kind--lightening to nearly | | white on her muzzle, throat and underside. It is overlaid with a | | regular patterning of black spots which merge into lines stream- | | ing down her shoulders and back from behind her ears. | | | | These ears are a striking feature, as they are for all of her | | species: upright, oval, set close together, and large enough to | | seem almost oversized. The backs of them are black with a single | | white bar across the centers, punctuating thier movements as they | | swivel to focus on sounds. | | | | The ears almost overshadow the other features of the Serval's | | delicate face. Set above a black nose, Fevra's eyes are a dark | | shade of amber little lighter than her fur, but are framed by a | | mottling of black spots, making them more visible and expressive. | | | | Although this feline's well kept, unscarred fur shows no | | evidence of any past physical conflicts, she holds herself | | confidently. Yet she carries a deep sadness, an aching knowledge | | of loss, beneath her outer content. | |___________________________________________________________________| Fevra is sprawled on her side near the two light cubs, breathing evenly, eyes half closed, but not actually asleep. Merely musing. Zalirah appears from the thicker overgrowth of the slope in an urgent, mischievous manner, a grin spread wide across her muzzle. Then, like two built-in springs, her paws vault her in an impressive pounce in the direction of the idle Fevra. Fevra, startled by the cub's exuberant appearance and greeting, has barely time to twitch before she is pounced upon and quite possibly mauled by the daughter. What a way to be jerked out of one's thoughts. Zalirah lands in a heap of fluff and paws over her mother's revealed flank, the grin turning sheepish at the adult's reaction. "Muuum." Fevra twists about to curve a forepaw around her daughter, trying not to tumble the cub off of herself in the process. "Evening, Zalirah," she croons, warmed by the young one's greeting to her. Zalirah collects herself atop Fevra, and in her next playful romp she takes Mum's paw into her greedy little mouth, not quite hard enough to force her growing teeth into it, but still in nothing short of possession. Fevra winces and jerks the forepaw in an attempt to convince her greedy youngling to let go of it, accompanied with a baleful stare at the culprit. "Mine," the mother announces cheerily. Zalirah snaps little jaws as the paw is pulled away from her grasp, and proceeds to follow it by clambering over her mother in risky pursuit. Fevra rolls onto her back and pulls her forelegs in closer to her belly. Twisting about to continue looking towards her daughter, she repeats firmly, "Mine," not being too enamoured of being gnawed upon, even by beloved kin. Zalirah, defeated and having fallen off her mother in the process, rubs a paw over her nose while regarding the adult's indication blankly. Having made her way to the front of the feline, her tongue pokes out and she leans to give Fevra a gentle kiss. "Mine!" she declares. Fevra blinks in slow suprise added to by her difficulty in focusing when the cub is fight in front of her face. "Mine?" She echoes blankly at first, then as understanding dawns, says, "I am? I suppose so, my daughter. Goes both ways." She shifts fractionally, sitting back, smiling in satisfaction. Zalirah returns the smile with equal satisfaction, and allows her hindlegs to drop to a sitting position. She issues a few short squabbling growls into the air and examines the surroundings with keen interest. Fevra glances about as well. "Not too much here," she remarks. "I mean, that you're not used to. Siblings and grass and trees." Struck by this thought, she continues, "I don't think I should start you on climbing just yet, but what about learning to swim? Jad got a dunking yesterday, but that didn't really count and it was more to get him washed." "Washed," the kitten repeats. "Dunkin'." "Exactally," Fevra confirms. "And you could probably do with the same." Zalirah, having no idea what this all means, continues her verbal lessons. "Egg--egggsack! Eggsackleeee." Fevra gives her daughter a look caught somewhere between amusement, amazement, and utter confusion. "I'm sure," she responds at last, vaguely. Zalirah wipes the pad of her paw over her muzzle's tip, already a habit forming. This seems to settle her echoing down, for she returns to her fascination with the world, observing the clouds cloaked in the dark sky and every shift of grass the wind causes. Fevra resettles herself, watching her eldest observe the world in silence for some moment before telling her quietly, in the tone of someone who has been turning a thought over at length before speaking, "You'll be safe, even if something does happen to me--Msanii promised to take care of you, she and your father." "Fader," Zalirah mumbles absently. A breeze overtakes the clearing, then, and it disturbs Zalirah enough so she shifts close to her mother, tucking her head beneath the adult's chin. Fevra leans forward a little, letting her daughter snuggle in closer. "I know, cub," she says in a quiet voice, as if trying to comfort Zalirah, or herself. "That hardly means much to you. Maybe someday." Zalirah heaves a little sigh, perhaps weary from the active day or simply content to be near her mother. The kitten's whisking tail is all that betrays her otherwise still composure. Fevra uses a padded forepaw to gently nudge the errant tail against its owner's side, little more than a token motion, but one of quiet affection. "He'll remember you, of course," she muses aloud, for once calmly. "Couldn't forget that any more than I can, seeing you new on the grass there, and real. Who would have thought?" Zalirah's ears swerves about, absorbing her mother's strange sounds. "Wood haf taught." She nods solemnly. Fevra falls silent with the barest hint of a frown, not so comfortable talking now that the cubs understand more, and to some extent respond. Although, of course, the things she has to say are that much more important at this stage. Zalirah's head bobs. She's suddenly no longer the attentive little kitten always on her paws, but instead a dormant furry bundle guaranteed an indulging doze while so close to Mum. =--------------------------------------------------------------------------=