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 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:48 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:54 am
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Fishing was not going to be one of his fortes, this was a conclusion he had reached after a long series of months in which he had repeatedly failed to catch anything of significance. Nevertheless, the lion was confident in many other forms of hunting and where he may have struggled within the sea, he had found himself to be rather adept at pulling shellfish from the rock pools to make use of. The shells that protected them? Complete child's play, or so he had found after he had experimenting with bashing them open using a variety of techniques.
Thus, the blue lion had opted to take Hima to one of his more favoured spots - as promised, tamer than the usual tide pools that lay further out towards the sea. They were less likely to get caught in the sweeping tides and generally, the creatures within them were more sluggish - she would have the chance to inspect what lay within them, admire what was there, and even try her hand at fishing one or two things up if she felt so inclined.
...For all intents and purposes this might be how one would introduce a child to hunting by sea, but as Ram had not and never would graduate successfully to full sea fishing, these rock pools would remain very much his 'thing'. If the pride grew hungry, they could leave the heavy hitting hunts to him, he'd fell buffalo and prey beasts without issue, but the glittering fish were far beyond his means!
"As promised," he spoke up as he grew closer to the rock pools. "Tame, but scenic."
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 12:45 pm
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Hima had seen the ocean before. How could she not? It was part of the Kizingo'Zaa's land and she had been in the pride for well over a year. She had never ventured into it, though, and had stayed mostly in the jungle since it was what she had known. Here, though, the sea played such a big part in the life of the pride that she knew she'd have to deal with it more than she had before. Having Ram to introduce her to it was a huge perk, too. The blue lion was being a very enjoyable tour guide.
As they approached the small pools she wrinkled her nose. They stunk like low tide, but she supposed it made sense. These pools were only touched by the waves on the highest of high tides, so they sat idly for days at a time, sometimes even weeks.
"And smelly," she said, careful of the barnacles that clung to the rocks. She had made acquaintance with them before painfully and she wasn't about to do it again. "Oh...it's quite deep." The ones she had seen before had been shallow with murky, grimy water that filled them. These pools she could stand in and have the water come up to her chest, and there were things crawling and scuttling around within them.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:36 am
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"Well, yes..." Ram regarded the female for a few moments and then cast his gaze towards the rock pool. He knew there were certainly shallow ones around, but they were usually slightly higher up from what he had seen. He was no expert when it came to the coast, but he had simply assumed that this was the norm - evidently it was not, if her observation was to be considered... And by that he meant the depth, not the smell.
"Where else would we train the cubs where to swim and hunt?" he asked after a few moments and lifted his gaze again. "From what I had been told when I came here, placing them straight in the ocean was liable to cause problems," he pointed out and shook his head. "Something to do with things grabbing them from underneath and dragging them out before they grew the strength to swim back," he added.
"And I suppose this way the things within the pools can't run too far while the cubs grow in confidence," he shrugged his shoulders. "Some could be like me and require more than a few lessons," he said with a chuckle.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:05 pm
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Hima leaned in a bit closer, her nose just a few inches from the surface of the water, and watched the creatures within. They didn't seem to mind being watched, or perhaps they didn't know that she was staring at them. She hadn't ever really been overly fond of seafood but perhaps these strange crustations might be less slippery to hold on to.
Glancing over at Ram as he spoke, she sized him up once more. The furs he wore indicated perhaps a chilly background as it was becoming obvious he hadn't been born here. It was interesting to think a non-native had come to be the leader of the pride, but she supposed that just went to show how relaxed the Bahari were. Or, perhaps, how qualified of a leader he was.
"I suppose that makes sense," she said, looking out to the open sea. It was daunting to her to go into, let alone a cub, she was sure. "What's this, the leader of the Bahari wasn't a natural on his first go at catching sea creatures?" she added as she looked back to Ram, a teasing smirk on her face. "Scandalous."
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 2:31 pm
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"Still not a natural," he raised both eyebrows, his expression teasing. "To be perfectly honest it brings great shame and embarrassment to the pride, I am a terrible example of a sea lion," he cast his gaze briefly towards the inland dens and then chuckled. "On the plus side I am exceptional at capturing large prey and ever since I arrived here they've had some fantastic luck," he motioned back towards the sea with his paw and smirked. "The gods cast food up onto the shore for us the last time..." he pointed out.
"That being said, it's just as well I have other skills or I would truly be an appalling example of anything," he snorted and glanced into the rock pools for a few moments, tilting his chin towards the crab below. "However I am very good at catching those," he mused and returned his gaze to the lioness. "And even better and smashing open their shells, I'm rather partial to those."
"Or perhaps that's simply because they don't run very fast and they're the only thing I can catch?" he jested.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:50 am
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"Ask it nicely?" he replied, the lilt in his tone indicating that he took some small pleasure in the crab expressing it's displeasure and her prodding. "I mean if youw ere doing this at me all day," he lifted a paw and batted it close to her nose. "I imagine I would probably try to bite that pretty nose off you as well," he pointed out and set his paw down again, pausing briefly to regard the crab and then her.
"Of course..." he trailed off for a moment or two to consider his approach. "Diplomacy may not be your forte," he mused and canted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing as if he was indicating his doubt at her abilities. "You may have to adopt the cub approach to hunting these beings, I'm not sure you'd be capable of the polite method," he clucked his tongue.
"But I imagine you would like to give that a try before I teach you the cub method," he finished slyly.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:30 am
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"Why on earth would I do that when this is your hunting lesson?" he asked, his brow raising as she almost demanded to know if he would assist in coaxing the crab out from its hiding place. On one paw he was incredibly tempted to ask it nicely, and then take pure delight in the moment if fate decided to play ball, but on the other paw... It was much more fun to see the lioness squirm. Such a prideful creature, and here she was, being asked to be diplomatic towards her food or lose all dignity in attempting to capture it.
"And unless you ask it, I guess you'll never find out if it does or does not have ears," he hazarded with a dismissive wave of his paw. As if to reinforce this point, he took a seat, regarding her with the most imperial, haughty expression he could muster. He had perfected this as a father to his only daughter, now he was going to make use of the stare-down-nose tactic to see whether or not Hima would crack.
...oh mark his words, she'd be asking the crab round for tea before she tour its legs off one by one. She'd have the names of all its offspring and however many wives it had as well!
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:39 am
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As Ram sat back to watch Hima began to realize her usual tactics of getting someone else to do her dirty work weren't going to work. It was rare that she came across someone who managed to wriggle their way around her own wily ways of having others work while she reaped the benefits, and she could count how many lions were actually capable of that on one paw. She could also count the number of lions she respected on one paw. There was a direct correlation.
"I don't usually try the paws on approach when learning," she replied, tilting her head back a bit to feign distaste. "I prefer to watch, then do. But if you're going to insist on me making a fool of myself, I suppose that can't be helped."
She wasn't going to talk to the crab, oh no. Instead she shifted her weight and plunged both paws into the tide pool. She pressed them against the rock and with surprising strength (and perhaps a bit of help from the water making the rock easier to move) she tipped it over. The crab went flying back in the direction it had come from, but Hima was hot on its trail now. She gave it a bat, then another, then another, higher and higher to the surface of the water until she could grab one wildly waving leg with her teeth. Her muzzle got a bit wet but she was fairly soaked now, so she didn't mind.
A toss of her head sent the crab soaring towards Ram. It landed upside down in front of him, legs waving and claws snipping at the air as it tried to turn itself over.
"Satisfied?" she asked, somehow still looking confident and a bit cocky despite her fur hanging rather raggedly from her. Perhaps this was when she'd start to get the curls that were associated with the seaside pride.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:48 am
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"I guess I was right in my observations then," Ram remarked with a wry chuckle, raising a paw to knock the crab back onto its legs. It paused momentarily, pronged eyes regarding him for a brief instance before it scuttled, with rather evident indignation, towards the rock pool across the way. If there was one thing Ram was well known for, it was not overfeeding, and the crab had received a free pass from him...particularly when it had been unceremoniously assaulted and its home annihilated.
"You really aren't masterful when it comes to diplomacy," he mused and regarded the now drenched lioness. For a lioness who came across as someone who liked to be pristine at all times, she had rather ruined the overall impression. For all intents and purposes, she now looked wholly like one of the Bahari huntresses, bedraggled and dripping in salt water... Yet thanks to his act of mercy, she was without her reward.
Ah, but that was her mistake, letting it go!
Lazily, as if to prove his point, the lion lay down beside the rock pool and slipped his paw into it. There, he let it settle, the small waves of water lapping against his fur as he turned his attention to the scenery instead. It was a pose that would have been more fitting of someone who was sleeping, or it would have been until he lifted his paw out again carefully with a rather small, baby crab balanced on top.
It was only then that he cast a dark grin at the lioness.
"And I didn't even have to ask," he declared smugly.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:54 am
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Hima's expression of delight dropped as Ram let the crab go. Granted, she wasn't hungry, but she had worked hard for that little thing! Giving herself a shake, she watched with a scowl as the blue lion settled down to do his own fishing, much drier than the kind she had taken part in.
"Yes, but look at how much smaller it is," she said, moving to drip on Ram's head as she leaned in to peer at the tiny crab. It regarded her without fear, not even when she bared her teeth in a snarl to see if it would frighten it.
"Very strange," she said, lifting her head away from the crab but not far enough so that she'd continue to dry on the sand. Oh no, Ram would suffer if she did, too. Granted, being wet was hardly suffering. It was a bit refreshing to be quiet honest and the sun would surely dry them out quickly.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:23 pm
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"I imagine that had you not thoroughly destroyed his house, the larger of the two crabs would have been more amiable," he pointed out smugly, dipping his paw back into the water and giving it a shake until the crab dropped off and sank towards the bottom again. "However, now he has had his home ruined, I suspect he'll be rather unimpressed with our kind until you have given him some time to cool off -" he paused and flicked the water towards her with his paw.
"I suspect you will also need to apologise for the destruction," he added, the smirk never leaving his lips as he regarded the scowling lioness. My, but wasn't she a bit of a princess? She must have had everyone wrapped around the toes of her paws with those mannerisms, in fact, he suspected she may end up with some of the unfortunate adolescents in the Bahari tied up in her web if she fluttered those lashes enough.
That in mind, he might as well taunt her until the time when she did have her meals served to her on a silver platter.
"I'm not entirely certain you can muster a believable apology," he added after a moment of consideration. "So you might starve..."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:42 pm
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"I don't chat with a zebra before I eat it," Hima pointed out as she sat beside Ram, her back to the sun to help dry off a bit quicker. "I'm certainly not going to chat with a crab. I'll leave that to you, shellfish whisperer." She quirked a brow at him as she smirked and finally laid down completely, stretching out on the warm sand.
She let her claws come to as she stretched a bit, digging into the dirt beneath her as if to crawl further into the warmth it had to offer. Once she was comfortable she tossed her tuft of fur on her head back and out of her eyes, fixing Ram with a steady gaze.
"I could if I were so inclined, but I'm not," Hima said simply, flicking her tail as if she hadn't just been plunging into tide pools and tipping rocks over. "If push comes to shove and I find myself hungry I'll return to what I know. You've said you're rubbish at fishing but skilled at hunting, and I feel as though I might take the same path. Crabs of the sea, rejoice, for Hima has decided to spare your strange little lives."
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