Celestial Volcano Adventure

Participants:

Kikora - juvenile lioness, pride youth.
Korzar - juvenile lion, son of King Mzohari and Kasjari.


Path of Rememberance
The path is quiet, very peaceful and calm. It makes an unnerving calm come over you as you walk along. You feel an incredible peace and look 'fo'rward to the rest of the path stretching out ahead. Or, you can return 'b'ack to the Kopje Valley.

[B]ack to the Kopje Valley [Fo]rward along the path

Kikora is crouched down beneath a low-growing frond, letting only her perked ears raise above its green, leathery growth. Her back is to the valley's bottom, hindlegs folded neatly, tail aswish — her tuft is dragging through the fine, almost sandy dirt like a paint-brush. She seems wholly intent on the path and where it curves up ahead, nostrils flaring briefly before she wrinkles her nose, helping her identify that odd scent. It's obviously Balana, but she smells -different-, almost like … milk. If anyone were to sneak up behind her right now, they'd probably scare her right out of her fur!

The hunter stalks his prey… ok, so he's not much of a hunter. But Korzar is creeping as stealthily as he can after Kikora, doing his best to remain undetected. Luckily, she's pretty involved in… whatever it is that she's doing. Korzar isn't paying much attention to scents at the moment, instead, he is working on getting closer and closer to his friend. Pretty soon, it's time. With as loud as a ferocious "GRRR!" as he can muster (intermingled with a stifled giggle), he pounces towards Kikora from behind. This was gonna be good!

The little lioness is so involved in wondering just -why- Balana would have gone out here, and not too long ago, either that she completely fails to notice Korzar's approach … up until he growls! At first, Kikora is frozen in place but she manages to yowl out in surprise, and then suddenly she's tackled! She wiggles in protest at first, not knowing just -who- would by attacking her like this … but after a few seconds, she calms down. It's only Kor! "Hey, hey!" She says in both protest and surprise, her sides, chest and back heaving as she breathes. "…shhh," she says in an overly dramatic voice, trying to pull a serious expression but a little grin shines through at the same time.

Korzar giggles, pinning Kikora in place. "Gotcha!" he exclaims, a wide grin spread across his muzzle. He slowly quiets after Kikora shushes him. "What?" he whispers curiously, his eyes widening, before he suddenly realizes that he's still perched atop the other cub. He scrambles off, allowing her to get up, and takes a good look around. "Why you over here?" he whispers. He was too focused on Kikora to even pay attention to where she… and him… were going!

"I smell a Balana," Kikora says humorously, keeping her voice low — knowing that an adult could be lurking around the next bush, or tree! "… but she smells different. Like milk," the juvenile says, her brown eyes sparkling and ears pitched forward. She finally manages to climb to her feet again, covered in a healthy coat of dust, but she makes no move to shake it out of her fur. "'member how she said she was gonna have babies?" And there — her trademark grin, one that invites Korzar in on her little plan … but also seems to say that she'll go on without him if he refuses to follow. "Baaaabies, milk … Bal, missing?! We should follow her! Maybe we can see where cubs -really- come from!" She gets a bit too excited and lets her voice's volume raise. Oops!

Korzar's ears twitch and swivel forward as he listens to Kikora explain her plan. "Yeah! We can follow!" he exclaims, momentarily raising his voice too. Yikes! Cubs really gotta learn how to stay quiet. He raises his head, and takes a deep whiff, trying to figure out which way the scent was leading. "Uhh… that way," he says, pointing a paw and trying to seem confident… but he's not too good at tracking scents. At least he doesn't *really* need to know how to track… it's the lionesses' job to get food!

Kikora grins and follows Korzar's pointing, noting that he's correct (for now, at least) with a bright grin and an enthusiastic nod of her head. "When I found the … Celes…teal volcano, it was out here! Stupid lizard ran down -this- path!" She takes a few steps forward, each a little bouncy and full of energy. "I bet Balana's out there, in the volcano." She flashes another grin over her shoulder at Korzar and plods off, following the path.

[Travel.]

Flat grounds
-----/^\*/^\---/^\*/^\-----
You look about and shudder at the desolation of the land around you. The
earth is a deep brown color, the result of poor growth and soil. The
dreary landscape is terribly flat, so flat you are almost able to see
the horizons. Dead grass stretches like a harsh carpet. The only
feature that catches your eye, is an ancient volcano that has steadily
loomed in size as you approach it. This land feature is still a far
distance away and the depressing nature of these lands make you want
to get moving again.
-----\_/*\_/---\_/*\_/-----

You can move {on}ward to parched grounds [Over] to an incline
[G]reat [S]avannah Toward Pride Rock [S]

Korzar pads along after Kikora, letting her do the leading. He trusts her nose way more than he trusts his own! When they pass the Kopje border, he hesitates momentarily. He remembers that grounding… but the allure of the volcano is too much to resist. When they finally get out of the valley, he takes a long look around, repressing a tiny shudder. This place was not his favorite. But with the volcano looming on the horizon, he forgets all that. "There! Volcano!" he shouts excitedly. Kikora has described it well enough for him to know what it looks like, but he is eager to get a much closer look of his own.

The sad, lonely and longing feelings that she possessed the first time through here are not as bad with Korzar around. Kikora continues forward in a determined manner, her little tail flickering occasionally at her hocks as she moves. "Yup, that's it! But it takes looooooong time to get up to a cave, the one that Balana said Za-lee-ma had babies in. She said there was -another- one back -in- it." This is all very possible, as Kiko' climbed up into the cave and then proceeded to cry her little eyes out in fear. Buuuut … Korzar doesn't need to know that. She's brave, darnit! As if to make up for it, Kiko' takes a playful swing at Korzar's nearest forearm and giggles, darting ahead of him. "Yoou caaaan't -caaaatch- meee!" She teases, making the next bit of their journey into a game. That'll help her keep her mind off of the desolation of this region.

[Travel.]

Parched Grasslands
-----/^\*/^\---/^\*/^\-----
As you enter, you step carefully upon the drab brown grass. The surronding
area is extensive and stretches as far as you can see. The normal plethora
of fauna graze freely among the plains. Their herds seem to be the only
raised things along this austerely flat ground. The volcano stil looms
as an imposing figure in the scene. It is the only raised part of the
landscape and draws your attention with its magnitude.
-----\_/*\_/---\_/*\_/-----

You can move {closer} to the volcano's slope
You can go back to the {Flat} grounds Nausica's Cheetah {Den}

Korzar giggles as he bounds after Kikora. She's probably right… he won't be able to catch her! Lionesses are the faster ones, the lions gotta be all big and bulky. Of course, they're still little enough that there's hardly any difference yet… so he's not going to fall too far behind. As he runs, most of his attention is on Kikora, bet he takes a few peeks at his surroundings. Looks like more of the same boring, old grasslands. But the volcano is getting bigger! Unfortunately, Korzar's beginning to tire, and starting to struggle to keep up the pace. As much as he wants to reach the volcano, he's not gonna be able to run the whole way there. "Kiko! Wait up!" he calls, beginning to slow his pace, until he's simply jogging.

Kikora glances over her shoulder as she crashes through the brittle grasses and slows to an idle, cautiously observing the way that Korzar is beginning to tire. She doesn't -remember- any water, or even any shade out here … so she ceases her playful game of tag. "Okay, we can walk there. It's -still- a long ways, even when we get to the volcano." She remembers the weaving paths she took, the switchbacks that made the journey even longer. Yuck! "We'll get up to the cave, and then rest, 'kay? But … we'll walk there." She grins now, giving him a healthy and friendly nosing at his ear when Kor' gets close enough.

Korzar had to leave, but the cubs eventually made it up the Volcano, and into a dark cave.

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