Fuyuki

Blue dadem butterflies
Lich eyes
Change eyes


It was an average day in Jun’Ichi’s pride. The heat of the sun had drained everyone's energy down, making them sleepy and unmotivated to do anything really. A few cubs had formed a group and braved the scorching sun to jump around chasing bugs. But everyone else was lying around in a sleepy haze, trying to stay in the shade of the marula trees.

Fuyuki’s claws dug so forcefully into the bark of the marula branch she was perched on top of, that she was afraid she might snap right through it. Little splinters stuck up from the wood, sticking into the pads of her paws slightly, but she didn’t really notice. Normally, of course, the white-pelted lioness’s paws would be planted firmly on the ground. Lions were not built to climb through the trees. But today was an exception. She lowered her head down and inched forward on the thick branch a little to make sure she hadn’t been spotted. The tree she was occupying had such broad leaves that you’d be able to stick an elephant in its branches and no one would notice. This hiding place was perfect for someone like her. Her snowy white fur easily blended in with the winter snow. But now, her color made her stick out against the golden-brown grass like a giraffe in a herd of impala. And she knew in her heart that if she was caught, she would never be able to look her target in the eyes again.

Who was she stalking? It was hard to explain. She glanced down at the clearing below her hesitantly. Yep, she was still there. Supposedly unaware of her presence, Tipi lowered her head down to take a drink from the small stream which flowed through the pride’s territory. The water was pretty low but it would still be a while until it went dry. The dark cocoa-colored lioness finished her drink and continued batting a cheetah skull from side to side. She looked bored. She probably wished she was out hunting right now, instead of cooped up here. Fuyuki watched her knock the skull from side to side with slight interest, laying down carefully on the branch. Why was she stalking Tipi in particular? She wasn’t sure.

Tipi was part of the hunting party, so before she hadn’t even noticed her up until rather recently. The cheetah-spotted lioness was always out diligently hunting to provide the pride with sustenance for the day. But now that there was no prey to hunt, she had been stuck here for weeks on end. Stuck here, with Fuyuki. And that was when she had started the stalking. She had been at it for quite a while. There was something about Tipi that compelled her to climb up into this stupid tree, and get splinters all up in her paws and fur, just so she could be around her.

She shifted her weight a little, making the leaves around her rustle softly. Did she suspect anything? Fuyuki doubted that she was entirely oblivious to her stalking. But how much did she know? She hadn’t said anything. She watched as Tipi yawned and stretched, her coal-spotted fur shining in the sun. Although Fuyuki knew that her own white fur was quite beautiful, she sometimes found herself rather jealous. Though she was a bit more ordinary looking, Tipi was beautiful in her own right.

As if on cue, her target started walking towards the dens. Aw man… she was just starting to get the hang of this whole climbing thing. Fuyuki carefully climbed down from her perch and started scouting out where she would stalk her from next. Her only choice was a clump of bushes that didn’t look quite thick enough to hide behind. She lowered her back legs to the ground carefully, still holding on with her forepaws, before dropping lightly to the ground. Ahh, solid ground. She had missed it. She quickly brushed some of the leaves from her pelt, trying to make it look like she hadn’t just climbed up a tree. She was just going to walk in, maybe eat something, and act casual. She grabbed a juicy-looking lizard from the bottom of the kill pile and sat down a few feet away, not looking up as she tore into the small carcass.

“Fuyuki?” She glanced up, the lizard still dangling from her jaws. Tipi had walked over to her and sat down next to her, nodding a greeting to her. “Good morning Tipi.” She said in a more formal tone than she had intended, dropping the lizard. “It’s a little cooler out today, don’t you think?” So she had just come over to talk about the weather. Okay, that was fine. “A little, yes.” She answered shortly, finishing her task of tearing the meat from the lizard’s tiny bones. “I guess it would be cooler up in a tree.” Fuyuki almost choked on one of the lizard’s bones. “I was just – I thought it would be cooler.. and I was bored.” She rushed to justify her actions, feeling embarrassed. “You’re bored too?” She asked with a sigh, shuffling her paws impatiently. “What do you do to pass the time if you don’t hunt?” Tipi quickly realized what she said and hurriedly added “I mean I’m sure your role is quite important even if you don’t hunt. You help the King make decisions and all. But...” She trailed off, shrugging. “What do you do for fun?”

Fuyuki considered the question for a moment. “I sometimes help with the cubs when Bast is busy.” She said, turning to look out at the clearing. Yep, the small group of cubs were still running around wreaking havoc. They were now pestering Felice, another hunter, and begging for her to take them on a hunting trip. “Speaking of cubs,” She got up and headed towards the group. Felice was trying to explain that even she wasn’t allowed to leave now but they wouldn’t have it. “Why not? You’ve always been able to find prey before. And now that there isn’t much, you can teach us how to find prey when there’s not much around!” A grey white-speckled cub who was clearly the leader spoke up confidently. “King Jun’Ichi has instructed the hunters not to go out. It would be a waste of time and effort because there isn’t any prey to catch.” She explained patiently. "And besides, you are too young. You might get hurt out there and we wouldn't want that." She said. Of course, her statement was met with outrage from the cubs, denying that they were too young for such a thing. "Soon you'll be ready to get out there with the hunters and learn. But for now, you're stuck here."

She chuckled, laying down and letting one of them climb up onto her back. "Hey, where's Bast anyway? Shouldn't you be with her?" The white-speckled cub snickered mischievously. "She was busy with some of the younger cubs. So we snuck away." She said, looking quite proud of herself. Poor Bast. Even her abilities had their limits. Fuyuki gave her a disapproving look. "You shouldn't sneak away like that. She's probably worried about you." The cub huffed in annoyance. Fuyuki looked up to see the brood mother heading towards them, looking flustered. "Sorry Felice! Good morning Fuyuki. Tipi." She hurried over, nodding graciously to each of them in turn. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time while I was playing with the little ones and I just.." "It's no problem." Felice said with a patient smile, picking up a cub in her mouth and setting her down in front of Bast. "Thank you." She picked her up, starting to herd the others back towards the den. Bast certainly had a way with cubs, but even she got overwhelmed sometimes. "Do you want some help? I'm sure Fuyuki and I could be of some use." Tipi piped up, stepping forward confidently. “I mean, I can. Do you have anywhere to be?” She turned to Fuyuki who shook her head passively. “You look like you could use some extra help with all the extra cubs.” Bast gave her a grateful smile and mumbled something unintelligible while holding a cub in her mouth. She just nodded towards the cubs’ den and started towards it. “I didn’t know you had a way with cubs.” Fuyuki blinked at the compliment, glancing back at Tipi. “Uh… thanks. I guess they’re just fun to have around.” She started heading towards the den behind Bast, letting Tipi follow behind. Maybe she would have a chance to talk to her more. Maybe get to know her better. And Tipi seemed to have taken a liking to her. She felt her heart lift up in her chest as she entered the den and she and Tipi started playing with the older cubs. Maybe it could be the start of something else as well.