[PRP] Fish tails and water snails. (Yeyeng'aa & Ryujin)

[[Eskimo]]

The wind on the bay made the dimples in the water glitter like a million rainbow shells. The sun was high, but not scorching. It was a pleasant afternoon, even more-so because of the breeze. The pride might've been changing, but the ocean stayed the same. It was peaceful.

Yeyeng'aa was on a sandbar just off the bay, her body poised as if to strike. She was fishing--most of the time, anyway. But when the waves moved a certain way, or the breeze caught her just right, or the sun beamed that special way it did, Yeye would relax into a smile and close her eyes. She'd bend her body upper body forward slowly, stretch a limb one at a time, rise up and draw an arc in the sand with slow, sweeping paws, sometimes moving her body in a steady circle. It was a strange, lazy kind of dance with no particular music or rhythm save for the wind, the waves, and the distant calls of the gulls.

Seeming a bit more energized after her meditation, she'd poise her figure again and stare beneath the water's edge at a school of little fish rippling silver beneath her nose. And this was how Yeyeng'aa fished. She hadn't caught anything yet, but she would soon. Fish were so cool, though.... The way they darted so quickly from one place to the next, how flat their bodies were, how their shiny scales caught the sun... Maybe she'd watch them for a little while longer...

The lioness seemed to slip into reverie again, but didn't rise into her dance this time. Instead, she reclined completely at the water's edge where she was once tensed to strike, and relaxed so deeply that her maw sank slightly and tiny bubbles streamed out of her nose.  

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

Whatever was going down in the pride, the young adolescent didn't seem to know. Everything that had happened thus far was more than what his little cub-mind could handle at the time. But he was older now. He was growing more hair on his neck, and becoming taller, lankier. He still had a bit of cub fat on him, but the lion was also quite lazy, so extra pudge on him was probably to be expected.

He would one day ask his parents exactly what went down that day at the beach, but for now, it was too nice of a day to even bother.

Instead, he decided to use the day to enjoy a nice nap in the sun. He enjoyed his dark pelt soaking up the rays, warming his coat. The slight breeze of the ocean kept him cool enough where he could take pleasure in it.

Living in a beach pride, it was expected to see others on the shore. When Ryujin arrived, it didn't faze him that another had already claimed a spot in the water. The dark male only hoped she would be quiet and whatever antics she was doing. He couldn't help but watch her for a moment. Her movements in fishing were interesting. He quirked an eyebrow, awaiting to see if she caught anything.

No fish sat by her side, but Ryujin didn't even know how long she had been out here. He shook his head, finding a nice soft spot on the sand.

"Nothing biting today?" The young male asked, flopping to the ground on his side, his head turned to watch her through his pink orbs.  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeyeng'aa heard the voice before she took notice of a foreign presence nearby. She pulled her mouth from the water and turned to look at the young male beside her, regarding him as though he'd been there the whole time. She trailed her tongue over the water dripping from her maw and grinned.

"Woahhh," she exclaimed quietly, "your eyes look like two pink starfish."

One of the small fish jumped from the water, catching Yeye's attention. "Nah, nothing biting," she answered after a moment, watching the school flicker about. "Except...my...claws," and with that, she snatched a fish from the water in a blur of movement and tossed it onto the sand bar. She stood and offered the male a lazy smile, saying, "I'm pretty good, huh?" But it was unclear if she was serious or not considering there was but one minuscule piece of evidence to that fact flitting about behind her. The male was younger than her for sure. Probably. Maybe he didn't know how to fish too well and was looking for some tips?

"Do you like fishing?" she asked him. "You can join me if you want, I can teach you some tricks. I'm a pretty good teacher." Whether or not that was true was hard to say.

KasaiLoki

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

Two pink starfish?

Ryu found his eyes crossing, trying to see them for himself. His nose twitched when he couldn't do it, and found himself glancing at the lioness again. He could have gotten up and looked at his reflection in a stagnant ocean pool, but he was oh so comfortable in the sand. Shimmying his body in the granules.

He watched her paw swipe the water, leaving the small fish to flounder on the sand bar. His paws kneaded the sand, as he purred. He just gave her a hesitant smile, but his facial features said it all. If you were good, wouldn't there be more of a catch next to you? That was a rude comment for the adolescent, so he opted to just nod slightly.

His kneading stopped as he shifted to his belly. "I've...never tried it." His parents always caught him his meals. Getting older, he knew he would have to start. He frowned.

"Maybe I could just watch what you do?" Lazy boy was lazy.  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeye wasn't bothered by the look the adolescent gave her, instead she stifled a laugh.

"You just wait, once I teach you some tricks you won't have a single doubt left in your head," she said, sounding more good-natured than cocky. She watched him kneading the sand, watched the grains of sand shifting. It reminded her a bit of her own meditative movements. Maybe this kid was a kindred spirit? And he really was seeming young, now that she looked at him. His mane wasn't even fully grown in yet...not to mention he'd never fished before.

"Oh man," Yeye groaned, throwing her head back as if to question the gods. She looked down and met his eyes once again, saying, "Then you really need to watch me fish, dude! It's super easy, don't even worry about it." And with that note of reassurance, she angled herself to give her new student a proper view of good fishing posture, poised herself, and waited. By this time the school of tiny fish had moved on, but she did see some rather choice reddish speckled big-foreheaded ones (she wasn't so good with names). A pipefish distracted her, but no, it was an eel...oh, actually it was seaweed...wait, was it...

"So how come you never learned how to fish before?" Yeyeng'aa asked, still focused on the fish below the surface.

KasaiLoki

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

He rose to his paws slowly approaching the other to watch her. He had never really watched his parents before. The fish just ended in front of him, and Ryujin wouldn't question it. Who would question how food got to you anyways?

"I'm not worried." He seemed to say, head tilting as she eyed the water. The water was pristine, it was hard to not see fish swimming in the slow waves. Some of the finned creatures Ryu hadn't even seen before. Maybe they were poison to consume? Or maybe they were just too slick to be caught.

He shrugged, before realizing she couldn't see his gesture. "I just...never thought of it before. There were other thoughts on my mind." Like sleeping. Sleeping on the beach, sleeping in the jungle just before the beach. Sleeping under the large rock that gave just enough shade to keep you cool, but allowed you to still feel the heat of the ground.

"Mom and Dad never seemed to push, so I...didn't either."

He watched her focus. "How long have you been fishing? Do you normally catch a lot?"  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeyeng'aa seemed about to pounce, but instead turned to the young male and knitted her brows a bit while she smiled, listening. "That's a bummer, dude," she mulled. Not that it was her business how anyone raised their cubs. "Fishing's great," she said, turning back to the water, "it's just about the best form of hunting there is. Right on the sea...like you're a part of the ocean..." her eyes followed the ripples in the waves as they stretched out to the horizon, met with the sky, melded with the clouds, burst through the sun...

Yeye's body relaxed and she swept a paw across the sand, then the other, bowed low, swept up, spun slowly, swaying. When she'd finished, she yawned, blinked a few times, then looked around as though she had forgotten what she had been doing in the first place. When she saw the adolescent again, she grinned, and in a flash of water and blur of movement, she had a large fish in her claws. She dragged it to the sand and laid it at the other lion's paws.

"I've been fishing since I was a cub, man. I catch enough, and that's all you ever need," she said easily. She pushed the fish a bit farther forward, indicating it was his if he wanted it. "You wanna try your paw at fishing now that you've watched a pro?" There was clear sarcasm in her tone this time, making it evident that she didn't think she was a great fisher after all.

KasaiLoki

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

Ryujin followed her gaze to the horizon as she spoke. She seemed to get lost with the slow moving waves, before she focused back towards him, and hit the water. Pink eyes glanced at the flipping fish on the sand. Slowly, it's movement waned before it was left, gaping for water.

He watched the fish for a moment. It would be rude to even consider consuming it in front of the lioness. If she caught another one, he wouldn't feel as bad.

When she asked if he wanted to try, he frowned. "I..." He hesitated, before nodding slowly. "Okay...I'll try." And then he would nap! It was such a nice day after all.

"So...do I just...stand there and...swipe?" He shuffled into the water, his feet kicking up the white sand, making the water blurry.  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeye watched him with a glow in her eyes, somehow proud as if he were her star pupil in some imaginary fishing class. Or maybe like he was a baby sea turtle she had raised from an egg. Something like that. Cool....

"Don't second-guess yourself, just go for it, man," she said, nodding to the water. She waded with him for moral support. She motioned for him to be still and quiet, then watched the water until the sand cleared and the gentle waves turned blue again. "You gotta be like the ocean," she instructed. "If it's angry, you gotta be angry. If it's still, then you've gotta be...." she trailed off and watched the water roll in and out upon the shore.

"The fish will come. And when they do, you've gotta...." she trailed off again as she readied herself into a striking position, but just when she looked serious, she began her strange, lilting dance again, her eyes closing and maw stretching into a placid smile.

KasaiLoki

Soooooo sorry about the wait. emotion_facepalm

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

As the other motioned for him to pause, Ryu found himself freezing in the water. His light eyes focused on the current, the sand slowly settling to the ground, revealing the blue water and fauna within it. "Be like the ocean..." He murmured.

What did that mean? Ryu was so unsure what the lioness had said, but then she seemed to pause as she spoke. He glanced at her as she watched the waves on the shore. He noted her getting ready to strike, and copied her movements. He just didn't do the little dance she seemed to start again.

Ryu blinked, focusing back on the water, noticing the fish seeming to swim closer.

"...now?" Ryu found himself asking in a whisper towards the other, unsure if he should strike.  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeye stopped her dance and stood still beside the adolescent, watching the water move, watching the little ripples collect and flicker over the surface. She saw the fish underneath, saw the male's paw ready to strike. She found herself smiling.

"Sometimes you don't know the right moment," she said, turning to him, "sometimes you'll never know it. You can spend hours guessing, but you don't catch a fish by guessing. You just have to strike and see what happens." It was just like life. She wondered if he'd experienced enough to understand.

"Even if you don't catch something, you tried," she explained quietly, not wanting to disturb the fish. "Nothing's wasted. You can do it."

KasaiLoki

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

The dark lion nodded. He had never had the sense of failure before. He wasn't on that seemed to apply himself very often.

But he listened to Yeye and waited until he felt it was the best moment to strike. A fish, dark in color, was his target. It swam close to the pair's legs. Narrowing his eyes, the lion swayed before his paw struck the ocean. The fish seemed to have other plans, as it had escaped the strike and quickly swam in the now murky water, away for now from harm's way.

"Oh." Ryujin frowned, lifting his paw out of the current, noting it was empty.

"I guess I am not very good at this." He murmured. "Maybe next time?" Rome wasn't built in a day after all, and Ryu had more to learn and couldn't rely on first luck.

"Maybe you could teach me more another day?" Ryu asked after a moment. The sand had begun to settle in the ocean again, but the fish had yet to return. How much more practice they would get in the next few minutes was questionable.  

[[Eskimo]]

Yeye smiled at her new fishing protege, watching his attempt and failure with a glimmer of something like nostalgia in her eyes. She didn't understand how there were any lions in the pride who hadn't tried their paw at fishing much before. It was one of her favorite pastimes. Whenever she was feeling stressed, it was one of the only things that could truly calm her down. From what she could read on this boy, however, he didn't seem the type to need much help calming down.

She watched the fish swim away and glanced to the boy, saying, "It's not about being good or bad. It's about trying. So good try," she grinned. She lit up at her new student's suggestion. "I'd be happy to share some tips with you in the future, sure," she agreed. She looked to the horizon line, took in a deep breath, then turned back to the shore.

"Let's get you back on dry land, huh? We don't want you to stay out here and turn into a fish," she said, "that's for next lesson." She stifled a laugh as she paddled back to shore.

KasaiLoki

 

[KasaiLoki]

[Eskimo]

Ryu flashed a small smile as she complimented him on trying. An attempt was all that mattered it seemed, so he would have to keep up with it if he wanted to be better.

And at least she agreed to give him some more lessons. His parents would be proud he was finally taking an initiative and learning in the water.

"Dry land. Yes." Ryujin nodded in agreement. "As much as we love the water here, I think turning into a fish would not be good. Then I would probably be on someone's dinner plate." The dark lion joked, following the equally dark lioness back to shore. Once on shore, he shook the salt water that clung to his pelt away, probably splashing Yeye in the process.

"Thanks again for all your help."