Burying the Past [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari, still in his playful mood, made a fake scared face and flattened his ears against his head at Kijamii's comment. He decided to add some more effect into it by quickly moving back to the cubs' side, and quickly speaking up. "So... Lina, Juhudi, what would it be?" he asked, looking at both of the cubs and waiting to hear what they have decided.

Lina thought of what Juhudi suggested. She always tried to win Dakari in wrestling, but she was just too small. He always tickled her or something, and winning in this race could be some sort of a revenge. Another idea of getting a good laugh at him also came to her mind, but she decided she would save that one for later. "Would you mind if I race with Kijamii?" her other idea was going to be so hilarious once they noticed that a storm was going to cancel their race.

-------

Marini realy wanted to say that they had time to simply head back to the small den, but she was almost completly sure that they weren't going to get back on time. But she still didn't want to into that tunnel. She was always phobic of those places, and the only reason she stayed inside the pride's den was because she had room right by the entrance. But she had never really been in the inside of a cave. "I think we still have time to..." her speech was cut off when suddenly rain began pouring, and she began shivering as she felt the big cold drops of water drench her.

[AustralianChaos]

Juhudi grinned at Lina, happy that an agreement had finally been reached. "Not at all! Boys on girls it is!" he declared, his voice laced with a challenging tone, clearly exuding confidence...he was pretty convinced that Dakari was going to win this one, even if he had never seen Kijamii run before. But either way, he just wanted to climb onto an adult's back and start having fun!

As Juhudi trotted off towards Dakari, grinning from ear to ear, Kijamii turned to Lina, smiling at the little cub. "Alright, Lina...how do you like the idea of making these two boys eat the dust we leave behind?" she asked humourously, deliberately making her voice loud enough for Dakari to hear, smirking in the lion's direction. Because she was so focused on the challenging words being exchanged, and the race ahead of them, she never noticed the rapidly darkening sky...nor the violent storm front that was already drenching other parts of this particular territory...

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Tanga yelped as the rain suddenly increased in ferocity, the light drizzle turning into a torrential downpour with surprising speed. Within seconds, his fur was soaked. He stood and needlessly shook himself, using a paw to brush his sodden mane out of his eyes, since it was now firmly plastering itself to his head. He turned to look at Marini, only to find her shivering, leaving him concerned. "Come on!" he called to her over the downpour, happy that the flash of lightning, and accompanying thunderclap, waited until after his call to occur, although he did jump at the noise, the loud, rumbling boom shaking Tanga's very bones, it was that loud. Hoping to emphasise his words, he quickly moved beside her and pointed to the mysterious cave from earlier. "We have to get in there, Rini, come on! We're gonna drown out here!" he called once more, beginning to lead the way towards the cave mouth, planning on waiting out the storm in there...it was either that or freeze to death in this storm...and Tanga knew which one he preferred.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, upon noticing Juhudi's approval and hearing Kijamii words, which seemed as taunts aimed at Dakari and Juhudi, quickly shot the two 'boys' a mischevous grin, before running over to Kijamii's side. "Oh yeah! You two are so going to lose!" she yelled, in an absolutly playful cubbish mood. She then crouched, and jumped onto Kijamii's back like she did with Dakari. This race was going to be huge fun. And if they won, she was going to tease Dakari for losing to a girl, and maybe even mentioning the 'girl friend' thing in Dakari's face would be funny too. Even if it wasn't true, the look on Dakari's face the first time she asked about that was priceless.

Dakari ignored Lina and Kijamii, deciding to save the playful mood they encouraged in him for the race as he turned to Juhudi. "Ready for some fun?" he asked with a grin as he lowered his upper body so that his muzzle was an inch away from the little cub's face. He just found both Juhudi and Lina absolutely adoreable, he could even just stare at a cub for hours without getting bored. He then reached Juhudi with his paw, grabbed him, and threw him up in the air so that the cub landed directly on his back. Once he felt that Juhudi was well placed on his back, he finally turned to Kijamii. "I'm sure they'll both have a great time." he said with a smile. He honestly didn't care who won, he just wanted Juhudi and Lina to have fun.

-------

Marini really didn't like small caves like that one, but she didn't have much of a choice, since she knew how cold they were both going to get really cold in a few moments, might as well get under cover. Despite her fear of going inside that tunnel, Marini found herself by Tanga's side within a second. She wanted to just run inside and shake the freezing water off of her, but she didn't feel good about not waiting for Tanga. However another thunderclap caused her to jump and run straight for the entrance. The moment she was under solid rock, she shook as much water as she could before curling up to a tight ball as she was reminded of how cold she was. "Are you o-kay o-... over th-there?" she stuttered, as clearly and as loudly as she could.

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii simply smiled at the boys as they ignored her and Lina...she knew they heard. Flashing one last smirk their way, she then turned to Lina. "Alright, Lina," she whispered, keeping the boys out of this conversation. "Since I'm still new here, I have no idea where this race is going...this is where you come in, Lina...I need you to help guide me, tell me which way to go to get to Dakari's den, and what I might have to watch out for on the way. I am not going to lose this race for us...but I need your help, okay?"

As Dakari commented that the cubs would have a great time, she smiled right back at him. "Just as I'm sure we will, too...but you're still gonna lose!" she called back, completely in a teasing, challenging mood, her body shifting constantly as it awaited the call to start the race.

While Kijamii was whispering to Lina, Juhudi was coming down from the thrilling adrenaline rush he got from when Dakari threw him onto his back...he always found that incredible fun, although he doubted his parents would approve of Dakari's actions. But they didn't ask, and he didn't tell. he smiled at Kijamii constant challenges, before calling back. "I don't think so, Jamii! Just wait till we beat you there, you won't be saying that then!"

He then leaned down to Dakari's ear, resisting the urge to playfully bite at it as he spoke to the lion privately. "Alright, let's get going...I can't wait any more!"

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"Rini!" Tanga yelled as a thunderclap startled the young lioness, sending her dashing for the cave mouth as Tanga picked up the pace to follow. He heard her shivering call to him as he got close himself, and felt terrible for her. She was freezing cold, and obviously scared by the raging thunderstorm. He quickly dragged himself under the shelter of the cave mouth as well, moving away from Marini so he could thoroughly shake himself off as well, before turning back to her curled-up, shivering form.

Now that he was somewhat dry, although terribly cold himself, he managed to reply to her earlier question. "I'm okay...but what about you? You're freezing..." he trailed off at this point. He could not just sit there and do nothing while she appeared to freeze to death, but what could he do? He came up beside her, noting just how bad her shivering was...there seemed to be something more than the cold causing it...she was scared. At this point, Tanga knew he had to do something...but what?

The answer finally came to him, leaving his cheeks going deep red once more as he realised just what it would take to help Marini warm up again. But after a few moments grappling with the possible repurcussion of moving so close to her, especially considering his crush on her, he realised that he had little choice. She was cold, frightened, and aside from him, alone. She really needed someone right now...and he was the only one around.

As another flash of lightning filled the sky outside, followed by another loud, rolling thunderclap, the choice was made for him. If the one before had startled Marini, every one would frighten her a little more. Gather up every piece of courage he could find, he slowly came up beside her, placing a paw on her shivering form, his eyes widening at just how cold her fur felt. Was he just as bad? "Marini, you're freezing!" he exclaimed, before quickly laying down beside her, letting his shoulder and upper flank touch hers, hoping the small contact would help her marginally...he didn't want to go any further than that, and risk a violent rebuke. He did, however, take a paw and place it back on her freezing shoulders, slowly rubbing along her shoulderblades, trying to both calm her down and warm her up at the same time, feeling completely self-conscious while doing so. "Rini...does this help?" he asked nervously, fighting to hide the blush on his muzzle...it really would not help either of them for his crush to come out in the open now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was lucky to have Kijamii remind her that the lioness wasn't familliar with the area, because otherwise Lina would have forgotten to guide her and they would have most likely lost. "You bet!" she said with excitement, before looking at Juhudi as he refused to acknowledge the fact that they were going to lose. "I don't think so! You are so going to lose!" she said as she looked back down on Kijamii's head, "They will lose for sure! And then I can laugh at Dakari for losing to a girl." she added with a smirk.

Dakari didn't take Kijamii's or Lina's taunt seriously. He wasn't the type who you could easily upset, but it was enough to get him into the mood. "Less talking!" he said, knowing that it was also a taunt, and that it would also a one that you couldn't reply to. He looked around at Juhudi who was standing on his shoulder, while resisting the urge to pull the cute little cub into a hug, "Hell yes!" he said, before readying himself and looking at Kijamii again, "You ready?" he didn't know that the heavy storm was still heading their way.

-----

Marini didn't notice the relief that came over her when Tanga was also inside the cave and that he appeared to be fine. There was an akward silence for a moment, the sound caused by the rain drops was getting stronger, and she guessed that she was looking rather frightened, especially when thunderclaps were heard. She was also reminded of how cold she was when Tanga noticed her shivering, and spoke it out aloud. She looked at him, but her shiverings made her feel like she couldn't even talk.

As moments passed, she began to feel colder and colder. It appeared that Tanga was right and she really was freezing. She did somehow feel it when Tanga placed a paw on her back and she wasn't sure of how to exactly respond to this. After hearing Tanga declare the fact that she was freezing again, he suddenly lay down and cuddled up to her. At first she had no idea what exactly the adolescent was doing, but when he started to gently rub her shoulders with his paw, she noticed that it was making her feel a little less cold. As he asked whether it was helping her or not, Marini looked at him and suddenly noticed that his eyes were a deep blue, almost identical to hers. She hasn't noticed that untill now, and she suddenly remembered the talk she eavesdropped to, between Tanga and Lina, and the possibility of Tanga having a... 'crush' on her. "Yeah... a little..." she said, before a strong breeze of cold wind caused her to stop staring into Tanga's eyes and instead look outside again. The wind began blowing hard, and she was soon shivering again. They did however have the option of going deeper into the tunnel, which should solve their little wind problem. "We should probably go deeper inside." She said, despite the fact that she was scared of going inside and was even feeling safer and more comfortable in their cuddled up position.

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii turned to Dakari and grinned at him...no matter who won, she was sure she was going to have the time of her life, and like the others, she was so focused on their game that she did not notice the storm, now mere seconds away from reaching them and starting the furious downpour. "Definitely! Let's do this!" she called back to Dakari, crouching low, ready to take off at a moment's notice. "Hang on, Lina...here we go!" she said, already feeling the adrenaline beginning to pump through her body as she waited.

Juhudi, unable to contain his patience any longer, decided he would be the one to set everyone off. "Alright, then!" he called, his small paws clinging to Dakari's neck a little tighter, preparing for the speedy ride he was about to get. "Ready..." he called slowly, smirking as Kijamii crouched low...maybe he could trick them a little? "Set..." after the second word, he hesitated for several moments longer than necessarry, hoping that by breaking the rhythm of the count that he could trick Kijamii. He did see her twitch slightly, but she was obviously focused, and would not be so easily fooled. Juhudi simply shrugged and clung even tighter as he called a start to the race. "GO!"

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Tanga froze as Marini locked gazes with him, the very small space between their muzzle suddenly making Tanga realise just how close he was to her, and all the little details he could make out. Although, for that moment, as she replied, confirming his hopes that he was helping, his focus was on her eyes, as she was focusing on his. He was surprised by the similarity her eyes possessed to his own, but before he could think too much on it, and embarrass himself, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Marini's shivers, alerting him to the wind blowing into the tunnel...also pulling a small part of the rain with it.

He sighed as Marini suggested heading deeper inside, and heard her reluctance, as well. He looked at her for a brief moment, before it finally clicked into place in his mind...she didn't like caves...or at least this one. But she didn't like thunderstorms, either, and her mind was trying to battle over which was the lesser fear. Finally stopping his paw's gentle massage of her shoulders, he slowly got back to his paws, helping Marini up as well. "I don't think we have much choice, really," he said softly, moving himself so that he was taking the worst of the wind and rain, before guiding them deeper into the gloom of the tunnel.

As they walked, Tanga's shyness returned in full force, as he fully realised just how close he had gotten to the lioness he secretly fancied. "Uhh...Rini, I...I'm sorry about before. You just looked so cold, and I was just trying to help..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Nobody noticed that the storm was rapidly moving towards them, besides Lina, who wasn't saying anything about it and wasn't going to give any of her friends a warning. She rode Dakari a few times before, but he never agreed to even let her outside when it rained, telling her that her parents would be worried and blah blah blah. Now that neither of her friends were aware, she could finally have that experience and blame it all on Dakari for not noticing if her parents asked. She wasn't counting on that though, she even knew that there was a big chance that her parents wouldn't even notice her absence. She just pushed the thoughts of her stupid parents aside and held tight to Kijamii's neck as she realised the race would start any second

Kijamii wasn't falling for Juhudi's little trick, but Dakari was left a little confused as he waited for Juhudi's 'Go', which took longer to be spoken out aloud by the cub. He realised that Juhudi was up to something, and realised that the cub was about to set the race off as he felt his tiny paws cling a little harder to his neck. It was a good hting that he noticed that, because during that second he had managed to ready himself, and took off in full speed the moment he heard Juhudi's confirmation. He didn't look to see what and where Kijamii was and doing, but instead focused on where he was running, leaving the talks and taunts to the cubs instead. He knew that he could run up to his den without needing to stop and rest, since he had done it a few times, so the decisive was going to be who was able to run faster.

------------------

Marini tried not to think about the rather embarrassing situation she was in a moment ago. But she felt her cheeks going a little red as Tanga helped her get back to her paws. He was right, and staying where they were was almost as worst as being outside now that the wind blew so hard and cold while carrying some of the rain with it. She took a deep breath before finally following Tanga deep into the tunnle, hoping that the storm would be over soon. The combination of being forced into a tunnel during such a heavy storm wasn't something she enjoyed.

The two of them walked in a rather akward silence for a few seconds. A few thunderbolt helped light the path a little, but it was getting darker the more they continued down the tunnel, but the light caused by the thunderbolts helped. Marini couldn't help but grin as Tanga spoke up again, this time sounding nervous like he usually was around her. It caused her to giggle a little as she wandered whether his cheeks were red again or not, which she couldn't tell because it was hard to see anything, "Of course you were." she said, trying to make him nervous by using a slightly different, more playful tone and holding back another giggling fit as she waited for his reaction.

[AustralianChaos]

The moment Juhudi cried go, Kijamii's tensed-up limbs uncoiled like a wound-up spring, and she blasted off the start mark, going from standing to a full sprint in a second. As she took off, noticing Dakari right beside her...it seemed they were pretty evenly matched for speed, which caused Kijamii to grin. She knew her excessive energy levels meant she could keep up a very fast pace for a very long time, which meant that the longer this race went for, the more of an advantage she had.

"Lina?" she called, not bothering to shout, since that would just alert Dakari to what she was saying. "How far is it to the den...and we are going in the right direction, right?" she asked. She was pretty sure Lina was guiding her correctly, since Dakari was right beside her...but she just wanted to be sure. While she waited for Lina's answer, she kept up her rapid pace, refusing to give Dakari any sort of early lead, just in case the race was shorter than she anticipated.

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Juhudi, meanwhile, was clinging to Dakari's back, laughing and whooping like a maniac as he soaked in the feeling of the wind through his fur, and the thrill of the fast-paced ride...he loved these, and now that Kijamii was around, he wouldn't have to take turns with Lina any more...they could share. As he continued to cling to Dakari, he looked over at Kijamii and Lina, right beside them, and flashed his friend a muzzle-splitting grin, showing just how much he was enjoying this. "Having fun?" he called excitedly, hoping his cubbish voice could be heard over the roaring of the wind in all their ears.

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Tanga embarrassed blush only increased at Marini's response, with a little shame beginning to mix in, as he took her comment as an implication that she thought he had been doing a lot more than just trying to keep her warm, completely missing her teasing, playful tone in the process. "I...I-I didn't realise you didn't...I'm sorry, Marini...I-I swear...I swear I was just helping...nothing more!" he stammered desperately, fearing an angry tirade from the lioness beside him. He knew that an angry lioness was something to be very afraid of, and that his actions may have just angered her.

Eventually, he realised that any attempt at apologising was useless, and he simply sighed heavily. "How do I always screw everything up?" he whispered to himself, forgetting for the moment that he was in a narrow, rocky tunnel, which was very good at carrying voices. He never even noticed how loud his whisper actually sounded, as he waited for Marini to launch into her tirade about getting too close to her without permission.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina found herself laughing and yelling and excitement the moment the race began. Her cubbish mind quickly brought her into trying to figure out whether riding on Kijamii was more fun than riding on Dakari. All of those calculations caused her to forget that she had to guide Kijamii through the race, and she was only reminded of it when Kijamii spoke up, asking her whether they were going the right way. "Yeah. The den is like a few minutes away," she guessed that a running adult would probably get there faster than that. She kept looking up every once in a while, trying to figure out whether the rain was going to start before the race was over or not.

Her ears managed to pick onto Juhudi's voice, barely, and she then noticed that he was right beside her. Dakari was able to keep up with Kijamii's pace, and he didn't seem like he was having a hard time doing so. Despite the fact that she and Juhudi were like a feet's distance away, she could barely hear him because over the wind that was caused by Kijamii's running. "What?" she yelled back at him, trying to listen carefully in case he understood her and spoke up again.

-----

As Tanga began to stutter, Marini smirked as her little idea appeared to be working. But as the pressured adolescent talked on, she noticed that he was being rather apologetic instead. He didn't seem to notice the different tone that she used a moment ago, was he that shy of her? There was silence for a few seconds, untill she heard Tanga's whispering. As she heard what he said, she figured out that he was whispering it to himself, but he forgot that they were in a rather narrow place. She already understood what he was talking about, but decided to try the same thing again. "I'm sorry, can you explain yourself? I'm afraid I can't understand what you mean by that..." She said, again with that tone, though this time she chuckled slightly, unlike last time in which she kept quiet.

[AustralianChaos]

Kijamii smiled as Lina confirmed that they were going in the right direction, and that Dakari's den was only a few minutes away...she would have to keep her fast pace if she wanted to win this one...it was too short for her to use her massive endurance to her advantage.

But as they tore across the grasslands, Kijamii finally noticed the approaching storm as it blocked out the sun, casting a deep gloom over the land around them. Seeing the heavy, black state of the clouds, approaching fast, and the wall of water pouring down from them, she actually slowed her pace slightly, realising they were heading straight for it...and judging by how close it was, it was between them and their destination. "Uh-oh..." she said softly, almost completely forgetting about the race as she continued to jog, wondering whether she should turn back and try to get back to her cave before the storm hit...or whether she should just tough it out and get them all to Dakari's den instead.

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Juhudi didn't properly hear Lina's reply, instead thinking she was agreeing with him. He grinned brilliantly, before giving a long, loud whoop of joy...only for that whoop to vanish, along with his excitement, as they ran straight into the pounding rain. Yelping as a strong wind battered into his small frame, making him cling harder to Dakari's mane to stop himself falling off as the rain pounded into his back, soaking his fur in seconds. Already shivering, Juhudi leaned down to Dakari's ear. "Dak, get us out of the rain!" he cried, hoping the lion could hear him...or was already trying to escape the rain himself.

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Tanga stared at Marini for a few moments at her question, before realising his whispered comment had reached her ears. His own ears pinned back into his mane as he tried to wave off the issue. "It's nothing, Marini," he said, although even he could tell his voice lacked any sincerity whatsoever. "I...I'm sorry for upsetting you," he repeated once more, before looking around, noticing that the entrance to the tunnel was some distance away now, and that, this far in, the wind had completely died down, although the gloom was almost stifling.

"I think we'll be fine here," he said, trying to distract both of them from the awkward direction the conversation was heading...he did not want to admit his crush on Marini to her so soon after meeting her...it didn't seem right...it was too fast...and he was certain she would just get more upset. He sat down by the wall of the tunnel, keeping his head bowed, trying to hide the deep blush on his muzzle with the gloom of the tunnel, and the short, half-formed mane now hanging over his eyes.