Post by Bhaskar on Oct 22, 2010 12:24:08 GMT -7
Cast:
Mukula (Juve. Lioness)
Ladna (Juve. Lioness)
Dano (Juve. Lion)
Bhaskar & Lakshmi (Tiger, Golden Jackal)
Indra (Juve. Lion)
------
Forest Crossroad
A thick, deep and vast forest of teak, mahogany, sal and eucalyptus trees and a myriad of shorter undergrowth-layer trees blocks even tall beasts from seeing far in any direction, and keeps the large beasts -- elephant, rhinoceros, guar and water buffalo -- from travelling freely off of their few well-trodden trails that converge here. One trail leads south to a gentle slope, another to the northeast where the tall trees and tangled foliage give way to mostly grass and low bush. Teaks provide most of the tall canopy overhead, while a number of smaller trees including mango, jamun, jackfruit and piar cluster along with tangling vines and thorny bushes densely on the floor, impassable for beasts larger than a sambar or smaller tiger. Herds of chital and smaller herbivores frequent this area specifically because they can go where large tigers cannot, but the canopy layer above replaces the threat of mighty tigers with that of nimble leopards. The stench of a stagnant pond sometimes drift through the generally still air from the east, where another well-trodden trail leads.
------
It didn't take long for the travel-weary cubs to notice that there were no obvious signs of pursuit, so when they stumbled upon a cluster of rocks that would serve as a hiding place, there was only a minimal amount of arguing before they decided to stop and rest there, at least for awhile. Mukula took no part in the arguing, instead staring blankly ahead and keeping with the others mostly by instinct. When it registered that they were stopping, she found a quiet corner among the rocks, curled up, and tried to block out everything. The fear, the loss, the sound of her siblings continuing to argue and complain periodically through the night, everything. Once she felt someone tentatively poke her, but when that only caused a sad whimper she was left alone. Vaguely she was aware of the sun coming up, and the inconclusive discussions about what they should do now, but the only thing that would probably rouse her is if she heard them leaving.
Ladna argued, a lot. If one didn't know her, they might have blamed her insufferableness on shock and fright, but any familiarized soul would know she's just built that way, save made worse due to the night's traumas. Her scent reeks of terror and fury, and she eventually fell into a fitful sleep after a long tirade about the stupidity of them ever leaving home, what a bad idea it was to go through the wet smelly jungle, how they should have never helped that tiger because didn't mom and dad and auntie always say not to talk to strangers? She's curled up in a wretched ball in the shelter of the rocks, though even in her sorrow she fetched some leaves so she could settle them on the ground and avoid laying in the dirt. Laying next to his sister is Dano, having settled in to keep her warm only after she'd shut up and fell asleep so that she'd accept the closeness. Affection was the last thing she was willing to accept. The young lion barely slept save that half-unaware stare with one's eyes open, where the mind wanders and falls quiet. With his eyes sunken into dark, sleepless circles, the eldest of the cubs keeps his long guarding vigil even as the sun comes up. As it rises, so does he, feeling tight muscles pull and pop as he stretches. They can't stay here. He came to that decision last night. The killer might be back. "...come on. Wake up. We gotta go."
The forest had remained utterly silent for most of the night, but once the sky had begun to lighten by degrees one lonely cricket had chirped into the pre-dawn gloom and, as if that was the all-clear, everything else had joined in. Within five minutes of that hesitant prompt every bug, bird, and monkey had resumed life as usual, and if it weren't for the mangled carcasses strewn throughout the trees Dushta's attack may as well have not happened at all. At least not to those unaffected by it. To the cubs, left without the only caretakers they've ever known, the world might be ending. But their presence hasn't gone unnoticed or unreported, and it's a strange pair who come looking for the bodies and their survivors. Shaamti was easy to find. So was Vrimta, laid out across the path with her head at a strange angle and blood pooled and stickied beneath her neck. "Two out of three," Bhaskar murmurs, stepping past her. "Is the scent Dushta's?" The stench of the body, already starting to decompose, is cloying and makes it difficult to filter through any other scents that may be nearby, but Lakshmi's nose is sharp and the smell of tiger is all over this area anyway. The jackal nods, and the two of them continue on, her muzzle leading them inexorably closer to the cubs.
Being the youngest of the cubs, Mukula perhaps more than out of any of the rest of them still depended on her parents and aunt for her feeling of safety and security. To have it all taken away so suddenly and quickly while she's in a strange place is a bit more than she can really cope with. Though she can hear her brother talking about leaving she doesn't move a muscle. She's awake, unless she's sleeping with her eyes open, but it would take more than that to bring her out of this apparent trance.
Ladna lacks the desire to get up, but as much so, has no desire to stay here either. In the end, her intense dislike of the wet and shadow brings her to her feet. It takes but a moment for her to settle into a fitful bout of grooming, dragging her tongue across her fur to clean out the muck and tangles and smooth down her rumpled smokey-taupe fur. It doesn't last long as the attentions of several of the cubs, herself included, are drawn towards the faint sounds of movement in the distance. "....let's get out of here." Ladna murmurs as her fur begins to fluff out on end, step by step moving backwards. "...something is out there. We should go."
What exactly is moving about out there? There isn't a lot of noise, but what does reach the young lions in their hiding place sounds almost as if there are /two/ animals nosing around. Lakshmi ranges out in front of her companion, her nostrils working despite the fact that their tracks are steadily growing fresher: a pawprint here, a tuft of fur on a broken branch there. And then, moments after Ladna announces that they should go, the jackal's long, thin face appears around the rocks and gazes in at them. She doesn't look particularly surprised to encounter them; she did track them here, after all.
It isn't her sibling's talking that makes Mukula move, but the sounds of something moving through the forest. The same sorts of sounds that happened just before Vrimta was attacked, whining weakly, she lifts her head just enough to see what it is, and stares at Lakshmi with a puzzled expression. What in the world? The jackal is hardly the large, black monster she expected to see coming but it takes her several moments of blank staring for what the creature is instead to register. A jackal... should she be afraid of a jackal? Without an adult here, she's suddenly uncertain.
A bold jackal may cause a single cub some grief, but, there's quiet a few lions here to the one jackal. Still, Ladna does not look convinced, or at least reassured there's no danger. Flattening her ears, Ladna curls back her lips and utters as loud and ominous a hiss as she can muster with her fluffed fur and lashing tail. She tries her best to cut an imposing figure. "Go away!" She shrieks out as her claws dig into the dirt. Dushta is far too large a foe to stand toe-to-toe with, but a jackal is plenty for a frightened little lioness.
Jackals are scavengers, omnivores, and hunters of small prey that have far fewer claws than a juvenile lion. Most would take one look at an entire nest of them and leave to find something more easily palatable. This particular canine doesn't, even when Ladna hisses at her. "Peace, child," she says instead, her voice as soothing as she can manage. "I'm not here to hurt any of you. Are you...are those your parents, back there?" Lakshmi tries to be delicate about it, but there's no way she can accomplish that, really.
After that moment of hesitancy, Mukula senses that the jackal isn't dangerous to them, parents or no. And with her sister handling that situation, she begins to withdraw into herself again, but not quickly enough. Hearing the jackal's question, she pained whimper as and curls up tightly again. That's the last thing she can stand thinking about! But at least that answer is easy enough to interpret. Better to just ignore everything again.
Unlike Mukula, Ladna doesn't display her grief with misery but bundles them in a gut-twisting fit of anger and defiance. "Maybe they are! They're /dead/ now. It doesn't matter. So just... leave us alone." She scowls darkly as she stalks over and pointedly sits between the jackal and her siblings with her blue eyes glowering something fierce. She's had enough of 'kindly strangers', and she'll not be convinced by this one, small and less toothy or no.
Even when Ladna pushes her way to the front of her siblings, blocking them off from Lakshmi, the jackal doesn't retreat. It's little wonder that they're edgy and mistrustful now, after all that's happened to them. And what happens next will either make the whole situation worse, or make it better--if they've had enough of kindly strangers, try a not so kindly one. "We'll leave you alone," Bhaskar rumbles from beyond the rocks, where he's flopped down out of sight. Not intentionally, mind, but he's laid down in the hopes of presenting a less threatening image once they do see him. "But where are you going to go now, girl? How are you going to feed yourselves?" Now Lakshmi appears startled, glancing over her shoulder and shooting Bhaskar a rather stern frown, but she doesn't try to contradict him. It's true.
Ladna visibly flinches back at the sudden voice of Bhaskar, a voice much louder and larger than that of the jackal. A squeak of alarm dissolves into a frightened hiss as she crouches close to the ground and glares at the hidden tiger. "None of your business! We'll be just fine." Is she sure of that? Of course not, but, they're brave enough. "We don't need help. We don't need anyone!" Her voice is thin and high despite the show of bravado she tries to put on.
Indra has been listening to everyone, still kind of in shock over the death of his mother, and Vrimta, so suddenly, but not to the extent of his sister, whom he is concerned about. He now hears Ladna's comments for a moment and pads over toward her a stern look on his face. "Hey, Maybe we should listen to them...They're older adults, maybe they can help us. You know, us running around alone doesn't seem like such a good idea....I mean, how are we going to find food? Did you ever think of that? What about shelter from the rain? Its monsoon season almost y'know. And to top it off, Hatyaa might be still out there looking for us. I don't know about you Ladna, but I'd rather not be out here all alone with a couple of cubs in the jungle with a demon after us...and well, I'd rather go with those two....You can do what you want, but i'm going with them, me and my sister, right Mukula?"
Indra seems firm on his decision. If mUkula wants to come its up to her if not....he'll go with the jackal on his own. He's not going to sit out like a sitting duck out here in the jungle waiting for hatyaa to find them.
"Don't you?" that deeper, grumbling voice says almost thoughtfully. Bhaskar has rolled onto his side by now, and he looks off into the forest instead of at the rocks where Ladna and her siblings have stashed themselves. "I suppose you're all big enough to look after yourselves. You can hunt, can't you? And fight? You heard her, Lakshmi--they don't need us. And I'm sure they don't need something to eat. We can split the sambar between us and let them get on with things." There's no sambar, really, but Utkrosh had promised to track some food down for them and Bhaskar is not above a bit of manipulation if it's in the best interests of himself or somebody else. But he doesn't rise, just falls silent as he hears one of the other cubs beginning to speak, his eyes shut. Lakshmi gives him another frown, but it does seem to be working, at least on Indra, so she still doesn't scold him.
Though the tiger is frightening to her, Mukula only watches him with wary eyes. In her mind, just as with her brother, it was Hatyaa that attacked them, whereas this is a tiger talking to them now. Tigers are dangerous, sure, but this one isn't attacking and his manner almost reminds her of their aunt. Forced into the present by the more immeadiate worry, she glances over to her sister and quietly says, "I'm hungry." She can't even remember when they last ate, and doesn't try as it undoubtedly involved their parents and she can't safely think aobut them right now.
Ladna utters a derisive scoff as her own stubbornness refuses to let her accept the tiger's offer, her own pride rankling at the need to be helped by one of the very creatures she was always told to avoid. "I'll be just Fine." She says, scowling darkly at both Indra and Mukula, as if disgusted they'll so easily trust these strangers. "Do what you want. I don't care." Pointedly she then turns her back on her half-siblings and stalks back towards the stones where they slept where she sits stiffly upright and refuses to pay them one more moment of her attention in what appears to be an outright dismissal.
Indra frowns watching Ladna's display, but he has a bigger concern, his sister who seems to be taking things rather harshly. He looks to the jackal and tiger. "I know me and my sister are coming with you....we're hungry and afraid of Hatyaa... I don't want to spend another night alone in the woods." He says. "Can we come with you?" He turns to his sister. "C'mon Mukula, at least they'll protect us until we can learn to hunt." He says. Let's get away from the forest."
Maybe a few nights on her own will change Ladna's mind. She can always follow their scents.
Even though Bhaskar can't see what's going on, Lakshmi can. Her face registers slight disbelief when Ladna gives them her back, unwilling to accept that they could help her but bold enough to turn away from two unknown predators. "That's fine, then," Bhaskar says, rousing himself. He rises to his feet, apparently set to walk away and leave the children to their fate, but he hesitates when Indra slinks out and asks if he and Mukula can go with them. "Yes," he replies simply. "Come on." He takes a step away, pausing only briefly to see if Indra and his sister will actually follow.
Will Mukula follow. Well, that's actually debateable, because though she pushes herself to her feet, she looks back at her sister with a torn expression. All of her lioness's instincts to stick together battle with her trust of her brother and her feeling that leaving might be the only way to get food. In the end, the decision combined with her mental state is apparently too much for her so she sits down and starts to cry.
Indra blinks.....at the jackal and the tiger, and then back at his sister....He looks to the jackal.."Please M'am, can you help my sister? I don't like to see her sad like this. She needs to go with you so she can eat." He looks to Mukula. "Please M'kula, you gotta come with us....there'll be food there, and Hatyaa won't be able to get you. If you stay here, you'll be in real danger." "Please Come with me Mukula!" He pleads. He waits for her to follow, nervously scanning the area to make sure he can't smell that stench of Hatyaa nearby waiting to pounce on them.
That backfired spectacularly! Bhaskar seems confident that the children will follow if he leaves them, now that they've the promise of food hanging over their noses. Lakshmi, however, isn't so sure. And when Mukula breaks down and begins to sob, that seals it. "Bhaskar, hold up," she says sharply, prompting a flick of the tiger's ear. They've been through almost all their lives together since late adolescence, but despite their almost identical experiences she remains less detached than her companion. He will be satisfied if he can get the cubs to someone who is better-equipped to deal with them; she seems concerned for their emotional state. "He's not here," she tells Indra when she sees him scanning the area, guessing, correctly, that he's worried Dushta might return. Then she approaches Mukula, albeit slowly in case the girl doesn't react well.
Now that she's started to cry, it seems that Mukula can't stop as it's not just the difficulty in facing leaving some of her siblings behind but the exhaustion - she didn't sleep at all during the night - combined with the recent loss means that she can hardly help it. When the jackal comes over, the girl-cub reacts as well as can be expected; the small canine is ignored as she's only slightly concerned about jackal and wouldn't be up to protesting anyways. Her brother is ignored as well, which probably speaks volumes because the two of them are normally attached at the hip.
Indra doesn't say much else for now, as he's letting Lakshmi and the tiger handle the situation. He is worried for his sister, and still in shock over the deaths of his mother and 'aunt.' He sits on a flat boulder and watches what the two will do to help his sister whom he deeply cares about.
Bhaskar doesn't do much. Well, he does stop moving, which is something, but he seems about as capable of handling this as Vrimta would be. Less capable, actually. At least he doesn't snap at Mukula to pull herself together (although if Vrimta did show up and yell at her niece that would probably be a welcome event). Fortunately, Lakshmi is either somewhat more well-versed in what to do with a crying child or at least more willing to try and deal with it. She doesn't speak either; there's really nothing she can say, for all that she'd gone through a similar event in her own youth. She simply sits beside Mukula instead, silent and somber, offering what support she can if the cub is willing to take it.
Perhaps the jackal shouldn't be so quick to offer support, as once Mukula becomes aware that she's offering it, the she-cub demands even more by firmly but gently placing one paw over her back and pressing her face into the canine. It doesn't much matter that this is a stranger she probably should be scared of, she just needs to /touch/ someone. After another moment, she's able to speak between sobs, "I can't *sniff* leave Ladna here." Her voice cracks and it's a whisper but the jackal at least should be able to understand it.
Indra pads over to Bhaskar, and sits near him. He listens, paying careful attention the entire time to what the jackal says, listening for any sign of deception. So far she seems truthful enough. And well, its better than being trapped in the forest alone. He looks at his sister across the crossroads, and whimpers. "C'mon Sis, you've gotta eat. I'm sure Ladna will follow us after a night in the forest alone." He says. "We gotta get going before that demon comes after us again!" He pleads. "C'mon listen to them M'Kula, they're tryin' to help us.{
Mukula is lucky this isn't Bhaskar who's attempting to comfort her; if she'd adhered herself to him he'd probably just sit there and look confused. But Lakshmi presses close to her in turn, her chin settling over the girl's head, and makes some low calming noise. "You'll not have to leave her," she whispers back, neatly contradicting Bhaskar. "It's all right. We can make sure you stay safe, but you've all got to come with us."
Again her brother's words fall on deaf ears. How can he even /think/ of leaving anyone behind after what's happened? Their siblings are all they have left. Instead she listens carefully to the jackal, and at those comforting words she's able to calm herself a little. The tears still come, but not quite as easy. "Yes, they've all gotta come," she says a bit louder and as firmly as she's able to manage with her throat so constricted. Something that she's quite anxious to believe, despite the fact that she's well aware of how stubborn her older siblings are.
"They will," Lakshmi promises at once, even though she knows that Ladna, at least, will be a difficult one to persuade. She /will/ come with them sooner or later if she doesn't want to starve out here. Lakshmi is willing to coax, rather than force the issue, but the cubs have got a choice between accompanying them or dying out here, and that's not much of a choice at all. She gives Mukula's head a lick, since she can't purr, and Bhaskar sighs and collapses to the ground again about two feet away from Indra's rock. It looks like they're not going anywhere for now.
Mukula (Juve. Lioness)
Ladna (Juve. Lioness)
Dano (Juve. Lion)
Bhaskar & Lakshmi (Tiger, Golden Jackal)
Indra (Juve. Lion)
------
Forest Crossroad
A thick, deep and vast forest of teak, mahogany, sal and eucalyptus trees and a myriad of shorter undergrowth-layer trees blocks even tall beasts from seeing far in any direction, and keeps the large beasts -- elephant, rhinoceros, guar and water buffalo -- from travelling freely off of their few well-trodden trails that converge here. One trail leads south to a gentle slope, another to the northeast where the tall trees and tangled foliage give way to mostly grass and low bush. Teaks provide most of the tall canopy overhead, while a number of smaller trees including mango, jamun, jackfruit and piar cluster along with tangling vines and thorny bushes densely on the floor, impassable for beasts larger than a sambar or smaller tiger. Herds of chital and smaller herbivores frequent this area specifically because they can go where large tigers cannot, but the canopy layer above replaces the threat of mighty tigers with that of nimble leopards. The stench of a stagnant pond sometimes drift through the generally still air from the east, where another well-trodden trail leads.
------
It didn't take long for the travel-weary cubs to notice that there were no obvious signs of pursuit, so when they stumbled upon a cluster of rocks that would serve as a hiding place, there was only a minimal amount of arguing before they decided to stop and rest there, at least for awhile. Mukula took no part in the arguing, instead staring blankly ahead and keeping with the others mostly by instinct. When it registered that they were stopping, she found a quiet corner among the rocks, curled up, and tried to block out everything. The fear, the loss, the sound of her siblings continuing to argue and complain periodically through the night, everything. Once she felt someone tentatively poke her, but when that only caused a sad whimper she was left alone. Vaguely she was aware of the sun coming up, and the inconclusive discussions about what they should do now, but the only thing that would probably rouse her is if she heard them leaving.
Ladna argued, a lot. If one didn't know her, they might have blamed her insufferableness on shock and fright, but any familiarized soul would know she's just built that way, save made worse due to the night's traumas. Her scent reeks of terror and fury, and she eventually fell into a fitful sleep after a long tirade about the stupidity of them ever leaving home, what a bad idea it was to go through the wet smelly jungle, how they should have never helped that tiger because didn't mom and dad and auntie always say not to talk to strangers? She's curled up in a wretched ball in the shelter of the rocks, though even in her sorrow she fetched some leaves so she could settle them on the ground and avoid laying in the dirt. Laying next to his sister is Dano, having settled in to keep her warm only after she'd shut up and fell asleep so that she'd accept the closeness. Affection was the last thing she was willing to accept. The young lion barely slept save that half-unaware stare with one's eyes open, where the mind wanders and falls quiet. With his eyes sunken into dark, sleepless circles, the eldest of the cubs keeps his long guarding vigil even as the sun comes up. As it rises, so does he, feeling tight muscles pull and pop as he stretches. They can't stay here. He came to that decision last night. The killer might be back. "...come on. Wake up. We gotta go."
The forest had remained utterly silent for most of the night, but once the sky had begun to lighten by degrees one lonely cricket had chirped into the pre-dawn gloom and, as if that was the all-clear, everything else had joined in. Within five minutes of that hesitant prompt every bug, bird, and monkey had resumed life as usual, and if it weren't for the mangled carcasses strewn throughout the trees Dushta's attack may as well have not happened at all. At least not to those unaffected by it. To the cubs, left without the only caretakers they've ever known, the world might be ending. But their presence hasn't gone unnoticed or unreported, and it's a strange pair who come looking for the bodies and their survivors. Shaamti was easy to find. So was Vrimta, laid out across the path with her head at a strange angle and blood pooled and stickied beneath her neck. "Two out of three," Bhaskar murmurs, stepping past her. "Is the scent Dushta's?" The stench of the body, already starting to decompose, is cloying and makes it difficult to filter through any other scents that may be nearby, but Lakshmi's nose is sharp and the smell of tiger is all over this area anyway. The jackal nods, and the two of them continue on, her muzzle leading them inexorably closer to the cubs.
Being the youngest of the cubs, Mukula perhaps more than out of any of the rest of them still depended on her parents and aunt for her feeling of safety and security. To have it all taken away so suddenly and quickly while she's in a strange place is a bit more than she can really cope with. Though she can hear her brother talking about leaving she doesn't move a muscle. She's awake, unless she's sleeping with her eyes open, but it would take more than that to bring her out of this apparent trance.
Ladna lacks the desire to get up, but as much so, has no desire to stay here either. In the end, her intense dislike of the wet and shadow brings her to her feet. It takes but a moment for her to settle into a fitful bout of grooming, dragging her tongue across her fur to clean out the muck and tangles and smooth down her rumpled smokey-taupe fur. It doesn't last long as the attentions of several of the cubs, herself included, are drawn towards the faint sounds of movement in the distance. "....let's get out of here." Ladna murmurs as her fur begins to fluff out on end, step by step moving backwards. "...something is out there. We should go."
What exactly is moving about out there? There isn't a lot of noise, but what does reach the young lions in their hiding place sounds almost as if there are /two/ animals nosing around. Lakshmi ranges out in front of her companion, her nostrils working despite the fact that their tracks are steadily growing fresher: a pawprint here, a tuft of fur on a broken branch there. And then, moments after Ladna announces that they should go, the jackal's long, thin face appears around the rocks and gazes in at them. She doesn't look particularly surprised to encounter them; she did track them here, after all.
It isn't her sibling's talking that makes Mukula move, but the sounds of something moving through the forest. The same sorts of sounds that happened just before Vrimta was attacked, whining weakly, she lifts her head just enough to see what it is, and stares at Lakshmi with a puzzled expression. What in the world? The jackal is hardly the large, black monster she expected to see coming but it takes her several moments of blank staring for what the creature is instead to register. A jackal... should she be afraid of a jackal? Without an adult here, she's suddenly uncertain.
A bold jackal may cause a single cub some grief, but, there's quiet a few lions here to the one jackal. Still, Ladna does not look convinced, or at least reassured there's no danger. Flattening her ears, Ladna curls back her lips and utters as loud and ominous a hiss as she can muster with her fluffed fur and lashing tail. She tries her best to cut an imposing figure. "Go away!" She shrieks out as her claws dig into the dirt. Dushta is far too large a foe to stand toe-to-toe with, but a jackal is plenty for a frightened little lioness.
Jackals are scavengers, omnivores, and hunters of small prey that have far fewer claws than a juvenile lion. Most would take one look at an entire nest of them and leave to find something more easily palatable. This particular canine doesn't, even when Ladna hisses at her. "Peace, child," she says instead, her voice as soothing as she can manage. "I'm not here to hurt any of you. Are you...are those your parents, back there?" Lakshmi tries to be delicate about it, but there's no way she can accomplish that, really.
After that moment of hesitancy, Mukula senses that the jackal isn't dangerous to them, parents or no. And with her sister handling that situation, she begins to withdraw into herself again, but not quickly enough. Hearing the jackal's question, she pained whimper as and curls up tightly again. That's the last thing she can stand thinking about! But at least that answer is easy enough to interpret. Better to just ignore everything again.
Unlike Mukula, Ladna doesn't display her grief with misery but bundles them in a gut-twisting fit of anger and defiance. "Maybe they are! They're /dead/ now. It doesn't matter. So just... leave us alone." She scowls darkly as she stalks over and pointedly sits between the jackal and her siblings with her blue eyes glowering something fierce. She's had enough of 'kindly strangers', and she'll not be convinced by this one, small and less toothy or no.
Even when Ladna pushes her way to the front of her siblings, blocking them off from Lakshmi, the jackal doesn't retreat. It's little wonder that they're edgy and mistrustful now, after all that's happened to them. And what happens next will either make the whole situation worse, or make it better--if they've had enough of kindly strangers, try a not so kindly one. "We'll leave you alone," Bhaskar rumbles from beyond the rocks, where he's flopped down out of sight. Not intentionally, mind, but he's laid down in the hopes of presenting a less threatening image once they do see him. "But where are you going to go now, girl? How are you going to feed yourselves?" Now Lakshmi appears startled, glancing over her shoulder and shooting Bhaskar a rather stern frown, but she doesn't try to contradict him. It's true.
Ladna visibly flinches back at the sudden voice of Bhaskar, a voice much louder and larger than that of the jackal. A squeak of alarm dissolves into a frightened hiss as she crouches close to the ground and glares at the hidden tiger. "None of your business! We'll be just fine." Is she sure of that? Of course not, but, they're brave enough. "We don't need help. We don't need anyone!" Her voice is thin and high despite the show of bravado she tries to put on.
Indra has been listening to everyone, still kind of in shock over the death of his mother, and Vrimta, so suddenly, but not to the extent of his sister, whom he is concerned about. He now hears Ladna's comments for a moment and pads over toward her a stern look on his face. "Hey, Maybe we should listen to them...They're older adults, maybe they can help us. You know, us running around alone doesn't seem like such a good idea....I mean, how are we going to find food? Did you ever think of that? What about shelter from the rain? Its monsoon season almost y'know. And to top it off, Hatyaa might be still out there looking for us. I don't know about you Ladna, but I'd rather not be out here all alone with a couple of cubs in the jungle with a demon after us...and well, I'd rather go with those two....You can do what you want, but i'm going with them, me and my sister, right Mukula?"
Indra seems firm on his decision. If mUkula wants to come its up to her if not....he'll go with the jackal on his own. He's not going to sit out like a sitting duck out here in the jungle waiting for hatyaa to find them.
"Don't you?" that deeper, grumbling voice says almost thoughtfully. Bhaskar has rolled onto his side by now, and he looks off into the forest instead of at the rocks where Ladna and her siblings have stashed themselves. "I suppose you're all big enough to look after yourselves. You can hunt, can't you? And fight? You heard her, Lakshmi--they don't need us. And I'm sure they don't need something to eat. We can split the sambar between us and let them get on with things." There's no sambar, really, but Utkrosh had promised to track some food down for them and Bhaskar is not above a bit of manipulation if it's in the best interests of himself or somebody else. But he doesn't rise, just falls silent as he hears one of the other cubs beginning to speak, his eyes shut. Lakshmi gives him another frown, but it does seem to be working, at least on Indra, so she still doesn't scold him.
Though the tiger is frightening to her, Mukula only watches him with wary eyes. In her mind, just as with her brother, it was Hatyaa that attacked them, whereas this is a tiger talking to them now. Tigers are dangerous, sure, but this one isn't attacking and his manner almost reminds her of their aunt. Forced into the present by the more immeadiate worry, she glances over to her sister and quietly says, "I'm hungry." She can't even remember when they last ate, and doesn't try as it undoubtedly involved their parents and she can't safely think aobut them right now.
Ladna utters a derisive scoff as her own stubbornness refuses to let her accept the tiger's offer, her own pride rankling at the need to be helped by one of the very creatures she was always told to avoid. "I'll be just Fine." She says, scowling darkly at both Indra and Mukula, as if disgusted they'll so easily trust these strangers. "Do what you want. I don't care." Pointedly she then turns her back on her half-siblings and stalks back towards the stones where they slept where she sits stiffly upright and refuses to pay them one more moment of her attention in what appears to be an outright dismissal.
Indra frowns watching Ladna's display, but he has a bigger concern, his sister who seems to be taking things rather harshly. He looks to the jackal and tiger. "I know me and my sister are coming with you....we're hungry and afraid of Hatyaa... I don't want to spend another night alone in the woods." He says. "Can we come with you?" He turns to his sister. "C'mon Mukula, at least they'll protect us until we can learn to hunt." He says. Let's get away from the forest."
Maybe a few nights on her own will change Ladna's mind. She can always follow their scents.
Even though Bhaskar can't see what's going on, Lakshmi can. Her face registers slight disbelief when Ladna gives them her back, unwilling to accept that they could help her but bold enough to turn away from two unknown predators. "That's fine, then," Bhaskar says, rousing himself. He rises to his feet, apparently set to walk away and leave the children to their fate, but he hesitates when Indra slinks out and asks if he and Mukula can go with them. "Yes," he replies simply. "Come on." He takes a step away, pausing only briefly to see if Indra and his sister will actually follow.
Will Mukula follow. Well, that's actually debateable, because though she pushes herself to her feet, she looks back at her sister with a torn expression. All of her lioness's instincts to stick together battle with her trust of her brother and her feeling that leaving might be the only way to get food. In the end, the decision combined with her mental state is apparently too much for her so she sits down and starts to cry.
Indra blinks.....at the jackal and the tiger, and then back at his sister....He looks to the jackal.."Please M'am, can you help my sister? I don't like to see her sad like this. She needs to go with you so she can eat." He looks to Mukula. "Please M'kula, you gotta come with us....there'll be food there, and Hatyaa won't be able to get you. If you stay here, you'll be in real danger." "Please Come with me Mukula!" He pleads. He waits for her to follow, nervously scanning the area to make sure he can't smell that stench of Hatyaa nearby waiting to pounce on them.
That backfired spectacularly! Bhaskar seems confident that the children will follow if he leaves them, now that they've the promise of food hanging over their noses. Lakshmi, however, isn't so sure. And when Mukula breaks down and begins to sob, that seals it. "Bhaskar, hold up," she says sharply, prompting a flick of the tiger's ear. They've been through almost all their lives together since late adolescence, but despite their almost identical experiences she remains less detached than her companion. He will be satisfied if he can get the cubs to someone who is better-equipped to deal with them; she seems concerned for their emotional state. "He's not here," she tells Indra when she sees him scanning the area, guessing, correctly, that he's worried Dushta might return. Then she approaches Mukula, albeit slowly in case the girl doesn't react well.
Now that she's started to cry, it seems that Mukula can't stop as it's not just the difficulty in facing leaving some of her siblings behind but the exhaustion - she didn't sleep at all during the night - combined with the recent loss means that she can hardly help it. When the jackal comes over, the girl-cub reacts as well as can be expected; the small canine is ignored as she's only slightly concerned about jackal and wouldn't be up to protesting anyways. Her brother is ignored as well, which probably speaks volumes because the two of them are normally attached at the hip.
Indra doesn't say much else for now, as he's letting Lakshmi and the tiger handle the situation. He is worried for his sister, and still in shock over the deaths of his mother and 'aunt.' He sits on a flat boulder and watches what the two will do to help his sister whom he deeply cares about.
Bhaskar doesn't do much. Well, he does stop moving, which is something, but he seems about as capable of handling this as Vrimta would be. Less capable, actually. At least he doesn't snap at Mukula to pull herself together (although if Vrimta did show up and yell at her niece that would probably be a welcome event). Fortunately, Lakshmi is either somewhat more well-versed in what to do with a crying child or at least more willing to try and deal with it. She doesn't speak either; there's really nothing she can say, for all that she'd gone through a similar event in her own youth. She simply sits beside Mukula instead, silent and somber, offering what support she can if the cub is willing to take it.
Perhaps the jackal shouldn't be so quick to offer support, as once Mukula becomes aware that she's offering it, the she-cub demands even more by firmly but gently placing one paw over her back and pressing her face into the canine. It doesn't much matter that this is a stranger she probably should be scared of, she just needs to /touch/ someone. After another moment, she's able to speak between sobs, "I can't *sniff* leave Ladna here." Her voice cracks and it's a whisper but the jackal at least should be able to understand it.
Indra pads over to Bhaskar, and sits near him. He listens, paying careful attention the entire time to what the jackal says, listening for any sign of deception. So far she seems truthful enough. And well, its better than being trapped in the forest alone. He looks at his sister across the crossroads, and whimpers. "C'mon Sis, you've gotta eat. I'm sure Ladna will follow us after a night in the forest alone." He says. "We gotta get going before that demon comes after us again!" He pleads. "C'mon listen to them M'Kula, they're tryin' to help us.{
Mukula is lucky this isn't Bhaskar who's attempting to comfort her; if she'd adhered herself to him he'd probably just sit there and look confused. But Lakshmi presses close to her in turn, her chin settling over the girl's head, and makes some low calming noise. "You'll not have to leave her," she whispers back, neatly contradicting Bhaskar. "It's all right. We can make sure you stay safe, but you've all got to come with us."
Again her brother's words fall on deaf ears. How can he even /think/ of leaving anyone behind after what's happened? Their siblings are all they have left. Instead she listens carefully to the jackal, and at those comforting words she's able to calm herself a little. The tears still come, but not quite as easy. "Yes, they've all gotta come," she says a bit louder and as firmly as she's able to manage with her throat so constricted. Something that she's quite anxious to believe, despite the fact that she's well aware of how stubborn her older siblings are.
"They will," Lakshmi promises at once, even though she knows that Ladna, at least, will be a difficult one to persuade. She /will/ come with them sooner or later if she doesn't want to starve out here. Lakshmi is willing to coax, rather than force the issue, but the cubs have got a choice between accompanying them or dying out here, and that's not much of a choice at all. She gives Mukula's head a lick, since she can't purr, and Bhaskar sighs and collapses to the ground again about two feet away from Indra's rock. It looks like they're not going anywhere for now.