A New Life [All Welcome]

[Andelusia]

((Anyone can join though it would be preferred if they were either a lion, tiger, or liger.))

Drip.

Drop.

Drip....

Drop.......

DRIP

As the towering figure of a liger moved fluidly through the dark jungle, the sounds of droplets seemed to pound heavily in her ears. Not too long ago, a heavy downpour had pushed through Yazhian leaving it muddly and incredibly dark. The black clouds loomed up above; threatening to open up once more at any moment. The deep green vegetation seemed to suck up the water quickly and thrive on each drop of water that sunk down to their roots. The humid air was so thick and warm that a claw could probably slice right through it.

Drip.

Drop.

Moving through the dense and thick plants was hard for anyone who was not use to the jungle. However, the liger had been living here for quite some time now. She had left the Savannahs to lead a new life on her own in a place where she felt...strangely at home. Andelusia was....huge to say the least. Yet something about the beautiful jungle beckoned her to stay here. She moved through the muddy territory with stealth as she eyed a small creature up ahead. It would make a perfect meal yet she knew that she could easily injure herself trying to hunt after it had just rained. She was hungry however and intent on finding something to eat before night.

DRIP.

DROP

She breathed in deeply. She was focusing so intently that the dripping sounds from the plants leaves were starting to sound...deafening. And then, she halted. Settingly herself down behind thick plants, she watched the animal come closer toward her.

Snap.

A twig had cracked and now it was off! Quickly, she burst off toward it, kicking mud up into the air. Running as fast as she could given the givens, the slid about and almost caught the animal several times. Her claws dug deep into the ground to attempt to steady herself as she lunged forward. Asia grabbed a hold of the animal and slipped as she did so. Her whole body flipped over and hit the ground hard. She started to slide through the jungle until finally she came to a stop, kill still held tightly in her jaws. All the noises of the jungle now seemed to stop as she laid there stunned.

[itktdf]

Theo crawled out from the mass of bushes as the rain halted. It had seemed to be raining forever, and he was glad to get out and dry off. Out into the open once again, Theogris shook himself vigourously, ridding his small white mane of the water which had soaked itself into his fur.

The liger stretched out his paws which was soon followed by a yawn. His massive stature now wandering lazily through the dense undergrowth. His light pelt stood out from the dark green background, an unfortunate result of his mother being a white tiger. He had almoost regreted leaving the dry savannah lands, but he had nothing there to live for. No family, no friends...nothing.

His eyes scanned the scenerey closely as a sound reached his ears. The movement of mud told him of a lifeform nearby, and he quickly but silently moved towards it. Upon reaching the scene, he noticed that the lifeform was infact a liger. Being continuosly crossing between the jungle and savannah, he had never actually met one.

[[ sorry its a bit crappy, but I'm really tired right now and I'll forget later XD ]]

[Andelusia]

Andelusia laid there absolutely stunned by the crazy hunt she had just been apart of. Blood began to pour into her mouth as the animal laid lifeless within her powerful and strong jaws. The taste and scent of it's sweet blood brought her back to reality and she rolled herself up off the ground. Despite being almost entirely encased in mud, she had succeeded. Lime eyes glanced up for a moment before starting to eat the small kill. She easily pulled it apart while staying alert for any scavengers that wished to steal the meal from her. Her stomach was slowly becoming satiated. The meal should last her at least for the next couple of days until she could find something larger to snack on.

Savoring the taste, the liger licked the bones clean. It was only once she had finished her meal that she realized she was being watched. Her ears swirveled forward and she glanced up into the eyes of another liger. Surprise washed over her features. She hadn't seen another of her kind in so long. The last had been a young cub that she had adopted quite some time back. Other then that one encounter, she'd never been amongst her own.

Asia suddenly felt self conscious about the mud splattered across her striped form. She lowered her ears down slightly and felt her heart start to beat a little bit faster. For the briefest of moments, she was dumbstruck. It didn't take her too long until she got over her initial shock. Could she have been able to blush, she would have.

"Oh! Hi."

She tried to make up for her rudeness by being friendly...maybe a little too friendly. Then again, he had been the one to approach her silently without a word. How long had he been watching her? Is he as surprised to see me as I am to see him?

[itktdf]

Theo nodded, acknowledging her attempts of conversation. His eyes were still fixed on her, another of his own species, but he soon realized what he was doing and felt very rude indeed.

"Uuh...hi." he said braking his gaze and lowering his head extremely quickly. "I-I'm sorry I-I just wasn't expecting, ummm..", trailing off his own sentence and finding himself looking at her beautiful orange and black pelt, though the fact that she was half covered in mud didn't cross his mind once.
The usually over-confident creature had just been caught off guard and he had no idea what to do next. Thinking quickly, Theogris quickly raised his head to display a rather cheesy smile on his face.

[Andelusia]

The fellow liger in front of her appeared just as shook up as she had been. Perhaps he hadn't expected her to see him looking? Whatever the case may be, they both looked like idiots. An embarassed smile crept across her both as she listened to him stutter in his speech. Andelusia almost burst out laughing as he started to smile at her as well. Clearing her throat, she took a tentative step toward Theo.

"Haha wow...uh...look at us. Aren't we silly. I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Andelusia but everyone just calls me Asia. I haven't seen....others like me in a long time."

Asia felt disgusting in all the mud. She needed to find a waterfall, pond, or river. Her eyes widened slightly as she remembered a place not too far from where they were. It was a waterfall that led towards a small river. Looking down at her paws for a moment, she decided to ask if he'd like to come along.

"Would you like to join me? I'm headed to a waterfall to wash this mud off of me. By the way....what's your name? Otherwise I'll have to start giving you nicknames."

She said playfully with a laugh. The liger was beginning to feel a little more comfortable around the male.

[itktdf]

Theo stared stupidly as she spoke. After listening to what she had to say he realized and shook his head to rid himself of the cheesy smile on his face. "Sorry, my name is Theogris, and like you, I have not seen another Liger for a very long time. Especially one as beautiful as you." his charm had snuck itself into the conversation, as he barely ever used it anyway.

"I would love to join you." he said taking a step towards her, this time smiling normally. He wasn't trying to come on to her, just to be friendly. Theogris hardly ever had the chance to make new friends, especially one who is the same as him.

[Andelusia]

If ligers had been able to blush, Andelusia would of turned a dark shade of pink. She was not use to recieving compliments from anyone. More often then not, other species saw them as outcasts and tainted creatures. They were hybrids; therefore making their bloodline unpure and mixed. She had always seen it as something to be proud of. It was exotic wasnt it? Not many saw it that way. It was the very reason she lived alone, even now. Who would want her in a pride? Or him for that matter? Having someone else who could possibly understand what she had gone through was a comfort. A hybrid could only understand a fellow hybrid.

She was happy when Theogris had decided to tag along as she travelled through the thick jungle. Her oversized paws pushed down into the muddied dirt. The silence that encompassed the pair was not awkward or uncomfortable. In fact, it was pleasant (at least for her.) There was no use for words as they made their way deeper into the dense greenery.

Drip.

Drop.

Asia haulted. Her ears perked up and she slowly started to move her head to the left. We're close. Changing her course of direction, she could hear the water getting louder and louder. Clear signs of a waterfall were beginning to show as some of the trees started to thin out.

"Over here!"

She finally said. Breaking through the trees they now came upon a large waterfall. It was almost...magical. The water glittered and sparkled as it fell from the cliffs. The noise from the fall was nearly deafening.

"Where did you come from?"

Andelusia spoke up loudly so that he could hear her over the roar of the waterfall. She made her way over to a shallow edge and started to submerge herself as she did so. Thankfully, she had recieved the tiger's love for water. She could swim all day if it were up to her.

[itktdf]

Theo watched as Andelusia dipped her body into the cool waters. Unfortunately, he had not obtained the love of water from his tiger mother, though he was quite happy to sit by the edge and dunk his paws in.

"I don't really have a home. Whenever I get bored of the jungle, I move to the savannah for a couple of days." he said, swishing the water with his large paws. He watched the water fall from the rocks above, a light spray wafted towards him as he sat, slowly drenching his fur.

Theogris could see the mud leave Andelusia's orange pelt. Small bits floated across the surface before sinking to the bottom. He was very tempted to have a swim, and his feelings towards the pool were very confusing.

[Andelusia]

Slowly but Andelusia's fur. Her orange color was starting to come back. To further aid her, she lifted up one of her paws and started to lick away the hard to come off patches of mud. She listened carefully though as Theogris spoke of going to the Savannah every so often. She remembered when she had lived within a lion's pride back in the Savannah. The savannah was not one of her favorite places to live.

"Which do you prefer? I lived in the savannah for a long time in a lion's pride. Believe it or not, this lion pride had accepted me even though I was a hybrid. The pride unfortunately fell apart after about 2 years... So I came here. I prefer the climate here anyway."

Asia made light of the conversation. Something however caught her eye as she swam in the water. A little glint of something swimming around her. Her attention suddenly shot toward this moving creature in the water and she instantly lifted a paw and slammed it down into the water. Missed it! Quickly turning around, she watched as the fish swam back toward her. She continued to claw at the water making a huge splash as she did so. She looked like a cub playing in water. Finally, she hit the water so hard that the fish was flung right out of the water and plopped down onto the forest floor. It bounced about on the grass.

She slowly walked over to the water's edge and lifted herself out as she shot a grin over to Theogris. Walking toward the fish, she clamped down upon it with her teeth and dropped it down next to him.

"Sorry if I got you wet. This is for you?"

Asia smiled proudly at having caught the fast fish.

[itktdf]

"Well, the humidity can be a bit much for me, but I do enjoy my time here more than when I'm in the savannah." he smiled as he watched Asia carefully eye a fish.
Theo began to laugh as she splashed around trying to pin the creature down with her paw. Water went everywhere, including himself, but he didn't mind it to much to be bothered by it. The liger stood and shook himself lightly, ridding himself of most of the water. "It's ok, I didn't really mi-" he stopped in mid-sentence as Andelusia offered the fish to him. Never before had someone given him such a nice gesture, and it caught him off guard.

"Th-Thanx."he said smiling to her. Theogris the lay down again and started to gnaw away at the fish.

[[Sorry, my net died]]

[Andelusia]

"Yea the humidity isn't always pleasant. I was in the savannah for so long that I just enjoy being somewhere different."

Andelusia smiled as Theogris accepted her gift and started to munch away at the small meal. She had already eaten herself and therefore enjoyed just watching him eat. Hopefully, if he hadn't eaten recently, it would hold him off for a bit longer until he was able to get a hold of a more substantial meal. They were both large creatures and required a lot of food to fuel such huge bodies. Stepping away from him, she shook her coat to free up some of the water that had soaked into her fur from the nice swim. Once satisfied, she sat down by the water's edge and dipped her paws in.

"How long have you been out here in the jungle? I can't even remember when I had come myself."

Asia felt strangely content at this moment. It was nice to have a little bit of company and to share it with someone who 'understood' the troubles that liger's had to go through. They were rarily accepted by lions or tigers and were often left to live a life alone. She never even tried to venture toward Aiyalis. She heard what they did to hybrids that came within the pride's territory. She silently wondered if he had met any other's like themselves during his own travels.

[itktdf]

"I've only been here for a few days." he looked from his fishy meal and smiled as he talked. It was true that he preferred the jungle, but his tolerance ran thin after a while and he would travel to a different location.

"Sounds like you've been here for a while though. I suppose its due to the fact that we ligers are too intimidating to the liks of ordinary lions." he laughed at his small joke, though it wasn't very funny. His humour was always forced and therefore the opposite of hilarious.

Theo stripped the fish of it last piece of slimy flesh and licked his maw satisfyingly. Fish was a rare meal for him, due to the fact that he was particulary fond of water. He looked out at the roaring waterfall. The sound of the water pounding on the rocks had now become a background noise, and he was quite glad it was there.

[[ Sorry, I'm full of craptastic posts lately :/ ]]

[Andelusia]

"Only a few days? Have you been here before or is this your first time around here? Sometimes I'll fluctuate back and forth but I prefer it here. At least here there is less of a chance of being met with disapproval. I don't know what they dislike so much about hybrids. I personally find enjoyment in being...exotic."

Andelusia offered him a coy smile and couldn't help but chuckle at his small joke. The more she thought about his words, the more he may actually be right. Ligers were considered the largest of their species. Often, even the females were larger then the average size lion and tiger. Something so huge could be...intimidating and lions had a way of being power hungry. It was no wonder that they disapproved of hybrids such as the two of them. Their sheer size alone was enough to possible destroy a lion's pride. Yet she also held some doubt as to how lucky they really were. Rarily, female ligers were ever fertile and for males it was near impossible. The prospects of having children was slim and certainly a 'downer' to being any kind of hybrid. Afterall, wasn't the point of living to continue the gene pool to future generations? Asia had been blessed to have a child at some point though her son was now much older and well on his own. Thinking on it...she hadn't seen him in quite some time. She hoped Indivar was doing well and happy in his new life. After falling silent for several moments, she finally responded with a short comment.

"I wouldn't doubt it..."

Deciding that the topic was running dull, she stood up and motioned for him to follow along.

"Well I suppose we should stop talking about such depressing topics. So tell me more about yourself? Afterall, how often do I get to run into a fellow liger?"

Asia was enjoying the little bit of company and it was nice to be around someone who actually understood what it was like to be part of the 'minority.' Stigmas were placed on hybrids as a whole regardless of their personality. Many saw them as tainted and vile creatures. Other's pitied them. But weren't they like everyone else? Merely a mix of two species of feline. It was hard these days to find anyone accepting of them based on DNA alone.

[itktdf]

Theo nodded to her suggestion of changing the ropic to something a bit more enjoyable. Just thinking about lions made his blood boil, he was sure that there was an evil plot against asia and himself.
Turning to the ligers question he thought of how he could make his life story the opposite of depressing. He really didn't like to stay in the past, he'd rather just move forward and not think about it. But when he was asked he felt obliged to share his story.

"Well before I traveled between places so frequently, my life goal was to find acceptance in a lion pride. I was a bit obsessed with trying to 'fit in' with everyone else." he paused and to take a breath before starting again. " Before long I was allowed to stay with a pride as long as I assimilated with them, but it didn't last when I met a female and miraculously got her impregnated. She was killed and I was banished. That was when Irealised that it wasn't best to search for something that really didn't exist. So i traveled between lands to try and move on in life, the end."

Theogris took a deep breath after his long and fast talk.So much information in so little time was hard to do, especially for a male. He smiled to asia just to tell her that it didn't bother him anymore and it was just best to not dwell on it.
"So, what about you? Whats your story?" he smiled as he lolled to his side slightly.

[Andelusia]

Andelusia fell quiet as she listened to his story. It was so sad. Why was it that the lives of ligers were riddled with saddness? She started to doubt how wonderful it was to be 'unique.' What good was being different if you were shunned because of it? Her story wasn't anywhere near as sad as his and she felt like comforting him. But as he smiled at her, she could see that it was something he has pushed to the back of his mind and probably really didn't want to discuss any further.

"I'm sorry.."

She said quietly. Taking in a deep breath, she started to tell her own little life.

"Well much like you I started to look for a lion pride to join. I really wanted to be around other's of what I felt was 'my kind.' As always, I was shunned. Yet then there was this one pride run by a female. She allowed me in and I was happy. I even had found a mate and we tried to have children of our own. I became pregnant but after a short amount of time, I miscarried. I thought...I'd never have another child. It was during that time that the pride suddenly disappeared. Everyone in it was gone one day. So my mate and I moved on to find somewhere else to live."

She paused briefly before continuing.

We found another pride many months later being partially ran by one of the last pride's former members. Since he knew us, he allowed us to join again. I was pregnant with another child and we were allowed to have our family there. I had a son named Indivar. It was also during that time that a liger cub had wandered into the pride and was being chased by a hyena. As our King fought him off...I took her in and cared for her because she was badly injured. My children are long grown now and I felt it was time to move on when my mate had disappeared, much like the old pride. Our king was also killed and many of it's members left. I couldn't find another pride willing to accept me so I decided to have a change of scenery. Been here ever since."

Asia missed her children but felt it best to stay here in the Jungle. Now that they were full grown, she needed time to find herself out here.

"I've seen some lions complain about how hard their lives are because they have to 'hunt.' Can you imagine that?"

She said with a chuckle.