Long time ago I fall in love with :iconSky-Lily: style of drawing and her Named OCs she created for her own fun.
I asked her a Named-version of a female character of mine (Niya), and after having played with some tests for further Named OCs, I asked her if she was fine for integrating one of my character as father of the cubs, allowing the creating of this awesome art and a very nice roleplay we did x3
I attach the edited roleplay (some parts cut/shortened/rewrote) in a small story-description.
For who doesn't know the Named, they are a species owned by :iconrathacat: author of the Ratha's Creature book and following sequels, featuring the Named as protagonists.
They are a tribal-like prehistoric society (despite their full appearance of animals) gifted with will, and on the path to learning tools&custom of a growing society (use of fire, use of some tools, tribal-like society etc.).
One of the peculiar features of the Named is the integration of a growing tribal culture with animal instincts: differently from the Warriors series, Clare Bell (real author name of :iconrathacat: ) doesn't censor the whole matters of mating cycles. Despite a growth of mutual feelings between some characters, most of the Named (and in some occasions also the protagonists) appears however at the early stage of what could be defined "love", and part of the plot it's also involved in such discoveries.
Still many Named don't appear to get involved in such quest... and many carry on a more traditional "animal" style regarding mating, mateship, cubs etc...
It has been very fun to portray this feature in art (and roleplay), playing around with a different not-human point of view.
Big thanks again for both :iconrathacat: and :iconSky-Lily: having made this art and related roleplay/story fun possible!
PLEASE, DON'T FAVE AND RUN AWAY !!!
IT'S NICE IF YOU STOP FOR FEW SECONDS AND LEAVE A SMALL COMMENT ^^
IT COULD BE NICE TO CHAT AND SPEAK X3
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“H… hello Sunapi. It has been some time…”
... Was that who she thought it was? Sunapi had scented the male from earlier on, but had ignored it in favor of cleaning the dirt off her rambunctious cubs. She had figured it was just one of the herders dropping by to check in on the den mothers and give them a freshly culled meal (as they sometimes did.) However, this male's voice was most certainly a surprise, and she looked up from her grooming to give him a cheeky grin. "Hello again, Ragi," she greeted him with hearty confidence as a paw reached out to keep her daughter from scampering off. "Never took you of all cats to be the stuttering type!" Her tongue lolled briefly as a short laugh escaped her, but her tone was warm. "How's the herding life?"
Ragi struggled to regain his usual bold and self-confident posture: he sat down keeping the broad chest and the long neck well lifted, until lowering his head to lick the right paw and showing nonchalance. In another situation, and told by another male, he would have responded denying his embarrass but ... Sunapi struck on a detail that Ragi was not ready to admit. "Oh well... for sure none is getting burned whiskers!" He was happy to hold on a common tease herders told to Firekeepers.
"And at least I don't smell like Dappleback belch!" Sunapi shot back playfully as she reached out a paw to bat at Ragi's own whiskers. Her cub saw the chance to escape from her bath and did so, leaping onto her mother's back to pounce on her darker colored brother.
Ragi assumed a dignified pose, with closed eyes and straightened up neck and muzzle.
"It's a magnificent fragrance, you don't know what you are missing...” he said, deliberately exaggerating, because he was aware how stinking it could be.
Sunapi had to snort when Ragi struck a pose and spoke of her jab as a "magnificent fragrance." It reminded her of part of the reason she'd sought him out in the first place. It wasn't just his admirable build and skills, but his sense of humor, too. Whether she cared for mates or not, the female knew she could never have cubs with a grizzled grump; it would have to be someone who-- like her-- knew how to laugh.
"I just went to check on Niya," Ragi added. "She hurt a paw few days ago; she is recovering but not on herding duties at least for a day or two. While coming back well... I saw you..." His eyes then gleamed a bit with a fascinated and curious glance. "... Well, wow... I never guessed they would be so big already." His voice despite owing his distinctive deep tone, veiled by some juvenile shades.
Sunapi blinked. "That's kind of you. Let's hope she gets well soon. She's a bit of a rambunctious one, isn't she?" the she-cat lolled her tongue out with a soft laugh. Really, she was much the same way. If it weren't for Sija and Senja, she might have been out doing stupid things and getting herself hurt, too. Ragi's wonder at the cubs' quick growth made her grin.
"It amazes me, too," she purred with a flick of her ears. "One moment they're little balls of fur that can fit right between your paw pads, and the next they're-- yarr, let go of my tail you little troublemakers!" the female turned away to swat at one of her cub's rumps. "Sorry about that."
Ragi’s voice turned a bit more inquisitive. "I... well, are we sure I am the father?" he was convinced to have been the only male to mate with Sunapi: but he had never seen before the dark pelt of one of the two cubs. Ragi obviously was not aware of the laws that that ruled the appearance of such rare mutations, jumping some generations.
Sunapi glanced up at him with a helpless grin and a humored shrug. "Sure as ever. You're the only male I sought out. Believe me, the little black one surprised me, too, though he does have your face! And in just the right sunlight, you can see the tinge of your fur in his pelt."
Ragi lowered a bit the muzzle, trying to look better at the little male and politely searching for his glance. "I’ve heard rumors of cubs born with unusual pelt, regardless their parent's ones. It is so unique actually... " He then met again the eyes of the pretty female, not restraining a small grimace... "Hehe I would be surprised to hear otherwise... I remember to have had a good care to chase away other rivals, and... You know, we did not surely restrained, later! After my first mating season that brought no litter, I was quite… determined to prove myself able to sire cubs..."
The little male cub blinked up at his sire when Ragi turned his eyes onto him, and stared back with a curious tilt of the head. His switch in attentions hadn't escaped his sister, either, who was also now glancing from Ragi, to his ever-tempting tail-tip, and to Ragi again.
"I've heard of it too," Sunapi responded, "I just never expected it to happen to my litter! And I think you more than proved yourself, with two cubs to boast of," she added with a wink.
Ragi chuckled a little after the wink of the female; he lowered a bit his muzzle: the two cubs were looking to him and the male Named brought the muzzle to the ground and gave a sniff toward their direction. He could perceive the sweet smell of milk surrounding the two cubs, and the smell of their mother... but there was something related to his own scent, especially into the little male.
Taking the lowered muzzle as an invite, the little male sniffed Ragi right back as his sister continued to watch timidly from the sidelines. He drew just close enough to bump his nose against the red-furred herder's before springing away and urging his sister into a game of tag, to which she happily obliged.
"Yarr," Ragi then continued with a laugh. "You left me enough claw's marks on me to boast about. None doubted about it, among young males there is some kind of competition to see the first ones to earn them and how many we got..."
"Pffffft-hahahaha!" Sunapi was so bewildered and humored she had to roll onto her side. "Are you serious? You males and your bragging rights! Hah, glad to know I could 'help' then!"
Ragi’s attention diverted to another male Named who made a visit to another young mother outside her own den. The young male licked the head of the female with affection, and stroked against her, talking with low voice.
It was clear they were one of the new couples that engaged in more untraditional mating.
Much like Ragi, Sunapi’s attention diverted to the young couple not too far. She was less than intrigued by the scene; instead screw up her face and crinkling her nose a bit. This budding change in mateships in the clan was fine, but it wasn't the life for her.
Ragi spoke again after a while, smiling at her. "I am so glad to have made cubs with you... I... am also glad you don't want anything else from me. I've seen some of these new couples in the Clan, and I really don't understand them... I am fine on how the old rules guided our people. A male should take pride and watch from a distance the new lives he sired and the mother taking care of them before the whole Clan would start to care at the new Named as young trainees. Not to mention," he continued with a mischievous smirk, "the fact I would hate to get my tail munched daily... "
"Yarrr," Sunapi added with a somewhat exasperated grin of her own. "Consider yourself lucky. I'll be glad when these two are done teething. And I'm glad to have chosen you as their sire. I needed a male who wouldn't get in the way. I've got my own ideas on how to raise my cubs, yeah?" she said with a wink.
"... Oh, I don't think I told you their names, yet! The girl is Sija, and the boy is Senja. Who knows? You may have one of them herding dapplebacks at your side one day."
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Comments and opinions are extremely welcome ^^
Keywords
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Details
Published:
7 years, 9 months ago
01 Jul 2016 11:11 CEST
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