[Todd.]

Sharkerrets are cat-sized marsupials that highly resemble a ferret in shape.
With fluffy coats and an oddly shaped head, those small creatures earned their names from their pretty strong bite, enabling them to crunch bones and hard roots while feeding. The fin shaped tuft on their back, who stick up or lay flattened depending on the situation they find themselves on and can be used to tell the Sharkerret's humour and state of spirit.

Okay, so I'll probably be making a few African Animals themed sharkies xP Here is the first one, a Gazelle ^^
To go for this Sharkie just fill in the form below telling me an African Tale. It can be created by you or be some existent one, I don't mind ^^ Extras are allowed.

Code: Select all

[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]African Tale:[/b]

Will end in 48 hours.

[seawoof]

Username: seawoof
Name: Jani (leaf in Swahili)
Gender: female
African Tale:

A bush rat called Oyot was a great friend of Emiong, the bat; they always fed together, but the bat was jealous of the bush rat. When the bat cooked the food it was always very good, and the bush rat said, "How is it that when you make the soup it is so tasty?"

The bat replied, "I always boil myself in the water, and my flesh is so sweet, that the soup is good."

He then told the bush rat that he would show him how it was done; so he got a pot of warm water, which he told the bush rat was boiling water, and jumped into it, and very shortly afterwards came out again. When the soup was brought it was as strong and good as usual, as the bat had prepared it beforehand.

The bush rat then went home and told his wife that he was going to make good soup like the bat's. He therefore told her to boil some water, which she did. Then, when his wife was not looking, he jumped into the pot, and was very soon dead.

When his wife looked into the pot and saw the dead body of her husband boiling she was very angry, and reported the matter to the king, who gave orders that the bat should be made a prisoner. Every one turned out to catch the bat, but as he expected trouble he flew away into the bush and hid himself. All day long the people tried to catch him, so he had to change his habits, and only came out to feed when it was dark, and that is why you never see a bat in the daytime.


I found the folktale at http://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales.html

also, are we allowed to draw them for a better chance of winning? Thanks!

[Todd.]

OFF;; Sure. Though it'll only give a bonus if it has to do with the story o w o

[worshipthesquid]

Username: worshipthesquid
Name: Afiong
Gender: female
African Tale:
ohhhh damn this is my jam. I have little hope of getting that cutie but I'm entering anyway just so I can retell the story of:

The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull

(I only know this Nigerian story because of the retelling in Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales: Africa Edition (which, btw, I'd definitely recommend if anyone reading this is interested in folk tales + great comics). Sorry, this is likely to get long!)

Once there was a young woman called Afiong, an endless trial to her parents for her refusal to marry. She was famed for her beauty, perhaps too much so: she had decided to marry only the most handsome man in the land. Years passed, and although many rich and charming suitors came to Afiong's door, each one was rejected. However, news of Afiong's beauty had by this time reached the spirit world, and the Skull who lived there decided that he wanted to wed her. Gathering his friends around him, he asked each for the loan of one thing: an arm, a leg, a nose, a foot. At last he had every part he needed, and set off to the human world as a man - in fact, the most handsome man Afiong had ever seen. Once she saw him loitering in the marketplace, a mysterious, incredibly handsome stranger, she fell in love instantly, and asked him to her house to meet her parents to ask for his hand in marriage. They were hesitant, but at repeated entreaties they gave in and allowed the match.

Not soon after, the Skull asked Afiong to come back with him to his country, which he said was weeks away. She readily agreed, harbouring a taste for adventure, and so they walked together for many days. Afiong was still deeply in love with her new husband; however, after a while she began to notice something strange about their surroundings, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. They had crossed the border into the spirit realm. At home, her parents, worried for their daughter, asked for lots to be cast to determine her safety and discovered to their horror that she had married a being from the spirit world. Assuming her death, they began to mourn her.

The first man who approached Afiong's husband appeared human but was missing one leg. The Skull, with a sigh, detached his leg and returned it to its rightful owner. Horrified, she turned to him to demand answers, but before she could speak they were surrounded by monsters of the spirit realm, demanding that the Skull return the body parts he had borrowed, and the Skull was diminishing and diminishing until all that was left of Afiong's handsome husband was a bare skull peering up at her from the ground. She demanded to be allowed to return home, but the Skull would hear nothing of it. A human alone could not cross the border of the spirit world, he told her, and he would not go with her back to her hometown. So they walked (or, in the Skull's case, rolled and hopped) on to the Skull's house.

Waiting for them there was the Skull's mother, a very old woman who spent most of her time sleeping. Afiong quickly befriended her, fetching water and firewood, and in gratitude the Skull's mother warned her that at nightfall the monsters of the spirit realm would be able to smell her, a living human, and would come to find her and feast. Panicking, Afiong asked her what she could do to avoid this fate. Luckily, the old woman said, I am a witch, and can hide you until I can call on the winds to take you back home, in exchange for your kindness. Afiong thanked her, and waited, anxiously watching the setting sun, as the Skull's mother called on the winds to come to take Afiong home. First a thunderstorm came, sparking with lightning and roiling with thunder, but the Skull's mother sent that away. Then, finally, a gentle breeze drifted to the Skull's house, just as the sun touched the horizon, and Afiong eagerly clambered aboard.

Afiong's parents cried tears of joy to see their daughter returned to them, feasting for eight days and nights, but were even happier when, eventually, she settled down with a fully human man.

[Todd.]

Okay, despise there only being two entries, it was extremely hard to judge between those two x.x

So... I'll make a runner up!

seawoof won this one here.

A RU will be coming for worshipthesquid ^^

I just warn that it might take a little long to have this RU because it'll be made on the newlines already ^^

So thank you both for entering <3

[worshipthesquid]

! : D take your time dude!! thanks so much for the ru :0 (and for giving me the opportunity to retell folk tales!)

[seawoof]

Thank you so much! Also thanks for the opportunity : ) I'm excited to draw this cutie