[JRP] It's not easy (Cor Oxidat & Litahti)

[Princess_Feylin]

The rumor that there had been more cubs born to the pride didn't take very long to reach Cor's ears. She was a nosy creature who liked to know what was going on with everyone and everything. That way she could be the first to tell people news. Sometimes she embellished the news she spread, but it was always to make it better. And by better she meant more interesting. Sometimes she would make things out to be more tragic than they actually were. She could make things up if she didn't manage to see the goings-on for herself, but she preferred first-hand knowledge.

Thus, as soon as the opportunity presented itself the dark brown juvenile left her minder and set off to find this newest batch of cubs. She couldn't help hoping that at least a few of them would be boys. She had a bit of an eye to the future, and she could see there weren't too many males in the pride that she could one day marry. These cubs wouldn't be so much younger that she couldn't see herself married to one of them someday in the future, when they were both grown-ups.

If they lived that long.  

[Nyhility]

Small and pale eyes peered outside the tiny den as the light of day fogged into the entrance. It was still strange for the cub, to see such a drastic change from the outer world to her own cozy home. Resting her chin on one of her sleeping brother's back, Litahti gave a meeping yawn and stretched her legs. Mother had gone out early this morning, but had it really been all that long? For a nearly newborn cub, even one second away from mother seemed forever. Pouting before coming to a conclusion, the female cub made to stand and creep past her snoozing siblings.

Why stay if she wasn't tired? Besides, mother couldn't be that far off....right?

So, like any new and curious cub, Litahti ventured out of the den to explore her new surroundings.  

[Princess_Feylin]

In a pride like the Kitwana'antara, where the population didn't usually grow in leaps and bounds because people tended to die more frequently than they were born, it wasn't unusual for a person to know everyone else, at least by sight. If asked, Cor would claim to know everyone, but in truth the best she could truthfully say was that she recognized everyone. Fortunately, little things like truthfulness didn't much effect Cor's speaking tendencies.

When she spotted a cub whose coat was the color of a prey beast's underbelly but for a dark spot on her forehead, Cor knew she had found one of the new arrivals. She couldn't remember off the top of her head how old the cubs were, but she didn't think they were very old. Their eyes and ears were open, though, and that was good enough for her. She could talk to a person just as easily as she could talk with them. More happily, probably, since they were less likely to interrupt her stories with questions.

She trotted over to the younger cub and plopped down in front of her with a cheerful, "Hi, good morning!"  

[Nyhility]

Bright eyes narrowed as the girl tried to maneuver her steps, finding it difficult to get a sturdy footing on the bumpy terrain. And so the cub moved slowly, her legs more like knee-less pegs as she walked and her tail weaving behind her for balance. The girl had been so focused on the ground, but it wasn't only due to her stumbling. It was also because of the bright orb of light in the sky, so strong to her pale eyes that the cub had no choice but to keep her sight downcast.

But then the cub paused and wriggled her small nose. There was a strong scent in the air, well....stronger than all the other new smells she was experiencing. Such as the dust that rose with every step she took. Or the thick air that didn't smell all that fresh and welcoming. But this new scent that was getting stronger...it seemed familiar. Like her own smell and the smell of her siblings. Could it be momma returning!

Feeling a glow of hop, Litahti pounced forward with a smile. However, that reaction nearly caused her to collide with the visiting lioness before her. Shocked and confused, Litahti meeped as she backed away carefully. Just who was this?!?

Nervous, the light cub remained silent while she cowered and analyzed the other.  

[Princess_Feylin]

The cub's enthusiastic pounce forward gave Cor reason to hope that perhaps this litter would have healthy cubs in it. Perhaps even cubs who would prove to be immune. Cor, herself, was hoping that she was one of the immune lions in the pride, since she'd made it to her current age without feeling any of the symptoms typical to infected lions. At least, that was what she told herself so firmly that it would have been nigh impossible to convince her otherwise. When she woke with stiff joints or a hint of a headache, she attributed it to something else entirely and refused to pay it any mind.

Cor waited for the cub to return her greeting for nearly a full minute, during which she studied the pale girl in a manner she thought was covert. It wasn't all that subtle, to be honest, but it was far subtler than it would have been even a few weeks ago. Cor was learning very fast to control her physical cues and actions so that when she embellished the truth people believed her more. She was getting very tired of being chided for lying by the lioness who cared for her in her father's absence.

"Hi," she said again when it became apparent that the other cub wasn't going to say anything. Maybe she hadn't heard before. "Good morning."  

[Nyhility]

Oblivious to the cursed ailments of her fellow pride, Litahti could only stare on in silence as the other lioness seemed to muse over personal thoughts. Or maybe she was asleep with her eyes open? Curious, the cub nodded her head side to side slowly, seeing if the other was paying attention to her at all.

Then the dark girl spoke again, and this time Litahti perked her ears forward in response. "Oh....hello!" Then she blushed bright on her snowy fur, feeling as if her voice was all too loud in the quiet surroundings. So, she decided to lean in for a whisper. "I mean hi!" Flicking her short tail, the cub then frowned as she peered up slightly, before gazing back down at her paws. Morning? She guessed it was good, if the other said so.

"I don't like mornings, they hurt my eyes. But that's okay....it's more fun than the den!" ^__^  

[Princess_Feylin]

Cor grinned encouragingly at the cub, who she had decided was shy and quiet because of that. And since she was shy, the fact that she'd returned Cor's greeting was a step in the right direction and worthy of encouragement. When she leaned in and corrected herself in a whisper, Cor's expression was one of pure glee. She was just so cute!

"They do? Because the sun's so bright? Maybe it's because your eyes are blue. I don't know many people with blue eyes, so maybe all blue-eyed lions eyes' are hurt by the sun."

Clearly Cor didn't actually need other people to respond to her when she spoke. She was content just to speak aloud and others could interject their own thoughts and opinions as they chose to, or not. It was enough for her to have a willing audience, though she probably wouldn't have cared too much about the distinction between a willing audience and a captive one as long as people were paying attention to her and taking her seriously.

"I wonder if having blue eyes means you won't get sick." Since everyone she knew who was sick had either green or gold eyes, it stood to reason that a blue-eyed lion might not. Though Cor didn't include herself in the list of golden-eyed lions who were infected. She was quite firmly convinced that she wasn't.  

[Nyhility]

Litahti gave the older girl a quirked brow as she spoke of her eyes. But she nodded enthusiastically to the explanation, agreeing with it since....well, it was the only theory she's yet to hear about. "Yes yes! The sun and sky are really bright right now. Does it ever get...different?" Maybe like the den, a soft and darkness that was actually welcoming and comforting for the youth. The girl then rubbed her face with her clumsy paws, as if just waking up.

"Oh, my eyes are blue? Blue like the sky?" She smiled widely at the idea, as it sounded pretty to her.

But then her smile faded and Litahti tilted her head to this new word the other lioness said. "Sick? What is that? Are you a sick?" The young girl peered around then, finally taking in her surroundings now that she was firmly settled to actually pause and notice them. Even with the sky so light and carefree, the hard soil and crippled trees in the area seemed....dreary, even for the cub. But if it was nearly the same as her cozy den with all her family, then it must still be a good thing. Right?  

[Princess_Feylin]

"Different? Sure. At night it gets dark and there're all these stars - which are really pretty by the way, like twinkling eyes - and the moon comes out. The moon's kind of neat, because it doesn't always look the same. There's a story behind that..." She let her voice trail off in such a way as to suggest that she knew the story she'd alluded to, and might be persuaded to tell it, if she was asked, but she wasn't going to waste her storytelling skills on someone who didn't ask first.

"And sometimes it's daytime, but you can't see the sun because the clouds get very dark and grey and cover it up. Then it rains and everything - and everyone - gets wet and smells awful. It makes food go bad faster, too. But there's mud to play in, and that's not so bad."

She could have gone on talking about different weathers she had experienced and heard about for a long time, but fortunately (for Litahti) she was interrupted and distracted by the pale cub's question about her eyes. Of course, there wasn't a lot to be said in response to the question except to confirm it.

"Yeah. Blue like the sky. It's pretty."

Another question, one which would provoke a much longer-winded answer if Cor really got going. She could talk for days at a time about her pride's disease and the people she knew who had it and her theories about it, and her guesses as to who might come down with it next, and her assertions that she didn't have it. And all sorts of things. There was always something to talk about with the disease.

"Sick is when people feel bad. Their joints and muscles hurt, and their heads hurt sometimes. And it's hard to breathe, or painful to breathe, and they're tired all the time. A lot of the lions here are sick. But not me. I'm healthy. Probably because my mother wasn't from this pride. She's a princess, you know."  

[Nyhility]

The cub tilted her head to the description the other was giving her about the sky. It made her peer up hesitantly and with a nervous glance to try and see any of these 'sky eyes'. How odd to imagine, she'd have to stay awake now to see this change! If mother will let her outside the cave, that is. "Moon. A moon? Is that a star too?"

My goodness this was all so different from her den! Stars, clouds, and rain....it sounded like so much fun! Granted everything new sounded like an adventure to the newborn girl. The concept of awful was something she had yet to experience. But Litahti focused her energies and excitement once more, as the the older female commented on her eye color. It made her soft cheeks color in happy embarrassment.

"And your are like the bright light in the sky!" Or at least the same as the after-glow that burned into her eyes after looking at the sun. But that was all the same, right? But before she could comment on that unhealthy detail, her friend was one step ahead of her in replies. At least, she was tolerating the cub's constant questions with a polite voice. Although, no matter how sweet the voice, Litahti's ears peeled back as she took in the details of what being 'sick' was. Why, it was enough to make her tail curl uncomfortably. "That...doesn't sound like fun. Is it because of the stars? Or the mud! Maybe it's the mud?" Her pale mouth smiled though, happy to know her friend didn't feel sick. Much more so than knowing her family was royalty.

"Princess? Momma sometimes talks about them in stories..... But that makes you a not-princess. Right?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

Her attention wandered for a moment, not on purpose, but simply because she was a cub and couldn't help it. When it returned she had to scramble mentally to catch up with where Litahti was. Was the moon a star? That was a very good question, and Cor didn't know the answer. So, as usual, she just made something up.

"I don't think so. I think it's like the sun, but it's kind of like a lot of the lions here, sick and weak, so it can't stay bright and full all the time like the sun does. Stars are a lot smaller, and kind of twinkly. Not like the moon." She shook her head emphatically. No. Not like the moon at all.

"Thank you," she said, choosing to interpret it as a compliment. She smiled at Litahti's comparison between her eyes and the sun. It was a very nice thing to be told, she thought, and she liked it. "Princesses should have features that can be compared to things in the sky. And even though I'm not a princess here - the pride already has one of those - I would be in my mama's pride."

With a dramatic shudder Cor said feelingly, "It isn't fun. But it isn't the fault of the stars. Or the mud. It's just something about us. The lions here. One of my very best friend in the whole world, Liraz, is really sick. She can't really move around a lot or laugh or anything because if she does she'll start coughing and she gets tired really fast."

She saw Liraz as a tragic figure, and given the opportunity would turn her into a saint. Talking about her, that is. She was really very fond of Liraz, and wanted to make sure everyone knew what a great person her friend was. Definitely someone who deserved to be a princess.  

[Nyhility]

Litahti hardly noticed, as her own attention span was very very short. She merely nodded in reply, trying to understand the 'science' behind the moon. So, it was an ill thing like their pride was. But still, it must be a pretty thing to be allowed up there with the stars. "I still can't wait to see them all. It wounds like fun!" And her tail shook with her joy and excitement, ready and willing to explore the world around her.

Pinning one ear aside, the pale cub glanced over at Cor as she began to walk around, her legs restless. "Your mama's pride? Why are you not there then?" Why, if princess' were pampered like they were in mother's stories, then why would anyone want to leave such a treatment? While her thoughts circled over that matter, her light paws continued to wander and drag the cub further and aimlessly away. It was only then, between hearing of princess' and prides that she remembered the concern of her own mama. That's right, she had her own parent to find right now!

"Hmmm, we'll if it's something about you guys, then you should just stay away from others!" She said the comment innocently, relating it to her own fresh experiences. Like how she rolled onto a sharp stone once, but learned to avoid it to avoid that pain again. Surely it was the same for the illness? "Liraz, Liraz~" The cub repeated the name in a sing-song voice, finding it a pretty sound. "Maybe there is something not-ill, to make her feel better?"  

[Princess_Feylin]

Cor shrugged nonchalantly. She had come up with an answer for why she wasn't with her mum's pride a long time ago, actually, so it didn't even tax her creativity to answer that question.

"Well, obviously my mum couldn't stay here, since she was supposed to be a princess and needed in her own pride, but she didn't want to leave my father without some way of remembering her. I'm here for my dad." She had always thought that was the most romantic way to explain it, and also it made her sound like she was a bit of a self-sacrificing figure, which was always a good thing to be.

"The healers are always looking for something like that," Cor said. "So far they haven't had too much luck. But maybe they will soon, right?"

It didn't seem quite fair to frighten the younger cub with stories of how likely everyone in the pride was to die at an early age. She would learn that soon enough, and Cor would rather the bad news didn't come from her. She preferred to be the bearer of interesting and good news. Though she would have to try to remember the bit she'd said about the moon being sickly and tell it to Liraz later. She was sure her friend would appreciate the imagery.

"I should probably let you get back to your mum, shouldn't I?" Cor asked. She wanted to go find Liraz right away and share her cleverness before she forgot, and that seemed like a polite way to end the conversation. "It was nice meeting you."