Kisukari was taking two of her gorgeous little offspring for a bit of a walk. It had taken her over a week to be able to leave her own den, and now the cubs were able to walk – though a bit wobbly – she was enjoying some of the fresh air. She knew they couldn’t travel far, so she was walking slowly and careful not to push them too far.
Her golden son, Leif was walking slowly at her side, his head bobbing side to side as he tried to take in the blurry details of the pride. “It’s cold out here momma,” he whimpered, trying to walk closer to her but only really succeeding in tangling himself up in her paws. She tried not to trip over her son, and giggled.
“It’s not cold, Leif darling, you’re just walking in my shadow,” she explained, and gently nudged him out into the sunshine.
Nuo limped along bravely behind her mother and brother. Her club foot made walking hard, but she plowed on ahead bravely. She was eager to get out of the den and explore. The little cub was pleased that she’d been chosen to go out. Her eyes darted around as she took in the activity. There was just so much going on!
“What’s that over there? Who is that?” She didn’t give her mother time to answer her questions before she had already moved on. Nuo started to get excited and went to scamper ahead. Instead of running her right leg gave out and she face planted into the ground.
Therese was enjoying a bit of time to herself. Things had been quiet for her and she found herself falling into a dull routine. To shake things up a bit, the female had decided to go for a walk after seeing to her master. She paused as she saw a female with a couple of cubs at her heals. The trio was quite cute. Therese smiled to herself.
One of the cubs started to run and instead tripped and fell. She frowned a moment as she spotted the problem. The female went over to the cub and saw it was a female who’d taken the face plant. “There there little girl. You’ll be alright.” She looked up curiously at the mother. “Hi. I’m Therese.”
Kisukari knew she shouldn’t, but she gave a little giggle at her daughter’s trip. Nuo was perfect to her. She knew Bousvor had concerns about the cubs, but to her, they were absolute perfection and their issues were just quirks that made them all the move lovable.
As the stranger approached, Kisukari continued to smile, before it…faded away. Wait a minute. She knew that female. “I remember you. You are a thrall also…you were given out by your mother’s master.” She probably shouldn’t have said that, as it might make for bad memories, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry. My name is Kisukari. I am a thrall to Captain Bousvor. I…was there that day.” She looked saddened at the memory.
Leif pawed at his fallen sister, giggling. “Nuo! Get up! Stop playing!” He was ignoring the other female, because he could only really see a white blurr and that made it hard for him to look at her. She was almost blinding.
“Oh, and these are two of my cubs, Egil and Aellae,” Kisukari introduced the duo.
Nuo grunted as she heaved herself to her paws once more. She grouched under her breath to Leif, “I wasn’t playing. I tripped.” As much as she’d have liked to be playing her chin hurt way too much for that, and her leg was throbbing a bit. If she wasn’t careful, it would give out again on her. At the sound of her second name she looked up at the other lioness.
“I’m alright, thank you.” Aellae bobbed her head politely. Her mother spoke and she was interested that Kisu seemed to know this other lioness. She was interested to hear how they knew each other.
She had been intending to try to politely ask about this lioness’ cubs, but the blurted words stopped her in her tracks. This lioness had seen her given away? Therese was speechless at first. She didn’t remember the event herself. Her earliest memory was of her own master.
“It’s nice to meet you again Kisukari. Were you really there that day?” The little boy cub giggled and glanced down at him. “Your cubs are very pretty,” her voice was slightly hesitant. “If… if you don’t mind my asking. What happened to her?”
Leif blinked. “Oh, sorry sis,” he muttered, and flopped onto his rump next to her. “You can lean on me if y’need,” he murmured, knowing her paw would be hurting her now. He wasn’t really useful for playing games with and stuff, because he would just run into things and hurt himself, but he could be a good pillow.
Kisukari glanced fondly at her cubs. She was glad that they seemed to connect well with each other. She wasn’t sure how much she could be around to help them, so they had to learn to rely on each other. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Therese,” Kisukari said politely. “You have grown well.” She glanced down at her own paws. “I was indeed. My Master was unhappy with me that day. I tried to get him to take one of the cubs being given away, but he was not interested in taking another thrall. I am afraid I thought myself a hero that day.” She gave a wry smile. “Tell me about your master…is he good to you?”
She glanced at Aellae at the question of what happened to her. She hesitated, because she hated this story. “Nothing happened to her,” she said, slightly defensively, before her tone changed to resigned. “I…my pregnancy was not easy; on me or on them, I’m afraid. There were…issues.”
Instantly she forgave her brother as he apologized and offered himself for her to lean on. Aellae purred and licked his ear affectionately, “thanks!” She gently leaned her shoulder against him to take some of the weight off her leg. Comfortable as much as she was going to bed, Nuo looked once more to the adults. She murmured softly to her brother, “mama knows the white lioness. They are talking about mama watching the white lioness being given away.”
Her brow wrinkled in thought. “Is mama’s master gonna give us away you think?” That would be horrible! Never seeing her mother or siblings again; Nuo wasn’t sure she could handle that. Her head popped up as she realized the adults were speaking about her.
The young female was pleased that Kisu complemented her on growing up. “Even though I don’t remember you, it’s good to see you again. Thank you.” She tilted her head as Kisu avoided her gaze. There was something there, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “Oh. That was kind of you to try. I hope you weren’t in too much trouble. My master is kind to me. I’m happy to serve him.”
Therese gave Kisu a sympathetic look as she learned it was a hard pregnancy. “I’m so sorry. She seems well adjusted though. Did your master not take good care of you?”
Leif tried to remain as steady as he could, offering his sister a broad smile. “Anytime!” He assured her, and he did mean that. He also glanced up at the adults, a puzzled look on his face. “That’s weird, she must be really old too,” Leif murmured. He was sure his mother was ancient, mostly because he had only been alive for such a small amount of time. “I won’t let them give you away!” He insisted. “Momma won’t either. I’m sure Mama’s Master knows better than to mess with us.” He puffed out his chest, trying to look tough but he was petite and rather fine boned. Not really a threat to anyone, let alone the Captain.
Kisukari was relieved to hear that the girl’s master was kind to her. “I am glad that things turned out ok then,” she said honestly. She sighed softly at the girl’s sympathy, before rushing to correct her. She could have used it as a chance to bad-mouth Bousvor, but she found she didn’t want to. “I’m sure he would have, had he known,” she explained. “I am afraid I was so scared of what would happen that I hid it from him. He’s a bachelor. He doesn’t understand females.” She gave a wry smile. “Now he has 5 of them in his den.” She was lucky enough to have four daughters, and two beautiful boys. “He’s good to the cubs,” she added, something that always surprised her. Bousvor was actually a good guy, she was coming to find, but she’d die rather than tell him that.
She could always lean on her brother, often literally! That’s what she loved about her family. They looked out for each other. “She’s an adult like mama, but if mama saw her as a cub she can’t be as old.” It was kind of confusing. Nuo couldn’t tell much of a difference between the two lionesses. Maybe when she got older it’d make more sense.
The brown cub took comfort from her brother. No, her family wouldn’t let her be sent away and she didn’t think the captain would do it. He’d kept them around for this long hadn’t he? She giggled when Leif puffed out his chest. “No one will mess with you when you’re grown up.”
The comments from the cubs were distracting as they were cute. Therese found herself wanting to cuddle the pair. She wasn’t sure how their mother would react to that though, or the cubs themselves being cuddled by a strange lioness, so she restrained her impulses. The fact Kisu had managed to keep her pregnancy hidden was astounding! “I’m surprised and yet not surprised.” She giggled softly at the fact Bousvor was a bachelor and totally clueless.
“He sounds very nice though. Why were you scared to tell him?” It was hard for her to imagine being afraid of telling her master something. Particularly something so important! Her eyes went wide at the number. “Oh my, five cubs?! Your paws must be really full. Is he taking good care of you now though isn’t he?” If he wasn’t she’d get her master to sort him out!
Leif grinned at Nuo. “They won’t mess with you either. We got the Captain to look after us too,” he said, cheerfully. As a cub, he wasn’t really that aware of the dynamic between Kisukari and Bousvor, but Kisukari had assured the cubs that, should anything happen to her, Bousvor would be able to take care of them. If they couldn’t find her, and they needed help, they should always run to Bousvor.
Kisukari saw Therese’s distraction over her cubs and felt her chest puff out a bit, because she knew they were adorable, and that made her proud. Her babies were beautiful, so much so that even strangers found them adorable. Her question gave her pause though and she sighed, a sad sound. “To be honest Therese. I was afraid he’d give them away…like I had seen your mother’s master do.” Her eyes were sorrowful. “I wasn’t always a thrall. I was born a princess, and since coming to live here, I didn’t want to have cubs for fear of losing them. I know it’s the way of the pride, but they are my world…I couldn’t bear to part with them.” She smiled. “I have six cubs actually, four daughters and two sons. Our den is…quite full.” It felt weird referring to Bousvor’s den as ‘theirs’ but it was. They had well and truly taken over it. “He takes care of me, though he pretends that he does so reluctantly.” She smiled, almost affectionately as she thought of the male. “He is a good man…he’s a terrible father though,” she said with a wink. “Which reminds me, I should probably get back before he realizes that I left him alone with the other four.” She glanced down at her cubs. “They may look innocent, but I bet they will drive him crazy,” she laughed. She smiled at Therese, her eyes still reflecting a hint of sadness. “Come and visit us. Bousvor is a Captain, so he has a big den. You can meet the other cubs too.”
“I know but I want to be able to protect myself and you all too.” It never hurt to have a Captain on their side as back-up. Nuo gave a big yawn. She was suddenly tired! “I wanna take a nap,” she murmured to her brother.
”Oh no!” It was horrible to think that she’d been the cause of this cub’s deformity. If Kisu hadn’t hadn’t seen her being given to her master then she would have felt comfortable confiding in her own master. “I am so so sorry!” It was unclear if her comment was directed solely to the mother, or both her and the cub. “He’s not going to is he?”
Her eyes widened to learn Kisu was a princess? How had she ended up here? “Oh my. You really do have your paws full.” She wanted to offer her help, but she didn’t want to offend this proud mother. Plus she’d have to ask permission from her own master before diverting time away from him. She laughed, a bit confused. “Oh dear. How does he feel about being a father? Cubs will be cubs!”
Therese smiled warmly. “Thank you. I’d like to do that. Would tomorrow be ok?” She was impressed that Kisu’s master was a captain. Her master was a reaver. Hearing the young cub she nodded. “Get them back home and tucked into bed.”
Kisukari smiled at Therese. “Don’t be sorry. I have six gorgeous cubs, and I don’t regret them. They are perfect to me,” she assured her. She didn’t want her to blame herself, because Kisukari didn’t blame her. She blamed the pride for their foolish ways. “He won’t give them away when there’s still breath in my lungs,” she assured Therese protectively. She laughed. “I think he likes them. In his own bachelor, stubborn male sort of way.” She smiled.
“I will expect you tomorrow then,” she agreed happily. She glanced down at her son. “Egil darling, can you walk?” She asked her golden son, who blinked up at her, also sleepy now that his sister had mentioned it. He nodded a little. “Good, come Aellae,” she said, and gently picked her daughter up by the scruff of her neck, knowing the paw would be hurting her now. She nodded and offered Therese another smile, before turning and walking away. Leif stared at the other thrall with wide eyes, before offering her a goofy smile, and padding after his mother, a little bit disappointed that he wasn’t being carried…but he was big and strong. He’d protect his momma and his sister until they got back to the den.