[ORP] Memories on the river of time

[Andranis]

All things changed, and yet all things stayed the same. The river, if slowly, changed its course, while the lions who lived near it didn't seem to move much. Three lions stood on a bluff, watching it creep by, two of them musing at days long gone.

Kingu'jua looked over to his cubhood friend, Remiel, smiling at the great copper-orange lion. "Any news from your daughter, Remy? I'm sure she's having fun out there in the rogue lands..." He remembered the days he'd been out and about on the lands, wandering and looking for lions to bring home to En Gedi. Of course, in those days it had been a much larger trek to reach their homelands far north of the Great Sands - The Sahara, the humans called it.

The massive lion beside him, ever the picture of what a Barbary lion would have been, smiled. "She's doing great, enjoying the rogue's life for a while before she comes home..." He couldn't wait to see his little girl again. She was Remiel's only child, the only he'd ever had with his mate. He hoped dearly that she was doing well wherever she was at present.

On Kingu's other side stood his mate, Tziporah. The lioness listened to the males, her mind going for a moment to the days she'd spent out on the roguelands, and thought of her many brothers and sisters... She paused her thought. Many half-brothers and half-sisters. "I just hope she doesn't run into my brother, he's hopeless..." The mask-marked lioness sat down, wondering... How WAS Nebo? What was he up to, and was he doing okay? It was a thought she couldn't begin to know the answer to.  

[Mogami]

Astar walked along the edge of the river, looking heavily soaked as she left a wet path with each step she took. Her totem, a dark wild dog with similar adornments, followed closely after the patched lioness, also dripping water though he often stopped to shake his body from head to tail which gave him a less wet and more ruffled appearance.

“Please, stop that.” Astar said for the third time as she was once again showered with a steady dose of tiny water drops.

Kuma chuckled but didn’t stop what he was doing and instead moved a little closer to the lioness.

“Really, Kuma? Really?” Astar said sternly though a hint of a smile danced on her maw.

The wild dog chuckled even louder but quickly sobered up when he realized they weren’t completely alone.

“Company.” He said simply, noticing Astar silently tense up almost instantly.  

[Thalion]

The lean, young male made his way down the riverbed, his boney shoulders hunched over his thin, curled mane and his paws moving at an awkward angle from side to side. Sadly, Aharon was far from the bulkey, massive creatures that dominated the male gene of his family. His mane was pathetically thin compared to the prouder, barbary crowns that flowed from the others, sometimes even along their bellies and well past their shoulders. It was average, by all means, outside of the pride but within it, it stood out.

He smiled as he spotted his parents and flicked his tail. Another lioness stood nearby with her totem, a wild dog. His own, a golden-colored vulture, circled high above him.

"Mom, dad, Rem." He greeted with a dip of his head. "Little reunion no one told me about?"  

[Andranis]

The smaller of the two present males smiled, dipping his head in return. "Aharon, good morning! We're simply reminiscing about the past." Some day, his sons and daughters would be there. Hopefully, the wayward son and daughter would remember their roots and return to them. Until that happened, though, Kingu could only hope and pray. His ears flicked as he noticed a gray and white form. "Astar, good morning, and a good morning to you, too, Kuma!" As a sage, he made it a point to get to know every lion and totem in the pride.

Remiel let out a jovial rumble, then looked back to the horizon. "Have you found a girl you like yet, Aharon? I'm sure your parents want grandcubs one day!" Humor glinted in his orange eyes, before he laughed and ducked a paw from Kingu. "What? You know it's true, Kingu!" The tan male beside him scowled. "He will do so in his own time, Remy, and not before YOU prod him!"

"Boys, stop that!" Tziporah reared up on her back paws, grabbing both of the males by the ear and yanking them down. She then smiled at her son. "While I DO want grandcubs one day... I don't want you rushing." She gave Remy a dangerous look. "It is a DEEP and intensely PERSONAL decision to make." Her gaze then fell to Astar. "Astar, come join us? I'm sure you have a piece of the past to reminisce about, as well!"

Thalion

Mogami

 

[Mogami]

Even though Kuma’s presence was usually enough to keep her calm and focused, Astar was a little nervous around those she didn’t know very well. Despite the fact that she hadn’t been born in the pride, this was her home and she knew each of these lions, their histories and their relationships. They were familiar to her, almost like family even if not quite and yet she still felt a deep anxiousness at times.

“Hello.” The soaked lioness said with a little smile as she walked closer to the others, not entirely pleased with her current condition or the subject of the conversation. The past was a tricky subject for the young lioness whose earlier memories were filled with fear and deprivation. “My fondest memory is that of joining the pride when I was little.” Earier than that, she didn’t like to remember.

--------------------------

Kuma remained by Astar’s side and refrained from shaking his wet coat again. It would definitely embarrass Astar if he started watering the big lions around her. At times like this, he knew the patched lioness liked to have him close and he was happy to oblige.

“Good morning.” He greeted the lions pleasantly, giving Astar’s dripping coat a sideways glance. As for the subject of the conversation, he couldn’t say he enjoyed it much either. Even today, the wild dog still missed his family though losing his way had brought him to Astar so it would be fair to say he had mixed feeling regarding his own history.  

[Thalion]

Aharon looked rightly put on the spot between his father and uncle's jesting. He managed to smile, lopsided and tightly, despite himself. A part of him wanted to crawl away and find a hole to sit in but that would not only be silly and cubbish, it would be downright obvious to his family that he was avoiding the topic of romance. Too late to brush off their inquiry, he bobbed a shoulder and settled himself down against the grass.

A shadow swept overhead and he turned his gaze upwards. Hotep, his totem, was circling high above in slow, lazy circles. He'd come down when he felt good and ready to. At least he seemed high up enough to have much of the conversation die behind the wind in his ears. He'd not hear the end of it if the vulture caught wind of the current topic.

"There's a female I grew up with." He said as casually as he could manage. "She's sweet I guess but I'm not sure if she's interested yet."

He offered his mother a grateful smile before distracting himself with the gray-blotched lioness and her own totem. He nodded and offered her a quiet smile. "I remember that. You and your family, it was quite a while back. I didn't even have my mane."

Andranis

Mogami