Seven.
Otrera had given birth to seven little monsters that were way too hungry for their own good. How in the hell had she ever wanted to have these while she was still with Ares?! The red lioness groaned as she rolled in the den she and her litter currently occupied. All of her cubs were currently sleeping, save one. One that was almost the spitting image of her if she didn't have those eyes...The eyes of her father. A rogue that passed a little too close to the Pridelands and had caught the eye of the once-queen. The two shared a passionate night under the stars and the next thing she knew: she was pregnant. Gods above, she must have been extremely fertile to give birth to such a large litter.
A small yell broke the relative silence of the cave.
Otrera's ears went back. She knew the young cub had been awake but she hadn't expected her to actually make noise. Rolling her eyes, the new mother rose only her paws and made her way over to her child.
She stared down at it, almost confused by what she saw. It was hers. She made that. Well, with a little help, but still. And now this fragile little bundle of fur and noise depended on her for everything. Letting her shoulders sad, Otrera's lowered her head and grasped the back of Ukame's neck in her mouth, bringing her back over to the rest of her litter-mates. Otrera placed her gently down with the other six sleeping lion cubs before curling her much larger body up around them or as much as she could.
Still, Ukame did not rest. The little cub yelled again as she walked over her siblings, crying the entire time. One paw in front of the other, she crawled until she was on top of her mother's side. The feeling of rising and falling was an odd one and something brand new to the cub. She was only a few weeks old at this point so everything was new to her.
Her mother sighed as she licked the noisy cub's face. "Hush. Go back to sleep." Came as a whisper, trying hard not to wake the others. It was hard enough dealing with one awake, but all seven was horrible without help from the nannies.
No success. The crying continued, especially after that wet tongue suddenly ran over of her face! What did she want? Well she wanted to curl up and find a comfortable spot. With six other siblings to compete with, space was at a premium when it came to laying with her mother. She moved a little more, sliding on her mother's fur as she did but still managed to hang on with those tiny sharp claws of hers.
Bright red eyes twitched as small dart of pain shot over her side. There was no way Otrera should have forgotten about the claws, but somehow she had. Growling lowly, the mother moved to grab her cub once more and once again put her in the pile that was curled up in the semi-circle that Otrera's body made off to the side of the den they shared. It wasn't great. There was at least a zebra skin beneath her so she was somewhat comfortable on the rock floor but it was nothing compared to what her and her cubs would have gotten in the Lucani.
The little girl would have been a princess to her pride and even without the pride, she was just as demanding as one. Ukame pushed over, crawling over one of her sister's heads, she made her way onto Otrera's paws before finally settling down. She couldn't quite decided if that would be her final choice in a place to nap or not just yet. Fit a small micro-nap would be needed to decide if it was comfortable enough.
Before Otrera could even react, the troublesome cub was already sleep. The frown that had been present before quickly vanished as she saw a small image of herself in the cub that lay curled up across her forelegs. How could she even think of moving Ukame now that she was actually asleep? She couldn't, that's how. Her daughter was just as smart as she was and somehow that made her proud.
Just as Otrera was beginning to settle down herself and her jaw was just about to touch down on her paws, the mewing started again. Her eyes had been closed and her body had lost some of the day's tension when that familiar sound met her ears. "Ukaaame..." She groaned as she raised her head to lick at the cub's head once more. "Go back to sleep.." Her words were more of a plea then anything. These cubs were absolutely exhausting her and yet somehow there were mothers in the Pridelands that had birthed two, three, even four litters.
Oh come on, she had to be comfortable before she settled in for her afternoon nap! And she just wasn't there yet. Ukame's body shifted once again, letting her displeasure about having to do all this work be known. Her siblings sure as hell heard her as they replied only a few times before falling back to sleep, of course after they shifted, letting their mother know of their displeasure as well.
Otrera groaned, looking over the litter of seven. There was a moment when she regretted going towards the borders and find Rhodion, but then there were moments when she was happy to have these cubs. Like the moment that was happening right now. Ukame had finally settled down, for real this time, and the other six were just as comfortable. Everything was still in the den now and finally maybe Otrera could catch a few hours of sleep as well given how little she had gotten over the last few weeks.
One more sound left Ukame's left, causing Otrera to tense up but only for a moment. The sound was that of content.
Smiling, the red eyed mother placed her head over the body of her youngest daughter with care, her chin just on the other side of Ukame's body as the family drifted off to sleep.
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