[PRP] My son?

[spottedleef]

[ Sorry, I've been quite the rambler lately. D8; ]


Katavi weaved her way through tufts of dried savannah grass, pausing to breathe in as a touch of wind swept past her. She considered the smell for a moment; it was a beautiful thing, the smell of a growing pride, of a group of lions whose scent was now becoming distinguishably that of Tononeka. She continued on her way, one scent among the others in particular leading her way. If the wind wasn't misleading her, the cub was not far from here.

A small animal hung limply from her jaws, dragging her head lower than she would like from the weight. Her appearance was awkward. She felt awkward. It was all very... well. Awkward.

After all, she was setting out to give this kill to a cub whom she owed nothing. Uovu seemed to like it though, so she had decided that she would tolerate the little thing. For now. And either offering it food or just avoiding it was all she knew how to do in terms of tolerating.

Avoidance had been her first choice, but then she had come to the conclusion that if she had to be around the little furball, she should at least be on somewhat peaceful terms with it. So why not feed it?

Katavi set the prey down to her paws. She started to call for him, but her voice fell away, and then came that awkwardness again. She racked her brain for the name. Mu... muf... oh, whatever.

"Hey, kid!" she called.
 

[Seaki]

Mufasa stomcah, durty from laying down much of the time, was grumbling. He figured he's get something later, or attempt to catch it himself. A frown grassed his features as he pulled himself up to groom his less than clean fur.

He started on his stomach, letting his tounge pull out dirt and any loose fur. Grooming himself even gave him more time to think, even though he had been doing it prior to cleaning himself.

His brown eyes closed as he licked his stomach and paws clean. Dark ears flicking to shoo flies and even listen to his surroundings.

His mind wandered back to his meeting with Roho and recalled the yearning to challenge her. He didn't yet, maybe he should soon. It'd prove interesting on a boring day like this.

'Hey, kid!'

Mufasa rose his head, looking up on instinct as though his name was 'kid'. His eyes landed on a lioness. Who was she, he wondered. "Me?" he questioned towards the lioness, pulling himself up into a sitting position.

He knew she was probably someone in the pride, or she wouldn't come up to him or anything. He tilted his head slightly, pondering if the lioness came from a hunt recently due to the creature at her paws.  

[spottedleef]

(Sorry for the slow response. I forgot about this RP. D: -hides-)


Katavi's head swirved in the direction of the cub. A smile of satisfaction graced her features for only a moment before it vanished when her eyes locked on him.

"Yeah, you." She gave a nod, gesturing at the limp creature beside her.

"Ugh," she began awkwardly, "well, this is for you. You're Muf-mufa-mm... Well, I'm Katavi. You've heard of me, right?"

He had to have heard of her. Uovu would tell a little cub thing about his great, all-wonderful and mesmerizing love. Right? And yet she couldn't help but feel somewhat worried by his lack of interest in introducing her to his little 'son', despite the pure ethusiasm she was feeling now. And all of a sudden, her question had more meaning riding on it than she had intended.  

[Seaki]

"Mufasa," He told he, helping the Lioness with his name. He didn't mind. He gave a slight nod to acknowledge her question. "I've heard of you," his voice was shy, but he took a breath a looked at Katavi. Shyness was a sign of weakness, wasn't it?

He didn't recall a lot of things about the lioness, just that Roho had said something about his father being her mate. "I was wondering when I'd meet you," he said almost nervously. Almost. He gave a small nervous swallow to unparch his throat.

What if's and Buts scrolled through his head and he couldn't seem to get rid of them. He remained nervous but tried his best not to show it.

But curious, Uovu had to be around Katavi a lot. He felt almost jelous of the lioness, but quickly shot the feeling down. After all, the young male didn't have to go with him and Uovu could have just left him in the storm that night.  

[spottedleef]

Katavi narrowed her eyes, picking up on the nervousness that seemed to radiate off the younger lion. Nervousness meant weakness. Weakness meant bad. Very bad. Then again, hadn't she herself felt nervous just a moment before? Well, at least she'd been able to skillfully hide the fact beneath her mask of coldness. Or so she hoped. She quickly brushed the thought off, figuring she'd have to find a way to toughen Mufasa up some day. And apparently herself.

She cursed herself, wondering bitterly if it was the absence of Uovu that was plaguing her thoughts and creating such a scrambled mess, or maybe if she was just loosing it. She'd never been so unsure of herself before, and that was just... odd. New, in a scary way.

Katavi blinked, trying to regain some semblance of a normal thought process.

"Mufasa," she repeated, attempting to commit the name to memory as he spoke.

Well, at least Uovu had mentioned her. That was something. Right?

"Right. Well, it has been some time, hasn't it?"

Her eyes caught on the prey at her side, and she dragged it toward Mufasa with an outstretched claw, giving him a nod. "Though, Uovu never did explain to me exactly what happend that made him bring you to the Tononeka."  

[Seaki]

Like Katavi, Mufasa wasn't... skilled in hiding too many emotions. Neverousness was one he wasn't good at, so he knew she could tell.

But that didn't make him weak.

... Did it?

Mufasa throught back to the question, trying to recall anything about Katavi that he could. He recalled Roho mentioning her name for a bit then a long absensce from his father.

His eyes flashed back up to Katavi after he eyed the meat for a split second. "He didn't?" He questioned the lioness. He frowned a little, forgetting his nervousness; brow furrowed.

He took a deep breath before explaining. "He said that I had the potentiel to be strong. That, and I had no one... I guess..." He said, slight uncertainty lacing his voice.

Uovu had said those things, but what did it take for his father to actually stay with him. As a father. Would he have to be stronger?  

[spottedleef]

Katavi examined the cub with a critical eye as he spoke, taking in his facial expression and apparent confusion. It looked as if Mufasa was as taken aback as she was for her lack of details, and that strangely brought a quiver of a smile to her lips. At least she wasn't alone in all this.

As she listened to him speak, she couldn't help but let the pride welling up inside herself sink her features into a more relaxed state. Just hearing of Uovu's kind words reminded her of her devotion to him.

The awkward ending to Mufasa's sentence confused her, before it dawned on Katavi that the cub was going through his own loss because of Uovu's absence. Her cold eyes softened to a degree.

"You miss him," she stated plainly. And so do I, she thought. "It sounds like he is very good to you. And teaching you what is important, too. Strength is the most important asset in life, after all. Chin up a little more, and you'll certainly look it."

She gave him a nod, and straightened herself up with a roll of her powerful shoulders.

"Just like this."  

[Seaki]

ufasa gave a small nod. He did miss his father a great deal. He gave a shuddery sigh and dismissed the emotion witha flick of his tail as it was an emotion he was used to dealing with.

'Strength is the most important asset in life, after all.'

Mufasa nodded to this, watching Katavi's smooth example, as it came naturally to her. He didn't know how he would look, so he held his chin up and let his shoulders sort of... relax, but held them with pride.

He smaller lion let his chest puff out slightly. But strength and pride were two different things, weren't they?

He supposed he was strong. He was better at mind games, but was sure he could win in a small brawl, though he never did.

"Most important..." he repeated softly.

Did he look strong? He questioned himself.  

[spottedleef]

Katavi smirked at the cub's futile attempt, but made no comment other than a soft "hmph," under her breath. She broke the young lion apart piece by piece in her mind as she studied his posture. It wasn't awful, she decided. But it also wasn't good.

"Something is off," she said, as she continued to analyze him. It wasn't that he was holding himself in any way less than he should, but that the strength itself was mising.

"You're not very sure of yourself," she concluded. Her piercing blue eyes fell in disappointment, though not a muscle twitched about her face. "You must learn to better hide your insecurities, kid. Suppose you are in a brawl with some other young lion such as yourself; if your enemy can read you at all, if any flicker of emotion passes your face, then you have already lost. That is the way life is."

A faraway look glazed over her eyes as the lioness dug into her own memories, and then she spoke again.

"Relax yourself, and then think of the moment in your life when you felt the most glory... the most strength, in and out. Then you will look and feel true strength, and find what you're missing."  

[Seaki]

Mufasa stayed still as the black lioness studied him. He didn't want to give any outward signed, but figured he didn't do it right when the lioness spoke.

'Something is off.'

He looked to her. "Hiding my insecurities?" He questioned lightly. He was always expressive. He wondered if he could just... Stop. He nodded.

She was right, he admitted to himself. That's what life was like.

He glanced at her, but didn't quite look her in the eyes, so he didn't see her far away look. At her words, he took in a soft breath and closed his eyes for a breif moment in rememberance. The warmth the memory of his father 'claiming' him stood still fresh in his mind.

A lot wouldn't consider that glory, or anything really, but it was a lot to him. He let his chest puff up a bit bigger and a small hidden grin played his features.  

[spottedleef]

"Now that," Katavi said, "is confidence." A proud smirk played about her lips before it disappeared as quickly as if it had never been. She had never been one for showing emotion herself, even in her proudest moments.

The kid's alright, she decided, regarding him a moment more. He seemed at ease by whatever it was that prided him so; she had fixed a big problem in just a short time. Not that bad a student, either. Maybe she could live with the thing after all... Maybe.

"You could still use some work, though, couldn't you?" she asked, though it seemed more like she was speaking to herself rather than him. "Seeing as you want to be a Tononeka lion, it might do you good to have a mentor. Tell me, is that furball Uovu teaching you the right tricks?"  

[Seaki]

Mufasa struggled to hide his confusion, but just didn't ask. He was new to all this. Family, and staying with the pride, and all that. He never had to listen to anyone before. He kept his posture, unwilling to move. He just knew it would be a good idea to listen to this Lioness. Father's mate after all. His mother now, he supposed.

"Tell me, is that furball Uovu teaching you the right tricks?"

That made Fasa think for a moment, before he replied. "Depends on what the 'right things' are," He tried, evasively. Evasive maneuver was best to get out of situations, right?  

[spottedleef]

Katavi snorted. "The right things are to use your mind, rather than your body, young one."

While Katavi had never mentored a cub before, she felt she could almost... do this. It didn't seem so hard. She would just teach him the tricks Roho had taught her. Soon, he would be a great warrior like herself; using cunning and wit to catch prey, and moreover, enemies. A rare smile sprawled across Katavi's lips, exposing sharp teeth.

"Come, cub, I have much to teach you." And so began the lessons...