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Tejasvi's eyes settled upon the copse of trees she was passing, her tail waving ever so slowly behind her as she examined the lionesses lurking within. They were one of a few clans, though their numbers were growing. Her mother had once told her that they were a great pride, of such numbers that she could only begin to dream. The passage across lands had taken many numbers over time, and the plague had struck a few once they had settled.

She turned her eyes away from them as she came upon an empty cluster of trees, settling herself in the cool shade the branches above provided. The sun set sparkles of dancing light through the emerald canopy above, basking the land of Kunanda in an almost dreamy manner.

This was her pride, these were her people, and she would lead them as her mother had led before her. She would see them back to greatness one day.


"The sunlight and water play well together this evening." An older, male, voice popped up from not too far away. Chizoba had been taking a nap, hidden under a bed of flowers and thus had not been seen when Tejasvi had chosen her resting place. Once, when he was young, he might have resented the fact that he could hide so... but no longer. Youth and its fires were no longer with him, though the rivers of fire-marked fur that ran through his body seemed to suggest otherwise. Darkness blotted him, however, providing an uncanny sort of camouflage to his surroundings. His kind, golden eyes turned upon the young queen. He'd served the Queens before she and her partner, and was proud to remain in servitude in the next 'generation' as it were. Secretly, though, he wondered how long it might last. "But perhaps your thoughts are not upon the marriage of elements. Your eyes stray to the clans."

There wasn't a time that Tejasvi could't remember the great Pahal being around. He had been there before she was born, and on some levels, she wondered how long it would take before he had done his duty. Stil, even though he was male, she felt nothing but an affectionate smile spread over her mug. He was one of the few things left of her childhood. That had all ended when her mother died, when the throne of Adhi-raj had been passed on to her instead.

"I am afraid I am not studying the scenery, no, Chizoba," she said softly, turning her eyes to find the fiery creature she had not quite noticed before now. He amused her, in many ways, and he was perhaps the only male alive she would not punish for such an action. Hell, she'd probably let him get away with anything so long as it was not quite in the public eye. "I was thinking of the stories mother used to tell me about how many of us there used to be."

"And perhaps the Queen wishes they were more fact than wistful thoughts of old." It was a question, though he never stated it as one. Though he would not have dared be so bold as this in front of any other male, the Pahal had long since learned how to walk the line between his Queens. He kept the peace between the males and females, for that was his duty, but to do so he had to be able to do and witness things that other males weren't privy to. Yet, to do so overtly would be unspeakable.

Chizoba held no thoughts so lofty as to assume the Queens knew not what he did--only that they were wise enough to realize that browbeating and excluding the males entirely would only foster rebellion. Stronger they may appear, but there were times Chizoba wondered of the truth in that. Thankfully, neither the Queens or his fellow Parastar were thought readers.

His tail swished lightly upon the ground beside him, the movement of his body sending ripples through his fur that invoked the illusion of rolling magma. His father had been so marked, and so had he--thankfully there had been no sisters in his litter, for surely those females would have born a life in the pride that few considered worth living.

"I do indeed," she said softly, watching him thoughtfully as he moved. The illusion of his fur pattern was one she had grown used to, though it still did not cease to please her on some level. She could still take the time to appreciate the small things that had always put a smile on her face, even if they were such childish things as fleeting memories in her past. He reminded her of her mother, for he had been her Pahal once. It was a comfort, if a small one only.

"I truly wish that there was a way to bring back numbers into the pride. We grow, but slowly, and I am not sure I will live to see the day that we return to that glory." She smiled then, rolling her shoulders weakly, and turned her eyes back towards the pride where she could see the lionesses milling slowly. "Perhaps my heir will, or her heir after her. I belive we will one day, though."

Chizoba gave a hearty, happy laugh. Despite the 'oppression' some might think him under, he found true beauty in their way of life, and those around him. Perhaps he should not, but there was a certain sort of.. fatherly emotion that he associated with the still young Queen. "I do not wish it to happen so fast, no matter my how my heart aches for old times! I'm far too old to be up to my shoulders in cubs." Of course, he was also among the few males of his age that had never born children--but that was as much to his coat as anything else.

She let a small grin spread her mug at his laugh, the sound lifting her heart a great deal. "Oh, but I don't think you'd have to worry about cubs, Chizoba. You seem to have made it pretty far without having to raise your own, and you're good at hiding." She waved a paw at him for emphasis, showing that she had in fact not seen him.

"Even a seeming disadvantage may have its uses, if you look for them." He replied, somehow giving the words the air of a long-standing quotation. "It may seem to you as if I've raised no cubs, but I might yet say to you that I have raised plenty, for do I not guide all the youths of ours, as a father might his own litter?"

She paused to consider what he was saying, then nodded to him in the end. "I suppose that is very true, Chizoba," she said with a soft smile, a gentle laugh under her words. After all, he did all of those things he said. Sometimes his wisdom astounded her, but when she had to account for all his years, it didn't seem all that surprising. "Still, I don't think a few cubs would hinder you in the slightest."

The male raised his brows, though the movement was perhaps masked by the rippling of his ticked fur. He shook head and chuckled, looking out across to where the lionesses' lay. "My queens' advice is always welcome, and her orders always followed," He replied carefully.