(AIM: Between DFA and Kim)
He'd had a lot to think about.
No's sickness. No's sickness that had turned out to be the efforts of carrying cubs. Becoming a soon-to-be father. Umlilo's pregnancy with a Safi lion. Kibela's pregnancy by Bodaway to help the numbers. New rogues appearing on the horizon to join. The last of the ranks to fill. Hunting for the pride. Organising. Guarding. Oh, and the thoughts that he would soon be a father.
Had he mentioned that already?
So, it was hardly surprising that he was dozing in the fading sunlight, stretched out on his belly with his forepaws curled against his chest and head bowed low. He wasn't sleeping, but he wasn't fully awake either. He was in that in-between state where he'd lost part of his mind but not enough to sleep.
In any case he'd had enough to think about over the past few days and all the excitement was beginning to get to him. One decent night's sleep. That was all he was asking for...
...
His eyelids drooped, feeling heavy now. A yawn parted his maw.
---
Blah, blah blah blaaaaaaaah, it was all so boring! While it was true his short life had been more filled with excitement than it'd had the right to be (what with the fact he'd been born to a Safi lioness and thus had meant he'd had to be hidden away and then taken by his dad over to his 'new home in Simo' where he would aparently 'never see mommy again'), Lu-Ten was upset by the way things were turning out to be. His daddy was not well looked upon (something about his relationship with mommy, whatever that meant), and while he and his litter mates (minus Zuko, whom had been left behind because he did not 'fit in') had been treated really nicely, Lu felt somewhat isolated.
It had less to do with his starch white coat and more to do with the fact he felt like an odd one out emotionaly. His daddy was undergoing some... bussiness or whatnot (again, backlash from his relationship with mommy), and thus meant he had to spend most of his time with Nannies and story tellers. It was boring.
So boring, in fact, that the white hued cub had skipped off away from his litter mates, following a grasshopper which he pounced on after. The insect in question landed a few centimeters away from the form of the sleeping Regent, and when Lu pounced on after it... he miscalculated the jump and landed with his front paws over Kidondo's nose. For a moment, he blinked slightly, and then offered the sleeping lion a sheepish grin, "Woops, sorry sir."
---
If the Regent had known a cub was nearby he probably would have shifted from his spot here under the sun. He didn't dislike cubs. That's not what it was at all. He just didn't know how to behave around them. He felt bumbling and awkward and left not knowing quite what to say. He didn't like it! He always knew what to say to others no matter their rank or upbrinding. But tell him to speak to a cub and he'd freak out.
Yes, given the choice of cub-sitting and fighting an army of traditionalists...
Well..he knew where he was with fighting, right?
The initial shock of having something bump suddenly into his nose was thus followed up by the feeling of heart-wrenching panic. What was a CUB doing here? Alone. Without its mother. Or father. Or carer. Or anyone! He pulled himself up into a sitting position in case the cub decided it liked jumping on his nose.
"Um...don't worry about it." He wriggled his snout experimentally. Well, it seemed okay.
"Where's your mother, little, uh...cub? Aren't you a bit young to be wandering around by yourself?"
---
Aaaaawkward.
For a moment, the white male blinked repeatedly, "Uuuuuh..." his ears twitched back, then forward, still looking sheepish, though now, with an added ounce of uncomfortable, "I uhh.... mommy's back in Safi. I think They said I can't see her no more. Cause she can't keep us. Or something," it was easy to see he wasn't all that clear on the details, but he was going along with it regardless.
Pushing himself to imitate the way the regent sat, Lu-ten tilted his head; this male was sortalikedaddy but not quite. He was almost uncomfortable, wasn't he? That was... unexpected. He was used to adult being rather comfortable around him (after all, he spent his time with the nannies and story tellers), "And I'm not 'little'! I'm eatting meat already! See?" he puffed his chest out for the Regent to see, "I'm all grown up!" he deflated himself at this point and looked up and Kidondo, "Uh... almost grown up, anyhow," then he seemed to voice the answer to the unspoken question, "Daddy's being uuuuuh..... busy. With some bussiness. That's what the nannies said, so he can't watch me. I saw this NEAT grasshopper and followed it."
---
Kidondo tipped his head. Oh right. This must have been one of Kadogo's lot. They'd come here, taken in by their father because their mother couldn't keep them in the Safi. Only to be expected really. Any breeding between the two prides would have been frowned on by them as if it were a rogue breeding. Maybe worse, since they had openly cursed the name of Finar-Si and everything she stood for.
Hell, even some slaves had more respect for her than the Simo.
Kidondo wouldn't say that he was happy about this situation. He didn't like to think that they were doing things that might enrage the Safi and provoke them into attacking. He didn't think they could possibly lose to them. Not now when things were so well set up. But he didn't want to be the one to lead their extinction. It'd break his heart.
In any case, whilst this situation wasn't ideal, it did bring one good with it. It closed the gap between Safi and Simo and maybe one day all the Safi would grow to realise that tradition could not go on forever. Not all traditions in any case.
"But your daddy is taking care of you, right?" Kidondo said, lifting his head to glance around. Well...maybe not taking care of them all that well.
He chuckled then. Entertained by the little cub thinking he was big. Well, for a cub he was big. Bigger than Ondo would have expected at such an age. Even still, he was small and Kidondo knew he was far more fragile than he acted. "Sorry. You're right. You are not as small as some cubs I have seen. But, don't be in a rush to grow up. Childhood is something to enjoy, not to long the end of..." A pause.
Oh for the love of...Was he lecturing a cub?!
No would kill him.
He cleared his throat. "I'm Kidondo. What's your name?"
