Life was....quiet. Not a bad sort of quiet, or a real quiet...It was just...calm! That was the right word. The cubs were nearly full-grown, three of them had left to find their own place in the world. Without the chaos young ones made, life seemed more peaceful. Even with other cubs coming to her for stories. It made Muli smile. That she was sought for stories so often...it was any bard's dream. And she had Chuk and Maluuni by her side. The love of her life, and the sister of her soul...no lion could ask for more. At the thought of Chuk, she ventured out of the den to seek him out. Just being near him made Muli's day brighter. But there was still that underlying feeling that things were just so...calm.
Chuk lay underneath the warm spring sun. He lie on his back with his paws laying limp above him. His eyes were closed as he soaked in the warmth of the sun. Like felt so chill without his cubs climbing all over him, and begging him to tell them the story of how their parents met, or the adventures he had with the humans. Now he was able to just relax. Though, he had to admit, he missed the chaos that came with five cubs. The small open groove where he lay was near the middle of the lands. It was one of the only places where the sun fully reached the floor of the jungle, and he loved it.
Muli spotted her pale mate and grinned. Quietly, as Maluuni had taught her, she stalked through the jungle brush, creeping up...And then popped her head and neck into Chuk's field of vision. "Hello, love! Enjoying the sun again?" She'd done so herself a few times...though the jungle was always warm, she couldn't help but enjoy the unique feel of he sun on her fur. There wasn't any feeling that quite compared, except maybe Chuk's love.
"Mmmm.." He replied. His face scrunched up when a cloud blocked his sun from his face. His eyes fluttered open as he looked up into the face of his mate. He smiled lightly as her face started to come into focus. "That's the one thing I miss about living out on the savannah." He said as he craned his neck up to lick Muli on the nose. “There’s hardly any sun out in these parts. He said as he stretched and looked around, “I think this is the only decent area with enough."
Muli chuckled and nodded, returning his affection with a nuzzle. "Yes...but I rather like the jungle too. It's...safe without being confining. And though much of it is dark, the spaces where the light breaks through are all the more beautiful for it." She smiled. "But that might be the bard in me." Born a bard, raised a bard...and she reveled in it.
He laughed lightly, "No, that's the truth." He said as he stretched and rolled over, sitting up. "I am glad that we were able to find a place to live though." He smiled as he nuzzled with his mate, purring lightly. "It's just, my feet are itching to go somewhere, ya know? It's hard for me to stay in one place for so long." He said as he started to prance in place, moving his legs to get them moving again. They had become stiff from lying around all day. He laughed lightly, knowing he would never leave Muli. "Hehe, just dreaming I guess."
Muli shook her head. "I know how you feel. I love it here...but I think...at some point I'll HAVE to travel." She looked at the black pads of her right front paw. "I have to travel to gather new songs and stories...at least a little. It's what a bard does, before her current crop gets stale." Muli looked back to Chuk. "Maybe...we can talk to Toh and see if we can't travel for a bit?" That would fix the feeling that it was too calm...a bit of travel. Yes, that would fix that feeling right up!
He smiled, glad that she understood how he felt. And now with the cubs able to live on their own, they would be free birds again. They could go where ever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Well, as long as they got Toh's okay on the matter. "That sounds like a good idea." He said as he stretched again, a yawn emitting from his maw.
Muli nodded and lay next to her mate, happy to be near him. "Maybe we might even run into Uhuru and Mabaka and Risasi. Who knows..." She missed her little ones...but they would be alright, she knew. They were strong, and certainly smart. They'd gotten that from both their parents. "Though I'm just happy they all found where the world wanted them." That her cubs were happy...that's all she wanted for them.
Chuk nodded. "I'm sure their happy too." He said as he started to groom his mate. He loved his children more than anything in the world. Well, besides Muli. He was sad when they left, he only knew it meant that they were going to make their own family's.
"Yes...I doubt they would find places that made them unhappy." Muli groomed Chuk right back as she could. "Perhaps Risasi found the ones he wants to protect...and maybe Mabaka and Uhuru found help for their own cause." Those thoughts made the thought that they were gone from the jungle more bearable. "And I know...that no matter where they are, they've made friends." Her lot had a talent for that, and good hearts to keep those friends.
He nodded, then smiled as he sat up, "All this talk is making me want to go!" He said, feeling like a cub again, "What do ya say we talk to Toh first thing tomorrow and see what we can do?" He asked, his paws begging for them to leave.
Muli nodded and laughed brightly as she followed suite. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!" And they would bring back new stories and songs with them...tales of new places and faces! They could even tell others who needed it that this place existed...this place where no one was looked down on because of species. This place where one was free to love who they wanted, and be who they truly were.
