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 Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:13 pm
Auri yawned and stretched gracefully, half in her den and half out. Lately, all her cubs had grown up so much that they were now spending time elsewhere, farther and farther away from home. It worried her, but at the same time, didn't mean too much. She knew that they were starting to want to go out and about, do their own thing.
She remembered doing the same exact thing, with her mother and father. Auri chuckled, remembering how frantic her parents were the one time she and her siblings didn't come back for a while. They got yelled at so badly, the single girl adolescent had promised herself that she would never react like that when she had cubs.
And now, she was half-tempted to break that promise, if only for the sake of being a good parent.
Green eyes scanned the area for a glimpse of a familiar coat. And found one in a yellow male, seemingly sulking a ways away. Mivu, she sighed to herself, trotting in that direction. What am I going to do with you.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:02 pm
Fahamivu'doa kicked another rock over into the big boulder a few yards away. He missed. Frowning, he found another small rock and punted it back to the boulder again. It hit the side before bouncing off back onto the ground.
This was frustrating. Why couldn't he hit his target? He had never been so horrible at aiming before. It must be what he was thinking.
So he tried to clear his head and just focused on the task at hand. His paws found another pebble to launch, he lined it up, and smacked it. His purple eyes watched the rock fly in the air, spinning rapidly, before landing on top of the boulder and skidding to a halt.
Alright, not exactly what he had in mind, but close enough.
Then a smell entered his nose, and from the corner of his eyes, saw his mother approaching slowly with a smile on her face. Mivu rolled his eyes and tried to seem happy. Otherwise, she would question it and bug him about it. That was the last thing he needed.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:37 pm
"Hello, Mivu."
Her voice called out as a peace-offering to her son, quite aware of the sometimes vicious mood-swings that plagued him. Auri did not want to be the latest victim of one. Marini had already told her what had happened at the watering hole the other day. Mivu had been fine, and then had thrown a tantrum before stomping off.
Regular teenager behavior, she reasoned.
"Aiming for the boulder, again?" she tried, scooping a pebble herself and flinging it towards the larger rock. It hit dead-center. She beamed at her son, but instantly knew that was the wrong thing to do. "Uh, so. Your father and I was thinking the other night..."
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:55 pm
Yep. That was definitely not the right thing for her to do.
"Nice shot," he complimented her grumpily. Already frustrated, he shoved another pebble into place and pelted it at the boulder. Missed again. Mivu repeated his actions, listening to his mother as she set up an "important topic" conversation. Here we go again, what was it this time?
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:39 pm
"...We want to have more cubs."
There, it was out and in the open. Auri had come to Mivu first because she knew that if he could accept her and Sharifu's decision, then it wouldn't take much to sway the opinions of his siblings.
She watched his face closely for some kind of emotional response. She figured that it would be a bit hard on him. From her mother's stories, her uncle was not so keen on having their grandparents have cubs again. Moyo had said that things had not been very good after that.
"Mivu, we would appreciate your support on this. I know it's a big step, but we want to have a bigger family. And now that you four are old enough, we can. And it would makes us very happy. I know that in the end, if you don't like it now, you will love younger siblings too."
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 3:51 pm
"More cubs?" he repeated softly, almost dangerously softly. The anger he felt pushing through his veins at her quiet request/information almost exploded out of his body.
What, were he and his siblings not good enough for his parents? They wanted a chance to start from the beginning with another litter? Was that it?
"Why do you want more cubs? The four of us should have been enough, not to mention a way to stop you from having more," Mivu half-joked, half-seriously told his mother, turning away and then back towards her.
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 3:57 pm
Auri chuckled, relieved at his show of humor. Perhaps he was more open to it than she originally feared. Trust a moody teenager to surprise their parent like that. She almost wished that he wouldn't be so unpredictable, because then she would know what to do and when, and why she would have to do it in the first place.
"Yes, well, your father and I feel that not only would it be benificial to the family, of course, but because we both would like more children anyway. My grandparents, your great-grandparents, had 7 cubs total. My mother grew up with two others, and helped to raise the other four when she was older. But she could never have more than the four that I was a part of. I kind of want to carry on the 'big family' tradition." She shrugged, smiling still.
"I half-hope that you and your brother and sisters will do the same," Auri teased. "Soon, the pridelands and the rest of the world will be overrun with our kin!"
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 8:07 pm
Mivu thought for a moment. Did they really want his opinion on this? Or did they just want him to know about it, and that they didn't really care about it.
"I see," he replied softly. "I guess that's a good enough reason, to have a big family. But don't depend on my for cubsitting duty," he warned half-heartedly. He knew he'd get drawn into it anyway, no matter what he said in the beginning.
"So how many are you hoping for?" This was an odd conversation, but he might as well start preparing for the new bundles of joy while he still had the time.
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 8:12 pm
She nodded. "Thank you. Yes, it is a good reason. But mainly because we just miss the pitter-patter of little feet running around in the cave. Yours and your siblings are too big; we hear you a mile away." Auri affectionately nuzzled her yellow son. He matched her almost perfectly; his was the only bright-colored coat in the litter.
"I'm not sure. You four were plenty, so maybe three or so would be good for the last time. I doubt we'll have more than that, or another litter after that." She shrugged. "But who knows? The gods work in mysterious ways."
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 8:15 pm
He nodded. That was to be expected, anyway.
"Well, just let me know when to not come to the den," he sulked. He didn't want to be anywhere near that place when...all that stuff was going on. Not anywhere near it. "I'll go hunt or something."
Mivu glanced at the sun and sighed.
"It's late, Mom. We should get back. You know Dad will be worrying about you."
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 8:18 pm
Auri nodded again, gave him a last nuzzle, and then trotted back home to lead the way, half-expecting him to stay there, where she left him. If he wanted to follow now, that was fine. If not, that was fine too. She knew her troubled sun would find his way back in time. But until then, she hoped he knew that he was always welcome, no matter what or when he chose to return.
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