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 Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:43 pm
 The time seemed to have gone by so quickly, from that day she'd given Azarax the news that parenthood was swiftly approaching them. Since then she had become rather ravenous in appetite, and it almost seemed at times that no amount of food would ever satisfy her. As her appetite grew so did her figure. The bulge in her stomach had become undeniable over the weeks and at times she was shorter tempered than usual, but she carried out her duties for as long as she could, both for the sake of the pride and the cubs growing inside of her. The dry season wouldn't be long off compared to how readily available the water supplies were (Which was not very), and she didn't want them caught unawares. The time would come, she knew, when more water seekers would fill the ranks, but until then it was up to her.
Today, though, she had a different kind of work to tend to.
They had found a den well secluded from the others to use just a few days prior, and as the sun began to bake the lands outside her labor pains began. By the time the cubs were actually near birth though, the sun was closer to dusk on the horizon...
"Azarax, it's time."
Yin-li, inside the den, growled a slow, rattling sound from her throat, unable to get fully comfortable after hours of preparation, growing restless, and definitely ready for the birthing to begin. She could at least "rest" easy with confidence knowing that Azarax was keeping watch outside. All she had to do now was deliver their children.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:12 am
Ever since Yin had told him she was having cubs, he had become doubly concerned for her safety and well-being. After all, she was no longer walking for one, but for... many, and the idea haunted him day in and day out. There was everything to fear, in his opinion, and nothing could convince him otherwise.
What if she didn't get enough rest? What if she was working too hard, being currently the only water-seeker? What if walking all the time was bad for the cubs? What if she didn't get enough to eat? What if something went wrong during pregnancy and birth? What if, like him, they came out tan?
That last seemed to weigh heavily on his mind, even more so than the others. It was a fear that never left him, and wouldn't until he saw the answer for sure with his own two eyes. Uddhava had taught him what it was like to know that one day, someone he loved would have to leave, and chances were that he would never see them again. The idea filled him with dread. He loved his younger brother dearly, but he knew instinctively that once the cubs were born, they would take priority over everything else. They would become his world, much like Yin had, and much like Uddhava had for a time, and the prospect of any of them having to leave filled him with dread.
His ears perked at Yin's words. It was time. Instantly, he felt anxiety begin to fill him, and as he took up his post outside of the den, he knew that he would not even begin to relax until the waters calmed and settled once again. He would not go in until all of the cubs had arrived - giving birth was something Yin had to do alone. So he stood at the mouth of the den, tense and every nerve standing on end. He was flighty, and he knew it, and as he stood he hoped that nothing would set him off. The state he was in was a new and completely alien one. Never before had he felt so anxious, and he knew that he couldn't very well be held accountable for any damage he wrought on anyone or anything right now.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:17 am
A bit nervously she watched him go, but reminded herself that if her smaller mother could deliver seven cubs in lands not her own and under such harsh conditions, so could she in lands that -were- her own under relaxed conditions. It was time.
It wasn't for some time after, yet, that each cub had been born and laid safely at her side. She was still cleaning the last one, gently running her tongue over the back of the girl's head, marveling at how many of her parents stripes and spots there were-- every cub, and all black and white and varying oranges to yellows like her brother Huang, and her mother in law, the one she hadn't gotten a chance to know, that Azarax had lost. Ripuka, she saw the marking three of the cubs, the girls, bore.
Satisfied she finally called out softly, nudging the last girl in place beside her sisters and brothers to feed, then curled around them to shield against the den's cold.
Her eyes lifted to the den's entrance.
"Azarax, they're here..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:55 am
It took what seemed to him like forever. But it was a forever in suspended time and reality, as if what was happening wasn't really happening. It was an abstract world of dreams and distance, and as he floundered through the timelessness of it all, he wondered if he would wake up.
He hoped not.
And then, he heard Yin's voice, floating gently from within the cave, and he turned. For a moment he stood apprehensively at the mouth of the den, both bursting with excitement and filled with dread to see the newborns.
He took a breath, and stepped into the den. It was dark, even with the sun beating down brightly outside, and his eyes took a moment to adjust. Standing silhouetted against the brightness of the outside world, he blinked twice. With each blink, the shapes of Yin lying on the floor and the squirming bundles became clearer. He moved closer, leaning forward to count the bodies.
One, two three, four... five. Five beautiful little babies. And for that one moment, his fears vanished, and he stood entranced by the wriggling little lives in front of him.
His little babies. He felt his breath leave him as a wave of unquestioned, unconditional love for the little creatures washed over him.
And then his eyes roved over them, searching for the dreaded pelt of gray that would tell him any of his children were Huria. A sigh of relief escaped him as he saw the coats of black and white and fiery orange-red.
"Yin," He managed, in his state of utter speechlessness.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:02 am
Here she was. Born at last. A tiny creature, no bigger than her mother's paw, that would one day become a fully grown female Firekin; the elite of all lions.
She was blind, hard-of-hearing, but she knew things instinctually. Knew them with her heart and soul. Yes, she was away from the close darkness, the tight confined space in the land she would never get back to. But, this place - though strange - offered her comfort too. She could feel her mother's tummy beneath her paws, feel her siblings wriggling at her sides.
She was safe.
She opened her mouth, giving a high-pitched wail, and moved forwards, intent on finding something to ease the screams of her empty stomach.
This tiny ball of fur; helpless, dependant, delicate. Soon she would have a name, and that name would be Vesta.
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:20 am
Yin-li felt motherly pride swell strong within her as Azarax emerged from outside and took them all in. She too felt the unconditional love, but as she had carried them herself the bond had always been there, as she was sure it had been for him since he learned the news. Now it was simply magnified ten fold.
She uncurled enough for him to have a better, unhindered look, and purred quietly in response.
"The three girls all have Ripuka's mark, love..." She pointed out softly, marveling a bit at the somewhat sad irony, but hoped that for Azarax it wouldn't be all painful to see such a reminder of the one he'd lost. What she didn't know, either, was that a couple of the cubs also resembled his sister Jua.
She glanced them all over again, leaning in to reassuringly wash the back of the head of their crying first born daughter.
"They're perfect, Azarax... every one of them..."
And to think such perfection came from two who had once been deemed inferior. If the cubs were to wander the pride without either parent would any of them even know them from the "full bloods"? Possibly for the ocelot markings, but it didn't matter, the past was the past, and they had proven themselves, and now they had their newest reward.
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 3:38 am
Indeed, they were perfect, each and every one of them. His eyes passed over their black coats, and as Yin mentioned the markings, he felt a slight pang of sadness creep into his joy. He nodded wordlessly, and as he leaned closer, a small smile flickered across his face. He was gazing down at the little black cub on whose back Yin's markings ran, bright orange and gold; on whose paws, muzzle and belly were the white tips that Jua had; on whose foreleg was the mark of Ripuka. He shook his head in wonder. The three lionesses he had ever thought of as family, all combined into one.
He watched the squirming masses of clumsy limbs and paws, so tiny and delicate - fragile even. That they would one day grow up to be fine, strong lions had never crossed his mind. That one day, perhaps the two squiggling black sons of his would be his size. That one day, his three daughters would roam the desert, each formidable in her own right. All he could see were the tiny balls of baby fuzz, smaller even than his own paw.
He had children.
His world was nothing more than a void of darkness. There was no sound, no sight, no smell. And yet, he was aware of everything around him. It was all so strange, so foreign and so different from everything beforehand. He could sense the difference, feel the cooler air wash over his peach-fuzzed body and feel the heat radiating off of his siblings and the something much bigger that was his mother.
He knew instinctively who she was, who his siblings were, and though he had no idea what they were like, he found comfort amongst their squirming forms.
He felt the push of tiny paws against his shoulder, moving forward, and he opened his mouth in protect, pulling back his lips to bare the fangs that had yet to grow. He tried out his limbs, stretching forward blindly, groping his way forward in the dark, to where he knew, somehow, there would be more warmth and something to calm his hungry stomach.
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:39 pm
Gently she nosed the squirming newborns again, smile and actions tender and loving. Looking to Azarax then she silently invited him closer, wanting to feel his warmth beside them again. Beside her a few of the cubs had found their way to food, and her coal colored eyes drifted back down to their wriggling forms.
"I know that they only just came... but I wonder what they'll be like as they grow, what personalities and strengths they'll have..." They were more or less just ramblings of a curious parent, certainly not in a hurry to see them grow up but eager to know more about them already. For just a little longer she warred with the feeling of exhaustion, not because the birth had been hard but because the process had been quite long. She wanted to see about them giving their children names before sleep came but perhaps it may hav to wait until she had rested, giving them time to think on them.
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Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:31 am
It is cold.
Cold. Without the constant press of others against him. Resting on something hard, something unyielding. Prodded, at first, from every angle until he is forced to open his tiny mouth for the first time in a loudly protesting mewl.
Instinct speaks to him, telling him things that he could not hear through ears half-formed. Instinct guides him, showing him things that he could not see through eyes not yet open. It is through instinct that he pushes and shoves his way to his mother's side, scrambling over his siblings, fighting for his first meal.
Now, pressed against his siblings, nestled in the warmth, fed and nourished, instinct tells him to stay, to defend. So he prepares to fight the first of many battles, to win his right to feed first and longest. To grow strong, as hard and unyielding as the rocks beneath him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:08 am
-Jvala, the single daughter without visable fire upon her back, displayed a similar lack of it now, as the other cubs squirmed and fought for food, tiny body far more concerned with exhaustion than nourishment. Through the other wriggling bodies she inched, nosing under one kicking, writhing body, moving until she found the unmovably huge mass that she instinctively knew to be parental. Her tiny mouth cracked with a yawn, one mewl of tiny protest and triumph escaping her, before she lost herself in her mother's markings, trying hard to hide from the cold attacking her at every angle.
Once she'd napped a little... once everyone else had tired themselves wrestling and fidgeting for a few sucks on the teet, she'd go back and get her fill. Patience, patience was a good trait, a good way to find the easy way out. And though one might not have guessed, watching the babe retreat now, the fire burned strong in Jvala, hiding away.. just under that ebony and white pelt.-
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:49 am
Among them all, one of the three girls was deceptively calm for the moment. As she grew she'd develop an assertive spirit but for now she was simply tired and hungry from the birthing experience. With a weary mewl she allowed herself to be guided closer to the food source along side her four siblings. In time they'd all have names, names of fire and the sun, tribute to their heritage, and hers would be Korofi-uzulu, but for now you could just call her "Greedy".
Once again the large shadow of their mother's head loomed, and then there were noises buzzing in her ear in varying degrees. One was softer and lighter, the other deeper and soothing. She'd come to know them as her mother and father in time, but for now she just didn't care.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:56 am
Yin gave each cub one more washing, soothing their chills for the moment and reassuring those that were still confused from the transition. They all would need names, and already words began to juggle themselves about in her mind.
Korofi, Teketea, Vesta, Moto, Uzulu, just to name a few. She liked them each for varying reasons but wanted to use something uncommon for their cubs. There were so many Moto's already, their coloring was much unlike any that she had seen in the Firekin before, most of them. The stripes were comfortingly familiar, but two of the girls-- their fiery ocelot streaks were fresh and new, fading from a hot orange into a burning yellow, blazing across their dark gray coats. So bright, they were, that they were already clear even at this delicate age as newborns. Then the oldest boy, the oldest cub, his markings were stark against dark colors too. There were still mixed feelings about the lack of Azarax's sand... but for now thoughts on that could wait.
"... They all need names... let's be sure to give them good, strong ones..."
She smiled towards her mate, feeling as if the future seemed not just as bright as, but suddenly far brighter than the sun itself.
~ Fin
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