Thalion: 8:13 pm
(8:13:05 PM): Poor Howi had been subjected to his mother's effections that morning. The cub laid trapped between her powerful paws as she licked his fur clean. The cubs were old enough to explore outside of the cave under either her or Kohana's watchful eye. Nearby, her oldest son laid quiet as a stone, watching the remaining cubs.

Howi laid on his back, paws flared out as he squealed under his mother's tongue. He'd gotten himself messy playing in the mud that had pooled in after the previous night's showers.

"Hold still sweetie! you're going to get burrs everywhere! Look at you!"

"Mama it tickles!" Howi flailed about, throwing his paws around in an attempt to push his mother's maw away from him. To no avail, sadly.
Reeshie: 8:28 pm
(8:28:08 PM): Tsiya climbed up his mother's back while she cleaned his baby-brother. In all honesty, part of the reason Howi was dirty was because he had wanted to play in the mud and he dragged his brother along. Howi was like, the best of his brothers and sister. Mostly because he put up with him.
"Maaaaaaama, can you tell me a story?" he asked as he continued climbing. She was so much bigger than his papa and he wanted to know why. Did she come from a special place? Were all the lions as big as she was?

But most importantly, what could he do to avoid getting a bath, too?
Thalion: 8:35 pm
(8:35:41 PM): Rehema rolled her head back and laid a paw on Howi's rounded little belly to keep him firmly in place. The cub began nibbling and biting at his mother's paw. She chuckled and tipped her head to the side. "I suppose. I'm not the story teller that your father is, but I can try my best."

"I'm gonna bite you!" Howi growled. A threat he was fulfilling as he declared it. "Tsiya make her stoooop!"

"Oh shush." She chuckled down at her pale son. "What story would you like?"
Reeshie: 8:45 pm
(8:45:13 PM): Tsiya laughed and snuggled close to his mother's back.
"How about you tell me a story about before you met Papa? Do other lions get as big as you are?" he asked, figuring he could kill two birds with one stone (Whatever that meant). He'd get to hear a story and save Howi from the bath.
Thalion: 8:49 pm
(8:49:39 PM): Rehema's ears rolled forward. She thought of her old home often, but not once did it cross her mind to return. The only element from her past that she truly missed was her friend, Malik. Her sister had come to visit and she'd grown up- her parents were proud of her. They'd be proud to see her family, to see that she'd settled down at all.

"I come from a land very far from here called the Pride Lands. The lions are much bigger there. In my day they mostly had golden pelts. Gold, white, yellow... I even knew a lion with a red pelt. He was the biggest of them all, maybe twice as big as your father. I was a huntress, like my mother. I wanted to become the head huntress. There, the boys are in charge and the girls hunt. The greatest honor, besides being apart from the royal family, was leading a hunting party for your pride."

Howi's maw relaxed on his mother. His large blue eyes widened as he regarded his mother. A lion that was bigger than his father? By twice as much?
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Reeshie: 9:01 pm
(9:01:44 PM): "Wow, really? I can't imagine a lion bigger than you, Mama. Why did you come here? Do you have brothers and sisters, too?" Tsiya was generally full of questions, he always wanted to learn new things. Stories interested him the most, listening to them and especially learning the stories behind his family and clan members' tattoos. Tattoos interested him a lot, to the point where he wanted to learn how to make them and interpret them and such. But that really hadn't rooted itself in his mind yet. One day, he might ask his older sister about them. Maybe.

"Was being a head huntress hard work, Mama?" He snuggled in more, enjoying the feel of his mother's smooth fur against his cheek, probably the most cuddly of his siblings.
Thalion: 9:14 pm
(9:14:38 PM): Rehema sighed sadly and slowly lowered her ears. "I lived there with my best friend... a lion named Malik. He was as large as the red-lion, his father. He and I would wrestle, hunt, and hang out. Well... a lion came from the desert and stole Malik's brother, Azez. I went with Malik and his father to look for them...but something went wrong in Mwali's head. He turned on us and harmed us both. Malik and I came here to recover...and that's when I met your father." She smiled softly and sighed.

She nodded to the second question. "Oh yes. Sometimes we spent days searching for prey. You have to keep an eye on all your hunters, make sure that they're safe, make sure they follow orders."

Howi abandoned his nibbling quest and listened in silence. He rubbed one of his paws and looked to the side. "You gotta... kill things?"
Reeshie: 9:32 pm
(9:32:50 PM): Tsiya poked his head around his mother's shoulder to look at Howi.
"But, Howi, we haveta eat," he said, his tone carrying a somewhat "duh" tone. He didn't want to sound mean, but it was a fact. They were still being weaned, but Mama and Papa and all the other adults ate preybeasts, just not Papa's bird, 'cause that was a special case. He kinda wanted a special friend like Papa had. Only maybe something more cuddly.
"Mama, do you think I can have a little friend like Papa's birdie when I get bigger, too?" he asked, kneading at her shoulder a bit.
Thalion: 9:40 pm
(9:40:20 PM): "I know but still..." He rubbed at his chest and rolled around a bit. Rehema put a paw down on his belly. He'd seen Kohana come back at least once with a young deer hanging from his powerful jaws. Of the shadow clan, he was the strong arm. No nonsense, always watchful, always...THERE.

Rehema sighed. It couldn't be helped. A friend like Ona's. It was still such a strange concept to her. As a cub, her mother would bring her small animals to tease and beat around to learn how to hunt. To learn what it was to kill something, to have a full belly of meat.

"I'm sure that's fine."
Reeshie: 9:55 pm
(9:55:51 PM): "Yay!" Tsiya exclaimed, rolling off her back. Mud was clinging to his fur from his earlier fun and games and he had yet to realize that since he was no longer on his mother's back, he no longer had the advantage of being out of sight in his efforts to avoid getting a bath.
"Only maybe I could make a friend that's more fun and cuddly than Kucha. She's nice and all, but... Yeah," he added, rubbing a paw lightly at his nose.
Thalion: 10:09 pm
(10:09:06 PM): "Perhaps. Just... nothing that would make a good meal. We do have to feed this clan you know." She turned her head and lifted a knowing eyebrow. With a wry smirk, she reached a paw out, quick as lightning, and scooped the little brown cub up in her paws, "You boys..."

Howi gasped and promptly wrapped his paws around his mother's other paw. Sadly- he was still pinned. "RUN! GO TSIYA RUN! I'LL HOLD HER!"
Reeshie: 10:14 pm
(10:14:02 PM): Tsiya nodded at his mother's words, taking them for a good idea. Nothing that would make a good meal. Maybe a mouse or something. Or maybe a bird. A really fluffy one.
"Righ-iiiiiiiiii!" he wriggled against his mother's hold but despite his and his baby-brother's best efforts, there was no getting loose.
"Aww, Mama, nooooooooo! I don't wanna bath," he whined, not yet gaining an understanding of the value of argument.
Thalion: 10:20 pm
(10:20:01 PM): "Well then you shouldn't have played in the mud. Your first life lesson- everything you do will have it's concequences." She pushed the two cubs together, pinned them down, and began licking them back and forth.

"MOOOOM! EW GROSS." He pawed wildly at his mother's face, forcing her lips back to expose her large, white teeth. The sight wasn't encouraging. After a moment he curled back against his brother and sighed. "....baths aren't fun."
Reeshie: 10:23 pm
(10:23:03 PM): Unlike Howi, Tsiya went limp, resigning himself to his fate. There was no fighting Mama when it came to baths. She was much bigger than he was and she was Mama, of course. He glanced at his brother, catching the sigh and the following comment. He considered this for a moment and a grin overtook his face.
"Think of it this way," he whispered in a sneaky manner. "We can get all the more dirty again later."
Thalion: 10:25 pm
(10:25:15 PM): "Then the bath will be longer." He answered, as if he were talking about the end of the world rather than a simple bath. "And...over and over again...."

"That's right. You two better learn fast if you want to avoid the terrible horrible bath." She tickled Tsiya's belly with her nose and chuckled quietly to yourself. "You want to be clean for when your father comes home."
Reeshie: 10:29 pm
(10:29:16 PM): Tsiya wiggled and laughed at the tickling, pushing at his mother's nose to get her to stop.
"Why do we have to be clean for Papa? I bet he'll love us even if we're all dirty and messied up," he replied with a definite nod of his head, being absolutely sure in his baby-mind that his parents loved him and his brothers and sisters unconditionally. His papa may not be proud of him for being all messy, but he might laugh over it. Which would be funny if he did.
"Maybe I'll like baths some day. Then I'll just get muddied-up on purposed."
Thalion: 10:32 pm
(10:32:50 PM): "I know he will. But he likes it when you're all clean." She leaned back and released her paws. Both boys had a good lick-over. Howie instantly sat up and began fussing with the tufft of fur he was already declaring to be a mane.

"Well when you learn to do it on your own, you'll likely not disapprove of them so much."