Lith'elen - Das Tor
&
Betta - Buffy_the_Bloody
Ellie couldn't help but worry. She knew her babies were strong...after all, they had size and all the lessons in fighting from her! But...they were still her babies. And when Wahadi had left...Lhach and Canicus had disappeared not long after! And that conjured all sorts of bad pictures in her mind. What if her babies got hurt while alone? What if they didn't hunt well enough for themselves?! The demon-born lioness sighed and stopped her pacing about their latest 'camp' and plunked down into a sitting position.
Was this how her mother had felt when she'd disappeared? No...no, her mother would have felt worse, since Ellie had made it look like she'd died, to save her mother shame. Ellie shook her head and prayed her babies would return to her and Betta and Andunnie safely.
Betta had done his best to keep Ellie from worrying, though it didnt quell his own fears. He hoped that they survived this battle..They had to. It was a battle of life, and he had survived, as had Ellie. They were no babies anymore, now full grown. He had known that they would grow restless, after all, hadnt their own parents?
He sighed, approaching his camp that he and Ellie called home. It was a little place, but a place that had been ideal for raising the cubs when they were actually still cubs.
He looked at his black mate, and shook his head sadly. She always carried the most worried look on her face, and it bothered him. He needed to make her feel better. He had debated having another litter, but felt sure her heart wasnt ready for such a thing.. But maybe.. Maybe she would feel differently soon.
"Ellie, love." He said softly, coming up behind her and licking her cheek as he stood over her. A massive lion in his own right, his little female wasnt really a match in size. But he was gentle with her, always so gentle.
Ellie perked up a bit and look to her mate, smiling slightly. No matter her mood, Betta could always make her smile. "I'm sorry love...I'm being such a downer, aren't I?" She tried not to be, but she was a mother. Perhaps a very ODD mother, but a mother nonetheless.
He shook his head, a gentle smile on his white maw.
"Never. Though Id like to see you smile more often." He said nudging her cheek with his paw affectionately, before sitting next to her. His tail flicked back and forth, though it liked to hit next to hers. When he touched her he felt right.. and so he liked to keep in contact with her if he could.
He knew it helped her.. and it helped him as well.
"What can we do to keep your mind off such dark thoughts?" He asked in his deeper voice. When she had met him, his voice was still that of a teen, but now it had become the voice his father had carried. A deep boom that carried an all too gentle tone.
Ellie purred at him, glad of his affection. She shifted to return the lick to the cheek. "Perhaps talk of happier things? Like..." She was silent for a moment, thinking. "The fact we've still Andunnie. And one another." Betta was, after all, her constant companion, her perfect match. It was odd, how well they went together. And yet nothing was more right. She was always glad for each morning she woke beside him.
"Yes my dear. We have Andunnie, and you will always have me. Life wouldnt be the same without you, you know. So thats a very good way to think."
He purred and smiled. His thoughts were on more cubs of course, because he loved being a father. But he was unsure if she would take something like that very well. She missed her babies, but what if she had something else to keep her mind busy? Another litter would do that, surely. And he would become a junglegym once more. .Something the male intensely desired.
For not having been a family lion as a cub, this male was surprised that meeting such a female as Ellie would lead him to want the very thing he had not really cared for.
Ellie nodded. "Life would definitely not be the same without you." She chuckled. "Perhaps that is why I was born with no demon. Because you are the other half of me, and nothing else could ever compare." She grinned. "I love you Betta."
She loved him, and she loved their family. Family...maybe expanding their family would help? She loved cubs and teaching them and showing them all the little things in life...
He grinned at her, happy that she felt the same way he felt. He loved that they had something so true..when they both had been doomed to live lives they knew werent for them. Him, being the submissive male in a pride that didnt respect males.. Her being in a demon pride where it was clear the female didnt belong.
"There was no way to have a demon if you were to be completed with something else." He smiled, and licked her cheek.
"So.. What would you think if I brought up the idea of cubs?" He asked with a look of concern on his face.
Ellie nodded, happy with her life now (Lhach and Canicus missing aside). And blinked when he mentioned cubs. She chuckled at the look of concern on his face, then licked his nose.
"I wouldn't object." She gave him a reassuring smile. "I like having little ones around. They're always so happy, and full of life."
He nodded, as he felt the same way. Of course, cubs were something to light up the parents lives..something that he was quite ready to do again. He loved the idea of cubs, though he loved the idea of his mate being happy. She seemed to shine when comes came into the picture.
"I think it would make us more complete. I miss having little ones running about our paws."
He chuckled, thinking back on the days when Canicus and Llach would tumble over each other, and Andunnie would be curled around his paws.
Ellie nodded. "It is odd, not having small ones around. Yes...I think I would like very much to have more cubs." She chuckled. "Even if I am useless for hunting half the time I'm carrying them before birth." But for the smiles they brought, and the love cubs gave...Ellie was more than willing to deal with the burdens of pregnancy. "Maybe we'll have more this time!" The three they'd had before had been perfect for starting out, but now...they were older and wiser and stronger. And had more practice!
He grinned wildly, and lifted his rump in the air, shaking it around much like a dog might when it wanted to play. He winked at her, and gave her his most childlish look.
"We could start a pride, all our own with the amount of cubs Id like to make with you." He grinned, a little deviant look touching his features. He wasnt the type to joke too much, but he did enjoy a good time if he felt it was appropriate.
"Pride of Misfits. How appropriate." He mused.
Ellie laughed and moved to try and pounce him. "We could wander all over, us and our misfit littles, and whatever littles they have when they grow up!" She liked that idea...traveling all over as they did, family beside them, cubs an grandcubs tumbling about their paws. Family...Ellie was very much in love with that word now.
"Then that is what you shall have my darling. Cubs upon cubs around you with the grandcubs tumbling over your paws." He said affectionately, though when she tried to pounce him he moved to the side just slightly, giving a little grin once more.
"We will be happy, You shall see.. You shall see."
He wouldnt fail her this time..Not this time, and never again.
