AIM LOG: Polette & _ p a o cx
Hell.
Beind a dad was harder than he gave any parents credit for, granted he only had his paws full with three of them. If he had any more he would probably have already lost it. It's probably only thanks to Euri that he's managed up 'til this point, much to his relief, but somehow the cubs were doing fine. Questions about their mother came up now and again, which didn't help to lighten his mood any (as he'd been rather gloomy since leaving the Mwako), but he answered them all the same. She chose to leave them, or rather stay with the pride as opposed to going with them, but he always made it a point to tell them that even if that was her decision it doesn't mean she loved them any less. He added that some part of her, he was sure, wanted to come with them, and that with time she would.. but not yet. Not for a while, probably.
With a sigh he shlumped onto the ground nearby a random tree. They'd arrived at the forest just outside of the pride that was their destination and, thankfully, he was given some time to himself. He left the girls with Euri and was resting on his own now, wondering when it was they'd happen upon the pride. Phae never actually visited the pride, but he'd heard of it. Strange, but secure, and the latter was more important than worrying about the 'strangeness' of any one pride. They hadn't run into anybody yet though, which was both worrying and reassuring all at the same time. "Whatever.." he mumbled, rolling onto his side and really letting himself relax for the first time in a really, really long time.
It was probably the first time that Rohit found himself away from his favorite lounging spot near that small pond. The blurs of red had started to become clearer, and he felt that he didn't need as much time by himself to sit and think on the issue. He was, after all, supposed to let these things come to him, instead of trying to seek them out.
He had never really considered it a kind of curse. That 'hero' of a lion that came rumbling through one day had really irked him, thinking this land possessed, but now that same lion stood within the pride's ranks, bearing cubs with a pride female. If it was so 'cursed', then why had he stayed? Adults didn't make much sense to Roh, but neither did outsiders. They all seemed so confused and strange when they first come to the area, and Roh didn't even like dealing with the regulars in the pride half the time.
But that was all in the past now. He didn't think he'd meet any more outsiders, not for a long while, since he was still so young. It was usually the adults in the pride that met people, thought Roh couldn't figure out why on earth they'd want to. To him, outsiders were outsiders, and until they adjusted to how life was here, he didn't see them as anything else.
Coming up on a little break in the trees, Roh knew he was near the borders. He had an adventuring spirit, for now, at least, while he was young. He wasn't afraid of much of anything, because he always reasoned that because his coat was so bright, he would stand out even if he was hiding deep in a bed of trees. But he kind of liked that fact, all the same. He glanced around, noticing an odd bulge near the side of a tree. His gold eyes lit up a little, and he crouched down, in a prowling position, creeping closer and closer to whatever it was.
Phae heard a rustle, though only his ears seemed to respond. Try as he might he really couldn't get the rest of him to move, so instead he tilted his head in the sound's general direction and blinked at a slowly approaching white tuft. It didn't seem attached to anything, though maybe it was just because most of the tree was in the way. It was creeping closer, staying low to the ground, and Phae raised a brow at the odd looking thing. Seeing things? Nah. That side of his has since subsided.. mostly, so it wasn't too likely he'd already start just because having cubs was making him lose it just a little bit.
"You there," he said, squinting his eyes at the funny tuft. "White tuft, think you can sneak up on me?" Phae craned his neck a little to the side and caught bits of red attached to the white tuft, kind of like a tail. "That aside, where are you from?" Yeah, it was odd he was talking to the white tuft, whatever it was (maybe someone's tail, but he couldn't see the 'someone' it was attached to), but it didn't really matter. If it knew where the pride was maybe it could serve as a guide, albeit a slightly odd one if it really was just a tuft of white with no feline attached.
A small smile creeping on his face, Roh wasn't quite sure what to expect. Part of him wanted something no one's ever seen before to come out from around the tree, but as he crept closer, he found that all it was was a lion. An outsider. He sighed a little, but it wasn't a total loss. Maybe he'd get to mess with this one's head, too, just like the last one.
"I'm not a white tuft, outsider." Sticking his tongue out at the lion, he plopped himself down, curling his tail around his small body. "You're not very observant are you. Have you eaten some sort of strange plant? A mushroom? A bad flower? 'Cause you look kinda squishy." Grinning at the lion, he noticed the seemingly sluggish behavior of the lion, only turning his head to greet little Roh.
"What are you doing here, outsider?" There wasn't a mean tone in his voice, but he really just didn't know what else to call the lion, since he wasn't from here.
Ah, a lion. A small one.. though not as small as his daughters. "Hm.." he grunted, a little dissatisfied. Phae was hoping for something odd, somehow, maybe just to pull him out of his state of mind. A young lion wouldn't be able to do that, but he'd have to settle since there was no one else around. "No, I didn't eat anything strange," the male answered. "I'm exhausted, but I don't think I'm 'squishy'..."
Squishy? What the heck was that supposed to mean? Fat? Slow? Ugly? Ugly.. what? Phae shook his head a bit, feeling slightly woozy at all the sudden thoughts coming to him. Maybe the cubs were taking more out of him than he initially thought. "I'm looking for a pride," he said with a little shrug. "But my name isn't 'outsider'. It's Phaethon, or Phae for short." The older lion forced himself up, though his head still kind of lolled forward lazily. "What's your name? You know you're not much older than my cubs.. bigger though, by a bit." He blinked his eyes at that, squinting the other into focus. "You're from around here, I take it?" he asked, still blinking.
