It was rather late in the night when Dauna emerged from her clans den. It was the most exciting and beautiful time to go out on a walk. The prides endless amount of trees were painted in a deep blue by the night sky, and even Dauna's bright green coat somehow shimmered a more vibrant shade than usual.Suddendly it dawned on her- when was the last time she was out for a walk on her own? "Oh right..." She said quietly to herself, it was a couple of nights before she gave birth to her first litter. It was such an exciting, but nervous time for the young lioness. She was so afraid that somehow one of the cubs would come out completely natural colored because of her sins. It was almost humorous looking back on it all, especially since she ended up having nothing to worry about- Her cubs were all so healthy and beautiful, and growing up much quicker than she was expecting. They were all almost grown up, and she was still a bit heartbroken from having to say goodbye to her boys. All she could do was hope they were doing well, and that they would attract the attention of a lioness when they came of age.
She walked along the usual path she took while going through the forest. Since Dauna was a cub, she would use this route, and even took her children on it whenever they came with her.
"Mama?" A familiar voice chimed out from just a little further up the path. A bright green and purple coat confirmed her suspicions.
"Takeo what are you doing out here?" She nuzzled him, but quickly showed she disproved of his actions.
"I'm sorry Mama, I just wanted to see you again." His ears lowered, hating that his selfish actions had disappointed his mom. "I really missed you, I don't like being away from you Mama."Dauna was torn. Poor Takeo had always been so timid, though she still thought he would take his adolescent duties a bit easier than he had. She had seen what happened to the other families though- males and females alike leaving the pride because they didn't prepare them for the realities of their life early enough.
"Now Takeo." She said, but was quickly interupted by her sons pleas.
"No please Mama, I don't want to go back!" The bright green young lion whimpered his words out, acting as submissively as possible. This was tough for a mother to witness their child in such distress.
This was also a time where she had to step up and act not as his friend, or even his mother, but as a lioness of her proud pride. She would have to use some tough love.
"Remember our conversation when you were just a cub? The one about how important the job of a male's is in our pride."
"Yes Mama." He said pitifully.
"Without lions like your father, and you and your brother, the pride would stop growing." She tried to speak more optimistically, to make his role sound as special as possible. "Imagine one day soon, a lioness is going to come ask you to help her. You need to be prepared for that dear."
"I will be." His mood improving as the conversation went on, realizing he was being selfish about wanting to go back to the way things were before. "But I just wish I could be with you too."
"You are the sweetest boy ever Takeo." Though she didn't want him thinking she was taking his distress lightly, Dauna couldn't help but let out a small giggle. She nuzzled her son once again. "I think I've come up with a solution. How does this sound? Now that your sisters are starting their training, I have a little more time to go on these walks once again. Whenever you need to come talk, meet me just like you did now- at night on our trail. Understood?"
Our trail, he thought. It sounded so secrete and special; like a good deal he couldn't refuse. "Okay Mama!"
"And remember to never come to the clans den, understood?" She spoke in a firm voice while mentioning coming to the den. "If you do so it could endanger our chances of talking again. I promise I'll always be here to talk to you at night, so long as I don't have little ones to keep track of. And you'll have plenty of advance notice if that situation comes up."
He flashed a shy looking smile of approval and a timid nod. At the same time he taken a bit by surprise. It was strange thinking of his mom as already able to have more children, but such was the life of a K'N Lioness. It was apart of her duty to continue to populate the clan.
"Does that make you feel better?" She asked, licking the back of one of his ears. The boy wasn't doing a very good job of keeping clean. How would he ever attract a lovely lady if he dulled up his beautiful green coat?
"Just knowing we can see each other a little bit does. Thank you Mama." His purple eyes sparkled underneath the moon lite sky.
"Now this isn't a nightly thing. If you come too often we are going to have to call this off. And remember, don't tell anyone else about this, alright?"
"Okay okay... I promise I won't." Drat, it was like She could read Takeo's mind sometimes. Mama knew best though, it only made sense that they didn't see each other too often anyways.
"Alright dear, well I need to continue on my walk. Be a good boy now, and do our clan proud." She smiled, licked him on the cheek as a goodbye and started walking off, to make it easier for them to part ways.
"I promise." he said quietly as he watched his mom walk down her usual path. Life in the pride was so... predictable, so normal. Once he settled into his place in the pride, he knew he would love his home more than ever before.
(Word Count: 1030 )
