Urza had decided life had gone good lately. His kids were all grown and starting their own lives. He already knew where three of them had decided to head. They were going to a pride he had once been to for a short period of time. He probably would have stayed himself, but he was quite attached to his own name. He couldn't handle having a different one. It was sort of sad knowing that his kids wouldn't have the name him and Natintrapa had given them, but that was the beauty of one's life. They had their own decisions to make.Urza sat next to his lovely mate, his tail wrapped around her as they were enjoying the scenery. It had been a while since they could sit and enjoy the peace, though he could say that he missed being around kids. He loved kids, he realized. He loved the sounds they made, the trouble they got into, and of course all the questions that came with their curious little minds.
There was always something grand about taking care of them, as well. “It's too quiet,” he finally announced to his mate. He didn't know if she'd understand what he meant, but it was something he needed to voice. Maybe she felt the same way, or perhaps he was just being a crazy old man. He turned his attention to Natintrapa to see exactly what her reaction might be.
Natintrapa looked at him with intense eyes. She wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about other than it was quite quiet now. Everything had settled down since their children had picked up and left going on their own why. She wasn't sure she liked this type of silence anymore. It was nice for a while, but like Urza, she was beginning to miss all the things that came with being a parent. She twitched her tail as she sat there looking away from Urza to take in the world in front of them.
“I miss them too,” she decided that was exactly what he was talking about. She felt the same way. They were all grown up, and it hurt to know that. They didn't need her to help her at all. She wasn't exactly sure where they had all gone off to, but she knew they'd stay safe and keep each other in check. She cried when they had decided they were going to leave and go on their own adventure, and they assured her that they'd be just fine without them. She knew it was true. They were all smart kids.
“Maybe I'm just an old sappy lioness,” she started as she looked back at Urza. “but I dare say that it won't be the same without cubs about.” It was true, nothing will ever be the same. Though, there was one way to make things a little bit the same. She didn't say it though. She didn't want to push Urza into being a father again. She only wanted what he wanted, and that was all she could ever hope for.
Urza chuckled, he was glad that she knew what he was talking about and was bit shocked that she felt the same way. Maybe it was parent withdrawal that was getting to them? “You're not old, love” he purred. He'd never call her old. She was as beautiful as the day he met her. Or even perhaps more beautiful. He couldn't be sure. It was a tough thing to judge. He gave her a caring smile and watched her closely. Maybe there was something more going inside her head than he knew. He decided she'd tell him eventually and he turned away.
“They sure made things very lively,” He chuckled remembering times he had to chase his cubs around to make sure they wouldn't get into any trouble. A few times, they had some close calls. He couldn't help but remember all the things that had happened as the cubs were growing. He had many times ended up in the mud or with something else the cubs had caused. Trouble they were, but a good type of trouble. He sighed as he looked down at his paws, stood and gave a stretch. “Maybe it won't be so bad.” He said with a nod.
“I mean, we just have to get use to the quiet again” He smiled, though he wasn't sure he was ready for that. No, he didn't seem like he wanted that at all. He didn't tell her that he wanted more cubs, he wanted to make sure she wanted them when she was ready. He clawed at the ground before decided it was almost time to go get something to eat. “Care for a quick hunt?” He asked her. It had been a while since they hunted alone. With more of them, it was more successful than it had been since they had been by their-selves. At least now, they only had to feed two mouths.
“I'm sure there's plenty of gazelles ripe for the picking” He said with looking down at his sitting mate. He wondered if she'd be up for a bit of an adventure as well. They needed to remember what it was like to live without cubs, and see how free they could be. How exciting the life can be seen. It was only there for their grasp. Their kids had gone on their own adventure, it was time they did the same.
She heard what he had said, but was unsure if she really would ever be able to get use to this new quiet life. She pondered it a bit to figure if it would work, a shrug crossed her and that was about it. It was at least worth a try and see what happened. She slowly nodded now that she thought about it. She remembered that she wasn't at all ready for the cubs when they came, and she knew she wasn't at all ready for all the noise that followed, but she adapted. She decided that Urza was right... At least for a little while.
At the mention of gazelles, her belly rumbled a bit and her ears perked up. It had been a day or two since they ate well since the cubs had left. She watched him get up and stretch. She followed suit. She got up, stretched then looked back at him. “ Then I suppose we should get the move on, Love” she said with a smirk upon her face. Even if she didn't catch anything, it was the game of cat and mouse that she enjoyed. She loved to sneak up on her prey, then the feel of the wind through her fur as she chased them at the right time.
The food in the end, if they caught something, was just a bonus. She enjoyed the action of it more than the eating. Even though, it was quite tasty in the end. “Today seems like a good day to die” She said with a nod. She said that before any kill they were about to do. Even if they didn't get anything. Unless she wasn't feeling up to it, then she said something along the opposite of that. Today, today her belly protested against saying anything but yes. She was hungry.
Urza grinned as she got ready for their hunt. Things were going to be a little different, but he could tell already it was going to be a good different. No matter what happened to them, life would continue to be good. He was more than certain about it. Of course, he knew there was danger in the world, he had dealt with it more than once, but that just was the way things went.
Once he knew she was ready, he started to pad out towards the direction he had last seen some gazelle. It was the only thing that he could do for starts. They would soon find what they needed. He knew they weren't too far. He could smell them from where they where, and could ear them as well. There had been a decent sized watering hole close by where they had decided to settle down for the time being. They had no set home, but they did stay in a place for more than a couple full moons. Time was no issue with them. They followed the prey, and the prey led them to where they wanted to go, that was all that.
They had been in luck lately, in this spot. There was a nice field of over grown grass that had been a good hiding spot for them. Of course, other's had taken a liking to their spot, but today it seemed empty and the gazelle seemed rather lazy and not paying attention. Even better than Urza could ever hope. He padded closer to where he saw the gazelle then slowly looked at Natintrap. They both made eye contact, and he knew exactly what he needed to do. He was to go left, and she would go right. There was a lazy gazelle just at the edge of the long grass.
With that, he crept slowly inside the tall grass, completely hidden as he moved slow to make little nose. Almost as much nose as wind passing by. He got into position, and waited. It only took a few moments to do so, he could smell the gazelle, and hear it's breathing close by. His eyes were big, and he was crouched down, waiting for when to strike. His eyes big and completely focused on the prey.
Natintrapa followed suit the moment Urza started padding off to where he knew the gazelle were. He kept track of them more than he probably should, but it was for good reason. They stayed close to this herd, and they knew they did sometimes. It was their food source, and they went where they needed to go to keep alive. Though, sometimes she wondered if they should move on and find something more exciting. Gazelle got pretty dull after a while. She didn't make any protest to it, not today anyways.
She moved as silent as she could, and kept close to him until they reached the area. Things were going far better than she could ever dare to hope. She just hoped today was going to be a good one. The gazelle went inattentive of their presents. She grinned at that, she could already taste the lovely meat of the gazelle that she had just spotted. Urza looked at her, she knew that he spotted it too. She could read him easily. She also knew exactly where she needed to go. She was to go to the right.
He moved first into the tall grass, and a few moments later, so did she. She got into position much faster than he did. She went low to the ground and her eyes seemed as if they were gonna pop out of her eyes. She was ready, but they both had to be ready before anything could happen. It had to fall into place perfectly, or things would mess up. She was to go for the gazelle's face, and Urza would go for the back of the gazelle knocking it to the ground so she could get to it better.
Over and over it played into her head, this perfect image of how their kill would go. She could only hope that everything would continue to go just as swimmingly as it had been going. It was only a few more minutes before the time would come. He would move first, and she would follow. It would only take a few second. The gazelle was still oblivious of their plans. It was for the best, no one needed to know when their day to leave this land was due.
Urza took notice that Natintrapa was ready too. He could not hear or see her, which was much of a sign of any. He'd move fast first, he knew. They had done this routine more than enough times to know how it would go and end. Though, it hadn't gone as it did before they had cubs, he admitted. Today was different. A grin crossed his face, and he made his move. He jumped out at the gazelle, it was unaware of what was happening, and now it was too late. It screamed as Urza came crashing down upon it.
Things happened fast, and he wasn't even paying attention to what Natintrapa was. All he knew was this gazelle wasn't going to get up while he had both front claws into the gazelle's rump. It screamed again, causing all the other gazelle in the area to flee and disappear to who knew where at the moment. This was going to be a very good dinner, he could already tell.
The gazelle kicked and squirmed and soon fell still, yet Urza still didn't let his clutch of the catch go until he knew it was dead. Until he heard the words from his mate. That was what he was waiting for. His teeth were also dug into the gazelle now. The warm hair and taste of blood was slightly teasing him as he sat there, biting as hard as he could down to keep it from moving, even though it had stopped a while ago.
Natintrapa had jumped out as soon as Urza caught a hold of the gazelle, taking it down with ease. Though, at first it seemed he had a bit of a struggle keeping it still, when she latched to it's face. Covering it's nose and mouth so it couldn't breath or scream anymore. Not that it really mattered, anything and everything that had been around had fled a few hundred yards away from them. Watching the tragedy in a safe distance.
Soon the gazelle stopped moving, though her claws in it's neck could feel the slowly dying pulse. Soon dinner would happen, and soon her belly would be full and they could think of something else to do. Maybe even give up this life of following this herd now that it was just the two of them. She needed something to fill the now open hole in her heart.
Finally, she let go of the gazelle with her claws, but still held onto it's nose for good measures. Letting it's head drop to the ground she licked her lips and spit out any thing that might taste a little funky to her and the moved towards where Urza was still clinging to the gazelle as if it had still enough strength to kick them off. It was dead... and her belly was rumbling. “It's time.” was all she needed to say for Urza to know.
She bowed her head and put a paw upon the creature she had just killed. “Forgive me, dear friend.” She told it as she felt sadness wash over her. Even if she enjoyed the rush of the game, she still felt bad about killing a living creature. She never did it just because she thought it was fun. Only when she was hungry. “You shall be reborn into another” She said to it in a whisper. This was something she did with all her kills. It was her way to honor those that she had killed to live. It was not fair to them that they should die and she should live, but it was life, and she had to apologize for her actions. Even if it didn't make sense to anyone else.
They would feast.
Urza let go and let Natintrapa do what she needed to do. He never said anything towards her ways, they were what he loved about her. He continued to lay next to the gazelle just in case it happened to get up and try to walk away... Who knew? It might be possible. One of his paws was still clinging to the rump of the gazelle. It made him feel batter that way.
When she was finally done, he smiled at her. “You did wonderful.” He said. Even if he had done most the work, she was the part that he needed. He was ready to eat, and with that, he started to rip at the carcass. His mouth watered every moment he went without a nice piece of meat to rip off. The hair was much more work than he wanted, but it was the price one had to pay to get what they wanted.
Once he did make it in, he ate quite well. With his fill, he sat back and licked his paws and his muzzle waiting for his mate to get done. They had much to talk about, and much more things to do. He was on the mind of leaving this life behind. As good as it was, he had grown fatter than he had been when he first met Natintrapa, and he would much rather be back to that size. Being rather spoiled and having much food around him, he had grown use to it and took it for granite.
She started after he did, as that was how it was, and the fact that he made a rather nice hole she could work with without having to deal with ripping it apart. It wasn't as if she was lazy, but anything that made her life easier was good. At least, that's what it had been like. As she had her feel, she went to licking herself too and kept raising her gaze towards Urza. Something was on her mind, and she was going to say it after her cat bath. Everything was better decided after a nice bath. Feeling nice and clean for the world.
Finally, she was done and she looked up and smiled at him. “We should find another place.” She told him. Things needed to change, and she knew she couldn't stay here any longer. “I think we should go on our own adventure.” She added with a nod. She wanted to say that from the start, but never could find the words while her stomach was empty. Now it seemed to just roll right out of her mouth, as if she had not a care in the world what he had in mind, or would say about it.
“I mean, I like it here,” she couldn't explain why, but she could always try. “But it just doesn't feel the same.” She nodded and that would be the best answer she could come up with. Not that he had asked her why, but she felt she needed to say something. More to herself than him. She laid down away from the carcass but still looking at Urza.
“I don't think I could agree with you more.” Urza nodded. “I've been thinking on that since this morning.” Like her, Urza hadn't been able to word it. Though, since she had said she needed it, he knew it was better to say what he thought too. He didn't like to force her into doing things he'd want, but it always seemed as if they had close to the same idea. “I think it's time to start over.” He said with a grin upon his face.
The idea of a new adventure was exciting, and he was ready to go as soon as they could. The sooner the better. What was out there waiting for them? The idea filled his head and he could almost see it, though he had to stay focused on their conversation or things would probably get much worse than he wanted. He nodded again coming out of his little day dream. He didn't want to seem as if he wanted to do this for a long time, even though he did. The moment his kids were old enough, he wanted to move on and start some new fantastic thing.
He wouldn't tell her that though, he couldn't. He figured she'd get mad at him. “I mean, we can go anywhere you want that you didn't before.” He added. He could already feel the fresh new lands below his paws. It felt nice, even if he wasn't really there yet, he knew it would feel good. He never would grow out of his rogue ways. He wanted to move, and keep moving.
Natintrapa liked that idea, to be free to roam the world, yet she still felt her mothery side to be slightly object on the idea. Sometimes she felt as if she wanted to settle down in one area, other's she wanted to keep moving and never stop. It was confusing at times, and if she didn't have Urza she didn't know where she would be. Or who she'd be, for that matter.”Maybe the mountains, I've never seen snow before.” She said with the thought. She had been told once that it was cold to touch, but didn't believe them.
“It would be great to see if some things I was told were true or false.” She added with a nod. It was one thing to go wandering with no direction, and a completely different thing to go wandering with the idea of finding the truth of things. That made her feel a bit better about leaving the area she had stayed in for many moons. She wasn't sure how many. Her body was ready for some change, she just didn't know if her mind was.
“Let's go.” She said as she stood to her feet. Their adventure would start now, and she wasn't going to let herself change her mind. The sooner they were out of this place, the better. She'd never be able to say no when they were half way there, right? She was afraid, yet excited at the same time. Was that how adventures were started? Or had she just been in one spot too long that she had gotten use to it so much she was scared to take a little chance?
“Now?” Urza asked with a raise of a brow. He hadn't expected that of her, but he stood as well. He wasn't going to object to it. He wanted to move, go, or whatever it took. Though, he was getting a little sleepy from the massive meal they had just eaten. It seemed a waste to just leave it, but he knew the moment they left there would be something else there to take over the rest. “Well, if you're ready, I'm ready. “He said with a nod more sure than ever.
“Lead the way, and I'll follow.” he gave her a bow as if he was her savior. Perhaps he will live up to his actions sooner or later, only time would tell. Even if that part he wasn't really waiting for. He rather not to have to deal with anything that would cause harm to either of them, but he also couldn't stop it from happening if it did. It was a hell of a world that they lived in.
“We're off on an adventure that is long over due,” He started to sing. “together we'll find what life is really about.” He wasn't the best at singing, but he seemed to not care what anyone would say if they could hear him. As long as it was fun, was the only thing that mattered in his eyes. He didn't like boring things. He did a sort of skip around the lioness before him. Her brown fur was lovely, and you could hardly see any of the blood that might still be upon her muzzle. Her orange eyes were the eyes he could stare in every day, and all day if she let him.
“Oh stop,” she giggled. “You might attract someone you don't want to.” She said with a teasing voice. He made things fun, and she'd never deny his cute little way he moved when he sung her songs as they went. “Okay, I am ready, and we're going to go the opposite way as this here herd.” She wasn't sure where mountains were, but eventually they'd find some, right? Only one way to find out was to try, and if that failed, there were more ways they could continue to go. She could see some hills in the way she had picked.
With that, she started on the way they would be going for the time of who knew how many moons, but that was the exciting part. Things seemed to change, and she was going to change with it. “One step at a time, dear Urza.” She said as she started to move her pace a little faster. She wanted to run, but she held herself back. She knew he would follow, but she didn't want to make them both sick from the fact that they just ate more than they should have.
“Soon we'll be in the mountains, and we can see just how cold this snow is.” She added. She was going to do this. Nothing was to stop her. She held her head up high and confident to make sure that she looked as if she wasn't afraid. She couldn't be afraid, no... She wouldn't be afraid. Her tail lashed about as she started to walk a bit faster, but still keeping under a trot.
Like she thought, Urza was behind her. He never was too far behind her. He had a silly grin upon his face as he moved slightly slower than her, but enough to keep up mostly. He didn't want to rush it, but it seemed she did. He wondered why she seemed so anxious to leave, but he knew better than to ask. He didn't want to make her upset, and her to change her mind. Most of all her to change her mind. His mind was made, and for now so was hers. “To the mountains it is!” He said with a sorta singing voice to it.
He had been to mountains before, but he hadn't ever seen snow. He wondered if his mountain that he had seen was big enough. He really wasn't sure how that stuff went. It was cold when he was on the mountain, he could remember that, but maybe it was just the wrong time of year for that. Kind of like when it rained certain parts of the year in some places. He didn't know, nor was he about to try to understand such things.
“Maybe we'll even get to bring some home with us.” He wasn't sure what snow was made up either. He just knew that some others had said it was cold, and wet. Maybe he didn't want to take some with them after all. He wasn't a fan of wet things. He hardly even went into water, even when he had to going through a jungle. He hated it, and wasn't about to change that feeling towards it. It was only good for drinking when he got thirsty. “We could also see the Ocean” He added.
He had heard the Ocean was a lovely place, but he had never actually seen it. A god once told him about it. He hadn't known she was a god until she showed him her wings, and told him things that seemed true enough. He wasn't the type to say something wasn't true, especially when they do things right in front of you. “I hear they have interesting things called shells” He added trying to get her interested in the idea of going there possibly. “And rocks so tiny that they're actually nice to step on.” That part he didn't believe, but he was willing to be proven wrong about it.
“Rocks small enough to enjoy on your feet?” Natintrapa asked with a raise of a brow. That almost seemed fake. “I would believe it when we see it,” she continued. “The ocean will be added to our little journey.” She said with a nod. Though, like the mountains, she had no more of a clue where the ocean was... Or what it was. She'd never heard of it, and now that was creeping up into her mind thinking about it. She almost wanted to ask about it, but she decided it was going to wait for another time.
Change was good, and she knew that more than ever now. It was scary, and would always be scary, but she was going to hold on because Urza was there to catch her if she fell. He was there to make everything better. He had since she had met him. She made her life worth living, and made her forget things she never wanted to remember again. He was the reason she was doing this, so they could have one last adventure together before they became old and couldn't do anything but sit around and watch the days slip away before their eyes.
It was something she needed to do for him for all the things he had done for her. Her way of giving back to the man she loved. She smiled at that thought, let the adventure come, and let things turn just how they need to make their life worth wild. Even know, after their kids had grown up and started their own families, Natintrapa wasn't too old to show the world what she got. She flicked her tail as to agree with her own thoughts. She looked back at the male lion that was following close behind her. His body looked very fluffy with each time the wind blew at him. He was hers, and hers alone. This.... This was the beginning of something beautiful.
