Welcome to Gaia! ::

Juan had not always been a part of the underground world that the Mazunguko inhabited. Once he had lived above ground, lord of the forest after which he had been named. Even now, after seasons living down in the protective shadows of the caves, he still needed to come above ground, to feel the damp leaves beneath his paws and the see the wide expanse of the skies over his head. Yet he never stayed, and would return to the safety of the caves as soon as dawn broke. No one in the Mazu knew the grey male’s history and it was doubtful anyone ever would, but his few foibles and oddities were ignored in respect for the stoic male and his position in the pride. For the quiet warrior had recently been publicly acknowledged as the King’s Consort.

Shaking the dew from his grey fur the male paced silently across the stout limbs of a very old tree, walking idly among the upper canopy. It was a rare night that he left the caves these days, for the king had recently fathered a litter of young on one of the Brotherhood mothers, the rare few females allowed to live among the male-dominated pride. Typically he was busy with either his duties or his King’s new family, but the addition of cubs had got the grey leopard thinking thoughts he never would have harboured previously, and the very notion of them was still a bit befuddling to Juan. But nevertheless they would not leave him alone and so he had come out under the open sky to ponder them.

Lifting his muzzle he suddenly stilled, pausing where he stood high up on a branch that appeared as if it should be too skinny to support his weight. A stranger, and a female at that… she must be close. Swinging his head he peered down through the leaves, trying to locate her. He wouldn’t be able to return to the pride until she left the area, the entrance was a closely guarded secret.