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 Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:25 pm
Finally off on his own, Mng'aro stopped for a moment, knee-deep in swamp muck, to catch his breath. It was easier than it had been as a cub, where the slightest exertion had him panting as if his lungs were going to explode, but he still got winded far more easily than anyone else in the pride, a shortcoming that meant he spent far more time alone than might usually be deemed "healthy". Not that he minded--with the unpredictable snippets of things yet to be, or even mere possibilities that the goddess chose to reveal to him, it meant that he had less explaining to do when the often puzzling pieces were shown to him.
As he moved forward, enjoying the slightly squishy feeling of the riverbottom beneath his pale paws, Mng'aro looked up, recognizing the area of swamp he was in a moment before a large fern leaf was shoved aside, revealing his father's broad, familiar face.
Jabali peeked between two tree trunks, having moved the fern leaf that was obscuring his vision. When he saw one of his sons, Mng'aro, before him, he couldn't help but smile--of all of his children, whereas he loved them all dearly, there was a certain...something about Mng'aro that reminded him of Asali so much that it made him smile just to think about it.
"Enjoying a walk in the swamp?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as he realized that, rather than sticking to the riverbanks, his son was...trudging through the muddy water. Gobs of river mud clung to his pale coat, making him look like some sort of fell beast--it might have been vaguely threatening, if not for the fact that he was panting slightly. It was worrisome, to a doting father, to see that despite there being improvement since cubhood, it was unlikely that Mng'aro would ever be able to leave to start his own family elsewhere unless he had someone with him who could hunt more effectively--or he made use of sneak tactics, since he lacked the stamina to run down prey.
Mng'aro nodded, smiling. "It's so..." he trailed off, struggling to think of the right way to word it. "The swamp calls to me, at times."
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:37 pm
Mng'aro wasn't the only one who chose to cut straight the muddy waters and mucky terrain - his mother was just as bad as he was. Asali'jua quite liked the wading and swimming, and rarely made any actual effort to skirt around this and that and the other thing just to spare her pale fur.
Since coming home to the swamp, her coat was rarely the white it would have been otherwise. It had taken on a dingy tint from the constant in-and-out from the water and muck, something the lioness was perfectly alright with; no harm in a swamp lion looking like one.
Today she was following her consort, who had apparently been following their son. Moving quietly up behind Jabali, she batted at his tail before peeking out form behind him at Mng'aro. "Why hello there, you two."
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:05 pm
Jabali jumped in surprise at his beloved's sneaky attack to his rear, skidding down into the water below with a near-squeal of surprise. Eyeing Asali with a narrow-eyed, if good-natured gaze, he bounded back up the muddy incline, attempting to pounce her and gnaw on one silky ear.
Mng'aro had to struggle to contain a chuckle--although he'd seen the small parody before him play out in his mind, it was -far- funnier to watch it happen in the flesh, so to speak.
As his brief burst of laughter trailed off into a series of small whuffs, Mng'aro shook himself, sending globs of mud flying in all directions. "Hello, mother...father." he said, the twinkle in his eyes making the formal words more casual.
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:57 pm
Asali made a token attempt to evade Jabali's pounce, only to be overtaken and her ear gnawed upon. With a light laugh, she wiggled a little in his grasp before surrendering and going still. Her own bright eyes twinkling, she favored her son with a conspiratorial wink...
...and then twisted just so, landing a very muddy paw on the side of Jabali's face. A thwap with a very satisfying squelch to it.
"There, now we're all muddy," she announced with an air of seriousness.
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:40 pm
Jabali's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before helpless laughter overcame him. "Indeed we are." he said, eyes glowing with deep-seated affection as he leaned over to lick Asali's cheek.
Purring, he then proceeded to rub his own mud-stained cheek firmly against hers, pushing away with one last chuckle.
Mng'aro shook his head, amused, as usual, by his parents' easy affection with each other. "So what brought you two to this particular corner of the swamp?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side and cocking his ears forward with interest.
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Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 5:03 pm
Chuckling, Asali tilted her head, peering into the water. Her reflection was there, one cheek mud-stained, but over her own image came another, a great white lion checking his reflection as he had once done, quite some time ago.
The lioness looked up at her pale son with a smile, "Just seeing what there is to be seen."
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