Welcome to Gaia! ::

(So, anyway, I figured it would be good for Finar-si/Karama to come home after her little going off and having her cubs. It'd be great for all current pride members to meet the new babies, their princes and princesses. whee So all current pride members are encouraged to join!

While in the pride, Finar-si is disguising herself as Karama.)

It's been a tough few weeks. The lioness had disappeared to find a secluded spot to have her cubs...but the birth had brought illness with it, of a kind the female couldn't cope with.

She was still weak as a kitten from that prolonged illness...occasionally, she'd still black out. She had no way of telling how long the periods lasted, but they seemed to be getting less and less. The hallucinations had gone, too...although sometimes she had to look back and see how many cubs she had. It confused her. In the disease-induced hallucinations, she had cared for more, inbetween - but no, that must have just been in her mind.

She supposed she was lucky to that none of her offspring had died.

The lioness finally makes it to the pridal cavern today, after a period of travel with the babies out on the hot desert sands...traveling mostly by night, when it's cooler. Now, dawn has broken over the horizon. She halts in the entrance, squinting in the dim light of the cave, so different from the brightness of the sun outside. While her eyes adjust, she calls out softly, uncertainly: "Hello?"

Her son Kope quietly bumbles against her heels, coming up and placing his chubby forefeet on his mother's front ankles as he peers, wide-eyed, inside.

The form of a lean lioness was sheilded by the darkness of the caves, her forebody the only part that was relitivly close to the entrance and the sunlight. With her paws crossed lightly over another, Nuri found herself content to rest her head on the little makeshift pillow, her dark eyes lidded yet keeping an eye on the others around her. Thankfully, many were still wise not to disturb her family time, for she made it clear when the first mistake was made. While her family was in the dens, others were not welcome. They had all day to visit while the group was outside.

Seeing Teleka first, she glanced towards the snarl from her youngest, before her eyes snapped at the newest sight. Raising her head slowly, a brow perked in wonderment at the old lioness who seemed so keen on the teachings of Finar-si. It would be something to know how much she changed, and compaire it to how much Nuri's views did.

The thought made the adult smirk darkly in anticipation.


After catching sight of his brother's 'girlfriend', Naraka just glowered in his mother's shadow, a great duplicate of her form indeed. Both blended well with the shadows, their eyes dark enough to keep away as well. Though his mother was much larger and held more red, he seemed to be the one standing out, and he envied his mother for perfecting such an art. However, he did not keep hidden much longer and he looked out silently at the new family, narrowing his eyes just slightly and wondering their standings thus far.

"They look weak to me, mother," He murmered softly, catching her flickering ears and making way to gaze at the one he devoted all his attentions to, "Why must all members of this pride be so weak?" All he got in response was a hush from his mother, and a steely gaze telling him to keep those thoughts to himself. As always. It was time for another lesson indeed.

Chomo, despite his optomistic attitude, had grown jaded over his time in the desert. No longer did he look out with wonder upon the ocean of sand, instead he looked upon a land divided and felt sad deep in his heart. Here he could make no difference, born of such a low standing as to be insignificant, nevetheless holding dear to him the fact that his purely non-royal blood could be traced back through the ranks for ages.

Still, that didn't change decisions he'd made in his soul, concious ones that could ease his restlessness.

That day had been spent honing his hunting skills out on the dunes, trying to hunt all of his dissillusions with sheer exertion. He'd met no success and merely trudged back to the dens weary and somewhat hopeless. As he drew nearer and spotted the mother and her cub, he felt a twinge of guilty sarcasm, normally out of place in the dark lion, lance through him.

Oh huzzah. I bet it's more royalty.

As soon as he thought those dissonant thoughts he felt guilty, but he couldn't shake it off.


Ra on the other hand was still much too young to be hunting proper and had spent the day generally bored out of his wits. He wasn't so different from his father in that he felt he was growing distant from something, in this case, his brother. Naraka always had such grand ideas, laced with venomous, barbed comments. This sort of sharpness of the mind, arrogance was so different from his own personality. Ra was arrogant too but was in terms of his strength rather than his opinions.

It had created a rift, one even the more stupid of the two could feel intimately.

He spotted his mother and brother but for once, didn't approach, instead staying put in the shadows, his jet black pelt like a cloak of darkness to hide him.

Ki'somm was carefully stepping in each of her mother's footprints as they walked through the night. Of course, the red cub had to take a few steps between to reach each one but that didn't matter to her - she had set herself a goal and she was going to follow it through.

The first light of the dawn washed the world around her with its light and Ki'somm paused, instinctively turning to face the horizon where it was just visible. As was her ritual each daybreak Ki'somm Inihki - the Sun Sunger - greeted the new day with her song. Being still a cub it was more of a squeak but again, that didn't matter to the young princess. She had a task and would see it to the end.

It was only after that she realized that they had stopped - and they were no longer alone.

Mpeka watched from a bit back, golden eye's narrowed a little to make out the figures before she stalked a bit closer, ear's perked forward as she saw her brother and Nuri.
Giving a small, aknowledging nod to the dark lioness she stood a metre or so to the side of her, watching the new cubs as she gave a small, faint smile that flickered out of existance soon enough.

As usual, not far behind her heels was the little blue eye'd male, chirping at his mother before he stood between her forepaw's and looked on at the new cub's.
He had to blink a few times, who's cub's where these?
Damu glanced at Naraka for a moment before looking up to his mother curiously.
"Mom! Who are they?"

She craned her neck down to look at her son before lowering her head.
"I believe those might be your cousins." She said, before looking back up at the new cub's.
Having to smirk at the excited squeak that came from the fidgety fur ball between her paws.

Kaanga peeped softly as her mother addressed her, cautiously peering out towards the approaching company.

“Kaanga didn’t know there was a pride.” She spoke simply- although it was hushed enough to imply that she didn’t expect a response. Who was Kimeti? Her eyes were averted by an approaching male. There were a few gathered, and she quickly decided they were among the oddest creatures she had ever seen. They looked like mother- but, their poor hair had kept growing around their heads. She averted her eyes, hoping to detract her attention from their obvious ailment.

A male cub seemed to have caught her mother's attention, and her yellowed eyes moved towards him

There was a distinctly painful ache in her chest. Her firstborn son wasn't just a mirage...he was really real. Did that mean there were others? Perhaps not. But that hardly mattered to the lioness at the moment. But her tone is steady as she responds. "I'm glad to be back, my son," she says softly. Although her tone is deceptively calm and collected, her eyes give her true emotion away: pain and relief mingled with a strange kind of regret. She doesn't ask what she'd like to: are you alright, what happened to you? That wouldn't do around the pride. They're the prince and the king's consort here, not son and mother. Another painful feeling sweeps through Karama's heart.

A motion somewhere near her forepaws draws her attention more than her white girl's words do. "There is a pride, dearheart," she murmurs softly to the female, but no more than that. Her attention is still rivoted to Kidondo.

It would only ever be his mother who could bring out the softness in his eyes, only her that could make the smallest of smiles appear on his usually emotionless face. He could feel her concern radiating from her body and he felt drawn to her as a cub should to it's mother.

He took yet another step forwards and a small purr rumbled free from his throat.

Around his father he had to be the calm, intelligent son but around his mother he could be someone else, the lion he wanted to be. He had been caught up in a web of tradition and family history and though he had been born a prince it was not something he was exceptionally proud of. However since he had been born with royal blood he would not squander it. He had accepted that his life would not be all fun and games and for now that acceptance would be enough.

His eyes now finally left his mother to settle upon his other siblings. Time would only tell how he would get on with all of them but Kidondo seemed to lack the fighting fire that others might consider a trait of their kind. Though perhaps he just did better to hide and control his temper than others.

Unsure what step to take next the little cub hesitated. Should he greet his mother with affection as any normal cub would or should he take heed of his status and not give in to emotion? He could feel the eyes of the other Pride members watching him and it was them that held him firmly to the spot.

"Father is out but I am sure he will return soon, he never strays far." No cubbish talk from this cub. His head drooped forwards then to hide his regret of not being able to greet her in the way he would have liked, wishing that the others would just dissapear. He had not imagined his reunion with her like this; so proper and ceremonial and yet this is what it was. If one was good at reading body language they would easily have been able to tell of the thoughts that resided in his mind.