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 Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:29 pm
Dunia had curled herself up at the back of the den, pushed closely against the earth, though she had started off the nap cuddled up with her siblings. The young cub was sleeping peacefully, happily ignorant of her siblings and mother who were wide awake and chatting. Her ear twitched, once, twice, and finally some of the noise seemed to penetrate her sleepy brain. She stretched quietly, even without closing her eyes, and curled up tighter into a ball against the wall of the den, but she couldn't return to her peaceful nap.
Yawning, and trying to stifle it, she twisted until she was facing back towards her family and opened her eyes slightly. She could see the fuzzy forms of her family not far away and yawned, this time, not bothering to stiffle it. She pushed herself up onto rather shaky feet, her tail hitting the den wall and causing a cloud of sandy dust to float passed.
"Ah...ah...AhCHOO," she sneezed, and toppled backwards at the force of it, her legs not quite used to her weight just yet. She flopped back onto her rump and sniffled, trying to clear the dust from her nose. She peered at her family and stumbled over to them, collapsing onto her nearest sibling and using them as a pillow, she glanced up at her mother.
"Hi Mama," she greeted her, with a soft sleepy smile. "Why is everyone awake?" She looked concerned. Had she missed something important? Was that why everyone was awake?
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Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:49 am
Nita enjoyed her bath time. Purring loudly as mom cleaned her one lick at a time. She nearly had forgotten about how mean Lith had been to her earlier even. When she was clean she darted over to her sister remembering the conversation from before.
"Ummmuiee...I'm probably the one that kicked you. I was having a night fright." She pushed herself into the fray between the two cubs suddenly feeling brave. "Your okie right?" She began to help push against Lith and with a little playful chomp she lightly pulled at her ear.
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Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:20 am
Finished with Nita's cleaning, Coryth stretched to work out her tired muscles, as she listened to the rest of her cubs waking up. She could get used to this liveliness, she felt, though lords did she not have a clue how she'd survive when they got a little bigger. They were awfully cute at this age, though. Likea a frolicking collection of blues, greens, and browns, and all blotchy spotted.
She rolled over towards Katio and Dunia and licked them a greeting each. She laughed as her tail was attacked, and swished it to make a better target for her son. "Morning darling," she said to Dunia. "I was just telling your sisters about your father, and how you're sure to meet him soon. And now that it seems like everyone's up, how about we get out in the fresh air? Come along now, all of you. Maybe we might even see your father out there somewhere." Hauling herself up, she led her gaggle of kittens towards the sunshine.
Lith whined as her ear was savaged, and curled up into a ball, trying to hide from her sisters. Everyone was always picking on her! Okay, she usually started it, but, but, it just wasn't fair, and her logic didn't have to make sense! She could be indignant if she wanted! "Quit iiiiit," she moaned into the dirt, her voice muffled.
At her mother's call, she took the opportunity for escape and bolted for the exit, keeping her eyes closed to prevent the sun from blinding her. But this didn't protect her against obstacles, and her childish mind still hadn't gotten the hang of directions yet. Soon she bounced off of one of the den's walls, and flopped down, very confused as to how a wall had come out of nowhere.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:29 am
"I'm okie." Umuthi purred to her sister, giving Nita a loving nudge as her mother talked of her father, greeted her awaking siblings, and pulled Lith off her for a bath.
Umuthi was shaking with excitement over the talk of getting to meet her father, as well as the prospect of going outside the den. It was always an adventure, even if it was usually a short lived one. Attempting to roam as far away from Coryth as each cub could, and being picked up and dragged back into sight. One of these days Umuthi would get away farther from any of her siblings, making her the greatest adventurer.
The young cub made her way shakily towards the front of the entrance, attempting to avoid the collision with her sister, as Lith was rebounding from the wall that had magically come out of nowhere.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:27 pm
Dunia smiled up at her mother, excited to meet her father. He was a big mystery to her, and she was very curious. Her siblings must look a bit like him, she mused, as she followed her mother, keeping close to her side. There were markings in her family she knew didn't' come from her mother, like the brown on her own coat. Perhaps that was from her father?
"Do you think Daddy will like us?" Dunia asked, sounding curious as she peered up at her mother. Did her father plan to have them, she wondered, or were they going to be a surprise to him...she hoped he'd like them, she didn't know how she'd deal with it if he didn't.
She giggled at Lith's blind running towards the edge of the den, a little concerned when she hit the wall and bounced off. "You okay Lith? The wall didn't do anything! You ran into the wall," she pointed out, continuing off on her own walk to the edge of the den. At first breath of the air outside the den, she paused, and closed her eyes, taking in the smells. It was a little overwhelming to her young nose, but she was fascinated by the warmth of the dirt under her paws. She began to smile, and squinted as the light hurt her eyes.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:58 pm
Pouting at the malicious wall that had taken her down, Lith rubbed her nose where it had impacted, and thankfully didn't find any real damage. Still, she utilized one of the digging maneuvers mama had shown them, and scratched the wall up something good, leaving noticeable if faint lines in its surface. And if it dared to impede her again, she would come back and do some real damage.
But the excitement of her family was too infectious to ignore. She galloped into the daylight, this time with her eyes open, and winced at the brightness. Once it had faded and she could see again, she gleefully trotted over to the nearest bug - and there were always bugs available - and followed its slow path across the dirt, snapping but unable to get a good angle to snatch it up.
Coryth peered carefully out of the den, scanning the landscape for any signs of danger to her cubs. But she had chosen her den site well, dug into the side of a cliff, in a dry riverbank that wouldn't be more than a trickle for another few months, in a barren, flat terrain. From the mouth of her small cave she could see all the way to the horizon, and a quick hop up the low cliffside showed her the other direction. There were no large animals that she could see.
Satisfied, she dropped back down and trotted to the tiny stream below to take a drink. Once sated, she turned to watch her offspring emerge. It would do them good to be out stretching their legs. Absently she wandered over to the torn up side of the cliff where she'd been teaching her children to dig, and pawed absently at a bit of rubble, scanning it for signs of animal or bone shapes.
She took a long look at her cubs, pondering. She would teach them her trade, but she still wasn't sure what to do with them all. There were so many! She'd gone from a loner to the central point of a large group, responsible for so many lives. It would take some getting used to.
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