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 Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:37 pm
Taraxa chuckled as he followed her. "Of course. They are not clingy boys, but I do like to spar with them each day. It bonds us. Rough-housing, they enjoy it. It brings me joy to see them happy, especially since they do not have their mother."
No, they did not have their mother, but he never let them forget the strong and beautiful lioness that she was. "Their mother is a lioness with much fire in her heart. She kept one of our daughters," he added. He wasn't quite sure why he was telling her all this, but it was nice just having a conversation with someone.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:05 pm
"Do you not worry they will ask questions about her, try to seek her out?" She asked sincerely, considering what potential benefit bearing cubs outside the pride could carry. Granted, there were not many unoccupied females of Stormborn descent at the moment, but surely the cubs would lack the blended thoughts and values that would come from a shared relationship. "Or how they will only know your values with nothing to compare them against? They might become arrogant." The lioness did not intend offense with the question, she was simply curious. In her own raising her parents had been very different from one another, and she had felt the contention between them good training for dealing with others beside yourself.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:10 pm
"I encourage them to do so," he responded, "though they will always be expected to return home. I do not mind if they seek out their mother. She is an admirable lioness. When they are old enough to travel on their own, they have my permission to seek her out." He shrugged. It seemed the logical thing to do.
"She hails from a pride where females mate with females. They are warriors in their own right, strong and full of fire. We stumbled upon one another when she was out seeking a male to provide her with strong cubs." Even now it sounded strange to him, but he would not doubt her. Moray had given him smart, strong cubs.
"But this is always home," he added, wanting to make that perfectly clear.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:14 pm
Zsaria concealed the distaste that her family had taught her for female love, feeling it a weakness and a disadvantage. A whole pride based around it? Perhaps there was merit to the idea, if they could survive, and the cubs did seem healthy. "I apologize for assuming," she said with a soft incline of her head, "I meant only that I probably wouldn't choose the same sort of arrangement. I suppose it is different for a father than a mother." Strong indeed she realized, for their mother to have surrendered her newly born cubs to a land she had never seen.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:24 pm
Taraxa was silent as he walked next to her, trying to see things from her point of view. "This is a fine pride to raise cubs. A brotherhood. If done wisely, they will grow to understand that as well." He sent her a glance.
"Do you believe that cubs need their mother? Do you think that a fathers love is not enough?" He did love his cubs. Cherished them more than anything, and he wasn't afraid to make that common knowledge. "I believe Moray, their mother, is a fine lioness. Just as she thought that I would make a fine father. She trusted me with them; her own pride is wracked with war and unrest, recently overrun by males looking to make slaves of the women." He shook his head.
"They are safer here. With me."
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:48 pm
She nodded, feeling a bit abashed of letting her feelings overwhelm her reason. "You are right," she admitted, quickening her pace a bit, "It's just a new way, I suppose. Are you in need of any help?" While she didn't consider herself ready for parenthood she certainly wouldn't refrain from helping those fellow reavers who had already made the choice.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:56 pm
"On occasion," he replied, dipping his head in a nod, "It can get overwhelming. They can get overwhelming." He chuckled, shaking his head as he sped up to keep up with her. "Though it is comforting to know that if a time should come when I do need assistance, I can call for my brothers to help me. And sisters," he added almost as an afterthought.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 6:02 pm
"I will come to call whenever available," she promised with a laugh, nodding toward the river on the horizon, "You have escorted me, though I daresay I would have made it on my own." It seemed to her that once the subject of family had been broached the awkwardness between them had faded away. He was a good father, if a bit of a charmer, and a strong warrior. Those were things she could respect, and she felt a steady warmth that she had made begun to strengthen such bonds. She had been wrong for a long time, many of her fellow Reavers were not brutes, at least not underneath their surface. You just needed to be one of them, looking out instead of in.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 6:54 pm
"Indeed I have, though there is no doubt in my mind you could have made it here alone." He grinned at her, "I will leave you here, then, Zsaria. There is no rest as a father, and I imagine my cubs are wondering where I've gone to." He dipped his head in goodbye, his golden eyes gleaming warmly at her.
"We will spar soon," he said in farewell, turning to trot back towards the direction of his den, calling over his shoulder a laughing, "Be prepared!"
Though the conversation had gotten off to a rocky start, Taraxa knew she would be a good ally to have during a viking.
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