Welcome to Gaia! ::

The white lion stepped forward, his form rising from the shadows the surrounding rock had cast. He was tall and impossing, though in this case it was not his intention to be. His posture was proud and powerful, protective, speaking clearly how strongly he felt for the red lioness at his side.

At the mention of his name, Tanaka bowed his head in a polite greeting. It was a gesture of respect he did not give often or easily, but in this case it seemed fitting. The old queen was frail and gentle, regal despite the body she was trapped in, the one who had borne the other half of his soul. For that at least, she deserved his respect.

"A pleasure."

Sarabi looked back and forth between the two, her soft smile slowly widening at what she saw. Unlike the meeting with Rehani and her mate, this lion came to her with her daughter as an adult. It made a very big difference to the queen to have this lioness at an age to make her own decisions. With Denahi, it smacked too much of him influencing her young, vulnerable daughter. Kiuma, though, was full grown... and world-wise besides.

"Its nice to meet you, Tanaka. Welcome to our home." She smiled at him, a little wary still, but slowly warming up to him. "Its wonderful to meet the mate of my daughter, Kiuma, for the first time. I certainly hope you two will be sticking around for a while now that you're here, and she'd finally home. I think we have some catching up to do..." She glanced pointedly at the swelling belly, an eyebrow rising.

Kiuma smirked as her mother's eyes swept over her form, lifting her head proudly. She didn't regret the cubs one bit, or her choice of mate.

After a moment, a bit of purple caught the queen's eyes and she turned. Her eyes fell on a male cub, a juvenile. "Hello, there little one..." She called out to him. "Come closer, introduce yourself." She smiled gently at him, her voice warm.

Though it couldn't quite be described as warm, Tanaka's expression was at least soft, a hint of the hidden honorable nature showing through his green eye. For now there was no trace of his normal maliciousness, no sign of the demon. Perhaps it may have seemed out of character, but here there was no deception, though he had the feeling the queen would have seen it if there were. But there was something else deep in that firery green gaze, a look of worry and concern for what was soon to come. It showed in the way he looked to Kiuma, his head lowered to brush against her shoulder.

The white lion answered the question with a nod. "As this is Kiuma's home, so it is mine for wherever she goes so too will I, as will our children."

A hint of purple caught his attention, his head turned just enough for his eye to be vissible to the cub for only an instant. But he did not give the same warm look as the queen. For that brief moment his eye changed, the fire of the demon glaring coldly at the minion who had dared intrude, an unspoken warning that was quickly shot at the brown cub as well. His look to the brown cub was far harsher, a single fang bared for her eyes alone. He'd deal with the brats later and severely, they were only lucky that now was not the time or place and that the god had far more important and pressing matters on his mind.

Kiuma felt unusually please with Tanaka's answer, pleasure flushing through her. Perhaps they could make this work, and stay in the Pridelands, after all. The arrival of the two cubs brought a small frown to her face, but she smoothed it away, choosing to ignore them.

Sarabi was more intent on the cubs than on Tanaka, and missed his silent exhange with them. "Hello, Duhushi. Its a pleasure to meet you, and your friend there. Have you two come with my daughter and her mate...?" There was often cubs wandering through the Pridelands, and it wasn't unusual for a rogue one to just show up out of the long grass. So she didn't see anything out of place with these two, wondering if they might have trailed after the pair.

The gray-ish cub was a bit of suprise as the queen looked her over, though her reaction wasn't quite the same as her daughter's had been. She reconized her for a lion cub, but never had she seen one that looked so much like a hyena. "And what's your name, dear?"

Tanaka bit back the snarl that so desperately wanted to wrench it's way free of his jaws, shaking his head to clear the fire in his eye. At another time perhaps, he would have at least tolerated the presence of the cubs, but this was not one of those times. With the impending arrival of their children setting the god more on edge than usual, it had not been a good time to anger him with such a display of disobediance and disrespect.

"Please excuse them."

Bowing apologetically to the queen, Tanaka turned to fully face the cubs, his expression instantly changing from the soft respectful one he gave to the queen, to one that clearly showed his anger. When he spoke it was in a voice only for their ears and directly to the purple cub, choosing to ignore the brown one.

"I do not recall inviting you to join this meeting. Now, you will return to the base of the rock and there you will wait and watch until I tell you otherwise. And you will warn me if any others approach."

The look that Tanaka gave Duhushi changed slight, there was a touch of something there that said he was trusting the young cub with an important task, to aid him in the protection of his family. As he turned away, the god's expression instantly changed again, the soft expression metting the queen's, but this time with more urgency.

"Forgive me, Lady Sarabi, but I believe our time is short and our children will not wait much longer. Perhaps finding a safe place would be wise."

The lion's tail flicked, his ears laying back for a moment, his gaze turned to Kiuma, his chin resting against the top of her head. Maybe he did worry to much, but why shouldn't he? He'd never been a father before, he'd never felt so close, so complete with another before. He had lost so much, but he had found so much more, and somewhere deep inside the thought of losing that terrified him.

"You, my dear, are far from delicate. But I can't help wanting to protect you, you mean everything to me."

A small smile crossed his maw as he gently licked her ear in a sign of affection. It was a smile that quickly faded to a look of concern as he felt her tense against him, his ears flattening at the sound of pain that pierced his senses. He didn't like that sound and he nuzzled his check against her in a desperate attempt to comfort her. What else could he do?

The rain poured over his body, quickly soaking through his white pelt, drenched mane clinging to his shoulders. But the lion didn't seem to notice the sudden change in weather, or if he did he ignored it. He was far more concerned with his mate, his ears flattening at every whimper, at every struggled step he watched her take.

Nodding to the queen, Tanaka quickly moved to Kiuma's side, his large form offering comfort, support, and shelter as they made their way to the den, to a safe dry place for the birth of their cubs. He wanted to comfort her, to say or do something, but words would not come and staying at her side was all he could think to do.

Such a storm might have seemed fitting for the children of such a pair, but such a thought was the furthest from the god's mind.

The trio moved quickly up the slope of Priderock, though their progress was impeded by Kiuma's need to slow when the contractions shot pain through her. Sarabi was almost greatful of it, since it let her catch her breath. Their progress left all three thuroughly soaked by the time they reached the overhang of the den. Sarabi stopped just inside to shake the water from her coat, her eyes following the form of her daughter.

Kiuma didn't even bother with shaking off, padded into the den and to the back, water slipping from her red coat to wet the floor. She doubled up nearly every step now, the pain almost too much for her. Cream tipped paws scrapped the loose grass together to form a bed, flopping down on top of it as she groaned.

Sarabi followed after her, her eyes concerned. Bending down, she gently licked over her daughter's forehead, her touch comforting and gentle. She knew first hand how hard this was, and how much it hurt. Light flashed, lighting up the inside of the den to outline their forms in a ghostly reflection before fading to be replaced by the sharp roll of thunder.