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Winner!

You'll have to stay tuned for who this little guy is and what makes him so special - all will be revealed on 12th August!

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[The Star Prize Revealed!]

The stalls had been doing rather well, they were already bustling with the young and old alike who wanted to try their hand at some of the games. Every now and then, cheers could be heard across the immediate vicinity that had been selected for the stalls. It seemed the 'everyone's a winner' idea was proving to be a hit, especially with the cubs who were thoroughly enjoying even the simplest of prizes.

As a day that was supposed to be a joyous occasion, it seemed only fitting that no one should want for anything. All in all, it was a rather smart decision to make in that respect!

Nevertheless, as the lioness made herself comfortable and handed out multiple little prizes to those who participated in spinning the wheel, she had yet to see anyone who had managed to spin it just right to claim the best of the prizes that she had. She had deliberately made it so that either the very, very lucky would manage to spin it right, or after multiple attempts, someone might figure out the trick to it.

...So far, no one had done either.

Regardless, the lioness was content to simply watch as those who participated brimmed with anticipation, and then smiled when they landed on a prize. Small as they were, it still gave her a pleasant feeling to pass out the rewards.

...Or it was until she heard the tell-tale clack of the wheel and the particular pin that she was waiting for.

Click - click - CLING!

Her ears perked and she turned her head to gaze at the wheel and sure it enough it had landed on the tiniest sliver of the wheel. That little sliver, with the star she had painstakingly carved on to it that morning.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" she announced delightedly and bounded forward, carefully shifting her weight as she pulled the reward out from its hiding place.

The reward?

Well, the reward had been something she had asked one of the Bumani to put all of their heart and soul in to. It was a whale bone statue, painstakingly carved into the shape of a lion with multiple seashells and seaweed around it (crude by 'human' standards, but a masterpiece to any lion). The bone had come from the previous festivities when the whale had washed up upon the shore... But whoever had carved it had poured months of work in to it and no doubt the fingers of their paws had most likely ached throughout!

It would make for a perfect trinket, looped around the neck, or simply kept in a den for decoration...

Wazi huffed a bit. “We pick good prey!” She whined before her father nuzzled her, which instantly any hurt feelings go away. She would just have to ‘hunt’ her parents next. Her brother was picked up by her father so she stuck herself next to Kunbo a bit. “Well, you can just play with us until you find your parents! Right?” She said, looking hopefully up at her parents.

They would most likely say yes, however she felt the need to ask for permission anyway. Her parents may have come to take her and her brother somewhere else for a while.

Afina looks at her deep blue son and smiles licking his cheek affectionately. "as long as you're alright." She smiles turning around to face her mate "stop fussing Xenon you should be happy he still loves his mother." She licks her grumpy mate on the nose. "Stop teasing him, not everyone is sporty like you." She rumbles. Turning her back on him she sits on his toes burying her head in his mane.

"Don't let your father stunt you Euphyrates. You know he's just a big grump." She chuckles comfortably leaning against her mate.


-----



Nuzhah smiles a broad grin. "I would like that very much." She giggles at the pretty ladies words "I think you make my brother nervous I'v never seen him so quite." She wrinkles her nose at her large brother.

Triton rolls his eyes, it wasn't like he hadn't heard that. "I'm not nervous of her Nuzhah, it can be overwhelming when you come to a new place and you're surrounded by strange lions. Our family is hardly known for being little. We can look intimidating." He puffs out his chest turning to look at the lion announcing a grand prize. It looked amazing. The Bumani had outdone them selves.

Nuzhah pulled a tongue at her brother "I still think he's nervous around you I don't think he's ever seen such a pretty lady as you."

The ceremony was a simple one.

In order to be considered the rightful leader of the Bahari'mtoto the lion would be required to remain standing on the rocky outcroppings by the cliff. It was here where the strongest currents clashed with the rocks, thrusting sprays of salt-lined water into the eyes, mouth and ears of any who stood there. It was where the strongest gusts of wind struck at the unsuspecting, and allowed the birds to soar with ease towards their nests. From the perch he had selected, Ram could now appreciate why it had been selected to determine the rightful heir to the 'throne'. It was taking all of his strength to remain balanced precariously on the outcroppings.

Every now and then a gust would catch him by surprise, jolt his muscles, and cause him to sway as he attempted to regain his balance. On more than one occasion he had seemingly lost his balance to such an extent that he wasn't entirely sure that he would be able to recover. However, as luck would have it, the lion managed to find his footing once more and stab his claws into the small cracks upon the crag. He wasn't sure how long he was meant to stay up here, but his muscles were beginning to grow tired and he was (surprisingly), rather cold. His jaw tightened, and the muscle began to twitch as he held his place - eventually someone would inform him that he had passed...

Right?

In hindsight the blue lion really should have queried that particular step in the ceremony before he had stepped on to the rocks but alas, such was the way of things!

"Urgh," he muttered, sucking in a breath as he set his gaze on the horizon. If he had something to focus on, then he wouldn't lose his balance as easily, the trick had been to find his balance and keep it that way with as little movement as possible. This had been working out well for him, or rather it had been, until the horizon began to move. More specifically, a portion of it seemed to have developed a shape, an odd one at that. He continued to watch it for quite some time, until it simply 'vanished' from his view - had that been some sort of unusual wave?

No, waves moved a different way.

Floatsam?

Temporarily forgetting that he had promised himself that he wouldn't move, the lion turned his head this way and that in an attempt to locate whatever had been there before. It had the undesired effect of causing him to wobble (again), but he managed to keep his footing for the time being. So far his search had caught nothing of note, but he persevered until...

"Is that moving...?" he murmured, disregarding the fact that the waves were moving the entire object, he looked more closely. In the distance he could certainly see something in between the waves, and whatever it was had something on it and it was definitely wriggling. "What...?" his lips parted as he leant forward, the floatsam was drawing nearer, rapidly approaching the crags and eventually it would strike it.

It wasn't long before the lion let out a stream of expletives, censored conveniently by the wind.

It was even less time after that, in which he made the decision to jump.

"Ram!" one of the onlooking elder Bahari yelled after him.

"GET HELP!" He roared in reply as he plunged into the murky depths. It was by the grace of the gods that he didn't hit the rocks beneath him, landing safely in the dark waters below. Once he had recovered from his momentary shock from hitting the water from such a height, he pushed forward, swimming as quickly as he could to intercept the floatsam before it met a grizzly end at the base of one of the jagged boulders at the base of the cliff.

The little brown lioness smiles happily at the pink female, she hoped she would stay a while she seemed nice, it would be great to have a female friend that she wasn't related to.

Nuzhah dove to her paws when the lioness leapt away. The little chocolate lioness raced up the beach towards a pocket of her relatives "Grandpa!" She called sliding to a stop in front of her black and white family "they need help!" She squeeks.

Triton watched as Nuzhah raced up the beach. He turned and galloped after the pink lioness, diving in to the water he waded at first only having to start swimming after a time, the luck of his family. The males had always been massive. Swimming with long strokes he quickly slices through the waves heading for Ram and the floatsam at high speed.

Poseidon looked down the beach where his grandson had leapt in to the water. The massive black and white male got to his paws. "Aye lass." He smiles at his little chocolate grand daughter and ran down the beach.

Vuai followed his brother and stood with his fore paws in the water. Looking to his brother he nods out to the water. "Think we best wait here lad we, will only get in the way."

Nuzhah slips between her grand father and great uncle and sits carefully looking at the lions racing towards the driftwood. "What is it?" She whispers squinting at the dark mass.

The patriarch of the family walks up behind the three lions stood with their paws in the sand. "Nothin good child, something very bad 'as 'append out thar on the waves. Let's ope tha gods are feelin' generous."

Desher let the ladies go first and complimented them on their wins. He reached up his paw to give the wheel a spin. Any sort of prize would make him happy, so he wasn't actually trying for the grand prize. His paw flicked the wheel and sent it spinning. Round and round it went; then it stopped. The lioness behind the counter startled him with her sudden yell. He glanced around worriedly for a moment, but then relaxed as the stall owner bounded up to him.

"Uh thank you." He took the whale bone carving with awe. This was impressive work! Naturally he looked at Lani. "Do you want to trade?" He'd be happy seeing his mate wear it if she wanted it. She could feel it and get a sense of it, much better than the pretty shell she'd won.


Eade dragged himself from the sand and brushed it from his curly fur. "No worries cub. I had a good time too." He gave a wink at Adetokunbo. "They are a lively set," he complimented the parents, then made more of an effort at shaking sand from his coat. Somehow he'd managed to get quite a bit in it. Maybe he should go and check the stalls.

Instead his attention was drawn by the king making his stand to prove his claim to the throne. Eade gave a cheer to encourage him on. It looked like he was doing ok! He was baffled when the king took a sudden forward plunge into the waters. What had happened?! He jumped to his feet and launched himself toward the waters to see what was going on and lend a paw should it be needed. Seeing Ram and several others heading toward some flotsam he dove into the water to lend his paw.


Yang squirmed and wiggled as he tried to indicate to his father that he wanted to be put down. This was no dignified way for a cub! Although he did have an ok view of the lion standing on the rocks that his prey then cheered on. Why was the lion standing on the rocks in the first place. "I wanna go play out there." He pointed with a paw. Yang had second thoughts as the lion seemed to vanish from the rocks. Had he gotten swept off? His prey got up and ran to the water too.







Very sorry for the wait everyone!

Ram had made swift work of approaching the floatsam, and it wasn't long before it became apparent that his concern was warranted. As the shape began to take form, it was apparent it was a large log...and on top of it? Well, atop the log were a number of cubs. He wasn't sure how long they had been on there, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them shiver. They might be uncomfortable, but they were alive at the very least.

His paws finally met the sides of the log, and he manages to press them against it as he used his hind legs to ease the impact the log might have on the rocks below when they eventually drew near. It wasn't an ideal solution, but at least the floatsam wouldn't shatter into tiny pieces at this rate.

...Still, a little help would not go amiss.

Fortunately, his prayers had been answered as no sooner had he plunged in than more than a few answered his call. Some of which he didn't know, visitors who had come to enjoy the celebrations and would now be regarded as heroes. He breathed a sigh of relief as the first of them approached.

As Sagasu came within his reach he raised his head and clasped one of the cubs in his mouth. A shake of his head and he tossed it towards where her back should have been. Aim true, the tiny female cub landed on her back and clung desperately to her now drenched fur.

"To the healers," he instructed briskly, he would thank the lioness when he had gotten the rest to the shore.

With now time for small talk, the King waited patiently for each of those who came to his aid to reach him...

Triton was given another of the cubs, another young female.
Eade was given a small male.
Zamir was given the final male cub.

The instructions remained the same - they were all to be taken to the healers who were waiting expectantly at the shoreline to assist. The cubs were to be taken nowhere else, because as it stood, what they desperately needed now was dry land, warmth and perhaps some food.

With only one cub remaining, the last of the female cubs was coaxed on to his own back and the floatsam was allowed to drift towards the crag once more while Ram made his way back towards the beach...