((Note: Counting this as Alamar's joining RP, since this "short visit" is going to end up lasting forever, though I do plan to get another with another pride member later))
Alamar had once said to himself that he could never live here or even bare to visit for long - but now he'd been in the Tuait'tekem lands a few days he was actually enjoying it. Traveling up alongside the river, where there was water and shade, the warm weather was nice. Besides which Chandana and Maisha'pya, his little daughters, loved it. He'd promised them they'd meet his good friend (and one time lover though he hadn't told them that) Kasa, get to see a special big cave (he'd never actually seen the Temple but he knew it was big and stone). They'd have lots of fun here for a while. A little vacation!
He had no idea of what was ahead of him really.
*
A deep yawn emited from Kasa's maw. It had been a beautiful day, and she watched as her son Chea play in the dunes ahead. She smiled brightly as she watched her son from the shade of a large palm close to the river. Every day she looked at her cubs she could see their father in them. And every day, as they grew, they looked like Alamar more and more.
*
Chandana made little noises in her sleep, baby snores that were kind of cute, Alamar thought, as he set the cub down gently by her sister. They'd be safe here - now to find Kasa! If he ran into anyone else, he knew that it would be alright. He'd never have let his first lover settle in a place where he wasn't sure she'd be alright and that meant the natives had had to prove friendly. Alamar hadn't helped her away from that waterhole to leave her with nasty lions.
"Kasa?" He called softly, as he got further away from where the cubs slept.
*
The female's ears twitched lightly. That voice. It was still a little faint, but she knew that voice.
"Alamar?" She answered softly as she slowly stood, looking around for the source. "Chea, you stay here okay darling?" She called and saw him nod his head as he rolled in the sand. "Alamar?" She called a little louder, "Is that you?"
*
"Kasa!" He replied and changed direction to travel towards the sound of her voice. Luck was with him. He knew he'd reached the area where the pride actually lived but he hadn't thought he'd find her first. But then he'd always been lucky with Kasa. Lucky to meet her, lucky to get to know her and lucky for the time they'd had - both for the good times together and that they'd remained great friends afterwards. Alamar couldn't wait to find out how she'd been and if she'd changed since they'd last met. HE sure had.
*
Kasa's green eyes scanned the horizon, as she lifted her head and sniffed the air. Her heart started to race. Was she nervous to see him again? Nervous to tell him about his cubs? Should she even tell him? Or was her heart racing because she could finally see him again. See the real Alamar, and not the Alamar she continued to see in her dreams night after night. "Alamar?" She called again, spinning the sand trying to find him.
*
Alamar emerged over a smaller dune, one of the first out into the desert from the river-rich plant life, thinking he'd be able to see further at the top of it. And there she was. Kasa, clearly looking about for him as he'd been looking for her. He climbed down a bit more gingerly than a Dawnwalker would, being unused to the sand and approached smiling. He had doubts, it was natural to, worries they'd not be such good friends or she'd be mad he hadn't been able to visit before now...but it was Kasa and that was enough to make him smile.
"Can you recognise me under all this mane, Kasa?" He joked, hopefully.
*
Kasa turned when she heard him come down the dune behind her. A smile came across her face as she wanted for him to descend the dune fully before she ran over to him. She couldn't help but laugh at his joke. "If I couldn't hear your voice I might not." She said as she looked up to him. He had grown so much. Last she saw him he was only a few hairs taller than him. Now, he was a least a few paws taller, with a thick mane all around his head. She leaned forward and nuzzled him softly.
*
Alamar leaned into the nuzzle, resting his head against the top of her neck and raising the opposite forepaw to embrace her. The show of affection helped qualm his worries. "It's been far too long. You look good Kasa.... How have you been?"
He pulled back only enough so he could look at her. Those green eyes~! He'd forgotton he was a sucker for those green eyes.
*
She smiled as she looked back to him, their eyes locked.
"Thank you." she said with a little blush as she broke from his glance for a moment. "I've been well." Kasa added, stealing a quick glance to their son, her heart beating faster from her fear. She feared he would hate the idea of having cubs, or that he would hate her for not telling him sooner somehow. Should she even tell him?
"And you?" She asked as she looked back up to him, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind. "How have you been?" She still couldn't believe that this was the lion she had fallen for, back in her life again.
*
"I roamed, as I said I would. Been some good places, met some good lions - and lionesses! - on the way." He jested though it was true. Ala had always said even during his 'journey' time with Kasa that he'd be a bit of a playboy before he found the right girl to stay with, if he ever did. "Then I had to settle down for a while, for wouldn't have been honorable to have left for a while at least. That is why I haven't visited sooner."
"What's been happening with you since then? I was supposed to be back a season ago to find out if you'd take to being a huntress here and see if Takasika had looked after you."
*
She nodded, "I have adapted well to the desert life." She said as she looked down to the sands. "Its still a little strange not feeling the grass under my paws in every step." She said and laughed lightly, "But I have been well taken care of." She said with a nod.
*
"You're happy though? I did worry about you while I was gone." He asked, wanting to make sure.
It seemed like he'd been gone longer to him now because whereas he used to just live day by day like it was nothing, he now had his daughters with him. Seeing his daughters grow up slowly had marked the days, seeing the new changes in them, watching them get bigger and brighter as time went by. Thinking of Maisha'pya and Chandana he supposed he should mention them soon then fetch them here, where it was safer.
It was so awkward though...
*
She smiled warmly thinking of her two sons. "I am extremely happy." her eyes glazed over at the thought of when she first saw her cubs and how seeing them and raising them gave her a new outlook on life.
She hesitated for a moment. "Alamar.." she said as she looked down, her ears folded back. "There is something I need to tell you."
*
"What is it...?" He tilted his head ever so slightly, trying to angle to see her face. Okay, just as he was starting to feel fine, balanced and ready to let her know he'd brought along his little ones with him he was snapped back to worrying about Kasa. Not so good.
"Is something wrong?"
*
"I'm afraid there might be if I don't tell you and will also be if I do." She said as she sat down. "Alamar, when... when we parted..." She said as she looked back up to him, "I wasn't the only one to join the pride." She tried to find the words to tell him, "Half a season after I joined the pride I..." she started to shake slightly, "I had two cubs.."
*
Unless she'd fallen pregnant by another male here and had a very premature birth, that meant -
"Our cubs?" Alamar sat down, blinking once before asking for clarification again, clearly aghast. Though not perhaps for the reasons one might think. He wasn't horrified by the thought of being a father to any cubs of Kasa's but to find out that not only was he a father again (before!), that he'd /abandoned/ them!
"You had a litter from our journey together?"
*
All she could do was nod at both his questions. Fear now had control of her whole body and she knew if she spoke to him, the tears that she tried to hide would come streaming down her cheeks.
*
"I am so sorry I wasn't here." He placed a paw on hers, lowering his head to try to catch her eyes, her wonderful eyes, again. "I should have been here. And I hope that you....you wanted to be a mother and that this wasn't something...oh hell have the pride been alright with this? I know Takasika mentioned about some ritual were they have an official mate and if you....I ..." He trailed off.
"How many are there? Can I meet them? I'd like to if you'd like me to."
*
She gasped at his reaction. He was apologizing? She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Alamar..." She shook her head as she tried to rid herself of the tears. "Yes... of course... there are two. Both of them sons." She said as she looked past him, "One is here with me." She said
*
"Two sons. I'd love to meet them...and I hope this doesn't sound awful but I'd happy to think we have a family between us Kasa. You're probably my best friend and the first lioness I ever cared for....still carry that flame, told you I always would, no one ever forgets their first love...but I have something I should tell you while we're on the subject of cubs." Alamar's ears flicked back now. He cared for Kasa and he was terrified now not of her disapproval as a best friend of Dana and her faraway siblings, but as the mother of his other children too.
*
She smiled brightly, "I'm sure they would love to meet you also." she said "Hiba wants to grow up to be just like you." She laughed lightly, "Chea's a bit more reserved, but I know he'll look up to you when given the chance." She paused a moment, something to tell her? She held her heart and mind open to what he was about to say.
*
"They sound wonderful. Hiba and Chea." He tried for a smile but was still obviously worried. "They....they have younger siblings. Two boys, two girls. The boys live very far away in the En Gedi pride with their mother, except for Chandana my eldest and Maisha'pya, my second daughter. Their mother Jumoke was a friend n' a fling and I stayed with her long enough to make sure they were all safe until she could go it alone with half the litter. We decided that it'd be easier on Jumoke to take two cubs and I take two..."
*
More cubs? Kasa couldn't believe it. She was surprised, but she wasn't sure of what she felt. She knew she couldn't be mad either. They had never been more than friends, but she had to admit she did feel a tinge of jealousy, but she couldn't let him see it.
"Sisters for our sons." she managed a smile, but couldn't think of what else to say.
*
"...will it work do you think? I mean I wanted to see you, maybe stay a while. I told my cubs we'd be coming to meet my best friend. And now I'd like to Chea and Hiba too. But I'll understand if you think it'd be a bad idea. I mean I'm the one who abandoned my friend pregnant with my cubs then come swanning back seasons later..." He said, obviously guilty. "Wouldn't be surprised if you hated me for this."
*
She gave him a genuine smile. "If we don't try, we'll never know." She placed a paw on his. "I will never think of you any less than I did when we first met." She had to admit she would like to feel more, but that was for them both to decide later in their life. "I could never hate you Alamar... even if I tried."
*
"You're far too good to me Kasa." He smiled truly at last, if a bit weakly. He was a rather honourable ex-playboy, Alamar, and had thought he'd helped look after the only litter he'd fathered. If he ever roamed again he knew he'd be much more careful. If he'd hurt Kasa or she seemed mad or unhappy he didn't know what he would have done. He could only feel relieved that instead, he seemingly just had his best friend back - and two more sons besides.
"No time like the present I suppose and I don't want to leave the little ones on their own too long. You round up Chea and Hiba while I fetch them?" He suggested.
*
She nodded. He was right. Even if Chanada and Maisha'ya was not their own, he still owed it to her sons to meet their half sisters, even if they and Alamar were not going to stay long. "I'll go get them." She said as she backed away. She didn't want to turn her back, afraid that he would disappear and this was just another one of her dreams. When she did finally turn, she felt a new sense of hope, much like she had when Hiba and Chea were born. Alamar was back, and she couldn't be happier.
END
