Sarafina took one of the cubs at random, mouth closing about its taunt, rounded middle and lifting it from the group of others. It'd been several days since the litter had been born, and as such Sara had spent most of her time about the den they were being kept in--tahka and Mjirn's. Their old family home was.... well, not a pleasant place to be for the moment.
Leaving the den without another word, Sarafina headed off a short distance. She would be within sight, and able to get there should any need arise. Choosing her spot carefully, she flopped down upon the grass and laid the cub at her paws. One eye on the den at all times, she bent her head to begin to groom the cub. It was the peach girl, she realized after a moment.
As it was, Sara had likely picked out the smallest cub from the litter; so small was the cub, that it'd been overpowered by it's sibblings, and never once had it really offered much of a resistance. Bazi, as she'd been named, seemed to take it all in, never once comenting; of course, Sara and the other so-called adults usualy made it easier on her, forcing the siblings apart when they got too physical. Still, it seemed as if the small, oddly colored female were the weakest. Something that would, in time, need to be fixed.
It was a surprise for Bazi to be picked up from the warmth of her siblings, hoisted into the air and carried outside; in fact, this was the first time she'd been outside, and as Sara groomed her pelt, the small cub purred like she'd never purred before. Maroon eyes scanned the outside; a world she'd not met, and likely.... wouldn't get too much of a glimpse of, "Where is this?" what she lacked in size, she proved to gain in intelligence and curiosity; she wormed herself against her sister's side to peek, "Is this Home?"
"No." Sara replied immediately. She fell silent again for a moment, trying to get into a particularly hard to reach spot. When it was clean, sara lifted her head and looked about them. They had to wait just a little longer to leave.. until the kids could walk a little. "No, this is just a resting place. But we'll be taking you home soon." It was Sara's intention to spend at least a little private time with each cub. She had yet to learn much of their personalities--but they had yet to display much of those, for they were still so very young. This one was rather interesting, though--the runt, as Tahka had been. "So you mustn't grow too attached."
Arching her neck and twisting her body, the cub stretched with ease that signaled extraordinary agility, even where she lacked strength; she wanted her sister to groom that hard-to-reach spot, and made it all the easier for her, "Resting?" a pause as Bazi's large eyes peeked over the rim of Sara's arms, "We're not tired," she knew she spoke for all her siblings, for as rough as they could get when needing food, it was them that warmed her at night. She loved them, like she loved ... well, nothing else, really. It was an instinctive bond that had been strengthened by those around her, "Home," it sounded like a nice place, even if she did not know it. Even if she'd never heard talk about it... her subconscious told her it was a good place. Again she took the time to lift her heard, gazing directly into Sara's eyes. There was something shinning inside the lithe female's orbs... intelligence? A secret? It was hard to tell what exactly, "Are we weak?" it came out of nowhere, and everywhere at the same time; she'd heard talk from the adults before. Too weak to leave, too young to walk, "Are we resting because we're weak?"
"Yes you are," Sara replied, "Though it is not your fault. You will become stronger in time, but right now you cannot go home. In a few days we will go and you will be strong enough." The lioness laughed a little and nipped behind her sister's ear. She rolled onto her side, then and used a paw to turn her sister about and look at her. Unlike the others, Sarafina was prone to act more like an aunt or an especially lofty sort of mother than another sibling. Of course, she put on this same act with all of her siblings. There was something in her gaze that made seem slightly.. judgmental. Whatever it was, Bazi apparently passed, for the look disappeared with a nod a moment later. "Are you getting enough to eat?"
"We are?" it was a rhetorical question, for as soon as she'd said this, the cub lapsed into a silence, her brows knitting together as she pondered this, digesting it. Alas, Sara kept on talking and she swiftly refocused her attention back on she whom she'd swiftly come to recognize as the head of the family; all the adults looked to her, so she was clearly the boss, "Ahh..." nodding, the small kit seemed to like these words, keeping them for later pondering, as she'd done before with other things the adults had said. She'd so far come to realize that 'momma' wasn't really 'momma'. Momma was gone. To a better place, they'd said. That meant she was dead, Bazi had decided, morbid even at such a young age. She'd not been saddened by this fact though; she had Sara, and the others. She was happy. At the question however, she seemed stumped, as if torn for some reason, and within her childish innocence, Bazi squirmed; she didn't want to admit that her siblings were, perhaps, just a little too rough and that she was ..... more than perhaps, just a tad too small to fight them. Her thoughts though, flashed across her eyes; the fear of being weak, and the fact she seemed unwilling to bring down Sara's ire upon her siblings. Instead of answering the question, she lifted her head to meet her sister's gaze, "I'm okay," it spoke out volumes, and in more than one way, answered the older female's question, even though Bazi did not realize this.
Sarafina smirked. "i suppose you are," She replied cryptically. Turning her eyes and thoughts away from this the elder looked up and surveyed the area around them. The den was fine, nothing was disturbing it, and a good breeze blew over the Savannah to releave some of the heat. She sighed softly. The others were out doing the stars-knew-what... but she didn't mind being left with the kids. Actually, she preferred it--she wasn't sure what foolishness some of the others might try and put into their impressionable little minds. It was best she were around them for awhile at this young, crucial age.
"do you like being outside the den, Bazi?"
"Yes," unlike most cubs, it was not a chirp; it was not an excited noise... in fact, the small female had remain calm the whole while. Eerily so, "Very much," she turned her head till she could see the den, her eyes blinking lazily once before they closed and she nestled into Sarafina's arms. She remain that way for a long while before she raised her head, "It's nice here. And light. You can see everything," it wasn't that she didn't like the den; oh no. The den meant protection and it was a place she'd come to love without much need for time to get used to it. It was an instinct; the same one that made her recognize Sara as head of family, and Tahka, amusingly enough as some kind of a leader too. Even though there was no doubt in Bazi's mind, it was Sara whom wore the metaphorical pants in the neighborhood, "How was she like?" she said suddenly, her gaze fized on a distant point in the horizon, "Momma, I mean."
"Mother was a wonderful lioness," Sara replied almost automatically. She meant it, however, and looked back down upon Bazi with one of her rare gentle smiles. One of the lioness's paws lifted and she drug the pad down bazi's back in a slow, stroking pet as she continued to speak. "Very polite and moral and just. You would have liked her."
Her eyes closed again, her body leaning into the petting she was receiving till she lifted her head; though there was no clear sign of sadness, there was distress written over her features, however faint, "They said she's in a better place; is that true?" she'd believe it if Sara said so.
"Hmmm.." That was a harder one. Sarafina considered it in silence a moment before looking up at the clear blue sky above them. This sort of talk would have been more appropriate at night, but this wasn't a fairytale to have it happen so timely as all that. "Do you know the stars of the night sky?"
"I've seen them from the den," indeed she had; there were nights where she's woken up, for whatever reason, nothing out of the ordinaire and she'd found herself looking out of the den's mouth, towards the sky beyond. Twinkling just out of her reach were the so called stars; the adults had told them what they were she and her siblings had asked, "They're just beyond reach," she said as she extended a tiny paw, focusing in the sky, her claws showing out of her pads, seemingly perpetualy, much like Sara's. Turning her head finaly back, she regarded her sister languidly, expectantly, "Why?" the question was straight and to the point
"The kings and queens of the past reside in those stars," Sara explained and chuckled at her sister's raised paw. She wouldn't let her know that they couldn't really touch those stars, not now. "Our grandfather is among them, and so is our mother--even though no one hailed her as the queen she was. She's up there, always, watching over us as we grow."
Her paw remain outstretched, and then she closed it around thin air. It was a childish movement, one that held faith in something adults seemed to have lost, however, it was brief, and gone just as soon as it'd started. Turning, she offered Sara the first smile that day, probably the first in quite a few days, as Bazi herself wasn't prone to showing emotion quite so freely, "Really?" it was as much a rhetorical question as one she'd offered earlier; she seemed content with the explanation and made her feel at ease knowing her real momma was safe and up in the stars, gazing down at them, "Will we be kings and queens too?" she turned to gaze at the sky then, as if she could see those stars, even now, "We'll be strong; we'll walk home."
That was a more difficult question. One of Sara's ears twitched at a nearby sound. It took her attention for a moment, but as soon as she'd identified it was an antelope being amazingly brave, she ignored it and went back to their conversation. "Well.. a Queen or a King is a hard occupation. It is filled with dangers and difficult decisions. I do not wish any of you to ever have to step into such a role.. but if you did, i believe you would do well."
Amusingly enough, Bazi too turned her head, gazing off towards the distant, in a way already learning from Sara, immitating like all children did their adults. If anything, it was clear the child was willing to learn, and extremely attentive to her surroundings, for whatever reason; curiosity most likely. Upon the answer she recieved, the cub seemed to grow silent again, settling herself comfortably, pondering, digesting what she was told. It was only after a long pause that she raised head again, "Are you a queen?"
Why were children so capable of hard questions? Sarafina once more took time to consider this carefully. Children couldn't be trusted to keep silent on the things they were told-- it wasn't their fault, simply their nature. It wouldn't do for her to name herself queen, not at this juncture. Well... it wouldn't do to look as if she were insisting upon it, even though she was. None of the other siblings were capable of it, or at least as capable as she knew she was. "I am.. a leader, yes, one that you could call Queen, i suppose." Funny, she really hadn't considered her title before this.
This time, the cub regarded Sara the longest time; there was perhaps, just perhaps, a hint of admiration in those large brown eyes, but it was hard to tell... she was so unexpressive. It was seemingly impossible to tell what Bazi was thinking, most of the time; where as when nervous, her thoughts were clear on her face and expression, when languid, she seemed inexpresive, "Ah," she said, almost as if all this made perfect sense, "I knew that; it's just like I thought," her gaze moved towards the den, and the cub blinked only once, "They looked to you. Whenever something was asked. THey all looked at you. As if you would know that answer; that makes you the Queen of the Den."
Sarafina chuckled softly. "I suppose it does.. i suppose it does." She shook her head a little and lowered it to begin bathing Bazi again. She was liable to give them a complex about cleanliness, but in her mind... well, there were a lot of things worse than being clean. In truth, this one of the only ways she knew to express any sort of affection on her part. Simply stating it would be.. well. she didn't care for such diatribes.
Content she had been right, Bazi allowed herself to be bathed, breathing deeply; her curiosity was sated. If only for a while, for after all... she was a cub, and she was bound to have questions about everything. For now though, she seemed content to enjoy the bath, wiggling here and there to allow better access; there was no doubt this one enjoyed being clean and the feel of being bathed. She understood the underlying meaning behind the bath, after all. There was no need for words when things could be so easily expressed through actions; one action was worth a million words, "I can't wait to be home," came the soft purr as the cub closed her eyes, half lulled to sleep by the ongoings.
