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 Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:46 pm
She sat only a pace away from the newborns, leaning against the mouth of the den. Unlike her groomed-to-perfection cubs, Intombi's fur was a wreck. It was disheveled and dirty with both the evidence of yesterday afternoon's labor and her efforts to make this den a little bigger. She was obviously exauhsted; her shoulders shrugged and her whole body seemed to sag with fatigue. Her pink hair tuft was beginning to knot up from her neglect to groom it. Baisically, she looked like hell, and it didn't stop there. Her exterior was only a mirror of what was going on inside. Since her run in with Habu, she'd gone from that spookily numb state to pushed over the edge into a true emotional break down. She missed Habu terribley, and was slowly accepting why. She still didn't understand it, but she knew that what she didn't completely understand was very important.
Despite her current state of mind, the lioness had found a way to be happy. It wasn't just happiness, even, it was something more. A warmth and joy mingled together that she had never felt before when she looked at her brood. She couldn't lie and say she was happy with how many cubs she was staring at, but she was happy they were there. Eight cubs... what in Africa was she going to do?
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:16 pm
Finally, she tripped and rolled into a rock. "Oof," she said. She straightened herself up, brushing down some of her fur. Then something caught her eye. Not too far away was a den. Not that that was new. There were dens everywhere. No, but there was a bright shock of pink highlighted by sunlight streaming down into the entrance. To Ua, pink only meant one thing. Intombi.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:04 pm
Intombi didn't hear Ua outside of the den. She was zoning out, staring at the steadily breathng pile of furs. They were so amazing, yet so terrifying. There was no way, no way at all she could keep her indepent streak up with a group like this. The end of her adventure was drawing near. How could there have been so many? It seemed so impossible. The litter she came from had two cubs, and Habu was one of two as well. There was only one large litter Intombi had known of before now, and that was Mzuza's. She was one of... nine, was it? Something like that. Sitting here, facing eight, Zu's family didn't seem too bad anymore. She started feeling large amounts of pity for the Queen. If she ever managed to have free time to herself, she should go talk to her and ask for any advice on how to raise such a ridiculously large litter.
While she was in a state of panic, though, she was also completely amazed. All of those little ones sleeping peacefully in front of her were there because of her and Habu. It was sort of magical to think of, really, especially for Intombi. After the hectic first several hours of her little ones' lives, she was finally having a chance to feel like a mother. That warm feeling spread all over. A small tear formed in the corner of her eye. What was she going to do?
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:15 pm
Uabutani with all the ease in the word, waltzed over to Intombi's temporary den. She was glad that she had found out where the female lived. It meant that she could visit her more often. See what flowers did in their next lives when they weren't being saved by Ua.
And by the sight, she was so surprised. As she got closer she could see all the babies huddled up together inside the den. There were so many of them! Ua herself was from a litter of four. She understood tiny litters, not quite that they came larger. Maybe Intombi was a nanny or something but a new one ...since Ua had never been cared for by her or she would have snuck away from the babysitters less often. "Hey Intombi!" she sang. "You didn't tell me you were a nanny!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:48 pm
Intombi jumped a little at Ua's words. She hadn't expected anyone to find her out here. Really, that had been the point. She'd made care to chose a place with as little traffic as possible as to avoid Habu. Their last meeting had been less than warm. As she turned her head over her shoulder, though, she couldn't help but smile at the youngster. When they'd met, she hadn't known Ua's relations to Habu. Now, however, she was half tempted to tell the tomboy that the litter in front of them were her cousins.
"Oh, hello there Ua. Try to keep your voice down, okay? I don't want to wake them." She smiled warmly and scooted over in the mouth of the den to make room for the younger lioness. She'd grown up some, Intombi noticed. "I'm not a nanny. These are... These are my new babies." It felt like someone else had said the words. Since their birth, she'd done very little talking. All she'd done was whimper around and sigh with both angst and joy. To actually declare that the little sleeping bodies were hers made the dreamlike situation harshly real.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:58 pm
Ua raised an eyebrow surprised, her eyes dilated slightly. "They're your's?" she exclaimed while trying to keep her voice down. "Oooh well they're all so pretty like you!" She squinted. "Aw, but none of them have green on them. Then they'd be a true flower." She beamed at Intombi and nodded curtly.
She looked around. Something was missing from this scene. It was confusing because she couldn't recall what it was. The sun was shining, the den was relatively comfortable at least as far as she knew, and the weather was mild. Intombi was there. The babies were there. Ua was there to see them and give them her approval. So what was it? Her eyes caught on Intombi who looked exhausted, fretful, and even a little bit lost. She shouldn't be doing this on her own. "Where's their father?" she asked, realizing that was what it was.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:14 pm
Intombi nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. They really were hers. Eight little lives depending on her for survival. It was really starting to sink in now. If Ua hadn't been sitting beside her, she'd be slipping into a panic attack. How could Intombi keep eight defenseless cubs alive on her own? She was good at keeping herself alive, even when she was a cub, but this bunch? Caring for yourself and caring for babies are two entirely different things. "Thank you." She managed to smile at Ua. "They really are somethin' else, aren't they?" Her gaze washed over them, picking out the bright colors and patterns.
At the innocent question, Intombi's tongue got tied. How was she supposed to answer that? She couldn't even explain to the father himself why she needed to do this alone. How could she tell a youngster? Then again, maybe she just wasn't giving Ua enough credit. After all, Intombi had made the decision to move away from her family and into the Pridelands when she wasn't much older than the green juve. "Well, I imagine he's somewhere near his den right now. I just... This is the kind of thing some lionesses do alone." It was an extremely weak explanation. She could practically hear Habu's response to it in her head. Especially now, seeing as there were so many cubs.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:19 pm
Ua wrinkled her brow. "Not it's not. Cubs are supposed to have mommies and daddies. Mommies and daddies love each other and take care of their children. They sing their cubs to sleep and feed them and show them how to hunt." She shook her head. Every cub had a mommy and daddy. That was how it was supposed to be. But it wasn't Intombi's fault. No, she was a flower. This was just another way for the evil things to get at her. "Well, if he can't be their father, I'll be their daddy for them. Or if you need someone older, I know someone who I'm sure I can convince to do it. He listens to me."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:39 pm
Intombi's eyes widened at Ua's answer. She really hadn't expected much of a response at all. She simply stared at the younger female for several seconds, not sure of how she was supposed to react to that. Part of her wanted to defend her side of the arguement, part wanted to break down and cry on the little girl's shoulder and then another part wanted to simply entertain Ua's idea of a substitute daddy. Really, Intombi was less likely to let a male who she hadn't met help her raise her litter than she was likely to go back to Habu. She didn't have to ruin Ua's shining moment, though.
"I... okay. Who do you know who can help me out a bit?" She took her gaze from Ua to the cubs again. She couldn't help but going back to staring at them from time to time. Especially now that they seemed more real. Having someone else there to point them out helped. Not that she ever thought they were just in her head, of course. She'd carried the group for quite a while before they were born. It was just such a hard thing to grasp for her. There were so many!
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:46 pm
Ua noticed the distress in Intombi's eyes. Aw she must not have realized that. Someone had lied to Intombi, the poor girl. She was slightly upset that Intombi didn't choose her. Ua wasn't a boy but she could still make a good daddy if given the chance. Why, she'd give them piggy-back rides and tell them wicked-awesome stories. She'd show them all the best playgrounds and introduce her to some fun-loving cubs. Why, they'd have a blast!
But that was ok. Her ideal guy would give her access to them anyway so she could still do all those things. Why, she'd be the best Auntie they'd ever hope to have. "My Uncle Wawa," she beamed. "He doesn't look too much like me but that's because I take after my daddy. As a matter of fact, he looks rather like that yellow cub right there! Well ok, maybe a little but close enough. You could even tell them he was their real daddy. I'm sure he'd love that. He seems like a really nice guy. You know, I played with him once, told him he was mine and I was going to eat him. He thought he could fight back. He's so funny like that, you know?" She nodded curtly. "Yup, he's the perfect substitute daddy if I can't be one."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:01 pm
Uncle Wawa. Intombi knew who that was, alright. Habu only had one sister, and only one niece. At least, that's all he'd ever talked about. Intombi highly doubted he would've left out other relatives, though. He just wasn't like that. As Ua went on and on describing how he looked like on of the cubs (exactly Intombi's thoughts when little Kiki had been born), Intombi could no longer help it. She completely broke down. She started full out sobbing and collapsed onto the ground in a twitching heap of yucky fur. In the back of her mind, the thought that tears would only ruin her coat more popped up, but she ignored it.
"Uaaa," the lioness moaned loudly. It was a miracle the litter didn't wake. "Uncle - Uncle - Uncle Wawa's their daaaaddy!" She cried into her paws, shaking harder with every sob. She couldn't hold anything in any longer. Her whole pregnancy had been a roller coaster, and she'd put up a wall to keep all of those emotions and all of that stress boxed away in the corner of her mind. Now, however, that wall had collapsed. Everything was gushing out onto the den floor.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:32 pm
Ua's eyes widened dramatically. He was their father? Really? That made them... her cousins. She edged closer to Intombi and nosed her, trying to comfort her. "It's... it's ok." she said. "Yo-you want me to get him?" Why wasn't he there? He should be. Why that made Ua so made. Her uncle should know better. He has Ua's genes so he should be smart like that. Darn uncle of hers. She needed to have a talk with him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:47 pm
Intombi only cried harder when Ua offered to go get him. Riko had the same reaction as the little girl was. She moaned and wiped her eyes on her paws. Her once shining pink toe markings were now covered in tears and dirt. As she slowly pulled her head up, the sight of it made her want to start crying again, but she managed to gain control and simply sat there whimpering for a few moments.
Finally, she managed to look at Ua. "No-o-o." She sniffled. "It's all my fault, Ua-a-a. I me-messed everyth-thing up." She looked at the sleeping cubs and started to tear up again. Her bright blue eyes were quickly losing their beauty. "H-he wanted to - to help. I push-shed him awa-a-a-y." Tears started streaming again. It hardly occured to her that a juve might not want to hear about the romantic issues between two adults, but she just needed to get it out. She'd held it all in for so long, she just had to say something. "A-and now, now I have to take-ke care of the-e-em!!" She started crying even harder now, her stress just flowing out all over the place. Questions raced through her mind. What was she going to do? There were pride nannies, sure, but they weren't full time helpers!
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:02 pm
Ua looked helplessly at the distraught Intombi. "No you didn't!" Ua wasn't used to having to comfort people. She was way out of her league as she did so. She didn;t know the right words to say or exactly how the situation was or should have been. It was quite sad on her end, leaving her feeling almost useless. "Well forget him then. Uncle Wawa will realize what he's done and he'll come back. He's just being silly, is all. Until he comes back, I'll stay with you. Oh, Intombi, don't cry." Oh Ua felt so helpless. "Please don't cry. It's not as bad as it looks. It can't be!"
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