[PRP] For the Love of the Children

[Ary Keeyara]

Lately Vinaya had been so busy with ceremonies and rehearsals she'd barely had time to breath. She understood it was all very important. She was going to become Queen, an idea that still felt to alien to her. But it was nice to get away for a little while. She slipped through the trees on light paws. She had gotten used to moving in a weaving sort of way, something that had always bumbled her when she was younger. But this place had become her home and she couldn't imagine going back to grasslands.

She paused briefly at a passing group of flowers, bright and blue in the speckled sunlight. "How lovely..." she smiled a little, passing her nose near one to catch its scent.  

[Storei]

From the grasses not that far away, there were little pants and cubbish growls. Viusikusiku, to his despair, had been practicing pouncing when he slipped from the rock and instead fell into brambles instead. Just great, he thought angrily to himself, what if his sisters caught him like this! Hanging upside down with twigs and leaves tangled in his mane...They'd be so amused and he knew that they would never let him live it down if they saw him dangling in the possessive embrace of a native bush. He gave another jerk of his lean little body and gave another mewl of discomfort.

He didn't know that there was another lioness nearby, otherwise he wouldn't have been making so much noise! This was embarrassing enough as it was.  

[Ary Keeyara]

It was a good thing she had stopped or Vinaya wouldn't have heard the young cub at all. She jerked her head round, ears perking attentively at the little growls. Who was that...? Uncertainly she ducked under some vines and pushed through a few ferns, following the sound. Soon she spotted the cub, tangled in a bush. Poor thing!

"Oh dear!" she murmured, hurrying over to meet him. Ears snapped back in concern she reached out, lifting a paw to steady him, and tried to take the scruff on his neck in her mouth to pull him free and let him back onto the ground.  

[Storei]

The little cub squirmed in the branch and even more when the other lavender hued lioness came from no where. He hadn't heard her coming, so where did she come from? Usiku mewled as her soft maw clamped around his extra neck fur and he padded his little paws into the air as he was plucked from the bush and settled back onto the ground.

When his paws finally touched earth, Usiku shook himself and turned his green eyes up upon her, "Uh...Thank you, Miss!" His face burned with embarrassment and he didn't know what else to say to her.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Vianya let out a breath in relief. She was glad she was able to get him down! "Are you alright?" she asked instictively, settling back to calm her nerves that had hightened slightly as his "peril". Once set back on her haunches she was able to get a better look at him. When she did she almost jumped back up again. Instead she blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing clearly. He looked a lot like Upe, her soon to be mate and king of the pride. Not exactly, of course. It was mainly the little tuft of his hair that reminded her of Upe's. Perhaps they were related somehow. Upe had said he had cousins.  

[Storei]

Usiku furrowed a brow at the strange reaction the new lioness gave to him. Was it because of the leaves and sticks in his hair? Reaching up, the little one tried his best to brush out the mess that had gotten into his blue mane. He didn't want to not seem presentable, not when he was trying to grow up to be a priest like his daddy. He had to be nice and good for show.

"I'm fine, thank you very much," Usiku said to her. Then, his cub curiosity got the better of him, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something else in my mane?"  

[Ary Keeyara]

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Vinaya's ears pinned back and she smiled in embaressment. "Staring is rude," she agreed, remembering her manners with even a cub. Especially a cub. She was an adult, she needed to set a good example.

"I was just thinking how you look very much like Upepo," she confessed with a shake of her head. "At least with the hair," she said with a small laugh.  

[Storei]

"Upepo?" the little cub echoed thoughtfully. He knew he had heard that name before, but where? Oh! He remembered now. They were relatives with him, he knew, "He's my papi's brother's son, right?" he intoned thoughtfully. What he just said confused him though, so he wrinkled his little nose and sniffed. It was right, he was sure.

"I don't think I've met him yet. He's as old as my older sisters, though," Usiku nodded and flicked his tail from side to side, "Do you know him?"  

[Ary Keeyara]

"Cousins," Vinaya assisted, trying to make it easier for the cub once she understood what he meant, "Yes, I thought you might be related." The hair color did come from Mteule after all. Why was it surpising? She smiled at him, glad to meet what would soon be her cousin-in-law.

"Yes, I know him," Vinaya nodded and added, "He's going to be the King you know." She didn't mention that she was to be queen. Somehow she felt it wasn't something you told someone without a smudge of bragging.

Facing this cub now she had a realization. She and Upe were to be married but...seeing this cub in front of her, one that had his hair color and eye hue...the reality of it hit her in the chest. They were getting married. She was going to bear his cubs...little cubs that might look like this young one. She felt her heart due a backflip and blood throbbed through her ears.  

[Storei]

"Cousins, yeah, that's what I meant!" Viusikusiku exclaimed. He listened intently to what she had to say. Out of all his sisters, he was the only sibling who really had an ear for listening.

"King!" the little cub breathed in surprise. He had known about the king, heard of him from his papi and sometimes from his maman, but he hadn't known that that there was a need for another king. He remembered, though, that when he was younger, he and his sisters would play king and queens. He flicked one of his ears against his head and sat on his rump, "What happened to the other one?" he asked innocently, "Did he...DIE?"  

[Ary Keeyara]

"Oh heavens no!" Vinaya assured him, shaking her head hurriedly. She really should have clarified...after all, he was a sharp little boy! She smiled, curling her tail around her feet as she explained, putting her thoughts of future children to rest for the present, "The other king and queen are simply retiring. They'll still be there. They're very healthy and happy. They just feel its time someone else does the job. See?" It was a joyful exchange of the crown. It was something, she realized, that she should treasure. Many prides only passed on the gift in a time of tragedy.  

[Storei]

"Oh," the little cub echoed as his question was confirmed. Well, alright, that made sense. He hadn't heard of anything terrible lately, and if the king had died, there was sure to be some sort of clamor and upbringing about it all. His mother would've been prowling high and low for the right herbs for grieving and his dad would've been away all the time.

"I don't want to be king," Viusikusiku suddenly stated, furrowing his brows in determination, "I'm going to be a priest, like my daddy!" Usiku nodded to himself. He knew that he didn't have any potential seeing powers like his dad or like his older sister, but he still wanted to be priest. He didn't really know what a priest did, but if his daddy did it, then Usiku wanted to do it too!  

[Ary Keeyara]

She couldn't help but giggle a little. He was very cute. Taking after his father, hmm? If he and Upe were cousins, that meant that his father was Mteuli. He was one of the most admirable males she had ever met. He was doing well to follow in his footsteps. "Oh really? Well, lucky for your, your cousin has that covered and," she smiled, "I'm sure you'll do an amazing job. Your father must be very proud."  

[Storei]

"I hope he's proud," Usiku muttered, reaching up with a paw to ruffle his mane. A little torrent of twigs and leaves fell out of it and he frowned in disapproval. Great, he was still a little dirty...That wouldn't do well at all, not at all! He started to lick his paw and awkwardly try and clean his mane. Unfortunately, he wasn't the best at cleaning.

"My papi's hardly around," the other said, "He's had a lot of work lately, I think."  

[Ary Keeyara]

"He's got a hard job," Vinaya consoled. She knew Mteuli was in charge of diplomacy. It meant he was constantly traveling, bringing in new members and keeping up on what was happening in the outside world. It kept him away. Poor thing. Usually, from what she noticed, he'd go away for a while and then spend a good among of time at home. But those long periods would be hard on a child.

"And I'm sure he is and I'm sure he's thinking all about you while he's away," she murmured encouragingly.