Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long journey back to the ocean, made even longer by her pregnancy. And when Tiifu had finally gotten close enough to smell the salty air, she felt her heart lift and her energy suddenly renewed. She was so close to being at her new home now. The very thought caused her to pause and look back at Sewelo; at her mate and grin happily.

The journey with Tiifu had been a very pleasant one, minus the devil lion. So many things in his young life radically changed, he couldn't help a warm smile at the knowledge Tiifu had given him. That was, that she was pregnant, he was going to be a father! His mother had always said when two loved each other and the time was right, it happened, so for him it was a sign that it was real, he was truly in love with her.

It was time to come home, there was no doubt, and he was very happy she wanted to go to his home. There was no place better in the world for their cubs to grow then in his pride with all his family and extended family to love and support his family. With a deep snout full of the salty air, he glanced over the Tiifu and smiled even more at her, leaning over for nuzzle and affection lick to the cheek, “The jungle is the start of the pride territory, a short walk then the warm sands again.” There was no telling how soon they would run into his mother, father or other members of the pride, but he couldn’t wait the second that would pass before that happened.

"I can't wait to be in the sand again, Sewelo," Tiifu said happily, nuzzling her mate back and giving him a lick in return. And then she was off again, making her way through the jungle with her mate at her side. She could tell the time was nearing for her to give birth. Her nesting instinct was beginning to kick in, and she wanted to make sure she had a place for a den in her new home.

Purring in the return, the young male loved to give affection as much as he adored getting it. Grinning, he raced after her, trotting at her side as the smells and the sounds of home got more and more intense.

From the parted foliage lie the expanse of the beach, clean sand stretching from left and right into the edges of the earth. Small waves lapping at the shore, taking away the paw prints of cubs and adults alike. Speaking of cubs, he could see dozens of cub prints everywhere and more adult prints then he could recognize from the scents, “There will be lots of cubs for our little ones to play with, by the looks of it. I’ll show you the dens near where my parents are, they should still have some close that are empty. Hopefully we’ll find at least my mother pretty soon, it won’t be long until you get to meet everyone one.” They would all love her, he was positive of that, after all, what wasn’t to love about the amazing leopardess and healer?

Heading to the right, he approached a rocky cliff like area with many indents caused by the wind, creating smooth crevaces prefect for dens. All were at least the size of two and a half lions standing shoulder to shoulder and the length of five at the smallest. The largest of them all was his mothers, in the middle so he headed for the ones cloest to the jungle.

Practically shaking with excitement, the young male commented, "She is, the most beautiful lioness on the earth, inside and out." He spoke highly of his mother, and could do so easily. Tiifu wasn't a lioness, made it better, he knew the most beautiful lioness and leopardess, how lucky could one male get?

Chest puffed out, his little pride got an added boost when she said she liked the den he sought first, "Great! This is one of the ones I used to play hide and seek in. Now to find mother." Moving back, he wondered down two dens to look in, got quite a surprise! There was a carpet of cubs napping soundly next to their shared mother. Planning on only counting how many little brothers and sisters, it appeared there were a lot more sisters; he had every intention of moving away before he disturbed his mother. She deserved rest, even more so with the demands of her leadership position and now cubs.

Backing up, he heard his mother saw his name and cringed, caught! Bolting forward like a young cub again, he rushed closer to his new den with Tiifu and waited.


It didn't take long, Senatla was sure she had seen her precious son and that was all the reason she needed to get up from her warm resting place. Standing carefully to make sure she didn’t wake up her young litter, the mother made her way out and scanned for her returned son. To her left, she spotted him and raced forward, calling out his name joyfully. Meeting him with a playful head bump, she nuzzled her son, quickly fussing over the scars that marred his once unscathed fur. “What happened? Who did this I’ll rip ‘em to shreds!” Snarling, claws out, her protective instincts were ready to jump to the defense of her so, even though the incident might be pretty old. You could almost see the fire from her blood shine.


Sewelo bowed his head, embarrassed a little, commenting, “Its fine mother, he won’t be a danger so long as we stay from the lands of the demons. Mother, meet Tiifu, she is my mate and wishes to join the pride.” He was not figuratively tossing her in front of him to get the full attention of his mother, not at all.
Turning her violet eyes, the aggression drained out of her, back to the warm and gentle lioness she normally was. With a great big smile for the new member of the family, she greeted her, “I give you welcome, Tiifu. I am Senatla, one of the three leaders of this pride.” Moving forward, she gave the purple leopardess the same head bump she gave her son, a lion gesture of greeting.

Getting the nudge, he smiled sheepishly at Tiifu, a skill he perfected from watching his father do it so many times in the past. That look passed as the great pride filled him from watching his mother and his mate interact with each other. He knew they would get along!


Senatla turned to look at the den a moment then back at the young couple. "You have both picked a nice one, if this is the one you chose. It was one Sewelo was fond of playing in when he was even younger." She was a mother; her cubs would always be cubs in her eyes. Going over her memory of where each lion had their dens, she added, "This one is yours, and I am very excited to have you here, Tiifu. There are a few formal things to get out of the way, but most of that can wait until later. Could you tell me a little about yourself?" What she unofficially wanted to know was if the young lady was pregnant. It was that or they were expectantly hunters and had been eating very well. Of course, she also wanted to know about the journey.

Likewise a very experienced traveler, Sen sat calmly and listened to her whole tale. Outwardly the biggest sign of distress she showed was in a small motion, the violent twitching of her back left paw, her tell. This demon territory interested her a great deal; she had to find out where it was in order to warn the rest of the pride not to go there. If the king of that pride would attack wonders who got too close, there was little hope of her being able to get there and find a travelers truce with them.

Motherly pride shown through her active listening, a warm beaming that her son could do so well against a king of demons. King denoted the best and strongest of the whole pride, demon spoke of their mindset and ferocity. That her young son, not even fully grown into his mane yet, could hold his own and walk away with everything in tact was extraordinary. He lived up to the name she gave him, and she couldn’t be prouder. She also was proud of Tiifu, while she didn’t see the extent of the injuries on Sewelo, the fact his scars were so little even thought the fight was so much spoke of her skill. Sewelo looked in perfect health, something she’d take into consideration as she saw Tiifu’s place in the pride.
Knocked from her thought perch of a leader was the news she was a grandmother. Looking between the two, she saw the looks on their faces and her surprise melted into complete joy. “Oh congratulations! Those cubs will have a lot of cousins to play with, my new litter of six will just about their age, their four other cousins are only a stage older and there are the new cubs from my mate’s cub hood friend. Tiifu, there are a lot of experienced mothers here to support you, all the way. It sounds like you have also earned a place as a healer here.” Wow, she thought to herself, she was a grandmother! Also the leader, she tangled with the two different jobs by being the happy mother slash grandmother, then the slightly more serious leader thinking of the pride as well


Listening to Tiifu’s rendition, his ears lowered a little on the talk of his fight, modesty showing itself. Pride set back in when talk of his cubs was brought in. He was so excited to be a father! The number of siblings threw him off, he had thought he miss counted with a pure white one, there had appeared to almost be two. Now hearing the number allowed, he could only guess there might be twins. “Congratulations to you as well, Mother, I can’t wait to meet my little siblings.” Giving her another warm nuzzle after she finished showing her support, he was proud to be a big brother as well

Senatla nodded and said, "Time must be close, and we are eager to meet them. As an official word form a leader, you are to rest until the cubs are born, Sewelo and the other hunters of the pride will see to it that you are well fed. Call me if you need anything, I know a thing or two about cubs from two litters of six and as the leader of diplomacy, it is my pleasure to explain anything Sewelo cannot." She had that expression, like someone trying very, very hard to be stern at first, but the warmth of the lady underneath melted it easily. She knew her son would take her seriously, she hoped the lady would as well.


Sewelo did indeed; it was an order to him, one he intended to help Tiifu follow as much as he could. Throwing in a bit of his own sense he told her, "I be happy to go fetch anything you need for our den, or food." He was a great hunter, while he knew little of herbs and stuff; he was smart and could learn.

Before she walked off, Senatla added, "Don't be too surprised if little cubs come wondering in, they didn't get to know their brother and other big brothers and sisters. They are good cubs, but if you want to rest and they are too boisterous, just send them back out, or sic Sewelo on them." She chuckled, trying to place a bet on who would tire who out first.

With gentle nuzzle to the purple lady, the red lioness turned and moved off to check back in with her own litter.

Sewelo smiled, the idea of playing with his little sisters and brother was a very enjoyable idea. Shaking his head, he nuzzled his mate as well and told her, "One something running around coming up, I'll be back shortly, love." Turning, he moved right to a part of the jungle he hunted regularly, completely at home.