Rotem: (6:17:33 PM): A few more steps forward and once more Rotem took a slow look over his shoulder. Still nothing. He smirked and crouched himself lower to the ground, his belly barely inches from the dusty soil as he crept himself forward. Again he paused and took a short look over his shoulder. Still nothing...very strange.
It must have been a trap! That was it.
He lifted his head up, narrowed his eyes, and rolled his ears forward to listen. Jaron and him often had small 'games' that he passed off as training sessions. As of late, Jaron had been using the advanced game of 'hide and seek' (which Rotem called 'tracking training' around Eyal) to slip off and flirt with the local lionesses.
Mut: (6:21:10 PM): And one of the new local lionesses was who foun Rotem. From her spot where she'd been exploring, she watched the male, tilting her head curiously. Kingu had explained what Rotem looked like... Now that she was seeing him, she couldn't help but wonder if Kingu's idea of how the king acted was... Delusional.
Regardless, she carefully stepped down the incline she had found herself at the top of. When her chocolate paws met the ground, though, a rock underpaw send her sliding just a bit. While it wasn't hard to compensate and regain her footing, she knew she was too loud to miss.
Rotem: (6:24:06 PM): "....", Rotem slowly rolled an ear back in the direction of the rock's tumble. So that was his game this time was it? He kept his head and back effectively turned, eyes narrowed.
Counting down under his breath, at five Rotem whipped around and launched himself at the source of the pebble's disturbance. "GOTCHA!~"
Mut: (6:27:50 PM): Letting out a loud sound of surprise, Mut scrambled back, knocking into a tree. Eyes wide, she brandished her claws, trying to get around the tree. What was WRONG with this lion?!
Rotem: (6:31:35 PM): "Huh!?" Rotem came to a skidding stop and dropped his back end to the ground. Well that...certainly wasn't Jaron. It posed quite a few questions- where was the little brat and...
"Heh...sorry about that---miss...." He waved a paw around. He didn't actually know her name.
Mut: (6:35:31 PM): Eyeing him warily, Mut did her best to relax. From his surprise, it was an error as to who was coming up behind him. "Mut... Mut'salama..." Her claws hadn't yet relaxed, still visible on her paws. "Did I come at a bad time...?"
Rotem: (6:41:24 PM): "Haha, no." Rotem stood himself up and offered a lopsided smile, "I was just expecting you to be Jaron. He's gotten pretty good at sneaking up on his old man. I'm getting a little sore from losing so- I decided to leap before looking. Sorry again Mut'sa...can I just call you Mut?"
Mut: (6:47:41 PM): "Mut's fine." She tilted her head a bit, starting to relax. "So Jaron is... Your son?" She did her best to remember what all Kingu had said. "I don't think I've met him yet... Only Kingu'jua, Rajua, and Tziporah." And, of course, all cubs between the two females.
Rotem: (6:48:42 PM): "Yup, though he takes more after his grandfather than he does me." He shrugged, "Oh! I'm Rotem, and it's good to hear you've already met some of the others... you..." He looked around shortly, "New around here?"
Mut: (6:51:30 PM): The peach-and-chocolate lioness nodded, smiling. "I just got here not too long ago with Kingu, actually. And Rajua, and Tziporah... And Rajua's two daughters..." There were a few lions in the party... More at the end of the journey. "It's so relaxing here... There's enough that you're not lonely, but not so many lions that you feel... Crowded..." Like the Pridelands...
Auto Response from Mut: (7:03:25 PM): I am currently away from the computer.
Rotem: (7:04:34 PM): "Ah yes!" Rotem laughed, "Kingu said he brought in quite a group! I suppose that makes me a bit of a smuck for not meeting with everyone yet. I wish I can say that it's been busy around here...but it's....well it's not." He chuckled. "My apologies! Perhaps I can show you around?"
Mut: (7:14:15 PM): "That would be wonderful, there's so much I haven't seen yet!" Tail curling, Mut smiled at Rotem. "So..." She paused, tilting her head. After a moment, she snapped out of it, blinking. "The lands haven't always been this empty, have they, that others have had to been gathered from outside the pride?"
Rotem: (7:17:20 PM): "Well.... it started getting kind of quiet as generations go out." He nodded off to the side and started walking, "You don't wanna get with your cousin. There was also a small war with a rival clan of cats not too far from her. Called themselves the Aba-haraki. The land outside of EnGedi is barren for quite a distance. The Aba-haraki wanted our territory. We lost a lot of good fighters in that conflict."
Mut: (7:23:50 PM): Mut nodded, though she barely knew what that was like. "Where I'm from, there's hardly such a problem... There's so many rogues joining, the pride is simply... Huge... There's no way you can possibly have children with your relative, there's so many lions." A shudder ran down her spine. "It's possitively crowded." How the land held so many lions, she would never quite understand.
Rotem: (7:43:44 PM): "Well there has to be a balance. Where there were many, there will be few eventually. It keeps us humble, makes us stronger, and opens our doors to new members who may need a chance for serenety." He nodded out towards the distance. The dead sea sparkled in the mid-day sun, its white shores littered with salt deposits, though at that distance they might as well have been crystals. "There's the sea of the gods. You'll die if you drink the water, but bathing in it restores your strength."
Mut: (7:49:03 PM): Looking out at the water, Mut found herself mesmerized by it. Sitting down, she admired the view, taking in the sparkling salt. As she watched, she saw a most curious sight - Kingu, floating on his back, simply drifting on the waves. It made her smile just a bit. "I'm not sure of what you may think, but from what I've seen of him... Kingu would have to soak up a God's worth of it to gain strength..." Tziporah was stronger than the shy and kind male was.
Rotem: (8:00:49 PM): Rotem chuckled, "Well there's more to being strong than being a brute. Kingu's not exactly a warrior, but he has a stronger mind than even I and a stronger heart than most lions I've met. It takes all types to keep the peace. If you have a pride of brutes they end up fighting over who's the strongest. If you have a pride of brains you get into conflicts on who's the smartist. If you have a pride of every type- everyone gets along just fine."
Mut: (8:08:13 PM): Mut nodded, smiling. "That sounds like a good balance, then. Mind isn't everything, nor is brawn..." Continuing to watch Kingu, she wondered what it was like. After a moment, she turned to Rotem. "And what of the balance of males and females? Surely one can't outnumber the other?"
Rotem: (9:15:34 PM): "Ideally no." Rotem laughed, "Unfortunately, we've been....unbalanced. I can't complain that we've all been blessed with the birth of so many strong boys to keep the pride safe...but it doesn't do much for families or hunting."
Mut: (9:19:26 PM): The lioness frowned, ears flicking back. "A pride cannot be formed by males alone... Just as a female may not be complete without a male. Both are needed for balance." She tilted her head just a bit. "A concept I've heard of... Yin and Yang... One is not complete without the other..." She looked to Rotem. "Your circle is unbalanced and broken right now..."
Rotem: (9:32:49 PM): "Peace." He said simply, "And you're right, we're doing what we can. Eyal had an entire litter of daughters, and Kingu did a fine job bringing in some lovly laides." He smirked a bit, "Everything takes time."
Mut: (9:35:36 PM): "Of course..." Standing, the lioness stretched just a bit. "The world fixes itself, if given time." Tail curling, she bowed her head. "I should go make sure Paki hasn't fallen in a pond somewhere, I'm afraid he's phobic of the water." It was nothing she was sad about, she could understand him being afraid. After all, who wouldn't be afraid of water when they couldn't see it?
Rotem: (9:38:40 PM): "Ah yes." He chuckled, "I think you've already seen the waterfall. It comes right out of a rock! Talk about weird-" He chuckled a bit, "Only place you can drink. Just be careful."
Mut: (9:43:47 PM): "I shall, and I'll make sure Paki is, too." Turning, she padded back for the dens, her necklace and bangles jingling slightly as she moved.
