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 Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:00 pm
 It had been a couple of days and Semira was still wondering the new pride lands some what uneasily. She was definitely getting more comfortable and feeling safer, but the memory of her childhood haunted her somewhat. It was getting easier though.
This particularly day was somewhat dry considering there location was in the midst of a swamp. But none the less Semira had managed to find a cool damp place to lie out of the sun, he black fur tended to attract the sun to much and make her much to hot. One reason that she quite enjoyed this new pride there was lots of water and shade.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:07 pm
 Ukosa felt like a turtle. Slow, heavy, big around her middle, but instead of a shell, a belly full of cubs dragged her to the ground. In spite of the extra weight, she held her head high as she walked using the perfect posture she had practiced all her life. This litter would be bigger than the last. She felt it in the pit of her stomach.
How many cubs she would have; three, maybe even four? She hoped not as many as Bekile. Oh, she loved all her new nieces and nephews, but she had her limits when it came to children. She was thinking about drawing the line at three. Yes, three sounded like the perfect number of cubs for a mother in a nurturing pride. She and Unus talked about the cubs all the time. It made her happy to see him so excited to become a father. His sincere excitement finally convinced her that she had nothing to fear of betrayal from her mate. Unus would stay with her forever.
She said to herself, The worst part about being pregnant is needing to rest all the time. Walking graciously up to a cool, shady patch under a tree, she hesitated, surprised by the murky lioness who seemed to materialize out of the shadows. Was she asleep? “Excuse me,” Ukosa gently addressed the other lioness. “I’m looking for a place to rest. I hope you don’t mind sharing the shade.”
She turned her body partway to the side, showing her middle-bulge.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:23 pm
Semira looked up at the pregnant lioness, and immdiatly moved over "Of course I will share with you." she answered timidly. It had been a long time since she had seen a women that was pregnant. Semira was excited that someone had approached her. She never had the guts to approach someone, and this lioness seemed nice enough.
She turned to look the lioness over, "Hi there, I am Semira... I uh just joined the pride." Semira and her group had come just a few days ago. She was still getting use to being around this number of lions "Have you always lived her?" she asked the other lioness.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:37 pm
Ukosa spread herself awkwardly on the leaf litter. She usually moved slowly to give herself more grace. Being pregnant put a whole new perspective on slowness. She no longer found it graceful at all.
The other lioness – Semira, that was her name – seemed a little nervous, leading her to assume she was one of the new provisionary. For some reason there were a lot of new faces in the swamps lately. “My name is Ukosa.” She smiled softly at Semira. “That’s the short version, anyway. My family and I only arrived a few months ago. Are you from the big group that showed up a few days ago?”
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:45 pm
"Yes there is six of us. They are kind of like my family. We have been together quite awhile, slowly joining one by one to make our group." Semira smiled thinking about her family.
"We had been traveling together for a long time, looking for this location." What made you and your family come here?" She asked the other lioness. She studied the other lioness' body, in a way she was kind of jealous of how beautiful she looked while pregnant.
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:23 pm
To anyone who looked at her Ukosa seemed proud of her beauty. With the cubs starting to kick inside her belly, she was less aware of posture than she was of discomfort and felt self-consciously certain that it showed. The knowledge that she would bring new life into the swamps in a few weeks time gave her strength, even dignity. She felt as if she were finally doing something worth while.
“That sounds a lot like my family. The swamps have been our ancestral home for generations. I spent most of my life only knowing of this place through the stories my father would tell.” She smiled indulgently as she spoke about her father. From her mother she learned grace, but it was her father who gave her honor. “I think his spirit must wander somewhere in the marsh. He wouldn’t settle for anything less. How did you hear of the swamps?”
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:34 pm
"I heard about the swamps from the lions who were in the group before me. There was two males and a female when they found me, and they were on their way here. I had been on my own since I was a cub. I had once belonged to a pride, but it was raided one night and I was separated from my family. From then on I was on my own." Semira conveniently left out the trust issues she had because of that raid and because she had been alone for so long. She didn't want to weigh down this lioness.... who obviously already had enough to carry.
"As we made our way here, we met two other lions who joined the group. It was odd, I hadn't had a family in so long but before I knew it we were a family. I am of course a little closer to the three lions who were in the group before me, but even the two that joined after me I have grown rather fond of." Semira smiled as she talked about her 'family' she hoped that she would be able to extend that family here in the swamps. Perhaps even start a family of her own, a real one.. just like the lioness laying next to her was.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:39 pm
Ukosa listened attentively. The part about the raid left her ill-at ease, so she felt grateful when Semira skipped over the details. She felt as if she was finally at her happily ever after. So much of her life had been wasted on self-pity and guilt. It wasn’t that she was unsympathetic to Semira. She had had her fill of feeling sorry, thank you very much. Surely Semira would agree a happy change of subject sounded much better than discussing her tragic past with a new acquaintance. Yes, it would be a welcome reprieve for them both.
“I’m sorry about your pride,” she began, not wanting to appear as if she was consciously avoiding the subject. “But I’m glad you found a family and that you found Jini-misemi. The swamps are a wonderful place to retire from the, oh, what’s a good word? Vexations of living on the savannah. I’m not complaining, of course, I spent most of my life on the savannah, but the swamp is much more hospitable. The spirits watch over us here. Even in the dry season, you can always find water in the swamp. Oh, I’m sure the swamp has its difficulties, just like any place, but I can’t help but feel safe knowing Mama Bwawa is watching over us.”
Mama Bwawa was the goddess of the swamp. Her father told many stories about Mama Bwawa when she and her brothers were cubs, but even though it was Mama Bwawa who caused the flood that destroyed the old pride, Ukosa believed that the swamp goddess loved all her children.
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Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:54 pm
Semira smiled at the lioness who offerend kind words. She appreciated the sympathy but was just as willing to move on quickly as Ukosa. When Mama Bwawa was mentioned Semira couldn't help but feel a warm glow growing inisde of here. The spirtualtiy of this pride would be good for her.
She sighed at the comfort she was finding and turned towards the other lioness. "So Ukosa what is your job her in the pack." Semira was interested in finding more out about the pack and how it operated.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:13 pm
“A simple huntress, nothing more. You are a provisionary, yes?” She hadn’t participated in many hunts since arriving. She always found a way to arrive late to the huntresses’ gatherings or avoid them all together, yet nobody ever complained, either because there were enough huntresses to go around or because they assumed she was too old for such strenuous activity. Often she used her status as a grandmother to enforce the belief that she was older than she appeared.
She felt much happier about herself and life in general after meeting Unus. She wanted to go back to hunting, which she enjoyed in the past, but with her cubs soon to be due she needed to take things easy for a while. Luckily coming from such a large family, there would always be plenty of babysitters handy when she was ready to return to her duties.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:48 pm
"Yes I am a provisionary." Semira answered lightly, she was still getting use to having a title, having a pack in general. The only time that she had been in a pride, she had been nothing more then a youth. It was odd being in a large group like this, thinking that she had a place to be something to do, that others would count on her.
"I guess now that you are expecting you aren't hunting as much now." she stated slowly. She was unsure about how Ukosa felt about being pregnant, or about being a huntress. She didn't want to cause her new friend any discomfort.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:19 pm
“Expecting.” She rested her chin on her paws with a sigh. “Waiting is the worst part. Even though I like Unus waiting on me now and then, I wish I could do things on my own more often. I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I’m trying to be extra careful with this litter. Poor Unus lost his first litter to a vicious rogue male so I’ve promised to take every precaution. It makes him happy.” She smiled at Semira, showing she didn’t mind. There were times she wanted to snap at him for acting so concerned, but she was always quick to apologize. It was nice to have someone care about her so much.
Speaking off-handedly, she commented, “You must be a wonderful huntress with fur that color. I bet the gazelle wouldn’t see you coming if you were looking it straight in the eyes after dusk.”
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:38 pm
Semira mildly wondered what the lioness could mean by she needed to be careful, Semira had always kind of thought that lionesses bodies were built to carry cubs, she had never thought that it would mean they needed to be careful. Semira had never had any sort of relationship much less get close to having children.
Semira looked down at her pelt, "Yea my pelt has always come in kind of handy, I was able to fend for myself for a long time, even when I was young." Semira was always be able to find food and hunt, the lesser animals almost always didn't see her coming, heck sometimes lions would miss her sitting in the shadows. "My eyes are my give away." she said looking the other lioness right in the face.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:28 pm
“I like them. They make your face come alive,” she said with a smile. She had never seen a lion with colors quite like Semira. She didn’t say so, because she didn’t want her to feel like an oddity.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:29 pm
Semira blushed when the other lioness complimented her eyes. She wasn't sure what to say, "Thank you" she managed to stammer out. She looked at the lioness just in time to see her stomach move with the little ones inside of her.
"Do they do that often?" she asked referring to the cubs moving around inside of her.
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