[ORP] Deep in the Caverns

[Mila Farrell]

In one of the deepest of the Mistweaver caverns, a place hidden from view in the southern part of the lands, creatures stir....

The morning light peeks through small holes in the ceiling, filtering the ground below with shafts of pure golden sunlight. Little dust motes hang in the air, twisting and twirling this way and that, and catching a glint of light every now and then, reflecting it back weakly.

A massive lion strides out of the shadows. He's past his prime: but still formidable, a creature of whites and grays. He pauses in one of the light shafts, quietly looking up to the sky above. It's a bright day, without a sign of cloud in the sky: a brilliant, captivating blue. For some reason, this makes him sigh, and he shakes out his mane, as if irritated...or gloomy.

"No rain," He rumbles, his voice a deep bass. "And no sign of it, either. Looks like it hasn't happened in ages...everything's turning to brown. Is it our fault?"  

[wooga Paes]

It was a nice day, why didnt this lion just prance out and have fun anyways? Why was he so sad?

After him, scurried a smaller figure, a cub, similar to he. Shetried to cach his tail, but was soon distracted by the light, and not knowing better, tried to pounce it, only to fall on the ground clumsly.

The cub then sat, looking at her father with a confused expression, though even if he were to answer, she probably wuldn't understand just what he meant.  

[Mila Farrell]

He raises an eyebrow at the sound, and looks down at the little ball of fluff beside him. Somehow, it puts him in better spirits.

There's nothing like her mother about her - which is just as well. That's still an open, festering wound that he'd prefer not to think about. Still, there's a bit of an ache in his throat as he looks down at his young daughter. So young...so precious.

"What're you doing up, sweetheart?" He scolds, but it's more a teasing scold: his heart really isn't in it. "You should still be in bed, it's only just daybreak." He lazily (and perhaps teasingly) twitches his tail, smiling softly as he leans down to lick her forehead.  

[wooga Paes]

She blinked at the big lion, allshe knew is that he did take care of her.. What happened to that othe rone? She culd blankly remember a lioness, but didn't put much thought in it.

She lookes at him with a smile, before noting that his tail moved, and then tried to cach it again-- easly distracted. But cubs were often like that. Right?

All she wanted to do right now was play, perhaps try and gnaw on his ear sometime, but at the moment, he was too tall for that.  

[wooga Paes]

Like the cub payedattention to his words, her ears did stay slightly turned back, as sounds made them pay attention, but who said her mind had to care what it meant? She tried to bite the fuzzy tip of her fathers tail, only to note that many fur's in your mouth-- wasn't the best thing. So, emediatly, Kimaji let go of the tail, only to get sidetracted by-- a beetle.

No suprize that in these tunnels there wuld be bugs, and possibly rodents, but to her, everything in the world was new, something to get exited about, or, scared for no reason. But, for the beetle, it seemed inofencive, so she did the same with it as with her father's tail-- 'hunt' it. Indeed, it was harder as it blended in with the scene, but she still tried.

But soon he muse was gone as it scurried in to some small crack in the wall, and she looked at the lion, maybe she culd do those funny sound he did, too? "Ss-- " She attempted, only to fail at saying anything.

Kimaji's tail waved around behind her, she was in the mood for some fun, maybe she culd get out of this darkcave? Poor thing, totaly oblivious that the Swaii had just offered that.  

[wooga Paes]

Why did he repeat that one? Without really paying attention to her surrounding, again the cub started to try and talk. She didn't take note that she was being caried, only thatshe wanted to talk. "Sww... Swa. " Her left ear lifted while the right lowered. "Iiii " Now, just put them together! "Swaii! " She managed quite contently, only then to notice she was being carried.

Quite confused, she waves her paws as if she were walking, attempting to kick with her hind ones, whatwas he doing? But then she stopped with the idea-- maybe he was taking her outside? Thatwas enough to get Kimaji exited, she hadn't spent all that much time outside, and she still knew there was lots todo.  

[wooga Paes]

What? he was happy, why did he get sad again? This guy was confusing Kimaji, his mood swinged a little too much if you asked her. But again, her attention was brought to her surroundings, this place was a bit more different. She lookeddown at the rock she was on, and thendown tp that thing more to the bottom, it looked sorta like some blotch. What was it anyways?

Looking down to the lower rocks, she managed to slip of that one with a small jump, looking over to the bloch of wateragain, then to her father. Maybe he culd take her down there?! Maybe it had a bunch of neat things! Kimaji's tail swung about like a banner, grinning happly, before jumping down to another of the rocks, then looking back at Swaii.  

[Mila Farrell]

His mood has been dangerously tottering these last few days: and if it's been gone, he's left with a listlessness that would frighten him, under normal circumstances. But he'll try, if only for his little daughter.

He's so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely notices that she's bounded off, until he shakes out his magnificant white mane, blinking. "Eh? Oh - we're going somewhere, are we?" He gathers his haunches underneath him, and jumps heavily down to the stones below, but with an elegant grace that seems to note that he's had practice at this sort of thing. He eyes the lake with a curious look. Maybe he could teach her how to swim: any right-minded Mistweaver learns it. He was only a little older than she was before his father took him out to learn; and he only knows that because he was told so, not because he had any memories of that first time. But later on, playing in the water with his siblings, he remembers. It's a pity Kimaji's alone in her litter. He'll have to be a playmate as well as a father to her. "Lead the way, little Misty."  

[wooga Paes]

The cub jumped rock from rock, a paw slipping every now and then, not being all the used to such action-- she wanted to do it just like Swaii! Kimaji tryed to be as good as him, only to fail, slipping many times from one rock to another, rather than jumping. "We! " She managed,every oce in a while trying to imitate whatever Swaii said.  

[Mila Farrell]

He chuckles - a deep, pleasing sound. The large male moves quietly after her, keen on protecting her from the worst of cuts and scrapes. Still, it's no fun to be a child without some adventure, and getting a little bruised is part of that. "We," He agrees, tail flicking from left to right as he navigates a large boulder. It's slightly easier for her, he notes in amusement: she's small enough to slip in and out of cracks. "Want to try to go swimming, little Kimaji? And maybe I could catch some fish for breakfast," He adds conversationally, as they make their way down to the lake.  

[Andrani]

Something small - Smaller than a chimp, that was certain - moved amid the bushes, long banded tail held out behind it. Using a carefully carved chunk of wood from a fallen tree branch, likely brought down by strong winds a long time ago, a small animal that looked quite out of place in the land scooped up water. Sipping it, the creature sat on a rock, ears twitching a bit. A dark muzzle adorned the strange creature's face, including a bit of a mask. His fingers curled around the bowl, as well as his thumbs. Light reflected off his gray fur a bit, brown eyes looking around almost lazily. He'd not seen a leopard nor lion in this area yet, and to be honost, Dogo was happy for that. Stretching, the lemur finished the water before settling down to enjoy the morning while it was still cool. He liked this place, so much like back home... Nodding to himself, he couldn't help but mumble "I think I'll stay here... Yeah, I like this place, it's perfect for me.." A smile moved across his muzzle, eyes closing as he sat there on the rock, long banded tail curling around it a bit.  

[wooga Paes]

"Break-- " Just when she was about to finish, she tripped on one of the cracks, and only stopping a few rocks later on her rump, tail twiching quite anoyedly-- she wasn't one to get anoyed, but sliding down rocks was othing conftarble. But soon that changed when she saw the small form, on a few rocks below, and doing her best to get there quietly-- wich wasn't quiet at all, she tried to get a better look.

At first, the cub looked back at her father quite confused, before continuing, not beleiving this one culd be dangerous, and quite sure that not.