Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Awww Mum!" Ur protested as she'd nuzzled him. "I'm not a cub anymore!" He ran a paw through his headfur as if she'd somehow mussed it, though in truth he was trying to fluff it up again. His tone lacked vehemance though. He was feeling too old and 'grown up' to be treated like a cubbie anymore, but truthfully savored his mother's affections. It was a token protest at best.

She was right of course. This was the best thing that had ever happened to the two of them. So long spent scavanging and hiding and running. For a lion his age, Ur had more wisdom of the savannah and muscle than was usually expected. He glanced at his mother thoughtfully. She was thin, though not dangerously so. Still, compared to the lionesses of their new pride, she looked skinny and underfed. Concern for her flooded him, sending a wash of relief through him. Here she could grow fat and sleek and beautiful again.

Thus lost in his thoughts, he was unprepared for her playful shove and did indeed go stumbling off to the side. His eyes lit with laughter and mischieviousness, though, and he launched himself at her, growling playfully as he leaped to attack her neck. It wasn't such a stretch as it had been not so long ago. He was growing in height, weight, and agility. He bared his young fangs and pretended to be fierce. "Yes, I will choose our sleeping place!" he announced grandly, then scooted away from her to avoid the expected swat of her larger paw.

He romped ahead of her, then got a face full of tail fur. This distracted him enough that, despite claiming not to be a cub anymore, he went chasing it energetically, swatting and bouncing back and forth as it swung with her movement. At her question, though, he left it alone and came to trot beside her, eyes roving the landscape. Sand rolled up into grass that rolled into the jungle. Caves yawned one above another in a huge rocky outcropping. He pondered her question seriously.

"Somewhere without all this wind," he began. He didn't mind the wind, but at night it might be cold, or the wind might blow harder. Shelter from it seemed a good idea to him. Defensibility wasn't going to be a problem. Cub-like, he found it easy to let go of the fear of danger, trusting the pride's promise to protect them implicitly. "Somewhere in the green?" he suggested, looking up at her for reaction. "Near some good water?" By good water he meant drinkable water. It hadn't taken long to learn not to drink from the ocean. He'd made the most horrible face when he'd tried it the first time, and his mother had laughed at him. Indignant, he'd inwardly vowed never to do that again.

This time he completely ignored the affectionate gesture. It wasn't a rudeness, but that the youngster was soberly considering her question, not having caught that she was teasing him. "Well," he began in answer, "I think it shouldn't be too big." He gave his mother a glance that was both adoration and a slight bit of embarassment. No, he was not too old to want to snuggle up to his mum. "But maybe a little bigger than our last?"

Their last before meeting the pride had been reasonably comfortable in size, but an infestation of cave-snakes had made it less inviting, to be sure. Ur had discovered he's not overly fond of the scaled kind, especially if it was sliding over his tail. He gave his entire coat a shudder at the thought, lashing his tail in irritation. More confidently he continued, "Yes, a little bigger than the last and unoccupied!" This time he cast her an amused look. A sudden thought visibly crossed his face with excitement. "This means we can keep things there too, doesn't it!" Possessions were for those with safe places to keep them. He and his mother had always had little to nothing that they kept when they moved on. Keeping things he wanted was a completely novel and thrilling thought.

Soberly, taking his assigned job very seriously, he padded into the cave. He sniffed about for himself, smelling no new scents, only old, musty wisps, echoes of whomever or whatever had once used it as a home. He circled the back corners, making soft rumbly noises to himself, though they sounded infinitely more cute than thoughtful, as he hoped they would. His mothr always had a way of making him feel grown up and important, and he was trying to uphold the image he supposed she had of him.

He emerged from the propsective den with a pensive expression. "It's good," he announced, "but we'd have to move when I got bigger. I'm not sure it'd last us." He sat, having given his opinion, turning his gaze to his mother. His tail swished back and forth behind him, displacing leaf litter. "What do you think?" Despite being an only child, he'd managed to escape feeling selfish and self-centered. HIs world always included his mother as a huge impact. It was for them both, or nothing. Unspoiled by their tough life, he never stomped his paws and whined for what he wanted. If it didn't benefit them both, what use was it?

He followed her obediently as a cub, though the look on his face was still very sober and serious. "It's definitely something new," he replied cautiously. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it yet, though he knew his mother felt a vast sense of relief. He wasn't sure how a pride worked, but he was learning. As far as he could tell, this was a good idea, and the lions here seemed kind enough, thus far.

He slipped into the opening wordlessly, padding forward carefully into the gloom. To his surprise, the floor sloped downwards a few steps, then back up again. It was there that it opened up into a spacious area. He padded about, eyes wide. A central cave area actually had a sort of window, a place where the rock had broken and left a crack open to the outside world. It was small though, large enough only for a small snake to slip in, though it was probably as tall as he was from nose to tail.

To one side was a large section of rock carved out, while on the other side a smaller but less shallow area was explorable. He sniffed about, whiskers spread wide. There was dirt in most corners, and tiny leaves had blown in the crack to litter the main area's floor. Still, he rather liked it.

He popped back out. "Come and see," he called. "But watch out for the dip. The ceiling gets a bit low there." He nodded in agreement with his own words and dove back in the entrance.

He suddenly gave her a brilliant smile, eyes shining with excitement. Home! A real home! Not just a temporary den, but one they could stay in! He gave a cubbie rowl of glee and flung himself at her, play-mauling her with soft paws and gaping, gentle jaws. He tumbled about her paws, though he couldn't roll under her quite as easily as he used to. He swatted at her tail and mock-chewed on her hind leg in joy. It felt good to finally be HOME!

She managed to pin him down while he was on his back, and he batted at her face in play, yowling and laughing at the same time. The place rang with their voices, and all felt right in the world. Yes, this was their den for sure.

With the suddenness of cubbie nature, his energy left him exhausted. He sagged beneath his mother's paw, though he still smiled up at her sweetly. "I love you, mama," he cooed in a very young manner. Despite being a juvenile, he still had many many cub tendancies, not the least of which was affection for his mother. His small chest vibrated with a purr now, and hiw paws were wrapped around hers in an embrace. Sleepy beyond telling, he snuggled his cheek against her paw and almost immediately dropped off to sleep, feeling as safe as he ever had in his young life.