The dark of night was welcome to any animal in the desert. While the temperatures got down to the freezing range, Shula enjoyed it. Standing on a dune, she looked up at the stars, watching them shimmer. After a moment, she looked down, at the two cubs tumbling about in the sand. One was her nephew... The other, his half-sister. Both were Kosuke's children, and both were Huria. She let out a small sigh, feeling sorry for them. In a pride full of so much red, black, and white... They were born in unacceptable colors. The red lioness turned her gaze back to the stars, watching them do their eternal shimmering.
What was drawing him to the dunes? Was it the sound of two of his Huria children playing, or was it a vision of someone staring at the night sky? Slightly illuminated by a crescent moon, Kosuke stared up the dune at Shula, smiling to himself. Opting to ignore the cubs, he went around to scale it. As he walked up beside the lioness, he looked at the sky. "You know, when I was small and my mother still bothered with us... she told my brother and sisters and I that Finar-si lived in the stars..."
Blinking, Shula looked at Kosuke. "Finar-si...? Who's that...?" She'd heard Bodaway mumble it under his breath before, but never understood. Kosuke seemed the right lion to ask about it. "Was it somebody your mother knew...?" A flick of the ear told Shula the cubs were still playing, enjoying being away from the rest of the pride and the prejudices they might have had to face for being different.
An eyebrow went up,before Kosuke laughed. "Just like Kidondo, never passing that knowledge on... I bet nobody knows but the old lions and those who remember the old ways... Finar-si is our goddess. She gave us life, created our mighty pride. I dare say she may be dissapointed in what it's become... I can't say it's all bad, but turning our backs on our beliefs..." He shook his head, brow furrowed. "But that's the past... We shouldn't focus there right now."
"Then what SHOULD we focus on...?" She smiled at him, then leaned on him. "Us, maybe? I think Daddy's finally giving in... You've shown yourself quiet the responsible father figure..." Her gaze went down to the playing cubs, before landing on her nephew. "MOSTLY... You should show him SOME sort of good direction, Kosuke... Just a little." Even if it wasn't much, Matope needed somebody to instill confidence in him. Somebody older, at least. While she'd heard Haggy tell her half-brother of his happy future, having an adult relative give him confidence was something that Matope needed.
The adult male let out a sigh, looking at Shula. "Okay... I'll talk to him... I've already talked to Haggy..." His ears went back, before he looked at his daughter. "I just wish she'd been born... Red, or gray... Something besides gold..." Then he thought of Hag's brother and sister. "Or pink..." How had they come out pink? He was sure he knew where the golds came from - One of his uncles, he was told, was as gold as the sand. With the fact two of his children came out with gold marks on them, it was proof enough that, yes, gold was in HIS blood. It made him worry for his future cubs, in fact...
"We can't help what's already happened, Kosuke.. We can only hope for their futures to be good... I'm sure you See something good for your children..." She nuzzled her face into his dark mane, smiling. "Like you See good in our future..." She looked down at them, still quiet, then looked up at Kosuke. "What would you do if we had a full litter of Huria, with only one cub NOT a Huria...? Would you still treat them well...?" There was nothing accusatory about her question, she simply wanted to know.
Kosuke thought about it, staring down at his children. After a moment, he glanced at Shula, a bit of worry in his gold eyes. "I'd hope that at the least, they're not... Pink, or green, or blue, or purple... Gold, they at least look somewhat normal... As for how I'd treat them..." He looked to the playing cubs again. Despite her gold pelt, he'd shown Haggy favor. It was her seer powers that made him favor her most. "I'm not sure now. Haggy's changed my outlook... So I don't know how I'd go about it... I suppose that's best left for the future... As for them... I've Seen happy lives for them, especially Matope. He'll find his place... Hagryphus..." He closed his eyes. "Her journey won't be easy, and it won't be short... But she'll find her home beyond the desert and by the great waters."
Shula looked at Kosuke with a bit of worry. Haggy's journey would be long and hard? That sounded... Dangerous. "I hope she'll be okay... She's so shy..." Was it really right, she wondered, to send a lion away from their birth pride? After all, there was that one cream-yellow male... And Azarax. Neither one was of Firekin coloring, yet they were allowed to remain. She didn't quite understand why, nobody had explained it to her yet. She just knew some of her sibblings had left for a while, at least two forever.
The male offered a smile, nuzzling the lioness. "She'll be fine... She may not look it, but she's still Firekin! They both are!" His gaze wandered down to them, watching as they finished their game and headed for home, laughing the whole way. It was good to see Matope relaxed... He was so uptight. "You know, I think I WILL talk to Matope... He needs to relax more... Between now and the future.." He turned, carefully stepping his way down the dune. The cubs would need a guide home.
Shula sighed, watching Kosuke go. After a moment, she looked up at the sky, as if the stars had answers to her questions. They were as quiet as ever, though, cold and distant. There were no answers to be found there, not tonight. When she turned and followed Kosuke, she caught up, rubbing against him. "You should talk to Daddy, too... I think he'll have a much kinder reception for you now..." She let out a light purr, before hurrying ahead, gently herding the two cubs to bed.
Kosuke stopped, his ears going back for a moment. Glancing towards the sleeping old lion's den, he narrowed his eyes a little. Talk to Bodaway... The only way the old male seemed to talk was to fight him. He was tired of losing to the old lion. Sure, everybody was of equal chance to win or lose... But that didn't make losing any easier. He shook his head, then turned for his own den. He'd see about talking to Bodaway later. Much later. When he wasn't chasing cubs around and keeping them out of prickly bushes.
