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The day had just began, the sun shining its rays into his eyes.
It was far too bright for such shining. He hated sun in his eyes. He groaned
and placed a white paw over his red orbs. He could try to hide from it at least.
But when it failed to work the way he wanted, he growled lowly in his throat and stood up.
He gave his body a good stretch before yawning.
Kafele looked like his father, almost identical.. But he didnt relate to his father in many way sother
than the looks of his pelt.
Kafele was a rather happy boy, but at the same time, he was angsty. He had heard stories of his older brother..a
and the demon he became. Kafele and his littermates were barred mentioning the name 'Roth', as it pained their mother
far too badly.

He approached the oasis that acted as a watering hole, smiling a little for the first time this morning.
Ah yes, a bath and a good drink of water and he was bound to feel better about the day.
He placed both front paws in the water, and began splashing just to feel the water through his toes.

Tay knew it wasn't good manners to actually submerge herself in the oasis, since people had to drink from it and the desert tended to leave her coat with a thin film of dust, even this early in the day, which would be unpleasant to have to drink with their water. It would be inconsiderate, and so Tay didn't do it, though she was very, very curious about what it might feel like to be completely surrounded by water.

Instead she simply lowered her head to drink, just like everyone else did, and was grateful once more that the gods had granted her people this place which made the desert inhabitable and home. Of course there were dangers - when were there not dangers? - but Tay's parents always said that the desert was more of an ally than an enemy, since it kept larger, more dangerous enemies at bay. Tay didn't like to think of enemies and was very glad they weren't part of her life at present. It would be horrible to have someone dislike her so much that they were her enemy. She couldn't imagine disliking another person like that.

The sound of splashing caught her ears and she raised her eyes to look at the source, a cub her own age. A grin lit her face as she called, "How does it feel?"

Kafele naturally played the role of the older brother, having decided
that little girls needed protecting moreso than little boys. He was the only boy
in his litter, and he had been the one to protect his sisters whenever mother was gone for the afternoon for a hunt.
His mother and father had instilled enough values for him to have good morals, but when it came to manners, he had been
forced to learn them himself. Mother was usually busy, and father, pfft.. He couldnt ask father anything. His father was incredibly lazy, and
he really couldnt stand to do nothing all day like him.
He supposed it could be seen as bad to swim in the water others drank..But where else would he swim? It seemed a bit stupid to not swim in the water
for fear of mucking it up.. Sand storms blew through here all the time, yet the water remained fresh. A little sand never hurt anything; except when it got
in his ears. He HATED that.

"Because who wants to swim when the water is warm? Doesnt do much good when you need to cool off."
He explained. He thought of her not being able to swim, and for a moment, he pitied her.
It was a sad existence if you couldnt do what it was you wanted. He understood breaking pride rules, hed never do that.
But swimming wasnt against the rules.

"Oh,..Im sorry.." He said, looking down and away. He wasnt sure what he should say to her.

"You don't have to be sorry," Tay said. "I don't swim, and you do. Maybe you could tell me what it's like?"

She wasn't going to ask himt to show her how it was done because it was pretty firmly ingrained in her mind that she wasn't supposed to swim, and she didn't want to accidentally get this new acquaintance in trouble if an adult who thought like her parents happened by and decided to scold.

"I'm Hiimatayt, but my family and friends and, well, everyone calls me Tay," she said, pronouncing her nickname "tie," like that portion of her name was pronounced.

"Kinda? Ive never tried that but Id assume its the same. More control
can be put into swimming though. I imagine if you jumped off something high, youd fall
wherever.. You can control where you go when you swim." He nodded, and chuckled.
He had alot of family within the pride. His older brother and sisters living here, having cubs of their own..
He supposed he should be happy with such a thing, but he didnt feel much of anything about it. Who cared?

"Nice to meet you too." He responded though he held less enthusiasm than her. He was almost positive however, that
hed NEVER match up to her enthusiasm on his best day.

"Most parents are." He chuckled and nodded. "I understand."

"How?" Tay asked, aware of the risk of sounding stupid, but more curious than self-conscious. "How do you control where you go, that is? Is it shallow enough to walk in all over?"

If all he was doing was walking in the water, then she didn't understand how it could be like being weightless. Walking wasn't one of those things which tended to make her feel weightless. In truth, she didn't really even feel weightless when she jumped down from things, because she always went down, and if she were really weightless she'd just stay hovering. Wouldn't she?

"I mean, I'd like to, I think. But...I've never really gotten in trouble before. I'd like to keep it that way. From what I'm told, it's not much fun."

He chuckled.
"Not if you dont go in the middle. If you stay around the edges its not very deep.
And Ill save you if you somehow need me to." He responded with a nod, looking at the sheer
excitement on her face. She really was alot like his sister Oseye. It made him smile all the more.
He looked around them, and shook his head.

"Naw, looks like alot of the adults are with the hunting party. They wont be back for awhile. I think you'll be fine."
Hed have never let her even think of trying had adults been in the area. He was happy for her though, that they had all things
to keep them occupied. She wouldnt even be noticed in the water for a good while.

He stepped back into the water, motioning her to follow. He was such a bad influence, but he knew that everyone needed to try swimming once.
"Cmon, Ill watch out for you." He said.

Nervous about her first time consciously breaking the rules, Tay cast several anxious glances around the oasis. One of the nice things about it was that it was very easy to see people coming, but it was also easy to see people who were already there, and she didn't want to be seen. Her darker coat probably wouldn't serve her any better here in terms of blending in than it did on the sand.

"All right. Thanks, Kafele. You're a really good friend." He was already her friend, as far as she was concerned, and they were now having friendly bonding experiences where they broke rules together, like her siblings did with their friends. She was actually pretty excited for all that she was not a rule-breaker by nature.

She followed him into the water, moving slowly not so much because she was afraid but because she wanted to savor this forbidden sensation. Who knew when she would get to repeat the experience? She wanted to remember everything so she could tell her brothers and sisters about it later. Especially Carnelian. Maybe she could take him swimming later. He might enjoy that.

"Um. It's kind of hard to move," she said. She was trying to walk and the water was making it more difficult. "But I can sort of see what you mean about being weightless. It's really neat."

His laughter stifled when he saw her struggling. He cursed himself inwardly.
She obviously wasnt ready for that kind of stuff. He shook his head, and with one good quick was
where she was. He was a bigger guy, already a juvenile. He could lift her.
With his nose, he nudged her back to the shore. He got kicked a good few times in the panic but he paid
it no m ind. He had gotten her into that mess to begin with.

"Im sorry Tay. Perhaps I should have let you be." He said with a soft smile.
"You okay?" He asked, staying beside her just in case. If something happened to her, then it would have been his
fault. He couldnt have that.

"It's okay," Tay said shakily. "It was really exciting, and you didn't let me go under too much. I'm sorry I kicked you."

In all her time alive, which was relatively short, since she was only a juvenile herself, Tay had never been as scared as she was then, nor as relieved to be alive as she was now. A huge smile spread across her face as she decided that it had been a really good experience, and interesting, though not one she would want to repeat alone. Now everything seemed so much better, just because she was alive for it. So, in other words, she was feeling just like herself, but on steroids.

"I'm okay," she promised him, nudging him with her nose. "But I should probably go dry off so no one knows I went swimming. I still have to go to lessons, after all."