He had far more time on his paws now, something he wasn't used to. Stretching in the shade, Kosuke watched the pridal lands, gold eyes narrow. He wasn't sad for his changed rank, not at all. He was enjoying it, he just... Wasn't used to it. Rolling onto his side, he let out a rumbling purr, reveling in the time to relax. Thankfully, nobody needed to be tracked down at the moment.
While Kosuke didn't seem to think anybody needed tracking, Shula did. She paused, glancing around the pridal lands, her eyes dancing. As she padded over the sands, she paused and asked a lion here and there if they'd seen Kosuke. Some seemed to give her conflicting directions, spouting the idea he was out and about in the desert, others citing the watering hole. When she finally found him, he was in the shade of the cliffs, lounging and pretty much being lazy. Hurrying over to him, she pounced on his rear. "Kosuke! I finally found you!"
The male let out a surprised sound, rolling onto his back with his forepaws splayed and claws out. When he saw it was only Shula, he relaxed, tail flicking. "Why sneak up on me like that...?" He rolled over, pushing himself up to sit. "You seem rather excited. You don't have sand fleas, do you?" He'd gotten those while Savitri had been taking care of him.. They proved not only pests, but rather easy to deal with once one got a taste for them. He'd managed to fill up on them at least once.
The lioness giggled, butting her head against Kosuke's. "No, something better!" She paused, then grinned at him. "But you have to guess!" At his questioning look, she sat back, ears pricked up. "You get three guesses about what I have to tell you! And if you don't get it, then... I'll be very sad." Well, not really. She didn't expect him to get it the first time. Of course, with him being a seer... She'd hope he would be able to figure it out.
She had news? And he had to play guessing games.. He let out a sigh, closing his eyes to think. "Well, I've seen your father floating around the dens... So he's not dead..." Tail flicking in the sand, he considered what it could be. It was obviously something personal. Mind turning over, he stared at his paws for a moment, before looking up. "Your wandered-off sister came back?" Which wasn't exactly... Specific... She had a couple sisters who'd wandered off.
Shula shook her head, smiling broadly. "No, my sister didn't come home... Though that WOULD be good news. Try again!" She was bubbling with her news, something she knew would thrill Kosuke. She just had to suppress the urge to become physically ill at that particular moment. Was that normal? She hoped it was. She'd asked Savitri, but the her half-sister had never had any cubs before, thus didn't know. She HAD seen No act like that, though... So maybe it was somewhat normal.
His black-tipped tail flicked a bit, sending a little sand flying. "Not your sister coming home... Hm..." As he considered things, his mind went back to Bodaway. "A god or goddess granted your father eternal youth, so he's a young lion again?" Which would be... Interesting... To be forever a young lion... He could hardly imagine how that'd be. Everybody the old lion had known in his youth was long gone already, how would he handle watching entire generations come and go?
Okay, that one seemed a bit ridiculous. "No, but it'd be nice to see Daddy moving around better..." She hadn't seen him leave the dens much lately, and it was a bit sad to her. "You have to try again, but you ARE getting JUST a bit closer! If you don't get it this time, I'll have to tell you myself." Why was she enjoying making him work for it? Maybe it was seeing him have to think. And do something with his day.. She'd noticed that Kosuke didn't do much besides hunt since becoming a Tracker. That and help teach the cubs that were aiming to be Trackers.
The tracker thought about it, how youth seemed to be closer to what Shula had to tell him. After a few minutes, one eyebrow went up. "Your sister's decided to pass a couple of her cubs on to us and we have to raise them..." Okay, even he thought that was a bit ridiculous. Vanhi didn't strike him as the kind of lion who'd let Jyotika do that kind of thing. Then again, Kosuke didn't spend too much time talking to Vanhi. He'd have to amend that later...
Shula's ears went back. "No we're not raising my sister's cubs! We wouldn't have TIME..." She went over, rubbing against Kosuke. "Raising our OWN cubs..." Her eyebrows went up, a smile soon spreading on her face, yet again, as she looked at Kosuke. She could just see the realization dawning in his gold eyes...
And it was! Slowly, his eyes widened, eyebrows rising up into his mane, as his mouth opened and jaw slowly dropped. Turning, he ogled at Shula, mind having come to a screeching halt at her words. Raising their... "Shula... You're...?" He could see the smile on her face, and now it made sense. He knew she hadn't strayed from him, either - She was far too loyal to do so, and no other male knew the way to her heart through their paws.
She let out a giggle, before burying her head in Kosuke's mane. "I am! Soon, we'll have our own little group of dancing cubs!" She couldn't wait to teach her children how to dance, to find their pace in life. And Kosuke would mostly be there, to help watch them and teach them.
The male soon smiled, rumbling as he licked his mate's ears. "Our own cubs..." And his own little army of cubs to teach some of the old ways. He'd have to make some... Adjustments... To some things they were taught. Pride in their heritage, of course, but he'd teach them to recognize the need for new blood in the pride. If his silly ideal of returning the pride to most of the old ways ever came to be... Well, letting rogues in that proved themselves wasn't a bad idea. It stopped them being related to each other and inbreeding. But that was just his mind wandering, wishing. This was the here-and-now. And he was going to be a father! Again, but this time with his permanent mate.
