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 Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:36 pm
 Yesterday had been such a joyous and stressful time for Kivuli. The birth of his second litter of cubs had brought so much happiness to him. He would have never imagined that one of their cubs would be born lacking purple. A disappointment, but not really. He could handle the lack of noble colors, but Maua had been a different story. He had tried to reason with her, tried to console her, do anything to make it less stressful on her, but in the end she had told him to leave. And he did in the end, but only to get her some food. The night had been stressful too as Maua had still not wanted to talk or even look at him. He had kept a vigilant eye on her and the cubs to ensure they were all fed and cared for but he just couldn't seem to get her to talk to him.
When morning came Kivuli sat at the entrance of the den looking out towards the sun. Normally he would have gone to his favorite spot down from the mountain and watch the sun rise from there but he didn't want to leave Maua or the cubs. Perhaps she would have had enough time to cool off. If not, well he would continue to go on as usual, tending to his duties and his family to the best of his ability. Letting out a sigh Kivuli stood and padded to the back of the den where he had left Maua and the cubs. "Is there anything I can get you today?" Whatever she asked for he would get, but if she told him to simply go away again...well he wasn't sure what he would do. He just wanted them to work things out and go back to talking like they normally did.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:00 pm
 Maua wanted to be happy about her most recent litter..she wanted to sing praises about them with the other Nobles...and for most of them she could, but drawing attention to her litter this time would just highlight that one glaring fault in the midst of them.
She'd had allot of time to think about that fault too throughout the night while she cared for the cubs. Lochan and Nalani had been in a out as per usual as well and she had spoken with them both...even as she refrained from speaking with Kivuli. They had predictably asked for the cubs names though Maua had been so upset the night before that names had been the last thing on her mind and so sadly the cubs were still nameless. Something she supposed they would have to rectify shortly.
At some point during the night Kivuli had given up trying to speak with her and just left her alone and let her think about things a bit...there wasn't really any way she could come up with the hide the cub or turn her purple (and Maua really did try to come up with a way)..and since she'd reluctantly concluded that she couldn't get rid of her and still look at herself in the morning she'd decided the only possible way she could deal with this was to hold her head high and pretend that nothing was wrong with her litter. It would be easier said then done, even the thought of visitors at the moment gave her a near panic attack.
None the less when Kivuli cam to speak with her in the morning Maua was feeling horrendously guilty for the way she'd behaved the night before and standing she untangled herself from the mass of cubs and padded towards him with her head low, almost hesitantly - as though she was worried he might push her away she brushed against him. 'I'm sorry!" She blurted out before he could say anything else to her "I shouldn't have said what I said or done what I did"
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:17 pm
Seeing Maua come towards him Kivuli wondered just what she might say, she looked a bit dejected but one could never be certain with Maua. There was the possibility that she would tell him to leave, or some other random string of negativity from her, but it appeared that she was no longer upset with him. And he was quick to push his head into hers in a loving fashion. "I'm sorry as well." He told her in a soft voice. "I think we both said some things we might have regretted. But given the situation..." His eyes ticked to the heap of sleeping cubs and blew a sigh of relief to see the girl in question was still there and looked well-fed and content.
Pulling his head back he looked into her eyes. "Things will work out, I promise you that." He would see to it even if it meant working much harder than he already did, setting aside time to separate her from the offending cub, anything to easy the burden and pull through this.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:27 pm
Maua followed his glance back to the cubs - did he really think that she would get rid of the child while he wasn't looking? Given the way she'd behaved last night she supposed she couldn't blame him for that...she had thought of doing precisely that a few times, even as she had know she would never actually be able to follow through with it in the end. "It was a shock is all" She told him, holding back the sigh of disappointment that still threatened to spill forth.
"But I remembered that the King has children without purple on them and surely this must have happened to others before...we can't be the only ones to have such a cub" She went on before pausing for a few moments "You understand she won't be able to live here with us forever, it is the law...as soon as she is old enough to take care of herself she'll have to move off the mountain along with Nalani and Lochan" She reminded Kivuli, he seemed overly fond of the child in her opinion ands he didn't want him to think that she would be just the same as all the others. In the end she wouldn't be - for better or for worse. That was just the way things were.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:40 pm
Kivuli nodded in agreement. It had been quite the shock, perhaps not so much to him as it had been for her, but a shock no less. "Yes the King does have some children who lack purple, and I can recall a few other Nobles whom have birthed common colored cubs. It is not a common occurrence but it can indeed happen." He couldn't help but let out a sigh as she reminded him of the laws, he knew them well, and had accepted that one day Lochan and Nalani would need to live elsewhere, once they were older, but the thought of having to do so for one of his children was more than he wanted to think of.
"That won't be for some time Maua." Only a day old and already they were discussing the ramifications of her common life. But, at least she would have Lochan and Nalani to spent time with, to hopefully ease the transition of her into a commoners life. Flopping onto his backside Kivuli looked at the cubs, he loved them all equally and hoped that they would all live prosperous lives. "She's not alone at least." And then to better explain his point he continued. "She has two non-noble siblings, even if they share no blood with her. I think that will help greatly."
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:04 pm
Maua still wished it hadn't happened to them - but that seemed neither here nor there at this point as there wasn't anything she could do about it. In any case there didn't seem to be much point in saying anything more about it - to do so would risk angering Kivuli again.
"Of course not, I just didn't want you to forget that things will be different and be hurt later on when it happened. Lochan and Nalani are a good deal older, they will be well capable of looking after her when the time comes" She assured him and "And she will still be in the same pride" She reminded him, he often walked about in the common areas so she assumed it would be easy for him to go and visit her. Maua could only hope the cub would make something of herself in the common lands - at least then she could point out that noble blood improved the work ethic of the commoners. She might be a commoner but she had better be the best commoner.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:49 pm
"Oh Maua," he said with a bit of a head shake. "You know I don't like it when any of our children have to leave the home." He hated it when the children of their first litter moved into dens of their own even if most did come and visit often. He would be lying if he told her that he wouldn't be disappointed when she would need to leave. "I'm sure they will look after her just fine, when needed." Siblings should look after each other, but sadly that is something that their first litter lacked. Yes, they cared for one another but so few of them developed the deep sibling bonds that most litters had.
His eyes swept to the sleeping bundles of fur at the other side of the room. "All in all, it's still a wonderful litter. More than I could have ever hoped for." He said with a smile, it was so good to have tiny cubs in the den once more. He had several sons this time, more daughters that he would be able to keep track of. "They will certainly run us ragged in no time." He joked, though Kivuli did truly hope this litter was more well behaved than their last. "Did you ever imagine that we would have eight children all at once?" His eyes turned back to Maua. "Ten if we include Nalani and Lochan."
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:18 pm
"That is simply the way of life dear" She told him "Cubs grow up and start families of their own...it's what we did if you recall" She reminded him with a brief smile. She was horribly disappointed still..but she was trying to be happy - she did still have a large excellent portion of the litter who were perfect and purple, just as they ought to be.
"I rather hope they don't...run us ragged that is, it would be nice to have a littler of good quiet cubs" She told him, though the odds of that happening were ..slim at best. "But no...I thought six was a large litter...s..eight is certainly larger then I expected" She winced slightly as she'd almost stated their litter at seven - something that would be sure to upset Kivuli again, even if it was true - seven nobles...one commoner...might as well be seven cubs if she were honest.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:39 pm
Kivuli gave his mate a mischievous grin. "Of course I remember, how could I forget something like taking you as my mate. Best thing I ever did was growing up with you and having you in my life. And if all go well our newest children will each find someone to settle down with...of the proper rank of course." What a great day that had been, the day when they finally made it official, even if her parents weren't all that happy because of his minimal of purple. He liked to think he made up for that with his determination to always succeed, his expansive knowledge and patience at even the worst of times.
"Quiet cubs would be nice. But do you remember what we were like as kids? If they take after either of us we're done for." He joked, though they both knew that growing up they were very well behaved, only sneaking off every now and then to play in private. He noticed her near slip up with stating the number of cubs but didn't acknowledge it, no need to start up a new fight when they were overlooking what had happened last night. "They will do well...all of them."
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:23 am
Maua smiled at Kivuli and sat beide him, presing herself against him - she had been mad the night before and miserable, but while she wouldn't admit it out loud she had missed his warmth beside her while she slept. Regardless of any further fights they might have Maua knew she didn't want to spend another night feeling as alone as she had the night before. "We can only hope," She commented wryly. "I will do better this time," She stated firmly - and privately to herself. She would have to - the only way to make up for the colorless one would be to make sure the others all exceeded expectations.
"we weren't the worst in the Pride, there were far more troublesome cubs then us," She reminded him with a smile, her own sister had run off after all and only recently returned to her proper place - though she had settled for being a nurse rather then a noble.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:38 am
Rubbing his chin atop her head Kivuli let out a rumble of a purr. The relief he felt knowing that Maua was no longer upset with him was beyond words, he loved her more than anything else and it hurt him deeply anytime that she was mad or upset with him. Yes, it was a stressful situation they had found themselves in, and it would likely be that way for quite some time, but he was confident they would make it work - somehow. "We will both do better." They had to, not only because of their single common colored cub, but to make up for their mistakes their first time around.
"You know who was the worst cub of all when we were growing up?" He idly asked and then not giving her a chance to reply continued. "This little noble female, oh she was terrible. She was the ultimate troublemaker. Her parents tried so hard for her to settle down but all she kept doing was sneaking off to go hang out with some other noble cub - a male if I recall. Boy when those two got together, well they had all the nobles running about trying to get them in line. I think her name was Maua and she had the most interesting golden spots by her eyes." This was of course mostly a lie, Maua had been a well behaved cub, as had he, sure they had snuck off once or twice but who hadn't at that age. But Kivuli thought a bit of joking might lighten her mood even more, and what better way than to tease her about their childhood.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:27 am
"Cute" Maua replied with a smile as he implied that she had been a troublemaker as a child - it had been far from the truth though they'd had their adventures to be sure.
Turning her attention back to the cubs he did her bet to ignore the offending lack of purple in the middle of them, she'd just have to deal she told herself and focus on the good parts of the litter - there was a little golden and purple female who was cute and one who looked almost like exactly like Kivuli which she found adorable. turning her head to regard Kivuli she gave him another soft smile "They still need names"
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:42 am
"You were kinda cute back then too." Flashing Maua a big smile Kivuli's gaze followers hers as she looked towards the pile of cubs. It was still such a shock to have eight of them. And when Maua mentioned that they still needed names he gave his head a nod. It would take a bit of thinking to come up with eight names for them. One thing was for certain, Kivuli knew Maua would not want to name the purpleless girl, so it was something he would have to do, something he wanted to do. She deserved a good name, like they all did.
"Eight names." He said idly, trying to think of a name for the girl. "Damisi. Our last born shall be know as Damisi." Nodding his head to agree with the name himself. "And what of the others? Any names you have in mind?" Certainly Maua had thought of some names from the moment she discovered she was pregnant again.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:11 am
Maua was glad that kivuli took the burden of naming the purpleless cub - she wasn't sure if she could have come up with a suitable name...she wasn't even sure what a suitable name would be for such a cub. Did commoners have any sort of naming Traditions? she doubted it they were a heathenish bunch.
In any case she didn't have to worry about it and Damisi was a name she could live with. "A few" she told him and drawing him closer to the sleeping group she began to point out cubs and relay names that she thought might be fitting for his opinion on them. By the time the afternoon was out all the cubs were named.
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