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 Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:10 pm
 The young red lion stepped closer to the den entrance, heavy paws filled with a purpose. He’d been told Mzuza had finally given birth and Akairo had long decided that he wanted to be a part of the little ones' lives – considering the size of the lioness’ belly, there should be either many or very large cubs waiting for him inside. But now that he stood so close to his goal, he was faltering. He felt like an intruder about to interrupt a very private moment.
On what grounds did he explain his presence here today? Sure, he’d already told Mzuza that he was planning on helping her with the cubs though he wasn’t sure she was taking him seriously. But he was serious, very serious! Someone had to tell them about that idiot of a father that had left before he realized what he’d done. Someone had to keep an eye on them when Mzuza was tired or hungry. And there would obviously be others willing to help her but Akairo was one of the few who had met Rei. He was a link that would connect the cubs to the father they might never meet. And perhaps through these cubs, Akairo himself would remain connected to the friend he missed so very greatly…
How many of them had been born? Did any of them look like Rei? Would any of them have the father’s purple eyes? Was Mzuza doing well? He wouldn’t know until he walked in the den. And so he did.
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:38 am
That Mzuza would ever find herself in her current situation was something that she could never have imagined. That she was a mother seemed surprise enough for the copper lioness, but a mother of nine... nine! Granted, it was less of a surprise for her than it might have been for another. Having grown up as a member of a litter of nine herself, she knew that such things were possible, but that wasn't to say she had counted on it happening to herself.
Nine cubs, nine beautiful little cubs. Just looking at them made her smile, a smile so real that she couldn't keep it off her face. They were nine tiny little bundles of joy and love, and though their eyes and ears had yet to open, they were already prone to making the den seem the busiest of places.
That, she very much enjoyed. It had been quiet ever since Rei had left, too quiet for her liking and his children now had the chance to fill the hole the golden lioness had left behind him. She never knew whether to feel sad or happy when such thoughts occurred to her, but for the sake of the little cubs, she thought that perhaps she ought to feel the latter. Just looking at some of them reminded her of their father, and she had felt tempted to perhaps name one after him. But that might have been too much for her to handle, too soon.
A shadow loomed over the entrance of the den, and for a moment, she squinted against the sunny backdrop to make out who it was. Taking care of all those cubs was a tiring business, and she hadn't yet had the chance to invite over many visitors.
"Akairo?" She said softly as recognition dawned on her face. Though she herself didn't know the young lion as well as Rei had, she had taken a quick liking to the youngster. "Come in, come in," she invited, looking down at the cubs milled about her in sleep. "I would come over, but..." She smiled helplessly. "There seem to be little obstacles in my way."
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:18 am
"Excuse me.” Akiro entered slowly, his head lowered and eyes blinking as he tried to adjust to the difference in luminosity. Even his tone was lower than usual and he moved closer to the lioness, fully intending on showing a different side of him other than that of the boisterous young lion that seemed to suit him best. Still, his intention crumbled in an instant as soon as he spotted the cubs… all those cubs.
“How many are there?!” he blurted out, all pretences of showing a responsible and somber demeanor flying right out of his head. One, two, three, four, five… oh, that one looked like Rei.
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:30 am
Even from a small distance, she could tell that he was making an effort. He seemed much more subdued within the confines of the den, much more controlled than he or any other cub his age usually seemed to be. Her soft smile brightened. He was an endearing little lion, and no wonder that he had gotten along so well with Rei. They were both of them such lovable creatures.
"Make yourself at home," she offered, wishing there was more she could do than simply stay where she was and watch him find a nice place to settle down. But doing anything otherwise would mean waking the sleeping balls of fur curled around her, and neither she nor they nor Akairo deserved that.
"Nine," she answered, brow raising slightly as she spoke. Even she had yet to fully recover from the surprise of the size of the litter, and Akairo's reaction was only to be expected. "It must be genetic, somehow... My mother was a mother of nine as well." She glanced down at the sleeping cubs. "I can already imagine what it'll be like once they get older."
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:43 am
Nine. Nine!
As an only child, Akairo could not possibly conceive how something like that could happen or the future implications of having a litter of nine. Nine! He looked at Mzuza’s belly in shock. How had they even fit in there? It took a long time to regain his composure and he sat a little closer, watching each little cub carefully. They were of many colors and so very tiny…
“It’s going to get really busy in here. Right?” he asked quietly his eyes once again drifting to the orange cub. “I’m going to help, I really am. And Twigg, too. She’s really good with cubs.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 5:29 pm
"Oh, yea," she agreed with a nod. One cub was work enough, but as many as she had... busy wouldn't even begin to describe it. Had she been in any other place, she might have seriously began to wonder how she could possibly keep up with them all and find the time to provide for them. But here, in the Pridelands, she didn't have such worries. Somebody, or some creatures, would step in to fill the role of parent and provider that Rei wasn't around to fill.
"Well, I can't say I wouldn't appreciate the help," she said candidly. If not Akairo, she would have to find somebody else, and she felt touched that he was prepared to offer. But helping to take care of nine cubs was a huge commitment, one that Mzuza worried he might regret. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel obligated to do something for her or the cubs that he didn't really want to be doing.
"But surely, there are other things to occupy your time? These guys aren't going to make it easy, that's for sure." She hoped that she had the parental skills to raise nine decent, well-adjusted cubs, but that didn't mean their cubhood days were going to be a breeze.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:48 pm
“But I really want to help, I really do.” Akairo said fervently, keeping his bright green eyes on Mzuza’s. He lowered his head for a bit and his voice cracked a little with self doubt only to quickly grow stronger again. “I know I can’t do much yet… but what I can do, I will!” some might say his determination was adorable but for the young lion this was a very serious matter. His eyes landed on that one cub again and he looked up with a tentative expression.
“That one… looks a lot like him.” He wasn’t sure if it was okay to mention their missing father so this was a test of sorts, something that would tell the young lion how to act in the future regarding all matters related to Rei.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:19 pm
There wasn't much she could say in objection when he made his intentions so clear. The copper lioness nodded her head. "If you're sure, then by all means," she said with a smile. Knowing that at the very least, she wouldn't be alone through all this was reassuring, and already she felt a weight lift from her that she hadn't known was there at all.
"But if you ever need to change your mind, don't be afraid to tell me. I know young lions like you always have places to go and people to see," she added. It seemed important for him to understand that there was no obligation here, only what he felt he could handle. After all, it wasn't as though he was the father, and that he was here at all to offer his help when he could be doing anything but meant enough to her.
Mzuza turned her gaze upon the golden cub curled near her foreleg. "He does, doesn't he?" She said wistfully. There was a hint of regret in her voice, as if the idea that Rei might never see his beautiful children was just a little too sad to put into words. Mzuza had long since stopped blaming the lion for leaving. They had never discussed anything more permanent, and he hadn't known about the cubs...
Still, that flighty side of him made her wonder how willingly she would let him back into her life if ever he did show up again. It wasn't about love anymore - she already knew that she did love him - but trust, and she simply didn't know if she could trust him not to let their children down a second time.
"Just as beautiful as his father," she finished, ending the silence that had come between herself and Akairo.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:28 pm
Akairo puffed out his chest in a strange little display that he hoped the lioness would interpret as the image of a big – well, big enough-, responsible lion.
From Mzuza’s answer, Akairo learned two very important things. One. It was okay to talk about Rei though it might Mzuza a little sad. Two. This might also lead to a very awkward mood that he didn’t really know how to escape from. Also, and perhaps of some importance, Mzuza didn't seem all that angry with Rei and honestly, Akairo believed she should.
“Have you thought about names yet?” he said at last, the words blurted out quickly as soon as he could think of something to say.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:15 pm
"Names?" She echoed, casting her glance about the nine sleeping cubs again. Oh, yes, names. She had some ideas, but nowhere enough for all of them, and after all, free time hadn't come so easy in the last few days. "I have a few names, but nothing too set in stone. There are so many of them that I wonder how I'm going to get about to it." She smiled. It was a regrettable dilemma, to say the least.
"Only, that one," she motioned toward the golden cub they had been talking about moments earlier. He was the firstborn and the largest, and it seemed to almost make sense that he looked so much like his father. "I think it would be right to name the firstborn son after my grandparents." Mufasa and Sarabi were lions that Mzuza held in the highest regard, though she hadn't had the chance to meet them. The stories she had heard, though... she only hoped her children could strive to be like them.
"Musabari," she said with a wide smile. "And then, one of the other ones after my parents. But beyond that, nothing much." She glanced over at Akairo, and a sudden idea came to her. "Since you volunteered to help, your first task can be to help me come up with some more names."
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:14 pm
“Musabari.” Akairo repeated the name with a little smile, almost as if he was whispering to the cub already. “I like it… I wonder if he’ll have his eyes, too.” Interesting… only Rei’s look-alike seemed to have a name for now.
“What? No! I couldn’t! I can’t! I can’t name them…!” He was clearly shocked by the suggestion but then realized she had said that this was his first task. His first task! Well, now. That meant something! It wasn’t exactly the kind of help he had thought about but if it were names Mzuza needed, names she would get. “Well… I like a few… there was this lion in a story that was called Maral… and I like Mheetu… and Kanzi, my father’s name. I like Zahara for a girl. How many girls are there?”
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:31 am
"Two girls," Mzuza replied. "Those two." She motioned toward the two little lionesses. "The burnt golden one, and that kind of clay colored one with the dark mane." For a while, it had seemed like it would be a litter made entirely of little male cubs, which Mzuza had little problem with, but would have found amusing. Still, she couldn't say that she didn't enjoy the presence of two little girls to pamper.
"I like all those names," Mzuza added. "How's this, we can take a few days to come up with a few names each, and then we'll pool them together and pick the best ones, and whoever came up with the name gets to pick a cub to give it to."
It seemed to mean even more this way, when the process could be shared with someone else. No doubt, she would have enjoyed naming the cubs with Rei, but in his absence, she was glad that Akairo was here to help.
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:25 am
Wow, only two girls. That meant… hum… seven boys. Wow.
“Okay.” He agreed, smiling a little when Mzuza seemed to approve of his ideas. The young lion took one step closer before sitting again, his front paws visibly restless. Looking up as he was about to say something, Akairo’s bright green eyes were hopeful.
“Uh… Mzuza…? Can I stay here for a little bit? Just to watch them. I’ll be quiet…” his head dropped a little as he both feared he was pushing the limits of politeness and that the new mother would rather have some privacy with her cubs.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:14 pm
"Of course you can," she reassured him. With the cubs still incapable of much when it came to communication, it would be refreshing to have some company. "And any time you want."
The cubs, especially the seven little boys, would no doubt benefit from a male figure in their lives, no matter how young that influence was. Akairo could be as much like an older brother to the cubs as anybody else. Mzuza couldn't imagine a better role model for the children.
She settled herself in for the silence, quietly watching Akairo watching the cubs. There was a wonderful, wholesome feeling to the moment. A hopeful, happy feeling, and for the first time since Rei had left, it felt as though there was a family in the den again.
/fin?
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