((Slight backlog to before the meeting of the pride))
Twilight danced across the sky, the stars coming out to smile with sweet promises to the desert below. Empty promises, Kosuke figured. Promises of cooler times, of wetter times... Of times when the water flowed free and high in the watering hole. Empty promises... The red lion let out a sigh, staring up at them. What secrets did they hold? Did they know if the water would come back? His visions had told him nothing of it, as if they had a will of their own and didn't WANT him to See. All that he ever Saw was lions bickering... And then he'd get up and find lions bickering, everybody arguing about what to do, sometimes over nothing. Shaking his head, he turned and headed for the den, hoping to find some solace from it all.
Stepping out of the den, Shula, too, looked to the sky, the stars above, and wondered if the rain would ever come, rare as it was in the desert to begin with. She let out a bit of a shuddering sigh, eyes flicking to and fro as she pinpointed this star and that. Finally her gaze leveled on the path leading to the den, and spotted Kosuke approaching. The red lioness spared a glance at the sleeping cubs, before padding out to greet her mate. Upon reaching him, she buried her face in his mane, eyes closed. "Oh, Kosuke... When will the water return...?" She looked up at him, eyes brimming just a bit from worry. "Our cubs may never know good times at this rate... I'm afraid they may..." She couldn't say it.
Kosuke frowned, patting Shula on the back. "Don't talk like that, Shula... They'll all be fine, and the drought will soon end." He glanced at the sky. He hoped, anyway. "If anything... They have good blood, they'll survive, and be some of the strongest in the pride!" The drought generation... Was that how their cubs and all those born during the drought would be referred? His grandfather and Shula's father were, as one could call it, the Plague Generation... His own father was the Rebuilding Generation, as it were, as the pride tried to rebuild after the plague. And theirs... Their own was the War Generation, when the pride split. Now it was a drought...
She sighed, glancing back at the den. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Kosuke... I've been thinking. If the rain doesn't come back soon, we may have to leave." She saw the shock in his eyes. "Not forever, of course... Except Paniwi... No, leave temporarily... Go somewhere with more water..." She wanted her cubs to grow up fat and healthy, not... Thin. It already seemed like they were far behind all the other cubs, still all so small. "Kosuke, I don't want to lose my cubs!" What mother did? It was a frightening prospect, one that all mothers feared and dreaded. No parent wanted to bury their cub.
The male sighed, nuzzling his mate. "You won't lose any of them, beyond Paniwi leaving as other Huria have done." He offered her a smile. "Now and then, when my visions aren't about the others in the pride arguing about the lack of water... I'll See our children, all grown up... Our sons, strapping strong lions... Our daughters, forces to recon with..." Kicking tail and dancing on their victims, as it were. "We just need to tough this all out... Like our ancestors did." He pointedly made no mention of Bodaway's absence during the plague - He had a valid reason to be gone. What juvenile COULD navigate anything that well?
For a moment, she giggled, the usual joy of her personality showing through. And then it vanished, absorbed by sorrow. "I'm not sure Daddy'll see the end of this drought..." She could feel him shift in surprise. The old lion had survived much - He was a last tendril to the days of Makadari, so very long ago. How he'd lived so long was anybody's guess. "I don't know what I'll do without him..." And he had young cubs of his own again, too! Granted, it had taken a while... She had a heavy feeling this was his last litter, her last set of siblings. And they all occupied different generations of the pride...
Lifting one paw, Kosuke draped his arm around Shula, pulling her in for a hug. "Oh, he'll pull through... The constants in this desert are the sun, the sand, how dry it is, and your father's presence." There it was, another giggle. "And watch... As soon as he dies, another cub will be born that's the spitting image of him, with all the fire, and we'll have another Bodaway on our paws!" It was a rather amusing mental image. Though... He hoped they didn't spawn a repeat Bodaway. He could just see it now, getting ordered around and told to treat his daughter right... Suddenly he hoped that the resemblance to the old lion ended at just the looks.
Shula smiled, despite her reservations, leaning into her mate. "You know just what to say to help me cheer up..." Her eyes turned to the sky, watching the stars twinkle and dance. Suddenly, she noticed some strange stars moving across the sky and rose to her paws. "What is that...?" Being a lion, wild born and raised, she had no idea what a plane was, or that anything besides birds flew. In the darkness, she couldn't see the strange metal bird, but the way the lights moved seemed almost like a signal. She frowned, hackles raising, before returning to the den. "I'm going to bed now..."
As Shula left, Kosuke himself rose to his paws, also watching. It was weird... He took a couple of steps, gold eyes dancing as he tried to process what he saw. A green light, a red light, a white light... His brow furrowed, before he slowly turned, heading for the den. Whatever it was, he'd have to worry about it another time. There were more dire things to worry about as it was. Like water...
