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 Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:44 pm
 He was going to be a father... and for all he knew he might already be a father. How long did things like that take again? It was seriously freaky. Tia had managed to talk Hantan down somewhat, but he still wasn't entirely okay with all this. Kids! Sure, he'd figured that he'd find a nice leopardess down the road, but he hadn't expected to mate with a lioness. She hadn't expected him to stick around for good, and that was probably the only reason he wasn't running madly in the opposite direction. He'd visit his kids. Probably. Some day. Not now. They'd be small and blind and icky at best.
To take his mind off the recent happenings he engaged in a familiar and oddly comforting task. He was tracking Fenja. It had been a while since they met, and he had been distracted... No, that distraction was a bad mental place right now! Righ. Not going there... He had criss-crossed the savannah for a few days now, using his nose and occasionally asking around, looking for his friend.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 10:15 pm
 She had tried denying it for as long as she could but Fenja could no longer ignore her… condition. She had seen pregnant lionesses before but never for a moment considered the possibility that she would become pregnant herself. After all, she was a lone rogue doing her best to survive on her own in these harsh lands. Now there was no way she could pretend that her bulging belly was nothing but a sign she had been eating too much. She’d actually felt something moving inside her and, quite frankly, she was freaking out a bit.
She had began her journey to the pride where the purple lion she’d… met on a strange clearing lived because she was certainly not going to work this out on her own, oh no! Hunting was an already hard enough task and soon it would become an impossible one, she figured. Fenja was confident that the male – gosh, she didn’t even remember his name! – would help her in any way he could but first she had to reach that Intaba pride he’d talked about.
Having no clue she was being tracked, the bright lioness was taking a short break at the edge of a small waterhole. A few zebras were drinking not too far from her location, clearly unafraid of the lethargic feline.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:57 am
It was strange, because as soon as he found Fenja's scent it was uncharacteristically easy to track her. She seemed to move with a purpose, always in the same direction and without doubling back or hiding her track. Hantan had noticed that she tended to do that, without making the connection that she might have been trying to avoid his company at times in the past. They always had a good time together and it had never occurred to him that she might not want his company.
Whatever the reason for this change in behaviour it puzzled Hantan enough to distract him from his own worries. Saskiranel and the cubs were far from his mind when he finally spotted the pale lioness resting near a watering hole. A zebra lifted its head as he drew closer, but it didn't seem to think there was any danger from a lone leopard and just watched him cautiously.
"Feeling lazy," he asked as he approached.
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Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:38 pm
In a flurry of unsheathed claws and ruffled hairs, the bright lioness rolled on her back dramatically and landed on her paws, crouching as she faced the leopard. She only stopped snarling when finally recognized her company. Two zebras ran off and disappeared without even looking back.
“Hantan! You scared me half to death!” Fenja didn’t usually react quite so exuberantly – nor did she pay so little attention to her surroundings that she would miss the approach of another predator. She really wasn’t feeling quite herself lately. Now that she thought about it… Hantan was one of the few creatures in the world that might actually realize she was a little rounder than usual. Fenja hoped that he wouldn’t notice the changes in her constitution because for some reason the idea annoyed her considerably.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:10 am
Hantan backed up a few steps at Fenja's violent display, but he was soon grinning again. He'd managed to sneak up on her! Neat. The leopard wasn't noticing the lioness's condition just yet, but then he was busy being pleased that he had surprised her. Given time he might connect the dots, even if he wasn't always the most perceptive of creatures.
"You are getting lazy," he teased, "I didn't think it was possible to sneak up on you."
And he hadn't even tried. Perhaps that was it... If he had tried to be sneaky he would have appeared more suspicious. He knew he'd ignore other animals just going about their business, but the sound of someone trying to be stealthy might be enough to put him on edge.
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 5:29 pm
“Lazy? Hah!” Fenja snorted as if she was taking offense but she had to admit Hantan had a point. A couple of months before it would’ve been nearly impossible to catch the pale lioness off guard – which honestly didn’t make much sense… weren’t expecting lionesses supposed to be extra vigilant during their pregnancy?
If she were to think about – something Hantan was forcing her to do – she had to consider how she was slowly changing with each passing day. She felt fiercer, dangerous even and nothing seemed quite as important as her urgent search from Hoaka’s pride. She was determined not to let anything get in her way but she was also unfocused at everything else around her and at times, plain lethargic. She could see how the weight of pregnancy was slowing her down and numbing her senses, something that only served to remind how important it was that she reached that Intaba pride the purple lion had told her about.
“So… what have you been up to?” Even though a part of her was always happy to see the leopard, this time she truly wished she could get the usual chit-chat out of the way quickly so she could continue her journey unaccompanied. ((Happy New Year!))
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:14 am
Mogami Happy new year to you too smile
It was pretty obvious that whatever he had been up to was embarrassing in some way. He should really tell her, but... Hantan didn't know how to do it. He hadn't even processed all of it yet so talking about it was hard. So he'd met a few lions, that was simple enough. And... She'd... yeah. And then she'd told him she was pregnant and... that it was him... and... augh!
"I've got cubs now," he said as quickly as he could just to get it out of the way, "I mean, probably. I think they should be born by now."
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:56 pm
“Who did you meeeeet?” Fenja asked with such a wide smile that her eyes were barely open. “You what?! Oh, you dog!” She was laughing for a while but it wasn’t long until she became serious.
“Wait… what do you mean by ‘I think’?” She actually made a rather good impression of Hantan voice and expression. “Why aren’t you with her then? Is she a rogue? It’s not easy to hunt when you’re pregnant, you know? Shouldn’t you be helping her? Don’t you want to meet them? What if something goes wrong?” Alright, so most of her questions were related to her own personal issues but honestly, was Hantan planning on being one of those deadbeat fathers who never showed their faces? Fenja knew she’d skin Hoaka alive if he didn’t become instantly excited and helpful as soon as she managed to give him the news.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:47 am
Hantan felt (and looked) properly ashamed after that tounge lashing. He had no idea Fenja had such firm opinion of the topic, since the topic hadn't really come up before. But perhaps lions were different than leopards. He wasn't sure if his father had helped his mother during her pregnancy, but he didn't think so. He knew that the leopard hadn't decided to stick around long enough to see him and as far as he was concerned he hadn't missed much. His mother was a very capable female, and she had raised him right. He was sure Saskiranel would be just as capable, and her pride seemed like a close knit and helpful one. If a bit odd.
"She went back to her pride," he said, "I could have joined her, but... You know how I feel about prides, and this one... I don't know, but she won't be alone."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:58 am
“Ah… a pride.” Fenja’s mouth formed tiny smirk as she looked away. She refused to go down that path even in her current condition. “Yeah… I don’t blame you…” She paused to consider his words as one paw rose and touched her belly protectively. “You still have to go see her, you know…? If they let you, of course. Some cubs grow up without knowing their parents, the least you can do is go introduce yourself to your kids. I mean, I’m…” Whatever she was about to say was suddenly cut short as Fenja clamped her mouth shut and looked down at her front paws, flexing her claws repeatedly.
“Well, I don’t know any leopard prides but they should be safe there, right?” Fenja tried to force a bit of cheerfulness into her tone and it wasn’t a bad try… for such an obvious subject change.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:17 am
All this talk about parents made him wonder if there was something he had missed. But no... He did have a parent. Perhaps it would be different with none at all. It made him wonder about Fenja. She knew she used to have a family and a pride, but he wasn't sure when... bad things had happened. They had touched on that sore subject several times, but only in bits and pieces, and he was sure he wasn't getting the full picture.
"I've got an invitation," Hantan said, "They seem to be a very accepting pride..."
He trailed off, briefly considering changing the subject and let Fenja think that he had met a leopard. But that wouldn't be fair, and he knew it. Fenja was one of his closest friends and he wanted her to know even if he wasn't sure how to tell it. Now, what had his mother told him... If you need to eat an elephant, you just have to start at one end and eat it one bite at the time. He hadn't really got it back then, but as he grew older he had realised she wasn't really talking about elephants.
"Among lions," he said, tiptoeing around the subject, "Do the fathers do a lot of the cub raising? My mom did it all on her own, but she had just me."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:47 am
“Mmm… that depends. If it’s a rogue couple, they usually share the chores especially if they have a big litter.” She took to the new subject eagerly, thinking that she’d somehow managed to dodge some difficult questions.
“But if they live in a pride, it varies. Some prides have nannies that babysit the cubs while the parents work and in others the females do the work while the males guard the borders. Prides are all different… and weird.” Oh she really did hate the idea of giving up her freedom and becoming chained to a place for ever. “That’s why even if I…” Ah, there was that clamping-shut thing again. Part of her really – really! – wanted to tell Hantan what was going on. He was one of her few friends in the world, one of the few that actually recognized her and knew her name. And he had told her what he’d gotten himself into… and yet she still wasn’t sure about sharing something so intimate. How would he react…?
“Hantan…I… maybe I should go.” Wait, that’s not what she wanted to say!
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 3:40 am
Hantan listened and nodded as she described the different ways of rearing cubs. He'd never really thought much about it, and now he kind of had to. The thought that parents could give their cubs to nannies that weren't part of the family did sound a bit weird. He full heartedly agreed with Fenja in not wanting to join any pride.
"Your parents..." he started, knowing from past that he was walking into a minefield. But he didn't have time to finish his question before Fenja dropped a bomb of her own.
"What? Wait?" Hantan spluttered. Where had that come from? He had feared she would react badly to him bringing up her parents, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I really need to talk to you. She's a lion and I don't know many friendly lions I could talk to about this. Really only one more, but that's not going to work."
He had probably stopped making sense some time ago, but he didn't care. Fenja was being weird, and he wondered if she was acting strangely because of something he had said and done.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 11:36 am
Fenja looked downright miserable for a moment, trapped between her desire to leave and her urge to hold on to this new piece of information. Her eyes did widen just a little when it seemed Hantan was going to mention the unmentionable but the sudden turn of the conversation was enough to ease her mind.
“You’re having leopons…?” She asked slowly with no real judgment in her words but a very obvious interest. She paused and sat down again taking a few moments to collect her thoughts and finding that very little came to her at that time. “Well, leopards are pretty good at taking care of their young… I hope they won’t be discriminated for being hybrids in that pride.” She was talking in a strange manner, slow and slightly disconnected. Fenja could tell her friend was aware that of her unusual behavior.
“Hantan. Go see them. Make sure they’re okay.” She said in an almost commanding tone before she stood up again. “And I have to be on my way as well. I…” Oh Gods, why was this so hard? “Hantan, you’re not the only one who’s having cubs.”
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Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:16 pm
Hantan's ears couldn't decide what to do. Laid flat, slightly tilting forward, anything in between... It gave a confused and insecure impression. Fenja wasn't herself, but she didn't seem to be put off when he told the entire story.
"They'll be well cared for," he said and nodded, "Their pride values their young no matter what species they are."
He didn't tell her why. Saskiranel and Mel had told him about their home, and about the disease ravaging the land. Fenja was not a fan of prides and he didn't want to make her upset by telling her about this one.
"I will," Hantan said, "I will check up on them."
Of course more people than him were having cubs, new cubs were born every day and... And then she proceeded to break his brain. Again. Sometimes he wondered if she did it for sport.
"You?" he finally managed to get out. He wasn't sure if he should congratulate her (she didn't look very happy) or what to say so he opted for the fly catcher look, mouth slightly ajar.
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