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 Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 3:37 am
Coeus sat at a ridge at the top of a cliff, over looking the lands below. Shrubs and things grew and animals roamed. Animals that were pouncable, if she practiced. But she didn't want to practice, not right now, not when she wasn't feeling like a lion or a leopard. She hoped her black fur would make her hard to spot, because she didn't want to move either, too lethargic to move.
Coeus hung her paws over the edge of the ridge, dangling them out in the open space. Why didn't their mother want to be with them? Papa was - well he was Papa. He took care of them and he loved them and he teased them. Papa was great, but sometimes Coeus felt that he had to love her. After all, he was the Papa. Did Mother love them? Coeus couldn't even remember her mother, what she looked like or anything. There was only ever Papa and the other adults that traveled with them.
Maybe Coeus was difficult to love. Maybe she hadn't been a very good infant. If she behaved better, would Mother have stayed? Would she remember a mother?
Coeus laid her head down between her dangling paws. Frowning, pouting, she didn't want any of her siblings to see her and try to cheer her up. They really didn't understand her. Not that she wanted them to. Most of the time. And she definitely didn't want Papa finding her and forcing her to snuggle until she felt better. No, she did not want to snuggle, just like she did not want to pounce.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 12:51 pm
 The pale lioness woke from a rather deep sleep, finding herself too warm in the pile of bodies in the sleeping place. Zenobia easily avoided stepping on anyone as she made her way out. She needed to cool down before she could go back to sleep. Once outside she gave a long slow stretch; deciding a short and slow walk was in order. She made her way around several bushes and felt the land rising in an shallow incline. Well she could go up and have a look.
It was peaceful at the top of the ridge. Zeno settled herself as bright red eyes scanned the plains below. Something pinged on her senses. There was someone else up here with her. She turned her head and looked around carefully. Not seeing anything immediately obvious. Someone was hidden up here and didn't want to be found. She tested her senses and that told her it was someone of the group. Now curious Zeno tracked them down until she spotted the dark little cub. Without saying anything the lioness walked up and sat beside her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 2:18 pm
Coeus jumped when the lovely white lioness settled herself next to her. She really needed to start paying attention to her surrounding when she was out by herself. Already, Papa and Perseus had found her without her noticing. She was getting too distracted and thinking about Mother wasn't a good excuse. It was an excuse at all. For all Coeus knew, Mother didn't think about them. Or her. So she shouldn't think about Mother.
"Hello, Zeno. Did Papa send you to come find me?" Coeus asked bowing her head. Papa had told her not to go wandering alone this late, but . . . well, sometimes she couldn't help the need to be alone. The need to be away from everyone else and their unhindered joys. And she didn't want to bring them down from their happinesses. That didn't seem fair to her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 2:42 pm
Zeno wrapped her tail around her paws. She hadn't meant to startle the cub when she sat down. "Good evening Coeus. I hope you don't mind some company. No he didn't, I got too warm to sleep and came out to cool off." Now she looked over at the cub with a soft smile. "Is there anything wrong?"
The pale lioness could understand her want to be alone. She's spent most of her life traveling alone. Even now, traveling with Athena and his group, she often got the need to just run until there was only prey around her. Not that the prey appreciated the difference any.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 2:53 pm
"That happens to you too!?!" Coeus perked up with Zeno's admission. She'd thought it was only her. Too many bodies. Too much pressure and heat and nightmares and squishes and no enough air or breeze or alone time. "Papa says I should wander alone, but there's alway so many around! The last time he caught me, he snuggled me." Coeus pouted, as if snuggling was a punishment.
At Zeno's question, Coeus opened and closed her mouth a few times. How was she going to explain it. Should she explain it? Would she sound . . . . childish? Uncompassionate? Ungrateful? Would it sound like she didn't love Papa and her siblings and those that she traveled with? Because she did, it was just . . .
"Did Mother not love us enough?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 3:31 pm
Zeno chuckled softly at the cub's surprise. "Yes in smaller spaces so many bodies and make lots of heat. I find it easier to step outside to cool off." She stretched out across the ground as Coeus continued talking. "I think perhaps he fears you getting lost or cubnapped." Her eyes twinkled as she looked at the cub. "He cuddles cause he's too soft and fluffy to spank." She laughed softly to invite Coeus to join her in the joke.
The seriousness of the question made Zeno look out across the star lit field. What a tough question for a cub. It was even tougher to answer. She hadn't really met the leopardess in question. "It's because she's not around is it? I could not tell you Coeus. Perhaps looking at it another way will help. Your mother could have abandoned you to the wild, and you very much would have been likely to perish." She didn't enjoy bringing harsh realities to so young a cub, but it might help. "Instead she brought you to your father who will be sure to love and care for you. While it might appear she didn't love you by not staying, she brought you to one she could be positive that would protect you."
Zeno lowered her head and touched her nose to Coeus' shoulder. "That to me speaks of great love." She hoped it would help the young female.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 4:52 pm
Yeah, Papa was big and fluffy and soft. And snugglely. It was hard to squirm away from Papa when he wanted to snuggle. Coeus knew. But didn't Papa have to love them. And Papa loved babies. Especially his babies. It wasn't even the prospect of Mother not staying. Or of giving them to Papa to care and protect. Papa was great. When he wasn't snuggling all the time.
"I can't remember her. Aren't you supposed to remember?" Coeus whispered. She was positive if her Mother walked up to them tomorrow, Coeus wouldn't recognize her. While she was scared her siblings would. There was nothing of her mother in her memories. Nothing. If Coeus didn't remember her mother, than her mother couldn't remember her. RIght?
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:04 pm
Zenobia tilted her head. "Have you asked Athena about her? He might be able to tell you something that will trigger your memory. No dear, I don't think so." Suddenly she hit upon a thought and twitched her tail. "Do you know my son Zenoba? He has six siblings if you can believe it. Six! Now, they left me with their father when they were very young. I'm not sure if any of them will remember me. Do you think, that because I let them leave that I don't love or remember them?" She said softly, trying to sooth the cub's fears.
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:03 pm
Coeus just couldn't see herself asking Papa about mother because he'd say something flattering, and Coeus knew she wouldn't be able to help wondering if mother felt having cubs around was unflattering. Or Papa would say something silly and not take it seriously. Not that Papa would say anything horrible, just that it would somehow upset her.
Coeus shook her head. "No," she muttered. She couldn't imagine Zeno not loving her children, even if she wasn't with them. Even if she let them go to their Papa. But she didn't think she could ask Papa about mother. It wasn't that he was hurt that they weren't together. Papa was a player. Not that Coeus really understood that phrase. All she knew was that it meant Papa didn't want to be bound to one mate, one female. He was all too happy to have children, little fluffy spawns as they were called, but he didn't want anything more than friendship and cubs.
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:03 pm
She watched the anxiety in the cub for a moment. Clearly what she'd said hadn't really helped. Zeno turned again to look out over the expanse before them. This was a real problem for the cub, perhaps she should speak to Athena about it. Until then though.....
"Coeus, how about we go for a walk? I often find that when I'm troubled that if I leave it alone sometimes the answers come to me. It can make you feel better to forget it for awhile than constantly worry over it." Zeno hoped she would eventually be able to reach answers that satisfied her.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:35 am
"Okay!" Coeus got excited. She'd never walked very far in the night. Only far enough away to not be crowded by the den and Papa didn't want her walking alone in the night espeically. But since Zeno had suggested it, Coeus didn't have to worry about Papa finding out she'd walked around in the night. And Zeno said it would take er mind off of everything bothering her. Papa could't be mad or upset or worried that they'd been walking to stop thinking. Especially since she was with Zeno. "Where do you want to walk to?"
Coeus stood quickly, as if she'd popped up out of her relaxed stance. It was night, and they were going to get to go for a walk with the moon and the stars. Coeus didn't notice, but she started bouncing on her paws. Up, down, up, down, up, down. And her tail was whipping back and forth in her excitement. Again she didn't notice, she was so focused on the walk and on Zeno.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 9:54 pm
"Anywhere. It's not the destination, but the journey." She smiled and chuckled. Zeno rose easily to her feet, then turned and headed down from the ridge.
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