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If she allowed her jaw to unclench long enough to speak, she was going to swear. And swearing was a terrible idea in front of four young, impressionable cubs. But oh how badly she wanted to cut loose. Here, she'd feared joining a pride - this pride - because it would tie her down.

Now she found herself with even stronger ties that were harder to get rid of, damnit.

They were still the children of her body and she already loved them all dearly but she simply couldn't move about freely burdened by kids. This point had already been proved by the trouble she'd had getting them this far. Ieiunium had started for the Mwezi'Johari as soon as she realized she was pregnant (and there was no doubt in her mind whose fault that was) but had been forced to stop and give birth several days away. Once the cubs were old enough to travel, a distance that would have been two for her alone, three on the outside, had become nearly half a moon's worth of walking. Well, trudging. The cubs weren't particularly enthusiastic about walking until they dropped each day. And she couldn't exactly carry all of them, which meant she couldn't carry any of them.

These were all reasons why the grey lioness had never wanted cubs in the first place.

She glanced down and back at the lot of them, checking yet again to make sure they were keeping up. Good, they were. She thought about reassuring them, saying they were nearly there, but kept the words locked inside. Yes, they were already within the pride's borderlands, but there was no guarantee of how soon they'd be able to stop.

Iei scanned the landscape around them, looking for a Hunter or Guard that she knew had to be somewhere around here. She hoped they got "caught" before the cubs started complaining in earnest.


AVAHK

Avahk trotted alongside one of Mommy's big back legs. He was a boy and therefore stronger than his three sisters and that's why he was able to keep up with Mommy better. At least, that's what he told Ime, Chiba and Hamaniya. It was hard work though, walking so fast and so long, and his paws were starting to get sore again. It happened every day, for as long as he could remember. They would walk and walk and walk until their pads were sore and then they'd stop and sleep. And they'd do it again the next day.

It never occurred to the cub that they were going somewhere specific. They were just going. And he was going to keep up with Mommy every day!

Hamaniya stumbled behind her mother, trying to keep up. All this walking was hard on her stubby legs, and at times it felt like her legs were going to fall off. She bit her tongue in complaining, not wanting to be the only one to cry about how tired she was.

"Ah," she almost felt herself trip, but caught herself at the last moment. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she scurried up to catch up to her mother, hoping that they would be done walking for today soon. She wanted a really, really long nap.

The cubs were being cubs and Iei's lips twitched involuntarily as she checked back on them periodically. Hamaniya was keeping up, Chiba wanted attention, Avahk and Ime'Kotek were competing...everyhting looked normal.

Then she heard a voice call out. It was no hardship to locate the speaker, but when she did, Ieiunium actually stopped walking. She recognized this lion. Who wouldn't, in this pride? She remembered that awful exchange that Yareha had brought her to - yet another event to blame him for.

He might be royalty in this pride, but damnit she was no member of the Mwezi'Johari and so while she showed him respect, she wasn't going to grovel.

"Lord Fuu," she returned after thinking back a moment as to what his name was. "I need to see Yareha."

She thought about adding "Now" to that, but decided it was best not to push her luck. Not 'til she was assured that the cubs could stay here just fine. After all, they were half Mwezi'Johari by blood.

Avahk made a face as Ime came up and started showing off. Wasn't that just like a sister? Couldn't let her brother be best at anything at all? He decided he was going to ignore her and be like Mommy. He heard something odd, but it didn't register. The cub held his head up high as he marched onwards...only to realize he'd passed Mommy! He looked around and saw the lioness had stopped walking. Then her heard her talk. But not to him or Chiba or Hamaniya or even Ime.

Looking around the grey cub finally spotted another lion. And if he'd thought Mommy was big, this lion was huge! And purple! Avahk had never seen a purple lion. Nor one with a big fluffy mane like that. He could do without the purple but he wanted a big fluffy mane just like that lion's! The cub sat down with a soft thump as he stared at the big stranger in awe.

Well, so far so good. Fuu might be as quiet as she remembered, but he didn't look like he was inclined to throw the cubs out and it looked like he was going to fetch their...father. "I appreciate it," she replied, allowing some relief into her voice. Indeed, she could feel her tense muscles beginning to relax. Idly, the lioness wondered if she'd been so nervous about this arrival. Perhaps now that it was reality and no longer speculation she wouldn't feel like swearing at everyone around her.

"Would you like us to remain here, or accompany you?" she asked. Iei knew the cubs could use a break, but it wasn't that much farther for them to walk. Still, if they dallied here any longer, it would be impossible to move the kids without carrying them.

He'd smiled at him! The big, fluffy, purple lion had smiled at Avahk! Oh happy day! That meant the stranger lion liked him, right? Who was he? Was this his territory? Mommy had mentioned once or twice that they were passing through some other lion's territory and so they had to be careful and respectful. She'd even spoken to other lions like that before.

The cub hoped desperately that they were going to stay nearby so he could see this lion every single day.

Iei snorted at the thought of leaving Yareha to her. If the white lion wasn't careful, there wouldn't be much left of him by the time she was finished. She considered the cubs again. She supposed she could leave them here and go with Fuu, or even bring them with her to see their father. But they did look so pathetic and she knew the pace had been terrible for them, no matter how slow it had been for her.

"We'll stay here. The kids are asleep on their feet," she told Fuu. She curled her tail around little Chiba who'd been wanting a break for the past hour or more.

The lioness considered the situation that would arise shortly. "But if it's possible for someone to watch the cubs while I...speak...to Yareha further away...?" she asked. Iei was fairly certain Fuu would be able to read between the lines and understand. And she'd done well so far, not swearing or saying nasty things around children, but she didn't trust that to last once she finally got a chance to sink verbal claws into their father. So she'd rather they weren't close enough to hear at that point. If at all possible.

Avahk looked from the purple lion to Mommy and back again. What was a 'Yareha', he wondered? And why did Mommy want it so badly? He was beginning to think that the Yareha was the reason they had walked all the way here.

Maybe...maybe the Yareha was something that made it easier to walk all day long? And made it easier to hunt food and find water? If that was all, he wanted the Yareha too!

Ieiunium blinked slowly in surprise. She supposed she hadn't really expected that from such a high-ranking lion, even if she wasn't really a pride lion herself. It was a very kind offer. And it was odd to hear about Aysu's cubs. She'd known the lioness was pregnant when they'd met, of course, but she'd forgotten that the other would have had her cubs for some time now.

"That is...very kind of you," she replied, considering which she truly would prefer. Given what she'd seen last time...

"I think keeping this to a minimum would be best. If you're willing to watch them, I will be truly grateful," the lioness answered with a relieved smile. With that, Iei finally relaxed entirely, lying down where she was. Travelling with cubs was much more stressful than being on one's own, and she was nearly as glad for a rest as they were.

Okay, he could figure out that Aysu was a person, a Mommy, from listening to the purple lion and Mommy talk. A different Mommy from Mommy. That would be something he'd never seen before! But he didn't know why another Mommy would be necessary. The grey cub clung to his mother's foreleg.

Then had to quickly move out of the way as the lioness sank down to the ground. Oh, it was sleeptime already? That was much sooner than usual! He was so happy they didn't have to walk anymore! Maybe that meant Mommy would play now! The boy nudged her forepaws with his nose, trying to get a reaction out of them, having almost completely forgotten about the big purple lion for the moment.