Huozai has gotten away from his mother once again though it wasn't at all surprising he had managed to do so. With a litter of five and being a single mother, Mkali most likely had her paws full even with her sisters' and mother's help. The young male cub waddled on unsteady paws away from his home while bright blue eyes looked over anything and everything around him. Being so new to the world had him extremely curious about his surroundings and while it was good thing he wanted to learn, his over-curiosity would surely land the child into trouble one day. Maybe today was that day.
Lucky for him though, Zimran was out and about that early morning. Another lioness had requested for her aid by bird the night before for her help in the morning. Of course the goddess was all to happy to oblige this request. There had always been a soft spot for cubs within her heart and being around them just filled the sort of void that had built up inside of her. Her own children were either grown and away or still young and missing. Her ears fell back at the thought of her missing children. Perhaps she would continue looking for them, but it seemed almost hopeless. For all she knew at the time, they were dead and reborn into a body she would not recognize. Zimran shook her head furiously, trying to push the maddening thought from her mind. No, she had work to do and the other lioness was waiting for her. With that thought in mind, she picked up the pace and made her way through the green grass that made up a majority of the Pridelands.
With a curious mind, he made his way through the grass, struggling to keep himself upright on his clumsy paws. Huozai stared down to his paws, hoping that if he stared at them long enough they would start to work right. Of course this did not work nor would it ever much to his inevitable disappointment. Little did the little cub realize that with his attention elsewhere, his paws were taking him right into the trouble he had been lucky to avoid so far in his short life.
Zimran was making her way through the grasslands, her blue eyes looking from side to side. As far as she knew, the lioness she was looking for was of typical coloring; a light cream color. She was also a huntress, meaning she might had already been out in a party that was out right now hunting for the pride. With a sigh, her search was already turning up empty. As she skidded to a halt, her ears swivelled to the sound of an elephant trumpet. What on earth could have upset and elephant? The Pridelands very rarely went after such large prey and none were set to be hunted anyways as far as the goddess knew. Perhaps the hyenas were back and were attempting to stir trouble once again. Her ears went back and a frown presented itself on her face as she raced towards the giant, distressed beast.
What she found was not what she expected to see. There, at the foot of a large female, was a much smaller cub. He was obviously young and terrified at the sudden sound that the obvious matriarch made. “What’s going on here?” Zimran questioned quickly, looking between the two of them.
“This little kit had the nerve to bump into my calf.” The matriarch responded just as quickly, her small eyes narrowed at the larger lioness. “It caused her to have a fright.”
Zimran’s gaze turned to the calf that peeked out slightly from behind its’ mother’s large leg. It quickly realized that the cream lioness was looking at it and retreated to the safety of being hidden from view. Her eyes then turned to the cub that sat on the ground, staring terrified up at the much larger African elephant. “And why did you do that?”
“I was lookin’ around.” Huozai said, thinking that the simple reply would be enough and would get him out of the obvious trouble he was in. It was an honest answer at least.
“And you weren’t looking where you were going?” Zimran asked, a brow raising in a bit of surprise. She had been expecting something like ‘I was trying to hunt like my mother or father’ or ‘I was just trying to play.’, definitely not what she had gotten in reply.
“Nope. I was too busy lookin’ around. Not my fault it’s too big.”
“And it’s not their fault they’re so big. Young man, you should be more careful where you’re going.” Zimran replied quickly, her eyes slightly narrowing at the cub to denote her disappointment. In response to it, the young male shrunk back a bit, his tail curled up about his body. “Young man, apologize to the calf.” She turned back to the matriarch, “I’m sorry, he won’t do it again.”
“I-I’m sorry for bumping into you...” The son of Mkali apologized, his eyes averting the gaze of the creature he was even speaking to. It was slightly embarrassing. Huozai scoffed slightly, knocking a stone around the ground. Maybe his words hadn’t been enough since the calf and mother still remained silent. What else was there that he could say to appease them?
“Hmph.” The matriarch finally replied, her authoritative gaze staring down at the cub. “I suppose that’s good enough. Don’t let me catch him around my daughter again. Come along dear.” She said firmly as she nudged the young calf with her trunk as the entire herd finally moved on from the temporary ordeal.
As Zimran watched the herd of elephants move on, she turned to look down at the cub. “What’s your name?”
“Huozai.”
“And your family?”
“My mama’s name is Mkali, I don’t know my papa...”
“Well Huozai, son of Mkali, lets get you back to your mother. Don’t worry, I won’t tell about today, but do it again and I will.”
With a smile, the young male waddled over to her, sitting down in front of it, hoping that it would make it easier to pick him up. Luckily his hunch was right and it was. Zimran picked the cub up in her mouth, pulled her neck back and started off back towards the dens of the Pridelands. Hopefully this whole thing didn’t cause her to miss the lioness that had needed her help. Luckily there were a few other nannies who might have been called out to help, but she had been asked for specifically.
[Word Count: 1,108]
