Uthuli had disappeared for a while- more than once, now, in fact. He had just returned from wandering the rogue lands for almost as long as it took the Great Lion to fall asleep. He'd been hurrying near the end, not keen on being away from home under a new moon.. and he was tired out, but it wasn't just from his trip.
Somehow, he had managed to keep his purpose a secret and part of it was because he was nervous of admitting to where he had been and finding out if there were any consequences for his actions. He hadn't really told anybody he was leaving or that he would be back.. and when he panicked and disappeared the second time, well, now it was even harder to face.
With his secret safe at home, he decided to go looking for the only friend he could think of that might have some useful advice: Aysu. She would definitely understand.
Aysu was tired out, she had forgotten how hard it was having cubs by yourself. Or maybe now it was harder because she was still a mother to some younger lions and this time, none were apprenticed. It was hard to accept that they were born slaves, her feelings were so muddled up she didn't know how to handle it- and she wasn't comfortable dealing with her own family anymore. Everybody had such strong opinions or such determination to stay out of trouble that she simply felt she was causing them grief whenever she was about.
She was resting at the edge of her den, watching as the sky darkened and listening to the quiet sounds of her cubs sleeping behind her. The moon was so small now, the Great Lion wasn't watching and few would wander tonight.
So she thought. She perked up when she saw Uthuli headed her way.
Uthuli knew Aysu would be at her den, she had young cubs and it was getting dark.. maybe that meant he should be at home, too, but he wasn't going far. That was how he justified it.
"Aysu," he called in a low voice, not wanting to shout but hoping to be heard. He picked up the pace, only stopping when he was a comfortable conversation distance from her- and that was a little bit closer than normal, where he was so anxious.
"How are you?"
Aysu blinked at Uthuli when he started his unexpected visit with small talk. He looked out of sorts, which made sense since he had been acting very strange lately. He wasn't in any position, really, to be wandering the way he had been. The hunters certainly missed him.
"Not so bad," she murmured, tilting her head, "Didn't think I'd see you again after you disappeared the second time."
She was extremely curious about his whereabouts, of course, but she didn't want to ask directly. That seemed a fair enough hint that she wanted more information on what was going on.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said quietly, not at all missing the question behind what she was saying. It helped that that was why he was here now, too. He was going to ask her opinion whether or not she asked what had been going on lately.
"Am I in a lot of trouble?" he asked nervously, imagining Hyousa cursing him for being absent so often even if he had never really seen her angry and he wasn't sure he had actually been missed on the hunt. He wasn't exactly the strongest hunter.
Aysu raised an eyebrow at him.
"Am I really the one to ask about that?" she asked, pushing herself up to a sitting position. He was even more nervous than she initially realized, though she wasn't sure she blamed him where this was his second disappearance. Even with his aunt and uncle being the queen and king, he was going to be told not to make a habit out of this.
"Are you going to keep disappearing?" she asked, not worrying about her accusing tone.
Uthuli's ears turned back and he frowned. He wasn't terribly surprised by her response and he decided it was better that it was her, it would give him some practice dealing with these kinds of questions.
"No, I'm not going to keep disappearing," he said, "It was complicated, I didn't mean for it to happen but I had to leave again."
He shuffled his feet.
She paused, looking him up and down as he almost explained whatever his situation was. He'd always been a bit anxious, he wasn't a very confident lion, but this was a bit much even for him. She hesitated, not daring to verbally push him and instead choosing to look on expectantly.. until the awkward silence dragged on.
"What's happened?" she asked carefully.
"Well, when I left the first time, I met a girl," he said, just barely managing not to mumble, not sure where to go from there. Now it would be obvious why he had to leave. He didn't want to be like Yareha, though perhaps his opinion on the other lion was tainted by Aysu's opinion, too.
"I had to go back," he murmured, "Make- make sure everything was OK."
The direction Uthuli's story went was unexpected but as soon as she thought that, Aysu felt stupid. That made the most sense. It happened to her whenever she left and she wasn't the only one, either. It was strange, even admirable, that he had the sense to check in. Aysu was certain she'd never see Arufu again but she was sure it wouldn't be unwelcome, except the complication of explaining that the cubs were slaves.
And, of course, she didn't even want to start on her first litter's father.
"Was it?"
"No," he answered quickly and immediately felt bad, "Well, yes but- well."
Stammering was not the way to get the story out, this was harder than he expected. Maybe Aysu wasn't the right one to come to first, he cared more about what she thought than the others.
"Siofra, Taini, Zireth, Kiwara," he recited suddenly, pausing before continuing, "Faraa, Huru, Dakarai.."
Shoot, he was forgetting somebody!
Aysu's ears perked up when suddenly Uthuli started listing names. So he'd met a lady and now they had cubs- and he even knew about them, name by name. And what a long list it was! And it didn't sound like he had finished.
"Wow," she said, trying to judge by his expression what he thought about all of that. Had he said he wasn't going to keep disappearing? This sounded like he would, maybe permanently someday.
"Siofra, Taini, Zireth and Kiwara," he repeated, looking down at Aysu's paws, "They're here, they came back with me. They're going to stay here."
Uthuli looked back up to Aysu.
"There were eight of them, their mother wanted help," he explained. He didn't know how he felt about all of it, splitting up a family like that. He still wasn't sure how they had decided who would come with him and he didn't want to dwell on it. He had respected Chamba's decision and he was happy to have his family here, at least some of it.
Now Aysu was surprised again. Half of his cubs were here with him, it was a situation she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with. Her family was left here by their mother, though she had taken a single cub home with her. When Aysu was younger, she had wondered how her parents decided who to take but she didn't dwell on it now.
"So now you have four daughters," she said, smiling.
She was.. smiling?
"Yes," he said hesitantly, almost perking up, "Do you think I'll be in trouble?"
"Maybe," she said, shrugging, "You'll definitely be warned not to keep disappearing but I'm sure they'll understand, and I'm sure your girls will be fine here."
She kept on smiling-- until she realized that he was here in the dark and the cubs certainly weren't.
"Where are they now?" she asked curiously.
"They're in my den," Uthuli said, frowning again when he realized Aysu's tone had changed, "I told them they have to stay there but they're tired out, too. They probably won't wake up for a while."
He had been too nervous to immediately seek out permission for them to stay.
"I guess I just needed someone to tell me it was OK before I went to see the queen," he said, looking back to the ground, "Or mom and dad or anybody."
Aysu made another face but then smiled. Either of his parents would have been someone reassuring in this situation, they would have been far more reassuring than her. It made her happy, feeling like her opinion mattered to someone.
"Of course it's OK," she said, "You aren't the first to bring cubs by an outside lady into the pride and you won't be the last. My father raised us alone, my mother only took one cub with her. Everybody accepted us, though we were born here, I suppose, and it hasn't hurt us."
Well. Maybe that was part of why Yareha was such a mess but Aysu liked blaming just him.
Uthuli looked back up. He'd forgotten that her family was split up as cubs and she'd been raised by just her father. She really was the best one to understand this.
"Thank you," he murmured, finally smiling.
"It's not a good night to leave your cubs alone," she said, looking up at the sky, "Go home and get some rest, I'll come by in the morning and we'll keep them company while you go talk to the king and queen."
She was all too happy to help and she knew it was a given that their cubs would all be friends. After all, she and Uthuli were friends.
"It'll be OK," she said.
With a sigh, Uthuli nodded. He was happy to be home, he could manage everything from here now. Tomorrow, his girls would officially be members of the pride and he would find a way to make it all work.
"OK," he said, "Thank you, Aysu."
With one last smile, he turned around and headed home. Everything would be fine.
"No problem."
Aysu smiled and watched him go for a few minutes before turning herself around and inching back into her den for the night, drifting off to sleep thinking about everything that had just been revealed to her. Uthuli had cubs, it seemed so odd.
Fin!
