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Athena was watching a herd of antelope. He had been just laying there watching them for hours. The idea was to pick out if there were any of them that could be picked off easily. He did not need to hunt yet, but if there was an opportunity he was not going to waste the chance at food. He knew that it would get eaten if he took it back to the group, so he kept watching and waiting. He was sure that something would turn up for him. He did love watching prey like this and got lost in it at times. This was one of those times.

Athena was so involved in watching the antelopes that he did not notice any signs of his daughter approaching from behind. His tail twitched a little as he laid there and kept his attention on the antelopes. It twitched again and again and then the male felt something land on it. He jumped only a little and managed not to make a sound. It was a good thing too, he would have hated to startle the antelopes! When he looked back, the big fluffball chuckled quietly. Ah, he had been followed by one of his cubs!

Athena put a claw to his muzzle in a motion to indicate that she had to be quiet and spoke very softly to his daughter. "There is prey not far from us, we must be quiet so as not to startle them." He reached back and scooped up his daughter, snuggling her close and showing her what he was watching from his hiding place in the grass. He even parted the grass a little so she could see better. She had to learn how to hunt some day, but the most he would let her do at this point would be watch. He might have to find her a rock to sit on top, or lay under a ledge of and watch if he decided to hunt.

Athena nuzzled his daughter and half covered her with his fluffy mane as they watched the antelope. The question from his daughter really was not surprising, nor was her willingness to sit still and quietly for him. His cubs were very well behaved, but still a little young to have had such things as prey explained before. He guessed now was as good a time as any to educate her about what prey was and how hunting worked. She had to learn it some day and he did not believe that trying to shelter her from how things worked while she was young would do her any good later in her life.

"Prey is what we call many different animals that we hunt. There are many different species that we hunt, and they are called prey when one is speaking of such things." Athena was going to put this in the simplest terms he could for the juve so that she did not get confused. His voice never raised high enough that the antelope heard him. "We bring you food to eat, and that is always pieces of something we have hunted. It is pieces of the prey that we have caught. It could be an antelope, a zebra, or many other things..."

"But we catch it, we kill it, and we eat it. That is how things work. Antelope must eat grass to survive, we must eat creatures like the antelope to survive. Does that make sense?" Athena looked down at the cub between his paws, waiting for an answer from her. He had to make sure she understood what he had told her. Telling her things did no good if she did not understand it. He would have to find a better way to explain everything to her if she was confused.

Athena nuzzled his daughter as they continued to watch the antelopes and talk quietly. It was a nice bonding moment for father and daughter, and he hoped that they would have many more like it as she grew. He loved spending time with his cubs, and being able to do so while teaching them something was the best way to do it. The things that he was teaching her about how the world worked would be of great benefit to her later in life. He just was not sure how much he should tell her at this age.

Athena chuckled softly, his voice showing both amusement and love as he answered. "There are a few things that are not good to hunt, but they are very few... for the most part, avoid anything with scales. Fish can be eaten, but really they are not the best to hunt anyway." The male did not know anyone that really enjoyed fishing. The having to both go in the water AND catch something that was hard to get your claws into, rather did the whole thing in for him.

"I have heard tales of things on two legs that do that... but never seen one... the only thing I have seen which tries to make us prey are water lizards. They can easily be avoided... It is one of the reasons I check the water we are near before I let you cubs go to it." Athena did not stop them near water that had the big lizards in it if he could help it. He HATED those things, and did not want them anywhere near the cubs. They were bad enough for a full grown lion, let alone a young one.

Athena wondered how best to explain the idea of water lizards to a cub. He did not want to scare her overly, but at the same time, he wanted to get across the point that they WERE scary. It was a hard subject to discuss with a cub, or so he was finding. If he could have avoided the conversation all together, he would have, but he had not wanted to lie by omission when she asked him about things that preyed on lions. Why did he have to be such an honest lion? His life might have been a little simpler right now if he was not.

Athena did not like the look that his daughter got over the water lizards. He HAD scared her already with them, and she wanted more information! The lion gave a quiet sigh, still mindful of the antelope not too far away. "Perhaps when you are a little older... your legs are still a bit short for running from a water lizard." He knew that he could not fight one very well, and he did not want to lose one of his cubs to one. "I think I am going to get us an antelope."

Athena rose to a crouch and picked up Pallas, carrying her to a nearby rock. "You stay here until I come for you, do not make a sound if you can avoid it... but if anything tries to get you, be as loud as you can possibly be." He would gladly give up a hunt if it meant keeping his daughter safe. He crept away and toward the antelope, already having a target in mind. There was a young one that kept trailing behind the others. He did not hesitate before taking off after it and plowing the thing over. The rest of the antelope stampeded away before he was even done finishing off his catch.

Athena drags the antelope corpse back to where he left Pallas and looks smug as he shows it to her. "I am sorry if I upset you by leaving you to watch... but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up." He licks her cheek and offers the thing to her. "Why don't you eat some before we head back and give it to the others?" It was a peace offering in a way. He would let her eat first and then she would be too happily content to be mad at him, or so he thought.

Athena really did hope she wasn't mad at him about what had happened. He had gotten an antelope, a nice fat one, to be taken back to the others and shared. It was not every day that he managed to get such a nice set up for his hunt, and the fact that they had been laying there talking and still not spooked the prey was amusing. This herd had been rather stupid, and that was what Athena really liked to see. It made his job so much easier and let him hunt more often.