[PRP] A Lecture (Uchanjaa & Yavin)

[Kimaria]

Lying amongst the grasses close to the royal dens was Yavin.

Dappled sunlight played across his back, his chin resting atop his crossed forepaws. At a distance it might look as if he were sleeping but, in fact, the young male was wide awake, staring off a single blade of grass as it danced gently back and forth in the breeze. His ears were drooping slightly, relaxed and unalert, and the tip of his tail seemed to be swaying in time with the grass.

He'd spent the morning down by the water's edge, meandering back and forth leisurely. And yet, though that sort of thing would have been enjoyable for him, once, he was beginning to find himself restless. And why? He wasn't quite sure. But when did being lazy suddenly feel so...so...bad. He didn't need to be busy. That's what the other classes were for. To n** about on their duties so that he could concentrate on relaxing. But now he felt irritable and even his nap seemed to be avoiding him. He lay there for a few more minutes, as if trying to will his mind to settle so that he could drop into a light sleep. And, when that didn't work, he gave an annoyed huff and wrenched himself to his paws. He took a few steps forward, growled under his breath, and paced back and forth, wondering what he could do to get rid of all this... irritation.  

[mouselet]

The brown lion was walking cheerily from the den given over to Selene and Fuu's use. He'd been visiting again, playing with the cubs and giving their parents a break. Not that it was that necessary - there were any number of relatives and slaves who would be perfectly happy to watch the young royals. The entire pride was very happy, to have not only an Heiress, but her Heir as well.

Uchanjaa was mostly pleased to see his former charge doing so well. This had been long in coming, but he thought motherhood had been very good to her. But his smile faded as he came upon another lion, this one fully grown and pacing in frustration. He knew the younger male's name, of course, but he couldn't figure what had soured his day.

"Good afternoon Prince Yavin...is there something wrong?"  

[Kimaria]

He startled at the sound of his name and turned to see the unmistakeable brown figure moving towards him. Uchanjaa. Well, at least it was a lion he recognised. He was fed up with being stuck in socially awkward situations (bought about by himself, of course). Still, he wasn't much in the mood for talking and he hoped that this might be a quick hello and little else.

He paused in his pacing and turned to face the older male fully, his whiskers drooping as he peered into that friendly face - so much different from his own. He managed a twitch of a smile and then levelled his head. "Afternoon, Uchanjaa." He replied, jutting his jaw a little and folding back his ears.

"No. Not much. Just restless."

His eyes flicked from side to side and then he asked: "What brings you here?" Perhaps, if there was going to be a conversation, he could turn it back on Uchanjaa and avoid having to talk about himself.  

[mouselet]

"I was just playing with the little ones," Uchanjaa answered with a smile. "They have so much energy." It made him long for the days when his own children had been so small. But now...now they were adults, living on their own or, in at least one case, with their mate. The brown lion found himself eagerly awaiting the day when he became a grandfather and had even more bundles of joy to play with.

"But you seem to have just as much energy as they do," he continued. "Though I doubt it springs from the same cause." The brown lion came right up to Yavin, not allowing the other's rank to intimidate him at all. After all, he'd dealt with Selen rather intimately, refusing to allow her to do anything foolish and such.

"Perhaps you'd like to talk about it? You're not that much older than my own children, you know," Uchanjaa pointed out.  

[Kimaria]

"Ah."

Everyone seemed to be so cub-focused around here. He'd never really noticed before but he supposed, generally speaking, there was at least one young litter in the pride for those who liked cubs to look after. Perhaps it was one of those things when you only really understood when you had experienced it yourself. Maybe, someday, if he ever had kids, he'd look at them and think them cute and fantastic too.

Maybe.

His frown deepened and, after only a moment's eye contact, he was looking away again. "I don't know." He replied, thinking about what to say. "Everyone seems to busy and..."

How to put this exactly?

"...I'm not." His eyes switched back to Uchanjaa. "It never really bothered me before now. I don't really know what to do."  

[mouselet]

Uchanjaa stared blankly for a moment before smiling comfortingly at the young Prince. Ah yes, this was indeed a problem he could help with.

"I know something of how you feel, though I came at it from the other end. Being born to the middle class, I always knew I would be a Guard or Hunter," the lion explained. "But on the journey from the old pridal lands to these, I fell in love with Kibetinyota, who had been born to the high class and trained to be a priestess in the days before the migration." There was far more to the story, including the arrival of the liar Dusana and subsequent deaths of Kibi's parents, but none of that was pertinent now.

"When we arrived her at last, Kibi and I were married and I suddenly found myself eligible to be a Lord, free to laze around and spend my days as I pleased." And oh, how bewildered the brown lion had been! How overwhelmed! How much he had put up with that he'd never had to consider before, simply due to his mate's rank. "But I could not stand the thought of being idle, so I became a Guard instead."

Having finished his tale, Uchanjaa smiled at Yavin. "You might start by simply wandering the pride and helping those who need it. Failing that, we can always use more Hunters and Guards."  

[Kimaria]

It was the first time he had heard the story, to be sure, and it gained his interest - though he tried hard not to show it. It must be a good and useful thing to be able to wed into a higher class. There were benefits of being male here. Unlike the females, their class was not static and could move up if said female was higher.

On the other hand...you could also move down and for Yavin there was no more 'up', which severely limited his potential partners. The thought of ever marrying into a lower class was something that horrified and disgusted him. There was no way he'd ever consider it. The Great Lion had blessed him for a reason and he wasn't going to insult Him by marrying lower than his worth.

"A Guard?" He asked. "I don't know..." That would mean mingling with the common folk... "I'd have to take orders from others then, wouldn't I?" He wasn't sure whether he liked that idea at all.  

[mouselet]

The brown lion rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Someone who is unwilling to take orders is of no use in a pride," he told the younger lion chidingly. "Only a King is immune." And not only was Yavin not the Heir in anyway, the Prince had yet to strike him as the sort lions would obey.

"We all must live under somebody's orders though, even the King and Queen are beneath the Great Lion, who watches them that they should rule justly," Uchanjaa went on.

Personally, he thought Yavin could use a bit more humility in his makeup. It wasn't as if the royal family was set so high above the rest of the pride. Wasn't Unyezi still alive, still happily mated to Nerit, now a slave where he had once been King? And their children were scattered throughout the classes, though that did not change the fact of their relationship to the Queen in particular.  

[Kimaria]

But he was still a prince. Did that not count for anything? Why should someone lower born be giving him orders? It wasn't right. He was beginning to feel like a cub again, being lectured. He didn't appreciate it and even if Uchanjaa was talking sense, he was too stubborn to see it. Being a prince was what made him stand out. What made him special. If he didn't have that he'd be a nobody and then what?

His frown deepened and he looked away again. "I'll think about it." Was his only response. "But I won't make any promises."

No. He'd just have to try and reclaim his old self. The happy self he had been before that stupid female had bumbled into him and made him start doubting his lifestyle.  

[mouselet]

Uchanjaa shrugged again. It seemed this half-hearted promise would be the best he could get from Yavin at this time. The young lion still had a very great deal to learn it seemed.

"Birth is not everything. And many would tell you that the highborn lion who doesn't listen to the lower born experts in their fields is a fool." Lavender eyes gazed straight into the prince's, and Uchanjaa hoped the boy would read his meaning clearly.

"But I will leave you to your considerations. May the Great Lion help you make the right choice," the brown lion said, turning to head back to his own den and his beloved mate.