Setting: About halfway between Sky Festivals
Perhaps it was the change in the air, bringing the rains. Maybe it was the abundance of food that it brought, or perhaps... It was the fact Aarazthoorus and Urzlan's cubs were walking with the Clan now, but Meztli was feeling much more... Hyper. The cubs, with their paint-like markings, were adorable, and they were all earthy tones on white, with at least one cub being white on earthy tones. Stone grey, earth brown... And one with a pale, rose-quartz pink mane and tail. Truly, they looked the embodiment of the clan, and their existence absolutely excited the dark brown lioness.
He hadn't missed the change in his mate, the perk in her step, the twinkle in her eye. It reminded him so much of when she'd been raising cubs, that excitement about another generation. This time, it was directed toward the Earth Clan's newest members, a litter of little cubs in white, brown, greys... As he watched her all but trot through the mist that soaked them all, he walked over and gently bumped his shoulder to hers. "You look excited, Meztli! Could it be the cubs in the Clan have you excited?" Little minds to fill with knowledge, somebody new to see... "They'll be a wonderful thing for the Earth Clan to show off at the Sky Festival next year! New members to the Clan and pride!"
The Sky Festival! Meztli smiled rather broadly, feeling like... Was this how her sister felt? Always happy with the world, rarely sad... Nenetl wasn't stupid by any means, she simply found a joy in life that was born of simply... Living. "I can't wait for the next Festival! Maybe we'll even see new members to the Clan from outside!" That was something else she couldn't wait for - Lions from all walks of life joining the pride in the brief window that was the Sky Festival. It made her giddy, as it meant she could hear about the world beyond their borders without having to leave ever again, all while learning about these lions and where they came from.
"Mmhmm..." The clay-brown lion smiled, looking up at the overcast sky. He did wonder if he would see any relatives joining. He knew he had a half-sister in the pride, plus two nephews from a different half-sister. Would they potentially see Meztli's brother join? He knew her sister was happy and content up on the mountain with a mate, but what of Tlaloc? What of his half-siblings off in the Firekin that he was sure to have? His father, he knew, had turned into quite the casanova... Though if what Dongo had told him was true, Bodaway'd had nothing on lions like Ezeoha, and there were probably others who were even worse than that. Still... He wondered how many there were...
Meztli glanced at her mate, noting the look in his eye and the quiet he fell into. After so long together, it didn't take long to figure out where his mind had gone off to. "Maybe we'll see new relatives of yours... Like, oh... I don't know..." She paused in walking, motioning with a paw. "Another half-sibling from your father's side, or even one from your mother's!" She resumed walking, quickly matching pace to his. "Maybe even..." She stopped, going silent. Ghosts of the past... If stories from Dongo about the Pridelands were true, then lions thought dead could easily be NOT dead. Her mind went to her sister... But not Nenetl. Another sister, lost as a cub. Was she really dead? Or was she alive out there somewhere?
Minoru slowed down, frowning as he watched Meztli. He let out a puff of air, a mist rising up from the warmth of it, then nuzzled her. "Hey... Things always work out. If she's alive out there, she'll find her way here. If not, then she probably didn't suffer." He then nipped at her ear. "Now... What about, oh... Cubs to show off at the Sky Festival?" It was a small gamble, for sure, to try and get her on a happier subject. "Besides, you know... The Dhatri cubs. Maybe even... Ayatadoli cubs...?" Fire eyes had felt a good name for their potential future offspring. Granted, it was a mash-up of two different words, but... All families were a mash-up, were they not? Plus, given her fire-gold eyes, it felt appropriate.
His method of distracting her from sadness had worked, as she looked sidelong at Minoru and smiled. "I'd love to show off some Ayatadoli cubs at the Sky Festival!" She gently shoved him over, narrowly missing another lion, before she pounced on him. "It'd be wonderous if the Clan had MANY cubs to show off!" It'd be something if the Clan had not only the Dhatri cubs to show off, but Ayatadoli cubs AND Aduladi. Hadn't Zuberi and Haini been wanting cubs? She could have been imagining it, of course. It wasn't hard to figure out, though, that the otherwise stoic lioness' mind was on cubs... And it brought out of her a side that hadn't been seen in a very long time. It made her act... Well, like her sister, Nenetl. She was brought out of her thoughts for a moment by a muddy paw against her face.
The silver-maned lion grinned, before shoving his mate off. "I'm sure there'll be LOTS of cubs for the Earth Clan to show off this year! There's at least two couples besides us that haven't had their first cubs together yet." As he got up and shook mud off, he paused in his thoughts. "Well, one without their first cubs. I think Kuhesh mentioned that he and his mate had a litter before coming here." He could have, like Meztli about Zuberi and Haini, imagined it, of course. For all he knew, every lion who joined had previous families before the Ela'wadiyi. "I THINK, anyway... Don't quote me on that, I could easily be wrong."
The dark brown lioness chuckled, shaking mud off her own fur, before continuing to walk with the Clan. "Well, whatever may come... I can't wait." She nuzzled Minoru, a smile on her maw. "I anticipate the Sky Festival, between cubs and new lions."
Minoru, too, smiled, rubbing his cheek against her neck and shoulder with a rumble in his chest. "I look forward to it, too, Meztli." He couldn't predict the future by any means... But he anticipated what it had to bring.
