It wasn't every day that Galjoen spend his days with his paws in the water, but the tide pools were high and crawling with different creatures. No matter how long he sat and watched there was always something new to see.The large lion had noticed some new life in the pride, too. Cubs that scampered around underfoot constantly.
Speaking of, there was one now!
A small black cub had squashed himself underneath Galjoen, peering into the same rock pool. The cub looked down at the water for a moment before looking up at the older lion.
"Whatcha lookin at?" The cub asked. Galjoen had to give a small laugh, smiling at the cub. He pointed at the water at a starfish.
"You see that, right there? It's a sea star. I like finding new ones. They come in different shapes and colors, you know?" Galjoen watched as the cub leaned a bit further forward to look at what he was pointing at.
This sea star was a bright orange with only five points, though Galjoen had seen some with lots more arms. His favorites were red.
"Ooh, it looks funny," the cub said. "My name is Ampoti, mister, what's yours?" Galjoen gave another small laugh.
"Galjoen is my name young one," he answered the cub. "What are you doing out here and away from your family?” Galjoen asked the dark cub. He seemed familiar, though he could not quite place the family.
He was sure it would come to him eventually.
The small cub gave a laugh, reaching into the rock pool to touch the star-shaped creature, only to be stopped by the older lion. “Watch out, some of those might sting!” Galjoen scolded. Ampoti looked properly chastised, but immediately started off again, squashing his way from underneath Galjoen.
The cub scampered away, but not far, looking down into another rock pool. He was studying the creatures within it when Galjoen stepped over to look at the same rock pool too. “Look Mister Galjoen, another sea star!” He pointed at the wiggly creature in the water.
It was a pink star with seven arms this time. “Indeed it is!” Galjoen praised the cub as the hyper cub bounced from pool to pool pointing out the sea stars. Galjoen smiled at the cub’s enthusiasm.
“What’s this one,” Ampoti asked, tilting his head curiously. He poked at the creature that was scrambling out of the pool. It had a nice shell attached to it, one that Ampoti wanted.
“Watch out!” Came a warning from Galjoen. “It bites.” The hermit crab clicked its claws at the cub. Ampoti, with his curiosity, looked down at the snappy creature, poking his nose at it once again.
“Ouch!” The cub reeled back, the creature hanging onto his nose with a vengeance. He shook his head wildly, trying to dislodge the crab, but it held strong. It took a moment for Galjoen to still the cub, gently dislodging the snappy creature from the cub’s nose.
Tears were in Ampoti’s eyes, and the small cub was shaking. Galjoen placed the crab back into the rock pool and hummed in concern. “Ampoti,” He said softly to the cub, who was crying by now and trying to hide his face.
It hurt! He didn’t want Galjoen to touch it!
“Ampoti,” Galjoen cooed, trying to get the cub’s attention again. “Lemme see, okay? I know it hurts,” Galjoen tried. “I need to see if we need to take you to a healer.” Crabs pinched hard, enough to cut into the sensitive skin of a cub’s nose.
“Noooo,” The cub whined though, still hiding his face.
Galjoen sighed, picking the cub up by his scruff. He had stumbled into a healer the other day, a new male that was older but still knew quite a bit in the healing arts. He could hear the small cub whimpering and whining the whole way.
It didn’t take him long to find the mwali, who was sitting on the beach not very far from them. Mufasa, since joining the pride, often sat close to the beaches edge. He could tell when storms were coming, similar to Galjoen, so he knew when to leave the soft sands and seek shelter.
Galjoen cleared his throat to catch Mufasa’s attention, who turned to look at the pair. The old lion tutted softly. “What happened here?” Mufasa asked, gesturing for Galjoen to put the cub down. Ampoti was still covering his face, holding his injuring nose.
“It huuuuurts,” the cub whined, and Fasa tutted again. He touched the cub on the head, clucking a little. He gently coaxed the paws from the cub’s face to see the damage. The nose was bleeding slightly, and Fasa was sure it would bruise.
“It was a hermit crab from one of the rock pools,” Galjoen murmured. “It pinched him on the nose when he tried to take the thing’s shell…” Mufasa only smiled at Galjoen. “He’ll be fine, but I’ve got some salve that’ll stop any swelling and hopefully lessen the bruising.
Mufasa kept some trinkets on him. Most were things he collected over the years, and a lot of them he repurposed for his role in the Bahari as a healer.
He scooped some of the salve out of a shell that he had clamped closed with some seaweed and string. He took a moment to softly talk to the cub, whole Galjoen looked on curiously. Galjoen wasn’t the best with cubs. He spent a lot of his time away from the entire pride as an adult, not really returning to the pride for most of his youth.
Mufasa seemed well versed. “You’re good with cubs,” Galjoen said softly, watched Ampoti as the cub stopped sobbing and sniffling. The poor cub looked worn out though. Fasa gave him a smile.
“I wasn’t there for my children as they grew, nor my grandchildren,” Mufasa admitted, with a sigh. He gave the small cub a perch to lean on though, the cry wearing the poor thing out. “But I was present for many births, I’ve seen generations grow and die,” The old lion gave a chuckle.
Galjoen gave the old male a gentle smile.
“Perhaps a small story before I take this one back to his parents?” Galjoen asked. He was curious about the old man’s life - he had to have some great stories, after all. If he had been through so much. Some fun ones, and perhaps, not so fun.
Mufasa rock a bit as he thought, digging his nails into the soft sand.
“Well, when I was just a small cub,” He started, “No bigger than Ampoti here, I found myself in the Pridelands.” He said. “The pridelands are far from here, a vast plains with a mountainous rock that is called Pride Rock,” Mufasa started.
“I found a friend there, named Hantu, a lioness. Oh we chased Fireflies all night,” Hantu had been his first friend, after all. “I had wanted to stay, but my Father wouldn’t have any of it. I shared a name of the leader there, but he was old when I was very young. I’m sure the throne has been passed down more than once,” Mufasa chuckled.
Mufasa hummed, “It was a much different time back then,” There had been wars and plagues, and there were those things now, but Fasa wasn’t in the middle of it. He was old, but he still could still See it happening.
“But let's not talk about that, you should take the little one home,” Fasa said, and Galjoen gave a nod. Ampoti was practically asleep against Fasa.
“Thank you, for taking care of him,” Galjoen said, grateful that the lion took the time to see them and even entertain them for a bit afterwards. Mufasa only nodded, giving them both a gentle smile.
Galjoen gently picked up the tired cub between his teeth, carrying the small cub off. Now he just had to find the little one’s parents, and then maybe if he was lucky he could find Marwa as well.