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Cubs were so rare that it was easy for each clan in the Ela'wadiyi to offer a huge amount of support to the families that had them. While there were always stories to continue on the grownups, it was always especially pleasant to help record the lives of the youngsters as they grew. A blank canvas, so to speak, was always interesting and you just never knew exactly where it would end up. Though the world around them was starting to behave strangely, in the Ela'wadiyi, at least for now, life was calm and happy.

It was for this reason that Ukahada was out and about early. While Galiha was off seeing if there would be any nearby hunting opportunities for the morning people, the nvwati was headed towards the current residence of the youngest members of the wolf clan.

Though he had no intention of intruding, his timing was nearly perfect and he saw the father leaving the den with one brightly colored cub trailing after him. Rather than intrude directly on the rest of the family, he stopped and watched them, in plain sight but far enough away that if they spoke, it would not disturb the others.

"Good morning," Ukahada replied, looking specifically at Daha as the cub stared at him. It wasn't an entirely unusual reaction, though it was amplified by the fact that both of his parents were newcomers who would most likely never have nearly as many tattoos as someone like him, who had been born here.

"Mine stand out because my fur is plain white," he said, glancing to Kaito and back down to Daha, "You may not remember getting yours, but soon it'll be time for more. We chose a color like your toes, they'll match nicely when you're grown and your story goes on."

The nvwati gave the cub a smile and looked at Kaito.

"You've escaped with only one this morning, have you?"

Ukahada chuckled along with Kaito. He always liked when there were cubs around the Wolf Clan, he really did.. and he liked that he had an excuse to get involved with them, even a little bit. His sister was the clan mother but he had been trained by her predecessor, and then had led the Wolf Clan on his own for a time.. he had a job to do, but it didn't hurt to be involved the way he was.

"Of course," he said, "And it's still quite early, I was hoping to visit with you and I'm glad at least two of you are awake."

He looked back down at Daha, smiling for a moment before lowering himself to the ground so that he would be closer to eye-level with the cub. If they were going to talk about his eyes, it made sense to get closer.

"My face was tattooed by my great grandmother, the alu'nadi before Tsine'rehsa," he explained, "She came very close to my eyes but it never got into them. I don't know if we're as good as her yet, but we haven't had any accidents, either."

Ukahada tried not to chuckle while he was so low to the ground and Daha was so intent on getting into his personal space and asking personal questions. He didn't mind, it was quite funny.

"She was very kind," he said, thinking about his time spent with Tsi'hilu, "The Clan was very lucky to have her, she brought us all back together after the Dark Fire plague and kept everything going by herself."

The good and bad of how things had gone for them was not important, this was the start of a history lesson that Daha would learn in time. For now, that she had never assigned a nvwati until her great grandson was born and had disappeared under such mysterious circumstances didn't matter. A cub didn't need to worry about that. He stayed patiently by the ground even when the cub got right up onto his face, trying to determine if the markings when on forever. It was funny to think that the answer to that could be quite complicated. He only had one life and that was marked on him, but his story would continue with the rest of the clan, so in a way.. they did.

"It's fine," the nvwati said, lifting his head a bit so Daha couldn't reach it, "He's asking a lot of good questions."

Ukahada got back up to his feet, stretching out his legs to get comfortable again. He let Daha go on rambling about himself and his family and the time Kaito had a mane full of leaves.

"My dad is like yours," he said, "He came from outside of our pride, and he doesn't have very many tattoos either. Actually, your dad looks a lot like my parents, more than I do! My family is brown and green, but I'm plain white."

Genetics were interesting, and likely to go over the head of a cub, but it might be interesting to see what he made of that information.

"It's been a long time since I played in the leaves."

If Daha were a little older, he would have seen that Ukahada was teasing him and enjoying it a little too much, as might often be the case while the cubs were small. The nvwati was thoroughly amused with the reaction the information he offered got, though he wasn't sure there was an easy explanation for him to give.

"No, your color can't be taken away," he said, "My parents and brown and green, my grandparents are brown and white, my great grandfather is brown and green, too.. but my great grandmother was white. Plain white, just like me. I have an aunt and uncle who are the same, too. Sometimes things like this can skip a generation, that's what happened to me."

Another history lesson came to mind, and he hesitated before going on. It could sound very self-important coming from him, even though it didn't hold much weight in the pride now, but it was a part of himself that Ukahada had a hard time completely letting go of.

"Cloud-marked," he said, "That was the name for it, when a lion was born with pure white fur. It was supposed to be lucky, but I don't know that I would say I've been especially lucky."

I would have shared some of mine.

Ukahada shot a look to the father hiding in the background of the conversation. He was very impressed with them as parents, talking to Daha now. And he was already getting more ideas for when it was time to add more markings to the youngster. He'd have to get the color ready again soon.

"Thank you, Udahaliyi," he said, before turning back to the mention of cloud-marked lions. The nvwati offered a small grin at the mention of not seeing many white lions around.

"Ari and Wingu are among the older Wayas," he explained, "The ones who are much more adept at staying out of trouble."

He chuckled.

"Perhaps I am luckier than I think. Let's go see what we can do about finding you two that meal."

Luck was often what you made it, and lucky for the nvwati, depending on how far the herds had gone, he knew there was about a 50-50 chance they could catch a hunting party returning soon.