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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:06 pm
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The days had begun to bleed together for the new Father. Tivoli had been amazing from start to finish, through birth and the miracle of life. He felt his grips on reality fade briefly at times before realizing just how exhausted he had become.
Today was one of those few days where the stars aligned enough to allow the youthful pops to get enough sleep to wake feeling refreshed and inspired. The rare treat hadn't stopped there his mossy green eyes, foggy from just waking, spotted the still sleeping forms of Tivoli as well as their cubs. Excitement struck him like a bolt of lightning and immediately his well rested brain took to ideas of how to make this day even better - primarily in the form of a special breakfast for one special Mom. Or as special as he could manage without disturbing the bundles of joy.
"Njano." A small head rose from amidst the sleeping bodies and blinked a couple of times slowly. "What are you doing up?" Kaito spoke softly to his early rising son, but didn't receive a response - not verbally - instead he chose to yawn and stood to walk towards him. Fortunately, for the time being, Njano wasn't going to wake his siblings.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." The words were clumsy and soft as he approached his Father. The distance to the dens entrance had seemed much smaller when he first thought to actually get up. His paws, too lare for his small form, slapped the ground which caused an echo. Njano saw his fathers eyes grow slightly, though he hadn't the foggiest idea as to why. All he knew was that the pit of his stomach ached furiously for a meal. Dramatically he collapsed at the paws his father and gazed up with his matching mossy green eyes, but he didn't have the words to put together just how hungry he was.
Kaito, almost willing to applaud his sons dramatic flair, simply stared down as the small frame collapsed atop his paws. "Alright, you can come with me." Nothing more needed to be said to have the cub back on his paws again. "But first lets find you a snack." He had learned that taking an already hungry cub anywhere meant trouble.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:18 pm
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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.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:29 pm
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Silence trailed after the cub, one whom had usually been chatty - even for being groggy, and Kaito quickly realized why. A smile grew on his maw as he spied the nvwati. "Good morning." He greeted in a soft tone that suggested the rest of his family were sleeping still. Not moments after his greeting he wandered towards the pale lion, decorated in a number of tattoos - a pridal symbol here.
The decorative dyes on the adults pelt caught the eye of Njano almost immediately and suddenly the cub wasn't as groggy. "Wooow." He remarked with his mouth agape in sheer admiration. "Look at them all." Clearly astounded by the curves and ways the tattoos fit to the lions own form.
"Aren't they magnificent, Njano?" Kaito held no excitement back from the youngster, wanting him to love the world out there for everything it had was important. With so many lions, all part of their clan, helping them out eagerly the cubs had been exposed to a variety of markings. "Perhaps you would like to ask him about those tattoos?" At the suggestion he felt the small body of his son press against his leg. "Silly Njano, there's nothing to fear." Kaito shook his head, but wore a large grin.
Daha, for his part, shook his head briskly at the sudden attention. Eyes blinked quickly at the lion, whom seemed much larger now (somehow).
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:40 pm
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"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?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:02 pm
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"Why is your fur so plain?" The cub had grabbed onto what little confidence he had found during his bout of shyness. "Will mine look like yours?" Njano knew that they were stories, he liked stories. The stories scrawled across this pelt were personal, the nvwatis own tale. He was about to ask a few more questions when he slowy closed his mouth and thought on them, trying to find the words. Silently he removed himself from his fathers side and took a brave step forward.
"They used my toes?" His eyes grew wide once again as he miss interpreted what was being shared with him stopped where he was. The small trip between his father and the nvwati was mere steps and he found himself frozem, eyes peerin down at the tips of his teal toes.
"Njano, they used the same color.. not your toes themselves." He couldn't help, but snicker a small amount.
Kaitos attention was pulled to Ukahada once more. "Yes, I was lucky. The others and Tivoli are stilled cozied up in the den. Njano woke at the last moment." He chuckled, a deep and warm sound. None of the lions judged him for enjoying these moments, most probably knew the joy he was growing familiar with, of a quiet morning or two. Those cubs were his prides and joy, but silence was a treasure.
"The whole family seemed to need a little extra sleep, save for Njano." Another chuckle. "Light sleeper." Kaito glanced at Njano again and was delighted to see that he had taken a few more cautious steps forward. It seemed his enlightening words that his toes hadn't been used to dye the rest of him had done the trick.
Unfortunately... it was now the face of the nvwati that caught the cubs eye's. There wasn't much way to get a better look of it from his short stature, but he made due by sitting up and staring - still wide eye'd. "Did you get dye in your eyes?" Had he been taken a glance in a puddle he would have realized that his own face was tattooed, not that he would have recalled dye in his eyes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:30 pm
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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."
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:49 pm
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"We are happy to have you here." Kaito spoke earnestly, the nvwati was a kind soul and it warmed his heart at how welcoming the whole clan had been. Any time the nvwati could spare to see them was welcomed with open arms (so to speak). "The little ones enjoy it too." The smile didn't fade, even a little bit, but his gaze did fall to Daha again. The cub was eager to see the markings on the pale adults face at this point and almost everything else had faded to the background.
Only when the nvwati bent down did Daha suddenly spring to action and take a quick step back. Everything was moving so fast and he nearly tumbled backwards. Still.. he was fascinated and sturdied himself before stepping forward, nearly nose to nose. "You're head is really big when it's this close." Daha became cross eye'd briefly and closed his eyes quickly to rid himself of that funny feeling. "Whooa." He remarked as his eyes grew focused once again.
"Your great grandmother?" The words were stuttered, unconfident as the cub repeated the sounds of them. He didn't have other family, not that he knew, though his father mentioned an uncle once or twice. "I don't have one of those, was she nice to you?" He stared at a single, huge orange eye as it was all he could seem to focus on at the time.
"She must have been, to not get dye in your eye!" The accidental rhyme had the cub giggling. "Did you hear that? The sounds rhymed." He whispered to the nvwati before he spotted that the tattoos seemed to disappear into the mane above his brow. Without another thought Daha hoisted himself up and dropped his clumsy paws onto the cheek and bridge of Ukahada's nose.
"Do they go on.. forever?" He gasped quietly, not aware of the personal space he had entered.
Kaito was stunned into silence, but managed a quick, small gasp. "Daha, be careful." Then he held his breath, his heart leaped to his throat. "That's not appropriate." He managed to finally get out before heading to him to stop the sudden intrusion of the nvwatis face.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:06 pm
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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."
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:27 pm
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Relief washed over Kaito with the nvwatis easy going nature. He listened, just as attentively as Daha was, the history of the pride was important to him and he was emabressed to admit when his history wasn't quite up to snuff. He and Tivoli had joined during such a peaceful time that he found it hard to imagine a time marked in history called the 'Dark Fire Plague'. The mere idea sent a small shiver crawling down his spine.
"Wow." Daha remarked about the achievement, though he didn't quite understand its significance aside from 'by herself'. "Doing anything by yourself is hard." He spoke firmly, but had a different idea of 'hard'. "I once tried to catch a bug all by myself. That was hard, but I had my Dad." He turned his gaze to Kaito, but it was only fleeting.
Kaito mouthed a thank you to the nvwati, but wasn't able to get a word in edge wise. Pride still hit him with the compliment he's asking good questions. He tucked that away to share with Tivoli for another day.
"Does your Dad help you with stuff?" Question after question he poured on. Which distracted him from the way Ukahada had shifted his position. In fact Daha found himself pull back a bit to stare up at the nvwati, still wide eye'd with wonder. "Does he have a mane as big as yours? My Dad doesn't have one so big, but it's soft." He rambled a little bit, cleary far more comfortable with his situation.
"We played in some leaves once, twigs and leaves stuck in his mane and Mum laughed at him." Daha chuckled merrily at the simple memory. Though most of them had to do with the den, dark and cozy, some were startig to happen out in the sun. He couldn't recall the first time his paws had touched the soft feel of grass, but Daha would call that feeling his favorite.
"Have you ever played in the leaves?" His tail thumped the ground with excitement.
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Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:47 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 12:18 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 12:44 am
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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."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:06 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:30 am
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:30 am
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