Mwongozi (Elimnyama), Male Lion Cub
Prisa, Female Lioness
Mamela, Female Adol. Cheetah
It's another new day and a dark form moves between the shadows in little hops as if the cub were trying to catch them beneath his paws. He's snuck out from the cave again, drawn by the big world outdoors. With a laugh, he places a paw down one one shadow, then another, as if playing some game with himself. He hops all the way until the shadows end and the light begins to filter through the trees. Then, he stops, looking thoughtful about what to do now.
"It's a bit awe-inspiring, is it not, my precious shadow…?" The soft, loving voice of the Pale Lioness asks from behind, just at the entrance to the cave… her eyes lidded, and her tone quiet as she moves forward just three steps…
Twitching his nose at the light beyond, that had hurt his eyes the first time he'd come from the big cave, the boy raises a paw as if he were daring to step back into it. Then, the voice of his mother distracts his progress. The dark child's head turns towards her, his blue eyes blinking. Then, looking back, he traces a toe in the dirt, making a solid line between the shadow and the light.
The emerald green eyes of the cub's mother looks down upon that line from afar… her steps purposeful as she strides forward… the warmth of her form spreading against him as she brings herself directly to his side… leaning down to look over the line with quite some curiosity… a purr eminating from her as she looks to him… and moves her paw over the line… a single toe pushing against the beginning of the line… and weaving downwards, makes two gentle curves… one into the light… the other, into the darkness… "They may seem different, my little love… but without each other… neither would exist…"
With that strange, uncanny way that both he and his sister have, the black cub looks up at his mother as if he understands what she's saying completely. He points towards the spot on the curve that's in the darkness, and then brings that same paw to his chest. Then, stepping forward into the light a little, he points at the other section of the curve and then raises his paw towards the cave, his sister. Light and shadow. Looking up once more, the boy steps fully into the sunlight, and then raises his paws, looking at the shadows that his form is creating.
As her black heart moves forward, and motions to the curves… then to himself, and then to his sister… Prisa's eyes only widen… a loud purr pouring from her chest as she looks to the cave… a soft smile coming to her as she looks back upon him, only to see him look at the shadows he causes… a quiet giggle eminating from her… "Has your father named you yet…?" She asks in a pleasant tone, laying down before her son, to watch his exploration…
At first, the boy doesn't give any sign that he even understands the question. Instead, his attention is absorbed by the shadows that follow his movements as he walks around. He even turns in a full circle, smiling as the shadows follow him around. Then, suddenly, his head raises and he looks to his mother, shaking his head from side to side. Toddling over towards his mother, he sits down infront of her and watches her curiously, his big ears listening to her words.
The Pale Lioness lowers her head once more, Prisa moving the tip of her tongue to stroke over her beloved son's cheek as he sits down, a purr rolling against his form as she extends her paw forward, and strokes over his back… "Until your father and I discuss it further… I will name you… Elimnyama…"
Returning his mother's purr, the boy closes his eyes and seems to enjoy the affection that she offers to him. His eyes open once more, taking to heart the name that she gives him, the first name he's known in his little life. He gives a childish, happy giggle as the boy stands up once more. He sticks his tongue out a little bit and draws a circle on the ground, a perfect circle. Then, he steps back and looks up at her expectantly. What he's expecting, however… is probably anyone's guess.
A soft giggle pours from Prisa at that moment, looking down at the newly named Eliminyama, reaching forward then to press her paw upon the circle… stroking her pads over the surface, half the 'circle' smeared in the same pattern in which her son and daughter were born… looking to her dark heart with a purr…
The child's curious eyes watch as she adds her own touch to the drawing that he had etched in the ground. Then, his blue eyes glance around for a moment and he toddles off into the shadow of the nearby tree. He returns a moment later, nearly tripping over his own feet with a rock in his mouth. With a little twitch of his jaw, he tosses the rock into the circle, atop the drawing, letting it fall where it will. Pointing at the stone, he bounces slightly on his feet excitedly.
A curious perk comes from the Pale Lioness, her eyes watching her son as he moves over torwards the tree… coming back with a rock in his maw. Now utterly intrigued, she only watches… ears erect and tail swishing against the ground… as she looks to the stone… and giggles, lifting it with her own maw… and carefully placing it on the larger portion of light… motioning to her son…
With a twitch of his nose, the boy watches his mother position the stone, squinting curiously as if he were trying to see the meaning within the shapes. Then, he turns and toddles off again into the shadows, ruffling around a bit into some leaves this time before returning with a second rock. This time, he immitates his mother, but instead of setting it down into the light, he places it opposite. Sticking his tongue out, as the stone doesn't taste very nice, he looks up, tail swaying.
She seems… if nothing more, than completely and utterly impressed, looking to her Son with a vivid purr, stepping slowly around the drawn circle to lean down and lick his tongue when he sticks it out, giggling quietly and pushing her nose down along his back affectionately… before flopping on her side, extending herself, back torwards him, though attention still focused upon her black heart… but rather, simply exposing the silver streak that runs down her back to him, to see if he too understands the meaning of that…
Leaving the circle and it's shapes behind, the boy watches as his mother flops over onto her side. At first, he watches her with a confused look on his little face. Taking a step forward, he looks at the stripe that runs down her back, following it from her shoulders down to the end of her tail. It takes him a long time to walk all that way, finally stopping at her tail tip. Apparently, this isn't as obvious to the boy, who reaches down and noses at his mother's tail.
Prisa purrrs softly, lowly as she kneads her paws against the ground, she sprawled out on her side, back to her son, letting him examine the silver streak that runs down her form… before, as he noses at her tail, she shivers, and rolls over, reaching with a forepaw to scoot him up close to her stomach, suddenly beginning to groom over his head and ears. "There is light… My Son… then there is the light… of the moon… Just as there is darkness… then there is the darkness… of the moon…" She whispers to him, as if explaining…
Light and dark. Thus far, many of the things in this cub's life have been mirrors of that duality. "ooon." The boy makes an attempt at saying the word that his mother had said, but seems puzzled. As of yet, he's only been out of the cave during the day. So he has no understanding of what the moon actually is. Tilting his head, the child's ears fold downward, trying to bat at his mother's tongue and get her to explain what this mysterious 'ooon' thing is.
Mamela shakes out her fur as she approaches from the bottom of the valley, looking either quite tired or as if she has just woken up. She spots her mother and brother, however, and immediately her demeanor is a happy one as she chirps, increasing her gait as she runs to nuzzle her mother and Mwongozi.
Prisa perks a little at that, stopping her tongue in striding-stroke as she looks at her son… giggling quietly as she just pulls him up tight, purring loudly… "I will show you later, my son… the Moon… it's… it's very special to us…"
Mamela gets up to Prisa's side and she nudges both her and Mwongozi, giving them both affectionate nuzzles and another chirp. "Hi mom, little bro." she smiles to them both before sitting down.
"Ooon." The boy says again, although this time it sounds more as if he plans on holding his mother to her promise to show him this strange thing she speaks of. Then, the boy is distracted by Mamela's approach, leaning up a bit to purr at her, especially when she nuzzles him. Sure, she may look different than all the rest of the family he knows, but family is family in his little cubbish world.
A perk comes from Prisa as suddenly Mamela comes up, giggling softly as she wraps a forepaw around the big cheetah, tugging her closer a little bit. "Hello dear~… How are you feeling…?" Her tongue pushes forward then, stroking over the blunt of her daughter's head, before then moving to stroke over the back of her son's ear.
Mamela grins. "I'm fine. How are you, mom?" she asks, before pulling her little brother up to her for a hug and a lick over the ears.
Prisa perks a little bit at that, giggling softly as she purrs to her daughter. "The same… Of course…"
The little black cub giggles a little bit and paws at his older sister, his dark face showing a smile and small cubish white milk teeth. The boy settles himself into a sitting position between his mother's paws, watching the two talk with his ears perked, listening to every word. The tuft of black fur at the end of his tail twitches back and forth at a steady pace.
Mamela grins and lies down so she can better face the cub, giving his face a little lick, and decides to see how well her can speak. She smiles. "My name's Mamela, little brother. Can you say Mamela?" asks, hoping his speech is as cute as her sister's preeree and rooroo words.
Prisa mmms softly and looks down at her son, giggling as he settles himself between her paws, moving them up to rub down his sides, before she simply yawns and looks at Mamela as she tries to get him to talk.
Blinking from the lick, the little black cub rubs a paw on his face, clearing his vision before looking nearly cross-eyed at the cheetah infront of him. At first, he doesn't say anything at all, just tilting his head a bit and looking as if he were puzzled by her question. "Mmaa." The boy tries tentetively, then takes a bit of a deeper breath. "Mmmaaamuro." It comes out in a jumbled mess of sound.
Mamela giggles softly and shakes her head lightly, giving him a lick on the head and an encouraging purr. "Mamela." she repeats with a soft smile, just loving the way cubs talk.