CHAPTER 1: Innocence
Cassea struggled to groom a stubborn and frustrated Sabrea's fur. Sabrea was determined to run off and play in the tall grass field that surrounded her parent's den. Every time she went to play, she would return covered in grass seed and burs, and once again, Cassea would have to groom her fur.
"Mommmmm!" Sabrea whined as Cassea roughly licked the fur on top of her head. "Come on, let me go!"
Cassea sighed at her daughters constant pleas. "Oh go on," Cassea said. She let her go and gave her a nudge with her paw. "You'll just come back even worse anyway."
"Yeeeeah!" Sabrea shouted, bounding away.
"Don't go far!" Cassea called after Sabrea. "I doubt she heard me," Cassea thought with a smile, as she climbed up the rock ledge a bit to sit in the sun and keep a better eye on Sabrea as she played in the field.
Secretly, Cassea wished she could have grown up like Sabrea. Her own mate ended up raising her, and cub life consisted of staying hidden at all times. Kunda hadn't perfected his hunting skill back then, and was constantly out on the hunt since it took so long. Cassea couldn't really play much. But she loved the times when Kunda was back at the tiny den and he didn't have to hunt. She longed for the days he'd return from the hunt with a good kill. Despite their age difference, the two played like best friends until the sun had set, and then they'd look at the stars together for hours. Cassea fondly remembered the times a cool breeze would pick up, and she could snuggle to Kunda's fur. She loved him in so many ways. Like a father, like a brother, and ultimately, as a mate.
Cassea's thoughts drifted off as she heard Kunda's laughter. She looked down into the field. He'd returned home, and was now chasing Sabrea. At one point he must have caught her, because she heard Sabrea squeel with laughter. He let his wild little daughter go, and trotted back to a thin spot on the grass. He picked up a freshly killed gazelle and lumbered back to the entrance of the den with it.
Kunda dropped the kill and called to Sabrea, who still hid in the grass, "Time to eat honey!" Sabrea apparently had been following Kunda close, and when he turned back to the kill, she leaped out and attempted to pounce him! Kunda let himself plop down the ground as though Sabrea had knocked him over by force.
"You got me!" he roared with laughter. "I didn't even hear you!" Sabrea grinned in his face. Kunda sat up and said to her "You'll be a great hunter when you grow up." He smiled and licked her fur, getting a mouth full of grass seed.
"Phff! Yuck!" Kunda spat out the grass seed. Sabrea's big grin remained. She crawled off her father and crouched by the gazelle ready to eat.
"Sabby, see if you can bite into the gazelle," Kunda said with a mischievous grin. Cassea blinked and eyed her mate. Sabrea looked up at her father confusedly. "Just try it. See if you can get through the skin."
Sabrea nodded, trying to act calm and serious. This was the first time her father had asked her to do such a thing, and she tried to treat it as a serious hunting lesson. But she could barely contain her excitement. She tried to do it in a quick movement like her parents did, so not to get full of blood. Sabrea's baby teeth and tiny claws sank in to the side of the gazelle, but nothing happened. She bit harder, and pushed against the animal with her tiny front paws.
Sabrea's parents tried not to laugh as she got her back paws involved too. But she hung onto the skin of the gazelle's side tight with her little teeth. Sabrea was almost ready to give up, but she sank her teeth in tight one more time and pulled back with her head as she pushed with her paws. And the skin finally gave and tore open! Sabrea was so surprised that she let go with her teeth, and flew backwards, doing a summersault and rolling to a stop, landing upside down.
Kunda roared with laughter, and even Cassea laughed. She walked to Sabrea to help her up, but Sabrea jumped up on her own.
"I did it dad, I did it!" she exclaimed, leaping over to the torn open gazelle and looking up to her father with pride.
Kunda grinned, still laughing. "You sure did, Sabby." His look became full of pride. "I've never known a cub your age who could do something like that."
"Lets eat," said Cassea with a pleasant smile. "We can gloat about our accomplishments later."
The family feasted on the gazelle until there was nothing left. It wasn't a filling meal for the two adults, but Sabrea was so excited she ate until she was stuffed. Cassea and Kunda were finishing up the last bit of meat, when Sabrea asked:
"When are you gonna take me out to hunt?"
Both stopped. Cassea glanced and Kunda. "Soon, Sabrea, soon," Kunda said. "But you'll have to start slow if you're going to start earlier then most cubs."
Sabrea looked up at him, her eyes literally glowing with hope. "You mean, I can start earlier then most cubs?" She flicked a bur and grass seed off her hind foot.
"We'll have to see..." said Cassea, gathering Sabrea up with a paw. "Right now, you're getting a bath."
Sabrea sighed with disgust, but she was to full and tired to fight her mother.
The sun had begun to set on the savanna. The light began to fade, and the crickets began to sing their songs of the evening. It was a beautiful, clear, peaceful evening. Sabrea's voice again broke the silence.
"Dad, how come we aren't in a pride?"
Cassea glanced at her mate, continuing to bathe her daughter. Kunda moved a little closer to the two and said to Sabrea "Pride life isn't as nice as what we have."
"But there would be other cubs in a pride to play with." Sabrea replied.
"Let me tell you something about being in a pride, Sabrea." Kunda explained. "They share everything. They hunt together, sleep together, and the cubs play together. The pride lions don't know what it's like to have individuality. They don't do their own thinking. They think and do as they are told, and they don't know a world beyond that."
Sabrea nodded, still looking puzzled.
Kunda smiled. "They don't have the choices like we do. If we wanted to get up and leave, we could. We can do as we please, hunt as we please, and we keep the kills we work for. In a pride, you have to stay in the same place and often give up most of your kill for the more powerful members of the pride."
Sabrea understood now, but her brow furrowed. "Why would anyone want to live like that?"
"They don't have a choice," Kunda explained. "They learn to hunt as a team. They have a lot of trouble bringing down a kill completely on their own. They simply don't know self-reliance."
"But is it really so bad to have help on a hunt?" Sabrea "I mean you could get bigger-Mom!" Cassea licked Sabrea's face as she had been talking. "I'm clean already!" Sabrea swatted her mother with a paw.
"Ok, you're alright I guess." Cassea let Sabrea go. The cub journeyed closer to her father.
The sun had set by now, and the family looked at the stars.
Kunda thought for a moment, and answered her question. "No, it's not bad. But think if the pride was dispersed, or a member was cast out. They could not survive on their own."
"I guess both sides have good stuff." Sabrea thought out loud. "But you have a better chance of surviving as a rogue."
"Correct," Kunda answered.
The 3 sat in silence for a while, looking at the stars, each thinking their own thoughts. Cassea made her thoughts known.
"Time you get some sleep, Sabrea."
"Awww mom..." Sabrea complained. But she yawned immediately afterwards. She tried to hide it with a cough.
"I saw that, Sabby," Cassea smirked. She picked up her daughter and carried her in the den. Sabrea was tired, so she didn't put up a fuss over it. Her mother placed her in the back of the den, in a nest of soft, dried grasses. Cassea gave her cub a few licks to clean off the remaining grass seeds, and the cub was soon fast asleep.
Cassea wandered back outside near her mate. She rubbed against his side as she walked up next to where he sat on his haunches.
"The herds are returning to the lands, aren't they?" she inquired of her mate.
"They are, in huge numbers. The Pridelands have a new king, who got rid of the huge hyena population. The lands are regaining their fertility," Kunda responded.
"What a relief," Cassea said. "They were barren for so long. I was worried with a cub on the way, and such scarcity of food..."
"It'll be alright now," Kunda said, nuzzling his love. "Did Sabrea fall asleep fast?"
"She was out faster then usual. She did a lot of playing in that field today," Cassea said with a smile. "She managed to catch a field mouse."
"Really," Kunda murmured. "She'll be quite the huntress when her time comes. I think starting her training early will be benificial."
"Yes, just don't take it to fast or put her in danger," Cassea warned.
"Of course not," Kunda confirmed. "But tell her to keep bringing in field mice if she can. It'll help her." He leaned towards Cassea with a serious look. "When she pounced me, I honestly didn't hear her creep up. Even in the grass."
"Wow..." muttered Cassea.
The couple sat close, each thinking with pride of their wonderfully talented daughter. Cassea nuzzled her mate happily, and he returned her nuzzle with a lick on the muzzle. She gave him a cute, yet seductive grin. Kunda raised an eyebrow. Cassea pushed him into the tall grass with a paw, and lay close to him. "Remember the first time I nuzzled you?" she whispered into his ear. Kunda nodded and made a soft purring noise.
"We were so young back then..." he reminisced.
Cassea giggled softly for a second. Kunda gave her an inquisitive look.
"Oh, I was remembering when I told you that you would become a father."
Kunda smirked. "You, of course, had to tell me when I was standing on the edge of the watering hole."
Cassea snickered. The two lions nuzzled affectionately.
"We should probably get back in," Cassea murmured, her muzzle partly buried in Kunda's thick, dark mane.
"Yeah..." Kunda murmured back, while licking the back of Cassea's neck.
They stopped and their eyes met for a brief moment. Then they rose, and walked together back into the den.
Cassea struggled to groom a stubborn and frustrated Sabrea's fur. Sabrea was determined to run off and play in the tall grass field that surrounded her parent's den. Every time she went to play, she would return covered in grass seed and burs, and once again, Cassea would have to groom her fur.
"Mommmmm!" Sabrea whined as Cassea roughly licked the fur on top of her head. "Come on, let me go!"
Cassea sighed at her daughters constant pleas. "Oh go on," Cassea said. She let her go and gave her a nudge with her paw. "You'll just come back even worse anyway."
"Yeeeeah!" Sabrea shouted, bounding away.
"Don't go far!" Cassea called after Sabrea. "I doubt she heard me," Cassea thought with a smile, as she climbed up the rock ledge a bit to sit in the sun and keep a better eye on Sabrea as she played in the field.
Secretly, Cassea wished she could have grown up like Sabrea. Her own mate ended up raising her, and cub life consisted of staying hidden at all times. Kunda hadn't perfected his hunting skill back then, and was constantly out on the hunt since it took so long. Cassea couldn't really play much. But she loved the times when Kunda was back at the tiny den and he didn't have to hunt. She longed for the days he'd return from the hunt with a good kill. Despite their age difference, the two played like best friends until the sun had set, and then they'd look at the stars together for hours. Cassea fondly remembered the times a cool breeze would pick up, and she could snuggle to Kunda's fur. She loved him in so many ways. Like a father, like a brother, and ultimately, as a mate.
Cassea's thoughts drifted off as she heard Kunda's laughter. She looked down into the field. He'd returned home, and was now chasing Sabrea. At one point he must have caught her, because she heard Sabrea squeel with laughter. He let his wild little daughter go, and trotted back to a thin spot on the grass. He picked up a freshly killed gazelle and lumbered back to the entrance of the den with it.
Kunda dropped the kill and called to Sabrea, who still hid in the grass, "Time to eat honey!" Sabrea apparently had been following Kunda close, and when he turned back to the kill, she leaped out and attempted to pounce him! Kunda let himself plop down the ground as though Sabrea had knocked him over by force.
"You got me!" he roared with laughter. "I didn't even hear you!" Sabrea grinned in his face. Kunda sat up and said to her "You'll be a great hunter when you grow up." He smiled and licked her fur, getting a mouth full of grass seed.
"Phff! Yuck!" Kunda spat out the grass seed. Sabrea's big grin remained. She crawled off her father and crouched by the gazelle ready to eat.
"Sabby, see if you can bite into the gazelle," Kunda said with a mischievous grin. Cassea blinked and eyed her mate. Sabrea looked up at her father confusedly. "Just try it. See if you can get through the skin."
Sabrea nodded, trying to act calm and serious. This was the first time her father had asked her to do such a thing, and she tried to treat it as a serious hunting lesson. But she could barely contain her excitement. She tried to do it in a quick movement like her parents did, so not to get full of blood. Sabrea's baby teeth and tiny claws sank in to the side of the gazelle, but nothing happened. She bit harder, and pushed against the animal with her tiny front paws.
Sabrea's parents tried not to laugh as she got her back paws involved too. But she hung onto the skin of the gazelle's side tight with her little teeth. Sabrea was almost ready to give up, but she sank her teeth in tight one more time and pulled back with her head as she pushed with her paws. And the skin finally gave and tore open! Sabrea was so surprised that she let go with her teeth, and flew backwards, doing a summersault and rolling to a stop, landing upside down.
Kunda roared with laughter, and even Cassea laughed. She walked to Sabrea to help her up, but Sabrea jumped up on her own.
"I did it dad, I did it!" she exclaimed, leaping over to the torn open gazelle and looking up to her father with pride.
Kunda grinned, still laughing. "You sure did, Sabby." His look became full of pride. "I've never known a cub your age who could do something like that."
"Lets eat," said Cassea with a pleasant smile. "We can gloat about our accomplishments later."
The family feasted on the gazelle until there was nothing left. It wasn't a filling meal for the two adults, but Sabrea was so excited she ate until she was stuffed. Cassea and Kunda were finishing up the last bit of meat, when Sabrea asked:
"When are you gonna take me out to hunt?"
Both stopped. Cassea glanced and Kunda. "Soon, Sabrea, soon," Kunda said. "But you'll have to start slow if you're going to start earlier then most cubs."
Sabrea looked up at him, her eyes literally glowing with hope. "You mean, I can start earlier then most cubs?" She flicked a bur and grass seed off her hind foot.
"We'll have to see..." said Cassea, gathering Sabrea up with a paw. "Right now, you're getting a bath."
Sabrea sighed with disgust, but she was to full and tired to fight her mother.
The sun had begun to set on the savanna. The light began to fade, and the crickets began to sing their songs of the evening. It was a beautiful, clear, peaceful evening. Sabrea's voice again broke the silence.
"Dad, how come we aren't in a pride?"
Cassea glanced at her mate, continuing to bathe her daughter. Kunda moved a little closer to the two and said to Sabrea "Pride life isn't as nice as what we have."
"But there would be other cubs in a pride to play with." Sabrea replied.
"Let me tell you something about being in a pride, Sabrea." Kunda explained. "They share everything. They hunt together, sleep together, and the cubs play together. The pride lions don't know what it's like to have individuality. They don't do their own thinking. They think and do as they are told, and they don't know a world beyond that."
Sabrea nodded, still looking puzzled.
Kunda smiled. "They don't have the choices like we do. If we wanted to get up and leave, we could. We can do as we please, hunt as we please, and we keep the kills we work for. In a pride, you have to stay in the same place and often give up most of your kill for the more powerful members of the pride."
Sabrea understood now, but her brow furrowed. "Why would anyone want to live like that?"
"They don't have a choice," Kunda explained. "They learn to hunt as a team. They have a lot of trouble bringing down a kill completely on their own. They simply don't know self-reliance."
"But is it really so bad to have help on a hunt?" Sabrea "I mean you could get bigger-Mom!" Cassea licked Sabrea's face as she had been talking. "I'm clean already!" Sabrea swatted her mother with a paw.
"Ok, you're alright I guess." Cassea let Sabrea go. The cub journeyed closer to her father.
The sun had set by now, and the family looked at the stars.
Kunda thought for a moment, and answered her question. "No, it's not bad. But think if the pride was dispersed, or a member was cast out. They could not survive on their own."
"I guess both sides have good stuff." Sabrea thought out loud. "But you have a better chance of surviving as a rogue."
"Correct," Kunda answered.
The 3 sat in silence for a while, looking at the stars, each thinking their own thoughts. Cassea made her thoughts known.
"Time you get some sleep, Sabrea."
"Awww mom..." Sabrea complained. But she yawned immediately afterwards. She tried to hide it with a cough.
"I saw that, Sabby," Cassea smirked. She picked up her daughter and carried her in the den. Sabrea was tired, so she didn't put up a fuss over it. Her mother placed her in the back of the den, in a nest of soft, dried grasses. Cassea gave her cub a few licks to clean off the remaining grass seeds, and the cub was soon fast asleep.
Cassea wandered back outside near her mate. She rubbed against his side as she walked up next to where he sat on his haunches.
"The herds are returning to the lands, aren't they?" she inquired of her mate.
"They are, in huge numbers. The Pridelands have a new king, who got rid of the huge hyena population. The lands are regaining their fertility," Kunda responded.
"What a relief," Cassea said. "They were barren for so long. I was worried with a cub on the way, and such scarcity of food..."
"It'll be alright now," Kunda said, nuzzling his love. "Did Sabrea fall asleep fast?"
"She was out faster then usual. She did a lot of playing in that field today," Cassea said with a smile. "She managed to catch a field mouse."
"Really," Kunda murmured. "She'll be quite the huntress when her time comes. I think starting her training early will be benificial."
"Yes, just don't take it to fast or put her in danger," Cassea warned.
"Of course not," Kunda confirmed. "But tell her to keep bringing in field mice if she can. It'll help her." He leaned towards Cassea with a serious look. "When she pounced me, I honestly didn't hear her creep up. Even in the grass."
"Wow..." muttered Cassea.
The couple sat close, each thinking with pride of their wonderfully talented daughter. Cassea nuzzled her mate happily, and he returned her nuzzle with a lick on the muzzle. She gave him a cute, yet seductive grin. Kunda raised an eyebrow. Cassea pushed him into the tall grass with a paw, and lay close to him. "Remember the first time I nuzzled you?" she whispered into his ear. Kunda nodded and made a soft purring noise.
"We were so young back then..." he reminisced.
Cassea giggled softly for a second. Kunda gave her an inquisitive look.
"Oh, I was remembering when I told you that you would become a father."
Kunda smirked. "You, of course, had to tell me when I was standing on the edge of the watering hole."
Cassea snickered. The two lions nuzzled affectionately.
"We should probably get back in," Cassea murmured, her muzzle partly buried in Kunda's thick, dark mane.
"Yeah..." Kunda murmured back, while licking the back of Cassea's neck.
They stopped and their eyes met for a brief moment. Then they rose, and walked together back into the den.