The scent of the returning cubs awoke Malka from his nap. Well, cubs was a strong word at this point because all of the cubs he once had to keep an eye on were now yearlings and showing that they would be the Pride's next generation. However, the one who constantly caught his attention, however, was the cub who wasn't born in the Goldlands. Ever since the cubs became a year old, Malka found his eyes lingering on Lana body, especially when she was walking away from him. Not only because she was beautiful but because she was also changing mentally. Gone was the flighty, flirty, androgynous cub who had problems with getting to close too people, and she was replaced with… well, with who she was now. She still had her friendly energy, but Malka best described her as being modestly arrogant. She knew she was smarter than a lot of her friends, she knew that she was developing into exactly what a future queen should be. She also knew that she was becoming a real beauty, and the way she talked to and acted around males showed just how much she knew that to be the case.
That wasn't to say Malka didn't appreciate her appearance every time she made her presence known. He hoped he wasn't staring as she approached. "Hey, Malka, come on. Sefu and Khari just told us about this really cool place." Malka raised his eyebrows. "Sefu told you something?" He wryly remarked, and Lana couldn't help but smirk as she stifled a laugh. "Khari said that what she found will make you believe that he could talk to the cosmos themselves. You got to come see this." She said, and Malka couldn't help but follow as he tried to erase any impure thoughts he had from his mind. Once Lana and he united with the group, Malka made a mental note of who was all present, and noticed that Akato, Masika, Julia and David had returned for the first time in months. And puberty clearly hadn't forgotten either of them, and it made Malka smile inwardly just a little to see that Iago was fully aware of just how much David and Akato had grown.
And that he was also fully aware that Malka was now two years old, and his dark brown mane had fully wrapped around his head and neck. Though it wasn't as long as it would be when he was officially an adult, it was fuller than Iago's was at the moment. Indeed, it was fuller than any of the manes possessed by the teenaged males. What was more, Malka was now much taller and more muscular, he was the size he was going to be as an adult and he was perhaps bigger than Blood had been when he was alive. And that perhaps explained why Iago didn't so much as dare to misbehave as he usually would have towards him. But the defiance and fire in his eyes said it all: Malka had better not let his guard down just because he was the obviously stronger of the two brothers. In fact, none of them were safe from the ambitious favored son, but right now Lana broke the tension.
"We are in some serious need of koalas right now. Thankfully, Khari and Othello know exactly where to find them." Iago turned to stare at her, but Sefu's glare was all the warning he needed. Othello spoke up before any other exchanges could happen. "Remember the eucalyptus groves at the southern borders?" He asked, to which Jezebel and Julia both turned to face the middle child of Blood's family. "Yeah, and I remember Mom telling all of us, even Iago, to never go there as cubs." Iago rolled his eyes. "Maybe she told you not to." He said under his breath, earning an annoyed look from his brothers. "Anyway, the leaves of those trees are awesome. They can make you feel as though you're standing among the stars-" Iago interrupted Khari with a scoff. "Heh. I know one way to make you lionesses see stars, and it's good for… everyone involved" Iago lost steam when Malka growled at his interruption. "We can't eat the leaves directly though, am I right?" David asked, and it prompted Khari to continue. "No, it would kill us if we ate them. But koalas can eat the leaves, and they do it without having any of the bad effects." At that, Lana now knew exactly where Khari was going with this.
"If I had know you guys liked koala meat, I would have shown you guys where Magnus and I keep our secret stash." She said. At that, the teens all looked at the dark princess. She then chuckled, a knowing and sly chuckle. "Oops, I guess it's not a secret anymore. Teehee." David and Julia raised their eyebrows. "But is this a secret to Icarus?" Julia asked, and one could almost feel Iago's mood deflate at the mention of the lion that had cowed his entire power base into submission with his words. And the others probably would have taken note of it if they had been paying attention to him.
"Maybe it still is, and maybe it won't be. It all depends on if you tell him or not." Lana said playfully, completely aware of the effect that her syrupy voice and eel-like movements were having on the males present. She especially relished the swoon that Othello and Akato couldn't help but emit, and though Malka and Sefu held their admiration in check, their eyes said it all. Lana giggled, as she turned her back. "Come on. Let's go." She said, leading the way. Iago considered following, but given the presence of Akato, David, Sefu and especially Malka, he wouldn't knew he wouldn't get very far. He was happy that no one so much as noticed him as he slunk away, and began to return to the zebra plains. At least, he thought no one had noticed.
Though Sefu had a bad feeling in his gut, he also knew he'd be unable to actually voice his concerns to his friends. He'd just have to wait and see.