Cubs in the Cradle (Nashati, anyone else!)

[Susano]

The hustle of the pride made Natsumi dizzy as she followed the crowd down to the dens. She had been dodging the healers as she figured they had more important matters to attend to than her at the moment. Sure, her wounds were taking a bit longer than she expected to heal, she just needed some rest she figured. Her hooves skipped as she favored her right leg. As some pride member rushed by she almost dropped the mouth full of food she had waited for. Members were excited and worried all at the same time, Natsumi could pick out bits of pieces of whispers here and there. She concluded that Aurora had finally gone into labor and was giving birth. With all the crowding it made sense but did everyone really need to crowd the den? With a heavy sigh and bit of careful maneuvering, Natsumi made her way through the crowd. She limped around the dens until she found the one that held Nashati and the cubs.

The tallion smiled at the sight of her pup curled up with the other cubs as if he was no different than them. With that she dropped the food in front of Nashati and nudged it closer to the nursing mother. "With all the excitement, I thought I'd bring you food, and news.." She spoke softly trying not to wake the cubs.

[Larka]

Nishati heard the gentle steps of another, she assumed it would be Skylar returning, but as she awoke and lifted her eyes she found Natsumi. Nishati smiled gently at the tallion, "Natsumi, it;s wonderful to see you, but are you alright? Did everyone return safely?" She asked slightly worried seeing Natsumi's wounds, and fearing the worst for her friend Swetse. "I would be glad to hear some news, and have some food." She laughed a little as she sniffed at the meat, "I see you were successful in finding food then?" Nishati stood up softly, stretching her legs, letting the cubs re-arrange themselves around one another, as their warm mother was moved from their side. She bent down and began to eat a little, he looked up to Natsumi again, "Please Natsumi, come and eat, you need this as much as myself."

[Susano]

The lioness's gestures and kindness made Natsumi feel almost warm inside. This pride was full of strange feelings for her. She sighed and sat with a plop tired from the days events. "Everyone is fine, As far as I can tell. We were ambushed as we made a kill. I tried to keep the enemy pride's attention so no one was gravely hurt. But Queen Aurora declared war when we returned, and now she is in labor." Natsumi huffed as she recalled the ambush. Her body was tired and there was no hiding it. Her stripes and eyes glowed softly, if she was feeling better they would be bright neon, but now it was not but a dull light. "No, this food is for you. I have to thank you for watching Koji. I hope he wasn't to much trouble." She was extremely grateful to the lioness. She offered a small smile, "And i'll be fine once i've had some rest.. May I stay here? I don't want the healers to find me, they have more important things to attend to." She was dreary but stayed upright by shear force of will.

[Larka]

"Oh no..." Nishati said as she looked to Natsumi, war was not good, not to mention it could threaten the lives of her new little ones, and as a mother her gut twisted at the thought of them being in danger, plus she was in no position to fight, not yet anyway. "At least everyone is safe, I don't know what that little one would do if her Daddy was hurt." She smiled motioning to the little blue cub who sat amidst the brown and golden cubs, currently being layed upon by the brownest cub of all. "I hope Aurora's alright..." She murmered. "I didn't know she was that far along..." Nishati went back to eating her food, her strength beginning to restore. "He was no trouble at all." Nishati smiled, looking at the little red pup, "Honestly he was a nice relief, these little one's have only just begun to open their eyes, unfortunately they're not much fun at this stage, all they want is feeding, and then after that they sleep, or clamber over each other..." She sighed, "It's kind of boring being a nursing mother, so having Koji running around and wanting to play has been a god send, it's also been good training for what I'll have to put up with in the near future." Nishati laughed jokingly, as she left some of the meat to save for later, padding back to the balls of fluff that lay on her bedding."Of course you can, I'm glad of the company, Neo and Skylar are always popping out to stretch their legs and leaving me here on my own. As soon as Skylar returns though, I'll have her look at your wounds." She smiled as the cubs began to feed once again, "So what's this other pride like? Are they like us?"

[Susano]

The talk of war obviously put the mother lioness on edge, and Natsumi could understand why. The pains of war were never to be taken lightly. Her eyes fell on the blue cub and she wondered if Swetse had come to see her since they got back. The mix of cubs made Natsumi realize just how accepting this pride could be. With how all the pride looked together, she bet outsiders might think them all crazy or evil. Horns and Hooves, aspects of demons right? She almost lost herself in thought until Nashati began to praise Koji.
Natsumi smiled softly at the praise of her pup. He seemed like he would get along just fine with the pride so far, but she wasn't going to keep her hopes up. After all, he was still young. "I'll have to bring him back for visits then, when everything is settled down." She was referring to taking Koji to another den, one that eventually she could call her own. It would be nice to have a place to rest safely at night for a change. She yawned and shook her head as Nashati returned to the cubs. Standing awkwardly favoring her hind leg, she hobbled her way behind Nashati and the cubs. Laying carefully down trying not to let her hooves click too much, Koji was out cold next to the cubs and she knew if she woke him she'd never be able to get rest. once down she curled herself around Nashati to give her support and hopefully a little more cushion to lean on, Natsumi was quite a bit bigger and made a nice pillow. With an exhausted sigh she laid her head on her own paws. "They weren't like us... They feared us, called us monsters.. I believe that might be why Aurora declared war. Because she wants us to show them the monsters we can be.." Natsumi wasn't one to question orders or ask for reasoning, but she did wonder why such a remark would trigger such anger in the Queen.

[Larka]

"Yes please do! The cubs have already begun to think of them as one of their own." Nishati said smiling down at all the bundles of fluff that lay near her, as each one began to suckle, she pushed the littlest one forward so he could find a feed spot, he was the runt and seemed pushed out by the others. She sighed, although they hadn't completely decided on names for them, she already had in mind that little one would be called Pich, after her brother who fell, saving the cubs from the circus poachers. Nishati felt comforted by Natsumi curling up behind her, it was nice to have friends again, who she could lean on, literally. She did miss her old friends though, even though her and Neo were the tightest, they were all still good friends. Nishati was pulled from her daydreams as Natsumi spoke, "Did they not possess powers? Different colours?" She sighed, it was the way of the world, 'normal' lions would always view them as monsters, just because they're different. "I don't know, Aurora's a complex one, she may have declared war because they are the true monsters... It's probably a bit of both..."

[Susano]

Natsumi lifted her head trying to remember the other pride member through the blurr of the fight. "Well... from what i could tell, they seemed natural. Perhaps their pelts might have been different colors. But nothing as elaborate as the colorful pride we are in." She glanced at her dulling stripes, and hooves. Her eyes must have looked as dull as her stripes, usually bright glowing orbs now only a dim shadow of their former glory. This reminded her of how she looked after the fire. Beaten, bruised, and dried blood caked over her pelt. Yet she didn't flinch or complain, she's come out of battles looking worse. The Tallion laid her head down on her paws again at the last comment. "Yeah, she mentioned that. Others fear what they do not understand... it is in the nature of most creatures." She glanced at the red hyena pup knowing he would suffer hardships within the pride as well as out. She hoped he'd be able to make it when he grows. The red pup was on his back with his hind legs propped up on the bed of leaves while he was sprawled on the ground. Obviously it didn't bother him too much because he didn't wake up. The sight of the sleeping pup brought warm comforting feelings to her, this was going to be a new experience raising him to be a loyal member of the pride. But she was determined to bring him up right, no matter what it took.

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