|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:00 pm
((No really.. blame Arch for the name..))
After her walk on the beach with Tamba in the recent past, Leboya had taken her leave from him, deciding instead to go meet Mlinda later, thus to prevent him from having to wake her. AKA, she would wait until the lioness had woken herself, and while waiting, had gone off to set the locations of the other landforms about the area to memory.
It was about mid-day now, and Leboya had returned to the beach, to see that her king-friend had wandered to elsewhere, leaving Leboya to walk the sand alone.
Hmm.. maybe Mlinda has woken up... She pondered to herself as she walked across the beach, pausing some distance from the stone-den that had been pointed out to her previously, before approaching the entrance to it and peering in, attempting to see how far in it went.
"Hello...? Mlinda?" she called out, a slight purr in her voice.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:09 pm
Mlinda's body had been aching with pain, as well as storing amounts of energy. That, and she had become a bit moody as the cubs were squirming more vigorously by the day. Today could've been the day she was going to have cubs.
At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, she flattened her ears, beginning to growl loudly. But wait. How did this intruder know her name? The lioness tried to get a good look at them, before her eyes widened. "L...Le..Leboya?!" she exclaimed, nearly shooting up. She sat up as tall as she could, amazed at how an old pride member and dear friend could wind up here years later. "What're you doing here?"she asked curiously, ears perked up and a grin on her face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:17 pm
An incredulous look came over the lioness's face as she seemed to realize that 'Mlinda' was a shortening of 'Mlinda ya'uziwa.' Of -course-. Why hadn't she thought of this? The jellyfish lioness stepped into the den, not rushing herself, as she didn't want to boast her bout of energy to the poor den-ridden mother-to-be.
Leboya smiled as she reached Mlinda's side, butting her head against the other's shoulder, gently.
"Yes. Leboya is correct." she replied, laughing a bit, then sitting back, heaving a bit of a sigh. "What I'm 'doing here', is that the ocean never left me, and dragged my sorry butt back." she explained, before laughing again. She couldn't help but make that joke.
How much in her travels had she kept lurking around bodies of water? Well, all the time. Being away from it had a way to make her miserable.
"What about yourself? I got word from your mate that you're going to be having little ones!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:32 pm
Mlinda put her head on top of Leboya's, taking the time to soak in the comfort from her friend. Pulling back, she laughed as she listened to the jellyfish lioness explain why she'd come back. Mlinda couldn't help but smile at the loyalty her friend shared with her for the ocean.
"Tambuzi? Oh, you've met him, then!" she said happily. "Yes, we're having cubs. They're due-" She suddenly flinched a bit, one certain cub was wriggling around, as if wanting to suddenly burst out. "..any day now.. We're starting the Bahari'mtoto back up again. And judging by how fat I am, we'll certainly have lots of activity around the lands for a long time.." She chuckled a bit, before wincing as her stomach was being stretched out more. The cubs seemed to pick -now- to grab her attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:37 pm
Leboya nodded, laying down on her stomach in order to allow herself to make a better.. y'know.. 'headrest.' She listened keenly to the praising happiness that came into her pride-mate's voice as she spoke of Tambuzi (That's his full name?) and purred as Mlinda spoke of her children that were to come.
She frowned a bit when the lioness winced, purring against her, before looking down at the offending belly that was putting her into pain, nudging it with her nose.
"'ey you little sailors, calm down a bit, eh? Don't wanna make yer mommy hurt all the time.." she spoke, eventhough she was pretty sure that no matter what she said, they probably wouldn't understand it.
Another laugh came from Leboya as her friend described herself as 'fat', then nodded. "I guess we can say that you two basically made a pride outta just you two and you're children here, eh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:45 pm
A laugh came from Mlinda as she watched Leboya nudge the round, bulging belly, and then tell the 'sailors' to calm down. "Now, now..." she cooed, amused at the lioness' antics.
Before the queen could reply, she suddenly flinched, her eyes growing wide. "Oh dear..." she muttered, looking down at her stomach. She hadn't felt this kind of reflex from the cubs before; They were definitely ready to come out. "I think it's time!" she exclaimed at Leboya, wide-eyed. How was she going to do this?!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:58 pm
For a moment, Leboya would have thought she'd gotten the squirming mass of babies in Mlinda's 'tummy' to calm down, before Mlinda's sudden exclamation caught her attention. Crap! What was -she- gonna do? Go yell for Tamba to get his a** over there 'cause there were babies coming, or..?
She decided that for right now, she'd stay with Mlinda, if only to utter her reassurances and help in whatever way she could.
"Wait.. right -NOW-?" she squeaked none the less, rising up and walking back and forth a couple of times. Snapsnapsnap.
"Alright..." She took a deep breath and sat back down.
"I think.. we're both going to have to be VERY calm."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:12 pm
Mlinda nodded furiously, watching Leboya with a shocked and somewhat nervous look. How the -hell- was she going to do this?!
"Calm." She gave a nervous laugh. "I'm going to give birth to a litter of -ow!- cubs, and you expect me to be CALM?" she yelled, before suddenly ducking her head down to hide her face from Leboya. All of a sudden, her rear-end felt very full, and before she knew it, the lioness was scraping her claws along the ground, clenching her teeth together in a hard fashion, and squeezing her eyes shut. This birth felt like you were trying to give birth to an -elephant-! But still, Mlinda managed to give birth to the first cub, who was quickly scooped up to the queen by one of her massive paws. Maternally, she began licking off the filmy substance from the dark blue and silvery-blue cub, regaining some nutrition.
No! He did not want to go meet the world! Who was this strange creature? She certainly had some nerve, shoving him out into this cold, dark place! Once he got his paws on her, he'd...
The tiny cub squealed some, wriggling in his mother's paws. Suddenly, he felt himself being nudged towards her stomach, where he managed to latch onto a n****e and begin to nurse. It certainly was warm, and boy was he hungry! The cub propped himself against her, not ready to budge just yet.
"A boy.." Mlinda whispered softly, nuzzling the nursing cub as gently as she could. For the moment, her pain had disappeared as she watched the cub nurse quietly. This was the prince of the ocean.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:20 pm
Leboya frowned. "Yeah. If you panic or lose your head, you might cause some complicated which would cause a cub to die, or furthermore, YOU to die....." The lioness winced and leaned away from Mlinda as the sudden wave of 'pain-violence' was unleashed, her ears flattening back against her head.
In -this- case, she was just going to have to sit back and watch, it wasn't her place to step in and help with the subs, unless she felt it was absolutely nessecary.
She watched a bit as the first of their litter squirmed about in Mlinda's paw, chuckling a bit. Sure was an energetic little boy. "And a fine son he is.." she purred, nuzzling the side of the birthing mother's head.
"You're doing fine, if that means anything coming from me..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:26 pm
The joyous moment was short-lived as suddenly a wave of pain washed over Mlinda once more. She began using most of her body's strength, this time it was quicker than her son's birth.
Out came a beautiful, dark blue girl, who the lioness quickly licked clean, before giving her a gentle, purr-filled nuzzle. "A little girl.." she said, beaming with pride. She carefully picked up the small cub by the scruff, settling her down next to the other cub. Two proud ambassadors of the Bahari'mtoto pride.
Mlinda shook her head, small beads of sweat flying off her. This was tiring work, and there were still more cubs to come! "Tamba will be so happy.." she said softly to Leboya, glancing up at her friend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:31 pm
Leboya watched, beaming with pride for simply being so much as a witness, nodding. "I'm sure you both will be..." she purred, looking over both of the cubs and nodding firmly. Lovely, they both were so.
She glanced over the lioness's stomach, trying to guess to herself how many more her friend was going to be having, from a simple look. At least another two, she could guess. That actually wouldn't be too bad. At least she wasn't having like... 8. That would have prooven to be unbearible.
"How are you holding up?" she then inquired. "Want me to go yell for Tamba to get his butt over here?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:37 pm
The little female wriggled and squirmed against her sibling, mewling pitifully like a newborn does. But at least her brother was fairly soft and squishy, and made the same noises. She wasn't alone. And hello...what was this? Another squishy being, but much larger and warmer...and drier. With more little mewls, she nuzzled into her mother.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:56 am
The lioness looked up to Leboya, and nodded weakly. "Could you, please?" she asked quietly, before leaning down to groom her cubs once more. They needed names, and already she had thought up some for both of them. "Sikulu...?" she purred softly as she dragged her tongue over the male cub's head.
After only a few licks on her boy's head, the immense pain struck her again, this time allowing her only a few seconds of comfort. She could feel what felt like two cubs trying to get out at once. Would one of you decide! she thought, growling and yelling out in pain. After what felt like forever, another cub tumbled from her, landing a little roughly on the moss. Mlinda quickly had to temporarily stop nursing both cubs in order to lick the film off this cub.
As the cub was groomed, the queen was able to get a good look at it. Another male, and he was quite handsome. He had a white body, with the gray-blue markings on his face and abdomen. The cub also had a thick, dark stripe fading into the white fur. Mlinda beamed, although this time it was a bit weaker. She carefully nudged the cub towards her belly, allowing all three cubs to nurse once more.
"Leboya.." Mlinda said, her voice a little tired. "What do you think of the name Sikulu for this one?" A paw reached over to the dark blue male, gently scooping him towards her. "And for the girl.. Perhaps... Tamu? Something short, but delicate and sweet." Mlinda gave a chuckle as Sikulu began squirming and whining. He wanted attention, too!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:21 am
((I'll pick a text color later. XP; ))
Suddenly, without warning and certainly unceremoniously, the small cub was thrown into the dreary, unforgiving void that was life, small, piteous cries escaping his maw. What had happened to the warmth and the comfort? The cub was now, quite sure, that he was, ah, doomed.
However, this belief soon faded away as he was nudged towards the other two cubs and began to join them in their rather noisy suckling. Yet again, there was a warmth and comfort about him, leaving a placated feeling within his being. It wasn't so bad, he surmised, here on the outside...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:35 am
Leboya had risen to go call out for Tamba from the mouth of the den, but paused when Mlinda suddenly roared out in pain again, frowning a bit, then sitting down to watch and make sure she was alright.
Admiring the pair that were nursing, she looked up at the lioness as she started to ask her opinion on names, simply smiling and nodding. "Yes. Those are fine names, Mlinda.." she purred approvingly, though it should not have mattered her opinion either way.
Rising again, the nurse-to-be made her way to the mouth of the den, peering out and looking about first, as to make sure she wasn't going to yell -right- into the lion's face and deafen him.
Though the notion of it -was- rather humorous in itself.
She chuckled a bit at it, before shaking her head. Alright, get the daddy over here. Taking a deep breath, she peirced the silence of the beach with a roar of her own, before tacking onto the end of it; "TAMBA! GET OVER HERE AND SEE YOUR KIDS!"
-That- would probably have some effect, she decided, before turning and walking back to Mlinda's side. "If he's not here in a couple of minutes, I'll go yell again."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
