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 Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 5:18 pm
The cubs were nearly two weeks old now, and while they were still rather diminutive little things, they were wriggling around the cave with their eyes open. They didn't make much noise aside from the occasional whining, and Ting Lan reasoned they weren't yet very smart little things. It was a bit fascinating to think she, and every other lion she had met, had once been so tiny, uncoordinated and insignificant. At the same time as they were, right now, the most important thing in the world.
Still, she appreciated that she could now sit a couple feet away from them without feeling apprehensive, and the Empress was glad to begin feeling more like herself again.
She had let Hanjari in to see them for the first time when they were about three days old, and gradually began letting him in more, for longer than just a few moments. Today she planned to let him touch them, if he wanted to. She may even let him sleep in the same cave tonight! It was important, after all. And besides, she sort of missed her husband now, after kicking him out for a while. She couldn't help it, newborn cubs made her brain all fuzzy. But things were clearing up again.
The Empress sat by and watched as a couple of the cubs made excellent progress in wobbling around small circles, while the other three alternated between rolling onto their backs, flailing a bit and sleeping. She wondered how long it would take for Miandui to pass by today.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:57 pm
He wouldn't admit it, but Miandui had been really upset when his wife kicked him out of the cave. If she hadn't just had a litter, it might have been a social disaster. Gossip, speculation...the whole idea of it scared him. Thankfully many of the females understood how motherhood could be on a first time mother, so nothing of the sort happened. He was just really lonely and apprehensive. It killed him to be away from his wife and his own children, but he respected Ting Lan's wishes.
His personal guard had alerted him to approach the shared cave, and the Emperor did so carefully and quietly. He didn't want to inadvertantly wake the cubs and get Ting Lan's wrath face first.
He peeked around carefully....carefully.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:05 pm
She noticed right away, because some time ago Jian had stepped away from the cave entrance, and Ting Lan was very alert nowadays, more-so than usual. She assumed that once that blue tail was out of sight someone was coming by, probably someone she had already given 'clearance' to come in.
His caution was amusing at first, and she smiled wryly, instead of immediately feeling on guard. Yes, she was getting back to herself now. She even felt a little bad, Ting Lan had probably freaked her husband out for a bit there.
"You can come. Just no sudden movements." The last bit was a bit of a tease, in the hopes of disarming the situation. She lied down, letting one of the clumsy cubs fall over her paws. She looked perhaps a bit thin in the face, and tired. Ting Lan hadn't really been sleeping much. But Miandui would be glad to find that her expression was far friendlier than it had been lately.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:27 pm
Miandui didn't know if he should really trust the look Ting Lan gave him. She was a little unpredictable lately, and he wasn't interested in more trouble. It was maddening, getting the brunt of her anger, but that was...hormones? Motherly instict? Obsession? Miandui would never say anything against it, because he had no idea what it was like to carry the cubs, give birth, and deal with...all the emotions that came along. He was only there as support, and as some sort of punching bag.
It had pushed his patience, but probably for good. He guessed he could take a lot more heat from the other Houses and handle it a loooot better now. There was a blessing in everything.
"My love," he said with a bemused look on his face. "I guess I'm allowed to grace you and our heavenly gifts," he joked a bit back at her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:57 pm
She had the decency to look a little sheepish, but only for a moment, before nodding neatly. "Yes, dear. You are welcome here." Now he was, anyways. She would probably apologize at some point, but she wasn't yet feeling honestly apologetic.
She still looked a little thoughtful when one of the cubs inched a bit closer to its father, but at this point Ting Lan sort of... just wanted it over with. He could come and sit with her and once that was done the barrier would be broken. she hoped.
So the Empress was a little impatient, and decided she'd just force the barrier down herself. She sighed slightly, and picked up the cub still wriggling about on her front paws, a female. Then she stood up, and took a few steps over to her mate, and gently placed the cub by his paws.
Ting Lan took a couple steps back, initially looking a little uncertain. "...Yes, that's fine." She appeared to tell herself out loud, then sat down, and then finally seemed quite relaxed. She would handle this fine now.
Perhaps she felt a little embarrassed still, because her caution felt silly now. So the empress preferred to keep a conversation going. "The first born was that one." She motioned to one of the males, currently napping with the remaining sister. So he would be the next Emperor of Tianxia, barring exceptional circumstances. She would make sure there were none.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:43 pm
Hanjari looked at the little girl that was nestled between his paws at the moment. He wondered how his mate knew how to tell the difference of their sexes by just a glance, but she had spent a lot of time with them, and he hadn't. He'd take the time now to get to know them.
Scooping up the cub with his mouth, he carefully laid himself down, setting the little wiggling furball back between his paws. She didn't seem too pleased with the move, but content enough once her world was back to a calm state.
That was when, while looking at the males that Ting Lan motioned to, noticed one that reminded him of home. A lot.
"The golden one...?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:07 am
She sighed briefly, and grabbed another of the stragglers, the male with white paws, to place him with his siblings. Just because he was wandering a bit too far for her tastes, and she didn't want him to get cold. Then Ting Lan went to lay next to her mate, now feeling far more comfortable with him around.
"One of the boys. He was the third." Miandui would already know there were three males and two females, as she had told him before. Despite not having been as welcoming in the previous visits. They should probably name the cubs soon, rather than just 'a boy' or 'a girl'.
"That's right... gold is a Pridelands color." She mused. Miandui himself wasn't very golden, so at first she hadn't made the connection. Ting Lan had been preoccupied. "Any news from them? The Pridelands?" She asked, because she hadn't in a while, and wanted to start getting back into things. Soon the cubs would be strong enough for her to have more freedom, and as such she would be getting back to work. She looked forward to hunting. Not an activity the Empress always bothered to engage in, but...
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:34 am
Miandui frowned as he looked at the wiggling cubs, but he wasn't really watching them. Just a little spaced out.
"Well, yes and no. Its a far journey, and messages take a long time." He shifted a bit uncomfortably, torn on the emotions when finding out that the golden one wasn't the heir, for sure.
"My father is in a troubled state. One that...we may be able to offer aid in, but it comes at a bit of a price on our side of the bargain." Knowing how Ting Lan had been when the cubs were born, he was, well, dreading this.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:53 am
She wondered if she should be offended by his distraction in an important moment, but he had been patient with her. So Ting Lan would be alright with that, he deserved as much. "It is far." She agreed passively, without much thought.
She perked her ears with interest at the news of trouble in the Pridelands. That was rather unexpected, and she tried to imagine what might be going on. Then he talked about them helping, and for a moment she felt a little suspicious. A price? "Oh, really? What price is that? It seems only right we help out, if we can." She asked, amicably. Ting Lan wouldn't jump to conclusions, perhaps it was something very silly, and ehr mate was over thinking it.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:26 am
Miandui knew that his wife was smart. Smarter than him in a lot of things, and not only because these were her homelands. He had not been raised as heir, so he did not get as much teaching as his brother had. Once the agreement for him to be married off into Tianxia was finalized, then the bad news broke. His brother wasn't fit to be heir. His sister wasn't either, and so there was an empty spot to be filled.
And Miandui was the only one of his siblings with even the prospect of cubs, let alone that they only recently arrived.
"There is no heir for the throne," he replied, letting those words hang in the air for a moment.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:41 am
Ting Lan was, perhaps unfortunately, clever enough to catch on. "I see..." She quickly figured out where he was going, and became very still, looking blankly at the stone floor of the cave. Oh...
They had no heir to the throne. That meant that they wanted one. And here she was, with five cubs born from one of their princes. It was a logical sort of decision she would have quickly agreed to, if they hadn't already been born.
She set her sights on the male that had caught her mate's attention, and then pondered if that was why. If the heir of the Pridelands was to come from the outside, they would probably want a cub that at least looked like he fit in there.
The Empress was silent for some time. "The Pridelands sent me one of their sons." She said, finally, but sounded rather detached, still stuck in one place. "...It is only fair that I send them one of mine." It was the Empress side of her talking, and she valiantly fought back the emotional side, the side that wanted to chase Miandui off again because the place of her cubs was here, in Tianxia.
"How soon?" She asked, still staring at the young cub.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:52 am
Miandui sighed. She was taking this far better than he had thought, but that didn't mean it wasn't hitting her yet. She seemed to be hiding her emotions. Later on, once it actually sunk in that one of her son's would be sent away from her, forever....well, it made his own stomach sink into the ground.
"The sooner the better, as you may understand. He has much to learn about how the Pridelands operates. That doesn't mean we couldn't hold him back for a bit. Make sure that he remembers his origins, even create a hook in his heart for him to visit if he ever could."
Of course, that couldn't happen until after he had his own heir born for safety purposes, but it was possible.
"Then two of your sons would be sitting on thrones of strong prides," he reminded her softly. It wouldn't be easy for him, to give away the one child that looked so much like most of his family back home.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:12 pm
She nodded, almost distractedly. "Yes." He would need to fit in, and he wouldn't be able to rule his pride well if he didn't know it. Her son wouldn't have the luxury of marrying the heir of the Pridelands, he would simply be that heir.
"We will find him a tutor, to go and stay with him." Ting Lan would plan this, because maybe she'd feel a bit better about it. It was hard because he was so young, and wouldn't be much older when he left. She wouldn't be so apprehensive if it were an arranged marriage, where he would only go when he was older, more ready. "And I want someone to come pick him up. Someone kind." She didn't care how far it was, if the Pridelands wouldn't at least help secure her son's safety, she wouldn't send him out. Whomever it was could spend a few days and get to know her son, so he would feel more comfortable during the trip.
"And I will send another of our own, for food and protection, so he makes it safe." She would go, if it were prudent. But she had four other cubs to raise, and a pride to run. A trip to the Pridelands and back might take weeks. Perhaps she was being a bit demanding, but this was her cub they were talking about.
"And..." She trailed off, opting instead for turning her head and burying it in Miandui's mane. For a little while, so she could calm down, even if she didn't outwardly appear too worked up. She pulled away, and sat up. "We should name them." Ting Lan wanted a change of subject now, something she could handle better.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:39 pm
Miandui was trying to find a good place to edge in his own opinion on these plans that Ting Lan kept throwing out, but he couldn't seem to find one. He didn't want to talk over her, not when she was so upset and trying to calmly plan what would happen. He almost had an opening, and then she did something he didn't expect. Hide her face in his mane.
Stunned, the emperor just paused there, letting her gather her composure again while little wiggling, mewling cubs lingered around them. It was a bit of a surreal moment, but one he likely would never forget.
"Have you given them any pet names yet?" he asked, taking the lead on her wanting to change the subject. They would work out the details later.
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:49 pm
She blinked at the question, and wondered if she should have done such a thing. She hadn't really given them any individual little nicknames. Ting Lan had referred to them as 'little dragons' once or twice, thanks to the surname they would have.
"No." She answered. One of her reasons had even been that cubs sometimes didn't survive, and she was afraid of naming them for the first couple of days. Fortunately, they were all healthy. "I like Avani." She shrugged, it was a name she had heard once, and she liked the sound of it.
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