[PRP] I shall call you... mini-me.

[FerretPrince]

Kamau nodded happily. “Uh-huh! And I learned about the evil king and how he was overthrown and everything was perfect ever-after!” he chirped, being completely oblivious to the troubles that had proceeded his birth. Well, almost completely. He was vaguely aware that some lions had ‘gone away’ and wouldn’t ever come back, but since he hadn’t personally known them, he didn’t consider it a great loss. “The lake?” he shook his head, briefly causing his ears to flap. “Not yet. It’s still in the pride-grounds, right? I’m not allowed out of the valley. Momma says that there are cubnappers out there and that me and my sister are voonerable.”

He sniffed at that. “Of course, she’s more voonerable than me, even if she won’t admit it… how did you know to choose him? What made you choose him?” Now that the little cub was feeling more comfortable with the pair, he was a good deal more talkative. And curious too, the little guy. “I can’t wait for me and Mini to get our birds. Then we won’t be so voonerable.”  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatanos ears twitched at the bit about the 'evil king', and Hisa turned her head to glance at him, as if checking on him. Well, he thought bitterly. That's daddy-dearest for you. Though, he made a good call and didn't comment on it, though he frowned slightly, and glanced away for a moment.

"Vulnerable, " He corrected the cubs pronunciation quietly, and Hisa rolled her eyes for a moment before focusing back on the cub. "Yes, it is! But the pride's lands are big, so it's not that odd that you haven't seen it yet. " It would be odd if he was older, but considering Kamau was just a cub, and shouldn't go far without his mother..

At the next batch of questions, Hisa chuckled slightly. "I have no idea; when you figure that one out, tell me, kay? " She said playfully, and Mapatano snorted, muttering something unintelligible to himself.

"You'll get your birds soon enough, " He shrugged. But yes, birds were a bit of a safety net. Not that they could protect the cubs much, physically, from an attacking rogue, but in the very least they could.. claw at eyes, or act as a sentry.  

[FerretPrince]

Completely oblivious to the soreness of the topic, Kamau simply nodded. “Right. Vulnerrabible,” he said, making a valiant attempt at the new pronunciation. Heeey… he fell behind a little, eyes fixed on Mapatano’s tail, suddenly noticing the long fringe for the first time. That looked like fun to play with! Luckily, the cub did have some talent for multi-tasking, making it possible for him to stalk the tail and listen and talk at the same time. Lowering his body to the ground, he focused on ‘Tano’s tail. He giggled a little at Hisa’s answer and nodded in agreement. Of course he would tell her! If he ever found out anyway.

“How old were you two when you found each other?” he asked, suddenly curious about this too. It made sense to ask. He just wanted to know how long he had to wait until his bird found him. But, a more important question popped into his mind soon enough. “Have you ever seen any rogues?”  

[wooga Paes]

Mapatano was oblivious to the impending attack on his tail, and instead lazily swished it to the side, before letting it hit the floor again with a light thump. He resisted the urge to correct the cub again, it seemed hopeless. So instead he decided to allow Hisa to keep answering the questions.

"When he was a bit older than you, I was already grown up. " Well, almost grown up, anyway. She vaguely remembered it, Mapatno's father had still been around, she thought. Mapatano twitched an ear at the next question. Funny, that Msiba's spawn would ask about rogues. "Yes, I have. " Now lets just hope he doesn't ask 'who'.  

[FerretPrince]

The cub’s green-gray eyes remained stuck on the tail, as if the fringe had some sort of uncanny ability to attract cubs. Kamau was briefly distracted from it----his attention span was the only thing smaller than him at the moment----by Mapa’s words about rogues. He patiently waited for the older lion to explain, feeling fairly certain that he would tell some sort of story of a huge dramatic battle, perhaps even explaining how he got that eye scar. But he didn’t, which filled the young cub with disappointment. At least he didn’t have to wait long for his bird to show up, he felt.

“What were they like? Momma says that they’re really nasty and dangerous and I should always avoid them, but I don’t know what they look like. It’s hard to avoid something when you don’t know what to avoid.” Kamau generally played it safe and just avoided everything. Oh hey! There was a great fringy tail! Once again, the green and white cub’s attention was fixated on the fringe. He pounced, attempting to catch the tail between his front paws.  

[wooga Paes]

He pondered over this question a bit. Mapatano knew just about everyone in the pride, excluding perhaps cubs, which weren't ran by so often. In a pride with bondbirds this wasn't so hard, either. If he didn't know anyone, Hisa would be sure to find out eventually and tell him.

There was also scent, but considering Kamau was a cub, he wasn't too sure how to explain that. "If they're hungry and look pathetic, they're probably rogues. Pride lions are healthy, more often than not. Rogues also usually lack bondbirds. " Apparently, Msiba and company had already came with them, but.. not everyone was Msiba and company.

"And there's smell, rogues smell different. But you're young, I don't know if you'd be able to tell yet. " He shrugged. .. and then his tail was attacked. He blinked, glancing at the cub who'd managed to trap his tail, before furrowing his brows slightly and twitching his tail to pull it out of grasp.  

[FerretPrince]

That wasn’t the answer Kamau had been hoping for… he frowned a little around his new mouthful of tail, trying to think this over. In his mind, rogues were big, strong, and mean. They weren’t weak or pathetic. They couldn’t be! If they were all weak and everything, how dangerous could they be? “Mrgn…” Kamau attempted to ask the question around the tail before he realized that it was impossible. Ah, now it was a conundrum… should he spit out the tail and lose his hardwon prize? Or just not ask? Thankfully, Mapa took care of that by whisking it away from the cub.

Kamau instantly chased after it, attempting to catch it with his front paws. “Is it true that rogues will cubnap cubs? That’s what Momma said. That’s why me and Naamy aren’t allowed near the edges of the pride. She says someone will come up and snatch us up!”  

[wooga Paes]

He frowned slightly as the attempts on his tail continue, then, for its safety, pulled it out of reach once more then sat on it. There, try to get my tail now, punk. "Some will. " Lets just.. answer his questions, yes. "Others will just eat you, if they're desperate. " That earned Mapatano a nice whack in the face from one of Hisa's wings, then a glare.

"Uh, but that doesn't.. happen a lot? " He attempted a little damage control, at least. "And not all of them are bad, I guess. But better safe than sorry. " Riight, okay. Talking to kids kind-of sucks.