The sight of full and almost-grown manes and muscles on all the pride's first cubs...it made Hakuna smile. They'd survived to adulthood. They'd made it, and Hakuna had not failed in her duties. But...she was growing tired. And was glad to see the help they brought for another, slightly more selfish reason...Hakuna was tired. Not so tired as to be off guard...but being the soul Tirma'eth of the pride had made things hard on her. Not to mention watching over her cubs, guiding them when she could, and then the birth of her latest litter. Add in the fights she'd gotten into with her sister and the lace work of scars from them, more from the last battle than the one she'd taken Bavu in....Hakuna was afraid she might one day falter in her duties.
And so, this night, she sought out her Aran'shale. She'd once asked him if she could take up teaching the next generation, when the time came. Hakuna felt that time had come. The pride wasn't small anymore. And there were many cubs to be taught. Yes...teaching was strenuous, but she could set the young ones to exercises when her scars pulled tight too much.
Verge'lian was at watch...as he often was, surveying what he could from his favorite rock, as the thing soaked up heat beautifully during the daytime. He was solemn, this evening, musing silently on the things that had passed since he'd come to these lands...since before that even. Tilting head up to the sky, he took a gentle whiff, sensing the presence of another. Ah... A smile just barely ghosted across his features, and he turned to eye the approaching lioness. "Hakuna..." She...was one of the ones he trusted, she had birthed his first litter, and had been the first he had discovered...on his quest for demons. All in all, she was one of the very few within this pride that he could dare to call friend.
Hakuna bowed her head as she approached Verge, a smile on her face. It was a small one, and held none of the insanity it once had. She'd grown and matured...Hakuna liked to think it was Verge's influence on her, along with motherhood. There was something about having cubs that made one....grow up.
"Aran'shale...I think the time for me to step down as a Tirma'eth has come. I grow weary, and I fear one day my weariness may cause a lack of watchfulness we cannot afford."
Ah...so she had decided to step down. It had been mentioned before, that she would choose another path, and neither he nor Hakuna were youthful any longer, grown older, wiser perhaps, though those lessons were hard-learned. Dipping his head to her, he acknowledged her words, "If such is your decision, I will respect it...we will be sorry to lose you in that regard, but I will keep my eyes on you. I am most keenly interested, to see what you choose to do now..." Never could he doubt her, not for a second. Even in the insanity that had set them both afire in the early days...he had admired her, and now they were both grown mellow, not entirely a bad thing, even for demons such as they.
Hakuna warmed at his approval. She always did. "And I know the pride's borders are guarded by good paws. The first young have grown strong." She took a deep breath. "I wish to teach. To pass on my wisdom of the fight to those who would learn." She'd already had practice teaching with her own cubs and Mvua. "I believe that is my new calling...for there is something about teaching that makes me see with new eyes. Perhaps it is because I must see with my students' eyes to teach them best."
"They have indeed, become steadfast warrior, learning swiftly the ways of the pride. The heirs, in especial, have worked hard towards their goals. A good crop have been raised, these children, both yours and mine." A low rumble, that gaze growing distant again. Ah that he could have spent his youth so well. "Your desire to teach does not surprise me somehow, I commend you...soon enough, these children will be having children of their own, as frightening a thought as that might be, that you and I shall be grandparents. They will need a teacher as experienced as yourself...the gods know that I myself am not suited to teach the young...I tend to...blunder..." At that a dark look crossed his expression, thinking of his conversation with Drathir not so very long ago.
Hakuna's look turned concerned. Verge was her king...but he'd been her friend and comrade first. And he was the father of her first cubs. When he turned far-off like that...well, the crimson lioness worried. Perhaps, one day, he would tell her. But she knew better than to press. He liked his space, and Hakuna wasn't one to deny it. Instead, she smiled again.
"Grandparents...I think I would like to see what sort of young our own have." Hakuna wouldn't mind grandcubs. Yes, it was a sign of her age...but she'd lived her life well! She deserved to see another generation of her bloodline.
"Mmm...perhaps so. I pray that my children will make wise parents...warmer creatures with their offspring, perhaps, than I was. I fear that in my duties as Aran'shale I have neglected to be father. Not that I knew how to be such a thing in the first place." If only...if only he'd had his brother here, then the other would have known what to do...Te would have known what to do...and done it far better than he.
Hakuna kept her smile. Now...now she spoke to him as a friend, not subject to king. "You still have life, Verge. Perhaps one day, when you feel it is time to step down, you will have that chance to do what you could not." She chuckled. "I, too, could have been a better parent to our brood...I fear my time on the borders kept them from knowing me as they should have." Demon-cubs had to grow up strong, self-reliant...but that did not mean they needed to be without the touch of family.
"We shall always have chances...all we have to do is take them, Verge. I think I shall take mine with my own young this time. Ellie and Vito and Rinca....I'll raise them properly. They'll know me. And they and the other cubs will be the first to know, without a doubt, the ways of our pride." She was determined to do things well. She had to. That feeling of something uncontrollable was still looming on the horizon, growing ever closer....and she wanted to know the next generation would survive it.
He made a soft sound, not unlike amusement. "Indeed...I understand the sentiment quite well. Mayhap, in time, I shall sire more children, but I think, perhaps, that I will do that when I have stepped down. A litter in my old age...when I have...time to do nothing at all but enjoy them." If only he did not have to do so...without his brother at his side. Watching Usare and Amin, he envied them so, seeing in them a stability that he and his twin had lacked. Resting head on his forepaws for a moment, he allowed his eyes to lid. "I wish you well, with this new brood of yours, you must bring them sometime, I would greet them."
Hakuna nodded. There was something about the way he spoke that reminded her of her mixed feelings for her sister. "I will bring them, Verge...They should know their Aran'shale." She bowed, sensing the conversation was at its end. "I shall take my leave now. One last patrol, to ensure those taking my place know where everything is." There was a touch of humor in her voice. Life had changed for the both of them. If it was for better or worse, Hakuna couldn't say...but she didn't regret the changes. Not at all.
He did smile then, one of those rare expressions that Verge gave only to those that had, to some extent, found a place within his heart. "Fare thee well, Hakuna. I wish you the utmost luck and contentment in this new path of yours. I know that you will be the best at what you attempt." This made him feel oh so very ancient, and he wondered when the day would come when he himself...would step down, to allow younger paws to fill the prints that he had left behind.
