[PRP] Setting The Stage (Kivuli x Zamba x Gali)

[Rhiannon Chandra]

Gali had to trot to keep up with her father, even though he was walking slowly enough for them to keep up. This was a rare treat, being taken out of the den, and Gali was enjoying it to the upmost. Her eyes cast around at the lions they passed and the new sights, and her ears swiveled to catch the sounds of the various conversations of the people they passed.

She looked briefly over at her brother, the only companion from her siblings for this little jaunt. Nyota was off hiding with the groundlings, Gali thought, and her other three sisters were back at the den under guard while Maua took a break from her instructions to chase Nyota down again. Pur'Jed would likely bask in Nyota's chastisements. Gali didn't think her other sisters would enjoy it as much.

A conversation caught in her ear and she looked that way, her feet slowing down as she unknowingly eavesdropped on the adults. Her eyes shifted between the faces of the speakers, cataloging parts of their expressions that seemed not to match up to their words. Why did he say he wanted their children to meet when it was clear from the tightness of his smile he didn't?  

[JetAlmeara]

Zamba was trying hard to walk just like his father walked and to appear like he didn't have to hurry in order to keep up with him. Confident strides! He told himself mentally as they went along...and nearly bumped into Gali when she slowed down to take a gander at some adults having a conversation.

"Gali!" He hissed at her as he swung around her "Your going to make us get left behind! Hurry up!" He encouraged her "But hurry up..gracefully, or something" He was pretty sure mother was always saying females should be graceful and males should be strong but they got allot of lectures about such things and honestly he might have mixed it up a bit.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli kept the pace slow knowing that his cubs would have a hard time keeping up if he used his regular pace. Even then he had to stop every now and then to let them catch up. Though he never let them get too far behind that he would need to worry about their safety, just because they were in the pride lands didn't mean that there was no danger here. His ears where turned back so that he could listen to the two cubs he had in tow without constantly having to look behind him to make sure they were there. In fact from the sounds of it his children were slowing down, and he nearly let out a chuckle as he heard Zamba try to encourage his sister to keep moving....but gracefully.

Bringing his paws to a stop Kivuli turned to face his cubs. "Come along you two, we have a long day ahead of us." Kivuli planned to show his cubs as much of the prides lands as possible, including the commoner and lower class areas that their mother so openly detested. He would ensure that they saw for themselves that they were not the worthless downtrodden lions that Maua often labeled them as.  

[Rhiannon Chandra]

Gali gave her brother a disappointed look, but was distracted from replying by her father.

"But Papa, he said he wanted his cubs to meet the other male's cubs, but he really doesn't," Gali insisted, in a voice that was likely slightly louder than appropriate considering they weren't out of earshot of the other lions yet. Still, her feet had returned to their previous speedy pace so she could keep up with her brother at least. She glanced back at the adults again, looking concerned. "Why did he say that if he didn't mean it?"

The female cub stopped by her father and looked up at his towering form. "Will we meet a lot of other lions today?" The last time she had been out of the den, she'd felt more like an accessory as her mother visited some of the other more purple nobles. It hadn't really been 'meeting' them, but Gali had found it more fascinating than sitting around the den anyway.  

[JetAlmeara]

Zamba rolled his eyes slightly - though he had no idea why the other lion had been lying either, if he even had been and Gali hadn't just been seeing things to begin with. Rolling his eyes however seemed like an appropriate response to his sisters meddlesome questions. why couldn't she just hush so they could get on with seeing the important things..like the Warrior's training.

With that thought in mind he completely disregarded the fact that Gali had asked a question and asked one of his own. "Dad..hey dad? Dad! Can we go and watch the Warrior training? Can we? Pleeeeese!!!"  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli was quick to get the cubs moving again, shooting an apologetic look at the two lions as he did so. Once they were further away he brought his paws to a stop and looked down at Gali. "You must mind what you say around the others." He pointed out to her and then added. "And it is rude to eavesdrop on others as well. What would your mother think if she caught you doing such a thing?" Kivuli wasn't going to outright punish Gali as this was her first offense that he knew of, but he would also not ignore the fact that his daughter had done wrong. "As for why he lied, well I can't say for certain whether he did indeed lie or not. Sometimes one must do or say something that is against what they wish in order to keep the others around them happy. You will perhaps understand better when you are a bit older." While Kivuli wished to educate his children thoroughly some things needed to wait until they were older and could better comprehend things instead of asking just more questions.

"Perhaps we can in a bit Zamba." Kivuli assured his son, though he wanted to let the cubs see more of the pride today then just the warrior training. He did make a mental note to spend more one on one time with his son and do things that he was interested in - and clearly Zamba was interested in the warriors. Turning his attention back to Gali he nodded his large head. "We will likely see quite a few lions today. Is there anything in particular you would like to see? We can do that before going to see the warriors." The warrior training grounds were quite a ways off so they would likely pass whatever Gali wanted to see on the way.  

[Rhiannon Chandra]

Gali ducked her head at her father's chastisement. They had just been talking aloud, it wasn't like she meant to overhear something she shouldn't. It was a playdate.

"Sorry, Dad."

As she considered his question her eyes lit on one of the council members walking by, a decorative cord looped about his neck. "Can we see what the council rooms look like? The ones for the King's... uh, lions?" What were they called anyway? "The ones who decide what happens in the pride?"

If her brother got to pick a place, then she did too. After she asked him, though, she thought of Nyota and her description of the players. Maybe she could ask for that next time, if Dad didn't bring them by it this time. No sense in getting in more trouble, either, if that was somewhere they weren't supposed to be. And Nyota was in trouble a lot, of her own choice. Gali guiltily hunched down slightly; she wasn't entirely blameless when it came to Nyota either. She'd helped her sister get out before, and she still kept her promises: she wasn't a liar and she didn't ever want to be. She kept an open mind and whenever she saw a lion while she was out with her parents she let their actions tell her who they were rather than their pelts.  

[JetAlmeara]

"Yeeees!' Zamba hooted in triumph as his father promised to take them to see the warriors - he had to learn how to fight so that he could be on the war council someday - he didn't really know what the war council was persay bit it sounded pretty cool and his mother had told him it was a worthy ambition to have...so it seemed like a pretty good plan to him.

Of course Gali got to pick a place too - and he made a bit of a face when he heard where she picked...really? he wanted to go and see a stuffy old cave where lions sat around and...talked? How utterly dull. "couldn't you have picked something more...exciting?" He sighed at his sister...but really it wasn't her fault..she was just a girl after all.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kivuli chuckled at his sons enthusiasm and then how quickly it turned to disappointment at Gali's choice. Using one of his large paws he gave his small mane a tussle. "While they may not seem exciting as watching the warrior you must remember that the advisers are an important part of the pride and even those on the War Council listen to their advice, much like the King does. All roles in the pride are important even those that may seem less glamorous, it is some you will both understand once you are older." He really hated telling his cubs that they wouldn't understand certain things until they were older but it was the truth, some concepts could not be properly explained or experienced and understood until much later in life.

Turning his gaze to Gali he smiled. "Of course we can, there are no meetings schedules for right now, so while the council room may be empty you can still see it." Giving both his cubs a nudge to get them going again they began to walk along the path that would eventually lead them to where the council of advisers met with the King. And as luck would have it this meant they would be relatively close to the area where the warriors trained to satisfy Zamba's curiosity as well.  

[Rhiannon Chandra]

Gali wrinkled her muzzle at Zamba rather than giving him the satisfaction of a stuck-out tongue. "Mine's important too, see? Without advisers you wouldn't have your warriors training or council or anything. They decide if that happens or not."

She forgot that she had only chosen the council chambers because of someone walking by and turned it into her own unaided idea. "I bet it's a beautiful cave, covered in all sorts of cool things. Important things. Right, Dad?" She looked to her father for further support, not wanting Zamba to frown at her any more. He wanted to watch lions roll around in the dirt like her sisters did sometimes when they argued. How was that fun?

Besides, Gali thought you could tell a lot about a lion from how they spoke. If the advisers really did have all of that power just from talking, then she must be right and the advisers must be very powerful without having to fight to get their way. That seemed like a better solution to her than claws and teeth.  

[JetAlmeara]

"Well of course they're important" Zamba told both his father and his sister with an air of superiority - I mean really did they think he was completely daft? "But so's keeping the den clean - and neither of them are interesting" He continued on rather pleased with himself for making such an observation.

"I bet its just a dull cave where old lions sit around and argue pointlessly" Zamba went on with his little tirade - he forgot where he'd heard that about the advisors but thought perhaps that it might have overheard it from his mother when she was fussing about something they had decided. "So lets hurry up and get Gali's boring idea out of the way so we can move on to my interesting one" He suggested brightly.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

"Perhaps it's decorated with nice things," he began not wanting to spoil the surprise of seeing the council chamber. "but you won't know until we get there." Though he was trying to remain serious Zamba's next words made the large lion chuckle. Important vs interesting, it was a good little argument and he gave his son credit for stating such a bold thing. But he paused when he spoke about the council being a bunch of old lions arguing. "You've been listening to your mother again. The council is comprised of older lions yes, but some are younger as well and while they do argue at time it is over matters important to the pride. The arguments ensure that the right decision is made each time and that all positives and negatives are covered before coming to a decision."

He continued along the path, they were nearly at the council den now. "And it is not just the advisers council who has older lions in it, the war council also contains several older lions, those with years of experience who can lend their skills and advice to younger lions." When they reached the council meeting den Kivuli paused at the entrance, looking in to make sure there wasn't a meeting going on right now, one could never be certain when a sudden meeting would pop up. With the den empty for now he led the way inside. "This is where they meet, I come here often to both listen and participate in meetings," his eyes moved to Zamba for a second so he could explain. "...and while it may not seem interesting to you, it is to me, for having a say in the future of the pride is a privilege not all lions get." He motioned with his muzzle to the room. "Go on, have a look around."  

[Rhiannon Chandra]

Eager despite her brother's unfortunate comments, Gali quickly moved past her father and into the large den. Her eyes widened and she stared up at a ceiling that seemed miles away-- to her, anyway-- and then glanced around at the walls, trying to take in the whole room in one go. There were worn spots in the floor, places where the rock was smoother than the rock currently under her feet and had no traces of lingering dirt. The whole den was spotless, of course. Someone would have been shirking their duties if it wasn't clean.

Gali approached one of the worn places and inspected it curiously. "Are these the places for those on the council?" She asked her father, placing her paw in one of the smooth patches on the floor, worn away from what she took to be years of hard work for the pride.

At the far end of the room was a large fur that looked as if it was taken from a giant gazelle. Maybe there were smaller furs for the individual council members, ones only brought out during long council meetings, but it looked as if this one stayed here all of the time-- or maybe there was a meeting later Gali didn't know about. She didn't even have to ask her father who laid on that pelt. Her eyes glowing with interest, Gali slowly began slinking her way over, just to see it up close.