(Backlog)

Her whole life she was told she was the motherly type. Always caring for the sick and injured, watching other lion's cubs while they were on the hunt. It had always felt like it was her task. When her father was sick, she was the one who took care of him, as well as taking care of her siblings. Even when all the other siblings left, she stuck by his side to make sure he would be alright. She knew when the time came for her to have her own cubs, she would be attached to them and never want them to leave.

That said, she looked at her son Ceto and felt like it was time for him to leave.

The litter he was in was one yielding 3 cubs, two sons and one daughter. She had felt blessed by the litter, as it felt like it was a manageable size. Both of Ceto's siblings had left her to start their own families. Ceto was a late bloomer, so to say.

She let out a sigh. Really the lion was just lazy. He thought everything would be handed to him without having to put any effort at all. When she was out in the rogue lands she couldn't count how many times she ran into lions like him, looking for someone to take care of them.

Unfortunately, she would be providing the rogue lands with another one and quite possibly their laziest one yet. Through out the week she had given hints about him leaving, but he didn't seem to catch on. At this point, he wasn't even able to hunt for himself. He had little to no survival knowledge. Whenever she tried to teach him, he would shrug it off and find something else to do.

'Well mother will not be able to take care of you forever,' she thought as she approached the young lion.

“Ceto, why don't you come with me to the river? There is something I need to talk to you about.”

Ceto had his mind on other things. Specifically a lovely new lioness who had stopped in the area. He had a grin on his face as he stared at her. There were a lot of things he was useless at. Such as hunting, crafting, most thing really. However one thing he was good at was the ladies. He had a knack of spotting good looking females and becoming their charming prince. However the relationships never lasted too long. Once they realized how pathetic he was they broke it off and went on their ways. Ceto considered it a good thing really. As much as he liked them, females had a hard time keeping his interest for too long, at least till the next one came around.

This lioness would be his next interest, he was sure of it. His next princess.

For a little bit, he would lose his boredom.

He stopped staring when his mother spoke. She was only a few feet away from him. From the look on her face, he could tell she was annoyed with him. His ears flattened back. “Did I do something wrong?” He asked. His mother was known for being cool and level headed. However he had gotten to see her pissed off side more than once. He did not want to be the cause of it.

“Follow me.” She said.

Ceto nodded his head, as his mother turned around. Quickly he snuck another glance at the lioness, who spotted him. He gave her a quick smile and wave, before following his mother. 'Hopefully this will be quick. I don't want to keep her waiting.' He thought as he tailed his mother.

She wasn't in a hurry as she walked down the hill, toward the river. It was a peaceful day. The place she called home was a quiet gentle area. There was little violence and the lions in the area would group together if there was a trouble maker who entered the land. It was a wonderful place to raise cubs. She hoped that once Ceto did some growing up, he would return here, with a mate and maybe provide her grandcubs.

Naida stopped at the river and looked at her son. He had inherited his father's markings, with a splash of her colorings. Around here, he had little trouble with the females. She had heard whisperings of his good looks. Part of her was proud to have him as her son. The other part wish that he would rely on something other then his looks.

“Ceto, I'm not mad at you.” She started, in a calm voice. He sat down next to her. There was a distinct difference between their height. She had come from a large boned family, but she had inherited her mothers shortness. Ceto however would fit in much nicer with her brothers. He was tall and lean, with just a little bit of baby fat that was shedding off.

Despite his laziness, he enjoyed staying fit, she gave him that much.

“I do want to talk to you about your goals in life.” That was a good way to start off. His goal would be to find a mate, start a family ect ect ect. “I feel like it is time for you to start the next part of your story. There is so much to see outside our little home here and you deserve to see it.”

Ceto tilted his head. “Are we going on a little adventure?” He asked curiously. “As far as my goals, well I am pretty happy here mom. Everyones nice and there are plenty of visitors for me to meet. There really isn't any reason for us to leave here when we have travelers who can tell us about their adventures.”

Naida rubbed her temple. She felt like she should have covered this sooner with the young lion. He really was hopeless. “I will be staying here. I spent my youth traveling around. Someday I will be looking for another home, but for the time being this is where I'll stay. You however need to see the world. What if there is a pride out there that you want to join? Could you imagine finding a pride and just being able to be apart of it? Finding a place where you fit in perfectly?”

“But I fit in well here. Everyone lines me and plus you find all the best prey to hunt. Why would I want to leave.” He asked. Really this was the once place he called home. Why would he leave.

Naida let out a sigh. “Ceto, your brother and sister have left and now it is time for you to leave. I won't be here forever to make sure you are fed. You need to learn how to fend for yourself. I know you think you'll find the perfect mate who will hunt for you, but until she comes around, you'll have to figure out how to hunt for yourself because I am not going to do it for you anymore.”

There was a silence between them before Ceto's stomach let out a quiet growling. His ears were pulled back by the thought of not getting his dinner. “But- but mom I've never hunted before. I'm not ready for this. I will die.” He cried out, flopping to the ground. “Could you imagine me? ME mom, Ceto, out in the rogue lands having to survive? There are hyena's out there, they will eat me for sure!”

“I'm sorry Ceto, but I need you to grow up. This is the way it has to be. I'll help you prepare tonight so you can set off tomorrow.” Naida said, before turning around and heading back to her den.

(WC: 1,311)