[PRP] Well crap. [Hakuna & Abeni]

[Das Tor]

"You may go, Matata. I'm sure Nyota will appreciate the news from Ri." The magpie bowed and fluttered out of the den, seeking the first-born of Hakuna's brood.

Which left Hakuna, without her face-skull on for once, alone in her den. She lay near the front, admiring the setting moon. Her shift for guard duty was over, and the cubs were romping about...it left the den to herself, a welcome calm and quiet. It left her to contemplate things.

Like the future of her cubs. Nyota she already had grand plans for. And Drathir would make a brilliant Tirma'ath once day. But then there were the others...what futures would her other three beautiful demons have...  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

Abeni walked out of the priest's dens, looking tired and confused. The day before she had... given birth to three tiny cubs. It'd been rather frightening for her, considering she hadn't even known she was pregnant. Sure, her belly had swollen slightly. But she had assumed it was because she was now in a pride, and living the 'good life.'

Oh, how she'd been wrong. She stumbled weakly, now looking thinner than what she'd been before she'd come to the volcano.

"Hakuna..." She said weakly, looking around as she approached the other dens, ears tilted back.  

[Das Tor]

The rocks carried voices well, and Hakuna's well-trained ears pricked forward. That was Abeni's voice...but it sounded very different from the Abeni she had brought into the pride. She stood and poked her front half outside the den, curious and worried. What could have cause Abeni to sound like that?

And why in the hells was she so skinny? The adults the pride had were good hunters...there was no reason for the Ele'aine to be so thin!

"Is there something wrong, Abeni?"  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

She let out a relieved breath, laying down on the ground in front of her. It suddenly felt so comfortable that moment...

"Thank the Gods... Hakuna, I..." She paused, frowning when she realized how weak she looked. With a sharp breath she pulled herself up, though her head was held a little low. "I... I need your help... I don't know what to do..." She glanced over her shoulder, back to her own den.  

[Das Tor]

Hakuna was immediately on guard. Something was wrong. And Hakuna, being the good Tirma'eth she was, was determined to make sure it did not stay a problem. "Just tell me what's wrong, Abeni...I'll do my best to help."

And if she couldn't help, Hakuna would find a pride member who could. Hakuna was very quick despite her bulk.  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

"I..."

She fumbled with her words, frowning deeply with her ears plastered back against her head. Where should she begin?

"You see... I didn't know I was... but uh... I kinda... I guess I was..." She hung her head, eyes closing and clearly looking embarrassed. "I just..."

"I just gave birth, yesturday."  

[Das Tor]

Gave....birth. Her first thought was more cubs to protect. She was greatly looking forward to when her brood was old enough to hep out more. Her next thought was of understanding. Abeni hadn't been expecting cubs. And by the sound of it...this was Abeni's first litter. Hakuna had expected her own first litter...looked forward to it even!

Hakuna sighed. "Well...first things first, you shouldn't wander too far from them this young. Cubs get hungry at very random times, and these first few days are crucial in their survival."  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

"I..." She looked panicked for a moment and looked back to her den, frowning. She stood, still looking a bit wobbly on her feet. "Should I go back then..? I.. I don't really know what to do... I mean, I feed em and all, they seem content with that, but then they keep on crying even when their bellies are full... I don't know what to do, I'm so confused... I hadn't been expecting this..." Shook her head, ears flopping a bit.  

[Das Tor]

Hakuna smiled calmly, a strange expression on her scarred face. "I'll go with you. You have a lot to learn...and moving the cubs would be a bad idea this young." Still crying...ah. "As for why they're still crying...it may be their bowels. They're still young, so they can't do everything on their own quite yet, even on the inside. So sometimes you have to rub their bellies, encourage things to pass through. It can get a little messy...but we have plenty of grass around to clean up with."  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

Her nose wrinkled slightly, obviously not too pleased by the idea of that. She never remembered her mother having to do that for her... Then again, her mother probably wouldn't have anyway. But, if she had to.... Eww.

"...Ah... I see... well... I guess I should... get to that, then... So I just run their bellies, then? And they'll stop crying?" Her ears fanned forward a bit more, standing a tad straighter and with more confidence. Maybe she could do this after all.... Maybe.  

[Das Tor]

Hakuna nodded. "It should get them to stop." She wrinkled her own nose. "Cubs are very noisy, very messy things for the first couple of weeks. But...after that, it's...good knowing that you've brought new life into this world. That you are raising something that could one day follow in your pawprints...or become something greater."  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

Abeni listened with a frown. She should be more happy than she was... Perhaps it was just the shock that hadn't warn off. The lioness had never really thought about settling down and having cubs. Having been abandoned had left a gap in her knowledge. She had no idea how to treat her children.

There was... some part of her that was happy, though... It was the only part that kept her going. Laying with her children the night before had changed something inside her, somewhere.

"I... understand." She nodded, but still looking a bit unsure. "I will go do that... Is there anything else you can tell me? Or... maybe you could come with me..."  

[Das Tor]

Hakuna chuckled. "I'll come with you. It wasn't too long ago I was a new mother myself. Come...there is much to talk of. And leaving the little ones for too long could prove...a bit disastrous. Even when they're small and helpless, they can get into plenty of trouble." She remembered all too well the trouble her own little ones had gotten into as newborns. Especially her firstborn.  

[honey.roasted.ferrets]

Abeni let out a long, content sigh. She felt a bit better knowing that she would have some kind of support. And she had come to trust Hakuma... She was the first that welcomed her here, into her new home...

She forced a slight anxious smile and nodded, though her paws betrayed her anxiety. They twitched and shifted as she moved to trot back towards her den. "Yes, they were asleep when I left them, but even last night they were moving around, a little..."  

[Das Tor]

"Little ones do that. They had so little space in the womb, they tend to enjoy being free in their movements." She followed Abeni, a bit glad the priestess asked for help. After all, lions weren't islands. Even demons needed help from their fellows.