Welcome to Gaia! ::

Magebari-gura happily swam around in her new little pool. Her grandmother had helped her find it yesterday, and ever since then she had been itching to try it out. Today turned out to have been the perfect day: the sun was out and making it warm enough to have a good swim. The lioness dunked her head under the surface, stomach brushing against the bottom of the pool. It wasn't too big, or deep, but it was a good one for the purposes she needed it for.

Gaza had found that in the new scenery of 'home', she'd been rather enjoying the sunny day they were having - what with the mass of trees that seemed to block out most good sunlight, it was pleasant for the lioness to not have to go and seek out the warm patches of sunlight to bathe in like she would enjoy on most other occasions - at least when she was not tending to the youngest of her children and his bad behaviour.

But that also made walking around an easier task, stretching out her tired muscles before she started one of her more 'investigative' rounds.

Not to say that Gaza hadn't invested time into looking around the swamp, she'd just found that she hadn't exactly made herself memorize the layout of the pride....

Though it seemed now she had found the opportunity to sit and watch her eldest daughter as she splashed about in the swampwater... Mmm, was that safe?

Bari didn't notice her mother while her head was still underwater, of course. But she soon did after she surfaced. The sight of the black lioness against the greens of the swamp startled her, but she laughed and made a face at the older lioness. "Mother, don't scare me like that. You reminded me of a ghost or something, just popping up like that."

Her paws padded her over to the side closest to Gaza and pulled the rest of her body up and out of the swampwater. Tail flicking, she slowly shook her legs off, showering the moist ground around her with water droplets. Her mother was probably off exploring a bit, thankful for getting away from her younger brother. Bari didn't blame her. Dama was probably the hardest cub to watch sometimes.

"What are you doing?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well, I would have had to surprise you one way or another.." Gaza replied, smiling and watching her daughter as she pulled herself out of the swamp water, not even batting an eyelash when some of the murky water was shaken off onto her. No, she'd been turned all sorts of gross-coated from mud, water, and various other things in her life, that just water barely phased her anymore.

"I'm taking a better look around - getting acquainted with the things that I may have to pry your brother from.." she answered to her child's question, sighing a bit at the implications. Well, she'd get to have found any serious cub-eating monsters amongst the pridal lands, so they were perhaps in good shape in that regard. However, she didn't want to settle yet.

"Were you enjoying the water, dear?"

She laughed, nodding. That was true. Her mother had actually gotten exceptionally good at walking around quietly, as most mothers learn to do. Silence is a skill, and Bari hoped to be just as good at it as Gaza. "Did you find anything really dangerous and therefore very appealing to him yet? There's not much he could get into trouble with here, but you never know. Cubs have a knack for getting into more trouble with the smallest things. Especially him." Not at all hypocritical; as a cub, she was one of the ones who obeyed her parents.

Most of the time.

"I was. It's such a beautiful day outside, I couldn't help myself," she said bashfully. "Would you like to try it out? It's not at all very deep, and it's actually pretty clean water compared to everywhere else."

Well, it was how one took the care to not wake their little ones, really.

"Nothing yet, thankfully. But know him, he'll find something." she mused, actually seeming rather amused by that boy's ability to find trouble, rather than utterly bothered by it. Cubs were cubs - as long as he didn't come back DEAD to her, she'd be perfectly content with it. She'd worry, she wouldn't deny that, but she'd be content.


"I think for now I'm clean enough, child, but thank you for asking." the older lioness replied, moving to groom the tuft of fur that sprouted from her daughter's head, despite her age, before sighing and stretching her sore limbs out again. Nnnn, she eventually just needed to pick a day and settle in for a nice day of relaxing. That would require quite a bit of planning, however.

Bari patiently held still while her hair was slicked back down, knowing that it would soon pop back up again, as it was wont to do. She didn't mind so much, but for some reason, it bothered everyone else. She noticed Gaza stretching out and frowned.

"Are your legs hurting again, Mama? You know you shouldn't spend so much time walking around and all if they hurt so much." She really needed to find a good spot--close to the den--where she could simply relax and rest all day. Father or her brother or even herself could go hunt and bring back food if she was hungry.

"Oh, I have an idea. I helped Grandmother find a spot the other day for her resting place. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you went and joined her to rest. It's not too far away from here, actually."

It was the change in the 'stability' of the ground, really. Her legs were more used to having the ground just move with her in stride instead of absorbing her very paw and making it take longer to walk - it was like walking up a hill all day, really. Something that would take some time for her to develop the muscles to be used to.

Siiigh.

"Mmm, they'll be fine once we're firmly settled in to our new home. Walking on them won't cripple me." she insisted as calmly as possible, but remained on her feet. There was no need for her to waste effort sitting down and standing up repeatedly - even her legs would have cried in agony for it, no matter how 'used' she was to their current home.

"But it is nice to hear that you've been helping out your grandmother, Bari." Mommy praise, she gave it.

The frown stayed on the lioness's face, but she nodded acceptingly. Not much she could do to stop her mother, after all. Once Gaza wanted to do something, she tended to do it no matter what. A trait Bari respected in her mother, but in times like these, it was a bit frustrating to deal with.

"Yes, we had a lot of fun exploring," she beamed. "And I'm glad we found our own little spots, but that they're so close together. She said she wouldn't come and 'check up' on me when we were both here, but I know she just said that to make me feel better." Bari chuckled. "She's going to check up on me every chance she gets."

Now decently dry, she sat and started licking a paw so it was a bit cleaner than just with the swampwater. "How much farther are you going to look around for possible Dama-worthy things?"

Not stubborn, just currently enjoying the company she was in. Not to mention she'd sooner or later have to get back to making sure her youngest wasn't doing anything too insane and wrecking-of-mother's-nerves. That boy would have done it any chance he got, unfortunately. SIIIIIIIIIGH.

"Well, I'd say as far as I'd allow the boy to roam - I'd hope he'd still be wise enough to listen to his mother when she tells him to not wander too far away. Then again, when he grows, perhaps he'll go out and obtain wisdom just like you and your brother did... and then come back to me." Oooh, that was definitely something she hadn't meant for the conversation to come around to...

Bari probably missed her sister as much as Gaza missed her daughter.

It was just one of those open wounds in the older lioness that wasn't leaping at the idea of healing - an unfortunate thing, sadly. But she soon forced herself to brush it off and offered her daughter a smile. "Though now that I think of it, perhaps you should show me where mother," not hers, her mate's, " is. Just so I know for reference if I or your father need to find her."

Trust Dama to do his worst as a "surprise present" for when Mother returned.

"We can only hope so," she teased. "It might take him a bit longer on his quest for wisdom to come back than it did for Muhali and me." Bari had the quick flash of the memory of her sister, but she quickly pushed it away. That was in the past, they had already mourned her and moved on. Nothing they could do about it now.

"Of course." Bari stood and led the way past her swimming hole, into some small trees and bushes, squishing her paws on the ground. It wasn't too far away, like she had said before. It only took them a few minutes to come across the small open space that Tamaa had claimed as her private spot. "Ta-da. She liked it well enough, though would have preferred a drier part. But we weren't going to find one of those here," she chuckled.

And Gaza took advantage of following in her daughter's pawprints - literally. With the ground already mostly 'squished' down, it was easier on her legs to just step into the same places of packed earth. Mmm, her joints were definitely thanking her for that. Ahhh.

Though it seemed that they weren't being forced onto a trek of a lifetime to find the little patch of swamp that 'her' mother had chosen as a place to rest her tired limbs. Mmm, it actually didn't seem that bad, from where Gaza was standing. Certainly dry places were harder to find than 'sunny' patches were, but that wasn't too bad of an ordeal.

"Mmm, this is actually a rather nice patch - it seems like it would get some good sun most of the day.." she said, stepping out from behind her daughter to go and start looking around at the little 'private spot'.

She nodded again. "That's what I thought, too. An even better place for her to come rest during the day. Again, I don't think she would mind if you came up every once in a while--or even more often than that--to relax with her. There's enough room for you to have your own sides," she gestured to each end of the area, "but close enough to have a good conversation."

"Again, as long as you don't constantly come and check in on me when I'm swimming with possible friends," Bari reminded her mother gently with a joking smile.

She laughed at her daughter's gest. Oh, how well it was known that the lioness would be one to be checking on her children - her single paranoia, as it was.

"Well, if you keep an eye on your brother, I'll let you have your 'me' time with litter interuption, deal?" she gested right back, but didn't even hesitate to settle into the earthy spot that she'd been led to, stretching her legs out in front of her, before resting her head on her limbs. Mmm, this was pleasant.

Bari's grandmother and mother were so alike, sometimes. Gaza just did the same thing Tamaa did: laid down in one spot and became instantly comfy. Good.

"Keep an eye on Muhali? Of course!" she agreed at once, finding the little loophole her mother had given her quite easily. Muhali was a piece of cake to watch; they rarely argued and always managed to do something quite fun together. She'd gladly hang out with him. Dama, on the other hand...

Not so much.

Oh, hardy har har. Silly daughter of hers. "You know who I mean, Bari." the lioness replied, eyes half lidded with an expression of 'ORLY?' on her face. AH HA HA. Mommy didn't approve of the loophole her daughter had tried to take advantage of! DIS. A. PROVE!

But she didn't seem MIFFED by it in the least, just sighing in her new 'comfortable' spot and stretching her body out again. "I mean just make sure he doesn't wander into the swamp, you don't have to babysit him or anything, dear." Gaza said, pondering if that would make her child any more WILLING to do such .

...
....

Alas, her poor youngest child, such a handful for his siblings and his mother.

Well, it was worth a try. Bari grinned sheepishly at her mother. She had almost gotten away with it, too. And would have if Gaza would have been more sleepy. Or mored distracted in some way. "I know, I know. The usual: don't let him do anything dangerous, don't let him get dirty, don't let him do this, don't let him do that." Dama always managed to come with a huge list of things to do, or not to do.

But was it worth it? She weighed the options in her head and sighed.
"Do I have to do it by myself? Can I enlist help?" Now was a chance to get Muhali to help her. It was the perfect plan, he would hate it.

"You're free to get help... and really... I just want him to be safe.." she sighed, as though her heart had just sunk into her chest - her poor poor little boy.... eaten by the vultures, never even had a chance...... Even now, it was something that weighed down on her like a horrid depression.

Four children later. Perhaps it was her lost daughter that had made the wound stick out like a horrible sore.

Perhaps one day she would recover.. perhaps. She would never 'really' know. She never had the chance.