[PRP] Mother and Daughter (Madaha x Mwezi'nuru)

[Satsurashi]

It had been weeks since Madaha had learned she was pregnant. The fact that she hadn’t know right away was her own fault, to be sure, but she knew she shouldn’t have been so surprised. She knew how these things worked. She barely knew the male that she’d met while wandering as a rogue, but stuck around at least long enough to take all but one of her cubs back to his pride. To some this might have been a bitter thing, but to Madaha it was a relief. One was manageable, and she was still trying to find out if she could be a good mother, and a student of dance at the same time.

She was outside, and they day was clear and hot. Near her den, but far enough from the cliff face to stay out of it’s shadow, she was moving her feet to her rhythm, practicing what she’d been taught not long ago. She wasn’t aware of anyone watching her, but she wasn’t looking, so in truth she didn’t know.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mwezi'nuru peeked out of the den. Her mother did not seem too upset about the other cubs leaving with their father, but Mwezi missed them terribly. The others all decided to go with poppa, but Mwezi had not wanted momma to get lonely. It just did not seem nice to let momma all by herself to go with poppa. She crept a little ways out of the den to see what her mother was doing.

The weather was clear and hot. Mwezi's dark coat was a bit uncomfortable in the heat. She padded quietly toward Madaha to get a better look at what she was doing. Mwezi sat and tilted her head to the side to watch. Madaha's feet were moving in an odd way. What was she doing? It was rather odd to the cub. But also entrancing. The cub couldn't look away.

She was not aware that her tail was twitching along to the beat until sometime later. At that point she decided she might as well try what her mother was doing. She started out slow just picking up the rhythm of the older lioness's movements and then copying them as she could. She did not do too badly at first. And then a slip up and she tripped on her own foot and landed at her mother's feet. "Hi, momma."  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha had been so caught up in trying to dance that she hadn’t noticed her daughter at first. Somewhere not far off, perhaps in one of the dens, someone was practicing the drums, and the beat of it could carry the lioness away if she wasn’t careful. Mwezi was quiet, and Madaha was involved in what she was doing, and so when her cub tripped at her feet she was startled to see her, but her surprise quickly gave way to pleasure. No matter what mod she was in, the sight of her cub always made her smile.

“Afternoon, Mwezi’nuru,” Madaha said to her daughter, using her full name as she often did because she liked the sound of it. She purred and nuzzled her cub, overcome with affection before she began to think that she might have seen her earlier, out of the corner of her eye, practicing dancing?

“Were you trying to dance, Mwezi?” Madaha asked, sitting down. She had been ready for a break anyway, and her daughter was always a welcome distraction.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mwezi picked herself up and shakes off the dust from her fall. The cub had not meant to disturb her mother but she was always happy to have her mother's attention. She just usually stayed out of the way instead of bothering the lioness. "Afternoon, momma." Her little voice was shy and sweet, and usually so soft you had to listen carefully or it would be lost.

She reached up a paw toward her mother's face and put it on the lioness' leg as high as she could reach. She nuzzled her mother back and tried to keep her balance sitting with her paw up like that. "I was trying to do what you were doing, momma." She settled herself back on all four paws and nuzzled in between her mother's front paws affectionately.  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha listened to her child and felt, as she heard the words, infinitely pleased. Of course dancing might not mean to Mwezi the very same thing it meant to her mother, but to see her trying was exciting for Madaha. She wondered briefly if her other cubs might have liked dancing too, in their new pride. Would anyone be there to teach them? Madaha’s sadness at the thought was quickly banished as she looked down at her daughter, and she smiled as she licked a little dust off her daughter’s head.

“Dancing is something that makes me very happy, so if you want to learn I’ll be glad to help you, Mwezi.” Madaha herself was still learning, but she had come a long way since she first rejoined her pride, so she was certainly no longer an amateur. Somewhere not far off, in the caves, whoever was practicing their drums was still going, and the slow, rhythmic beat filled the air around the mother and cub.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mwezi smiled up at her mother. She could tell her mother was pleased with her, and this made her proud. Her siblings had all gone away to their father, so it was Mwezi's job to make mother happy. She tried her best to do this as often as possible without getting in the way too much. Dancing made mother happy too, so was best not to disturb mother when she was dancing.

"I know dancing makes you happy momma... I do not want to get in the way... but I would like to learn." Maybe it would make her mother happy to teach her? That would be nice. Attention for her, happy mother, and a fun activity. There was no losing in that situation. She smiled brightly up at her mother hoping that she could learn and be as good as her mother at it one day.  

[Satsurashi]

“Oh, you won’t be in my way at all,” Madaha assured her daughter, and since it seemed decided, she started dancing again, very slowly so that her cub could mimic the moves and follow her steps. The music could often carry Madaha away, but it did in a different way this time. She was mindful of her daughter and watched her, making sure she wasn’t going too fast to follow. Madaha supposed she could have given her instructions… but this was the way she learned when she was a cub, and so was the only way she knew how to teach.

Madaha’s movements were very slow, half the tempo of the drumbeat off in the distance. Her pawsteps fell in time to the beat, and her tail swished to keep time. For now she kept it simple, using no complicated moves that would be hard for a beginner to try.  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mwezi giggled in delight and looked up at her mother with bright eyes. Her mother wanted her to dance! Her mother even wanted to teach her to dance. The cub's pride swelled and she watched her mother again to see all the movements of the older lioness' paws. This would be a fun adventure and it would make her mother happy.

Mwezi picked up her paws and started mimicking her mother again. This time things were much slower and much easier for the cub to follow. She did not trip over her own paws as she followed and seemed to get a bit of bounce to her steps as she went. She was having fun and her mother seemed to be too. The cub looked up at her mother and purred while continuing to dance slowly.  

[Satsurashi]

Madaha watched Mwezi as she seemed to gain confidence and rhythm. It was surprising how quickly she took to it, and Madaha supposed that she might be a natural, as she herself had been when she was young. As the rhythm echoed through the air, Madaha listened and watched as her daughter seemed to not only keep in time with it, but enjoyed it.

Gradually, the drumbeats faded off. Whoever had been making them had apparently decided to take a break, and so as they stopped, so did Madaha. She didn’t really need a rhythm in the air to dance, and perhaps her daughter didn’t either, but she’d been dancing for a while anyway, and the heat of midday was still oppressive. It was enough for now.

“You did very well, Mwezi,” Madaha told her daughter, purring with pride, “You have the makings of a great dancer in you. Did you enjoy it?”  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

Mwezi beamed up at her mother, her shyness dropping some. "I enjoyed it very much, momma." Her eyes sparkled as she thought of the dancing and how right it felt to her paws. Her mother enjoying it and teaching her just made it all the more special to the cub. She would probably never forget the joy of that moment, even if she did not really remember the moment itself.

The young cub curled up on her mother's front paws and snuggled her as they rested. "Thank you, Momma... I hope I am as wonderful as you are one day." She gave a little yawn and tried not to drift to sleep. Apparently dancing was tiring, or so her little body seemed to think now that she had stopped. It never occurred to Mwezi that that might mean she needed to take her time on learning. She would do her best to work as fast and well as would make her mother proud. On that thought, though, she drifted to sleep.