Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mate'moto loved adventure. She enjoyed every aspect of it: seeing new things, exploring new places, the excitement of not knowing if there was danger or the possibility of a few friend. Thankfully the Firekin were a somewhat rowdy bunch, and there was no short supply of cubs that wanted to explore as well. Her own siblings were fun to play around and wrestle with, as well as going on little expeditions to see what was at the back of that cave, or on the other side of the watering hole in the reeds.

Golden eyes watched the land before her intently. She was waiting for one of her siblings to make an appearance and, when they did, she'd pounce and demand that they go on an adventure. She doubted it would take much persuading, and her tail began to lash back and forth in excitement. What could they do today? Maybe go down to that tall rock formation and try to climb it! That could be fun.

Mat waited...and waited...and waited some more. She sighed softly and grew bored with waiting, so she began to draw little pictures in the sand with her claw. There was daddy...and mama...and then her...

Her drawings were interrupted when a warm, fuzzy body landed square on her and made her roll onto her side. A startled 'hey!' left her mouth as she whipped her head around, trying to see who it was. Ack! How had Shula snuck up on her like that?

"You little sneak!" she growled playfully as she leaned up to chew on her sister's ear. "I was waiting to pounce on you! How did you get behind me?"

It was a little too much to think about for the time being, so instead Mat pushed at Shula to try to roll her over. It was hard, though. Her sister had a good hold on her and they were the same size, so she had no advantage. Not that she knew anything about advantages yet, of course. It was more luck at this point.

Mat grinned down at her sister as she pinned her to the ground, paws square on her chest to make sure she couldn't get up. "Oh, yes I do! I got yo- hey!"

Strong little legs started to kick, and it was all Mat could do to hang on for dear life. She collapsed on top of her sister, trying to keep her weight centered, but it was a loosing battle. Finally Shula got a good hold with one foot and tossed Mat off, the darker cub sprawling out on in the dirt a few feet away, laughing.

"That was fun!" she said as she got to her feet, running back over to her sister. "Do it again!" The fight completely gone from her mind, she hovered over her sister's back paws, ready to launch herself into the air again. "Push really hard and I'll jump, too! I wanna fly like the birds!"

Mat crouched as Shula began to count off the launch, but she wasn't ready for it and, rather than flying, stumbled and fell on her stomach. She shook her head and was right back up on her feet, returning to her sister's side.

"You gotta say 'go'!" she insisted as she hovered over her back legs once more. "I wasn't ready. Do 'ready, set, go' and then on go push really hard. And straight up!" This was going to be awesome this time, she knew. She crouched, ready to help push herself off from the ground.

"Okay you ready?" She wiggled her behind a bit to keep her muscles fresh and ready. "And then I'll do it to you!" Who would have thought flinging your sister around could be so much fun?

Mat crouched a bit lower this time as Shula got ready. This was going to be awesome, she could tell. She dug her little claws into the ground as her sister counted down, and on 'go' she jumped. Shula's feet pushed her further into the air and she flew quite a distance before landing heavily on her paws.

"Whoa!" she said with a laugh, shaking out her stinging feet as she glanced back at her sister. "That was awesome! Oh man I was like a bird!" She grinned and ran back to her sister, tackling her to the ground with a laugh. "You next! Go on, get up," she insisted, even though she had been the one to put her back on the ground.

She flopped over onto her back, kicking Shula's side lightly with a back foot to prod her into position. "And you've got wings, so maybe you'll go even further!" she pointed out, pawing at her sister's back and the markings there.

Mat snickered quietly as Shula told her they weren't real wings - of course they weren't! - and swatted at her playfully. "You never know, maybe you just haven't figured out how to make them grow out of your back!"

She continued to snicker as she braced herself against the ground, pulling her legs back as far as they would go to coil like a spring. Once Shula had settled herself over her paws, she dug her claws into the ground and held on tight. She was gonna go far!

As Shula counted down, she narrowed her eyes in concentration like she had seen the hunters do while tracking prey. Golden eyes honed in on those wings on her sisters back, and if she squinted just the right way they looked like they were fluttering a bit.

"Go!" she shouted in unison with Shula, pushing as hard as she could against her sisters rump.

Mat watched her sister soar through the air, letting out a whoop of delight. She went even further than she had gone! Higher, too! She rolled onto her feet just as Shula landed heavily, but didn't notice. She was prancing around in circles, laughing and wiggling her bum in celebration. They had an amazing new game to play! They should make marks in the dirt where they landed and see who really could go the furthest.

She finally glanced over her shoulder when she realized her sister wasn't celebrating with her. The posture her sister had taken and the little sniffles that reached her ears caused the grin to leave her face, and she ran over to Shula's side. There was a small line of blood on her face, and instantly her stomach tightened.

"Oh no! It's okay, Shula," she said quietly, bumping her head against her sister's. "It's just a little cut. Don't worry! Here, I can fix it." She swatted at her sister's paw to get it away from her nose, inspecting the cut. There was a bit of dirt in it, but nothing a skilled tongue couldn't handle. "Hold still, okay?"

Once Shula held still, Mat leaned in and swiped her tongue a few times over the wound as she had seen her mother do. It tasted like a fresh kill, but a bit sweeter. Lion blood was much different from prey blood, after all. She pulled back after a few moments, satisfied that the cut was clean and the blood was gone from her sister's pristine white fur.

"There! All better. Next time you should land on your feet," she added, just a hint of a smug grin on her face. Now that she knew her sister wasn't hurt badly she could tease her a bit. In all honesty she had been rather worried at first, both because she had been the one to toss her sister and she knew her parents wouldn't be happy if one of them came home bleeding, and also because she didn't like to see her siblings in pain.