Post by Leopardkit on Apr 3, 2008 18:53:51 GMT -5
The night glittered with a thousand stars as Eve made her way to the other lionesses sitting on the Rock.
"Eve, is Cresta all right?" a young female asked, launching herself upright as her elder approached her.
"Yes, only a few minutes ago she was delivered of four healthy cubs," Eve murmured. Tired from her long vigil, she stretched luxuriously, her claws unsheathed and scraping rock. "Where's Sinbad? I thought he'd be excited about being a father for the first time,"Salkie, the young female, asked.
Eve snorted in derision. "Sinbad's asleep. He values himself over everyone," she snarled. "Even his newborn cubs."
Quella, the oldest in the group, grunted in amusement, and shifted on her haunches. "He's just preoccupied by those blasted rogues from across the river," she said wisely. "Once they're taken care of, he'll focus on family life again."
The group fell silent, brooding on their private thoughts. Salkie, tired of sitting still, paced back and forth. Finally, she twitched her tail and said, "Well, Eve? Can we see them?"
Eve, who had been lightly dozing, blinked and nodded to Salkie and the others to follow her.
The Pride usually slept out in the open, on the Rock that was the pinnacle of their daily life. Here they washed each other, dragged the prey back and ate, and, of a lazy afternoon, snoozed together in companionable luxury. But one corner of the Rock was reserved for the lionesses carrying the next generation of the Pride. Centuries of carving from a fast-flowing stream carved out a cave, a secluded spot that was safe from predators.
This is where Eve led the Pride, and one by one, they squeezed in. It was barely big enough to fit all of them, but they managed to form themselves into a semicircle around Cresta and her cubs.
Cresta looked exhausted, but immeasurably happy as she gazed at her cubs. The raw emotion in her eyes made every lioness there long for cubs of their own.
Salkie stepped forward and rasped her tongue over Cresta's ears. One by one, all the lionesses gathered around her, and groomed her as the moon waxed full over the Serengeti Plains.
Coming Up....Chapter Two: The Cubs In The Open
"Eve, is Cresta all right?" a young female asked, launching herself upright as her elder approached her.
"Yes, only a few minutes ago she was delivered of four healthy cubs," Eve murmured. Tired from her long vigil, she stretched luxuriously, her claws unsheathed and scraping rock. "Where's Sinbad? I thought he'd be excited about being a father for the first time,"Salkie, the young female, asked.
Eve snorted in derision. "Sinbad's asleep. He values himself over everyone," she snarled. "Even his newborn cubs."
Quella, the oldest in the group, grunted in amusement, and shifted on her haunches. "He's just preoccupied by those blasted rogues from across the river," she said wisely. "Once they're taken care of, he'll focus on family life again."
The group fell silent, brooding on their private thoughts. Salkie, tired of sitting still, paced back and forth. Finally, she twitched her tail and said, "Well, Eve? Can we see them?"
Eve, who had been lightly dozing, blinked and nodded to Salkie and the others to follow her.
The Pride usually slept out in the open, on the Rock that was the pinnacle of their daily life. Here they washed each other, dragged the prey back and ate, and, of a lazy afternoon, snoozed together in companionable luxury. But one corner of the Rock was reserved for the lionesses carrying the next generation of the Pride. Centuries of carving from a fast-flowing stream carved out a cave, a secluded spot that was safe from predators.
This is where Eve led the Pride, and one by one, they squeezed in. It was barely big enough to fit all of them, but they managed to form themselves into a semicircle around Cresta and her cubs.
Cresta looked exhausted, but immeasurably happy as she gazed at her cubs. The raw emotion in her eyes made every lioness there long for cubs of their own.
Salkie stepped forward and rasped her tongue over Cresta's ears. One by one, all the lionesses gathered around her, and groomed her as the moon waxed full over the Serengeti Plains.
Coming Up....Chapter Two: The Cubs In The Open
