Pride of Exiles

[Ravvij]

Kaith sighed, "Laini." she said softly now, "You have to think of the good of the Pride, not your own safety. I would rather send you up those peaks than my son for my own selfish reasons. I'd even preffer to go up myself so that you two might be safer and have a future together. But Rav has to learn how to lead and make decisions on his own. You put the good of the group ahead of yourself... always. I was selfish in leaving my pride for the sake of my son. There were many who depended on me, but I love my son and wanted him to live." Kaith spoke softly and deliberately to help Laini understand, "Just because you don't have cubs now does not mean you won't later. Would you really risk their safety for your mate? Would you really risk one of them being hurt or killed on the off chance that your mate would be hurt? These are the things you must think about if you're to survive. "Is it the risk?", young one?"
Rav remained silent. He had learned this lesson before. It took him days to get over the scolding he got for his mistake, but he understood his mother's wisdom on the matter.
"Now." she said, rising to all fours, "We must go. The sun will only be with us until we reach the base of those mountains. There is very little shade so don't expend your energy on this crossing."
Now it seemed clear who was in charge. Rav was being taught to lead, but Kaith held the power even before Laini showed up.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini immediately shook her head when Kaith asked her how she would act in case she did have cubs. "I would never do that!" she said, sounding somewhat more relaxed now. "It's just that I don't have any at the moment, so I answered you as a lioness who doesn't... I know that the safety of the cubs is the most important thing and that any mate would also agree that I should stay behind with them..." What made her feel even worse about the older lioness's scolding was that, in a way, Rav's mother had gotten the wrong impression.

"A-and I thought that going together would be for the good of the whole group because a pride's stronger when it's united, I wasn't thinking about myself..." She'd been raised in a pride and wasn't oblivious to things of that sort. "B-but I see where I was wrong about that... I just... I don't want you to think that I only care about myself..." This made her think of how she'd left her old pride, but she pushed these thoughts aside. She just really hoped that Kaith would understand that there's been a misunderstanding. Yes, Laini did make a few mistakes but, like with the subject of cubs, not because she hadn't known what answers to give but because she'd been a little nervous and confused. "I swear, I don't... I-if there's any way I can prove it to you..." her voice trailed off.

[Ravvij]

"I know you don't." Kaith said looking back over her shoulder at Laini, "But you should think a little more about what you say and what you mean to say. Be direct and decisive. Your shyness is cute, but it has a place and a time. If you really want to stay with my son, you'll have to grow a little more inside. You and I can handle just about anything that comes our way. Rav can handle more than that. I think you should learn to trust in the abilities of others." she said calmly.
Rav followed Kaith as she started walking. We wondered how Laini would take this. It was obvious that Kaith was a bit disappointed in Laini, even if it might have been a misunderstanding, he could tell his mother was trying to help the lioness mature. Though he was unsure of her opinion of Laini at the moment.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini took a few moments before rising to her paws as well. She joined Rav's side as they walked, taking some comfort in his presence. It was obvious that she had a lot of learning and maturing to do, but... She was also feeling like she was being thrown into the deep water. "Will you help me?" she asked after taking in a deep breath. No more stuttering, she told herself. True, the older lioness did explain to her what her mistakes were, but the disappointment was there even though so much of what was going on was new to the young lioness.

Would she really have to figure everything out on her own in order to gain Kaith's approval? "Please? So many of this is new to me, I haven't been raised by the leaders of my old pride and I've only been on my own for a while." She paused for a brief moment. "Can you teach me what I need to know? It would be an honor..."

[Ravvij]

Before Rav could speak, Kaith stopped and looked back over her shoulder. A dark smile replaced the blank expression on her face. Kaith had an idea and Rav could see it in her eyes.
"I can try." he finally said, "But I'm also young and inexperienced. I hope you can forgive me now for the mistakes I'll make." he said humbly. "You might not forgive me later."
Kaith turned and continued walking. "He answered better than I expected." she thought. Her tail made small almost unnoticeable flicks; a sign of her gladness and approval toward her son.
The soft ground below their feet was warming up as more and more of the sun's light filled the valley they crossed.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini's question had actually been aimed at Kaith and not at her, but Laini was happy with Rav's answer nonetheless. As inexperienced as he may be, he was definitely more experienced than whe was. He'd grown up with only his mother his entire life after all. And if he were to make a mistake, meaning that she would make one too, then Kaith would correct them both. It sounded like it could make the whole process a lot easier, andthr young lioness was actually glad that Rav was the one who answered her in the end. "Thank you..." she said with a small, appreciative smile, finally calming down from his mother's scolding. She'd recovered from it faster than she thought she would, she told herself.

[Ravvij]

"Is there anything on your mind right now that you have questions about?" He asked, keeping his gaze forward to where they were going.
Kaith listened carefully to their conversations for anything she might need to correct. She felt a twinge of regret for scolding Laini so harshly, but she knew that is would be good for the young lioness.

As they walked over the open plains and dry ground, many different animals were running around or running away from them. Their reactions towards the predators were varied and usually flighty. The ones that stood their ground didn't do much more than threaten and growl at them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Still smiling, Laini thought about it for a moment. She knew that the questions would mostly come to her whenever Kaith would throw another test at her, but she didn't know when to expect that or what she would be questioned about. "Not at the moment..." she admitted, still smiling. "But your mother did say that she's been teaching you how to make the right decisions on your own, right? I know it isn't a very direct question, but do you think you could tell me some of the things she told you?" True, the young lioness probably wouldn't need to lead a pride on her own, but she still wanted to be able to make the right calls for herself and, in case it proved necessary, her pride.

[Ravvij]

"Well, it'll be out of context, but I'll tell you what I can remember off the top of my head." he said, thinking back to all the things his mother had taught him. He though he should star with the most basic things he was taught, which happened to be some of the most unfair things he'd have to do if he were to rule a pride. Things like, "Those who don't hunt don't eat." to the more complex problems involving banishment or allowing new lions into the Pride. He went on for a while. He wasn't too sure about a few of his mother's lessons; as he had experience with them.
"I'm sorry. I guess it's probably a lot to take in all at once." he realized after going on for so long.
Kaith was impressed at how accurately Rav remembered and recalled all their conversations. "That's enough for now, children." she said to stop them, "Too much of a good thing all at once will spoil the kill."

[TheWhistlerify]

Dspite how Rav said that he might be out of context, Laini paid close attention to everything he told her. True, the decisions regarding whether to accept someone into the pride or whether to banish someone would probably not belong to her in the future, but she knew that knowing how to make such a decision would definitely come in handy. Knowing how to judge a stranger's character was very important and the young lioness understood that. It was most likely obvious to anyone who was looking at Laini that she was taking everything Rav was saying to her seriously and that she genuinely wanted to learn.

"It is quite a lot..." she said after Kaith had spoken, knowing that there shouldn't be a problem as long as she didn't disobey the older lioness by asking Rav to coninue explaining things to her. "But I don't have my cubhood and adolescence to learn all of this." Rav has probably been learning from his mother ever since the day he was born, but Laini was just getting started, in a way. "I have to make the most out of the time I have now and to do my best to get the hang of things as fast as I can. But I agree with your mother; I'd hate to throw up." Rav really had spoken for quite some time, so a break wouldn't hurt.

A part of her wanted to look at Kaith to try to see what Rav's mother thought of what she had just said, but instead she fell silent and looked at where they were going. Yes, she wanted to gain Kaith's approval one day, but she wasn't going to make this effort just in order to impress her. She was also going to do it in order to help herself mature and in order to turn into a lioness who would be more capable of taking care of her pride.