Pride of Exiles

[Ravvij]

Rav's ears felt like they were ringing from the suspense and silence. He saw Laini creeping up onto the other side of the herd and when he saw her readying herself he moved to right to get out of the way of the impending stampede.
He heard Laini's loud roar and as expected the tall stupid beasts shot up and fumbled over eachother trying to run from her. Rav lept from his spot, where he'd been crouched and ready for them. He jumped onto the first large antelope that passed and sunk his sharp teeth and claws into it's hide. It let out a cry and the others ran away from him as well. By the time the beast in his maw stopped thrashing the herd and run a long ways away. Rav was happy with his choice. He released the limp carcas and waited for Laini to join him.
"How'd it go over there?" he asked, making sure she hand't had any trouble.

Kaith saw most of what happened. She was impressed. She hadn't ever thought to do that on any of her own hunts as a young lion. Now she waited for their call. Her tail flicked anxiously.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini remained where she was. As tempting as it was to experience the thrill of chasing down her pray, taking down one of the antelope was Rav's part of the plan. The young lioness felt the adrenaline rush through her as she saw the outline of his muscular form leap and tackle one of the larger antelope. She contntinued to stand there and watch as the lion handled his catch and only began to make her way over to him once the antelope had gone limp.

When she was about halfway there she heard his question and was just about to make her answer when all of a sudden she found herself inside a small pond of cold water. Because of how dark it was she'd failed to notice it was there. Letting out a surprised yelp, she immediately got out of the water and shook her fur dry as much as possible, but it wasn't enough. "It went fine." she said with a frown. "Until now..." Already feeling the cold start to take its toll, she closed the remaining gap between them in order to inspect their kill closely. "N-n-nice c-catch!" she said, doing her best to smile at him as her body started to shiver.

[Ravvij]

Rav held back a laugh when she'd slipped into the water. He saw her shiver and he knew she was cold even through her efforts to show otherwise.
"Nice fall." he mused. Rav walked over to her and began licking her head to help her dry off. He didn't feel awkward about it, but he was sure she might. He thought of any number of ways his mother would have teased him had this happened to him and then he caught himself thinking of things to tease Laini with. He was thankful his tongue was doing something other than talking at that moment. He knew that he might have slipped and said something that would anger his new friend.

Kaith was becoming impatient. Even though she could see the two of them from her spot in the tree, she couldn't make out what was going on. Finally, she decided to go after a small animal she'd seen just minutes earlier. She tracked it down and managed to to surprise it even in these open lands. She took her time devouring the small creature.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini frowned when Rav teased her for slipping into the water, but her agitation disappeared when he suddenly walked over to her and began licking her head dry. She froze, feeling the heat climb to her cheeks as his warm tongue ran over her head repeatedly. "U-um, i-i-it's okay, Rav..." she said, but her voice suggested otherwise. "Y-you don't have to do that..."

The male seemed to ignore her. He continued despite her "protest" and the young lioness felt a purr begin to rumble in her throat as he finished drying her head and moved a little downwards. She was still cold, so she didn't stop herself from huddling against the lion's side for warmth as her purring intensified because of his attention.

[Ravvij]

"You should be more careful." he said between licks, "A beautiful lioness such as yourself. I'd hate to see you get hurt." Rav said those things almost absent mindedly. He couldn't, however, stop himself. A new feeling washed over him as he bathed her. It was a strange and uncontrollable sensation he couldn't give a name to. He felt her body against his and her damp fur seemed to cling to his. It was strange to him because he hadn't felt this same thing when he'd been protecting her from the cold earlier.
Rav finished cleaning her up sooner than expected and when he pulled his head up, his gaze met her's. He felt, odd. He felt good, but still odd. He'd never thought looking into the eyes of another could be this way. Even in dark light of the moon her eyes shown very brightly to him. If he were to drown in them he wouldn't care.

Kaith returned to her spot int the tree and searched the plains for her son and the young lioness. She found them right where she'd last seen them. They seemed to be talking or something. Then, a knowing smile touched her lips and she giggled to herself. "I wonder if I'll be a grandmother next season?" she thought.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini continued to sit there right next to Rav, enjoying every moment of him bathing her. Her cheeks turned even redder when he then spoke to her. Normally she would have just thanked someone for giving her such a compliment, but something felt different and she remained silent, allowing the male to carry on with what he was doing.

It was quite a disappointment to have him stop, even if she wasn't that cold anymore. But the cold was the last thing on her mind and it became of even less significance when her eyes met Rav's. She stared back into his deep eyes, feeling herself get lost in them. It was almost a scary sensation to not be able to look away - to not even want to look away, but she liked it.

Still blushing furiously, she was about to thank him for his help but it didn't come out in words like she wanted. Instead, she found herself bringing her head closer to the lion's and giving him a soft, small lick across his muzzle. This surprised even her, but she didn't feel bad about it at all. As Rav stared at her rather dumbstruck, she went ahead and inched even closer against him, resting her head under his chin as she did. She began to purr once more at the feeling of his warm fur against hers and a small smile formed on her muzzle.

[Ravvij]

Rav smiled and felt an immense comfort in her company. He nuzzled her head and neck with his own. He then licked the back of her ear. Any thought he'd had before seemed to vanish and he was left with this intense feeling of happiness and it also seemed as if they were the only things in all of the world at that moment. To him, he could remain like this for an eternity.

Kaith wondered how her son and the young lioness were getting along. She wouldn't want to bother her son if the two of them wanted to be alone. Yet, something in her was nagging her to find out. She lept down from the tree and silently made her way over to the couple. What she saw didn't surprise her, but in fact made her happy. She decided to sit and watch them in silence for a while. She lay there on the ground and in the dim light she would have looked like part of the scenery, a rock or something. She didn't move and she kept her head low.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini's smile only grew wider and a soft shiver went down her spine when Rav nuzzled her and licked the back of her ear. She no longer cared about the cold, the fact that she was hungry or anything else for that matter. Everything seemed to lose its significance and all that mattered to her was where she was and what was happening at that moment. She rubbed the top of her head against his chin, feeling happier and happier with every passing second.

Being there next him like that just felt right. The young lioness could not explain it. She'd only met him that day, but something about him just drew her and made her want to be with him. His larger body against hers and his unignorable presence made her feel safe. "Rav..." she quietly said his name once, savoring every second of it. Still purring, she raised her head and licked his muzzle once more before staring into his eyes again. "What about our kill?.." she asked softly, making a small movement with her head in the direction of the antelope while maintaining eye contact with him.

[Ravvij]

Rav continued to nuzzle her. This was probably the most profound experience He could think of, even if he was just a youth.
"You want me to ignor you and start licking it instead?" he mused.
"Kaith thought this might be a good time to jump in. "I certainly would." she said and stood up, "You'll waste a good meal if you two keep going like that." Kaith knew exactly what she was doing. She didn't need a pregnant young lion or a cub to slow them down while they sought a home.
Rav didn't move much, he just lifted his head to look at his mother. He was not real happy that she'd interrupted them, but he knew she always had a good reason for doing these kinds of things. He sighed then pushed the top of his nose against Laini's cheek. He looked at her and shot a quick glance over to their kill as if to say, "We might as well eat now."

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini blushed and frowned playfully at Rav's musing and was about to tell him that they should probably eat it before it went to waste but Kaith beat her to it. Her cheeks turned even redder when she realized that the older lioness had watched them for at least some time. Having already figured out that she was Rav's mother (it only made sense), the situation was even more embarrassing.

The young lioness snapped out of her little bubble of embarrassment when the lion nudged her cheek with his nose, silently letting her know that they should start eating. It's not like Laini would feel comfortable about being affectionate towards Rav with his mother being right there next to them, and she was hungry...She was about to dig in, but she suddenly stopped. Not knowing that Kaith had already eaten, she looked at her and asked "Won't you wat as well?" She suddenly remembered that she still didn't know the older lioness's name.