Pride of Exiles

[Ravvij]

"Yeah. She likes to eat lion cubs whole!" he said in a low whisper, still joking around.
"I can hear you! Little cub snacks." Kaith said, never looking back once.
Rav laughed, not loudly, but he was enjoying himself.

As the sun got higher and the day got warmer, a sort of sleepy daze threatened to make Kaith want to stop and rest. It wouldn't be a bad idea. They'd been walking for hours and hadn't eaten in a while. She decided it would be best to look for a place to rest. Being a cat, even her abundance of energy wore thin eventually.
Rav was feeling a bit more tired than his mother. He too sought the shade of a tree and a short nap.
Further out, about 20 or thirty leaps, they spotted a small tree just large enough to fit all three of them underneath. Kaith and Rav both turned towards it. It wasn't far out of their way. In fact, it was little more than a slight westward slant for them to face it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini once again giggled at Rav's joking, only for her grin to intensify when Kaith called the two of them cub snacks. It was nice to hear Rav's mother joke around a little as well, even if there was no telling whether she really did have a problem with what they were saying or not. Deciding they might as well do the smart thing and avoid her wrath, the young lioness gave the male next to her a quick lick across his muzzle and said nothing else.
---
Laini's small size once again gave her a harder time. Not only was she not used to walking so much at a single go but, having traveled on her own up until she'd met Kaith and her son, she'd had the liberty of taking a rest whenever she pleased. The young lioness was more than happy when Rav and his mother headed towards a small tree somewhere ahead of them and she followed them, hoping that they were going to stop for a while like she thought they were going to.

Despite this whole thing of making such an effort being new to her, she wasn't complaining. It amazed her how only yesterday the three of them had nearly all of their limbs go numb during the storm and yet there they were trying to escape the heat of the sun. Things could very quickly change drastically, it seemed. It was a wonderful sensation to enter the shade of the tree, even if it was quite huddled with all three of them there. As Laini lay down in order to give her legs some time to rest, she wondered whether there would be any water further down the road.

[Ravvij]

Rav and Kaith half collapsed as they came up under the tree. Not long after laying down Kaith fell asleep. Rav rested with Laini, but the heat of the day prevented him from doing any cuddling. If anything, he was ready to fall asleep. He rested his head between his paws and shut his eyes. It was several minutes more before he truly fell asleep.

[TheWhistlerify]

Being in the shade didn't at all mean that they had completely escaped the heat. While Laini has really grown to like lying close to Rav and enjoying the feeling of his soft fur, this was an occasion where she wanted to do anything but that. The young lioness lay down next to the male, but made no contact with him so to not reduce the welcome effects of the shelter the three of them had found themselves.

She lay her head down on her paws, staring out into the distance for a while before beginning to feel sleepy. But that was when something occurred to her. She looked at Kaith and her son and, sure enough, they were both asleep. What if there was any danger nearby? What if some dangerous predator passed by while all three of them slept? As much as the young lioness wouldn't have minded a nap, she stayed awake and kept an eye out. The important thing was that her legs were taking a break, she told herself.

[Ravvij]

Rav awoke. It had barely been a half hour before he'd fallen asleep. When he looked over he saw Laini, still awake, keeping watch. He stretched then yawned. "You should have slept." he said concerned.
A soft warm flow of air swept through their shaded spot. it was as if the sun was trying to reach around the tree to touch them. The other beasts of the field were also sleeping off the heat as best they could, or so Rav thought. He hadn't seen anything moving when he awoke.

[TheWhistlerify]

A small smile found its way onto Laini's muzzle when she heard Rav's voice. "Um... I figured someone had to keep an eye out..." she said quietly, not wanting to accidentally wake his mother up by making too much noise. "You know, just in case..." Back when she'd traveled alone sleeping in the middle of the day was something she'd almost never allowed herself to do. She wasn't feeling as hot as she had back when they'd just arrived by the tree, so she gave the male a short nuzzle. Now that Rav was awake perhaps she'd be able to get a little bit of sleep as well. "Do you think you could keep watch for a little while?" It only seemed fair, but she wanted to make sure he didn't have a problem with what she was asking of him.

[Ravvij]

"I don't mind. But what makes you think anything would sneak up on the three of us?" he wondered. He nuzzled her in return and even licked her ears a bit to help cool her off. He wondered how often she was actually able to just sleep when she was on her own. "It must have been a bit frightening." he thought.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini gave the male a small smile. "I don't know." she said. True, most animals would keep their distance away from three sleeping lions, but there was no telling what would spot them while they slept. Who knew, maybe there was a pack of hyenas nearby? "Better safe than sorry, I guess." The young lioness inched a little bit closer to Rav and began to purr when he started to lick her ears in the hopes that maybe the male would think of it as a sign to keep going. Closing her eyes, she wondered how long it would be until they went on their way again.

[Ravvij]

Rav continued to lick her ears gently, he was clued in to continue when she showed that she liked it very much. "I wonder how long it would take for my tonue to fall off if I kept going?" he thought to himself.
"Don't worry too much about it." he said to her quietly, "I'll protect you until my last breath." Rav knew he might have sounded silly with what he'd said, but he meant it and he wanted his words to carry the weight of his meaning and intent. "Safe and Sorry sometimes fall into the same hole and don't come out. I think you'd like it more if you came out of your Safe hole." he said, whispering it in her ear. He hoped he wasn't being too cryptic and that she might understand all of what he meant.
Kaith shifted next to the two young lions. She didn't wake and she didn't make much of any sounds beside her breathing. It seemed, though, that her tongue woke up just long enough to lick her lips and then recede back inside her maw.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini found herself shuffling a little bit closer to Rav as he spoke to her. Since joining him and his mother she'd obviously felt safer than when she'd been traveling alone, so she wasn't feeling like she was in danger or anything at the moment. Regardless of that she still found a lot of comfort in what he was saying to her. The lion's comment about how she maybe was being a little bit too careful did make her think about it, although she remained silent and continued to enjoy his affection. Now that she was less vulnerable and wasn't alone, perhaps she would be able to do that as the time went on. Maybe Rav would help her figure out how to do it.