New Start, New Heart (Private for TheWhistlerify)

[LeopardessGracie]

[OOC: Good thinking. I did want a couple of adult females, I'll just name them and not give them profiles yet]

Gracie smiled gratefully again before lying down to rest in the den for a moment,
"Thank you". Chaka was sitting by her, looking at Mheetu with an interested gaze. He wondered whether he had cubs, and he wondered whether he was a nice father.
----
Meanwhile, outside, were three cubs playing by the lake. Watching over them was Dalani and Tara, two members of the pride. Dalani was Amara and Alana's mother, the twin female cubs. However, neither lioness was the mother of Tavu, the male cub. His mother was killed by poachers, and Mheetu had taken him in as one of his own.

Alana, the first born of the twins and more confident of the two, pounced Tavu and they began to wrestle.
"You'll never beat me!", shouted Tavu.
"Oh yeah! Watch me! I have girl power on my side", Alana replied, nipping at his ear playfully. She looked over to her sister for a moment, who was sitting out of the fight.
"Amara! Come help me out!".

Dalani and Tara watched and giggled. The mother of the twins smiled afterwards and looked over to Tara,
"I remember playing like that when I was a cub". Tara nodded and chuckled,
"Me too. Anyway, we should get back to the den soon, get ready for the hunt".

[TheWhistlerify]

Shani was somewhat calmer, but she was still keeping an eye on Mheetu the entire time. While he was being friendly to them, she still didn't know him and, after being with Roark, probably wouldn't grow to trust him so quickly. It was nothing personal though. Mheetu who was also up for a rest after doing that long patrol across the border also lay down, some distance away from Gracie and her cubs so to give them space. He sighed and closed his eyes, but he kept listening just in case something would happen all of a sudden.
---
Amara sat aside as her sister and Tavu began to wrestle. She would gladly play hide and seek, or tag, but whenever it came to wrestling, she always found herself too nervous to join. She just didn't know what was so exciting about those type of games. Also, her timid and sometime nervous personality also made her think that it wouldn't be fair if she helped either of them. "Uh... No thanks Alana, I'm alright here..." she said, smiling nervously, "Beside, you totally got this one, you have girl power."

[LeopardessGracie]

Gracie also watched Mheetu, she wasn't entirely sure if this lion was safe, but given time to get to know him, she was sure he'd be nothing compared to Roark. After awhile she put her head down, and began to doze off. Chaka padded over to his sister and gave her a playful nudge and whispered,
"So, what do you think of this place eh?".
---
Alana was about to argue with her sister, until she heard the last thing she said. Somehow the encouragement from her sister always spurred her on a little more. She finally pinned him and she threw her head back and gave a cub roar.
"Pinned ya!", she said, and then smirked. Tavu growled grumpily, he didn't like losing fights, but he'd always cheer up,
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get you next time".

Dalani raised her head from the discussion she was having with Tara to speak to the cubs,
"We're leaving soon, we have to get back for the hunt". Alana and Tavu groaned, Alana sulked,
"Mom, I don't wanna go back yet!". Dalani rolled her eyes and sighed,
"Well, you won't be getting anything to eat tonight then". Alana and Tavu stopped groaning after that.

[TheWhistlerify]

Shani sat silently, her eyes fixed on Mheetu the entire time. She looked at her brother when he nudged her and whispered back, "It's nice I guess. she was actually more focused on Mheetu rather than on their surroundings. This was, after all, the first male she was seeing who wasn't her father. "What do you think of him?" he seemed nice to her, nicer than Roark for sure. She was of course curious about her brother's opinion.
---
Amara continued to watch as the intense battle between Tavu and her sister went on. She couldn't help but chuckle at the cubbish and totally not intimidating roar Alana let out when she finally won. When she heard her mother speak, she got up and quietly walked over to her, rubbing against her leg upon arriving in front of her. Being a more quiet cub, she was also more obedient than her sister.

[LeopardessGracie]

Chaka smiled when he heard her response to his question, for he was thinking the same thing. When she asked him a question, he looked over to Mheetu who was resting. He looked to his sister, although not entirely sure he replied in a whisper,
"He looks ok I suppose".
---
"Come on then cubs!", Dalani shouted over to Alana and Tavu, who had just began walking to the two adults as well. Dalani gave Amara a small nuzzle before picking her up in her mouth by the scruff. Being as gentle as always. She began to walk back to the den, cubs in tow and Tara at her side.

[TheWhistlerify]

Shani continued to stare, "I wonder whether he'll strike us if we talk to him." she doubted it, but the main reason she hadn't said anything to the male yet was Roark's treatment of her, her mother and her brother. Mheetu meanwhile knew that the other pride members will be getting back soon. Once they did he could introduce their new members to them.
---
While Alana would have most likely started to squirm, Amara never had a problem with being picked up by her mother. In fact she always felt more secure when her mother did that, something which Alana never seemed to understand, but Amara didn't really mind. Not to mention she was hungry, making her even more eager to get back to the den so that their mother could set out to hunt.

[LeopardessGracie]

When Chaka heard what his sister had said, it made him think about it. While he liked to remain strong for his sister, inside he was hurt, and it was something that would probably never go away. He finally replied,
"I wonder about that too".

A few moments later, Dalani, Tara, Tavu and the twins arrived back. At hearing them arrive, Gracie opened her eyes from her little nap and looked up at them, waiting to be introduced as they gave her puzzled looks.

Alana, now curious at seeing two new cubs, approached Chaka and Shani with a wide smile.
"Hi there, I'm Alana! Who are you?", she said enthusiastically. Chaka was lost for words, this was the first time he had met another cub, and ended up coming out with just a small,
"C-Chaka".

[TheWhistlerify]

Shani was about to say something else when suddenly Dalani, Tavu, Alana, Amara and Tara arrived. Shani was obviously not feeling very comfortable about the arrival, especially because of the two lionesses. She wasn't as nervous towards the other cub though. "I'm Shani." she said, smiling back at the cub. Amara was obviously too shy to approach so she stayed next to her mother.

Mheetu noticed the arrival and stood up. First thing he did was walk over to Tavu and give the cub a nuzzle, "Hey there little guy." ever since his mother died Mheetu took the responsibility of taking care of the cub. He was basically his father in all but blood. Shani couldn't help but stare at this. It was probably nice to have a father who wasn't cruel. Mheetu then went ahead and moved to the part of introducing. "This is Gracie," he started, looking at the lioness. "These are her cubs. They will be staying with us from now on." he heard the cubs tell their names themselves just before he approached and therefore found it unnecessary to repeat. "Gracie, these are Dalani and Tara." he then introduced the cubs, "This is Tavu." he put his large paw on the cub's back with a smile. "This is Alana, and her sister Amara."

[LeopardessGracie]

[ OOC: Alana has a small crush on Chaka as soon as she met him, but it turns out Amara does too but Chaka falls in love with Amara as they all become teenagers and...well, there's a sequel to this ;] Oh, and this is quite a long post...]

Tavu accepted his 'fathers' nuzzle and nuzzled him back, he saw Mheetu as a father just as he saw him as a son, and that would never change.
"Hi dad", he replied happily, he had started calling him dad since his mother died when he was a month old, he hardly remembered her, but Mheetu often reminded him that she was a pretty, caring lioness.

Alana nodded and smiled even more, she thought this new cub was rather nice, and she'd love to make friends with her,
"Nice name! Hey, we should hang out sometime". She then looked over to Chaka, who smiled back at her, she didn't say so, but she thought Chaka was kinda cute. Tavu also approached and like a male would, eyed the new male, just like an adult.

Gracie nodded politely at the too and gave a small,
"Hello", to them both. Dalani and Tara smiled and said it back, before discussing something between themselves. They then turned to Gracie and Dalani said,
"Hey, would you like to come on the hunt with us? We'll show you around". Gracie beamed, the chance of being able to hunt in a group and finally talk to other lionesses was unbelievable to her.

She knew the cubs would be fine, and it looked like they were making friends already. She finally replied of what might of seemed a bit too happily,
"Oh I'd love to thanks". Dalani just smiled and then led the way out and too the usual hunting spots, explaining as she went along and Gracie was happy to listen.

Meanwhile, like usual, Mheetu was left to watch over the cubs. It was late afternoon, and it was wise to leave someone to look after them. Chaka sat wondering whether Mheetu would be like Roark when Shani and him were left alone. However, he was soon interrupted by Tavu, who wanted to play.

"Hey Chaka, wanna play tag?". Alana jumped over and nodded in agreement,
"Yeah, lets play tag! You too Shani, and you Amara!". Chaka had never played the game 'tag' before, not even when it was just him, his sister and his mother in the months before Roark came, and he couldn't when Roark was around.

"T-Tag?", he replied in a confused tone. Tavu and Alana gave him an equally confused look and then Alana spoke, not knowing that her words would be upsetting,
"You've never played it before? Geez, don't you play where you come from?". Chaka looked to the ground nervously, and then glanced at his sister for back-up. However, he didn't know that Mheetu was over-hearing all this conversation, as he was in the den too and they were talking normally.

[TheWhistlerify]

Shani was wondering the same thing as her brother, and it felt a little awkward for a few moments once their mother left. But seeing the way Mheetu and Tavu just interacted, she doubted such a thing would ever come close to happening. Amara was still standing at the exact place, where she was hidden by her mother's leg just until the moment her mother left to hunt. Shani simply stared back at her brother, not knowing what she should say to him for she was also unfamiliar with 'tag'.

Mheetu, while not purposely listening to the cubs' conversation, was able to hear what they were saying. It was very odd for him that both Chaka and Shani were unfamiliar with the game of 'tag', as it was probably the second most adored game by cubs right after wrestling. Again the thought regarding the cubs' bruises as well as Gracie's as he thought about this. He was curious, but seeing as Gracie didn't want to talk about it earlier, he wasn't going to try the same with her cubs either.