A Prince at Play

The young prince had slipped away from the rest of his family as his siblings rested and father starting another of his royal lessons. While Kavu did want to make his father proud and became a good young prince, he was still a cub and had too much energy to focus on one thing for too long, especially when that thing was a more cerebral concept. Kavu yearned to run and hunt and climb and keep his body in motion. Everything was still so interesting to the cub, and he was easily distracted and drawn away from lessons by anything from a tumble weed to a hopping insect. As it was, a little lizard currently held his attention as it weaved in and out of roots that rose and sank in the dry ground like a great stone snake.

The air was dry, as usual, which left the cub parched but as an Outlander he was used to it by now, and it did little to deter him from his chase. There was little wind to disturb the dried and cracked ground while the sun hung low on the horizon, casting the world in long shadows with an orangy light as the orb steadily continued into the sky. The roots twisted about, the shadows cast from them a confusion tangle of shapes and tangibility that left the cub’s paw placement shaky at best, though he didn’t care much so long as his orange eyes stayed trained on the lizard. The morning air, cooler than the rest of the day, gave the little prince even more energy to chase after his prey and playmate.

Kavu stumbled after the brown lizard, laughing now and then even as his still clumsy paws twisted beneath him and tripped over the many obstacles in his way. He hopped atop a particularly thick root and used it as a balance beam while he chased the lizard, who could crawl over the landscape with more ease than the larger, ungainly cub. When it suddenly disappeared within a crack between the dirt and the root, Kavu’s face fell. “Aww no, come back!” He cried, flopping to his stomach at the mouth of the crack, sniffing and pawing at the opening. “Mister liiiiizard, come back and plaaaay.” The cub moaned, not realizing anyone else was around to hear.

Tama had also slipped away from the rest of the pride. She wanted to explore a bit more of her new home. The lioness missed Pride Rock, but here she felt more free and not under some watch of a crazy hyena or a follower of Scar. The lioness was young and also had some energy left in her, maybe some of that cub like energy that some cubs had to go exploring or something.

The air to her was dry, a bit dryer than the pridelands, but within time she was getting used to it, she wasn't sure if she would even go back to the pridelands if there were changes, or if Malka came to find her and bring her back there or something. But she was getting used to it here in the outlands.

She soon spotted a lizard, which she followed, wondering where it was going, maybe to that cub like figure? Was that Kavu or someone else in the pride? She hadn't gotten used to each member yet, but this lizard she was following seemed to be heading in that direction.

She laughed a little as she watched it head towards Kavu, and so she stopped a few feet away. 'Kavu I think I found a friend of your or whatever your trying to get." She called out to him with a light smile. She hoped she got the name right, otherwise, she would have to learn the names again. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she just watched and waited.

With one prince's departure from the royal lessons, Kiume had decided to call it a day and dismissed Tao and Kudumu to go have fun. Tao had seen her brother Kavu sneaking away from the rest of the pride, and she bounced down the path in the direction he had taken. Her golden pelted brother was hunting a lizard, though with little success, and Tao ducked behind a boulder to watch with a smirk as he pleaded with the reptile to return to play. Silly boys... Tao had only recently learned that it was the lionesses who typically did the hunting for a pride, and watching Kavu, she could guess why. Nevermind the fact that Tao had never caught a lizard or even a bug on her own, but after observing her brother, she decided she would try out her own pouncing skills on him now instead. If she could only surprise him...

Only someone beat her to Kavu, and Tao remained silent as Tama approached the male cub. The orange lioness was still a recent addition to the Outlander pride, and the young princess knew little about her, other than the fact that she came from across the border, much like her father. She then remembered what Kiume had told her recently, about the bad king there who chased out subjects if he didn't like them, and how she had yet to tell her brothers this secretive information yet. But for now, Kavu's back was turned to his sister, and she used this opportunity to advantage. The lizard had disappeared beneath the ground. It was a dirty move, attacking someone from behind, but the distraction of Tama's presence was precisely what the princess of the Outlands needed. It was very likely that otherwise, her pounce would never have worked, for the cub was not much of a fighter, even when it came to playing. Her brothers were rough, with unfailing energy that never ceased to amaze the older members of the pride, but Tao was usually caught staring after a butterfly or watching a cloud drift by.

The peach hued cub lowered herself to the ground to the side of the boulder, with Kavu still in plain view, though her fur helped Tao to blend in with her surroundings. Her bottom wiggled as she prepared, muscles tensing beneath her pelt, and without a sound, she sprang for her brother. Both cubs went tumbling in a flash of gold and cream, Tao giggling wildly rather than growling. "Gotcha, Kavi!" Tao announced, once she had finished rolling in a dusty heap atop her brother, a triumphant grin spread clear across her tiny muzzle. A polite nod was offered to Tama, for she had been taught to respect her elders, along with a toothy grin before her attention returned to Kavu. "You left us! But Daddy said we can play now, so it's okay."