[birthing] It is Time...

[nima]

Sleeping in the lions den was a very pregnant lioness. She lay on her side peacefully.. Kosa was no where to be seen, she had not seen him in a while.. She figured he was avoiding her or the like. What she had done she had no idea.. Dreams swept over her, a horrible dream about Kosa dieing. She woke up, wanting to feel him against her more then ever. A inner pain stirred, and she shortly felt REAL pain. It was sharp and lasted a few moments. Then it was gone. It grew worse as the night wore on.

She realized that she was in labor. She felt her water break, and she knew for sure that the cub was on the way. If not more then one, she would soon know. She sighed, looking at the entrance. She groaned softly, her ears flat against her skull. She loved the little beings inside her, but she was not enjoying labor in the least. A shrill scream came as the pain sharpened... Her eyes remained half open, wishing Kosa was here to comfort her.

And then one of the cubs was born, a female.. She licked her tiny cub like body clean.. Grabbing her, she placed her beside her belly so she could feed. Motherly instincts took over as another cub was born, she did the same.. Finally a sickly looking cub was born.. the last one. The pain was gone. She looked at the runt of the litter with worry and despair. He had a crippled leg. It would probably never heal. It was smaller and sickly looking. Sighing, she pulled him closer to her.. He was orange, much like her, his eyes closed tightly. The female was gray, with black markings. She looked at her adoringly... Then she glanced at the other male, he was gray with tan-orange under fur. Strong, would likely be handsome. He would do well for the pride, if not this one then another one. Her heart sank at the thought of marrying off a cub of hers. Sighing, she knew that it may need to be done, if worse comes to worse. "When its time..." She said quietly... "But not now. For the next few years, the three of you are here to stay." She looked at her little cubs, all feeding by now. They opened their eyes, two had blue, the crippled cub had green eyes. Her eyes closed as they mewed softly, she wrapped her paw around them, pulling them to her chest.. and fell asleep.

[Kosa]

Kosa heard Nima cry out in pain and had rushed towards the cry. He stopped short as smelled a new scent, like that of Nima's but different. He knew it took him a while to get there and he thought maybe she was hurt, but she didn't smell blood. Rounding a stone at the entrance of the den, Kosa walked into the recesses of the cave. His eyes widened as he saw three squirming bundles huddled near Nima's underside. Nima herself was sleeping. Kosa smiled. Nima had given birth. Looking down at the cubs, he noticed one was gray and black, the other was gray and orange. The gray one was a female he could tell. The others were male. The last male was smaller than the others and looked just like Nima. Then he noticed the crippled leg. At first he scowled but that quickly changed. The cub was like him. Though a runt and crippled, he would learn to live. "Nafasi -- Chance." he smiled. The nmae suited him perfectly. Kosa curled up next to Nima, the cubs in between. He licked each cub in turn and then Nima, before laying his head next to Nima's.

[nima]

She was dreaming, the birth had gone well.. A dream about her cubs, they were rolling around, a bit older looking, running.. It looked like tiny infant cubs running. Then they were big.. Kosa was there, she could hear him breathing! Then she heard something, somewhere in her subconcious.. It was just a dream, just a dream.. But it made her open her eyes. And there he was laying beside her! "Kosa!" She breathed. "Oh, Kosa..." She leaned upwards and nuzzled him. "What was it we should name them...?" She asked softly.. "I thought I heard Chance..." She licked him gently. "And.. N...Nafasi?" She asked.. "What about the girl..? We should name her Eve. She was born in the middle of the night, it only fits.. Oh what do you think?" She looked at him admiringly. Then down at her grey male cub..

"Look at him.. He should be named Ace." She said softly. "After all, he was the trick card.. Having such contrasting colors.. He looks like his father.." She said, smiling. Sighing, she licked Ace. "He'll be a strong cub. What about the other one? Should we call him Chance?"

[Kosa]

Slightly surprised by Nima's sudden awakening and sudden talkitive mood. Eve he agreed, sounded good for the one cub. Kosa told her that the crippled one he had called Nafasi, which meant chance, because there was only a chance he would survive to be an adult. A crippled leg can severly hamper hunting abilities. The last one did look like an ace. "Nafasi, Eve, and Ace. Your three beautiful cubs... I'm going out to get you something to eat. The ordeal often makes you hungry enough to eat a whole antelope." he purred to Nima.

[ace]

The little cub was in darkness, when suddenly his world came crashing down.. Literally.. All of a sudden he was being pushed out towards an unbearably bright world, despite it being sunset and the sky darkening. A soft cry came from him as he whined, clumsily trying to move these.. things.. He had known he had them, and then he had been floating in a liquid, in her belly had no reason to use them except but to rotate around. Now he found that he was incapable of much motion. However, an instinct drove him to try... Something deep down pushed him.. Told him to try to move.. And then he felt a gentle thing on him.. He realized the soft touch, heard the voice. Distressed though it was, he knew it well. He looked at her, wondering what he should do, when suddenly he realized it and started to drink..

Milk dripping from his mouth, he sneezed softly as some got in his nose.. He could not move much.. In fact he felt quite helpless.. He was confused, he could not express how he felt, for he did not know words. He only knew soft sounds were good, distressed sounds were bad. He saw another bundle next to him, followed by another... He looked at them, and laid his head against his mothers fur.

Soft eyes went up and looked at a stranger.. Though he had heard his voice, his gaze was not comforting to the cub. The cub shivered, mewing softly. What had he done wrong? He could not speak, only cry and whine and mew... His eyes fell shut.. he cried out again, looking up at the lion he would one day call dad.

[Nafasi]

The little cub was in darkness, in warmth, when he felt himself being pushed, pushed into an unknown world. The warmth, the liquid which he floated in left him. HE tried to turn, as he had done so many times before, but found himsrlf incapable. He pushed, as hard as he could as the walls he grew to love for their warmth pressed in. Then as suddenly as it began, it ended.
The cub mewled pitiously at the harsh world he had been forced into. As he cried the cub felt a soft touch, and opened his eyes. The only thing he saw was a beautiful face, a face that he knew - deep inside him - belonged to his mother. He felt the lioness's warm tongue as she cleaned him, before felling himself being pushed. As she pushed him towards her, the tiny cub felt the warmth radiating from her body and tried to pull himself towards it. For a moment he stared deep into her eyes before turning and following his brother's suit. (no pun intended) He drank deeply of the rich milk, his tiny claws kneading his mother's stomach. He felt her gaze upon him. Her loving gaze gave him warmth. After suckling his fill, the cub curled up beside his mother and closed his eyes, listening to the rythmatic thumping of her heart.
The cub bolted awake as another lion padded nearby. Looking up into the new lion's eyes he felt uncomfortable. The new lion's gaze was hard, like ice - but then it softened. The cub felt warm again under this gaze. Then the lion said something, looking the cub in the eyes. " Nafasi--Chance." Deep inside the cub, something stirred. His knew, somehow, that this was his name. Still looking up at the lion, the cub - now Nafasi - mewled, before curling up again beside his siblings. He felt a warm tongue as the new lion, who he would soon call father, greeted the new arrivals. Soon he felt the warmth of the great gentle lion (Kosa! ) as he layed down besides his mother, he and his siblings in between. Shortly after, he heard his name, along with two others. Eve and Ace. Nafasi smiled and let out a faint squeak before letting himself drift away.

[eve]

OOC: If you want I could fix you up an image.

Her world was everything to her; silent and serene.. Cuddled up in a pool of warmth with other bodies pressed against her. She did not open her eyes, for somehow she knew there was nothing to look at. It was then that she felt herself being pushed out, literally! The world was squeezing her, she struggled to make it loosen. For a moment it did, but soon more and more tightness of the walls she had come to love closed in around her, a bright light shining into her eyes. She was dropped onto the ground, and felt a warm tongue. Mewing in question, she recognized the heart beat as she was placed against her warm and fuzzy belly. Then a cold, unforgiving gaze came upon her, she wondered why she was being gazed at so harshly...Her eyes closed tightly, she drank nervously. A small tear ran down her tiny cheek as she pulled back and cried out pitifully. She struggled to move around, but got no where. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she fell asleep, two familiar heart beats and bodies pressed up against her... "Eve..." She thought she heard in her dreams.. She knew somehow that this was her being called, so she woke up... To hear them talking about something hearing words which she did not know at the time were her brothers.. "Nafasi.." and "If he makes it." And "Ace." She closed her eyes. She decided not to respond to this, for it was confusing to her. She did not understand what they were talking about. She just knew that something was wrong.. she could sense it in their voices. Worriedly, she buried her head in her mothers fur. She mewed softly for her father, her voice low beneath the fur of her mothers warmth.