Huh. They were suddenly on a branch. She'd grabbed hold of his flailing form and dragged him up the tree. He kind of liked being up here, there wasn't a lot to see with the canopy of trees blocking most things out, but he could see the ground clearly. If any little fluffies ran by he'd see them from here for sure, may be this was how birds saw things.

Sitting on the branch the young lion leaned forward, it was a long way down and luckily he wasn't afraid of heights- in fact, Novak wasn't afraid of many things. "Who taught you to climb trees?" Carefully he lowered himself onto his belly and started to edge forward commando style, crawling along the broad branch until he reached the tip where he could peer down to the jungle ground beneath them. "Have you ever fallen?"

“I’ve fallen before yes, it would rarely hurt that bad though.” She told the little one, quite relieved that he was alright and not unnerved. “I learned some of it when I was a little older than you, when the pride would travel to some forest to hunt, I forgot about it until I came to these lands, there were so many trees where I used to live with my sister that I got to practice a lot, I live in the hollows now and for the most part I’m too busy living life to be sneaking off the climb trees!” She chuckled softly.

“how about we don’t tell your mama that a strange lioness took you up a tree though? I don’t fancy being killed by your mother because you could have fallen.”

Never give up

The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.

code by corvus

"Sure, I can keep a secret." The boy shrugged, watching the lioness over one shoulder as she spoke. What would the lions at the Mire think of him climbing trees? Would they be impressed? He would practice until he was confident he could do it without falling, before he showed them. His Mama would have been impressed, she'd never seen a lion climb a tree before - at least as far as he knew. As far as his Papa was concerned he didn't know, he'd never met the man and never wanted to. Why would be bother when the older lion had no interest in him?

"Do you think you could meet me here again, and teach me more?" Novak sat up, his red fur (like hers) standing out against the browns and greens of the jungle. What else might she be able to teach him, along with tree climbing? Hell, if it was as fun as being up on the branches higher than all the other lions then he definitely wanted to learn it.

@Alva

“Sure thing kid!” Alva said, trussling her paw through the tiny tuff on the boys head. If you like learning things, then perhaps we can try swimming, that’s quite fun.”

She looked down at the little red cub, his pelt like her own stood out wherever he went. That would be a disadvantage to him, like it had been to her. But Alva had learned to disguise herself, to blend in right were she should have stood out. It’s a good thing to swim, all parents should make sure their cubs can swim. It saves lives. Even my deadbeat dad managed to ensure we could swim.” She shook her head. “but if you ask me, being up this high is a lot more cool!”

Never give up

The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.

code by corvus

Perfect, he had himself a teacher who wouldn't talk to the lions in his pride. Not because he wanted to be sneaky and secretive, but this way he could impress with with stuff he'd learned with his own initiative. Also, swimming sounded cool, even if he didn't actually know what it was. "I bet I'm really good at swimming." He puffed himself up, and used one paw to straighten out the ruffled tuft of pale fluff on the top of his head.

When he could swim he'd probably look really awesome, and the other lions would be jealous. "Can we swim here?" He made a motion with his paw, indicating the immediate area. Was this a swimming zone? Or was it just a climbing zone? Maybe he was a bit old not to know what swimming was, but his Mamma had never shown him, maybe she would have if they'd had more time together.

@Alva

“I bet you are, sweetheart.” Alva said, but when he made his next statement it was clear to her that he didn’t actually have a clue what swimming was. “No, not here. You swim in the water.” She said shaking her head in a fond manner

Alva herself, didn’t mind a swim, especially not if the water was nice and warm and it was a clear day outside. In fact she found it quite pleasurable, for what it’s worth. Though there were other activities that she would often prefer to be doing. But let’s not dwell on it too long.

Never give up

The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.

code by corvus

"Oh." If he'd been the bashful sought his cheeks would probably be burning, as it were the boy simply shrugged his shoulders. "There's lots of water over there." He pointed toward Ecrosia Mire's murky, swampy territory. "It's kinda sticky though. If you're not careful the mud at the bottom grabs your paws and pulls you under." Maybe that wasn't the best place to learn to swim.

"Is there swimming water where you live?" Maybe she lived near a river or something, you could swim in river rights? Hippos did and crocodiles too. Novak got up and walked casually back along the branch as he spoke, glancing down at the ground as he went. He was pretty sure he could see a small cat stalking through the foliage, he wondered what it was - it didn't look like a little lion.

@Alva

“not that I’m aware of no, though I dare say I can find you some swimming water.” Alva said, thinking about it. Bear’s Uncle ruled Scilla lagoon didn’t he? Perhaps she’d be able to convince bear to take the pair there sometime, no doubt she’d be able to teach the little boy to swim there. “There’s a pride that may allow me access to their sea and lagoon, but if not there is probably sea somewhere else. Or the watering hole, I’ll sort it out sunshine, don’t worry.” she promised him.

“what are you looking at?”

Never give up

The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.

code by corvus

Novak didn't know what a lagoon was but he trusted her that it would be a fun place, after all she'd shown him tree climbing. When her question met his ears the boy looked up at her, head tilted slightly to one side. "I dunno," the boy leaned over the edge of the branch, his head hanging down so that the fluff of his face drooped. "Some kind of little cat, or maybe it looks little 'cause we're up here." That was how perspective worked right? He'd seen a leopard once, or at least he'd seen its tail disappearing into the darkness and he'd seen a cheetah before - this looked smaller though.

Whatever the distant cat was it was no threat to them, surely nothing smaller than a lion would want to face a lioness with a cub beside her - given their similar coat colours an outsider would probably assume her to be his Mama.

@Alva

“it’s probably just a Bob cat or a leopard.” Alva said, she hadn’t got a glimpse of the quote on quote small cat herself, but she stared intently at the ground nevertheless. “it won’t be any threat to you, sweetheart, don’t threat. I’ll scare it off worse come to worse” Alva’s eyes scanned the ground below intently, hoping to be able get a glimpse of the cat and be able to tell what sort it was. “I can’t think of any type of cat that eats cubs anyway” She added, trying to comfort him.

Never give up

The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.

code by corvus