Cesaria, There was a gloomy cast to the glow of the sun that dawn, with heavy, sodden clouds covering the whole of the sky. The threat of rain was obvious, and welcome for many, what with the heat of the summer having arrived; but for a cub so young and new to the world, she had no idea. Cesaria stirred early that morn, jostled by the movement of someone in their den, so full of sisters and mothers and family of all sorts, and so it's not quite clear how the cub managed to toddle away - but she did. She was groggy, confused, blinking her dark eyes as she took long sniffs; she thought maybe she was following the milky, warm scent of her mother, but then she becomes even more muddled by the heavy mist that has settled in some places about Vermeda, and so she skitters in an unfamiliar direction, tripping here and there. Lost, and terribly so. Terror threatens to choke her, her heart is fast and loud, the blood in her ears almost deafening - the only comfort she has is in the shade of the sky's stormy veil. Shielded from the painful rays of the day the cub is free to amble about, while petrified, at least not burning alive. She mewls softly for her mothers, for her sisters, as she moves. When she gets to the break in the trees and reaches the field she almost feels relieved. Mom is sure to find her here. Taking deep, shaky breaths, she plods forward, wanting to find the perfect place to wait for Talisa. The child is on the brink of tears when the rain finally falls. What begins as a gentle patter quickly becomes a thick and heavy pounding - the raindrops sting the little cub, and as she squeaks she finds shelter beneath a nearby tree. There, among the rustling bushes and the golden grasses and the shadow of that tree, Cesaria trembles. Soaking wet, scared to death and hopelessly alone: she cries. OOC: @Thrain - Family of Thrain and of course, Cherry, are welcome to join this thread at any point.

His father had risen early that morning; he could recall the sudden chill of his dark departure. Though, tired as he was, Thrain hadn't truly become aware of Jafar's absence until he had stirred from sleep at dawn. Of course, the boy knew better than to wander off alone, but there is a determined craving for adventure that tugs at his childish bones.

If he could track down his Padre, perhaps he would be impressed? One foot after the other, the bronze cub tries to retrace his father steps - bouncing over his footprints with little attention paid to the bigger picture. It takes the child some time to realise the rumbling sky and persistent rain masked the male's scent, and when his footprints eventually faded away, Thrain was left clueless. Lost.

The jungle had given way to tall grasses and sparse trees, a place he had never been before. It could not be said what urged the two cubs to wander at the exact same moment in time, or what brought them to shelter beneath the same tree. But there they were. Thrain subconsciously yielding to her sobs, finding the tiny splotch of white amongst the grasses.

"Don't cry," he warms, knowing she was a lion at least and naively assuming she was friendly. She was younger than him, "I know how to look after little sisters."

@Cherry

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Cesaria, The fraidy cub could not hear the others' footsteps over the roar of the rain (or the drown of her own sobs) and so she's startled all over again once he speaks to her. She turns quickly, squinting in the shadow, trying to make out his features. She thinks she likes his mask, she wished she had one like that. The older kid tells her not to cry, and with her being surprised she's all but stopped already, but she makes an effort to sniffle and put on a brave face. After all, this cub next to her isn't crying! So Cherry thinks maybe there isn't a reason to be so afraid. She's shivering just a little, but she isn't focused on her chills - she's just so thankful that she's no longer alone. She's especially comforted when he reveals he has experience in this very department! Cherry perks up at the mention of sisters and gets on her tiptoes to peek around the cub, wondering if he's got one with him, but there's no one behind him. A little bummed, but very excited now (all but forgetting she's lost and afraid) she mewls up at him, "'ow many sis'ers do you 'ave?" She barely gives him a chance to answer, too giddy to share, "I 'ave soo many I can' even coun' em awl!" And she didn't even know about the ones from Sececa - how ironic.

He watches proudly as the little girl stirred into something of comfort, sniffling away her tears - not that one could much tell with the dampness of her fur. Thrain was something of a similar sight, water-logged and cold, but he shakes himself out with mighty confidence in an effort to ease her. Perhaps, also to show off a bit - play the heroic one, so to speak.

"One," he answers eventually, a short laugh at her eagerness to share. "She is even smaller than you," Sedona was very, very small, despite that she was only born a few minutes later. "I wish I had only sisters," he is spurred on by her enthusiasm, but becomes somewhat distracted by the thought of his brothers. Sedona was fiery and doubting her ferocity would be a mistake, but at least he didn't feel like he had to compete with her.

"Where you live?" he trots a little half-circle around the white girl before pausing to sniff at her ear.

@Cherry

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Cesaria, Her dark red eyes are wide with a sense of wonder as she monitors the boy, in a bit of awe at his bravery. He does not seem to be phased by this scary thing she has yet to know is rain, and when he shakes himself out it does in fact ease her. At first she winces, when the droplets fly off of him and onto her, but then she's stunned. She never thought to try that, it was always up to mom to get her clean, so frankly, Cherry expected to just stay wet until they reunited - but she copies the cub and shakes herself off. She's not dry, but she's certainly no longer dripping, and she wants to tell him how smart he is, but they're on the topic of sisters now. She tries to imagine a sister who is even smaller than she is! Cherry ponders this, because she thinks she herself is very small, so how could even smaller be possible?! She almost pouts in frustration that this tiny sister isn't with him so she can meet her, but then he makes his admission, and she nods in agreement with him. Having so many sisters was pretty great. Her eyes follow him as he walks, ears flicking to follow the sounds of the raindrops against the leaves up above them, then flicking again from the tickle of his sniffing. She almost giggles. "Uhm - Ver..." she begins, trailing off as she tries to remember what her mom had called their home. She's getting flustered trying to remember, fear picking up in her chest again. If she can't remember and can't tell this boy, how will she ever get home? "Wif my ma! In dose trees, I came from da way..." She points her pink nose in the direction from which she came. "I don' know 'ow to ge' back now..." She's quiet for a moment, a little worried, but then she considers that this boy didn't come from the same direction as her. She stretches up and gives him a sniff of her own. "Where you live? You 'ave a ma too?"

In every sense of their meeting she might have been the stranded princess; perfect in her white flesh and royal rank, and he, the black-masked rough n' tumble boy from nowhere. But it doesn't pass his mind - they are both just children, equal until adults poisoned their purity. Just a month ago he, too, was royalty. Now, he truly was the mystery boy from anywhere.

He sneezes quietly as her small ear flutters against his nose, deciding she didn't smell like anything familiar. Certainly not of mud and mangroves as Ecrosia lion's did, and not of leaflitter and rain like the family they were staying with in the jungle. His duo-toned purple gaze follows her own ruby stare, glancing at the trees she mentioned. He didn't know of her home, but she smelt like somewhere.

Assuming the big brother protector role, Thrain sought to bump his head firmly against her shoulder as he heard her voice falter. That's what his family did for him when he was worried. "Yes, I have an angry ma," there is a furrow to his brow at the thought of Maia, the stern, grey woman who had been so unsettled since they moved homes. He had seen her scowling more smiling recently.

But her next question is a little hard to answer, "I don't know." He truly didn't know where home was, they had moved a lot recently and he knew they were to soon move again. The seriousness of his dampened mood is suddenly uplifted, as a break in the clouds casts an otherworldly sun-glow about the field - and insects soon begin to flit through the grasses. "I teach you to hunt, then we will be okay until they find us," and with that, Thrain assumed a rather dramatic stalking pose and gestured towards where a large grasshopper had just landed.

@Cherry

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Cesaria, The solid bump of his head against her shoulder disperses her worries just as intended, and she's grateful once again. The pale girl is quiet and thoughtful when he mentions his angry ma and she considers the change in his expression. She hopes his ma isn't angry with him! Cherry thinks he's pretty neat, and that his ma should be happy - if she met his ma she'd be sure to tell her that. And she believes maybe she will soon, since if all else failed and she never made her way back home or saw her sisters again, at least she could follow this boy hom- "I don't know." Oh great ... he didn't know where he lived either. So they were doomed? Cherry feels the heaviness of this realization as it looms about them and just when she's about to present the boy with a comforting head bump of her own, the rainfall delays. Soon the meadow is shimmering, droplets shining upon blades of grass, critters of all kinds coming out to enjoy this dry respite. The girl is utterly mesmerized. She's frozen for a moment, just watching the bugs as they flitter by, not sure if she should be scared or intrigued. When he mentions learning to hunt she guesses that she should be hungry. She pops up onto all fours, excited for her lesson, tail lashing and ears pinned back. She almost exclaims her enthusiasm but considers they should be covert if they're going to catch that wily grasshopper. In the time she's spent getting in position she's already watched four smaller ones hop by, and they're pretty fast - but that big one's still there, poised and taunting. So she, quietly, copies his pose, and wiggles her rump, eyes focused on @Thrain. "'kay, 'm ready!" she whispers "but don' go too fas'." She might not be able to keep up.

Oddly enough those big yellow-winged grasshoppers were not the hardest to catch, he had learnt the smaller they were, generally the faster. So, as he watched the small, alabaster girl copy his pose, he assumed the hunt with boyish confidence. It does not pass his mind that the younger cub might have not yet started to try any solid foods, but if nothing else they would have a bit of fun.

“First crouch, then crawl,” with that, he shuffled his forepaws forward in the damp grass, hinds sliding after, his backside still high and tail still. Duo-toned purple gaze glanced from friend to food, allowing the dainty girl to crawl up alongside him before his last lesson, “Then pounce on it, fast as you can try get it in your claws or teeth.” She was only little, but he figured he’d let her have a turn before he showed her how it was done by a pro. Maybe she’d get lucky.

@Cherry

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Cesaria, She does as instructed, dutifully following the boy's every shuffle and shake as they creep closer to their prey. Then he directs her to pounce and she has a moment of pause - she considers the only things she's pounced on are her sisters, and they're much bigger than this grasshopper, and even then sometimes she misses ... but there isn't much time for reflection as the insect in front of them begins to turn oh so slowly away, readying a hop of its own. Cherry flies forward, propelling off from her hind legs sort of wildly. She flails a bit in the air, not sure when to put her paws out or prepare her teeth, and considering the grasshopper jumps the same time as her she loses confidence midflight. It is not a graceful descent, as she thuds down heavily and lands on her chin, skidding through a patch of mud and splashing dirty water everywhere. Face and chest thoroughly stained dark by the puddle, and blinking in a mix of embarrassment and shock, she glances back at @Thrain with a look full of sorrow for her failure. Just as she thinks she may cry while she plucks herself from the muck, she feels a faint wriggling beneath her body, and she's startled - it's the grasshopper, which hasn't been completely crushed yet. She yips with glee, rushing to snatch it up with her milk teeth, just sharp enough to pin the sorry little thing. She's up immediately, ready to present the boy her catch as if everything had gone exactly as intended, and with a quick trot she's back beside him. She displays it, hung in her jaw, before she crunches down through its exoskeleton - and she immediately spits it out at his feet. Bleh! "Was da a trick?!" She can still taste the slime of the insect's insides and she sticks out her tongue. It was especially offensive considering she hadn't tasted anything other than her mother's milk - which she had hoped the bug would taste like too. "Why you trick me?" She's a little sad about this and she pouts to let him know - weren't they friends now? There are still plenty of bugs about ... maybe one of those tasted better?

His breast fills with an instinctive pride as the tiny girl mirrors his move, feeling like the glorious king his father was. One day, he might be a King as great as his Padre, and he might have lots of lionesses to do real hunting with. He does not think of the competition between himself and his eldest brother as he usually did, relishing his moment in the limelight - his time to be the eldest, the leader.

However his seriousness is soon overcome by a bemused laughter, though the white cub did her utmost best, her theatrical pounce was hilariously satisfying. It began as a chesty chuckle, but upon her utter disgust of the taste of the Grasshopper the laughter soon become full-bellied. “Not like milk,” Thrain confirms amidst his giggles, rolling from belly to back as he regained his composure - forgetting for a short while about his self-proclaimed responsibility. “You get used to it,” purple gaze watches the young girl upside down, his belly settling with a few deep breaths and a wholesome smile, “I am Thrain.”

@Cherry

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