Breaking Free

"Boreeeeddd." Makosa whined as he rolled over, staring at one of the hyena's who was normally seen with his father. The hyena rolled his eyes at the young adolescent and continued to ignore him. Makosa let out a growl and swiped his paw at the hyena's tail, which still got no reaction. "You're boring," Makosa informed the hyena, who merely raised an eyebrow before he turned his attention away from the irritating lion. Try as he may, Makosa couldn't help but be the most annoying lion alive when he was bored. It was the restlessness that always seemed to follow Makosa around ever since his and Kiasi's trip to the Lowlands. At the memory of such a beautiful jungle, he dropped down and sighed wistfully, rolling onto his back and batting his paws above him as he remembered playing with Kiasi.

There had been two others that they'd met too, girls. Makosa wrinkled his nose at the word, but they'd been nice enough. One of them was much bigger than he and Kiasi had been at the time, but smaller than their mother Abuto, with the brightest, russet coat he'd ever had the opportunity to lay his eyes on. She had big, blue eyes and had regarded them with slight amusement at times. Then, there was the bubbly other one who'd come tumbling in and crashed into Giza. She had three white spots under her eyes, with a nice brown coat. Still. He didn't exactly think overly fondly of girls. Makosa rolled back around and placed his paws on the earth, pushing himself up and then, very slowly, creeping away from the hyena who was to watch the cub. He made it to the edge of the cave, crept around the side and took off without a glance back to see if he'd been caught, pushing himself across the earth. He gripped with his claws on a ledge and leapt over it to the other side, tucking his body in and rolling once before coming to a stop and getting straight back up.

He grinned and looked behind, seeing no pursuit. Pleased with himself, he continued on with a walk to look around the Shadowlands now. He was pretty sure that he was allowed to wander anyway, but pretending that he was trying to sneak away from the hyena was far more fun than just trotting off. He rolled his eyes at the cub inside of him desperate to burst forth and bound around excitably, but his pace did accelerate to a steady trot. He breathed in the scents all around him. On a whim, he swerved left and set off at a steady run, enjoying the feeling of the wind ruffling his coat as he let his eyes drift shut for a brief second. They flew open once more and he came to a stop at a place he knew to be the ridge. He'd played here with Kiasi once at a cub. Smiling fondly, Makosa looked around and took another deep breath.

Ni had every right to sleep in that morning for he was still healing from the battle wounds that kept the young Kage safe. The little cub was now safe and in the loving and caring paws of the Shadowland's females. He had been unconscious for most of the day yesterday and this morning as well. It was almost high noon and Ni paced around the den as he waited for the little cub to wake. A slab of meat was awaiting the youngster, but Ni wanted nothing more than to just see him wake up. One of the females shooed her king away, saying that if anything he would be called when the little cub awoke. And so Ni slipped away reluctantly, he felt attached to the cub he had risked his life to save, he had gone through the same thing when he was a cub himself. But unlike Ni, Kage now had a pride to turn to, a pride that would love him just the same. The king's body was littered with healing wounds, his mane back to it's old dirty and matted self. It was only a quick chance to look at his old teenage self before dipping himself into the lake and going underwater to clean himself back up. Although Ni felt slightly at home with his body all dirty and matted, he found himself feeling unworthy of being called king if his appearance wasn't up to snuff. Besides, he had to impress the pride and let them show that even after almost two years of ruling he was still able to rule a pride correctly. Finally after cleaning himself up, Ni exited the pool of water and continued on his walk.

His body ached, the large black lion who looked so much like the young Kage had took a toll on him with the large attacks. But soon the pain subsided as the king made his way out to do his daily patrols yet again. It had been a long time since Ni had completed one of his patrols fully, and just as the thought crossed his mind one of the hyenas came up to him with an agitated look upon his face. "Sire, your son ran off. Again," Ni sighed and shook his head, "Kiasi?" The hyena denied it with his own head-shaking, "Makosa," Ni's eyes widened but he simply shook it off. "Come on Kichafu, Kosa's old enough to venture off on his own. Why were you watching over him anyways?" The hyena dropped his jaw, "Because you told me to!" Ni sighed and placed his paw on his face, starting at his eyes and sliding it down his muzzle, "I asked you to watch the other cubs, from a distance, not my own," The hyena sighed just as his king did, nodded and apologized, then walked off to grumble and watch the younger cubs that Ni and Kiasi had found. Now, Ni wondered why Kosa would run off from a hyena that was supposedly watching him, but he only assumed his adventurous spirit was starting to kick in. He knew Kiasi had it, most likely inherited from his father, so it was only a matter of time before Kosa had it as well. However, it still brought Ni to wonder why his son would just wander off, it really wasn't like him, or was he just that bored?

Well, it seemed that patrols would once again be halted by a family matter or something that needed to be taken care of. And so, Ni went in search for his son, who in recent days seemed to become one of the most annoying lions when he was bored. Finally Ni put two and two together, Kosa was bored, that was all. The two really hadn't had one on one time together which bugged the creamy-golden male greatly. He didn't want to seem as if he was favoring Kiasi over him, it was just that Kiasi seemed to get into trouble more often. And with that, Ni felt as if he wanted to show Kiasi there were other ways to spend time and not get in trouble, and in that it gave him more time to spend with his tawny son. Finally after a long walk Ni found his light brown pelted son and he smiled, seeing that he was causing no trouble at all. Deciding to be a playful dad, Ni snuck up on his son in a pouncing position, leaping and gently knocking his son to the ground with him. "Got'cha!" Ni batted at his son and laughed as he did so, finally stopping his wrestling and nuzzling his now adolescent son as he lay beside him. "Now, what is the prince of the Shadowlands doing out here all by his lonesome? Did Kichafu and Kiasi get boring?" Ni had told Kiasi that he was to be a big brother, but the parents of the boys had not yet told the younger of the two brothers. It seemed like now would be a good time to tell him, but Ni would wait for a moment, just so that he and Kosa didn't have to jump right on the subject of new cubs.

[[OMFG it's so short D:]]

As a cub, Makosa had been playful and always eager to impress his father. He'd wanted to see a proud smile on Ni's face, and he'd adored his father. His mother he loved just as much, she was a kind lioness who he admired. But, as he grew, Makosa had grown more independent and rather annoying when bored. It was why the hyena's really were often glad if he escaped their watchful eye. Not that he was even sure why he was watched all the time, mind you, most likely in result of his and Kiasi's wandering off to the Lowlands. It had been fun, though the ramifications of his actions had made him hesitant to ever repeat those actions again. Still.

Makosa was quite happy by himself, roaming around, when suddenly he was pounced on. He cursed himself for not being more alert and let out a rather girly squeak as he was squashed by his father. "Father!" He exclaimed in surprise, embarrassed by his very un-manly noise. He still wanted to impress his father, and he was sure that was most definitely not the way to go about it. Ni's battle tactics were gentle, and so it was rather easy for Makosa to push him off and jump up. He swivelled around and leapt on his father, landing on his back with a playful growl. He was like a cub at times in his playful behaviour, but could be mature when he wanted to. Most teenage males behaved like a cub though, so he was sure it could be deemed acceptable behaviour.

He slipped off the side and smiled at his father, nuzzling against him in return. Makosa rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky with one lazy cloud slowly drifting across it, ruining what would've been a perfect, blue sky. "Well, the hyena was watching me and it's boring being watched like a cub so I escaped," He grinned lopsidedly at his father and rolled onto his stomach, looking at him with a goofy smile on his face. "Why do the hyena's watch me? It's not like i'm a cub anymore or anything like that?" He tilted his head curiously at Ni.

The wrestling competition between father and adopted son was hilarious in Ni's opinion, he didn't want this moment to end. But however, Makosa was growing up strong now and his strength was enough to push Ni off of him. He was astonounded by this, but nontheless Ni was happy to be spending time with his youngest son. As Makosa rolled over to look at the sky the Shadowland king did the same. He too noticed the lone cloud in the blue sky, but he more or less noticed that the sky was blue. It seemed to be such a long time since the sky had been blue, but he knew that it probably wouldn't last long. The sun was shining and now he could see how dusty his lands were. No matter, something would be done about it later, whether by the Great Kings or otherwise. The creamy-golden lion listened to his son rant about how he didn't want to be treated like a cub, for he wasn't a cub anymore. Ni chuckled and sighed, "That would be my fault Kosa, I'm sorry. I told Kichafu to watch the new cubs that me and your brother found in the desert. But of course he thought I meant you and was watching you instead. You aren't a cub, I understand that. Trust me Kosa, it won't happen agan without just cause," He felt bad for his son, having been watched like a hawk by a hyena that didn't want to watch him either. But either way, Ni was shoving that thought out of his mind and focusing on something more important.

The king rolled back over onto his stomach and placed his paw on his son's growing mane. It was long and thick, even if he was still only and adolescent. He smiled and ruffled the dark mass upon his son's head. "You're getting so big, it seems like yesterday your mother and I had you as a little cub. I remember that day so well," Of course he did, that was the day he took in Kiasi and Kosa. The day that they were almost left for dead. Little did Ni know, his eldest -Kiasi- had been in contact recently with his biological mother but knew nothing of their connection. He remained thankful that his sons were oblivious to the fact that they were adopted, and they wouldn't be treated any differently than his own biological kids. Speaking of, "Now Kosa, I hope you know that what I'm telling you is almost top secret. No one knows yet!" Ni smiled, more or less beamed. "Your mother is pregnant, you and Kiasi are going to be big brothers!" The news was known by the elder of the brothers and by of course the queen of the Shadowlands, Abuto. He could imagine it now, little cubs running around with their older brothers, trying to keep up with the elder princes and them being covered from head to tail in spots, just like their mother. Having her bright green eyes and a mixture of their pelts. The dream was almost a reality, and it would almost be until a nasty plot was set against the Shadowlanders, courtesy of the Prideland queen.

(Sorry it's so short, much shorter then I like it. But couldn't think of another paragraph. Next post will be normal length!)