Orange light bathed Priderock as the sun set, casting the caves and delves in the rocks into shadow. Askari made his way along Priderock, keeping his head down as he slunk past the cave where many of the lionesses were gathered in small groups, talking and laughing as the day ended. His green eyes didn't linger on them long as he moved down the slope towards tonight's kill. He lifted his head as he approached the carcass, the faint sound of buzzing coming from the flies. He crouched down and dug his claws into the kill, dragging it out from the overhang it was hidden under. Once in full view, he sat down, examining the kill before him. They'd brought down a hefty male zebra, and despite his age, his flesh was bountiful-much of it was still left, even after the pride had eaten their fair share.

Askari looked at it critically before deciding to settle with a leg. He lay down, pulling it closer with his front paws. He dug his teeth in, closing his eyes slightly to better enjoy the delicious taste. When he had been separated from his pride, food was so scarce to come by. Many days he had thought he would surely starve to death before he found them again. That is, until Alba had found him at the border and taken him in. He could remember how hostile the lioness had been, but now she was much nicer to him, and talked to him more than anyone, even his former escort, Moyo. She and her cub seemed an odd pair, but he supposed perhaps that was normal behavior between mothers and cubs in this pride. In his pride, lionesses tended to never have many relations with their children. He remembered his own mother, who had barely stayed with him and his siblings, and he felt a small pang of jealousy as he thought of how warmly Alba treated Nyimak.

He became lost in his thoughts of how different the two prides were, but was soon brought out of his reverie by a voice in the distance. "Hey Askari!" He swiveled his ears towards the sound, and turned his head to look, swallowing the meat he had been chewing. His eyes fell upon Alba who was sitting near the entrance of a cave, smiling. He cocked an eyebrow at her in curiosity as he sat up, wondering whether she had been calling a greeting or asking him to come over. He looked to her side to see an orange lioness laying down and looked at her with wide eyes of shock. Alba motioned at him with her tail, and he took it as a symbol that he should approach.

He rose to his paws and padded over, having to abandon his meal as he padded up the slope towards them. As he approached, the other lioness looked to him and offered him a kind smile as she held two small cubs in her front paws. Once he was close enough, Alba rose to her paws and approached him, bumping her head against his shoulder in greeting. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and raised the leg of that shoulder and moved away, feeling uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why she had done that, as he wasn't used to this kind of behavior, but said nothing as he placed his leg down again. She stared back at him with a wide smile, undeterred by his movements. "You remember Hiari, right?" she asked, moving back slightly to give him more room.

The orange lioness, Hiari gave her friend a look of confusion. Askari turned his gaze to the lioness before slowly nodding. He looked back to Alba. "I believe I've seen her before, yes, but I don't believe we've formally spoken," he began, addressing Hiari now as he looked to her. He dipped his head in greeting, and spoke. "I am Corporal Askari, but you may call me Askari," he added, lifting his head once more to look Hiari in the eyes. The orange lioness sent him a warm smile, her deep green eyes glowing in the setting sunlight as she lowered her head to coo at her small cubs. "And these are my nieces," Alba added proudly as she nodded to the small cubs in Hiari's care.

Askari looked down with an emotionless face as he studied them. In his pride, it was rare for other members of the pride to really pay attention to cubs and to see them, especially ones so young. He guessed they weren't even able to walk yet. It made his heart warm with a new sensation he didn't know. He swallowed, then spoke again. "Congratulations. They look healthy," he said, raising his head slightly to look at Hiari before his eyes wandered once more to Alba. Meanwhile, the cubs stirred with movement in Hiari's paws at the sound of voices. The brown female rubbed at her face with her paws and blinked, her blue eyes looking at all the adults gathered around them. Alerted by her sister's movements, the other cub yawned widely. She blinked several times before her green gaze landed on Askari. She squealed in some apparent delight at the battle-scarred male and stretched her chubby legs towards him, smiling.

Askari pricked his ears at the small sound and looked to its source, seeing the small orange cub reaching towards him. He tilted his head slightly to the side as he stared at her, perplexed at her sudden excitement. Noticing his expression, Alba gave a laugh. "I think she likes you," she huffed in amusement as Hiari bent her head down to affectionately nuzzle the two cubs. Askari looked to Alba at her words. "I can't imagine why," he responded, giving his tail a flick. After waiting and getting no response to her request, the small cub's lip trembled and she let out a cry of sadness, catching the Corporal's attention as his head whipped back to her, eyes wide at the sudden loud noise. He flattened his ears against the high pitched disturbance, the cub's sister taking notice of her sister's distress as well. The brown cub pawed at her sister, and Hiari purred, rumbling her chest to soothe the small cub.

The orange cub quit her fussing, but held a frown on her face after being denied affection from the large male. Askari considered the cubs for a moment. He hadn't been around cubs since he'd been one himself, and so he was completely unaware of their behaviors. He wondered if this was normal for a moment before he looked to Alba, wondering if she knew the reasoning behind the cub's noise. Alba shrugged in response to him as her blue gaze once again wandered to the cubs. "I told you she likes you," she said matter of factly. Askari snorted in response, and followed her gaze to the cubs. He didn't know how cubs worked, and frankly, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find out. He licked his lips as he remembered the meal he had been having, and he turned to Alba. "Did you need anything else, ma'am?" he asked, eager to get back to his meal.

"I keep telling you to call me by my name," She responded, rolling her eyes at him. She shook her head to say 'no' as she rose and began to pad down the rock path. Askari wrinkled his nose slightly as he rose to his paws and turned to head back to his meal. He couldn't understand why they disliked titles so much. In his pride, nearly everyone had a title, even himself despite being a lower rank. In his pride, it was necessary to refer to others around him by their titles, such as 'General' and 'Lead Huntress'. When they couldn't use ones like that, they used 'sir' or 'ma'am'. He shrugged it off, figuring it to be just another difference between the prides. Another reminder that he needed to find his pride. He found himself back at the zebra and sat down to tuck into his meal once more.

Alba had decided to come and get something to eat, and smiled as she caught sight of Askari. She sat down next to him and began to eat as well. Askari noticed movement from the corner of his eye, and looked over to catch sight of Alba's pelt. His tail swished as it moved to wrap around his paws as he took another bite, not saying anything as he didn't feel the need to. She bent to take a bite, then looked at him curiously from her blue eyes. She swallowed, then spoke. "Can I ask your opinion on something?" she asked, turning her body to face him. He stopped chewing for a moment and looked over to her slightly. He finished chewing and swallowed. "You may," he responded, unsure what she was about to ask as he turned towards her.

"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything but...when you were living with your old pride...did you ever think of cubs," she asked, quickly turning back to her meal. She glanced at him every now and then to gauge his reaction. His eyes widened in surprise at the sudden serious question, and he scrambled to keep himself composed. He was confused as to why she had asked a question, but then again, he often found her confusing. He chalked it up to just having seen Hiari and her cubs, so he shrugged as he responded. "I did but I'd rather not have. My mate was rather...unsavory." His lip curled and his mouth tasted bitter as he thought of Kusaidia. He had never wanted anything to do with the cruel lioness, and remembered how dread had filled his belly when it was announced at his mateship ceremony that she was his, and he hers.

He cleared his throat, trying to dispel his disgust as he turned back to the meal, appetite gone. "Every lion in my pride was expected to have cubs, so it's only natural to think about them," he added, his voice sounding void of emotion. After the mateship ceremony, he knew that he now had a responsibility to produce cubs with Kusaidia, and any time he'd thought about it, his stomach would turn in knots and his limbs felt heavy as stone. When he had been separated, his only thoughts had really been to return to his pride, and he hadn't really thought of the orange lioness again. It was only since he had been here that he'd really had time to think about things, and one of them was all the lions he had left behind, Kusaidia