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~Newborn cub dialogue~
The king's first litters were treated like precious survivors; he checked on them more than once in a day just to ensure they were all nursing, warm and safe no matter the weather or the conditions of the land. The Queen Mother was dead, a precaution taken by the storm-colored king to ensure less threats to his lineage. It wasn't an act committed out of evil, even if it did inspire his heir to consider repeating it in the future, be it upon another ruling hyena...or a lion.
But such worries were far from everyone. The new cubs, the daughters of the Chief Huntresses and the princess alike, all would have the same upbringing, at least as far as Isiphepho was concerned. They had enough broodmothers, prey would be plentiful again soon and any other thought was better left for a stronger argument. Lunga, thankfully, didn't use cubs, either living or dead, in her sacrifices, and Kimbia, as the most devoted huntress, was constantly on the march for anything of interest.
The litters would survive. Isiphepho was indeed a proud father of his new daughters. They would replenish the nursery and his princess would lend a paw herself when the time came. As the sun rose on all those little bodies, a new kind of warmth kindled in their father's heart...
~Cub dialogue~
As you step past the place where the children usually play and run about, all eyes turn up to look at you with awe and surprise. Little blurs of colorful fur jump and sprint into the nearest grass within sight, big eyes peering out of their shadows to stare at you silently. The king's daughters must have been rolling around and practicing their hunting abilities when you arrived; they're painfully shy, especially in front of some stranger they've never seen, smelled or heard before.
But you can tell already that they'll be fine and proud young lionesses one day. They've got a steady, safe life here in this pride, and you can even see their father coming to stand protectively behind them as you get closer. Then the queen herself arrives. It's obvious that although the children are curious, the only one who is brave enough to leave the protection of the adults is the princess herself.
You bend down to hear her words before she scurries back to them, her whiskers twitching with indecision about how she feels right now. Maybe you'll be a threat to her father, so she shouldn't get that close to you. Or maybe you'll be a friend she can count on in the future. Maybe one day you'll decide she looks pretty enough to wonder about some litters of her own. But thoughts like that will have to wait for another time. With polite dignity, you excuse yourself from the children's playground, and the king carefully keeps you in sight to protect them until it's clear that you're not going back when he's not around.
~Adult dialogue~
The domesticated rabbit led you to this fog-covered place that's blanketed by clouds and hiding someone within. Her scent can't reach you with all this moisture, so you have no choice but to sit and wait until she decides to come out to you. When she does, you're almost positive that she's about to attack you for trespassing, her crimson eyes glaring menacingly the closer she gets, but then she just flops down in front of you like she doesn't have a care in the world...and rolls those eyes with a sigh of disdain.
"Well, look what the hunt dragged in," she says spitefully. "I took it you fancied my mother or someone else and thought you could have them? Yes or no? Either way, you're here now and I may or may not have time for you. So..." She raised a paw and showed off one of her claws to you threateningly. "Consider carefully. I may not be an official princess, but royal blood flows through my veins and the other half is that of a devoted demoness wannabe. Don't fuck with me unless you can take that kind of heat."
This lioness has such a sharp tongue that if her words were any harsher, your ears would've been cut to ribbons by now. You can choose to either respect her decision and leave her alone right now or you can press her for more details, and maybe, if you're lucky, she'll get up and invite you for a walk. She's not your only choice in the nursery, but she's still viable depending on what kind of cubs you have in mind.
~~
Second cub from Lunga's first litter, "Usijali" is a combination of the words "don't care" in Swahili, named like her sister for her stubborn nature. Probably one of Lunga's most brilliant children, Usijali quickly grew into a skilled strategist; by the time she was a year old, she was already hunting hares and other small game, which she frequently gave as gifts to the cubs on the unsorted border, a shocking contrast to her usual personality of literally not caring about others at all. On the other paw, she was always stealing bigger portions from carcasses than was necessary, only to trade them to hyenas, jackals and male leopards for "favors" in the future. This became a new issue when Isiphepho was being ganged up on by more competitor predators than he'd ever been before; the favors she called in meant he had to fight every day to keep his title as king. Frustratingly, he never died in battle or was crippled, which convinced Usijali that, "if it wasn't a lion, it was stupid and weak".
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