Aina / Rai || New Pride Lioness / Cub || M: Ismitta and Makalo (Ind), Sung (Ind), Each Other (Ind), Open

The sun was just peeking above the long wall of sand dunes far to the east of the oasis. It cast the landscape in quickly brightening light, though everything still had a slight orange-pink hue in the eyes of the white lioness that lay beneath one of the sturdier trees next to the water. Her blue gaze trailed along the still waters, only disturbed by the lapping tongue of one of the other lionesses, Ismitta. The mother had just sent her son, little Makalo, off to play.

Aina's gaze briefly -- subtly -- flicked over to the little lion's bouncing form as he pattered over to a few large mounds of sand. Her whiskers twitched in a slight smile and she pulled her front legs underneath her so that she was sitting up. Ismitta's eyes had closed by the time the lioness looked back over, so she brought her watch back to Makalo. It was no skin off her back to make sure he didn't hurt himself; Ismitta would be up and rolling soon enough anyway. Aina knew all too well how hard waking up could be, and a mother having to deal with a crazy cub would certainly have a harder time letting go of precious sleep.

The white lioness brought her head down for a moment to lick her paw, tongue bringing away the grit and mud that had taken up residency between her claws and pads. She figured Sung would be setting up a hunt or patrol once everyone else was awake and wanted to get rid of any potential for splinters, hot spots, or other irritations caused by muddy paw pads.

Aina brought her head back up and placed her paw down on the dry, sandy surface. She noticed Rai, the second of the three cubs in their new pride, creeping up on Makalo. The red-gold male was low to the ground, stalking... creeping...

Rai launched himself at Makalo with a high-pitched yowl, batting at the other with large, fluffy paws. His large eyes were squinted in mock ferocity, though his curled tail gave away his playful intentions. With a puffed out chest, he crowed, "I almost got you! Didja see my stalking moves? I'm gonna go on the next hunt and bring back... something cool."

He lowered his head and stuck it out towards Makalo, curiosity entering his naive gaze. Moving around with rapid, tiny steps, the cub asked, "What're you doing? Can I play?"

He had awoken long before the sun rose, preferring to wander in the coolness of the night; it allowed him to cover more ground before the heat arrived. His gait was slow -- leisurely -- as he strode, his paws kicking up sand as he traveled the dunes.

Dunes.

He had been wandering through them for days. It was a risk, one that Araali had blindly taken. He had not wanted to exert his energy going around them, so he had chosen to pass directly through them. Now, however, he was second guessing himself as he began to climb another. The sand was slippery beneath him, his hind legs sliding along with the sand. Going down was never an issue, but climbing them was often a struggle for the male. He would often slide down or stumble due to a lack of grip, ending up at the bottom where he started.

Truly, what had possessed him to enter this part of the land?

He had hoped to locate food or water by crossing it, but it was barren. There was not a single creature in his line of sight. There was no shrubbery. There were no sounds besides his subtle huffs as he heaved himself forward, climbing. Grunting, he continued hauling himself up, steps as light as possible in hopes of not gliding back down. There were times where he would slip, but his gait remained steady until he began to near the top of the dune. And, when he reached it, he had taken a pause. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he raised his gaze. By some miracle, he had hoped to find something -- anything -- besides more sand, but the fates were not on his side.

With a steady breath, Araali had gazed at the land surrounding momentarily, taking it in with defeat before turning, making his way across the top of the dune rather than going down. He would find a way to exit this part of the land. He should have heeded the words of the others that had wandered the same path he did. There was no water near, nor within the dunes.

He would exit. He would wander around the dunes like he was meant to. However, the dunes did not make it easy for Araali to cross. He had taken up a slow walk, his paws dislodging minuscule clumps of sand from beneath him and causing it to avalanche down the left side of the dune. He had managed to avoid slipping, mainly walking in the middle, but Araali had made a mistake. He had wandered too close to the edge.

As a result, his paw had slipped, the sand cascading down and taking Araali with it. Facing the bottom, the male did his best to steady himself, his large paws reaching around, hoping to grasp something. He continued pawing at the land, wanting to secure his body to no avail. He was slipping, gliding down the dune on all fours as grains of sand scattered towards the bottom. He had mumbled something under his breath, truly not wishing to reclimb what he already had. Sprawling out his legs, it was his attempt to steady himself as he continued gliding. He had nearly done it, too, had one of his front legs not slipped out from beneath him, causing him to tumble to the bottom.

Landing upon his side, Araali lay there for a moment before picking his large head up, eyes narrowing as grains of sand clumped into his mane and hung off from the sides of his muzzle. Hauling himself up, he had shaken his coat, and while some sand flung off of him, most remained embedded in his mane. Parting his mouth, he swatted at the ground with irritation before sitting down with defeat.

He needed a moment to rethink things.