Tuini, Little Tuft, & Others

By the time Tuini made it back to the Cavern, the storm had blown over, and nearly eight inches of fresh snow covered much of the land. He was utterly exhausted, with dried and frozen blood clinging in unsightly chunks throughout his mane and along his face. He barely noticed, much less acknowledged, Little Tuft who was laying at the entrance with Faidanen curled around the old lion for warmth. He also didn't noticed just how round the frail uncle's belly was, or the lingering odor of blood in the air. All he wanted was to collapse in the shelter of the den and sleep off the headache that pounded between his ears.

Fairali winced at the sight and looked questioningly to Layra, who herself looked a little battered from their hunt. "You two okay?" She ventured, her ears back a little in empathy for their wounds. Slowly the ears perked upwards again as she nodded to a dark form several yards from the cave. "Mom found some food this evening, if you guys want any."

Sure enough, Summer Storm was half lounging on the carcass of a small, black stallion, his frame missing a good portion of its flesh already. The young lion raised his head in a nod to his leaders before he rested it back on his paws, lazily napping against the carcass.

Layra

When they had left she had called for the others to join them. ** We are fine. But we are going back tomorrow and this time you all will come. I had called for others to join us but none of you decided to answer** she moved. ** And you shouldn't of eatten till we got back** she was pissed she moved to the half eatten carcass. ** Tomorrow you all will eat last if at all** she grabbed the carcass and pulled it from summer and put it by tuini. ** There will be no ands if or butts tomorrow tuini will stay back with little tuft the rest of you will join me and make up for your failure**

Tuini, Little Tuft, & Others

A look of excitement sprung up in the eyes of Fairali and Summer Storm, excited about the prospect of a hunt. When called out initially, Faira piped up, "Mom and Oracle took us out hunting with Spotlight. He smelled wolves-" The young feline abruptly stopped explaining when it became clear that Layra was upset. She watched the lioness move towards the kill and begin dragging it away.

Summer Storm growled in protest and stalked after the white cat, his tail lashing behind him as he was further chastised and given a punishment. "We were out hunting! You can't punish us for that. We at least caught something." The brash youngster tossed back indignantly, far more fiery than his sister.

"Easy." Autumn Sun murmured, stepping out from within the deeper of the three caverns. She brushed past Layra, rubbing her face against the other's shoulder and then shooting a look of warning to her son, silently telling him to back off. Once he did, she turned her attention to Layra, "We heard your call, but we were in the middle of an ambush. We were stalking some wolves, but chanced upon some larger prey instead. A stallion got separated from his herd in the fog after the mutts chased them."

Summer huffed and stalked back outside, tail still highly animated behind him. "If I'm going to be punished and made to eat last, have fun on your hunt without me! I'm full anyway."

Oracle

Above them all, Oracle was perched neatly on top of the rocky mound. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she observed the interactions, "Where would we be hunting, Layra?" The size of her belly, though not easily seen from her lofty perch, suggested that the ligeress had also fed well. Not that it would keep her from joining in another hunt, always eager to stretch her legs and sharpen her claws.

Layra

Layra glared ** you should of abandoned it the moment you heard my call so you dilebertly ignored your leaders. Summer you will join this hunt or you won't be eatting for a week. None of you will be eatting for a few days as punishment for dilebertly ignoring your leaders. ** She said. This really infuriates her. They just admitted to hearing her call and doing Thier own thing. She moved to block summer from leaving** do not talk back to me** she. **You won't be eatting for three days now and you will hunt with us. ** She glared at oracle ** you wanted to proof your loyalty to me you've failed. You all know no one except cubs feed before me and tuini. ** She said she paced **we hunt at sunset beach there is a stag there that will be an easy kill but there is also a stallion with two mares who may have foals. You all will come except tuini and little tuft. Anyone who disobeys will go hungry for a week** she glared at summer

Layra

She turned on summer and aimed to pin summer to the ground**watch how you talk to your leader your mother and Oracle should of approached us with this they made the wrong move. Teaching you to disobey your leaders and rules both of them will be punished for this but your punishment for talking to me this way is far worse then theirs you are now the omega of the pride**

Tuini, Little Tuft, & Others

Tuini didn't bother with the carcass right now, he wanted only to sleep and recover from the fight. It was Spotlight who stepped forth to aid the wounded lion, having also been deeper in the den with Autumn when the pair arrived. He grimaced at the ice that caked his cousin's coat, and almost recoiled at how cold he was, but ultimately settled his greater mass down beside his pridemate to help warm him up. "I'll stay here with him and Tuft." Spotlight announced, casually dismissing the order, though he reasoning was a sound one. Tuini might be alright on his own, but Tuft seemed incapable of putting on weight despite the food they fed him, and Spotlight was wary of leaving the their old uncle alone in such weather.

When Layra pounced at Summer, the big male hissed back and bared his keen fangs. He was nearly her size and still growing, and had half a mind to put up a fight against the pale lioness. But he was still a naive youngster, and Larya's fierce dominance was enough to keep the brute in check right now. The hiss devolved into a chest-deep rumble as he protested his treatment, but when he looked to his sister and mother for aid, neither responded. "You couldn't lead a duck across water." His ego just wouldn't allow him to let it go, and when the others refused to intervene on his behalf, he spat this insult back at Layra.

"Sorry Layra, it won't happen again." Fairali murmured a sincere apology, accepting the terms of punishment and taking the lesson to heart. She turned her eyes from where Summer Storm was pinned to the ground, wishing he'd just shut his mouth.

Autumn Sun took the orders in stride too, not wanting to let a minor fracture grow into something worse. "I apologize on their behalf. The opportunity was too good to pass up, we were in the middle of the chaos when you called, and Tuft was in need of food." The ligeress settled down next to Tuft, blatantly ignoring her son now. "We will go with you tomorrow."

Oracle

The slate-dusted brow that raised on Oracle's face would be impossible to see from the rest of the pride's position, but up it went regardless. "I offer my apologies as well, lady Layra. The rest of the pride as accepted me as their own. You seem to be the only holdout - what would it take to convince you of my loyalty?"

Layra

Summer was pissing her off now. She now made to bite his muzzle hard. ** One more word and you will be sleeping alone outside of the safety of the pride** she said atleast the other three knew respect** I hold out cause of the stupidity pulled earlier when you first joined. You could of proven it by not disobeying when I called**

She would keep summer pinned till she felt he submitted. **Then you should of sent someone back here to explain do it again and you all will be sleeping alone outside** she said** we leave at day break** she did noddto the one who said he'd stay back.

Tuini, Little Tuft, & Others

The vibrations of Summer's threatening growls could be felt through Layra's paws as she pinned him. A slew of smart alec responses ran through his mind and he even flexed his claws out, wanting nothing more than to shove the lion off of him and give her a good thrashing. But again, his naivety held him back. He might have a big ego, but his bravado shrank in the face of such domineering aggression. Layra's bite to the muzzle ended whatever words he'd almost let slip from his fang-bared mouth. The rumbled continued, accentuated by each rapid breath he took, but the lion had otherwise gone unhappily silent in submission.

The rest of the pride had grown quiet too. The sound of Spotlight's rough tongue could be heard running over Tuini's forehead, followed by the shuffling paws of Autumn as she further settled in against Little Tuft.

For his part, Tuft remain wordless during the scuffle. Now embraced between the two ligers, he let his shallow eyes close and enjoyed the gathering warmth.

Oracle

Oracle rolled her eyes, safely expressing her irritation for Layra where it couldn't be seen. "If it means giving up a guaranteed meal and letting your uncle go hungry another night, I will do so next time." That was perhaps a little more curt than she should have said it, but Oracle wasn't shy about speaking her mind. Losing interest in the commotion down below, the ligress curled her tail up around her side and tucked her head in against her paws, ready to sleep off her most recent meal and regain strength for tomorrow's hunt.

Layra

She kept him pinned as long as she felt his growling. She glared at oracle** this would of been guaranteed had we had a loyal pride. As I said you or autumn could of come back here at my call and told us what was going on instead you entirely disobeyed** she said** till you learn to listen to your leaders and obey rules , little tuft is the only one who should of eaten** she smacked summer with her paw no claws **and you, will learn obedience and respect or you will leave** she said getting off him and joining tuini and pressing to him **get some sleep we leave at dawn**