Val

Story: [Newborn/Cub Stage]- At long last, the young prince had been born. Under a hail of harsh zephyr winds and a powerful artic fog, the young cub is lifted into the air for all of the highland creatures to gaze upon in his glory. Artic smiled proudly, and bowed along with the other creatures, thanking them. King Cyi had never looked quite so happy, and the young adolescents and cubs cheered and jumped around excitedly at the news of a new future leader. All except Deo, who sulked hatefully at the prince's celebration. Another simple reminder that Deo was nothing but a bastard, an outsider with no real power in Cyi's kingdom.

With a snarl, the teenage lion sharpened his claws against an icy tree in the corner of the cave. By the end of the celebration, Artic nuzzled down with young Val, inviting Deo over to meet his little brother. Deo walked over to him, reluctantly yet always respectful to his mother, and sniffed the cub hesitantly. Val laughed, swiping at Deo's nose, causing the adolescent to jump back startly and sneeze. Artic joined in the laughter, just as King Cyi walked in to check on them. Deo glared, rubbing his snout. ''That's the last hit he'll ever land on me.."-- Deo whispered, darkly.

Val couldn't even remember the event..

[Cub]- As a walking, speaking cub, the world seemed to have no boundaries for Prince Val. He was incredibly full of energy, enthustiasticly asking every lion a million questions, playing with the other cubs, and enjoying the few royal orders he was allowed to give as a young heir. He was especially excited about growing up, hoping to become as strong as his older brother, Prince Deo. If they were matched in size and ability, they could tussle and spar and train everyday, like true kings. Artic wasn't blind, and she could obviosuly see that prince Deo always made an effort to avoid Val at any cost. Due to this, she encouraged Val to instead play and talk with the other cubs, especially Bia, as she was the queen heir of the pride.

"Aw, but mom! Bia is so.. stuck up. She's always wearing those flower things and father always tells the other cubs to bow to her. She's nothing but a girl.."

Artic growled, then huffed her anger away in a cloud of cold air, shaking her head. " Val, that isn't very nice. Bia's 'flower things' are part of her crown, and the king orders the others to show both her, and you, alot of respect. When you finish your cub training and prove yourself as a king, every animal in the hinterlands will bow down at the very sound of your name."

Val looked up to the queen with stars twinkiling in his eyes, a large fanged grin already starting to form. "Every animal? Really?"

"Yes, really," Queen Artic chuckled quietly, "We are some of few lions in this sector of the hinterlands. That comes with alot of responsibilty, especially as 'man' moves further inland. You must protect your lands, if time calls for battle, do you udnerstand?"

Val nodded his head. He didn't really understand, but he was sure he would find out through cub training. He hoped.

After that talk, Deo started to appear more often. He had even asked Val if he wanted to play with him and Fotoulo more, in order to get a bit of training in. They were going to take a long trail, through the mountains where no one 'dared to go'. Hyped up and thankful that his brother even talked to him, Val sprung at the oppurtunity to join Deo and Fotoulo on their long journey. King Cyi had been off exploring at the time. Val had no idea what was in store for him...

[Story Continued]-
Two nights after Deo and Fotoulo had invited the young Val out for training, Val tried his best to seem nonchalant in his private section of the royal cave. Queen Artic had decided to take a well deserved break from her young son's care, though he was still a cub, he was old enough to take care of himself for a few hours. King Cyi had gone out to meet with the Ox tribes, and carry out a traditional celebration to honor the alliance between their kingdoms.

That left Val by himself in the royal chambers. The little blue lion could barely contain his excitement.

As promised, Deo arrived at the mouth of the royal cave, icy claws clicking cooly on the stone flooring. It was much warmer than the icy infinite hallows. Deo hid his envy, and gave a fanged grin to his little brother to beckon him over with a 'well? What are you waiting for?'.

Val tried his best to walk over to the older lion with well placed steps, but ultimately decided to bound over to him, giggling with excitement and laughter. He had been so happy in that moment, he never had the chance to spend time with the only lion he looked up to.

"Hi Deo!!" The young prince chirped up at the elder. "Are we going now? Right now?"

At that moment the little royalty seemed more like a puppy than a future patriarch. Deo hid his annoyance with a well placed laugh, nodding.

"Of course, little guy! Just have to wait for Fotoulo to stop acting like a snowlion and meet us here," Deo said. Val all but squealed, much to Deo's shock.

"So Foto is really coming along? Cool! It'll just be the three of us, braving the harshness of the winter woods, protecting our lands and running free through the icy plains!"

Deo held his smile, hoping it still looked natural, and let out another laugh. Yeah, that definitely sounded natural.
"Yep, just us three musketeers bro. You're gonna love it out there. It's even better since it's night time. Much more.. dangerous."

"And hopefully not crossing paths with King Cyi?" A voice came from the opening of the royal cave. Val gasped and ran over to the entrance, smiling up at the familiar face.

"Fotoulo! You're really here too!" Val grinned.

"Yes, I am here.. too." The dark lion tried his best at a smile, though it didn't look nearly as natural as Deo's confident grin. The other blue lion caught this from behind Val's back, glaring at Foto to not even try, or else their act would be blown.

Foto settled with his usual expression.

"No worries, Foto, I've already mapped out this path before hand. It's a straight path around the mountain, then into the deeper parts of the forest. Not too far off from Sundown though." Deo explained, going to stand near the two at the front of the cave.

"Aww, I was hoping we could go out even further, like maybe to the Kulig!" Val whined.

'What a brat.' Deo thought, almost failing to hid a snarl of annoyance before Fotoulo spoke up.

"Trust me, this route is as far as we're willing to let you go," Fotoulo said, and then in an even lower voice he muttered, "Farther than any lion should go.."

Deo jumped in front of him, exuberating a happier energy.

"Okay, okay enough talk! Let's start heading out, before this snow gets any stronger." Deo said.

Sighing, Fotoulo nodded. He made sure Val walked in front of him first, before stepping out of the royal chambers. With a forlorn expression, he watched as Val jumped happily along side Deo, laughing and rambling about great adventures. Foto only hoped that they would quiet down so they wouldn't get caught. They snuck past Sundown's main cave, and headed into the tall pines of the hinterland forest.

Little did they know, a slender shadow followed dutifully behind them.

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