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While taking a moment to stop by the pride's in-camp waterhole and rest from the desert heat, a young cub bounces up to you. "Hey, you!" They exclaim, semi-crashing into you as their clumsy legs fail to stop them in time. Fumbling on their back, they continue. "You look like you're awful hot!! You see that cave entrance underneath the rock perch where Mr. King Aphro is?" They gesture towards a pile of rocks where the pride's colorful king is lounging, soaking up the sunlight. "I know you're not from around here, so you must be super hot in the desert! You should visit that cave, it'll cool you off really quickly!!" They giggle and turn on clumsy cub paws to run away, a mischievous glint in their eye.
Feeling quite sweaty, now that the cub mentions it, you pad towards the den. You can feel the heat of the desert sun baking into your fur, and you are now grateful for the little cub for encouraging you to take breaks. You stick your head into the den, eager to cool off, and immediately feel your whiskers stiffen from the cold. Your breath freezes in the air, turning into a cloud as you exhale. You understand why the cub was laughing, now. It's ice cold in here!
"Welcome..." a voice calls from the dark, and as your eyes adjust, you realize that one of the piles of snow in the den is actually a lioness, white and blue like the ice. "One of the cubs must have told you to come here to 'cool off', didn't they? You're welcome to stay, if you can withstand the chill."
As you glance around the cave, marveling at the frigid temperatures, the lioness continues. "This cave has been frozen for over a hundred years, at least. The lion frozen in the ice here is not of our pride, nor of the pride before us. We don't know how the cave stays so cold, but it must be some kind of magic. I'm the only one of our pride who's fur is thick enough to withstand the freezing temperatures, so I get this den to myself. Well, besides Tim over there." She gestures to a large black and white bird waddling around comfortably. "He helps me keep the records. Having this cold cave makes my job as historian and preservationist much easier, and Tim can use his beak to write just as well as I can use my claws!"
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