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 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:57 pm
It had been a hot, breezy day, one of the first days Fila and Amira had spent traveling together in a long while. This time, they were on a mission unlike any other. They were going to find their brother, and Amira couldn't be more excited about it. But the journey was long, so as night fell, the two curled up together to rest.
"Hey, Fila?" Amira asked, rolling over onto her side. "Do you remember when we were just cubs, how much we used to try to compete with each other?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:12 pm
Fila yawned and rolled over to face her sister. "Yeah, I remember." She grinned impishly, her tail flicking back and forth. "Back then, we used to scuffle all the time. That was back when you could beat me, too. But those days are looooong gone. You couldn't pin me now, even if you wanted to." She chuckled, remembering the few happy days of their cubhood. "You were bigger than me back then...and you knew how to throw your weight around."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:17 pm
"Oh, really now?" Amira asked, grinning like a banshee from ear to ear. "You may be a better hunter, sis, but I still know how to throw my weight around!" She kicked off of the sand, tumbling on top of her sister.
The two scuffled for a bit, one gaining ground then the next. Neither one of them hurt the other. This was just for fun, just a game. Both of them grinning, they rolled down a small hill where the victor lay on top of her defeated sister.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:24 pm
"I told you that you couldn't win, Amira," Fila said smugly. "You may still be heavier than me, but you don't have enough experience."
Fila was always proud when she could beat her sister at anything. For the longest time, it had been Amira who showed the most potential...and it would have been so forever, if their mother hadn't died.
After her death, Amira was never the same. Fila did what she could to help, learning to hunt, taking care of them both, but...Amira never really got over it, and Fila had never understood why that was so.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:28 pm
"Pah!" Amira retorted. "You just got lucky, that's all." The two burst out laughing, rolling around in the sand. "Oh, that was so much fun!" Amira said, a big smile on her face. Lately, Fila had been so darn serious! It was enough to make even the most joyful lion feel a bit depressed. And Amira had been feeling the blues lately...but she was fairly sure that had to do with the fact that they were homeless, again. Once you left a place, it wasn't long before someone else claimed it as their own, especially if it was a good place.
"It's good to see you laugh again, Fila. You've been so serious lately."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:30 pm
"It's good to laugh!" Fila said, smiling. "I'm...I'm sorry I worried you. It's just that...we left our lives, everything we had built there...we left for nothing more than a hunch. I know that you think Kudha is alive, but...we don't know that. And we gave up an awful lot to go look for him, ya? I just...I guess I'm having trouble adjusting," she admitted. "We both worked so hard to get by, it seems a shame to just let it go to waste like this."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:34 pm
"I know..." Amira said softly. "I worry about it too. But I know he's alive. I can feel it. And someday, we'll find him. And then we can be a family...all of us together, like it was meant to be. You'd like that too, right?" Amira asked timidly. She didn't know if Fila was angry with her for wanting to leave so badly. Especially since Fila had to come if Amira left. It wasn't like she could just leave on her own...because Amira, even though she was a grown lioness, didn't know how to hunt for herself. She was an expert at finding places to rest for the night, and for gauging when they had pushed past their limits, but...for all her skills, hunting was not one of them.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:36 pm
"Amira....sometimes feelings are wrong. I just don't want you to be too upset if we don't find him. I want you to be able to return home with me...when the time comes that we have to abandon this quest. We can't look forever..." Fila worried that Amira was too caught up in all this, that she let her emotions rule over reason. If she wouldn't let this go, she might never be happy...and that bothered Fila.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:40 pm
"Oh, but it won't come to that!" Amira exclaimed. "We'll find him, and then you'll be so surprised! I know you don't think that he's still alive, but you'll see. You'll see that I'm right." Amira grinnned, prancing around, her tail swinging gaily behind her. She couldn't understand why Fila couldn't feel it too. Amira knew that Kudha was alive. He had to be! And he was probably looking for them, too.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:58 pm
She had to hand it to Amira, that girl knew how to hold on to something. Fila grinned. "Sure, kiddo. Whatever you say. Just don't get your hopes up too high." Maybe Amira was right, but to live by a feeling? Fila didn't think she could ever understand that type of life. To her, life was logical, all reasoning. She was rarely impulsive...and when she was, she had a good reason behind that as well.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:01 pm
Amira frowned. Fila still didn't get it. But maybe she just needed time. Yeah...that was it. Just a little time, and then she'd come around for sure. She was a lot like their mother, after all. "...Hey, Fila? Do you ever think about what happened? Why mom...didn't get to see us grow up?" Amira's voice was sad. It was hard, thinking about what had happened.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:04 pm
Fila was quiet for a long while. "...yeah, I think about it sometimes. I always figure I could've done something, you know? Something to stop it...." she choked off. "Mom never even saw it coming. But we didn't either...she was there one minute....and then she wasn't. When you found her, I...I could barely believe it." Fila looked down at her paws. "You couldn't stop crying. For weeks and weeks...all you did was sob..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:07 pm
"And you stopped talking altogether. You really changed, Fila. But...so did I, I guess...But what I meant was, do you ever think about her, the way she used to be? With her white coat, and big smile...and how she always told us that she loved us, every single day. She used to say that she had to love us double, since papa wasn't around..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:09 pm
"No...I-I had forgotten that. I guess there's a lot of memories that I've forgotten...it's easier to forget, sometimes." Fila said, her face sad. "But I do remember that she loved us. And that...that we had a home somewhere, with other lions. But I don't know where that was, or who any of the lions were. I couldn't find that place now, even if I wanted to." Fila sighed softly.
"Amira? Let's stop thinking about the past, ok? It's just...so sad. Besides, we need our strength if we're going to get very far tomorrow. We should get some sleep." Fila curled up against her sister, snuggling against her side. She yawned. "I'm really tired..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:13 pm
Amira sighed too, snuggling back against her sister's warm fur. "You're right, as always, Fila...it's getting late." She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to chase away the ghosts of the past. "Maybe we'll find that place on our journey. Wouldn't that be amazing? We'll all go and live there, together...and we'll have the life that we were always meant to have."
Fila didn't answer, save for a soft snore. "Oh...I guess you really were tired," Amira said softly, a gentle smile on her face. "Goodnight, my sister," she said.
"Sweet dreams..."
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