Soft blue eyes the color of summer skies gazed quietly up at the roiling mass of storm clouds that blocked the sun and cast the world in a soft muted gray. Kayin wrinkled his nose as a drop of rain splattered squarely on it, but didn’t look away from the storm that seemed to be building overhead. It was only a little rain right now, but the clouds were so dark, there would surely be more. Much more.
But for now he was satisfied enough to sit out here, watching the clouds twist and writhe, and listening to the hushed wind as it waited to roar with the thunder that had yet to come. The pressure was rising, and soon lighting would flash hot and bright with its ever-present companion thunder crashing on its heels. Then mother would doubtless make him come back inside. But for now…
For now the young cub just wanted to watch the growing storm, a kind of awe in his soft eyes.
"Booooorrrrriiiinng," Jabari said, draped on the ground next to his brother in a "I'm bored" manner. He would have never shown this expression had there been adults watching them. But it was just him and one of his brothers, sitting outside, watching the rain come in. It smelled funny, he thought, wrinkling his nose. "You're probably enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked his quieter brother with a sniff. "You're going to go in and report all of the tiniest of details to Mom, so she praises you for being so observant, aren't you?"
Kayin’s ears flicked at his brother’s sigh of boredom. It wasn’t dull watching a storm, it was actually kind of exciting. All of the waiting, the way it made his fur want to prickle… But before he could even start to try explaining this…
“No I wasn’t,” he yelped, looking down at the cub sprawled beside him, “I was just watching it, I wouldn’t do that…” He didn’t go looking for praise, he didn’t want it! Jabari could have it, he deserved it more anyways. Kay’s mismatched ears went low, did his brothers really think that of him? That he went out of his way to try to make them look bad, to show them up? He only tried to be his best! He didn’t want mother to praise him for it, it wasn’t anything special…
Jabari choked, then looked away, his shoulders shaking with amusement. "You jumped to that waaay too quick," he teased his brother. "You were, weren't you?"
“No,” Kayin insisted, his shoulders hunching unhappily as his brother looked away from him. Was Jabari mad at him? He didn’t seem to be that upset…he wasn’t upset was he? “I don’t do anything special, I don’t know why mom… but…but…I wasn’t…” His voice trailed off, his soft eyes now fixed on his splotchy paws instead of the rising storm.
"Oh relax," Jabari muttered, now feeling guilty for teasing his brother. "I'm not mad at you. That's just... you know, how you are," he said, rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky. "Mom's gonna make us go in soon. Then it'll be even more boring. So we should figure out something fun to do, right?" he said, looking over at his brother again. "What about a game?" he asked. "Something fun."
“…oh,” Kay said lamely when Jabari muttered that he hadn’t been mad. Now he felt pretty dumb…but he didn’t mean to upset his brothers ever. He knew they’d been bothered when mother singled him out for praise, when she compared them to him. He didn’t ask for it, it just…happened. He really wished she wouldn’t do it…
Quietly, he batted lightly at one of his brother’s paws as the other cub rolled on his back. “A game? Like what?” he questioned. “Tag? Hide and Seek?” Both games built skills, it was probably why Kayin was so familiar with them, but they were still fun.
"Nah, we play those all the time," Jabari said, frowning slightly as he thought. "We need something with action, adventure," he listed. "Something like..." His young mind searched out the most evil, dirty, vicious thing he could think of, "fighting the Ligi!"
Kay just shrugged slightly when his brother complained that they played those games all the time. They did, it was true. But he couldn’t really think of any other games. If they went out to explore mom would be doubly mad because the storm might be dangerous. So what could they…
“W-what?” he squeaked, alarmed, “But…but we can’t do that! That’s dangerous!” Obviously he misinterpreted Jabari’s meaning, though he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what his brother could have been thinking suggesting that!
"Not going out and actually doing it," Jabari said, rolling his eyes at his brother. "I meant we pretend we're fighting the Ligi! Like, one of us acts as the chosen one and the other acts like the Ligi and we battle over who--who--" he grasped for the right word, but failed to come up with it. "Wins," he finally settled on. "It can be an epic battle of good and evil, with the winner being the--the best! And they can take over the pride and make Mom happy, and--and you know, be the winner."
Oh. Oh…wow…he was just…so stupid today. “Right,” he agreed lamely, “I…uhm…wasn’t thinking. Sorry.” Again. Why was he tripping over his thoughts now? Of course Jabari wouldn’t have suggested just going out and attacking a Ligi, his brother, at least, was smart. Even if playing the Chosen One might be a little dangerous… it wasn’t like there was a Ligi watching them right now…
Self-consciously, Kay glanced over his shoulder, as though he expected to see one of the lions looming over them just because he’d thought of them. Silly. “Well…” he paused. He’d been about to ask which of them would get to be the Chosen One, but, really, the choice was obvious…or at least obviously not him. If their eldest brother were here, maybe there would have been a dilemma, but between himself and Jabari… no contest.
“So… if I’m the Ligi, what am I supposed to do?”
A little grin pulled at Jabari's lips, a hint of satisfaction that his brother obviously realized how qualified he was to be the chosen one. Of course, nobody else seemed to, but that was a topic left for when he was bigger and stronger. But... what did his brother do while playing the Ligi? He frowned, thinking for a long, long moment. "Well... we need to figure out what's going on first, right? Like... it's a stormy night, and the chosen one's just finished battling his way through some of the other Ligi, and he comes to the steep hill."
Kayin saw the hint of a grin on his brother’s lips and felt his chest puff out a little. He was pleased that he’d made his brother happy, at last. He knew he had to manage it sometime, sooner or later he’d known he’d be able to do something right for Jabari as well as he did for mother.
“Yes,” the cub agreed as Jabari began the story, “But the Chosen One wouldn’t be alone, he’d have had allies.” At least Kay would have fought for his brother, “But then he must’ve gotten separated, and the Ligi…the Ligi had been fighting too, but then he saw that the Chosen One was alone at last and knew it was time to make his move…”
It felt odd to be taking on the role of someone so scary, but Kayin could pretend right? It wasn’t like he would ever be a Ligi for real. Just for pretend, so Jabari could pretend to be the Chosen One.
"And he has the higher ground," Jabari went on, his experience with the steep hill flashing through his mind. "So the Ligi starts pushing rocks down the hill. And it's slippery already, because the rain is pouring down. But the chosen one knows that he's got to beat this guy, so he starts up the hill." He frowned, then almost jumped as lightening flashed overhead. It was starting to seem all too real to the little cub.
“Yeah,” Kayin agreed, batting at a pebble on the ground, trying to imagine dropping rocks on his brother. He couldn’t do it though, couldn’t picture doing something like that. Maybe he’d just imagine the Chosen One as some dark shadow rising towards him, intent on tearing him apart- yipe!
The cub startled when lighting cracked overhead, his ears pinning back against the thunder sure to follow. “And…and this Ligi is dangerous because…because he’s the last one between you and the Shatkona…” he squeaked, trying not to look alarmed as thunder boomed and rolled around them. The storm was still a little ways off, but this was starting to creep him out a little bit, “S-so…so he’s the best of them all…or, uhm…the worst?”
"Both," Jabari agreed, his mind full of the image. "The chosen one dodges one of the rocks, but he doesn't see the second one coming, since it's getting darker and darker," he went on, no longer picturing himself as the chosen one. If anything, frighteningly, he could imagine the Ligi better. "It hits him in the shoulder. It hurts, but he can't stop, so he digs his claws into the path and keeps going." His voice lowered, the idea of acting it out forgotten with the excitement of the story.
“The best of the worst wickedest then,” Kay agreed, though he flinched in sympathy for the Chosen One, rather than feeling the triumph of the clever Ligi that stood above. He wanted to be there, to let the Chosen One lean on him as they climbed, or race ahead to confront the final foe and leave their pride’s hero free to chase down the Shatkona…
“S-so…so then the Ligi knows he’s hurt. And…and he knocks another rock down before charging the Chosen One, to take him by surprise and send him tumbling down the slippery hill!” His soft fur fluffed out in fear, the shadowy figure he’d made the Chosen One suddenly the Ligi looming above and rushing down at him.
"But this time the chosen one sees it coming, cuz lightening flashes overhead," Jabari said. It couldn't have a bad ending, otherwise neither of them would sleep well that night! "He dodges and manages to get up the steep hill, pulling himself onto the flat part and facing off against the big, scary Ligi." A drop of cold water landed on his tummy and he jumped, his eyes going wide as the sky opened up and rain poured down on them.
The Ligi was huge. A massive, dark, terrifying shape that would have blocked out the sky even if the storm clouds hadn’t been there. Kayin’s ears were completely flattened against his head, his eyes huge with fright as he watched the poor, hurt, tired Chosen One scramble for higher ground, struggling to face off against yet another foe.
Oh, oh he didn’t have a chance! It was horrible, it was terrible, it was so scary he didn’t want to see what happened next! But it was like he couldn’t make his mind stop. He saw the Ligi advancing on the bleeding exhausted champion and wished shutting his eyes would make it go away.
“And…and then…” he started, then yelped when the rain poured down on him, soaking them both in seconds. Kayin scrunched his eyes shut, blurting out in one fast frightened breath, “And then his brothers come and he’s not alone anymore and they flatten the Ligi and tell him to go after the Shatkona because they’ll get the Ligi and then he does and then they win and everybody is- EEEP!”
The cub cried out in sudden terror as a massive boom of thunder seemed to shake even the ground. That was definitely the end of the story for him, he practically levitated back into the den, huddling shivering in the backmost corner with rainwater dripping from his fur. A happy ending. Their story had to have a happy ending…
Jabari sat there, the rain pouring down on him as he tried to picture his brother's ending to the story. It didn't seem right, he thought. It seemed too easy that way. But he jerked back to reality as the thunder shook the ground beneath him and chased after his brother, sopping wet and unhappy with how he didn't feel nearly as secure in their victory as he should have been.
He climbed into the den and headed for their bed to cuddle in the grass. Their mother would yell at him for staying out there so long, but for once he didn't care. He needed to think this out better, the little cub decided. If they were going to win... they would need a plan.
FIN
