It was coming.
A vision.
Alaia knew her warning signs well. A slight itching sensation behind her left ear, swiftly followed by a mild headache and on-off blurry vision. All of the signs had happened, manifested themselves in quick succession, and although when it happened this suddenly it was usually a strong, important vision, Alaia was more sceptical of the relationship of the speed of her symptoms and her visions. Having been out scouring the lands for inspiration, the Priestess had quickly returned to her den, preferring to be in a safe, known place when her visions struck. As she entered the dark, somewhat musty caved she slept in alone, a sweet smile spread over the naive lionness’ face at the sight of a fresh rabbit kill, most likely dropped off by the hunters as they made their morning rounds. Fastening her jaw around it’s neck, she retreated to the back of her den, settling herself on the ground in the most comfortable position and beginning to tear into the rabbit’s flesh.
It struck unexpectedly, and with a surprising amount of pain, Alaia giving a loud yelp as she dropped the scrap of flesh she’d been eating, instinctively tucking her head under a paw as a flood of images began to play through her mind.
’She saw grass. Tall, dry grass, stretching as far before her as she could see. From where she was standing, she turned 360 degress, and continued to see grass, with mountains far, far in the distance, as a shadow on the far horizon. They were home – they were where she was now. Alaia continued turning, before she suddenly stopped, a clear shape making its way through the grass towards her. It was a dark stranger, a lion judging by the mane, and Alaia walked forwards, feeling compelled to. He greeted her with a nod, and she stepped forwards again, as if to greet him in an oddly intimate manner...’
Steel blue eyes shot open wide, before narrowing suddenly as they adjusted themselves to the darkness of the den. She sat up, before deciding against that as a wave of dizziness struck her. Sinking back to the ground, Alaia looked down, taking the piece of flesh she’d dropped and beginning to chew on it again, suddenly feeling exhausted. That was nothing new – visions always seemed to leave her feeling starving afterwards, as if they took a ridiculous amount of energy. Which didn’t make sense, but at the same time it almost did.
Her vision had been oddly personal, something which Alaia didn’t experience often. Usually they were about other people, other places. But this hadn’t been far away at all, and it had definitely been her. Those mountains she’d seen in the distance, that was here. That was her pride, her home. If that had been her, that meant that she’d be leaving home – or perhaps it was a message, that she had to leave home. It wasn’t too far, which reassured the pale lioness, but at the same time she’d never left the pride before. She’d been born here, and she planned to die here. And who had the dark stranger been? There’d been a mane, which made the lioness suspect a male, a lion. Why had he been there, why had he been walking towards her. Was he dangerous? Alaia suspected not, she believed there was good in everyone, and she trusted everyone. Innocent until proven guilty.
Having eaten most of the hare, Alaia felt strong enough to stand, yet did so cautiously. Once she was sure she wasn’t going to faint, the lioness took a few wobbly steps forwards, until her strides grew stronger and she moved out of her den. Perhaps this had something to do with what everyone had been saying. Alaia was a young lioness, but an adult none-the-less, and she was now mature enough to consider helping to populate the pride. She’d heard them talking about it in secret, but now they’d been suggesting it to her face, too. Alaia didn’t want to disappoint, she just wanted to make everyone happy, but she was only young. She was unsure, she didn’t know anything about this pregnancy thing. Was it painful, difficult? Did she have to do anything in particular, or just stand there and she’d magically get pregnant? Sighing softly, she made her way along the ridge, leading up to the dens of the High Priestesses.
Her vision had made it all very clear, but the lioness was still scared. Still worried about what journey was now ahead of her. She’d never left home, she didn’t know where to go. Perhaps she could ask one of the newer lions to the pride, the new blood, what it was like. What she should know, if there was anything special rogue lions did. For all she knew they could have a different language, a different way of communicating. Maybe they were like savages, communicating only through body language, and grunts and growls. She chuckled a little at the silliness of the idea – that could be quite fun to get used to, to learn. And now she was here – standing in front of the High Priestesses den. All she had to do was take a step forwards, call out, and she could ask them for permission.
But she didn’t want to! She wasn’t ready! She was frightened, and knew she should do but at the same time didn’t feel it was right for her. But everyone kept mentioning it, and Alaia certainly didn’t want to make anyone sad, or disappointed. No, that’d be horrible if that happened. And so, that was why the pale Priestess stepped forwards into the den, taking three steps before she stopped, calling out.
“High Priestesses? May I please speak to the both of you? I wish to ask permission for a...a duty I must perform.”
Whether she was ready or not didn’t matter – Alaia had a duty to her pride, and she was going to carry it out no matter what.
