((Words: 1,083))
.: Xenia : Nashia : Kialio :.


Soon the rains would come, returning life to the Serengeti, but while the clouds carried their heavy loads of precious water they blotted out the stars and moon and chilled Xenia and her companion to the bone. Often there was the sound of thunder. Xenia had heard thunder only a few times in her life and always flinched at the sound. When she was a cub she would curl up with her nanny on stormy nights. She wished her nanny was here now. Even worse were the dead trees creaking and clapping their boney branches in the wind. However, this was not what frightened her. What frightened her most was a different sound, unlike any she had heard before, a shrill, trumpeting sound that thrilled through the air, shaking her from her ears to the bristled tip of her tail. “Nashia, what is that!?”

The hare stood up on her back legs, ears erect. She squinted and scanned their surroundings with a steely gaze. Xenia felt astounded by her bravery. “Sounds like elephants. There must be a herd nearby.”

“A-are they dangerous?” In the dense jungles of Achana no elephants existed. Older members spoke of them in their stories of the rogue lands, yet Xenia had never seen one. She knew that they were huge with noses -trunks - that hung from their faces like tails, huge ears that flapped their dusty, leathery skin and enormous fangs - tusks - that jutted from their mouths (how hideous!). Nashia calmly shook her head.

“Naw, they’re nice as long as you don’t sneak up on them. Bad eyesight. We just need to keep our distance.” She shuddered and furiously rubbed her shoulders. “Brrrr! It’s freezing out here! I wish I had your thick fur. Hey, Xexe, how about letting me ride on your back for a while?”

Xenia nodded and knelt down to let Nashia climb onto her back. She didn’t know what she would do if she didn’t have Nashia with her. Even though she was small and tired easily, without her knowledge and experience Xenia would have been utterly lost in the rogue lands. She needed Nashia’s advice so often that she began to feel ashamed of herself. In Achana Nashia depended on her for protection yet here, in this alien territory, she would have perished or given up long ago if not for the sagely advice of her little friend.

They walked a little further. Soon Xenia caught the scent of a pride – not just any pride, a pride with lions, leopards and cheetahs – a pride like home. Nashia reminded her that strange prides could be dangerous, they didn’t know whether they were peaceful like Achana or warlike, but Xenia could not believe that a pride so much like her home could be violent. Maybe they would even find her sons there. She headed for the boarder, unaware that she was being watched.

Kialio always wanted to be a guard. As a cub she was bigger than all the other girls, a trait which continued into adulthood, although she was certainly not the largest in her pride, and her parents often found her rough housing with the boys. Unfortunately, the Loa had different plans for her. So it was only on nights like this, when she could find no rest, that Kia joined the guards on their evening rounds. The exercise tired her and set her mind at ease. In her youth her visions made it impossible to train as a guard, but over time she gained a degree of control over her visions, enabling her to fight as well as any guard so long as she kept her head. If she became too energetic, too furious, the Loa would take possession of her, making her vulnerable. It was still a dangerous hobby. Until that day she gained total control over her visions came, she refused to live without taking risks.

This leopardess… no, she was not a leopardess… this hybrid creature clearly did not belong in these lands. She pitied the way she crawled through the underbrush, head down, tail almost brushing the cracked earth, ears flattened with fear.

Snap!

Kialio looked at the broken stick beneath her paw, gritting her teeth. The sound caused Xenia to flinch and whirl around so fast that Nashia had to dig her claws into her shoulders to hold on. She scanned the darkness with wild eyes. “W-whose there!?” she shouted, tail between her legs.

“Quiet!” hissed Kialio. She rose and silently crept out from behind the bushes where she had been stalking them. As she approached the hybrid she shrank submissively. The hare riding on her back showed more bravado. They would pose no trouble. She inspected them smugly, sniffing and sizing them up. This was the first time she found an intruder on her rounds and she did not want to share her triumph with the other guards. She looked at Xenia pointedly. “Well, well, well, a stranger has come to Pepo’porojo. Who are you? What are you doing so close to our boarders? Did you not smell the markers?” She did not sound as intimidating as she imagined.

Backing away, Xenia sat on her tail with her paws close together. As she sat down Nashia scrambled up onto her head, holding her large back feet against Xenia’s neck for balance. The lioness’s gaze made Xenia uneasy. “Yes – no! I-I mean, I did – we did – but w-we didn’t mean any harm. W-we were just looking for a place to safely spend the night. M-my name is Xenia a-and Nashia is my friend. We come from the Achana Coalition.”

A coalition? Kialio never heard of such a place, but the way Xenia said it made her believe she was not a threat. She arched a brow at Nashia, the friend, and shrugged inwardly. “We don’t normally allow strangers into our lands.”

Xenia lowered her head sadly. “Oh… I’m sorry.” She felt Nashia tug on her ear and remembered. Gathering her courage, she murmured, “Um… if you could… please, I’m looking for my sons. One is big and blue with wing markings and the other is small and pink. Their names are Prinny and Aiolos. H-have you seen them?”

The lioness was silent for a moment. Try as she might Xenia could not read her expression. Just as her heart began to sink, she said, “I think I can help you, but the hare must stay behind. She would not be safe in our lands.”