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 Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:12 pm
The only new thing that she had completely accepted was her father, the dark lion she’d seen in dreams long before she’d ever met him. The father who’d travelled all the way to the horrible demon pride to save his two children from a life of slavery, the father whose paws had embraced her in a way she’d never experienced before. In a strange, distorted way she did miss the dark brother they had left behind - even if he was scary at times – but Kuen would probably be happier without having two slaves from his blood always around anyway.
The little lioness sighed, looking around for her brother but failed to find him. Perhaps he was outside… or with dad. Dad… daddy. Would she ever get used to saying those words? She stood up and moved to the entrance of the den with hesitant steps, narrowing her eyes as the brightness grew to a nearly unbearable level.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:49 pm
 The arrival of two new juveniles startled Zarha at first. She was quite irritated that Anwar spent the night with a strange female out in the rogue lands and failed to bring her back to the pride. Certainly if she was good enough to have his cubs she must also be good enough for his harem? Instead he came home with a single banu and two (b*****d) offspring. The tale of their origins was quite interesting but not interesting enough to stop Zarha from giving him the cold shoulder. Perhaps a small harem was fine for her father, but Zarha wanted more. For the first two days she mostly ignored the cubs. However, she did observe them, and after having two days to think and cool down she began to feel more accepting of them. They were good, strong cubs.
Sitting outside the den, Zarha observed her new territory with disappointment. It was a far cry from the lively, boisterous atmosphere of her father's den. Zarha never thought she would miss her cacophony of younger siblings. There were, as of yet, no cubs. Anwar and Zadok were off somewhere, discussing male subjects, and Star had gone off with Obadias. The silence was deafening. When Mozi started to climb out of her den the noise of her little paws attracted Zarha's attention immediately.
Once Mozi was out in the open Zarha laid down where she was sitting. She knew that Mozi was timid and thought that being on her level would help her feel more at home. In the sunlit pride, Zarha seemed to be the only patch of darkness for miles. "Good morning, Mozi," she said softly.
Good morning and good night were the only words the juvenile was accustomed to hearing from her beybanu mother. Since Mozi's mother seemed not to be coming, Zarha was now toying with the idea of taking over that role, especially since she currently had no cubs of her own. Hopefully that would change soon. The cub little resembled a member of her family. While Zarha's splotches were splashy Mozi's were jagged, obviously inherited from her birth mother, but her eyes were red like Zarha's father. The familiarity of those eyes along with Anwar's markings made her easier to accept. She found herself wondering what Mozi's real mother looked like.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:55 pm
Mozi’s ears dropped when she saw the dark shape of the lioness and it took every ounce of courage not to cower away and hide at Zarha’s greeting like she always done when spotting a dark lion she didn’t know. But she trusted Anwar enough to know he wouldn’t leave her alone with someone who would hurt her. And the dark lioness was his mate so she couldn’t really be that bad… right? Oh, what was that word? Banu and… beebanu? Belbanu? Oh!
“Good morning… b- beybanu Zarha.” Mozi said hesitantly, unsure what to make of her gesture. She remained quite still.
Zarha didn’t seem particularly happy the two cubs were here which, in addition to having enough black to rival Mozi’s biological mother, made the cub feel she still had a demon in her life. There was something clever, cunning even about Zarha’s eyes and Mozi had trouble placing “Zarha” and “submissive” in the same sentence, regardless of what her father had told them about the Pad-Banu relationships in the Ukuucha’Wafalme.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:25 pm
Zarha smiled softly. When she wanted to she could make herself quite pleasing. There was another side of her, her true self, that was smoldering with passionate ambition and courage befitting the daughter of a warrior. She was strong and no matter what masks she wore she always looked strong. Even the softness of her smile was warmed by this inner strength. If Zarha knew more about the demons she would agree that she would have fit in well among their ranks - not as a worshiper of Morifaer - but under the noble influence of Sparda.
However, she could never have truly accepted the concept of the demonic soul. Zarha was her own.
"Just 'mama' is fine," she said, amused by Mozi's difficulty remembering her title. "Even though you weren't born here, I'd like to give being your mother a try. At first I was a little mad at Anwar for bringing you here without your mother but I suppose he must have his reasons. Do you like it here?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:11 pm
The little lioness’ ears rose when the beybanu spoke. She listened carefully, noting the small changes in the dark lioness and the details that made her different from Rhaen. Zarha’s voice was softer than usual and even though this was the first she was really speaking to Mozi, she had already said more words to her than her own mother ever did. And Zarha smiled at her and not the way Rhaen did when her dark brother was being particular nasty to his sister. It was a soft smile and Mozi found herself calming a little.
“I’ve never used that word.” She said slowly and immediately decided that was a very dense thing to say. One thing did surprise her though. It seemed Zarha had been angry at her father and not at the cubs themselves but the idea of her father bringing Rhaen to the U’W was simply inconceivable. Her mother was a demon, a true demon who decided her own fate. She had no place in this bright world where her father lived and Mozi truly hoped she would never see her again. But maybe she could trust Zarha… a little. Even amongst demons, she had once found a very dark and beautiful girl who had chosen to protect her instead of causing harm. Zarha could be the same.
“I thought you didn’t like us…” she said even slower than before. If they were being honest, they might as well get everything out in the open.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:44 pm
When Mozi admitted that she had never used "that word" before Zarha's smile suddenly wilted. She knew Mozi lived with her mother before Anwar took her away. Maybe she was mistaken. Mozi might have been left with another lioness who refused to be called mother. Even that bothered her. She could not imagine any mother denying her cubs the right to call her "mama." Who would be so cruel?
Imagining the existence of such a horrid lioness angered Zarha. Her ears slid back and she frowned, shaking her head. "I would never be angry at cubs for simply existing," she said firmly, as though scolding Mozi's imaginary mother for her callousness. "You never asked to be here, it's not your fault. I was only angry at Anwar."
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:30 pm
Mozi eyed the dark lioness, carefully avoiding staring into her bright orange eyes. She decided to take a risk and slowly moved closer to Zarha and sat the distance became too uncomfortable to her sharp instincts.
“Why?” she finally dared to ask. Mozi didn’t understand what Anwar could’ve done wrong. The lions in her old pride were rarely monogamous and even in this pride a male could mate with many females without it being considered “cheating”. Apart from bringing the cubs to the pride, the young girl couldn’t think of anything that might’ve upset the dark lioness.
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