Back Story
Aureo watched the stars. What he wouldn’t give to have wings and fly up and see them. He knew that it was impossible but still he longed for it. The ceremony was going to start soon and he would officially become a guard. He would have to pick out a mate and live the rest of his life in the pride.
It didn’t matter what he wanted, only what his parents wanted. When ever they were with their friends they would brag about their warrior son. It annoyed him to no end. He sighed. If only there was a way to escape his fate.
Txiki had been watching Aureo quietly behind him. She thought he looked lonely and wanted to comfort him, but she realized she would be nothing more than a bug. In a couple days his ceremony was going to start and she thought he might be nervous about it.
She smiled at him. They were close, best friends, nothing more. The other girls in the pride started to notice him. It was probably because he had a longer mane that was no longer straggly and his colors shined brighter than ever. She had always admired his coat. Compared to hers, his was soft. Sometimes she would go to his den and just rest on him because of how soft he was. He would never think anything of it.
Aureo turned around to move when he spotted Txiki. He wondered how long she had been there. “Txiki you shouldn’t be out this late. Your family is probably worried. Why don’t I walk you back?” He knew her family wouldn’t be worried, especially her siblings. “If you want you can sleep in my den if you are having problems sleeping.”
She shook her head. “Aureo, what is wrong? Please tell me. I promise not to tell anyone.” She wrapped her tail around his, holding it tight. “We are best friends aren’t we? Trust me.”
He smiled at her. Of course he trusted her. He just didn’t want to load his problems onto her. “Txiki, I can’t stay here. I feel like I am being caged in. This pride, the rules, everything about it is stopping me from doing what I want to do.” It was nice finally letting out some of his problems.
“What is it that you want to do?” She had never seen Aureo like this. She had always thought that Aureo loved the pride. Everyone loved him and admired him. He was the golden boy who could do nothing bad. She didn’t realize he was unhappy. No one did.
“I want to travel and see the world. This pride is so small and there is so much out there that I have yet to see. Image other prides with different customs than we do. I want to meet them all.” He explained with a grin. “There is only a certain amount of exploring I can do here. Out there I have the world.”
“If you left wouldn’t you miss the pride and your friends?” She wanted to ask me, but she didn’t have the guts to say it.
“Of course I will, but the best part of going away is that the whole time I will be thinking of nothing but you and the pride. When we meet again it will be so amazing and we will have so many stories to share.” He said with a foolish grin. “That is the best part of coming home isn’t it? But I can’t leave the pride. Even if I did run away the guards would hunt me down and I would be brought back and made a slave.”
Txiki thought of everything Aureo said. She had never really wanted to go too far from home. Occasionally she would join Aureo as he ventured into the borders of the pride so she could get herbs, but she had never thought of truly leaving the pride. Unlike Aureo, no one would go after her. She wasn’t as important as he was.
“If we work together I think we can escape.” Her mind was working quickly. She thought of many dangerous ways to escape when one came to mind. It was by far the most dangerous. “I know how we can escape.”
“I don’t want you to get involved. If something were to happen to you because of me leaving I could never forgive myself. Now why don’t we get back to the pride before someone gets worried about us.”
“I don’t want to leave the pride just because you want to. There is a world of herbs out there. I can only do a little bit here. Plus think of all the injured creatures I can fix.” Txiki said. “Trust me. This idea I have will be perfect. They will not go after you. All you have to do is pretend to be dead.”
Aureo’s eyes went big. He was never good at lying or at staying still. He wasn’t sure if this plan of hers was really going to work. “What is your plan?”
“You are going to fall off a cliff into the water and die. I will be the one to inform the pride of your death as well as the one to burry you. There shouldn’t be too much complex. Just lie still for a while. I’ll drag you to the outskirts where we used to play than we’ll make a run for it.” She explained. She knew if they did this that neither of them would be able to return to the pride. “That is the best way I can think of.”
“All right. We will try it, but be careful okay?” Aureo said. He walked her to his den and they snuggled up to each other for warmth. Tomorrow would be the day they would start their plan to leave their pride.
WC: 1,001
