The cub, now named Tu-Bana (star slayer), could not recall the faces of his family members any longer. No details, anyway. Just dark shapes in the shadows, their gleaming eyes like stars against the inky blackness. Sometimes when he dreamed, he dreamt of a cub's cold body; dead and lifeless. It belonged to his brother, he thought, but the memories seemed off somehow. As if they had belonged to another. Now a days, he was too exhausted to think much at all. Not of the future or the present and certainly not of the past.
His father was a strong lion, but he was not kind. The cub feared him but with that fear came a sort of begrduging respect. He knew that Hala could kill him with ease if he so wished and that he had been spared was a compliment in itself. The large lion must have spotted something of worth in him to continue his training, anyway. That was what Tu-Bana liked to think, anyway.
He still ached from their recent duelling, his body batted this way and that by a carefully sheathed paw. He had been told that once he reached a certain age, there would be no more holding back. That when he was a little bigger, his father would turn claw and fang upon him. Another test to look forward to...Even still, these early tests were not exactly easy going either. He was battered by heavy paws that sent him flying this way and that. Once he landed so hard he thought he'd broken a leg, a cry of pain breaking free from his mouth. The cry - a show of weakness, apparently - had seen his father standing over him, a paw against his neck; suffocating. He recalled his father's words. That he was weak. That he needed to grow stronger if he were to meet his destiny.
And what a destiny he had...
He was lying on his side in the thorny undergrowth when the steady thud of his father's paws interrupted his dazed state. The weight of his motion seemed to tremble the ground beneath his body and his stomach clenched with fear. Surely not another training session so soon? If he failed...
"Tu-Bana!"
He pushed himself up onto his paws with a silenced groan and limped out to meet him. The twilight sky made the lion look even more larger and imposing than he normally did, the glare of his eyes like fire in his face. That gaze was directed straight at him and Tu-Bana found himself cowering before him, head bent in a respectful bow. "Yes, Master." He had been forbidden to call him 'father', though the cub wasn't quite sure why. Was it shame, perhaps?
The lion growled, a flash of white teeth in his maw, and Tu-Bana felt the fear stir anew, keeping his eyes averted downwards. A shiver ran down his spine, but he said nothing more, the prolonged silence putting his nerves on edge. And then, at last, the booming voice came at him again.
"I have a gift for you, apprentice."
He lifted his ears, but remained silent. He knew better than to speak unless it was requested of him.
"Something to aid you in your training."
The cub finally dared to look up and, with surprise, noted the dark shape settled at his father's side. He had never seen a creature quite like it. Dark of fur, with a touch of blue markings at its paws. It had bright eyes in its slender face and unusually large ears atop its head. It was long and thin, too, with a brush of a tail curled about its hindquarters.
"Master?" He enquired gently.
"She is a jackal. A small predator who has adapted to survive in these lands. They are smaller than a lion but their jaws are filled with razor teeth. This one, too, is a warrior in her own right."
"A sparring partner?"
Hala's smile was frightening. "Not sparring, apprentice. I've given her permission to kill you."
The cub bristled in fear and took a step away. "K-kill me?" His mind raced with a million thoughts. What could he have done to upset his father, so? Would he really turn this dog onto him, and if so, why? Would he not have preferred to do it himself?
"Take the fear out of your voice or I'll give it a reason to be there." The lion snapped. "She will be a companion for you but an enemy also. She will teach you to always be alert. To never rest easy. To never let up your guard. You must beat her in the duels she instigates or die. However, you must also show restraint. I do not want her mortally wounded. I would not be happy to have to find a replacement for her."
The jackal stood and took one step towards the cub, eying him thoughtfully. "He doesn't look so hard to kill." Her voice was strangely chipper despite the dark topic.
The cub growled, curling his claws into the earth and both he and the jackal glanced up into Hala's face. The lion met the canine's eyes and he gave a stern nod.
With a smile, the canine leapt without warning and Tu-Bana reared up to meet her, the impact of their clash sending him tumbling back head over heels. The air filled with the sounds of their angry snarls.
Tu-Bana's jaws fixed around the jackal's throat and felt the hard, wiry muscle beneath tighten in response. She was bigger than he and strong, too, her own jaws constricting around the back of his neck; fastening into the loose skin there. With a shriek of rage, he fought like a demon to get free, tearing his own flesh as he broke away from her grasp. The pain blinded him and she came at him again; swift and dangerous.
He ducked beneath her lunge, tucked his head under her chest, and flipped her up onto her back.
She whipped back onto her paws with surprising swiftness and leapt out of harm's way, pausing to give Hala a short glance. "He is strong, for a child. Very well, I will train him as you say. Just remember our bargain."
Hala growled low in his throat as he got up onto his paws. "I will not forget."
"And if I kill him?"
Hala eyed her for a long moment and Tu-Bana felt himself shudder inwardly. "Then he was no use to me."
"Very well." Her bright eyes turned back on the cub and she regarded him with a somewhat friendly smile. "Greetings to you, little master. My name is Wakala. I do hope we get to know one another a little before I kill you."
That smile seemed to friendly, too.
/fin.
