Staring at her paws, Alani didn’t really know what to do for the day. It was cool, and the sky was beginning to darken already. Not really the proper time to just now decide what she should be doing, though. If she had actually found the energy to wake up earlier, then there might have been something decent awaiting her, or at least one of her siblings would probably have been wandering around somewhere, and the could have made a day activity. Oh well, it was far too late now. But she did just adore watching the sky drift off into darkness. There was something so elegant about it all. It really made her love this place even more – because no matter what mood she was in, she could always just look up at the darkening sky, and feel better about it all.
Now, the fading yellows and pinks from the sun were mixing together, slowly lowering against the horizon. It was beautiful, and, to her, very reminiscent of the royal family. Something about it just…connected the two, for some reason. She was always quite envious of the royal family – they were all so beautiful, so regal, so glamorous. It was like a cub fawning over the cute and happy princess that she aspired to be, but Alani was like that with the entire royal family. She knew that there had been plenty of scandals and the like, but none of it really deterred her loyalty or love for them. Maybe it was because her blood was new to the pride, so she didn’t know about some of the hardships that other families had faced in the past, but she didn’t really care. New or old, there was a reason that the Cagoule family was still residing and ruling these lands – and as long as that was a fact, she would follow them faithfully.
Stretching out her paws, Alani took a small break from her thoughts. Maybe that’s what she needed right now, more than being with someone else and wasting time, she just needed some time to think about things, and really try to decide what she wanted to do with her life. It was a lull in the pride population, she knew, but sometimes she really thought that there would be no other future for her than staying with her mother. Flexing her paws in the soft, cool dirt, she recalled her conversation with her sister the other day. Boys. What a topic, for two young females. She felt a bit sheepish thinking about it now, as the pride had taught her that she should be ladylike at all times, and that just didn’t seem like a ladylike topic at all. But in all seriousness, there really weren’t many males here that were her age. In fact, there weren’t many members of the pride at all that were her age. It was a disappointing fact, but she had to just accept it, really. Though, at least she had a guy friend here. He was a bit older than her – about the age of the newly re-emerged prince, actually – and he seemed to calm her nerves for the most part. Thinking of him, she wondered what he was up to right now. Surely, at this hour, he must still be awake and active. Giggling a bit, she thought of the bright male, running around like a goof-ball and wreaking havoc, even at this hour. That was something she liked about him – he wasn’t afraid to show who he was, no matter what the consequences might be. But she also knew what others said about him.
She’d known him since she was young – being entertained by him when she was just a cub. He was so fit for the role, and cubs were just naturally drawn to him. They became friends, and that was that. So of course she knew his background. She knew how shameful it was, for his mother to do such a thing and leave. But she also knew how much it probably hurt, for him to be up and abandoned all of a sudden by his only family. It was terrible, and she was often afraid to mention it.
Alani would be the first to admit that she pitied him for a time. She heard the remarks said behind his back, she saw the looks. But she also saw his smile, as she turned away from the nasty members of the pride. He didn’t deserve to be pitied, and she knew he didn’t want it, especially not from her. Listening to him, watching him – he was almost like a father to her a lot of the time. As she grew, the only thing that ever changed was the fact that she thought of him more as an older brother now. She didn’t want a father; she had done fine without one all of her life, and she was still secretly reserving the spot for the male that stole her mother’s heart permanently. It would be great, she just knew, when she could finally stand there and say that she had a full set. To her, her family was always complete, just how it was.
Shaking her head, Alani let out a yawn, bearing her white fangs for a moment. That’s it. She was hungry. That’s something to do, right? Though night-hunting wasn’t exactly her forte, she could still probably manage something. She had been taught well here, and even knew how to defend herself fairly well in a fight. Well, at least she thought so. Not that she would ever really get a chance to find out. But for now, she was content with just using her masterful skills to go out into the beautiful, sparkling night, and find herself a meal. Yeah, that sounded good. Revealing her claws, she looked at them carefully for a moment, admiring how clean and pretty they looked. She had taken pride in her self-cleaning abilities, partially in her attempt to lure in some sort of interest from the opposite sex. But that was kind of futile at this point. Rearing back, her tail flicked from side to side, and with a deep breath, she lunged forward, sprinting at full power into the night.
