The sun had just begun to fall, and the last winks of an uneasy evening sleep rubbed itself from the dark pelted lioness' eyes. Their life had never been one of luxury; in fact Damu considered they probably had one of the more difficult ones this world could dish out. So the thought that they had actually gotten away from their past, cleanly and discretely, was almost too much for the paranoid lioness to bear. It wasn’t right, in some twisted way it just didn’t seem right. To go from the horrible torture of being a starved and beaten slave, to a master that cared little for the well-being of anyone other than himself, to… to this. Whatever this was! A frustrated rumble bubbled deep down in her throat, a guttural sound that rippled through the silence of the savannah. Had she the mind to, she would have struck out at the nearest warm body, but that being her sister, she had stayed her claws. They had escaped cruel captivity and ultimate death… only to be tethered to the side of this fat oaf of a lion and this calm ‘normal’ lifestyle that came with him. It was difficult to transition to, almost unbelievable, to think that their life could switch so drastically and so swiftly. What had it all been for? Were the Gods toying with them? Damu’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the thought, her lips curling back into a frightful snarl. What cruel turn of fate was this?
Asali had been sleeping soundly next to her sister, having found peace with their new life and allowing herself to finally give in to her exhaustion. They hadn’t been with the male for long, perhaps a few nights at most, but her worry for her sister still took firm root in her subconscious of her mind. Damu… was not herself. As awful as it was to think about, since their escape her sister’s condition had worsened quite considerably. She was bitter, intense, serious, and by all accounts she seemed to be frustrated. The light pelted lioness woke with a start at her sister’s growling, nearly expecting what they had both feared since obtaining their freedom. She didn’t know how, it had happened so swiftly and without thinking, that Asali wound up on her paws staring out into the night- expecting enemies from their past. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but no such thing greeted her this night. Slowly, warily, Asali moved to rest her haunches against the ground. Silence settled between them.
It was almost the perfect time for a hunt, when the herd animals clustered together to steal whatever sleep they could, before the terrors of the night grasped their little heads and made them too alert to bother with. The dark leopard had been traveling through the tall grass at an easy pace, keen eyes set on a herd far in the distance. They had left a trail wide and easy to follow, stupid prey. The leopard was looking forward to his easy meal, with fangs ready to sink into flesh and claws prepared to rip into the dirt and send him flying at one of the unsuspecting beasts. Imagine his surprise at the throat curdling growl of a lion that came from directly behind and to the side of him. The think cat nearly jumped out of his skin and up the nearest acacia tree! Only… that seemed to be occupied by the group of lions laying around it. Calming his initial response to run, the dark leopard crouched further in the grass, hoping it wasn’t him the lion had been growling at. The last thing he needed was to tangle with a small pride of the brutes. Silently he waited for them to either make a move towards him, or dismiss his presence, if that had been the issue in the first place. It was hard to tell, lions were a particularly temperamental bunch.
For awhile Damu remained silent, bowing her head in embarrassment as she seemed to have awoken her sister, and startled her for that matter. Fantastic. If anything Asali deserved whatever sleep she could imagine, even if it was under the chubby male’s damned tree, it was still a place to sleep. Perhaps even the safest on the savannah, but she had yet to see if his promise to ‘protect’ them would stick. For all she knew, they still had enemies out there, somewhere, determined to hunt them down and drag them back to that filthy pride and their shallow practices. What would their male ‘protector’ do then? Damu knew her bitterness led to most of these questions, but that did not stop her from pondering them. Still, she had not meant to alarm Asali. ”Sorry”, she half muttered, flexing her claws into the cool earth. The lioness found herself at a loss for words beyond the initial apology.
Though there had been an immediate threat, Asali’s muscles still quivered under her skin. She wasn’t sure why either. Perhaps she had feared the worst, and that horror struck a deeper cord with her than she had originally thought, or maybe it was because she had wanted to rip into any one of the bastards that had managed to find them. Either option made her sick to her stomach. It wasn’t in her nature to be violent, there was something disturbing about how she had reacted, and she had to accept that this volatile fury was part of it- whether it stemmed from fear or anger, she was not certain. But it was there. As her sister’s voice cracked the silence Asali forced a smile, bowing her head to look at her paws. ”I know. It was my fault.” They had both been on edge since their escape, so a little jumpiness shouldn’t be surprising.
It didn’t seem as though they had noticed him, just that they had been startled on their own. That was a relief, for the leopard really didn’t want to get involved with the little pride of lions. Though they were awake now, and he would need to make a quick exit before they sniffed him out. Laying his ears flat to his skull, the leopard kept slunk towards the ground as he maneuvered his body through the grass, careful not to make a sound. He probably would have succeeded, had he not managed to startle a ground bird that had been near his flank. What was it doing there?! Stupid feather-brain!
Damu nodded her head slowly, accepting the tension in the air like it was a part of them now. They were on the run from their worst nightmares, their past and hopefully what would not become their present. They did have big fatty over there, but she hadn’t seen him do anything spectacular and had trouble believing he would be enough to protect them. ”No, it wasn’t. Let’s just enjoy the night together, okay?” She did like having her sister with her, it was comforting, and she wasn’t sure what she would do without her. Then, as if out of nowhere, a bird flung itself out of the brush and burst through the air right past their heads. Damu could not stop herself from hissing and jumping to her paws in surprise, her muscles tensing as she whirled around, prepared for something. When nothing appeared, other than that bird, her suspicion rose to a higher level. Some… was out there. Birds didn’t startle for no reason. Her fangs bared as she scanned the immediate area, thoughts of her old pride dangling in the forefront of her mind.
Asali had reacted much in the same way as her sister, whirling in the direction of the startled bird but had managed to charge forward in her blind moment of panic. When she realized what she had done she realized her teeth were bared and snarling, her claws were unsheathed and ripping into the ground, and her sense of fear had skyrocketed. She couldn’t even think straight! Was she so terrified that she’d do this without thinking?! It didn’t matter; all that mattered now was that someone was probably stalking them. ”Get out of here!” her voice rumbled, half teetering in some strange mix of terror and anger. ”Get out or I’ll kill you!” Would she really? She didn’t know, half panicked and half terrified out of her wits made her say that. Maybe it would intimidate whoever it was, she wasn’t certain.
Oh sh-! He wasn’t sticking around to deal with a pair of on-edge lionesses, and the leopard quickly shot up from his hiding spot. Giving them one look over his shoulder to shout ”Sorry! Won’t happen again!” before bolting in the opposite direction. Oh gods above he hoped they didn’t make chase! This hunt had gone from good to bad in a matter of moments, and he wasn’t about to make his night worse by sticking around. He’d hunt elsewhere, away from this small pride and the acacia tree.
She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, be it a male she’d recognize or some other lion, but Damu certainly didn’t expect the leopard. His small frame marked him as one of the smaller feline species, and his quick flight out of the area proved he was not one of the pride. Slowly she disarmed herself, but could not shake the feelings of tension that had arisen in that short period of time. ”Stupid leopard,” she muttered, glaring in the direction where he had ran off. She had wanted to rip into his hide, had expected him to be something else entirely. She knew he wasn’t a threat, but Damu still wished for those things. Shakily she lowered herself back down to the ground, but her eye remained wide open.
Oh… that was, slightly embarrassing. He probably thought they were crazy now. Not that it mattered. He was of no consequence to them, and though Asali felt silly, and ashamed of how she had reacted, she could not deny that it had happened. Her wounds were still raw it would seem, and she wasn’t sure just how deeply they ran. With a heavy sigh, she settled back down onto her haunches, her pale yellow eyes settling on the tensed form of her smaller sister. They both needed to relax. If nothing else, than to keep themselves from going crazy. ”Let’s just… keep an eye out for awhile.” That seemed reasonable. She doubted either of them would be able to sleep after tonight’s events.
Once he was a safe distance away, the leopard stopped to catch his breath, sides heaving from his head-long sprint into the wilds. Geez! Those lionesses really must have had it out for someone. But who would could really get such creatures riled in the first place? He hadn't gotten a good look at them, but they were at least bigger than him. The leopard shuddered at the thought of tangling with them, and turned his back to the direction he knew them to be in. Now what?
The dark lioness merely rumbled her agreement, watching the dark shadows play on the savannah. It reminded her of how easily they could be snuck up on, and she hated it. Her muscles tensed as her claws dug into the dirt, wishing it for the briefest of moments to be the flesh of those who had harmed her family. "Yes, I doubt we'll be getting any more sleep tonight," she responded, olive eyes never leaving the wilds in front of her. She hated this feeling of uncertainty, hated thinking that out there someone still might be looking for them. Her teeth bared in response to such a thought.
"No, I don't think we will", she agreed, her wariness creeping into the back of her voice. When would they be able to get past this? Asali's ears flattened against the base of her skull, shaken by this realization. Try as she might, their past could not be forgotten. They had been hurt, demoralized, and tortured at the paws of cruel masters. Had they stayed within the bounds of that pride, they likely would have been dead. She shuddered at the thought and curled closer towards her sister, allowing the silence to wash over them.
He supposed he could still salvage the night to hunt, but it would take some creativity. Likely any prey beast that had been in the area had been scarred off the by the lions. He didn't like the idea of traveling much further, but he disliked staying in the area much worse. With a heavy sight, the leopard continued in the opposite direction of the lions, his night made that much worse by their presence.
(Word Count: 2164)
