“Sitiri!”
Kita had heard the screaming. She came running as fast as her long legs could take her, and she saw the young lioness running blindly from a wooded patch of land. She ran to her and the lioness slammed into her side the moment she saw her, crying immediately as the two collapsed in a heap. Sitiri curled against Kita for protection and comfort, tears streaming from her eyes and her body shaking violently from her fear. Kita knew what had happened without the other even speaking. This was the result of one creature alone, one hell bent on bringing terror and pain where ever he went.
“Tailung…”
Sitiri nodded against her fur, sobbing and trying to catch her breath in rasping gasps so she could talk. She ended up sobbing again, and Kita purred softly to reassure her. She nuzzled the lioness and felt a new instinct rising in her, one she had never given much attention to before because she had very little need for it. A maternal, caring instinct, that told her this young lioness should not be crying and it was her duty to stop it, make her feel better. Her training and duty added that she would also have to find Tailung with new determination, and make sure he could never hurt anyone again. She saw Sitiri’s ankle was bleeding and she frowned at it.
“You’ve been hurt…”
“He tried to kill me!” Sitiri finally managed, and now that she had said a few words her body wanted to spit out all the rest of them, “he was chasing me and I didn’t even see him except by accident! He could have jumped on me and eaten me and I never would have seen him coming except I did and I ran and he chased him all the way and I thought he was going to catch up!” She was sobbing as she babbled, and Kita could not get any words in to stop her or soothe her, so she had to let her continue, “I hid in some bushed but he saw me and he was crawling toward me and I couldn’t get out and then he tried to grab my leg but then he was gone and I don’t know where he went. What if Oz found him?! What if they’re fighting or he’s hurt!? We have to go and find them, we can’t let him get hurt, please Kita!”
Kita shook her head, and was about to say that everything was fine when a terrible roar filled the air. It was loud and enough to make the trees rattle and shudder. She had never heard such a sound and knew it was not Tailung. She saw on Sitiri’s face that she did not know what it was, either, and the younger lioness cuddled against Kita again on instinct. Kita bent her head and licked the girl on the head, nuzzling her reassuringly.
“You stay here where it is safe, and I will go and find them. If it is your friend I will help him, but that roar…”
“It wasn’t him,” she sniffled.
“It wasn’t Tailung, either. Go back to your friend, and I will make sure Tailung does not follow you. He will not hurt anyone else, ever again, I promise you.” She was serious in her promise, but her eyes were soft and her expression tender. Sitiri rubbed her a few times before she, very low to the ground, slinked off toward the last place she had been with Oz and hoped he was there. She needed to see him above anything else.
She knew that he was the most important thing in her life, and that if she ever lost him she would not know what to do with herself anymore. That was a very big and startling discovery for a young lioness to make, to suddenly realize her entire life was now tied to that of another lion. She liked it, though, and she needed him to know how important he was to her before anything bad happened to her. It had been so close, and she was sure she had only missed death by a very small margin today. She needed to see him before anything else came between them. And maybe, if she was lucky, she could stay by his side and never leave him again.
Kita saw her off, then headed toward the sounds of battle. She ran toward it, crouching low and wondering what she would find. Whatever was waiting for her, she would have to be ready to fight. She would have to be ready to defend her new friend, and to defeat a monster that had been plaguing her since she was close to Sitiri’s age. A pupil under her master, the one that came before her. The failure, the reason she could never truly prove herself. The fear her master carried with her for what could happen to his pupils.
She had to defeat this ghost of the past, this nightmare shadow, or neither would ever be happy.
It was not just for the innocent few, those that could not help themselves, that she was fighting for. She was fighting for herself, her master, and her future. His future, maybe. If she died here fighting Tailung, but managed to bring him down with her, then she would have succeeded. Her death was not a loss, not in the scheme of things. Whoever followed after her would get the chance she missed. The chance to warm her masters heart, and give him the family he needed. He craved.
This was all personal.
Maybe this was why she felt such a bond with Sitiri after such a short amount of time. The lioness was young and bold, she was innocent and determined to prove herself to the world. Sitiri could see that, clearly enough. She was sweet and loving. Kita loved her, in a small way, and knew they could come to be good friends if they were granted more time together. She hoped they were, she found, and she would fight harder for knowing the young lioness. It made her realize just how important that idea of family could be. If she could bond so easily with someone she had barely met, then she knew there was more to it. There was something she wanted to find, to have. A family, real or by extension, was more than enough to fight for.
It was everything.
She approached the battle slowly, keeping herself out of sight and silent, and peered through the bushes to see the combatants. They were locked in a deadly brawl, and neither saw her. She lifted her eyebrows in surprise as she watched the fight, waiting for her moment to jump in.
(Word Count: 1,134 in Word)
