“It’s really nice out here, isn’t it, Waa?” Mon encouraged his companion, glancing towards her. She was sitting beside him on the grassy hill.
“It is,” she admitted graciously, though a tad reluctant to admit that his idea was a good one. He had come to her den that evening, after she had caught and eaten her dinner, nudging her and tugging her tail until she followed him out of the den. He had refused to answer any of her questions, simply laughing and leading her into the darkness. She would have been worried if she hadn’t travelled the rogue lands for months with him. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it a long time ago, and with far less witnesses about.
Instead, he had led her out into the grassy hills, away from the main pride, away from pride rock, and into the darkness. Settling in the grass, he had encouraged her to sit beside him, and then together, they looked up and gazed upon the stars.
She would admit it was nice. They had done it when they were in the rogue lands, and it was strange how the stars weren’t different when they were in a pride, compared to when they were in the pride. Somehow she had expected them to be different.
“Weird how it’s the same stars,” Mon said calmly, unknowingly echoing her own thoughts. She looked surprised and glanced towards him, before nodding gently.
“It is strange,” she admitted, glancing back up at them. “Seems like forever ago that we were staring at these stars from a completely different land.”
“Do you miss it?” Mon asked.
“Do you?” She shot back, defensively, before hesitating and answering his original question. “No, not really. I used to, when we first got here. I missed the freedom, but, I admit, it is nice to know that I will not be murdered in the night by some passing rogue.” She shrugged.
“That would never have happened, Waa,” Mon protested. “I was there with you, I would have been murdered first.”
She ducked her head and grinned. “That is true, I suppose, but you get what I meant.”
Mon grinned. “I do, I just like messing with you.” He glanced back up at the stars, and looked serious for the moment. “I like it here. I missed being in a pride - you know I was raised in one. I missed the security, the ‘oneness’ with other lions. I know you were born in a pride as well, but I think our lives were quite different,” he chuckled. “I wanted to get back, and you wanted to get away.”
“I didn’t hate my home pride,” she protested. “I just…felt like I needed something else, something more than what I would find in that pride.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t like it,” Mon pointed out. “Just that we wanted different things from our prides.”
She tilted her head, and glanced towards him. “You never told me about your home pride.”
“You never asked.”
“I’m asking now,” she prompted.
He hesitated, and glanced back at the stars. He watched the sparkling lights for a moment before breathing out a large sigh and raising up on his back paws and flopping onto his back, the grass pushing out around him. Waa looked startled and glanced down at him, shaking her head.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said, almost fondly. He grinned.
“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first.” He nudged her with his back paw. “C’mon. Lay down, and I’ll tell you a story.”
She rolled her eyes, but flopped down onto her back next to him. “What about?” She prompted.
“A prince and his fall from grace. Comfy?” He glanced at her, as she wiggled into place in the grass.
She rolled her eyes again, smacking him lightly with her paw. “Yes, hurry up.”
“Impatient and rude,” he sighed heavily. “Why do I put up with you?” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer, as they both knew why he stayed around the sour crafter and it had nothing to do with her friendly disposition. “So this is a story about a prince. A very handsome, worldly, smart, incredibly sexy –“
“Shut up, Mon, we both know the prince is you and you are none of those.”
“Harsh!” He chuckled. “Ok, ok. It’s about a prince. He was pretty average by all accounts. He was the eldest of four, his two younger sisters passed away quite young due to a sickness that rage through the pride. His brother and himself were all that remained of the family line. He was only in his adolescence when his mother grew ill, and began to fade away. His father, however, remained physically strong.” He trailed off, hesitating.
“Physically strong?” Waa prompted, picking up on the specification of strength.
“He grew weaker in the mind when his mate passed away. He grew paranoid, and anxious. He threw out his two wisest counsel and refused to listen to reason.” He shook his head, staring up at the stars, tracing their patterns with his eyes. Waa waited in silence, not prompting him further, not until he was ready to speak. “It became worrying to the pride, and the princes were approached by the last counsel member. He told them it was their jobs to take care of the pride. The eldest couldn’t do it, and refused to harm his father. The younger prince…well, he was nothing but dedicated to the pride and he fell prey to the counsel’s whispers and panic.”
Waa caught her breath, turning her head to stare at the silent, cold profile of her companion. “Mon…”
“He snuck into his father’s den in the night,” Mon continued coldly. “The King woke quickly though, sleeping silently thanks for his paranoia. In their haste, the King did not realise who it was that had crept inside and feared an assassin. It was over before the King knew. The pride was awoken that morning to the cries of the king as he realised he had killed his youngest son.” Mon swallowed. “He grew worse in the days to come, retreating into himself, until finally he passed away a week after his son’s death. Most thought it was from grief, but the eldest son…”
“Mon,” Waa started again, rolling onto her side and placing a paw on his chest. “You don’t have to keep going.”
He tilted his head to look at her, and offered a sad smile. “The eldest prince knew by looking at his father’s body before the funeral rights that it was by the counsel’s paw that he was gone. Soon, he was to be crowned King and fall beneath the Counsel’s puppetry, but he couldn’t do it. He loved his pride, but his sister’s and mother were dead from illness, and his brother and father through murder. He couldn’t stay and defend a land that had taken his family from him. So, on the night following his father’s funeral, the night before his own crowning as king, the eldest prince snuck quietly from the land he was born and left behind the pride he knew.”
Waa stared at him, silent. There was nothing she could say that would make this better.
Mon sighed quietly, and glanced back up at the stars. They were silent for a few moments…until he broke the silence with a laugh. She startled, and glanced up at his face, surprised to see the smile on his face.
“Look,” he encouraged, pointing his paw up to the sky. “Doesn’t that look like a fluffy rabbit?”
She was stunned at his strength and shook her head, glancing back up at the sky. “Looks like two lions fighting, not a bunny,” she protested.
“Liar! You just don’t want to admit how cute the bunny is!” He retorted. “You can’t deny that one looks like a butterfly!” He pointed at another constellation and she smiled, ducking her head.
“Looks nothing like it,” she said firmly, as she stared up at the butterfly constellation, happy to hear him splutter and protest loudly. His past was harsh, she realised, but perhaps his future would be better. They had found this place, perhaps they would also find happiness here. Until then, there were plenty more stars to argue over.
[Wordcount: 1385]