It was dark. They had been running for what seemed like hours and the breath was scratching their throats, tusseling the newborn fur of the small cublings. Finally, after seeking out the safest place their could find in a valley of crumpled rock and velvet sand, far away from their pride, the lions collapsed. One by one their dropped the small squeaking tired cubs from their mouths and Lololi was the first to pass out from exhaustion. She had curled around her cubs and her cubs buried into her stomach, nuzzling and looking for warm milk. Yanisin, although tired, knew that he could not rest yet. He had to stay up, watch the surroundings just in case their pursuers continued the chase. He turned his intense orange eyes once upon his lover, the cubs, and then to his other mate. Without a nod, or a statement, he perched himself near the cave's entrance.
Mafunde had taken the time to make sure that her sister was alright, and that each cub had faired the trip in one piece. She lingered where she was, though she felt like she might not be desired from either party that she was travelling with. She couldn't blame them. She had lied to Yanisin, mostly to keep herself alive, even though she in fact ended up not carrying cubs. And Lololi, who might have grown out of her bitterness from the time Yanisin had hid her away, but she still assumed that there were lingering emotions there, and those should be left alone while the new mother was exhausted. So instead so turned her head, taking a few steps to the opening of the cave, watching out towards the horizion, hoping to not see a single movement.
"Your words were false to me," came Yanisin's sudden voice, soft low and sticky like tree sap. There was no movement from the great lion, no turn of the head of flick of the tail. It was simply the movement of his jaw as he let those words tumble free. He knew they were to start an avalanche of debate afterwards, but he held no fear in that. It was his place as the male, to be strong.
Mafunde's skin crawled. It was something that she wanted to deny, and in fact, if she had not been carrying Lololi's cub in her mouth, she had been tempted to run in another direction so she would never have to face this humiliation. "They were false to all," was her reply. She tried to act brave, but her shakey voice betrayed her. What was he going to do now? Would he in turn try to sacrifice her? She didn't want that, anything but that, but there was no way she could refuse it either, for her nearly fatal mistakes she created. Had they not known otherwise, she would of put the blood of more than just Lololi on his paws.
"Why did you do it, Mafunde?" came the simple overwhelming question. Yanisin still had not moved. His shoulders were rolled back and he was as still as a statue. It almost looked as if he could blend into the stone around him if his eyes didn't have the intensity of fires and flames. Those flames were just sizzling as embers right now, in chillingly calm coals that sunk in his coal face. He would give her as much time as she needed to come up with an answer. He was a patient lion, so waiting to hear an alabi wouldn't alter his opinion.
Mafunde closed her eyes, though it was merely to sift through her thoughts on that fateful day. It wasn't all that long ago, actually, though if anyone asked her, it would feel like a lifetime ago. Her body swayed as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. How much time had passed just from that? She hoped not too long, though Yanisin seemed patient enough.
"I was scared," was her equally simple reply. Another pause from the black and white lioness. "Though, if you're looking for more details, I'm afraid I have none to offer."
"Those are fine enough," Yanisin's deep voice grumbled in reply. Finally he did stir and he broke the mold, but it was only to stretch his throbbing shoulders as if cracking and shedding his coat of thin stone. At her words, Yanisin felt a soft pity awaken in his heart. He wasn't the only one in this banished family who had done something against the traditional laws of the pride. He had fallen in love with both lionesses. He would do anything for either of them, and he would love them equally, he promised that. He laid his life down upon it. Upon the very sacrificial stone. And he could only pray to the stars that they had spared their lives. "Those are enough. Mafunde..." Yanisin gave a great pause, "If you had told me, I would have figured out some way. Just like I did with Lololi. Do you think me heartless enough to actually sacrifice one of my two mates? I don't think so. Understand, Mafunde? Although you preformed a great sin, a great crime in which you have brought shame and dishonor and now...homelessness!!..." His voice softened, "I still care for you. And in a way I am glad. For this way...We are free."
Mafunde was nervous when Yanisin began to speak. She was expecting to hear words of bitterness, filled with hatred that could only be read between each word. What she had recieved though, did surprise her. Her brown eyes opened widely as she looked at him directly for the first time since they had fled their homeland.
Then, embarassment. Was she recieving praise? And....something else slipped in there as well. She flushed, letting her eyes drift away to examine her feet. "Perhaps we are free, but maybe we shouldn't consider ourselves homeless yet." She was half-standing in a small cave! It would do for now, perhaps. She took a few more steps out towards Yanisin, but she kept a comfortable space between the two. Even with his kind words, she was still upset on her actions from moons ago.
He was also upset still. It would take some time before he completely returned to his young lion like ways with his two ladies. Yanisin still did not pivot his head. He took a deep breath that inflated his entire chest and gave a slight rustle to his handsome mane. Yanisin came from a pride where if something was done, there was a price to be paid. "Mafunde, you have much to do to make up for what you have done. A burden, you shall carry. Help your sister with our cubs. Do as I say. And every evening, you have to search the area for a sprig of lavender fo bring back to us. Lavender is a clean strong scent. Powerful enough to cleanse us from the inside out. Every evening. Lavender."
Mafunde simply bowed her head at her mate, or well...who she considered her mate, yet still her superior. She kept her head down as she replied, but also let her voice rise a bit so he could hear her. "I understand." Lavendar would be something interesting to find, but hopefully it was growing around these parts. She was unfamiliar with these lands in detail, but given a few days, she would soon be able to fulfill her task, perhaps with a bit of joy. "I do promise to assist my sister with anything she may need, as well as fetching lavendar for all of us."
"Good."
Yanisin finally broke free of his stone stature and he moved his massive body towards her, completing the distance that had been between them. He gave her a gentle nudge of his head, bumping against her cheek bone. Yanisin gave a deep rumble in his chest, one of appeasement, then turned back to glance over at his shoulder at the little ones who were now resting in their mother's cradle of limbs. "Now that the worst is finally over, I think it would be wise if you got some rest, Mafunde. Tomorrow we need to go hunting to feed our tired bellies and we need to search for perhaps an even better place to rest until the cubs are grown enough to travel."
Mafunde understood. She smiled just a bit when she felt the nudge from Yanisin, though it soon slipped off with the admission that she needed to sleep, to see another day. Tomorrow would be hard, as the two of them were equally exhausted below their reserves, and hunting on an empty stomache as well as sore muscles would be a test of their skills. "Understood. I'll sleep on one side of Lololi and the cubs, to make sure that they do not wiggle too far away in the middle of the night."
She picked her paws up, returning to her sister's side as she quietly slipped down onto the ground next to her, fatigue taking over her actions as she soon settled down to sleep.
Yanisin watched for several long moments as he watched Mafunde slip down beside her sister to sleep. It was good to see them curled together, protected, at peace, although it was the result of exhaustion. It was just a beautiful sight to see them together again, and now with five beautiful cubs lying between them both. So, Yanisin turned back towards the night, transforming once more into the stoney watch lion, a stone gaurd for his own future.
