It was another day. Another beginning. Another end.

Whenever the sun set, was it the beginning of another day, or the end? Who decided the sunrise was the morning, and the sunset was the evening?

No one important, probably. Yet they mapped things out for the rest of the world all on their own. Jerks.

But not everyone had to follow their rules. Some creatures did their own thing--followed their own rules.

Uyahambe was one such creature.


Brown body twisting in the shade of a dead tree, the male rolled and stretched his limbs, eyes shut with sleep and joints cracking. He yawned loudly, tongue rolling out and fangs glinting in the dimming sunlight. He opened his eyes, black irises hardly distinguishable from his pupils, and moved his gaze over his surroundings.

"Morrrrninnnnnnng," he drawled sleepily, a tired smile stretching across his maw. After a few more stretches and joint cracks, the adult stood up and left the shade of the dead tree.

So what if it was nearing the end of the day? That wasn't the end. It was the beginning. Maybe not for all, but on that day, it was for Uyahambe. He made up his own rules, did his own thing, liked what people hated and hated what people liked. It was just how he was.

Sure, tons of lions got up at night, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he didn't consider the sunset to signal the end of the day. He didn't pay attention to things like that. He brushed those common knowledge rules aside.

It was a dry evening, like most evenings in that area. Clouds of dust puffed around the lion's heels with each step he took, but he didn't seem to notice. The earth was cracked wherever he walked, fragments of dried dirt reaching up to the sky, begging for a drink. Uya glanced down at them, pitying them in a way, before smashing the cracks down with his paws.

Face perking back up, the lion continued on his walk, leaving paw prints of flat dirt behind him.

Many days had passed since Uyahambe left the "city"; three days of being completely alone in an entirely new area.

Long ago had he said his farewells to his sister when they parted ways...

Long ago had he nodded his good-byes to his favorite females...

Long ago had he shunned the worst of his enemies as he turned to make his leave...

Not much had happened since then, but it felt like an eternity since he had left. He had no target destination, no goal in mind...He was simply moving forward. He had stayed in that place for far too long. It had hardened him inside, he knew that much.

Sometimes he wondered what he would've been like if he had lived a "perfect" life--loving mother, role model father, loving big sister or something...Living in a nice little family pride on one of those perfect savanna planes...

AHHHHH, bollocks.

Brows furrowed and black eyes shining, the male continued on his way, walking, not running, to no where in particular.

The small rim of blazing-orange sunlight visible on the horizon grew thinner and thinner until only a slivering halo shone upon the cracking earth. Something about it all just made him feel...Different. He felt...free.

He didn't have to watch his back. Didn't have to make sure his girlfriends didn't find out about each other. Didn't have to look after his sister. Well, she had left even before he did...He missed her, but it was all for the best. It was...And now he had done the same and gone off on his own, too.

The more he walked, the more he wondered why he hadn't left sooner. What had been stopping him?

Fear of the unknown?

Instinct?

Love of his home?

Pff, no. That flea-ridden cave-smothered rock-laden brute-filled whore-walking valley wasn't a home. It was a cage. And he had broken the lock and let himself out. But why hadn't he left sooner? Why? It was strange. But that was past. Now, he was alone. Now, he was living his own life the way he wanted. His rules, his choices...

Not a single person had passed since he left. Uya was starting to wonder if there were even any other lions out there in the world...WHAT WAS HE SAYING? Of course there were! Travelers wandered through that old valley all the time.

Ugh, lucky bastards. Why couldn't he have been a cool traveler? Carrying all kinds of shiny goodies to trade out, baggin' all the sexy females and racking up the good face time...Nooo, he just had to go and con people instead. He should've left a long, long time ago. But there he was. He left. It was over.

No, it had just begun.

Feeling a little brighter, the male grinned to himself, no longer caring about so many of the things he used to care about. It was him against the whole world. Him against it all...He was a new lion. He was on top of it all now. He would make a new life for himself. Start over...He'd be better this time, that was for sure. He'd do things right.

As the sun finally vanished from the horizon, leaving a bloody, purple sky in its sleepy wake, the first starts showed themselves.

And it was then that Uyahambe decided he would be somebody.