Achal sat in the lake remembering days past, when he lived in the rouge lands caring for his sisters and young daughter Aurora.
One day in particular stood out in his mind. It was when he felt his family had been truly whole, just before his mother had passed. In those short days Achal had as, a young adolescent, thought his life to be truly perfect.
He sighed as the water cooled his dry, warm skin from the mid-day sun and he allowed the memories to wash over him. He could almost hear his twin sister speak.
“Achal don’t you think you’re a bit too young to be raising a cub? You don’t even have a mate. Truly it shocks me to see mother agree to this.”
Achal frowned at his sister wishing to find the words to make her understand. She’d been teasing him about it for several days now and he hardly found it to be funny at all. “Chala, we have had this discussion far too many times in just four days. I really do not wish to discuss it further. I found Aurora and she is my responsibility now.”
His sister nodded and smiled before gently tapping her brother and running off. “Catch me if you can brother.”
Achal sighed deeply as he was released from the memory. It pained him to think that just a few weeks later their beautiful mother had joined the stars in the heavens above.
Achal looked up and momentarily he wished it were night. If it were he would be able to speak with her, share his memories with her.
Achal remembered the day following her death. His own sister, his twin had abandoned him, leaving him all alone, even though at first it did not seem like it.
The memory flooded his mind of that fateful night.
Achal sat gazing at the stars and trying his very best to figure out which one was his mother. He sorely wished she would give him a sign; he really needed to talk to her.
A rustle in the grasses cause Achal to turn his head, his still growing mane tuff flopping awkwardly over his eyes.
“Hey Chala,” he said, his voice filled with melancholy, “have you figured out which one she is? I am having a hard time of it.”
Chala looked to her brother and nodded, “I’m quite sure she is that twinkly one just there. Do you see it?”
Achal looked slightly confused fore all the stars in the sky were twinkly and he wondered if his twin was seeing something he wasn’t
He was about to shake his head no when he noticed a twinkly star that shone brightly right in the middle of six others. ”That one in the middle?” he asked his sister cautiously.
Chala nodded to him smiling slightly for a moment before she frowned. “Achal,” she said, her tone very serious. “We need to talk.”
Achal grinned at his sister, but the grin was quickly replaced with a look of confusion when his sister frowned at him.
“What about,” he asked cautiously.
Chala sat before her brother, but looked up to the star instead of Achal. “About the cubs Achal. They are still so young, as are we. I do not think it would be wise for us to care for them.”
Achal blinked slowly staring at his sister as the words sunk into his skull. “They’re our sisters,” he said angrily, hurt that his twin would even suggest such a thing.
Chala shook her head frowning as she finally looked at her brother. “Achal we are too young. I am certain we can find a lioness who is more then willing to take them. They will be far happier and much safer.”
Achal shook his head repeatedly not wanting to hear what his sister had to say. “I will not give our sisters, nor Aurora over to a complete stranger. They will be happy and safe with us. We are their family.”
Chala looked angry. “Achal you are not listening. Just because they would be raised by another does not mean we cannot be there. Achal we can barely hunt for ourselves. You need to see reason.”
Achal let out a roar of anger and frustration. He did not like his sisters’ train of thought at all. She sounded selfish to him and he could not even figure out why.
“Achal calm down,” Chala shouted, “look at you. You will wake them. Is this how you will behave around them? Is this what they will learn? Think Achal, they are still so small and Aurora is even smaller. You will feel guilty and you will be hurt if they do not make it.”
Achal growled at his sister, “Enough Chala. I will not give up our sisters or my daughter. We are family and yes they are small, but they will be fine you will see.”
Chala sighed sadly, “Achal I am going to find someone to raise them. I will be back shortly. You will see. It will be for the best.”
Achal watch shocked as Chala walked away. He had no idea it would be the last time he would ever see her.
Achal shifted in the waters. “Chala what happened to you?” he whispered. They had been so close when they were younger.
Achal remembered being cubs, just him, his sister, and his mother. They would climb onto her back and head and listen to her star stories. She would tell them every imaginable story possible and even have them talk to their grandmother. They were some of Achal’s most wonderful memories and he had done his best to share them.
First he shared them with his younger sisters and his eldest daughter. They had clamored upon him just as he and his sister had his mother. Their pleas of papa and big brother ‘please just one more' making him smile. He spoiled them far to much, right into adulthood when they all decided to venture off on their own, though he knew Aurora probably did not go far from home.
Now he shared the memories the special times with his banu and his many cubs. He even shared them with many of the other members of the pride and they seemed just as happy to hear them as he had been as a cub.
Achal smiled now rising from the water and padding off into the sunny grasses to dry. He lay their felling happy with the way things had turned out for him despite missing his sisters and his daughter Aurora.
