Between Mwale and Riddiq
Word Count: 2296


As the sun began to set on the savannah, the young cub wondered if he oughtn't return home. His mother, no doubt, would wonder where he was. And his sisters, especially the youngest Jakyra, would worry over whether or not Riddiq was okay. A fool's concern; even as young as he was, Riddiq was more than capable of taking care of himself in the rogue lands. He thrived on the outside, being without his family, and having to only look out for himself and his own shadow. At the end of the day, he would return home, but as the sun touched the ground and the sky burned behind it, Riddiq merely sat like a statue and watched, his golden eyes so like his mother's alight in the sun's glow.

All around him there was silence. Most of the creatures that travelled the rogue lands had settled down for the night, except the truly nocturnal. All around him, the only things to be heard was the gentle lullaby of the wind sweeping through the tree's foliage to the left of him. For miles, there was nothing but Riddiq and the wind. He had ventured farther from the den than his mother liked, but when Riddiq didn't want to be found, he made it a point not to be. As peaceful as this all was, the last thing he wanted to be was found.

A rock was kicked to his left. Riddiq's ear perked immediately, but he didn't move. Whatever it was was heavy; fully grown, a lion or a leopard. Cheetahs, he'd learned, sounded lighter than the other two felines of the savannah. They didn't make as much noise in their stride. His ear twitched towards the sound, but the statue-esque lion cub didn't move. Yet.


Mzaaliwaale'mwale had been, until this point, utterly alone. It had been a few weeks since she last met another lion, having taken to travelling in the latter part of the day and well into the night. Her last meeting, with the blind Vuxta, made her smile as she recalled it, but she missed the lioness. She was hopeful that Vuxta would be okay without her to help, but the call of her home had forced Mwale to move on. She couldn't get so outwardly attached to a lioness when she herself couldn't stay in the rogue lands forever.

This time of day, as the sun cast the sky into a medley of fiery reds and oranges, was Mwale's favorite time of the day. It made her think of Agni and Aruna, dancing together in the sky as the night began to take over the sky. This time of day was usually the quietest, as well. Sated from a hunt the day before, Mwale slowed her pace so she could enjoy the quiet.

As she walked idly, enjoying the wind dancing through the trees, her eyes picked up on a figure close to her. It appeared to be a cub, though the creature sat far too still for that to be true. She had yet to meet a cub who could simply sit without fidgetting all over the place. As she walked, her paws knocked a rock free and sent it bouncing across the dirt.

The figure's ear swivelled towards the sound. That couldn't possibly be a cub; even some lions weren't that in tune with their surroundings. Curiosity taking the lead, Mwale walked towards the figure, quiet in her stride until she was beside the strange cub.

For it was indeed a cub, with dark fur and bright eyes. She smiled. "Hello, little one."


There she was; a lioness. Riddiq's nose had picked up on the familiar scent of Lion and Female, and wasn't that surprised when the lioness stopped beside him. He turned his head to look up at her, his face a mask of indifference. "Hello," he replied idly, before turning his gaze back to the skies. The sun was quickly setting now that it had touched the horizon. He would have to return home soon, but not just yet.

"Nice night." He observed, his tone a quiet rumble. Even now it was a low tone, much like the father he knew nothing about, except that both he and his brother shared their father's chinstripes and lack of markings. He often wondered of the mysterious lion who had departed their family before it was born, but his thoughts were often curtailed by his siblings.

He had no need of a father; he was a rock for his family. He gladly took the place of the lion who had deserted them, if only for his siblings' sakes. Even for Vaako, and Gintare, who, though he loved her, doubted she could handle it on her own if not for him.

He glanced towards the lion's bright red pelt briefly before looking forward. She wasn't colored like the lot of them; she was brighter, like the sky above them. He hadn't yet met a lion with such bright coloration. It was...

Distracting.


Mwale's ears pricked at the low rumble of the cub, and she looked down at the dark tuft of fur as the cub turned his gaze back to the sky. Such a serious little cub... She wondered, briefly, if he was orphaned. She could think of nothing else that would turn what should have been a happy, healthy, bouncing cub into a lion trapped in a tiny body. She watched him quietly, sitting beside him. The cub didn't seem to mind the company, though it was hard to read that stone of a mask he wore.

"It is," she said quietly, nodding at his observation as she looked up at the sky. Behind her, she could see the stars beginning to dot the darkening sky, but ahead of them, the sun still showed a sliver of light, cascading it into the sky above them.

"My name is Mwale." She said, looking over at the cub with a small smile. "What are you called, little one?" She had a feeling the cub didn't like to be called little, but she knew nothing else to call him. Instinct demanded she acknowledge him as a cub, though he acted far older than that.


There it was again! Little one, she had called him. Riddiq knew he was little, but to be called it was another thing entirely. He didn't act like his sisters, he didn't pounce at leaves. He didn't squabble among them like children did. Hell, if given half the chance, he could probably outhunt his mother. Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but the one thing he was not was 'little one'.

He was the biggest in their litter. He was the strongest, the toughest, the oldest. He had responsibility to adhere to, and to be called little one... It made his lip curl, but he didn't react beyond that. Instead, his silent snarl gave way into a light smirk.

"Riddiq." He said, glancing up at her. "Not 'little one'." The message was sent across as politely as he could manage, given his dislike of the nickname. He looked back at the horizon. "I'm not that little." He said calmly, face behind another mask of stone. "Oldest of my litter." He glanced up at her. "... Where're you from?"


Mwale blinked a little at the tone of the cub, and had the good grace to look sheepishly indignant. She nodded, looking ahead. "Riddiq." She repeated idly, thinking. That was a new name. She had heard many in her time, but Riddiq rang no bells, nor did it sound like anything she had heard before. Hmm. And the oldest of his litter. So he did have a family. She wondered where they were, then. It was odd to see a cub sitting out all alone, with not even the slightest scent in the air of his siblings or his parents.

"I come from a pride called Arba'Sehemu." She replied, smiling at him. "Are you a rogue cub?" She doubted he belonged to a pride. He didn't have that look about him, though he looked entirely at home sitting alone in the savannah. If he was part of a pride, she'd hate to see the pride that gave birth to cubs like Riddiq. Had he been fully grown, Mwale didn't doubt she would have skirted around the male. Even now, he gave off... something.

Something decidedly Not Right about the cub. She just couldn't place her paw on what it was.


Riddiq paused at the question, shifting in his spot from one paw to the next, before settling again. "Rogue." He said after a minute, snorting a little. He knew little of prides, but what need did he have for more responsibility taking care of more lions when he could hardly stand taking care of his siblings now. It was unfair to say, of course, and he did love them, but he had far too few ocassions like this where he could sit beneath the darkening sky and just listen.

Even now, this lioness was disrupting that. His siblings thought him odd for it, on the ocassions they woke and he was just sitting there in the den, watching them and listening, but his acute senses could pick up every little hitch in their breathing. Every little tremble through their fur. He could read Jakyra's dreams and Vaako's nightmares with the slightest of movement, now.

Even now, he could see the way the lioness's fur had shifted along her spine. A shudder, whether it was of cold or of unease he couldn't discern and didn't care to.

"I live with my family." He said after the moment of quiet had passed, anticipating her next question. "Mother, and my sisters Svanhild, Kofie, and Jakyra. And my brother, Vaako." Ah, Vaako. His only brother, and his second favorite sibling behind Jakyra if only for the way Vaako tried to emulate him. He enjoyed his brother's sparring.


Mwale opened her mouth to ask of his family when he confirmed her suspicions of being a rogue, but the clever cub had beaten her to it. She sat back and nodded as he told her of his siblings, smiling a little. "A large family. And your father?" She asked, looking at the cub. She wondered if perhaps that was toeing a little too closely to a No-Answering line, but she couldn't tell if the cub was irritated by it or not.

It was unsettling, not being able to read the cub's reactions. Most cubs didn't have this kind of hold on their emotions; they always gave something away. Riddiq gave nothing away more than, she assumed, he wanted her to gain. The slightest of twitches, the shifting between his paws, was all slow and with purpose, not an agitated twitch of a cub losing his patience.

This was unsettling. If she had cubs, she hoped none of them turned out like this unsettling little lion.


His ears twitched sharply at the mention of his father, but Riddiq let nothing else slip by. "No." He said slowly, shaking his head as he watched the sun disappear into the horizon finally. "Just my Mother." He liked it that way, honestly. Riddiq was not certain how his life would have shaped up if he had what was considered by most to be the 'normal' family life. Mother, Father, three sisters and a brother... Riddiq would not be the same if he had that normal life.

He wouldn't have to shoulder the burden of a family when Tare took off, he wouldn't have to shake his sisters awake if they were having a particularly brutal night. He wouldn't have to curl up with Jakyra so she wouldn't wake up alone and worry that Riddiq had finally taken off for good, and left her behind. He wouldn't have to goad Vaako on to be as good as he is to survive in the rogue lands.

They would have a father for that. Riddiq could be normal. And that thought sent a shudder down his spine. "He left before we were born." And as much as his siblings might want to know the mysterious lion, Riddiq hoped he'd stay gone. If he had another lion, someone older and smarter and clever enough to bed their mother, to try and be better than... He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't be enough for his sisters and his purpose in life would be void.


Mwale watched the cub as he answered, and noted the shudder down Riddiq's back. It was getting cool out, she wasn't surprised to see it. The tough facade must've just been that, a mask to wear when he was alone to fend for himself. Though Mwale was utterly wrong, she pretended that that was it, because the alternative, that this was how the poor cub was all the time, was unacceptable.

Sensing that she had, indeed, pushed too far, Mwale decided that it was probably time for him to go home, anyway. Before his mother worried. She pushed off of her haunches, nodding a little. "It's getting late." She pointed out, nodding to the sky. "Come on, I'll walk you home." She couldn't in good faith let the cub wander home on his own, it wouldn't fit with her conscience. And besides, his mother would probably be grateful for a lioness bringing home a wayward cub for the night.


Riddiq got up, too, but he shook his head at her offer. "I know my way back." He said simply, turning to walk away from her. "Thanks," he added over his shoulder." For what, he wouldn't say, and Riddiq had began to sprint away from the lioness and her neverending questions before she could ask. It was time to go home, anyway. Before Jak worried.