|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:12 am
(w/c: 1,470)
Winza's second attempt had made his first look impressive. The mockery of a hunt had started and ended all too soon. Or maybe it hadn't even started at all.
Of all the things that could have been his pride's downfall, it had to be a stick. A simple, little, stupid stick that he hadn't noticed was there. When he stepped on it, the antelope bolted like lightning across the sky. They made him thankful cheetahs were not something lions ate, if nothing else.
He tried to find his mother, but she was nowhere to be seen. He assumed, then, she had taken off in pursuit of the prey beasts; she'd never return empty-handed no matter how long they had to stay out here.
Shrugging, he found himself heading straight toward the same pool of water as last time. He'd nearly forgotten about the blood until the foul, wretched stench assaulted his senses without mercy.
"What is that?"
The underbrush provided cover for something he should have just walked away from. He didn't this time. Maybe a bird had fallen dead back there? Just one quick peek was all he needed...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:12 am
The corpse Winza stumbled upon was not that of a bird - not that of a zebra, hare, antelope or something you'd expect to find in such a state. It was a lion.
Lions died, too, so aside from prompting more empathy for their death nothing about the scene should have been that disturbing. Had it just been the rotting flesh of a deceased hunter, that would have been so. But something was very wrong with the way his body had been mangled.
Only because the face was left in tact - wide-eyed and horror struck - would he even be able to tell it was a lion. His stomach...
There just wasn't much left of it.
There were... pieces. Everywhere.
Ohahira still hovered around the body like a protective mother would refuse to abandon their sick child. She was covered in stale blood and other gruesome, more often than not unrecognizable things.
When she saw Winza, she roared like nothing had roared at him before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:13 am
He didn't need a second hint to know he was not welcome. Didn't need more of a reason than that to turn and run. He was dignified enough not to call for his mother, at least.
Or maybe he was too busy choking in disgust to manage that.
Waseme's scent was faint in the air, but it was there, and he pursued it frantically. What he'd say when he found her, he didn't know. Just being near someone else - anyone else - would be enough.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:14 am
A disgruntled Waseme was already heading her son's way. She'd managed to snag a couple lagging hares - they just weren't good enough. Hunting was not part of her title, but she felt that technicality was just that. Technical.
Technically, she could never hunt again and still play her expected role without issue. Such a lazy outlook felt to her like bringing the two hares back. Just not good enough.
She was never, ever good enough.
But she was other things: a leader, a mother and someone who would not let any harm come to her kith be they in the form of blood relatives or pride members. The hares dropped to the ground and she started forward. With speed like that, she would have certainly caught one of those antelope.
Waseme had other things in mind and rushed beyond the reach of her frightened son, ramming right into the lioness' side before she could even register the familiarity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:15 am
Someone with sense would have planted their paws firmly on the ground. Ohahira was not one of right mind, it seemed, and stumbled off course. She fell over, dazed, but didn't stay that way long before her legs kicked forward and knocked the other lioness away.
She rolled over, but didn't stand--
--and then burst out laughing.
"I know you," she cackled. How could anyone forget an ugly face like that? "How is your pride doing?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:16 am
Waseme would never forget her face either. Ohahira wasn't ugly on the outside, but internally she was hideous. For all she wished to be more beautiful than her sibling, never would she have done so at the cost of becoming so wicked.
Honestly, she was surprised Hasana's daughter was still coherent enough in her madness to form words. Holding a conversation was just that much more surprising.
Waseme snarled. "I don't think that's really a concern of yours. But I can say it's a lot better with you out of it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:17 am
Winza was nearly full grown, but he couldn't have given off the impression of a cub anymore than he already did. He'd moved aside to allow Waseme to defend him, and after she had, he'd sank behind her as if she were a living shield, not just his mother. He was sure, to her, they were one in the same.
But he also had a feeling they both needed to be protected. This lioness gave off a horrible feeling. Just by look at her you could tell. She felt as if she radiated hate, consumed the mood of the area and made the air suffocatingly toxic.
"Mom... Who is that?" he dared to whisper.
Part of him knew she wouldn't answer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:17 am
Waseme didn't answer for many reasons. The greatest, most life-threatening among them was knowing provoking this crazed traitor was unwise. She didn't dare tell him the things she had heard, things that had happened before his time and before hers. About Tarajia's abandonment of her family. About Ohahira's violent reaction to it. The details were still choppy to her... to most of the pride who hadn't been directly involved.
Yet now, with her back here, they were all involved. Much too involved.
She wondered if she was capable of fending off their attacker in a life-or-death struggle. Had Winza not been with her, she'd of had just enough pride to try. But he was with her. He was with her and he was afraid. The odds were in the favor number-wise, but to risk one of her children... to even risk it...
If this didn't work - if Ohahira attacked - she would keep her busy and tell Winza to run.
"Get out of here. Your mother already died mourning what you've become."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:18 am
The Mtaishi 'queen' had hit the mark. Ohahira's grin was gone, swept away like it had been nothing more than a leaf in a wind storm trying to stay grounded. Her eyes had been bright with chaos and wicked amusement, but now they were dark. Hate. That was all that was in them now.
Something snapped in her. The little part that was left holding things in place just seemed to break. Her mother... dead. Hasana was dead. The very reason she'd become this, the very lioness she was trying to save from the start had just died?
It made sense. Her mother had to be getting up there in age. She hadn't been a girl when she and her sisters were born, hadn't been young when her brothers followed.
Snarls. Hisses. Claws against the dirt.
Ohahira left and didn't look back. She couldn't, nor could she think or feel or see or get any kind of control over herself. Everything was gone. All of it was for nothing.
It was over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:19 am
Winza had felt like he'd never breath again until he was sure, really sure, that this wasn't some trick and she wasn't going to turn around, charge back and kill them both where they stood. He felt muscles he didn't know he had relax and his back end hit the ground. The weight of the situation was too much for him.
But he had to ask.
"Why did you tell her...?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:20 am
"Why did you tell her...?"
Waseme knew what he meant: why had she told her Hasana was dead when she was alive? Not alive and well, but alive none the less. Asking for a peaceful death equivalent to the peaceful ways of the lioness herself would be outlandish. An impossibility and nothing less. There was so much tragedy in that family.
"To her, she might as well be." As she spoke, she knew the words wouldn't be good enough; Winza was too inquisitive about the past, too prone to putting his nose where it didn't belong and keeping it there. "Another time, Winza."
Perhaps, when they found Hasana. She dearly her and the other sane members of the pride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
