Zu hadn’t grown up knowing of any brothers he might’ve had, and he’d certainly never expected to happen across a lion that looked even slightly similar to him. No, Zu had been raised in a family with a few ragtag sisters and his mother – he’d never been made aware that his father was a wandering rogue and likely had many females he’d provided with children.
Zu had the feeling he was staring at one of those children. A brother from another mother, as it was. This wasn’t something that he could just barge up to someone and demand an explanation. Zu wasn’t even completely sure who his father was, and so he was understandably stunned to find a lion that looked so eerily familiar to his mother that it made Zu’s eyes cross.
The lion was a ghastly shade of purple and had a pink mane but those tell-tale spots were there on his cheeks and down his front legs. Zu frowned at the sight and he tried (oh, how he tried) to make everything straight in his mind.
Well, if all else failed there was always confrontation. Not an irate confrontation, no, but really just an acknowledgment of one another.
Pankaj had been blissfully snoozing just outside the borders of his pride. It wasn’t often that he found time to rest his eyes like this – no, he was often busy in the pride patrolling the borders and making sure the females had what they needed – and yes, he wasn’t afraid to admit it, but he even looked after the cubs if they needed looking after. Since Tulia’s recent litter (and a larger one at that) he had been helping more and more where he was needed. When he found time to take a rest he wasn’t going to let it slip away.
And so he dozed, oblivious to the lion that looked somewhat similar to him, one that watched him from afar and who steadily moved closer one step at a time. No, it wasn’t until the lion was nearly standing on top of him that Pankaj realized that he was no longer alone and not only that … well, he was being watched.
Closely.
That was a terrible feeling.
Pankaj darted to his feet, nearly cracking heads with the purple-maned lion that watched him so carefully. As if he couldn’t stop himself a loud hiss broke past his lips, claws unsheathed and he crouched into a defensive position. Pankaj wasn’t a born fighter by any means. He preferred to live life as calmly and peacefully as he could with no head-butting or harsh interactions, thank you very much.
Zu jerked back swiftly, thanking the Gods for his awesome reflexes. Eyes narrowed as he peered at the lion before him. This was strangely suspicious, but Zu didn’t want to outright ask if they were related. That would be weird, and Zu didn’t consider his self a weird lion. He was a pretty nice guy to those he liked, but he couldn’t help the little burn of anger that rose up into his throat when he looked at the pink lion. He just stared, and stared… and stared.
Kaj wasn’t used to such odd occurrences in his life. No, he tended to enjoy the relative solitude that his life had as a member in his pride, and while he was certain that there would come a time that he would have to defend his rank in the pride, it hadn’t happened yet and Kaj was pretty happy about that. But this, this right here, well… Kaj wasn’t sure what to do or what to say, so he just blurted out a harsh, “What are you looking at?!”
Zu grunted before blinking, shaking his head. “You don’t get it, do you? Have you really looked at me? Can’t you see how similar we are?” He felt weird just saying this tripe to a blatant stranger, but really, what else could he say? Their colors were too similar and despite the fact that Zu was brown and the stranger was pink, it was obvious (to Zu at least) that they likely shared a relation.
Kaj blinked, still trying to come to terms with this strange interaction with the strange lion before him. “I.. no? I never even… well, it never even crossed my mind. I’m not used to just approaching strangers and accusing them of being related to me. It never even … what?”
Zu snorted and shrugged. “It took me by surprise. It’s not every day that I come across someone that looks so similar to me. I mean, you look exactly like one of my sisters.” Zu scowled. “I know we don’t have the same mother, so I guess we have to have the same father.” It made perfect sense to Zu, although he didn’t realize how much of a madman he sounded like.
Kaj wasn’t sure why it meant so much to this lion. He imagined there were many lions across the savannah that shared parents without realizing it. Why did it even bother him? Kaj wanted to ask but he didn’t want to seem like it was a stupid thing to think about even if that’s exactly how he felt. All Kaj knew was that this lion was maybe a bit off his rocker, and Kaj didn’t want to deal with a strange lion intruding on his prideland – especially not with new little ones squeaking about.
“You should leave,” Kaj grunted, eyeing the other lion. “You are intruding on pridal land, and I can’t allow it.” He would stand firm about this, and he would chase away the maddened lion if he had to, but he wouldn’t risk the lives of the other members of the pride.
“We’re related,” Zu demanded, shaking his head. “I know we have to be. We share the same blood. I’ll be back, and don’t you forget my face.” Zu wasn’t even sure why it was such a big deal to him that he make this strange lion understand that they were related. It didn’t make any sense to even himself, but it was important nonetheless. “I want to know who my father is.”
Kaj shook his head as he watched the strange lion leave. What a weird soul he was. Of course, Kaj knew he’d be back, but by then he hoped to have some answers for the poor chap.
WC: 1068
