[LOG] If I Could Just Save One...[Wey/Malik]

[ShinosBee]

This place. Weyard HATED this place. When she'd gone running from its borders as fast as her paws could take her, moons and moons ago, she'd swore never to return. This place held dark, angry memories, hurt, and pain. She'd run until her legs gave out, and found herself in a wonderful land of peaceful lions, and more...she'd found a new home.

So why had she come back to this cursed place?

A lingering sense of guilt, of things left undone was what'd done it. Her cubs, her children...she'd not been able to save them when she'd been turned out. She hadn't come back expecting to go charging in and snatch them up...she didn't even know if they were still alive. But still she lurked in the long grass outside the pride's boundaries. Maybe...just maybe..  

[ShinosBee]

He was on the border. Why was he here anyway? Malik didn't know. Yellow eyes gazed out at the lands before him. So alike his pride lands, yet so different. Something made him want to just run out there and not come back. Like his mother did when he was born. He didn't like it here. Everyone whispered about him and his siblings, and yet he was the only one who took it so hard. He listened to his siblings problems, helped them out, gave them a better life than he had. Basically, playing dad. The Banus took care of them when they had too.

Slowly, he started out, stepping over the borders and looking back to the pride. He felt bad for leaving, his heart was thumping hard in his throat and tears sprang to his eyes. He couldn't return once he left, could he? But he didn't like this life. He wasn't comfortable at all here.  

[ShinosBee]

A rustling in the grass startled Weyard, and she hunkered low and out of sight. Was it one of the pride's cursed males, off to hunt more females? She bristled. If they came near, she'd give them a swift bash over the head. See how they liked it! Her muscles tightened, she prepared to spring...

A flash of pink fur stopped her dead before she'd even begun to move. Could it be? She sat bolt upright, and peered down at the youngster. That color, those markings...Her eyes went wide, and she could hardly stop herself from crying out. He was, without a doubt, one of hers.

Without a word she looked around (no one was there to see!) and snatched at the cub. He was hers, and she would take him! Take him away from this wretched place  

[ShinosBee]

Rustling made him stop and look around. He even started backing up toward the pride again. But before he could, something pink snatched him up by the scruff of his neck and he instinctively curled up in a ball, tail tucking between his legs. His brows furrowed and he whimpered, the tears streaming down his face.

He took a few steps outside the pride and got cubnapped. So all the warnings were there for a reason. Tail flicking against his chest and yellow eyes looked upwards. "Who are you? Why do you want me?" His voice was pathetic and small.  

[ShinosBee]

The boy's whimpers were not unheard by the lioness, but now was not the time or place to stop for a chat. They were still only yards from the border, and who knew when a patrol might go by. Especially if the boy (oh, her poor, dear boy) continued to cry and whimper.

Without a backwards glance, and only a brief one to be sure none of his other siblings were about, she took off at a mad dash. The cub was terrified, and she felt a deep pain for causing that...but she couldn't just leave him there. He was hers. She had a right to him more than this place did! It was a selfish thought, and one she couldn't hope to resist.

Only when the lands of the kings were far over the horizon and out of sight did she finally slow and then stop. Panting, she gently set the cub down and let the sight of him fill her eyes. He was...so much bigger than she remembered..  

[ShinosBee]

She didn't answer. When he was finally put down, the sniffles and sobs overcome Malik and he just pressed close to the ground, eyes squeezed shut. He was shaking. With a female he didn't know, in a place he wasn't familiar with and all he could think about was his home. How he wanted to go back to his siblings. Sniffling, he finally opened his eyes and looked up at the one who'd snatched him up. His ears were flat when he did, but they slowly picked up.

She... she looked like him... And his siblings. They had the same markings on their backs.. and the same marks as some of his siblings on her legs. "..... Who..." he cleared his throat. "Who... are you?"  

[ShinosBee]

With the child out of her mouth, Weyard caught her breath while looking carefully back over her shoulder. No one seemed to have followed them...Good. She turned her attention back to the boy, and felt her heart lanced through at the sight of his shaking. Poor poor child...to be snatched up without a second's warning by someone he barely knew...He probably didn't remember her at all.

She sat quietly while he gathered himself. She'd rather have run on until she'd found her way back home, but the boy had a right to at least know what was going on. And if he wanted to go back...well it'd be faster if they'd not gone too far yet. The thought of taking him back was almost unbearable though...

"I...I am Weyard...your mother." How strange to have to introduce yourself to your own child. "Do...do you remember me at all?" She strained to think which of her cubs this was. They'd all been little more than balls of fur when she'd left. She had named them though, and after a long moment it came to her. "...Malik? Do you remember me?  

[ShinosBee]

She... was his mother? He was about to tell her to prove it when she said his name. His ears flattened and he continued staring at her. He shook his head. Why would he remember her? They were so young when she'd left. Malik swallowed a bit, feeling bad for not knowing who she was right off the top of his head. He should remember his own mother, he felt. But whatever.

"Why...? Why did you take me?" Sure, he'd been leaving himself, but he didn't think he'd be taken! That was so wrong! But it was his mother. Maybe he should give her a chance to explain herself. So, patiently, like he always was, he waited for an answer.  

[ShinosBee]

He didn't remember...Her ears drooped, but then perked back up. It'd been too long, she shouldn't expect him to remember just like that. His eyes hadn't even been open that day...She nodded to the boy. "It's alright. That was...long ago."

"...Forgive me, Malik. I can return you. But...I wanted to see you, and the others. Are there still...others? And when I saw you, alone, with no guards around...I just took you. You are mine, after all. Were you...happy there?" It would crush her to hear he'd rather go back to THEM than stay with her, but she hadn't made a great first impression.  

[ShinosBee]

He shook his head and sighed. "The others.... are OK... But I wasn't happy..." He sitll wasn't, but he couldn't tell his mother that. If she really was his mother. He still had his doubts despite the fact they looked nearly identical. He shuffled a little and looked back toward the pride before shaking his head. No, he didn't want to go back there. Not in the long run. Yes, his siblings were there, and his.. his friend, too, but he would just rather go anywhere else.

"We're dirty... Hated... No one plays with us unless in secret..."  

[ShinosBee]

So the other cubs did live still. Weyard was a little upset to hear they were happy...how could anyone be happy there? But better they were happy not knowing her than unhappy...She'd done a terrible thing, leaving her cubs in the hands of her captors to buy her own freedom. Those one though...he'd been unhappy, he said. Perhaps she could make it up to him.

"You are NOT dirty. The ideas of that place are...just wrong. You are my son, and you are not dirty. Pah. Nonsense." A cub should have friends and be played with, not left alone and tormented by whispers.

"Well that won't happen any more. If you'd like...you can come and live with me." She so hoped he would. But she wouldn't blame him if he decided to hate her, either. "I know I've not been the best mother...but now I'm ready to try. If you want me to. If not, I can take you back...or take you somewhere else."