word count: 1365
Belial groomed, having just finished off a meal, and waited at their last resting spot for his sister Niade to return from her own day’s wanderings. He knew she was growing increasingly restless and annoyed with him. “I’m probably pushing things far more than I should have,” he chided himself. It upset him but in the morning he wanted to be gone and alone with his own thoughts, not waiting for her.
Things had changed so much without ‘Zimo around , but it was not the only thing that strained relations between the siblings. They pushed each other’s buttons almost as if they had been raised together rather than Bel by their father and Niade by their mother and sisters. Both were independent and used to caring for themselves or in Bel’s case himself and others -- Madzimoyo had not been the first he’d “adopted” along the way. Zimo had just stuck around longer than others.
Belial figured Zimo was probably making himself right at home. He already had a touchstone within the pride with Clermeilli-Pie and her cubs. Chances were that the young lion was much happier and more content now than his old companions were. That fact was probably what bothered Belial the most. "I should be happy for him. He's been searching for something for so long and I could see it in his eyes that the answers were waiting there in the jungle for him." Belial sighed, "And now I'm talking to myself..."
That morning Niade had decided to go off in the opposite direction than usual hoping to avoid an encounter with the roving male Athena. She needed time to think and clear her mind. It was a similar thought that had brought her into her first encounter with the handsome fluffy-maned lion. That she had been annoyed with Belial’s morning disappearance and in the mood for some time on her own. That had lead to thoughts of hunting and finding Athena stalking a herd of zebra. The two had worked well together on their first hunt together and on hunts during later meetings.
Overall Niade was not sure what to make of Athena. She realized how awfully she teased him and yet he continued to seek out her company. He actually seemed to enjoy her company in fact, and plied her with compliments on her intelligence and personality. “He’s delusional,” she muttered as she climbed a pile of rocks. It was nice to stretch out on the warm stone and let it sooth her tension away.
Was it all worth it dealing with these aggravating males? Was it worth it just for the feeling of family and for a hunting partner? Of course there was more to it. Belial was more friend than brother, though the blood connection made things so much easier between then from the beginning. He was much more interesting than their sisters and half-siblings.
From what little Belial had told her about their father, she was happy to have never run into him. It seemed he had either been killed or enslaved by the Demon Pride he'd admired so much; one of the many reasons her brother held that pride in such distain. Well it served him right the old fool. He had to be a fool for mistreating their mother so much so that she'd run off with another lion soon after her first cubs were old enough to leave behind. That had caused some confusion between the siblings since Niade had been under the impression that the other lion was her birth father. But neither he nor her mother had the eyemarking that she and Belial shared. Bel had confirmed however that the marking was common on their father's side of the family.
The rock on which she was relaxing was starting to loose it's warming effect and Niade interrupted her train of thought long enough to move to another still warm spot.
As she relaxed she began to weigh her options. There was her brother growing more distant by the day with such a similar personality that they often butted heads. Then there was Athena, the sweet charming ball of fluff. He cared for and complimented her in so many ways. He was one of the few males whose company she truly enjoyed. They hunted well together and she certainly didn't mind that he traveled with other lionesses...
There is was again, that odd twinge in her gut. Could it be that her feelings for the lion had grown beyond friendship and she was acctually feeling jealous? No it couldn't be that. It was just nerves, Niade convinced herself. "I'm just nervous because I've finally decided what to do." The lioness stood and jumped down from the rocks heading at a steady pace for the last place she and her brother had rested.
Belial sighed with relief as sunset finally brought his sister back. She was moving well with no sign of her usual moody stalking. Also she was coming from the opposite direction she usual did, so it was likely she had not seen the lion she'd been hunting with from time to time. Bel did not much like her encountering a strange lion but he had not confronted her about it. She knew how to take care of herself and knew the dangers. "He probably did something wrong their last meeting and she told him off," Belial concluded.
Having spent most of the day waiting Bel got up to meet her halfway. She seemed surprised that he came out and he caught a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Did you have a good day?” he asked that look canceling out his planned welcome of how well she looked.
“Yes, I suppose you could say that.” It threw her off that he’d come out to meet her. She repressed her usual nervous tail lashing. “I had a lot of thinking to do.”
Belial nodded, “Yeah, I know that feeling.” He’d of course been doing a lot of thinking himself lately and was about to expand on the subject when Niade interrupted.
“I think it might be time for us to move on. Things just have not been the same since Zimo left for the jungle. I met a lion and I think it might be nice to travel with him for a time. He has another lioness and her cub with him and I havnt’ had any female company other than Clerm since I left home.” Niade could see Bel was shocked and he made a move to speak, but Niade had to keep going or she’d never be able to get through this. She couldn’t give him the chance to try to stop her… “I’m fine if you want to follow, but I’d like to start out on my own for some time. There’s still some things I need to settle and having big brother around is not going to make these decisions any easier.”
This had been the last thing Belial had expected. He’d been expecting the opposite moving on from the area to be away from the other lion, not moving on to join said lion. “I take it then that you’re not going to want me to meet him first? You’re sure this is what you really want?” Deep down he wanted to ask other more personal questions but it didn’t seem right.
“I’m fine with you meeting him, just not yet. Let me get him used to the idea first. If you do think you may want to travel with us?”
“With you? Probably not but I think my path may parallel yours for a time. Some big brother I’d be if I let you run off with a strange lion without checking things out.”
Niade nodded. “Thank you. Did you eat well today? Or would you like to hunt this evening?”
Belial smiled. “I think a last hunt before you move on would be quite nice dear sister.”
The next morning Niade would be leaving to find Athena and see just how welcome she’d be, but for now, though much remained unsaid between them, the siblings took comfort in the familiar activity of their hunt.