Roho missed the mountains. She missed the cloud-capped peaks and the red dust that stained her paws. She missed the opening of the flower buds and the sound of the steady trickling stream. She missed the fresh tang in the air and how it filled her lungs with a delightful ‘n**’. Rogue lands were just not the same. They were dry and the dust was bland and the sky looked just as yellow-swept as the parched grasses beneath her paws.
It was a miserable place and it did little to help raise the spirits of the band of lions who had lost so much.
So it was, with a low heart, that the young female trudged towards the pool of murky, stagnant water and lowered her head to drink. She had been spoilt by the fresh mountain water and the dirty taste had her stomach cramping with complaint. Hissing with displeasure, she turned back to return to her fellows only to find herself face to face with a strange lion. She screamed wildly, part in fear and part in anger and automatically lashed out with a paw. Claws cut through fur and flesh and a terrified cry confirmed that she’d managed to land a good hit. Without wasting a moment, she lunged, surprised when her attacker collapsed submissively and trembled beneath her grasp. After all, he’d had the advantage of surprise attack and he’d still failed to get the upper hand.
Looking down at him, she realised her foe was not yet an adult. He was a young teenage lion, his mane yet to properly grow in, his face now bleeding.
“I-I-I’m sorry.” He wheezed, unable to speak for the paw pressed to his throat.
Roho flexed her claws, growling, tail lashing. “Who are you?”
“K-Kefir. I-I didn’t mean to s-startle you.” He wriggled and whimpered, crinkling his bloodied nose in dismay. He was, Roho decided, an extremely pitiful creature, not even worthy of the title lion! She had nothing to fear from this one unless he happened to be an exceptionally good actor.
“You’re…not one of them.” Roho conceded, knowing that this simpering child was certainly not one of the brutes who had slaughtered her pride. “Then what are you doing sneaking around?” She released him and took a step aside, growling as he gathered his paws beneath him; keen eyes always watching.
“I came for a drink and, um, saw you. I didn’t want to…to disturb you and then you turned around and…and.” He lifted a paw to his snout and gaped. “Blood! Is there lots of blood? Help me! Am I going to die?” He hunkered down and Roho might have laughed if the whole thing hadn’t been completely ridiculous.
“Don’t be stupid. What are you, a baby? Where I come from, even cubs wouldn’t act like that.” She moved towards him and gave him a hard cuff across the ears. “It’s only a scratch. You’re lucky. You could have lost an eye. Let it be a lesson to you: don’t sneak up on people.”
The young adolescent gulped and lowered his head submissively. “Sorry.”
The female curled a lip with amusement. “How have you even survived this long out here? You are a rogue, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Well, no. Not really. I travel with my family but we don’t stay in one place too long. We’re nomadic.”
“Ah.” And that was all she had to say on that particular matter. Clearly his family had doted on the child and made him weak. “Then you’d best travel with company always, unless you want to end up dead.”
His eyes widened in fear and Roho sighed in exasperation. “If I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now.” Slowly, she turned around and began to move away. She was both annoyed and amused at the sound of hurrying paws that moved to join her. “What is it, kiddo?”
“You can fight?”
“I know a thing or two, sure.” She gave a disinterested shrug.
“My family are fighters, well, except Mother. They expect me to be the same but I’ve never been very good at it.” The boy explained. “Never good at anything much, really. My sisters are better with their visions and they could probably beat me up in a fight.”
“Girls can fight, too.” Roho quipped. “But what do you mean, visions?”
“They see things. It’s hard to explain. I have flashes, too, of the near future, but they’re not very strong.” He sighed helplessly. “I’m such a disappointment to everyone.”
Roho frowned. “Don’t give me that rubbish. Feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t make you stronger.” She whirled to face him and gave him another rough smack across the face. He reeled backwards in pain. “If you want to be a fighter you have to believe in yourself and you have to practise. Stop lowering your posture! Come on. Stand up straight. UP!” She gave him a sharp jab and he pulled himself back to his paws, standing quite still as the red female circled him. “You’ve not a bad build. A little slim in the muscle but that can be changed with a strict training regime. You’re a good size, too. That’ll make you slow but powerful. There’s potential there, yes.” She narrowed her cyan eyes at him. “The problem is your attitude. You’re softer than a newborn! Unless you can bare your fangs and snarl like the best of them, there’s no hope for you, kid.”
“I try.” Kefir whined.
“Trying isn’t good enough.” Roho snapped, moving around to face him. “Come on, kid, growl at me.” She gave him a shove in an attempt to stir some anger in him. His brows knitted and, deep in his chest, a growl began to brew like distant thunder. “Good, good, now let it out. Push the growl up. Give me a snarl.” She gave him another shove and the sound grew in intensity. His snarl, however, was rather pathetic and earned him another hard smack across a snout already made sensitive by the scratches.
“Again, you waste of space!”
This time Kefir managed a snarl that he could have been proud of and Roho stood back, grin on her face. Her methods were tough, but they worked. Kefir was proof of that, though he certainly needed a lot more training to become a decent standard.
“Better. So, next time someone pushes you around, find that roar in you.”
“Are you…moving on soon?” Kefir enquired gently.
“Yes.” Roho replied. “We aren’t staying long.”
“We?”
“I travel with friends.” She wondered whether she shouldn’t have mentioned them. What if the brutes came this way and interrogated others in an attempt to find them? Kefir would crack in a single moment…
“So you’re all rogues? Where are you heading?”
“That’s none of your business.” Roho replied. “We go where we must just as you do.”
“Will you be here in the morning?”
“For some. We will be on the move early. Why all the questions?”
“I was wondering…could you give me a lesson on fighting before you go?”
She snorted, amused. “I haven’t scared you off, then? There’s hope for you yet, kid.”
/fin.
