Mozi
Azhar
Mozghan was adjusting to the new arrivals better than she’d expected. The pale green girl looked around her father’s den, red eyes resting on each little shape in turn. They were her siblings, her little brothers and sisters. Mozi watched them with something akin to pride knowing that her father’s blood ran not just in the thirteen new tiny bodies. Thirteen! There were seven cubs from the beybanu Zarha: Bahram, Fakhir, Firuz, Hala, Na’ila, Umo and Badiah. And from Star – whose real name Mozi could barely pronounce, six had come: Zamira, Uli, Raja, Misk’gil, Forouzen and Azhar’Hilel. It was a lot of work to remember all those names but Mozi was doing her best at being a good big sister. Sometimes she would go hunting with the beybanu while Star watched the sea of cubs but occasionally the pale lioness was the one that stayed behind while her mothers were hunting. She liked the responsibility. Being given a role to play in the little ones development only increased the feeling of belonging (to the family, to the pride, to the world in general even) and Mozi wanted to do a good job, fueled by her deep desire to gain her father’s approval.
Still, there was more to it than that. She was starting to get to know her siblings and found herself drawn to them in a way she hadn’t really expected. In a sea of dark cubs, Mozi had to admit she was secretly very fond of the pale ones: little Hala (she was so pretty!), Raja (he’d grow up to be one fine Pad) and Uli, who reminded the young banu of their grandmother, Ukoo. She would never have considered it before but maybe… maybe she could do this in the future, have little ones of her own. She was starting to believe she wouldn’t be a bad mother after all.
An orange-eyed cub disengaged himself from the mess of tangled bodies and moved towards the mouth of the den to join his older sister. He plopped down a good distance away and looked at the banu – his typical way of acknowledging someone’s presence - before turning his head up to look at the sky. Mozi was almost like a third mother to the cub, one that was a little smaller than the others and shared an obvious family resemblance. She seemed to have a special connection with their father and occasionally shared strange whispered conversation that seemed too serious to interrupt.
Azhar couldn’t deny feeling some amount of curiosity regarding the subject of those talks, he wasn’t sure it was something he should ask in his father’s absence.
“Is mom hunting? With momma Zarha?” he asked after a few moments of silent contemplation, still watching the clouds up in the sky.
Mozi looked back and her crimson gaze followed the young cub’s movement. Azhar’Hilel, one of Star’s. He was usually quiet and much preferred to be on his own than to play with his brothers. But he wasn’t shy by any chance and Mozi had seen him approach strange little banu as comfortably as if they were his own sisters. And he was gentle, Mozi could see that. If he didn’t change with time, Mozi expected his little brother to grow into a kind Pad that any banu would be lucky to have. And he wasn’t bad-looking either, if she could say so herself. Any banu would be lucky indeed.
“Azhar.” She called out to the cub softly, following the little one’s gaze up to the cloudy sky. “Yes. They went hunting. And father is on patrol. He should be back soon.”
Azhar turned to look at his older sister, half-lidded eyes containing the fiery color within. He couldn’t deny that he was still sleepy but wasn’t interested in returning the confused jumble o bodies and paws behind him. He stood up and moved towards Mozhgan with slow, clumsy cub-like steps and sat next to her, his dark body barely touching hers. While there was a clear family resemblance between Mozi and some of his siblings, the two of them looked very little alike. They could pass as strangers to the unknowing eye and yet the close proximity had instantly developed a strong bond between them from an very young age.
The young banu gladly accepted the cub’s gesture and leaned a little against Azhar’s body in return. She watched his eyes carefully, feeling a soothing warmth in this closeness.
“Aren’t you still sleepy, little brother?” she asked quietly, looking back at the pile of little cubs behind the pair. They were all so cute at this stage. Right now she could tell her brother could barely keep his head high and she didn’t understand why he wouldn’t simply walk back to the other and sleep. “Don’t you want to sleep for a little while longer?”
“A little. But…” The cub admitted before he became silent. He watched the outside of the den with sleepy eyes. The passing banu usually moved in small groups; the pads walked purposefully sometimes accompanied by their banu or sons; the older pesars were far more unpredictable in their actions and Azhar watched them all, keen orange eyes widening every time something caught his interest.
“Too many there. It’s messy.” He said at last, glancing at his siblings before lying down where he stood and leaning against his older sister for warmth and support. “Bad was dreaming again.”
“Yes… there are a lot you…” With two banu giving birth to two large litters nearly at the same time it was a good thing Anwar had an older daughter to help with things in his den. Mozi felt a little when she thought about it. It was nice to feel helpful and needed. Of course, having a lot of siblings meant the cubs had to get a little less individual attention unlike Mozghan and Zadok who had received a lot more attention from Anwar and his banu. “You don’t like it?”
“I like them. But I like the quiet, too.” He said at last before yawning. After another pause he continued, his voice slow and slurred. “She’s noisier than the others. Has nightmares.” It was hard to say if he spoke out of concern or if he was simple explaining why he’d woken up this time and moved away from the others. Perhaps neither. One thing was clear… the young boy was quickly falling asleep.
“Really?” Mozi hadn’t noticed. She was usually quickly to soothe the sleeping cubs when they stirred so she’d never really noticed anything in particular regarding her little sister’s dreams. She posited her body around the young cub’s shape, smiling gently as she embraced Azhar. “I’ll have to pay more attention then.”
She looked at the pile of cubs but found it impossible to distinguish Badiah from the rest. But she’d meant what she’d said and Mozi fully intended on paying a little more attention to her little sister’s sleeping habits.
“Mmm-hmm.” The cub stirred, clearly not paying attention anymore to what his sister was saying. A moment later and the cub was already fast asleep, comfortably nestled on his older sister’s body.
