There was an underlying issue to her sister’s strife and she knew it! Lately Asali had been noticing a change in Damu that she wasn’t so sure she liked. Yes, they had a lot to worry about, and more things to regret than most, but she had hoped that having a male protector around would help calm her sister’s nerves. It had, and it hadn’t. Damu’s foul temper and recent snapping at everything perplexed the light pelted lioness, and she wasn’t so sure what to do about it. Her frown deepened as she starred at the acacia tree that had become their home. Had she made the right decision in choosing Durin? Asali had taken a liking to the large male... but Damu seemed to have the opposite opinion. Her head bowed as she turned away to stare in the opposite direction. If she had to choose, she wasn’t sure what she would do.
Damu was not far away, her claws stuck out as they ground into the dirt and her tail flicked back and forth in an unsettled matter. It was difficult to feel at ease in this situation. She still felt that at any moment they could get ambushed, and sleep more often than not evaded her due to this reason. It made her moody, even foul in some instances. Lately she had even started avoiding her sister and skirting their evening hunt in favor of laying alone, or pacing the small territory as she was now. How could they simply go from the life they had left behind, to this? She didn’t understand how different these two lives could be, almost as if it weren’t real. Was it? Were they truly free? Or were they just biding their time until those monsters caught up with them? She wasn’t paying attention where her pacing was taking her, and mistakenly crossed paths with Asali, nearly startling as she noticed the sudden figure appear at her shoulder. "Watch it!” she shouted, unable to keep her temper from boiling over. Regret was quick to color her features, but not quick enough.
She had noticed Damu coming, though her sister seemed lost in thought. She considered calling out to her in greeting, but had decided against doing so, thinking it best to leave Damu be for the moment. Until she decided how to best approach the issue. Gently was probably the way to go. She hardly expected her sister’s sudden outburst, and could not keep the hurt from crossing her face. Hurt, and surprising, anger as well as fear. What was Damu becoming? "Would listen to yourself!” the larger lioness shouted back, leaping to her paws to tower over her sister. "What’s wrong with you? What did I do to make you treat me like this?!” There was no stopping the sudden rush of emotion, the build up anxiety dripping out of her as if any more make her burst. Whatever had Damu acting like this, Asali half expected it was her fault. If not for accepting the protection of the rogue male Durin, than for something else she was certain. ”You can’t possibly blame me for everything!” Her teeth bared unexpectedly.
The borage of accusations did little to improve her mood, in fact her regret laced itself with anger. How dare Asali yell at her like that! She didn’t even get a chance to apologize before she went off! A growl rippled through her throat as she stepped back, ears pinning against her skull. "Nothing’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with you!” Her voice cracked as if she may have been hurt by her sister’s words, but a carefully timed snarl hid it well. "I’m not the idiot that tied us down to some fat male, and don’t you dare say he’s our protector! Do you think he could really stand up and fight for us if we’re ever caught again?” And there it was, the underlying issue that had burning and itching its way deeper into her fears. The one thing that could really tear them apart, if they let it.
Asali pulled back sharply at her sister’s pointed words, nearly sitting back on her haunches. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her, having been dealt such a harsh blow from one she trusted above all else. "So you do blame me”, she spoke, in an odd hush that belied her bewildered state. Her bared teeth clashed as she choked back a pained growl, swiftly turning her back to her sister, unable to look at her any more. It was one thing to feel as if it were her fault, it was another to have it confirmed by the accusing party. It stung, there was no getting around that point, and though she had expected as much she just couldn’t begin to look past it. What made it worse, is that Asali mostly understood her sister’s feelings.
Seeing the hurt in her sister’s reactions really dug deep in the dark pelted female’s heart, and though she wished no harm to Asali, her words had been spoken. Her lips snarl slowly faded as Asali turned her back to her, and Damu, lowered her eyes to stare at her paws. Great. She had certainly made a mess of things, but no matter how much she wished to comfort her sister, she could not get past the lump that her formed in her throat. Several times she attempted to open her mouth and say something, and each time found that her voice was suffocated by those rotten feelings her wrath had brought on. "Just... forget it”, she muttered back, turning in the opposite direction of Asali. This was some damn mess her anger had gotten them into, and Damu wasn’t keen on screwing it up further. So instead she walked away, or at least attempted to do so before finding herself face to face with Asali once more.
She had moved quicker than what she could comprehend, and had reacted without thinking. There before her stood Damu, every inch of her looking as downtrodden as Asali felt. This was her sister. They had survived death and torture at the paws of their parent’s killers, and had been raised in hatred and fear. She couldn’t allow this wedge between them to continue, she couldn’t allow themselves to drive each other apart any further than they already had. "I’ll choose you”, she said flatly, matter-of-factly. "If you make me, I’ll stick by you... over him.” It was difficult to say, even harder to comprehend, but the answer was clear to her. As much as she was enjoying her time with Durin, Damu had clearly gone from bad to worse when her anxiety was concerned. She had thought that having a male around would ease Damu’s tension. How could she have been so selfish to be so blind to her sister?
Hearing that probably should have made her feel better, but Damu only felt rotten to the core. Her frown deepened and again she found that she could not look her sister in the eye. It hadn’t been her intention to harm Asali, and yet she had with her angry words and unbridled fears. And here Asali was, being the bigger of the two of them and actually attempting to resolve the issue. It took a few moments for the smaller of the two to find her voice again, but when she did it sounded foreign, weak almost. "No. You- you like him don’t you?” it was an easy explanation, one that she had been trying to ignore. They had never had the luxury of love, and Durin wasn’t a bad male where male’s were concerned. She supposed that Asali had the right to feel what she did, and Damu wasn’t willing to tear her away from that. In fact, she might have been a little jealous, but that thought was quickly shunned. "You shouldn’t turn your back on that.” She sighed, a hefty weight settling into her chest. These feelings that she was having, they were legitimate, though misplaced for sure. "Just promise not to let your guard down, please?” So far Durin was nothing like the male’s from their old pride, but Damu had a hard time trusting even him. She was surprised Asali could.
She hadn’t expected to be relieved by her sister’s answer, but she surprised herself by doing so. Very little passed between them in regards to feelings and emotions, this was probably the first time in a long time- since their escape -that they had actually shared their innermost feelings with one another. It was still strange to do so, but Asali could only share her joy in way that made the most sense, by drawing her sister closer and embracing her in a tight cuddle as she rubbed her forehead against her shoulder. "Trust me, I’ll never let my guard down”, she replied, looking Damu in the eye once more. "But you have to promise you’ll always have my back?” She couldn’t imagine living a life without her sister, not after what they had been through together.
Damu snorted at that, rolling her eyes in exaggeration. "Of course. Whatever stupid mistake you make I’ll always be there to pull you out of it”, and she could have laughed, almost, if not for Asali’s paws swinging past her head in a playful swipe. Damu ducked to avoid the blow, eyeing her sister suspiciously but with less tension. Her shoulders wiggled and her maw broke out into a smug smirk as Asali took a few paces back, preparing to start their evening ritual of tussling and play wrestling. Only now, it felt more like a game than just a way to release tension. It felt like she finally had her sister back, after a lifetime of tears and horror. Whatever this new life had in store for them, Damu was confident she would have her sister by her side.
((Word Count: 1710))
