It felt like a lifetime, the struggle to survive in a world that had suddenly turned against them. The war that had been waged against their people, their clan, had finally crashed past their defenses into their stronghold, sweeping most of the clan up into bloody, and deadly, combat. Few had survived the massacre, despite every member of the brotherhood being skilled in combat. Those that did manage to escape the Borgia henchmen scattered, fleeing in more directions than there existed on the compass. He and his mate had been forced to leave their bonded family, taking to the wing to avoid being torn down out of the sky by their enemies own familiars. As Giovanni and his mate, Maria had vanished into the sand blasted desert wastes, Remus had taken his own beloved Rosanna and flew as they had never flown before, stopping neither day or night for a week. By the time they finally alighted on a dead tree in the middle of a strange land, they had been near death, starved and exhausted.
That night was the first of many that grief nearly drowned them, almost succeeding where the Borgia killers had failed. They had lost everything, their home, their friends, their family. The only thing they had left was each other. For weeks they roamed this new, strange landscape, surviving on the bare necessities, killing little, just enough to feed themselves, managing without a nest at night, too afraid to leave behind any evidence of their existence in case the Borgias had somehow managed to follow them. Weeks turned into months and still they caught no sign of their pursuers. Their enemies had either had their fill of blood, or they had simply not been able to follow two birds on the wing. Yet there was no comfort in the thought of their own safety, it only meant their beloved family was in even more danger.
Each day came with no words from the few remaining clan survivors... and each day the two avians grew even more tense than the last. The days were endless, strained and full of misgivings as they struggled to keep a hold of the hope that their family was alive somewhere, away from the Borgia. But finally, at long last, news reached them by way of a strange little white bird with bright red eyes. Pahana he had called himself, and he had been escorting a pretty, if nervous, lioness and her seemingly blind mountain-like companion, plus the two bundles of fur bobbling along between them. They had come across the unusual family while resting in the shade of an old bao-bao tree near a watering hole. The huge blind male had been the first to appear, clearly scouting out the area despite his disability. Only after the male had been assured that the area was safe had he called for what the birds assumed was his mate and their cubs, as the two bundles of fluff looked like the perfect blend of both their parents. The small family had drank at the quiet pool before retiring to rest under the very same tree Remus and Rosanna had taken as their perch.
Not an hour had passed before Rosanna, fascinated by the two young cubs, had flew down low enough to engage the shy lioness in conversation. Soon enough the two females were chatting like the oldest of friends, the young lioness who's name turned out to be Asali, hailed from a pride called the Kizingo-zaa, as did her mate the huge mountain of a lion called Ozark. The cubs, Asher and Valhalla respectively, were delightful if rough in that boyish way all male youths possessed. The pair chatted as the cubs played, mostly family talk as Asali was new to motherhood and Rosanna had always wanted her own brood, but had never felt safe enough to risk raising her young ones with the Borgia hunters constantly at their door. Now that the worst had actually happened, Rosanna’s only comforts were her mate at her side and her plans for a bright and safe future for both them and their leonine partners. As night began to draw in, Asali was telling her of the many times she had gotten lost, very nearly losing the home she had been struggling to make in the Kizi. She mentioned a pair of unusual lions, a male and a female. How the male had scare her half to death with his growls and deadly glare, his white coat covered in dust and more scars than she could count. She described the lioness with him, a beautiful, noblewoman, judging from her manners, with a rich crimson coat dusted with gold. At that point both avians had suddenly focused on her sharply, causing Asali to blink owlishly, wondering if she had upset them. Only Rosanna’s gentle urging got her to continue her tale and as she started to describe the unusual items the male had been wearing, Rosanna turned to her mate, expression both hopeful and nervous.
“It has to be them…” She murmured softly, almost desperately as Remus frowned in thought. “Who else but Giovanni wears that particular bracer?” She studied her mate, body tense as he mulled over the lioness’s words. “Maybe… at the very least it sounds closer to them than any of the other rumours we have heard, and only Maria fits that description…” Turning to gaze down at the small family below him he watched them silently, clearly deep in thought. Eventually he tipped his head in that bird-like manner and sighed. “Would you both be kind enough to point us towards your old pride? The Kizingo-zaa…..” Sharing a look with his mate he fell into his habitual silence once more. The young lioness flushed and looked over at her own mate helplessly, only to smile softly when he indicated the right location for the pride. Ozark may have been blind, but it was clear that Asali relied on him. The white bird named Pahana who had been sitting close by in the tree, finally shifted and looked at the black and white pair. “I can fly a short distance with you, show you the way.” The assassins both nodded, Rosanna looking relieved. “Thank you, all of you.” She included Asali and her blind mate with her words, her soft voice expressing all the gratitude her expression couldn’t.
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