((Back log, Faustus as a juv))
Faustus could hardly move. His paws ached so much. His father had him running laps. He went from one tree to another again and again. At this point he thought he was going to fall over. His mother brought him to Timeus to have Timeus watch him. She had another family, another life practically one Faustus was never apart of. Then there was Timeus. He might have been his biological father, but that didn't mean much. Like his mother, he had his own family. Faustus had never met them. He had a half-brother named Aureo.
Aureo was pretty much the perfect son. He was athletic, strong and brave. Faustus was none of these things, something Timeus often brought up. Fuastus wanted to be the perfect son for his father, but he could never meet his expectations. Aureo had been dead for a year, yet he was not as good as Aureo was in Timeus' eyes. He worked so hard to prove himself, but when a father had unreachable goal for their son, he was meant to fail.
Once he reached his father he collapsed at his feet. It had to be over, his father could not want him to move anymore. Had he forgotten the last time this happened? How Fuastus had gotten sick? It didn't matter to Timeus though. All Timeus wanted was a strong son, a son that would make him proud. “Timeus are we done for the day?” he managed to say before letting out a cough.
It was odd, thinking of Aureo then seeing Faustus. Aureo was flawless, strong and quick. He didn't hesitate to attack. He did what came natural for a warrior and took out his enemy. Faustus couldn't do that. Even if he had the instinct, he was to slow, too weak. How could a son of his be so weak, Timeus wondered as he watched the cub. It was the mother, he was sure of it. Seema had been chosen for him because of her strength. If he had cubs with another female it was obvious that they would not be as strong as Aureo.
“We can be done. But tomorrow you will run farther and faster. I want you to prove to me that you are my son and not some b*****d cub.” He would have to leave Faustus away from his den. Seema had known about the cub. How could he ever hide such a pest? But she despised Fastus and what he meant. They had agreed that he could sleep around, in hopes of producing a stronger line. However Seema had always thought her genes would be the best, that he wouldn't need any other female.
Aureo was near perfect, but he thought he could do better. It had been a mistake of course, having a fling outside of Seema. He wouldn't do it again. At least not till he had another try with Seema. He was sure that they could create perfect soldier cubs.
He glanced at Faustus. “For now I will take you back to the den where you will hunt for your meal. Once you do that you may eat. But it has to be strong prey. I do not want a son of mine eating anything weak.”
Faustus nodded. He was glad that his father acknowledged him, even if it wasn't as kind as he should be. Being noticed was more important. Somehow he would make his father proud of him, even if he had to beat up the ghost of Aureo, he would do it. He wished that he could stay with his father, but he knew that Timeus' mate hated him. She probably hated him cause he wasn't Aureo.
He kept pace with his father as he led Faustus to the den. In the distance were some buffaloes. His eyes went big. Any one of those creatures could trample him, he thought. He hoped Timeus would help him at least with the hunt. There was no way he could hunt something that large.
“Timeus, please help me,” he pleaded. “There is no way I can catch one of those.”
Timeus sighed. “Then you will starve. No one is going to keep feeding you your whole life. You need to learn now to fend for yourself. What if something happened to you where you had to rely on yourself and you could not ask your father for help. You would die, you would die a pathetic death. No one would bother to remember you. To them you would just be another decaying body.” Timeus said with impatience.
“At least try and hunt them. You lack the confidence of a hunter. It is something you need to get better.” Timeus explained. “It is something warriors are born with, but you Timeus were not born with it. Unlike me and unlike Aureo you lack what it takes to be a real fighter. However I am sure there is a wy to drill it into your brain. This is the first step.”
He had never felt that he was too hard on Faustus. Hell, he wasn't being nearly as bad as he had been to Aureo when Aureo was Faustus age. Timeus had tested Aureo, almost killing him a few times. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, Timeus thought with a grin. This would be Faustus' hardest test yet. Aureo would have been able to take one down. Now time to see what Faustus could do.
Faustus let himself rest for a moment. He was tired, his legs could hardly move and now he was going to face his biggest challenge ever. Buffaloes. He imagined one crushing him to the ground. There were so big and so strong. He needed to prove himself to his father, but was it worth dying over? Would anyone even care if he died?
After his rest he went forward, hidden beneath the grass. He slowly began to stalk his prey. He got closer and closer. When he was close enough to one of the smaller ones, he pounced and dug his teeth and claws into the buffalo. The buffalo kicked up, and threw Faustus backwards. When Fuastus looked up the whole herd was heading toward him. He closed his eyes, thinking this was the end.
Timeus saw what was happening. The challenge wasn't too much for Faustus. The buffalo he took out, though smaller then some of the others, was decent sized, and had fallen hurt to the ground. However the rest of the herd did not seem to please about the attack and decided to go after Faustus.
Usually Timeus was one to let his offspring learn from their mistakes. However this one might have been too much for Faustus. He stepped in front of Faustus and let out a loud roar. Any buffalo that came near them, he took a swipe at. Soon they were gone.
“Are you alright Faustus?” Timeus asked, glancing at his son. He seemed a little bruised but that was it Than he gave Faustus a grin. “If you can do that while you are so tired, imagine what you could do at full strength. Good hunting son.”
Faustus felt a little embarrassed, first by having to be saved, second that his father had actually called him son. “Next time I will do better,” he promised with a nod. He went over to his catch. The buffalo he hurt had been left by the rest of the group. He did his best to quickly finish him off. There was enough meat for a few days, though knowing Timeus he would be out hunting again in no time.
“Do you think that, because I did catch him, that I could go with you to your den and rest. I swear I won't cause any problems.” He asked, sitting down. His legs felt like twigs at this point. He would be grateful for any sort of rest.
Faustus knew he would never be close to his father. This was how their relationship was meant to be. One of distance and respect. Years later Timeus would finally acknowledge that Faustus was son and was proud of what he became. However he would also disown him, telling him that he never wanted to see him again.
But at that moment Faustus didn't have the future to worry about. He just had gentle thoughts of hunting, and playing. His dreams were about being an ordinary young lion, not a sick lion nor a warrior lion. Just an average one. Someday he wished that he could spend a day like that. For now he would just accept his fate and continue to train.
WC: 1,591
