The bag around her neck was growing heavy or she was just growing weaker. Angara grit her teeth, taking only a few more steps before finally just deciding that where she stood was a great place to rest. She let the bag slip over her neck and fall onto the ground, a few pieces of jewelry poked out from the impact. Resting the side of her head on her satchel, she let her eyes slowly fall closed as she laid on the golden grass under the setting African sun. She would need to get moving soon, she did not know what horrors came to life in the night. This wasn't her home, none of the rogue lands was. Her home was back in the mountains where her pelt was appreciated but her craft was not. A saddened frown began to form on her mouth as memories of home came flooding back.
Oh how she missed the smell of incense burning, her mother's singing, her father yelling as the family familiar lost another round in the ring out back. Fighting familiars was commonplace, but the fights were not to the death and hardly any were seriously injured. Because of the lack of injuries, many thought the fights were rigged but her family knew better then to ask her father that. His temper was definitely something she did not miss. She had grown up rebellious in her youth, but mellowed out as she aged and part of that was thanks her father's strong paw. While he never hit her, the thought that he could when his anger flared was enough to change the way she behaved.
Her younger brothers and sisters. She would miss them as well. Luckily none shared her exact coloring, but many would probably be forced to make up for their sister's disappearance. Angara was the oldest and she knew that it was up to her to get her family out of the 'slums' of the pride and up onto higher ground where the better off families lived closer to their king. With the rainfall coming it, floods in the less than desirable parts of the pride lands was not uncommon and every year at least a few lions went missing because of them. With her eyes still shut, Angara grimaced, her ears falling back as sadness overcame her. She had left her family in a potential situation where they would be swept away with the next flash flood all for what, just to be able to make some silly trinkets for someone who actually appreciated them?
Of course she was angry at herself, but at the same time she was not. How could she blame herself? Her family had decided her fate and would not even let her help decide her suitor. If she had been able to have a say on who she would marry maybe she wouldn't have left, but her family was convinced that she wasn't thinking about the good of the family. They were right, she wasn't just thinking about her family, but also for her own happiness. Her family would have just had her marry the richest lion they could find but who knew how he would act inside of his den? Would he respect her or would he treat her as a trophy, an object and display her as such? Would he beat her or treat her like a princess? She and no one except that lion would know and when they knew, it would be too late to undo their mistake.
So she had left in the middle of the night with only a sack filled with jewelry, gems and metals that had been gifted to her family around her neck. Of course she had left a majority for her family, but took some. She had earned at least that much for putting up with some of the ruder lions her parents had considered as suitors.
Her eyes slowly cracked open, trying to chase the memories of home out of her mind with the new sights around her, but to no avail. Home was there to stay. Angara sighed softly into the chilling night air. How long had she been thinking? It had only seemed like minutes but apparently it was long enough for the sun to completely set and the night to come alive, both around her and above her. The stars were bright that evening. Everything was peaceful until her stomach decided to interrupt the quiet night with its rumbling. Sheepishly, Angara rolled slightly onto her side, her paws still on her lump bag, to get a glance at her belly. It had been hours since she had eaten last and even that was only a small bird, hardly enough for a young lioness to survive off of while traveling through the plains.
"Maybe I should have packed some food too..." The lioness mumbled to herself as her ears sank with a sort of shame for her lack of planning. She had just been so eager to actually leave that proper planning had slipped her mind and now she was paying for it as her stomach began to cause pain. Angara raised her head, her green eyes looking through her surrounding area. The night was alive, the sound of hares running and the cicadas chiming was all around her. A hunt was in order.
As she brought herself to stand on her paws, she glanced down at her bags and sighed. She could hunt properly with that on. Hell, she couldn't hunt properly with it off. Her parents had never taught her to hunt, seeing it as unladylike. Bullshit, she was going to starve because of her parents' decision on her teaching. No, she wouldn't starve, she could find something, anything to fill her belly. The rogue lands was full of prey, most of it small, but still full.
Angara grasped the knot tying her bag together in her mouth, her teeth keeping it firmly in her mouth as she moved it out of the way. Up against some rocks she let it rest. She dropped the faded cloth from her mouth and nosed a few other, smaller rocks over and in front of it to try and hide it from preying eyes. Stepping back, she surveyed her disguised collection proudly.
'No one will find that' The lioness thought to herself happily, her attention going to some of the trees around her, trying to remember them so she could locate the treasure later. She smiled, proud of herself for thinking of that before heading back into the flat lands to try and located something to eat to quiet her rumbling stomach.
[Word Count: 1112]