Today had been an interesting at least in Adrestia's world. She had been out hunting, not a great hunt mind you, but a decent one and then she had decided to take a little walk. Nothing special, but it went strange. Fast. As she had been walking she had seen this dark lioness just...laying there on a rock. It ended up with the stranger freaking out and asking her about her parents. So here she was, walking back towards Pride Rock, cautious of the lioness walking beside her.
"Sooo, what's your name?" The white lioness asked, trying to make some kind of conversation to break the silence.
But Otrera had been enjoying the quiet time to actually think. As far as she and her old pride had known, the Nabbarun line had died out with Ares and her brothers when the attack came and when they couldn't be found afterwards. Or at least that's what the buzzards around the small watering holes chattered on about. Truth was that Otrera had ran instead of having stayed and fought like she should have. It was the reason she was hiding in the Pridelands of all places. She blended in and her pride was so far south that it was so unlikely she would ever be found. What kind of god was playing with her now?
The question pulled Otera out of her thoughts as she shook her head, her red eyes refocusing on reality. "Huh, what? What'd you say?"
"You name, what is it?" Adrestia repeated, a brow raising as she turned to look at her temporary traveling companion. She did have this thing for somehow picking up the weirdest of people to talk to. Maybe the situation wasn't so bad. At least she could learn why this lioness was so surprised to see her.
"Oh, uh, it's..." A moment of hesitation as she contemplated lying about her name. Why? She didn't know. Others in the pride knew her as Otrera, Eos knew her as Otrera. Telling this lioness anything but that would prove counterproductive. "My name's Otrera. What about yourself?"
A large smile spread on her maw, "I'm Adrestia." She replied with pride. Her father had named her that just as the sun was rising after being born. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she didn't care. Her mother had named the rest of her siblings, or at least that's what her mother said. Of course that just gave her more pride in her name.
"Nabbarun." Otrera added quickly after the name was spoken. She had done so without thinking which probably would have been a good idea considering she didn't even know if this lioness' father was the correct Eos. Though what were the odds of finding a lioness in the Pridelands that was sun-marked, with a father whose name matched a brother to the only known sun-marked lioness left? If he wasn't, well those were some stupid odds.
"Excuse me?" Adrestia questioned, her pace slowing to a halt as she looked at the darker female with confusion all over her face. Of course the confusion looked a little more like a mixture of anger, confusion and just plain fright. Did this lioness know something about her family that she didn't? How could she?! She had never even seen her before!
She turned slightly, looking back at the female that was now sitting. A sigh escaped her maw as she turned around fully to face her. "I suppose he hasn't told you about what the mark around your neck means or why none of your other siblings have it." Otrera stated, her voice serious of the first time in a very long time. "Well, I can tell you about it, about him and about me, but I'll leave his own tale for him to tell later. For now, I'll tell you about the sun and about the sands that your sun originated from. It's a long story, so you might want to get comfortable."
This was a side of her that Adrestia had not yet seen. She had a serious, almost motherly look about her as she spoke. The white lioness could do nothing but nod as she laid herself down. The cooling grass felt good against her belly, but her head was still held high and at attention as well as her ears turned forward to listen. A tale about her family was definitely something she wanted to pay attention to.
The afternoon was waning, the two had spent more time 'walking' back to Pride Rock then originally anticipated. With the sun beginning to make it's descent down to the horizon, the story began.
"A long time ago, generations in fact, my sisters of the sands deep in the south were held prisoner in a pride they called dared to call home. The males of this pride only valued their looks and how well they produced heirs. They cared not for their true value, their personality, what made them who they were. They struggled with their rights within the pride, scarcely earning even one new one each generation."
Otrera smiled as she took a brief pause, it had been a while since she had recalled the tale of her old pride.
"A seer had come to the pride. Of course the males of the pride accepted her without hesitation. Even if she could not produce cubs, she could still be of use to them. In the quiet of the night and in the lioness' dens, she would tell her sisters of the sun goddess and her kindness to the old female on her travels. That she would fall asleep and wake to a puddle of water or dead mouse. More and more females of the pride began to follow this sun goddess, until one loyal to the pride told the males of the religion growing in secret."
She took a long pause, her jaw clenching as her mind began to play the next part in her head. Of course Otrera knew what happened, but the younger lioness in front of her didn't. "They were betrayed by their own sister. The men of the pride outlawed the worship of the sun and any caught doing so were to be thrown out of the pride with nothing to eat or drink to see if their 'sun goddess' would truly save them. So many lives were lost because of this need to control them. In this pride, they might as well have been slaves."
Otrera glanced down at the white lioness, her red eyes falling to the tribal sun around her neck. She could not help but smile. "But the sun goddess noticed the lack of prayers and sent one of her lieutenants to check on them. When it was discovered that her worship was outlawed, the sun goddess was enraged! She sent a champion in her name to free the females of the pride and punish the men who held them captive in such a place. The first freed became out kichwa, or as others would call her, our matriarch. From the ashes a new pride was born, the Lucani. That is where your father is likely from, should he be who I think he is."
The younger of the two could not help but stare up at the other feline in awe. That had been an amazing story, one that she could not have made up even she had tried. As the two began to stand, she paused a moment, looking to Otrera. "Wait, you said you would tell be about the marking."
"Oh yes, the first kichwa's name was Mfuasi Nabbarun--"
"Isn't that..."
Otrera could not help but smile at the other's curiousity, "Yes, that is the surname I called you by. In our pride, every member takes a surname. Those that are deemed 'sun-marked' are known to the pride as possible decedents of Mfuasi Nabbarun. If recognized, they may take her surname. Ares, Eos' sister, was sun-marked. You seem to have inherited her mark. The sun-marked were the leaders of the pride at first but then adopted a more advisory role as time went on. Your aunt served as adviser to me."
Adrestia frowned again. Just as one question was answered another came to take its place. "But--" She was quickly silenced by a paw being placed over her mouth. Her frown deepened.
"No, that's for another time and another story. It's nearly dark, we should get to Pride Rock before your parents begin to worry." Though the hurry was partially for her own agenda. She did want to see if this lioness' father truly was Ares' brother or if it was just a lucky coincidence.
"Alright, alright, but I'm keeping you to that. I hate not knowing." The young female stated, her tone slightly playful as she jogged ahead to take the lead and take the two to see her father.
[Word Count: 1486]
