Rain fell. It wasn't heavy, but the unusual mixture of ground bones, fine dirt, and hair made the graveyard a miserable place when it rained. Masuko was inside her dry elephant skull, the largest and most pristine one in the entire Graveyard. An alpha would have no less, and at the moment she relished in its size. There wasn't an enormous amount of room in it, but it gave her enough room to admire her gift. Jasi had caught her something, and Masuko could barely contain her excitement.
A Pridelander.
Masuko's drive against the pride was nothing more than survival; their numbers threatened everything. The water ran low, food was scarce, all because those ******** couldn't stop breeding. The hyenas in her pack reproduced at a small rate, and she could only assume it was because of the short resources. She was determined to gain more land, to seize control of more food to feed her pack. Lions never seemed to care about anything but themselves, and regarded the other species as 'low'. This was her firm believe, and this was what she told her pack. Survival depended on their skirmishes with the Pridelands.
But to capture one? Even as young as him, Masuko was thrilled. She felt her body vibrate with excitement, Jasi looking on with pride as well. Masuko had half-reared her as a daughter, and to have this given as a thank you gift was a miracle.
"How did you do it?" Masuko asked, listening to the rain pound on her home.
"He's a foolish thing," the scout laughed. "He was alone, opposite the Pridelands from our pack's lands...so he was easy to take down."
The both looked down at the injured adolescent, seeing him shiver as his mud-covered body lay helpless before her. He wouldn't die, and so Masuko would only call in a healer later.
Ruslam had no idea what had happened. He had been so tired of life in the Pridelands; so boring, so nice, so...useless. So he had left, so sure that eh could find his father out in the roguelands. No one had told him how vast the lands were, nor how dangerous. Now he lay here, sticky with blood and mud, exhausted and terrified. What happened?? He could hear voices, but their rough, deep voices were hard for him to understand at the moment.
"Pampered by his life, I'm sure," Masuko growled. "None of them realize it until they're on their own. I hope this is the start of something good, Jasi. I believe that to strengthen our numbers, we need to gain more power." She eyed the dark male before her, her mind ticking away at the possiblitites. "What if we could...convince them to fight for us. Could you imagine the added strength it would give us?"
Jasi looked worried. "I-I'm not so sure, Alpha. How would we know that they wouldn't turn on us at the first sight of battle?" She didn't think she could trust a lion, ever, especially if it was supposedly going to fight on her side.
Masuko paced around the new slave, poking at him now and then to make sure that he was still alive and awake. "Training. Fear training...though that may work against us, too." She would never want to implement anything unless there was a guarantee. He eyes glazed over for a moment, deep in thought.
"No! No, no you shouldn't," Jasi exclaimed. "Don't ask him. Start with Chora, or something, but don't trust that hyena...he's..." Jasi didn't know the red one's secret, but she didn't like him. He seemed to be running his own agenda, and Jasi worried that he would turn on Masuko when the time was right. Masuko was alpha, but that didn't mean that others didn't vie for that position as well. She had to stay strong and demand respect to stay as alpha. "Chora must know a way, that is why she is a Bone Reader..." Break the bones, see what they say. It was all superstition, but Jasi put more faith in it than him.
Ruslam was beginning to focus better. The prodding hurt, but the pain made his mind more alery and focused. They were discussing him...and a red thing? It was hard to understand when he had no idea where he was or what was going on. He groaned, struggling to right himself. If he could at least just rest on his belly...the hyenas watched him carefully, but he knew that he didn't have the strength to do anything but breathe.
Masuko watched the lion, noticing that he was merely making himself more comfortable. Fear lined his eyes, and she knew that there was little to worry about from him. Perhaps if she could warp his mind, he would be a good asset for the Mava'Bunda. And if he became an issue? She'd let one of her vicious lion-hating subjects slaughter him.
"Anyway. I'll discuss this with Chora. She seems to understand him better than I...but perhaps its because of what she is." There was actually nothing special to Chora, but Masuko put a lot of faith in her abilities. So far it had worked well, and Masuko had no reason to mistrust her sister.
Jasi sighed. "Alright..." she never called Masuko mother anymore; that was only when she was a pup. Still, sometimes Jasi wished she could revert to being younger, to having that closeness that no longer existed.
Ruslam winced as he felt pain in his side. One of the hyena's peered at him closer, her bright pink mane unsettling him a bit. It was the only real clear thing he could see, and it hovered in the air before him.
"Somethings wrong," Jasi said. "I think you should get someone in ehre quick to look at him." Jasi didn't really feel guilty, but the last thing she needed was her prized gift dying inside of Masuko's den.
"I'll go fetch Fupa. Stay here and make sure he doesn't crawl off." Masuko grumbled as she headed out into the rain, leaving her dry and warm den to find the bone setter.
Time passed on. The rain continued on, thunder breaking up a bit of the silence. Jasi watched the lion carefully, not sure on how to feel about him now that she was here alone with him. His breathing was softened by the sound of rain, but she could tell that he was in pain. A fever must be developing.
She inched closer to him again, seeing his head resting between his forelegs. He didn't look good, but Jasi knew that Fupa was the best healer the pack had. If she couldn't heal him, he was a lost cause anyway.
Ruslam's breathing was labored, and he felt like he was burning up. If only this growing mane would fall off, he would feel cooler quicker. He opened an eye to watch the hyena before him, stunned that she wasn't making him worse. She was much stronger than she looked and Ruslam had half expected to die in this...skull. There was so much death around here. Is this what hyenas did? He had heard stories growing up about how terrible they were, but beyond getting enslaved, they weren't terrible. Were they?
The feverish lion didn't know how to feel. Everything was happening so fast, and it was all so new to him. He only wished to fall asleep and leave his fevered body...and with much restless movement, he finally fell asleep.
Jasi watched him, guarding the secret that Masuko's skull concealed. She knew that the pack would find out eventually...it was only a matter of time. Hopefully no one would be too enraged, or they'd have a civil war before a battle against the lions again.
"Please, let this all go okay," she whispered to herself, looking out and upwards to the stars that were hidden behind the storm clouds.
(1,317 words)