He moved through the motions like a dancer, swiping swiftly and moving his body fluid like water. The muscles rippled beneath his dark pelt and his claws and teeth flashed like the sun. He'd led a hard life but it had shaped him. Made him a warrior. He knew no other life. Not the gentle touch. Not kindness. Not relaxation. He knew only work and training and death. And fear. He knew that, too, though as he grew it began to wane.

Behind him, watching keenly, were Hala and Wakala. Both vicious. Both family. He knew this was a test. A test to see if he was ready to carry out his father's next orders. To bring about justice. He could sense it impending. Sense it's importance, though Hala had refused to let him know anything about it. Every passing day now was fueled with anticipation and it was coursing through his veins, driving him almost mad. He could barely sleep. His appetite came and went and every time his father approached him he held his breath and hoped that today was the day.

But it never was.

As he finished moving through his combat sequences he straightened and turned towards his dark-pelted father, dipping his head as he always did. Then came the long, drawn out silence...

"Good," came the words at last.

Tu-Bana dared not look up.

"You have come far in your training. You have passed all your tests so far. Now, comes the greatest test of all."

The young male felt the fur on his neck prickle with anticipation.

"In a desert not far from here lies a traitorous lion who escaped death many years ago. He wronged our family with heinous acts and fled justice before it could be dealt. Long have I waited to show him up for the coward that he is, but always he evaded me. He took up refuge in a pride who call themselves 'Dawnwalkers' and grows fat and happy there, sitting on the knowledge that he caused such pain. He is your target now."

Tu-Bana could barely believe his ears. A target who was so strong he was too much for his master? How could that be?

"I will take vengeance for you."

"If you defeat him then I will truly know that you have mastered your art."

And what then? Tu-bana thought. Would he be granted the freedom he had always wanted? He wanted desperately to ask but was afraid to do so.

"When this is done, I will accept you as my son."

His heart gave a painful twinge. He wasn't even sure what that meant anymore. What did a son do? What would his father expect from him? Or did that mean that he was willing to let him go? Finally - stupidly, perhaps - he worded his question.

"My freedom?"

"Yes." The response came swiftly as if he had known the question was coming.

Only then did he raise his head to look. It struck him that they were of a height now. He had grown. No longer was he the tiny cub, crying and alone amongst the hedgerow. He was a fully-fledged warrior (or a killer, a little voice whispered in his head) and able to meet his father's eye without looking up. That realisation bolstered him further and when he spoke again he was clear and proud and strong.

"I will not fail you."

"Failure is not an option. If you do not succeed in this, then you will be neither my son or my apprentice."

The threat was not worded but it didn't need to be. Tu-Bana knew what it meant. His father would turn on him and he would not survive the encounter. Though, for a scary moment, he considered his chances and whether he would be able to beat him or not. Surely if he had the capability of beating this traitor he had the capability of beating Hala, too. He shivered at the thought and snapped his eyes downward as if fearing that his thoughts might be seen in his face.

"Now go, leave me in peace."

He swept silently out of view, not looking back, as he made his way to his temporary den. Wakala was there, dark and small,her piercing eyes piercing him with questions.

"It is time," he spoke and she seemed to burst with electricity.

"Your final task?"

"Yes."

"And did he speak of after?"

"My freedom? Yes. It will be granted."

"Can I come with you when you are?"

Tu-Bana smiled. The little jackal who had literally tried to kill him hundreds of times had also become his dearest friend. He could not imagine life without her now, even if she did still sink her teeth into him. "Of course. There will be nothing here for you either, if I am gone."

"Pah! Don't be obscene. I have other places to visit, other friends to call on."

"Oh?"

She glared at him, baring her teeth and growling.

"You can try and bite me but it won't end well."

"You're bigger, yes, but no wiser. You underestimate me now but I still have teeth that can sink through skin and work into an artery. Spill enough blood and you'll go down as well as the best of them."

"Then what would you do?"

"Huh? Go and find a nice male and start a family, of course."

Tu-Bana gave her an odd look.

"And what would you do with your freedom?"

He paused, thinking suddenly of his little dead brother. What if he had other family? Hala had never spoken of a mother or siblings. Maybe he had killed them all, too. Perhaps he was alone and he'd end up wandering hopelessly forever. Or maybe there was no such thing as freedom. Maybe his father would find some other way of keeping him close. He'd not put it past him. When he did not reply, the jackal's face became sad and, with a slow tail-wag she offered him an idea.

"What of that pale female?"

"Juno?" he asked, uncertain.

"She seemed lonely, too, and I doubt she's far."

"No," Tu-Bana replied. "She'll be far away once this mission is done." He wasn't sure he enjoyed being around her, either. She made him feel wary and vulnerable and it scared him. She scared him - in a way that his father did not.