Sifiso wasn't allowed very far from the den, not without supervision. But her friend Khethiwe had turned up along with Maditah, one of the pride's lionessess who was known to both mothers, and the two girls had joyfully scurried off together, the babysitter following close behind. Sifi and Khet weren't related by blood, at least not that either of them could work out, but they were as close as sisters. Khet was older, big enough to always win their games of tumble and pounce. But neither of them felt the age gap. Khet watched over her 'little sister', as she called the golden-coated cub, and Sifi worshiped the ground Khet walked on. Their mothers hadn't yet corrected either girl over calling each other sister and it was unlikely that either ever would. Considering the fact that the two cubs were siblings in all but blood anyway (one the daughter of Bangizwe and the other born of Andhaka). This day Khet decided they would go play somewhere new, somewhere that she had heard some of the other cubs bragging about.
"Come on Sifi!" She called, racing across the grass, the younger golden cub following close behind. Both girls ignored the babysitter's calls to stop, and forced the lioness to chase after them in a great game of tag. Eventually the two cubs tired, Sifi much faster than her taller and stronger sister, but Khet would never leave Sifi behind so the pair slumped down together under a huge tree, laughing breathlessly and chattering about their day so far, imagining every bush as a dangerous predator they had outsmarted and every puddle as the biggest river they had forded. Grateful for the rest, their babysitter shadow had settled down with them and relaxed, watching over her two charges with typical determination.
The day passed, the cubs played and rested, drank from a small pool nearby and otherwise did as all cubs do, wrestled and talked and dreamed. The lioness stayed close by but didn't interfere, leaving the youngsters to their games, only calling them back when they got too far from the tree. None of them noticed the family of warthogs that had been drawing slowly closer, rooting in the earth as the big grey pigs typically did, hidden from the babysitter by the tall grass and a slight rise just beyond the small pool that the cubs had been drinking from. It was only when Sifi yelled in shock and fear that the lioness realised they were not alone. Springing up she darted forwards, tracing the smaller cub's scream to the rise. There, Khet stood in front of Sifi, her tiny fangs bared at an infuriated looking mother hog while Sifi cowered behind her. Grabbing up the golden fluffball she called out to Khethiwe, her words muffled around Sifi's wriggling body. Managing to get the red cub to retreat behind her, she backed up slowly, keeping her gaze fixed on the warthog mother. Unable to attack with Sifiso in her mouth, the lioness did the best she could, getting both cubs back to the tree and into a shallow hole in its trunk. Placing herself in front of the crevice she hissed a warning at the pig, lashing out with her front paws when the ugly beast charged. Enraged, the mother hog screamed and charged again, seemingly ignoring the red gashed the lioness opened up in its hide as it swung its huge jagged tusks at her. Another charge and this time the creature got past her flashing paws and barrelled directly into her, driving her backwards, both of them bouncing off the rough bark and careening away. Panicked, the babysitter roared, struggling to get away from the hog's tusks long enough to reach the cubs, but the mother pig was relentless, stabbing at her vulnerable belly after tripping her, again and again. Minutes later she stood, blood patterning the dirt under her paws as it dripped from her fur, partly her own, partly the hog's. Pain bloomed from a tear in her flank deep enough to pain her despite her frantic distraction as she licked and nudged the cubs, the dead hog mother laying not three yards distant.
Then she heard something that made her blood run cold. The excited laugh of a hyena. Suddenly she realised that her fight with the hog must have alerted the scavengers. Panic bloomed anew, fresh and ever more urgent. They had to get away! She may be able to fend off one of the creatures, even injured as she was, but they never travailed alone. Grabbing the terrified Sifi in her maw she started hurrying Khethiwe along, the cub racing as fast as she could but the lioness knew it would not be fast enough. The laughing was closing in, coming from two directions now, and close. Panic gripped her, Sifi crying out as her grip became painful on the cub's ruff. In front, Khethiwe was panting and stumbling, her young legs not strong enough to keep up the speed for long. They were closer now! Their laughter ringing in her ears with the joy of the hunt. Hunting her, hunting the cubs!
A savage roar split the air, a sound like crashing thunder that shook her body, and she swore the ground itself trembled with the raw fury of it. Her blood went cold as she realised it was not an Abaholi roar. It was unknown to her, and it was coming from in front of them. They were racing right at it. Jumping over the cowering Khethiwe she crouched, ears flat to her head, terror flooding her as she braced for the impact of the massive male racing towards them. At the last second she flinched, knowing it was unlikely she would survive such an attack. Her heartbeat closed, her breath froze in her throat.
Nothing.
Slowly, like dirt-filled runoff after a drought her heart restarted, a dull thump-thump as if it couldn't quite believe she was still alive to hear it. Belatedly, as if through thick fog, she heard the sounds of a fight. Furious roars and vicious snarling yaps echoed from behind. Trembling she opened her eyes and stared back over her shoulder. What she saw stunned her, and she never felt the soft thump as Sifi fell from her slack jaws onto the ground between her paws and into her trembling sister. The rogue male, the one she had been sure was about to kill them all, was battling three hyenas. The three hyenas that a moment ago had been close enough that she had felt their putrid breath on her rump, their fangs aching to rip into her flesh. Only now they were no longer laughing, but screaming in pain and fear as the big male ripped into them, fur and blood splattering the immediate area. One broke free of the fight and fled, howling its pain all the way. Another, more foolish creature, attacked the rogue male only to be tossed aside like a scrap of unwanted meat to land in an unmoving heap. Its throat torn out. The last, upon seeing its pack-mate dead, took off after the first, its tail tucked as it kicked dust up behind it in a frantic escape. The big male sprang forwards a few strides then roared his fury and warning. Red lines of blood stained his fur, dusted with golden sand. He was huge and impossing, with the fresh red rivlets painfully obvious against his pale fur. Only his harsh breathing and the quiet drip-drip of blood onto the dry earth proved that he was indeed real and not some desert mirage.
Finally he moved, turning slowly to face her. His expression had calmed, no longer the savagery of fangs and claws, but a serious and studious visage. He regarded her silently for a moment so long that her heart rate picked back up as nervousness flooded her. Would he attack?
"Maditah.." He spoke suddenly, his voice a deep slow rumble, and strangely ...reassuring? Shock flooded her once again and she felt almost dizzy from it. He knew her? Her knew her name!? "Maditah." He said again, as if sensing her distress and seeking to calm her from it. "It is safe." She heard him, she truly did, but she didn't. She couldn't!
Wait....
Recognition dawned slow and sluggish, like a fuzzy memory that had almost become a dream, as if it was something from the distant past she had thought forgotten. "Musa?" She gasped, as recognition dawned, slow and fuzzy. The large male stood before her was the image of his golden-coated father. Musa was a shade darker and his mane was a different mix of brown, but he could have been Bangizwe's double for all that he had matured into such a fine lion. Obviously life as a rogue had agreed with him.
"Musa..." She breathed, as the shock was wearing off and questions starting to take its place. Taking a hesitant step forwards she looked him over with a hint of wonder. He had grown! The last time she had seen the youngster he had been a gangly, long-legged adolescent with barely any mane, all pale eyes and nervous anticipation. Then like a ghost he had simply left the pride one day. One of the first of the males from that season's litters to do so while his brothers lingered and annoyed the lionesses until they had been forced to drive the big gangly nuisances away for good.
Relief flooded her and she sat down right where she was, her heart pounding in her chest along with the pain in her side as Sifiso and Khethiwe peered round from behind her with confused expressions. She watched in dumb bemusement as the giant male walked slowly up to her, as if araid that he ight startle her anew if he moved too fast. He studied her for a long minute, a gentle and timid smile on his maw, as if making sure she was going to be alright, then he glanced at the cubs. "It's safe now." He repeated to them, only to step back as they came tumbling forwards, curiosity overriding their fear as they reasoned that this male had to be a good one as Maditah wasn't chasing him off. Suddenly he had two little balls of fur squirming between his front paws as they besieged him with questions. And to her amused amazement, he answered them.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Musa."
"Where are you from?"
"From here, actually...."
"Do you know our dads?"
"I do.. Bangizwe is my father."
"My dad is Bangi too!?" The smaller golden cub cried, latching onto one of his front legs excitedly.
"Is he now? That makes us siblings..?" He replied with a warm smile, ruffling the tiny girl's tuft of hair carefully with his other paw. The one she wasn't currently attached to. After a few minutes of answering the girls' questions and explaining who he was and how they were related, he looked up at Maditah again, a reasuring smile on his muzzle. The smile dimed slightly as he studied her. "You are wounded."
She realised that her side was aching something terrible and she felt weak. Nodding she shrugged. "A warthog found us first." He nodded then moved up beside her after carefully disengaging himself from the two youngsters. Eyeing the blood-soaked gash and the skin hanging from it he frowned. "I'll walk you home." She tried to refuse, tried to reasure him that she was fine, but he wouldn't hear it. Explaining that there were still some hyenas in the area and that he would see her and the cubs back to the pride's current resting place. He did agree to stay at a safe distance, knowing that even though his father was one of the Abaholi, his pressence as a mature male would not be welcome. After carefully helping her stand he caught Sifiso up in his mouth, and with Khethiwe riding high on his back, he supported her limping frame as they set off for home.
(word count = 2,015)