Amakhaza scowled deeply as the lioness walked off. What an a** She groused silently, shifting her gaze from the retreating rump of the female to the two bundles of fluff she had left behind. Apparently, Amakhaza wasn’t exempt from babysitting duty just because she was antisocial and unpleasant. Scowling further she eyed the wiggling lumps that had been left beside her. Sure, so one of them was old enough that Amakhaza thought she should be perfectly capable of looking after herself, but the other was certainly too young to be left unsupervised. Turning her head Amakhaza looked round for someone else to do the job, but with the drought setting in and every single member of the pride either hunting for food, looking for water or recovering from a lack of both, she realised with horror that she was alone. Terror striped through her, flaying her nerves and sending her body convulsing with dry heaves. But just as she was about to break down internally, one of the bundles mewed loudly.

Khethiwe hadn’t understood why her playtime with her best friend Sifiso had been interrupted. When she had asked the lioness watching over them she had been told that the females had been told of a nearby herd that had strayed and they were off to try and catch one. The entire pride had become fixated on hunting recently it seemed, though she was young, the red cub wasn't thick and knew that food had started to become scarse. So Khethiwe didn’t complain too loudly when she and Sifiso were picked up and carried over to where a grey lioness lay sleeping with a couple of other females. Well, the other lions were all in a bunch, but the grey one was separate from the rest. Though not by too much distance, it was more a feeling Khethiwe got, that the pale lioness wasn’t exactly welcome with the others but they tolerated her being near by. She had winced when the babysitter woke the grey female, who instantly looked irritated at being disturbed. Khethiwe was dropped beside the irate lioness and instantly hunkered down so as to avoid directing any of the stranger’s ire towards herself or her friend.

Sifiso was less concerned as they were moved from one spot to another, she enjoyed playing with her bestest sister and didn’t much mind where they were as they played. Well, maybe so long as they stayed close to the adults, Sifiso still hadn’t quite gotten over the fright she had taken when Maditah, Khethiwe and herself had been chased by a hippo and then a hyena. But as she was carried, dangling from their babysiter’s maw, to where the grey female lay, she simply dropped to the ground when released, rolled and bounced a little, then sprang at Khethiwe with a cubbish growl of playfulness. She had no idea that it was her growling that jolted Amakhaza out of her terror frozen state. Or that she had drawn the gaze of those cold blue-green eyes.

Amakhaza, still breathing hard and shaking from the vestiges of her phobia, stared at the tiny bundle of gold and cream fur. It took a few more minutes of staring until her mind finally settled enough to resume normal function. During that time the gold cub jumped and pounced, less than successfully Amakhaza noted, on the red cub who had also been dropped beside her. It was obvious that these cubs weren’t related, one was a dark glossy red and the other gold. Andhaka and Bangizwe’s get no doubt. Amakhaza spent quite a while staring at the two as they wrestled and played, biting with soft mouths on each other’s ears and tussling like mad things. At first she was entirely nonplussed by them. What did one do with two cubs? It wasn’t like she could teach them how to hunt. Was a lioness supposed to correct their behaviour? But they didn’t seem to be doing anything wrong per say. At least nothing Amakhaza would consider wrong. Sure they were boisterous and loud, but that was all. Wrinkling her nose she eyed them as they rolled about. She had never really considered having cubs of her own, being far more preoccupied with trying to cure herself of her extreme phobia. But as she watched them play fight, she wondered what her own cubs would be like. Her pale grey coat with Andhaka’s dark red? Or maybe Bangizwe’s gold? Silver and gold would look quite pretty, she decided. She put absolutely no stock in the idea that dark manes were an indication of a lion’s strength. After all, she was a fine huntress, easily as strong as any other lioness, and she was a pale silver all over! Hmm… a litter of silver cubs? She liked that idea. She would have a whole group of perfect, pale girls, and they would be the best huntresses in the pride and would be the envy of all the others. Huffing as she caught herself smiling she rolled her eyes. What was she doing getting all broody… It wasn’t like she even wanted to be pregnant, so much hassle, and it looked awfully uncomfortable. Judging by the amount of complaining the other expecting mothers did.

At her paws Khethiwe had Sifiso pinned, the smaller golden cub was squealing and laughing as her bigger sister tickled her mercilessly. “Stop! Stop!” Sifi begged helplessly while giggling breathlessly, flailing her stubby limbs at her best friend until Khethiwe finally took pity on her and let up, standing over Sifi with a smirk. “You will never beat me like that, little sis.” The red cub giggled, swotting Sifiso playfully before jumping away. A sharp word from the grey lioness caught her attention and she looked over, only then realising how far they had strayed from the female. Glancing at Sifiso she trotted back over to the adult, instantly attempting to pounce on the female’s tail, mouthing the furry tuft at the end as it flicked this way and that.

Amakhaza hadn’t been expecting to become the cubs toy, so when one of them jumped on her tail she wasn’t ready for the sensation of baby teeth in her skin. Swallowing a hiss that was more surprise than pain, she turned her head and glared sharply at the red cub, but the young girl was utterly oblivious as she mock-growled at Amakhaza’s tail as it twitched within her grip. “Hey.” Amakhaza said sharply, expecting to be obeyed instantly. But the red cub continued to growl and shake her tail this way and that. And then the gold cub was there, chewing higher up. Though at least her teeth were even smaller, even if they were pin sharp. Amakhaza suddenly felt very sorry for their mothers. How painful must it have been when they fed? She shuddered just thinking about it and felt a pang of sympathy pain. Maybe her dream of a clan of silver lionesses wasn’t worth that… Tugging her tail free from both cubs she frowned at the two of them. “Enough of that. If you can’t play nice you will nap.”

Khethiwe instantly sat back, looking aghast and somewhat traumatised. “But we haven’t done anything wrong!” She cried, stunned and betrayed that the lioness had told them off for no reason. Beside her, her golden friend cowered, sniffing softly as she took the chastisement deeply to heart. Khethiwe scowled defiantly in return, moving protectively in front of her best friend.

Amakhaza rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Then play quietly.” She told them bluntly, pointing to a nearby spot where they would be close but not actually touching her. Khethiwe scowled, but after a moment she nudged her friend to follow as they moved away from the grey lionesses’ tail to the spot indicated. It took several minutes, but soon enough the cubs energy levels were right back to where they had been, as the two girls stalked a bug in the dry grass, taking turns to pounce on the thing, and each time acting shocked that it had gotten away from them. Amakhaza sighed, wondering if she had even been that dumb and innocent. But as she watched them she slowly forgot to be annoyed and settled back, enjoying the quietude of the day and the presence of the cubs near by. She would never admit it, but their non-judgmental company was a balm to her nerves. The other adults never tried to hide how much they disliked her. Though granted she did nothing to try and change their unflattering opinion of her. In the first place. But the cubs, they were different. They looked at the word through new eyes, they had no preconception about their pridemates, and seemed perfectly content to stay nearby while they played. She only had to rein them in when their enthusiasm took them further away from her that she was comfortable with. They didn’t desire to be away from her, it was just part of their games. Shaking her head in bemusement as this unexpected turn of events, Amakhaza once more settled her head across her paws, watching the two cubs through slitted eyes as she dozed. The other females would be back soon enough, she may as well enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted.





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