[FIN] A New Dawn (Tatamisa & Halili)

[mouselet]

For the first time in far too long, Halili slept deeply and woke feeling refreshed. She also woke early enough to see the sunlight streaming into her den. Suddenly, the King's decree that the pride live their lives beneath the moonlight was too restrictive, and the lioness got to her feet to stand beneath the sun's heat.

It was a change, but it made her feel warm, the same way that 'Misa's presence had, and she savored it. The sunlight had always made her happy, even as a cub. But until today, Halili hadn't even realized how much she'd missed it.

She sighed, content for the moment.  

[mouselet]

"Yes, very well, thank you," Halili replied with a smile. It felt almost foreign on her face, a sensation she hadn't been able to recognize last night. Had it truly been so long since she'd been, well, not happy, but at peace? It was such a wonderous feeling that the older lioness was loathe to destroy the moment, but she was no coward. The low-class lion couldn't turn her back on the pride and what was happening, no matter how nice the day nor how well she'd finally slept.

"It seemed that you came here for a purpose last night?" she asked her daughter at last. "I'm sorry for distracting you from it." Halili turned to face the younger lioness, giving Tatamisa her full attention. Did the sunlight feel just a bit cooler? Or was it her own perception of the day that had changed?  

[mouselet]

Oh yes, the tentative warmth of the day was gone, and now it was simply bright out as Tatamisa asked what Halili had dreaded most. It didn't matter that the black lioness hadn't yet spoken to her father, she'd asked her mother to relive those moments, that arguments. The older lioness stood, all joy gone from her expression as she studied her daughter and considered what she'd been asked. Finally, she nodded.

"He, and your grandfather, came into the den," she didn't call it her own, because that was to say that Orion would never return, "and they were covered in blood." She could almost smell it, even now. "Your father told me that he'd killed Tyfu. I almost couldn't believe it, he's such a gentle lion. And we all knew there'd be trouble - it was Tyfu, after all."

Really, there was no need to elaborate on that point. Everyone in the pride had known who she was, and they had all seen how things had gone after her death.  

[mouselet]

Halili gave her daughter an amused glance. Was 'Misa really that oblivious? Well, she should probably find out before continuing the story. She wasn't entirely certain where the black-furred lioness' ultimate loyalties lay, at least when speaking beyond her direct family. Her very presence here was quite a clear statement in that respect.

"Did you know that I was originally supposed to be the Royal Guard in the family?" she asked. "Not your father?"  

[mouselet]

"I supported him, yes," Halili sighed. "And I suppose I still do, if only because I refuse to take back my word once given." She snorted, shaking her head at herself. "I declined the invitation to be a Royal Guard not because I thought I couldn't do the job, nor because I didn't support Shangyue, but because I didn't want to put myself forward to the pride as a whole."

Well, anyone who'd an adult or adolescent at the time couldn't have helped knowing what had happened at Shangyue's coronation, and how she'd kept her father from killing the new King. But Halili hadn't wanted to become one of the obvious symbols of the new regime, preferring a quiet life with her mate. Of course, the young King had decided that Orion would also make a good Royal Guard for several political reasons, but that was beside the point. And if even her own children, well, the younger ones at least, had no real idea of what she'd done, then her goal had been achieved.  

[mouselet]

The older lioness rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "I swore myself to his cause, even if I didn't use those words or a formal setting. Did I suspect what he'd done already? Yes. The whole pride did. But neither those deeds nor his bloodthirsty shadows took away from what he wanted to give us all." Halili didn't care to share the class strife that had helped motivate her, but she remembered how those views had been...had been as revelatory to her then as the sunshine had been today.

"He created many new positions, and brought in younger and more able lions to fill them. Your sister wouldn't now be a Hunt Leader without the King," the beige lioness pointed out. "No lion is made wholly of darkness or of light. Is not the Great Lion's Eye the moon, seen best in the darkness of night?"  

[mouselet]

Halili sighed as her daughter pointed out the current situation, and how poorly it looked for the King. Now was as good a time as ever to resume her narrative.

"It would be better now if your father hadn't killed Tyfu," she told Tatamisa. "I told him that it would've been best for several reasons - firstly, it would serve to divide the rebels from the loyalists and keep the deaths firmly in the King's paws. Secondly, because even moreso than what happened, Tyfu would have been out for blood, which would have further pushed lions into the rebellion."

"Lastly..." the lioness' voice trailed off as she remembered back to that night. Her words dropped to a mere whisper. "Lastly, my father might have died the hero he was, instead of the failure he's been."  

[mouselet]

The lioness considered Tatamisa's hestitant words. There was, she admitted, some truth in them. On the other paw, considering who'd been in charge of that group, if Orion had done as he had and Uchanjaa had died, things would have been easier. Sure, he'd have outed himself as a rebel, but Halili would have been able to offer her mate the support he deserved. Why her father made such a difference, even the beige lioness had trouble putting into words. She could only say that if one thing was so, another would follow. But if a different thing was so, a very different path would follow.

It was, in the end, her failing. And none of it stopped her loving Orion. But she couldn't, wouldn't, abandon Shangyue. She would remain true until the King died. Then, and only then, would she be able to reevaluate where she stood in the pride.

So many lions were changing their allegiance, whether because they were becoming disillusioned or because they were simply garss, swaying in whatever direction the wind dictated. Halili would never go out and attack a pridemember - regardless of how that membership was defined - but she would remain here and do her duty. She was not one of the King's servants. Simply a loyal Slave.