Harakhty was on duty tonight, the moon shining brightly above them and casting the earth in a bright, pale hue. This one left him uneasy though, for the full moon had come two weeks ago, and she still had not awaken yet. Not that she was alone, but the last remaining lion had awoken just yesterday.
It didn't take a genius to figure out her rank, as the previous had walked out a Slave, but he was beginning to worry that she wouldn't awaken period. Was that a thing? He didn't think it was, as he'd never seen it occur, but this newbie was beginning to make him think so.
And he was worried over her reaction too. The lion before her had not taken well to his new rank, but he had thankfully done nothing more than grumble about it and glare balefully at everyone near him. At least, that's what Har had been told. He hadn't been on duty last night.
Now he was, and if she acted out, he would need to step in and put a stop to it.
Of course, he thought with slight amusement, her hare might cause more of a commotion than she would.
He'd met all the new rogues two weeks prior, alongside the other rogue guards, and from what he'd seen... This lioness was mostly just a big, bouncy ball of happiness. Her familiar, though, had been quiet and cautious about everyone, but he had to commend her for refusing to leave the lioness' side during all of this. He wasn't all that sure if that was allowed, but the Nurse Priest had just smiled and acquiesced, bringing the hare food each day so she wouldn't starve during her vigil.
Said hare was scowling in his general direction, as if she were daring him to make a comment or do something untoward otherwise. She didn't have to worry about that - it wasn't in Har's nature to do so - but he certainly would if either of them stepped out of line.
Over on the hare's end, Oji was sulking. Leave it to Fol to sleep in during the worst possible occasion.
She had watched yesterday's performance, and while she agreed that yeah, they'd warned them and that lion had no right to huff about it, it still grated on her nerves that Folami would end up as a low class citizen. She didn't deserve that!
And she certainly didn't trust any of the rogue guards not to hurt Fol when she woke up. Oh, she was positive that Folami wouldn't make a fuss about her status, but she didn't know how this one would act. Maybe she shouldn't be staring him down like she was, but she wanted to make sure the lioness was still treated well, and if he so much as twitched, Oji would kick him in the face.
Though, the black male had not done anything beyond walking in and settling with a shuffle in that spot that they had all wandered onto, and his face was so carefully blank that it left shivers up Oji's spine.
Why had she agreed to joining a pride?
Right, she wanted to stay with Folami, but prides had so many predators in their midst. How could other prey handle this?
Of course, not all were that bad, she thought with a quick glance at the Nurse Priest who had walked in. It was the same one that had been bringing her food these past few weeks, but Oji found no reason to learn her name or be in any way friendlier towards her. She was here for Folami, nothing more.
... If only she would WAKE UP ALREADY.
Finally, as if she could feel Oji's ire, the purple lioness began twitching in her sleep. It was so faint of a movement that Oji had thought that she was the only one to notice, but no, the Nurse Priest was making her way over. Clearly she had witnessed this many times.
It was like a thick fog, or maybe a swamp. Folami wasn't really sure. All she knew was that it was hard to pull herself from this sleep. She didn't dream of anything, at least, she didn't think she had, but she still felt sluggish and as if she hadn't slept at all.
How unpleasant.
There was a nose nudging at her side too. Wait, no, make that two. One was small, and she instantly recognized it as one that had woken her many-a-mornings before. Oji was always so insistent about her waking up....
But the second nose was foreign, and that, more than anything, is what brought her out of her haze.
Red eyes blearily blinked open, just a crack so she could judge what was happening around her. The darkness of night was the first thing she registered, followed by a soothing voice crooning at her to come out of it, and then, of course, Oji's face was suddenly nose-to-nose with her. The hare had such an angry look on her face that Folami couldn't help but startle back.
Crap, what had she done now?
"Ugh, finally! What took you so long?! I thought you were excited for this!" Oji probably could have continued her ranting, had the Nurse Priest not started chuckling and gently nudged her away.
Fine, the rabbit would give Folami her space for now, but only because she still looked very out of sorts. She would be having words with her later!
The hare allowed herself to be scooted away a few paces and then began hopping over to stand beside to stoic male observing the proceedings. He didn't even spare a glance at her, which left Oji even more in a sulk than before and she crossed her paws across her chest sourly.
As grateful as she was towards the Nurse Priest for stalling Oji, the lioness certainly didn't believe in breaking into anything gently, and it left her feeling like she was punched.
At first it was just standard stuff. How are you feeling? Any numbness, soreness? Here, have some food and water. It's been weeks - that probably should have been her first clue. The second should have been the very watchful gaze of the rogue guard stationed in the shadows, his green eyes watching her every move.
But she had just woken up, and she had never been terribly aware of her surroundings on a normal day.
In the end, after assuring that she felt fine and that the fog was clearing, it was the Nurse Priest who broke it to her: she had woken last, and not only that, a whopping 2 weeks later. Geez, no wonder she felt off....
And then it hit her. Memories of the multiple discussions and warnings from everyone prior to entering the Mwezi... and what it meant for her to awaken during a new moon.
She was low class, a Slave.
The Nurse Priest kept talking, but honestly, she wasn't registering anything she was saying now. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Oji had figured out what was going through her head, and with concerned blue eyes, was slowly beginning to hop closer, before the male set a paw gently against the hare's chest with a look.
Oji certainly didn't appreciate the gesture, but Folami did. She just... needed a minute to process this information.
To be honest, she hadn't given much thought to the idea of ending up a Slave, but.... thinking it over, it didn't change her yearning to stay here. She mourned over what could have happened to her mother, wherever she was now (though logically she knew that the woman could handle herself), but she had found her brothers! And not only that - she had found SO MANY RELATIVES HERE that Folami had been overwhelmed.
Did this change anything?
.... No. She still would have joined, even if she had known. This simply meant that she would need to work a little bit harder to prove herself. And hey, a few of those aforementioned relatives were Slaves too. It's not like she was alone. Plus, she doubted that anything really terrible would happen to her, not with her brothers around.
So, with a shaky smile, Folami tuned back into the world. The Nurse Priest had left and Oji had shuffled herself up next to the lioness' side. With a gentle chuckle, she leaned down to give a comforting lick at the top of the hare's head.
Oji gave a snort. Folami was seriously trying to comfort her? Well, she was right about the lioness not really caring.
Still, she would keep an eye on her. She wouldn't want her getting any sad thoughts over this. They'd found her family! That meant for something, right?
She hoped it did.
Harakhty, meanwhile, let out a quick sigh of relief. The lioness seemed to have processed the news and came to accept it. Good, that would make her a great addition to the pride, regardless of her rank. After all, everyone had a reason for why they ended up the way they are. You just needed to trust that the Great Lion would guide you down that path.
For a moment, as the purple female began grooming her companion, he felt like he was intruding. Should he move out of the room? But no, he reminded himself, you're a guard and regardless of how relaxed she's being, you should still keep watch.
So instead, he simply kept his silence. Shifting down into a more relaxed laying position, the lion allowed himself to loosen up if only a bit. He hadn't realized how stiff he had gotten as she slept. Perhaps he should go on a hunt tomorrow to unwind.
After all, the hardest part had passed.