The traveling rogue family had long gone. The only evidence left of their passing was a series of tracks - Two adults, an adolescent, and three cubs. There was no telling what genders the adolescent and cubs were, nor what colors any of them were. For the single white cub following the tracks, there was barely a memory of them. The scent on the tracks was starting to fade, as the time between her and the group grew more and more. How long had it been now? Two sunsets? Yes, two sunsets. Not that she was having an easy time keeping track of much. Her entire mind had been on following the tracks so far. She'd only seen one other animal in the past day - A vulture, following her with the gloom of death. She was lost, and very alone, and very thirsty and hungry. Finding a tree near the track of prints, the cub curled up. The smell was a bit stronger here... They'd rested here. She didn't know how long ago, though. A wind picking up didn't help her, and soon the tracks were covered. The cub looked up, ears drooped low. This was her fate... She was going to die here, and she didn't even remember who she was or who the lions she'd been with were.
She'd watched the group pass by, but it was just another group of rogues, another set of faces, more passing faces... They were there and gone in her memory just like that, with little recognition for them. The white lioness, though she stood out, had remained ever vigilant on the dunes, watching them go by. Now, she passed the same place, wondering still if there were others. The dead tree in the distance, at one point the only shade offered to tired cubs, stood as a lonely sentinal to the literal shifting sands of time. She barely glanced at it, not considering it much worth staring at. The odd bird would land on it, then fly away, wanting to be away from the infernal heat of the lands. As before, a bird landed on it, this time a vulture. Not the usual creature to be there... Savitri paused, watching the vulture, before blue eyes wandered down the tree. There at the base, curled up, was a white blob of SOMETHING. Now that was curious... Breaking from her usual pattern, the lioness turned and made her way down the dunes, intent on investigating what the vulture was watching.
It was back... The cub looked up at the vulture, before curling back up. She was alone in her misery otherwise, thankful something bigger wasn't around. The only other thing her mind was on was how hungry and thirsty she was, how she wished for something to eat, to quench her parched throat. She was engrossed in her thoughts, and didn't notice the lioness approaching. The only thing she noticed, was the vulture squawking angrily before flying off.
As she got closer, she noticed that the thing under the tree was... A cub? Closer inspection told her it was a lion cub. Well, this was something one didn't usually find out here... She looked up, watching the vulture leave. It had decided it didn't want to fight a lion, she supposed. Which left her alone with the cub... When she looked back down, she watched it breathe for a bit. Did it have a family, or were they dead...? She shook her head, then reached over, nudging the cub with a paw. No sense waiting around for it to die on her... It was time for the cub to get up.
Somebody was nudging her. When she rolled over, the cub... Gawked. She looked up at the lioness, eyes quite wide. Not only was this lioness huge... She was as snow-white as the cub was. It was... Surreal. Like a bigger, older version of herself. Some part of her told her to run, that this could be dangerous. Yet another part told her to wait and see just what this lion would do. Despite her fearing the unknown, being lost and alone... She found herself unable to run away, desperate enough at this point to not WANT to run away.
Savitri, in the mean time, contemplated what to do with the cub. The next nearest pride was miles away - Too far to send a cub on its own to find, and too far for her to carry it off to. Who had even left her here? The only paw prints she saw in the sand were the ones of the traveling group from a day or two before, other than the single cub's paw prints. Which meant the cub had nobody. She glanced back toward the main pride, mind still running over various possibilities. Somehow... It kept coming back to the cubs that the other lionesses of the pride had, this one reminding her of them. Finally, she made up her mind. Without another word, she picked the cub up. She was taking it in as her own.
At first, she'd gone limp, instinct kicking in. But before long, she began to realize... This lioness was taking her somewhere with intent. All she could do was watch the dunes, eyes wide and ears back. After a while, a series of cliffs came into view, populated with various caves. Amid the caves, the odd lion seemed to come and go, and the cub realized that this was home to... Well, a lot of lions. One thing she noticed was that all but a tiny paw full were some shade of red, black, or white, with a couple cubs here and there in shades of browns and creams. There WAS at least one lion that was a cream yellow, but that was it. The rest were primarily blacks, reds, and whites. Was this all one group...?
Her own den was, by now, away from her father's den. Or, rather, the den her father shared with her half-sister and her mate, their cubs... And his lady-friend. But that was neither here nor now. The white lioness gently padded into her den, depositing the cub on some old antelope pelts. They'd been worn soft by constant use, making for an ideal bed. Finally, she spoke her first words. "There you are, nice and safe... And cooler than out there." She glanced over the cub, finally intently examining it. "No scratches... Just warm..." She flicked an ear at a rumbling sound. "And hungry... Probably thirsty..."
She looked around, nose twitching. The group that had left her at the border was already starting to feel like a distant memory, barely remembered to begin with. Out of the sun, she was starting to cool off, feeling less drained. Though she was still hungry and thirsty, the cub was starting to bubble with energy again already. In her distraction of playing with some of the skins, she didn't notice the huge white lioness leave. When she turned around, green eyes dancing, she was greeted by an empty den. Her ears fell, starting to feel lonely, only for the lioness to return, carrying some small animal's leg. Some sort of hoofed creature. She didn't care, though. She knew instinctively what that was - Food!
Setting the leg down, Savitri took up a spot near the skins. As she watched, the cub tore at the meat, clearly enjoying her first meal in what had to be a couple days. Which, since she was eating solid food... Meant she had been weaned, if forcibly. Savitri yawned, before laying her head down for a nap. If the cub wandered off... Well, hopefully it knew the way back... But her bigger hope was that it didn't wander off at all.
When she'd finished filling her belly, the cub looked around. Green eyes landed on the lioness, who appeared to be napping. Little paws moved rather quickly as she went over, batting a paw. And started to chirp. And chirp. And chirp some more. Her hunger had been taken care of, but she was still thirsty. And tired. But the thirst was the most important part.
She opened one eye before lifting her head. Well, the cub was done eating... What else could she...? Oh, yes, water... She'd been out there a while. Not wanting the cub lost or sinking in the sand, Savitri grabbed hold of her scruff, lifting her up and carrying her outside. The sun had shifted across the sky, and the day was thankfully cooling with the march into afternoon. The glimmering water of the watering hole was soon in view, and so were many others. Including her previous ward, Kosuke, with his collective family. She opted to ignore them all, though, setting the cub down. "There you go... Drink up."
So many new sights.. And a LOT of new faces. The cub batted her paws in the water a bit, starting to play. When she looked at the lioness, she got a hard look and words of caution - Water was precious here, not to be played with. A lesson she'd have to hold on to, it looked like. Mind now off playing, the cub looked at the water, licking her lips. After a moment, she finally lapped at it, closing her eyes and joyfully quenching her thirst. No sooner had she finished, that she was lifted up and toted back to the den, the huge white lioness having already drank as well.
When she lay down with the cub close, Savitri could already see the tiredness in her eyes. "Are you sleepy, little one...?" She ran her tongue over the cub's forehead, watching her yawn. "I don't even know your name..."
As she huddled into the lioness' arms and paws, the cub started to drift to sleep. In her half-sleep state, she finally spoke her first words, scratchy as they were from her time of thirst and hunger, "Never got one..." She was then out, fast asleep and metaphorically dead to the world.
No name... What a shame for such a lovely cub. As Savitri settled down for a nap, she rumbled at the cub. "Then you will be Rashmi... The little ray of sunlight.." She closed her eyes, sleep soon overtaking her. While the heat outside was intense, the dark of the den was cooling, providing a good place to sleep for the early afternoon nap.
