((Back Log))

Levigis was at the meeting spot before the sun had even rose and now she was patiently waiting for her half-brother. When he did arrive she would be sure to insult him for being so late, even though she was technically early (very very early). She had a hard time sleeping. Her mind was racing with all the possibilities.

She had her father's blessing, so now she knew she wouldn't feel guilty about leaving. Acacius wasn't going to tell anyone about his departure. She couldn't imagine how frightened Hotza was going to be. Levigis knew the lioness well enough to know that she would worry about her son if he was suddenly missing.

She understood why Acacius chose to do it that way though. Saying goodbye was difficult. Especially when you're leaving your first home. She sighed and looked up at the sky. The colors of the morning were beginning to come in. Soon it would be sunrise.

“Did Aureo ever show up?”

Levigis looked at her brother. He was walking toward her, an arrogant grin on his face. “Wouldn't be surprised if he had forgotten. Are you just going to wait here for him?”

She shook her head. “He showed up yesterday. Late, but he still showed up. He gave me his blessing. I can go. What about you? Did you tell father?” She was sure she knew the answer already.

“Nah. He never came back to the den. I told my mother though. She told me she would tell Aureo after he got back from his hunt.” He wasn't sure by hunt if she meant that he was partying or actually hunting for treasure. It was sometimes hard to tell with his father. He could trust his mother to tell Aureo about his departure when she knew he was far enough away. Aureo probably wouldn't hunt him down, especially since he had given his blessing to Levigis. There was always a chance though with such an unpredictable father.

On his back he had a fur from one of his hunts. At night it sometimes got cold. He just wanted to be prepared.

“I am ready any time you are Levigis.” He said, looking away from the sun, toward the south. This was it, he was finally leaving, finding his own pride.

“Yeah I'm ready.” She said, taking the lead. Neither of them knew where they were going, but she was determined to be the leader.

~~~

Their first day of traveling led them deep into a think jungle forest. Levigis was in awe of her surroundings. They had found an abounded cave to call home for the night. Acacius was out hunting for prey animals while Levigis was near a stream, trying to catch some fish.

Her full attention was on catching the fish, when she heard the breaking of a twig. She stopped and looked around. Whatever made the noise was not visible. She narrowed her eyes. “Acacius if that's you trying to scare me, then you better stop. Right now isn't the time for a game.”

Really, sometimes he didn't act like the mature lion that he wanted to be.

She didn't hear anything more. Not until Acacius returned with a catch in his mouth. He dropped the dead creature in front of her. “I don't see any fish Levi.” He stated as he sat down. “I mean there is enough for both of us to eat this, but I thought you were a great fisher.”

Levigis let out a playful growl at her brother. “Look, you trying to scare me distracted me from fishing. Fishing is half skill, half concentration. I need to be able to focus on what I am doing.” Plus it was hard to catch fish at night. If she was doing this with better light, she would have a nice pile of fish.

She looked at his prey. “Nice catch.” She hated to compliment him, but she had to admit that he was a good hunter.

Acacius had a look of concern. “How did I distract you? I was out hunting the whole time.” He had no way to distract her that he could think of.

“You were making noise idiot.” She said with a frown. Then she remembered that he never responded, which was something unlike him. “But if you didn't make it, maybe it was just the wind.” Her voice lacked the confidence it usually had.

Acacius closed his eyes and listened in case he could hear something. He had heard stories of travelers getting attacked at night. They were both fighters and could take on anyone who attacked them. Regardless, he didn't want to end up in a fight.

He didn't hear any unusual sounds. “For now we'll keep an eye out for anything odd. We should ear before it gets too late.”

The two siblings divided up the meal and started eating, unaware of the green eyes watching them.

~~~

Compared to the night before, Levigis slept like a log. She had a dreamless night. Acacius however found himself cold. When he woke up, he expected his half-sister to have taken his fur skin. However she did not have it.

Gently he woke her up, shaking her shoulder with his paw. “Levi, Levi, do you know where my fur is?” He asked. She rolled over.

“On your skin dummy.” She responded before going back to sleep. He shook his head at her with annoyance.

'She's useless,' he thought before leaving the cave. His sight went downward toward the ground. As he suspected, he saw a third set of paw prints, he was sure that those were not there when they found the cave. 'Seems like we have a little thief on our paws,' he thought looking around. The tracks led into the jungle a ways.

“Hey Levi, I'm going to go on a quick hunt. Why don't you stay put and be useless. You're good at that.” He called out to her. From the cave he could hear her growl which made him laugh. Somethings never changed.

He followed the tracks deep in the forest, his steps extremely quiet. If he did find the thief, he wanted to get the upper hand on them. He had litter tolerance for thieves. The ground below him started feeling uneasy, like he was about to sink. He went to move to a different spot, but he heard a crash, and the ground beneath him collapsed.

With quick reflexes he managed a somewhat graceful fall. He looked up to see he was stuck in a hole. His first idea was to climb up the side, but the sides of the hole were muddy and slippery. He just ended up sliding back down.

“Now this is entertainment,” a soft feminine voice said.


(WC: 1,136)