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It was a strangely pleasant afternoon. The sun was setting behind the volcano, casting a shadow over the dens where Kweu’Rasi was soaking up the last of the day’s warmth from a large boulder near the nannies dens. His sunning spot put him well out of reach of the younger cubs. Some cubs still came by occasionally, taunting him from below and trying to climb onto his rock. Kweu no longer cared.

Ribs protruded from his sides and his shoulder and hip bones were clearly visible. His ears were ripped, his fur matted and his deep red eyes clouded and full of dull hatred, staring into the void. Pain followed him like his shadow. He was getting familiar with it, too. The scars marking his legs and torso stood testament to that. His eyes drifted over the cubs playing around the dens. Two cubs were fighting over a dead snake. Kweu huffed and rolled over, averting his eyes from the game. Though he felt desperately hungry he couldn’t bring himself to leave the nursery and look for food unless Nil commanded him to hunt for her. Maybe if he was lucky he’d starve.

Porerol Sol was, among other things, a good student. When she listened to things, she had to repeat them a couple times before it really stuck, but she was taking her lessons like a good girl. She was almost weaned now, but she worried over it; would Drathir send her to sleep with the slaves after she was capable of feeding herself? She hoped not. The idea of staying with other slaves was so... dirty. The nearly-pure white cub shuddered a little at the thought. Dirt was quickly becoming a phobia of hers; Drathir liked her clean, and if she got dirty, he wouldn't be happy. Almost obsessively, she plopped down mid-stride and licked at a spot of dirt on her paws, making a face at the taste.

Clean. She was clean now.

However, now that she was sitting, Porerol looked around with big red eyes, observing from her key point. She was done with her lesson for today, and she was supposed to be going home to Drathir, but she couldn't help getting distracted sometimes. It was this particular 'sometime' that she noticed the Very Big Rock. And with the curiosity of a young cub, Porerol wondered what the view was like from the Very Big Rock. So, she rose, and wandered over to the rock, peering up at it curiously. "Hmmm."

Sorry, Kweu, but this cub was going to try climbing your rock, too. She huffed and puffed a little, trying to climb and wiggle her way up. So intent on this task, in fact, she didn't even notice that there was a lion already on top of the Very Big Rock. No, she wanted to climb it, so she could tell Drathir all about her accomplishment and see if that made her stronger. It wasn't exactly drinking the blood of a hunted animal, but it had to count for something, right? Right!

Kweu stared at her with wide, terror-filled eyes. His mistress would be furious with him if she knew what he’d done. Gradually his breathing settled, a look of pain settled upon his hanging face. He murmured, “I… I’m sorry… I thought that…”

He stared at her. Even if she was just a slave, she was still the most beautiful cub he had ever seen. The consequences of his behavior suddenly seemed not to matter. Feelings of relief, perhaps even hope washed over him as he looked at her pure white coat, yet he pitied her even more than he pitied himself. She would grow into a beautiful lioness one day, if she lived that long. But she would always be a slave. His shakes quelled, willfully steadying himself, and he swallowed hard as he slowly put his thoughts into order.

“M-m-my name is Kweu’Rasi… I’m a slave, too.” He looked away, pawing at the rock. “Please don’t tell your master what I did. I just… I… that is, I wouldn’t normally… W-would you be my friend?”

It just slipped out. Kweu never liked cubs before, but there was something special about this one. Maybe he was just lonely.

The terror was what got her. As young as she was, she wasn't yet bitter to the whole world. A great deal of it would come to be a much hated thing for Porerol, but now, she was too innocent. And his eyes made her cringe. "No, no, it's okay." She assured, scooting closer and butting her head against his legs gently in a bizarre sign of affection. "I just... you scared me, that's all." She leaned back, watching him. "I didn't even see you on that Big Rock." She'd climb it one day, too. Just you wait.

She watched him calming himself, sitting down quietly to wait, and smiled slowly, nodding her head quickly. "Sure!" She grinned brilliantly. Porerol didn't have friends. She had a Master, and teachers, and other lions in the pride she had to listen to if their orders didn't directly conflict with something Drathir ordered her to do, but she didn't have friends. "I'd like that." She grinned wider at him. "I don't have any of those." She looked towards the opening to the crevice, ears flattening a little.

"My name's Porerol Sol." She grinned a little. "My master named me that. I don't know what it means, but it sounds pretty." Funny, considering it's meaning, but since the meaning was lost on Porerol, she wasn't insulted by it. "Who's your master?" She blinked at him curiously. What kind of master let their slave laze about picking up cubs and carrying them off? But he was practically shaking at the word 'master', so maybe he was hiding from them...? She tilted her head, watching him curiously.

He shuffled his front paws, shoulders twitching in an odd way as a blank look came over his eyes. Anger flared up briefly in his heart. He felt inexplicably jealous that his only friend turned ecstatic at the mention of his heartless mistress, the very lioness who had tricked him into her claws and dragged him to this Hell. When he saw her prancing about his throat tightened, muscles tensing with hate, but the growl that tugged at his vocal cords never materialized and his limbs soon relaxed. He was too distracted by strange impulses. Hit her, his heart had said. He lowered his gaze and just stared at that for a moment. Hit her. How strange.

He never acted upon it; the impulse in itself was too surprising to react to, it was not something he imagined himself thinking. Besides, even if he could get away with it, she was too beautiful to strike. He blinked in surprise and shook his head a little.

No, it was wrong to have these impulses because Sol was a cub. A good, decent lion like Kweu’Rasi should never think of striking a cub simply for saying something he dislikes. A firm cuffing is acceptable if a cub misbehaves, but only a cub of one’s own blood, never the cub of another. He lifted his head with a jerk and stared at Sol, coming out of his thoughts. “What? Oh….”

He lowered his eyes again, this time in thought. Best to put those nasty impulses behind him. “Well, it was my brother, actually. We ruled the pride together. I’m not sure why he chased me out… I think he wanted more power for himself. Maybe he just hated me for some reason. Niliua tricked me into thinking she would help me get my pride back, but she really just wanted me for her slave.”

His claws scratched softly against the stone, brow knit in concern. Ardhi and he worked so hard to overthrow the old male that ruled that pride. They were ruthless, but they never killed any cubs or lionesses in their conquest, except for the prince. He was only a juvenile when they took over the pride. Neither of them wanted to destroy him, but both knew he posed too great a risk to their new dynasty to be sent into exile, so they held him prisoner until he was an adolescent then lead him away from the rest of the pride. They backed him up against a large stone, Ardhi standing on one side, he on the other. His royal blood flowed like a river across a flood plain that day. Kweu shuddered at the memory.

Sol watched Kweu tentatively, tilting her head as the older lion looked down and twitched some more. He was a very twitchy one, this lion slave. She blinked when he jerked, and smiled gently in an attempt to coax him into answering. It seemed to work, though perhaps he was just answering for the sake of answering. Maybe he liked the sound of his own voice. She watched him quietly, frowning a little.

"I'm sorry, Kweu." She scooted closer, brushing up against him. "It must be awful to be chased out by your brother." To be honest, she had no idea if that was all that awful. She got a friend out of it; maybe it was supposed to happen. Maybe it was meant to happen. Maybe something awful happened to his brother to make up for it and he just didn't know yet! Whatever it was, she pressed against him in an attempt to be comforting, smiling up at him. It would be a pity that such a pretty smile became rare as she grew older, but for now, she had smiles to spare.

"My Master found me. I thought I was going to starve to death or get trampled or eaten." She shuddered at the memory. "He's a very powerful demon." She said matter-of-factly, smiling up at him. "Is... Is Niliua always mean to you?" She asked quietly, watching him. Her ears flattened against her head anxiously. So far, she'd had it easy, but being a 'slave' didn't sound like a luxury job. She wanted to know what she was likely to get into as she grew older and became less...well. Pretty.

But as soon as the question left her mouth, she just knew the answer. And she didn't like it.

Despite being bound to a nanny, Kweu knew very little about the pride. He tended to zone out whenever his mistress was speaking to the cubs about their pride, but he remembered hearing Drathir’s name somewhere before, though the context was lost to him. The mention of scars caused him to lick his noise. Even though Nil was his mistress, it was Rhaen who put the pride’s mark on him. How clever of her to put it in a place where it could be seen by everyone and would be difficult to cover up. He had seen other lions with the mark, too. Most of them were not slaves. He assumed that the mark had different meanings for different lions. For him, it meant slave. Would Sol bare this mark one day, too?

Having nothing to say, he glanced outside toward the stars that were slowly filling the sky. There was a light on the edge of the horizon. Everything always seemed darker on this side of the volcano. Nil would be looking for him soon. He wished she would just let him stay with Sol. Her company made everything seem so peaceful.

“I’m sure he’ll protect you. He is a powerful lion,” he said at last, though he knew how uncertain it sounded.

Again, despite the uncertainty in his tone, Sol said nothing in response. She looked up at the sky, cringing a little. "I should be going." She said finally, shoulders slumping. "I don't want my Master to worry over me. He has many important things to worry about, and I don't want to be one of them." She got up, shaking herself off a little. "I'll see you again though, right, Kweu?" She looked over at him, smiling fondly. "'Cause I take lessons every day, so if your Mistress lets you come, we can talk more, right?"

She sounded so hopeful, like the whims of the Mistress was so easy to read. The little cub was lucky, and she didn't even know it, really.