|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:50 pm
Molemogi was, for once, not stressed out. Her babies were getting bigger and bigger. Yes, the news that her youngest daughter had run away still hurt her when she thought about it, but she was coming to terms with it. Her dark green eyes were half-closed against the sun. She had taken this time to get out of her den, to get some sun soaked through her fur and onto her skin. Rarely did Mollie get out of the den without taking care of everyone first.
She knew where Afsar was; talking with random Pesar in the pride, or once more bugging the Sultan. Her pale daughter had turned out much different than when she was a cub. Harb was off capturing his own female, and Zarha....? Well, she left before Mollie got out of the den, so she wasn't too sure.
The hare kicked and screamed out under Zarha’s huge black paws. Panting from her long chase, the lioness simply moved her paw over the hare’s mouth, effectively gagging it while she caught her breath. She disliked listening to it scream. By now the hare’s voice was weak, throat dirt dry from racing death all through the thick grass. Chase, catch, release and repeat. It was excellent practice for a huntress in training. Zarha looked down at the exposed neck of her catch. She lifted her paws. “Go.”
The hare took off like a bolt of lightning. Zarha smiled and stretched. Satisfied with herself, she headed back to the den to rest and relax. When Anwar returned she would make him proud to call her his Beybanu.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:55 pm
Small screms caught her attention and her eyes snapped open before she sighed. It sounded like someone was torturing an animal. Curiosty got the better of her, and the black lioness rolled off her rock and stretched out her stiff muscles before rolling her head to crack her neck. Happy with that, she took off to where she heard the screaming coming from and found her daughter, Zarha, coming back, looking like she had a race with a cheetah.
"Did you win your race?" She asked, a smirk appearing on her lips. Mollie, while she still didn't talk much, had eased into her roll as Beybanu and mother to the only children her, Fila and Vu had.
Zarha smiled back, a gleam of triumph in her eyes. “Yes, I did.”
She nuzzled her mother with a loud purr. Zarha was growing into a large, muscular lioness. In another pride she might have put her strength to use as a warrior. Here her talents found a different use, as a swift and cunning huntress, the bane of the prey beasts. She seemed to have finally found her place among the pride. She looked at her Mollie and smiled pleasantly. “I was just on my way back to the den. How are you today, mother?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:57 pm
"I am well." Her voice was warm and gentle, giving her daughter's head a lick before nuzzling back and then she pulled back. She knew Zarha too be the more muscular of the two daughters she still had, and Afsar was more supple. Not fat, but not thing. A healthy in between. Zarha seemed to take after her father, more than anyone else. "Anxious for Anwar's return?" She asked curiously, motioning her daughter to follow her back to the large sunbathing rock.
“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” Zarha sighed. The day he left she sat by the lake and stared at their island. They were the first two lions on that island, as far as she knew, and so she would always think of it as their island, their special place.
“I wish I could have gone with him. He must be having so much fun. Not too much fun, I hope.” She narrowed her eyes. She could handle sharing Anwar with other banu. In fact she hoped he would bring back several banu, enough to earn the respect she felt her pad deserved. What drove her crazy was the thought that Anwar was out there experiencing the world without her, probably coming up with all sorts of interesting schemes and plans. When he finally returned she would sit him down and make him tell her everything.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:11 pm
Those green eyes stayed settled on her daughter and she gave a small smile at her words. She was quite taken with Anwar, it seemed. That was good. Both of her daughters seemed to get the attention of Pads higher up in the pride than she had hoped for. She moved and tugged Zarha to her to lick at her tuft of mane on her head and purred softly. "He will be back, with your brother, soon enough. Along with Ilyas. I'm so happy the two of you have found Pads that will treat you right."
Her tail flicked happily before she settled on the rock and offered her daughter a spot. "So.. are you to be his Beybanu, just as your sister?"
“Tch, mom!” Zarha complained as Mollie tugged her ear. She didn’t mean it of course and smiled when she felt her mother’s rough tongue through her mane. Part of her would always miss those cubhood days spent in her mother’s warm embrace. But she was an adult now and ready to put those simpler times behind her, even if it caused a little pain.
Zarha stretched out beside her mother. Her dark coat absorbed the heat more easily than the lighter coats of her brother and sister. She didn’t know how long she would be able to stay on the rock before the heat forced her into the shade, but for now the warmth felt pleasant and the company was grand. Since her mother’s coat was also dark, Zarha knew that when the time came to move her mother would come with her. “I will be. He hasn’t told me, but I will be.” She smiled determinedly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:16 pm
Of course Molemogi knew she didn't mean it. So that's why she continued to nuzzle her until she settled on the rock. Her green eyes closed as she listened to her daughter's confident speech and nodded. So, both her daughters would be Beybanu. That made her heart swell with pride.
"I don't have to tell you, but make sure you keep him happy. I've already had this speech with Afsar," one ey cracked open, pointedly looking at Zarha. "Don't be pushy, needy, or overly aggressive unless he says so. I don't want to see either of you hurt."
Zarha chuckled lightly at her mother’s advice. While she appreciated her mother’s concern, she didn’t think it was necessary. “Anwar and I have been friends since we were cubs. We’ve always had a good relationship.”
Anwar let her speak her mind more than any other pad she knew, with the possible exception of her father. But she knew even Anwar had his limits. When she was a cub she tested the boundaries of what was acceptable for a female in her pride. Now that she was almost grown, she understood well how far she could push the pride’s traditions without stepping out of line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:33 pm
Mollie nodded a bit and shifted subtly, part of her getting way to warm for her liking. That's when she figured it was shade time. Because of their coats. "Well, just don't test your luck too much." With that, the elder got off the rock and headed for the sade of the trees not too far from them. She liked spending time with Zarha. It wasn't often she got too, because Afsar took up so much of her time and attention with her disappearing acts and her none stop talking about everything she's 'seen'. Her and Harb both. "I know Afsar pushes her limits too far, but her Pad has yet to say anything about it. Not that I've heard, anyway."
"Tell me, what do you think of your sister and her Pad?"
Zarha flicked her ear at the mention of her sister. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her sister. It was just that… well… it was a complicated issue, really. After a moment she stretched and decided to join her mother in the shade. The shadows seemed more pleasant anyway.
“I’m happy for her,” she replied, not being entirely honest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:35 pm
Mollie arched a brow and shook her head. Something about her daughter's tone made her worry; uneasy. So she would press until she got an honest answer out of her. "Zarha. I raised you to tell me the truth. You're not giving me the whole truth, are you?" She asked, being completely serious and giving her that 'look' she got when this happened when she was younger.
“I am happy for her,” Zarha insisted, giving her mother that familiar persistent look. “I’m just annoyed that she doesn’t feel the same way about Anwar and I. She keeps telling me I could do better, but she doesn’t even know Anwar.”
She must be mad that I’m marrying a vizier’s son as well, Zarha thought. Afsar knew that if Zarha married Anwar and became his beybanu then they would be equals, at least for a time. That was why Zarha hoped Anwar would bring back many females. The more females Anwar obtained, the higher his rank and by extension her rank. She wanted to see Anwar become Vizier himself one day. For the moment there was no clear winner, which must have been infuriating for Afsar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:25 pm
Mollie frowned at her daughter and licked her mane again before tugging her close. Both of her daughters had managed to snag a Vizier's son, so why was there so much competition between the two of them? It was something she would never understand. Her tail flicked as she sighed and nodded slowly, thinking once more. "...It's not that.... I know Afsar is happy for you, but she's told me some disturbing things of him. Of course, I'll not judge which pad choses you, so long as you're happy." Even if she wasn't happy, there wasn't much Mollie could do about it. It was a male dominate pride, which meant only Vu could have something to do with it.
"We'll let this drop for now." She gave her daughter a tenative smile and then yawned widely, tongue curling as she did.
Zarha opened her mouth to speak but closed it when her mother said to drop it. She sighed, putting on a smile. “Well then, I’ll have to introduce you when he returns.”
That lying Afsar. Just because she was a seer she thought her parents would believe everything she said, but she was wrong. Zarha knew more about Anwar than Afsar ever could even with her seer powers. She knew Anwar was not an innocent soul. She knew he had ambitions, schemes, and Zarha would help him every step of the way, no matter what that meant. Anwar knew she was useful and so did she. The truth was that Zarha did not know whether Anwar loved her or whether she loved him, it simply didn’t matter. All she wanted was for Anwar to succeed.
((Fin~))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
