Some days when Taime’sooja got up in the morning he pondered whether or not living solely off vegetables was a good decision. He would feel groggy, sluggish, and his stomach constantly ached. He knew that the feeling would go away as soon as he feasted on the flesh of another, but it felt as wrong to him as if he had eaten one of his own kind! It was cannibalism! The Gods themselves would punish him if he was caught.
So he would roll over onto his back, staring up at the clouds as he pondered his return journey home. He’d met a lovely lioness, one who spoke of grottos, waters, caves and treasures, but had shown him so much more. What would Ige have thought of it? Surely she could have gotten more out of the experience than himself. It had felt really good to talk to someone else who was similar to him in so many ways, but then at the end of the day he was on his own again.
Taime sighed and placed a firm hand on his rumbling stomach. He had little energy to move that day. The young lion knew that if he wanted to get back home he would have to eat...meat. The thought made him sick. His stomach rolled inside of him, pushing tossing and before he knew it he was rolling as well to expel the contents of his stomach in a bush. Maybe he was sick? That would explain a lot of things. However, since he was already turned right side up, he sighed, wiped his mouth off and started walking.
There wasn't much distance between himself and the swamplands of his old home, but Taime'sooja had no desire to go there. It was only full of bad memories, broken promises and shadows of the dead. His family were only known for making lives worse and he didn't need reminders on how things could turn that way. When he wasn't starved he was chipper, down right sociable even, but now he was meditative. Maybe if he went back that female would take him with him? She could show him a world he'd never seen. It would be better than going back to a lonely den.
This is going to be a long trip. He needed to hunt something if he stood any chance of seeing the mountains again. Taime survived his situation. There were more dead and burnt trees in this area than live, which meant most of the larger game would be long gone. Great. But as he looked he could see marks of snakes. It had seemed that some had survive the fire, probably by burrowing underground or riding off on the backs of lions.
It wasn't his choice in meal, but it would do. Taime lowered his lean body to the ground, clawing at the hard earth with his lean paws. He followed the thin trail around the roots of a gnarled tree, and found his prey. A snake hole! It was tiny, as if it had been freshly dug and that made him happy. Then instantly he regretted feeling that way. Who was he to destroy this family? What if it was a mother, too worn after having given birth to a clutch of eggs? He shook his head, rose, and walked away with some semblance of regret. All the while he couldn't stop licking his lips. The meat would have been good. Taime paused, looking over his shoulder at the hole, biting on his lower lip as he weighed his possibilities.
He turned back. Then he dug his claws in and walked a couple steps forward, only to move one step back. Taime vocally growled and rolled his head back on his shoulders. Why was this so hard?! He was trying to be the good guy! Good guys shouldn't have such a hard time if being good was the right thing to do!
When he looked back the next time he saw the snake. It had it's head peeped out from the hole, two bright yellow eyes taking him in. It was more curious than afraid since he'd made no move to attack. They stayed like that for a while, just staring at each other, before he gave in a little tired smile. "When the rains come your hole will be flooded by the swamp. I would go North, up that little bank if I were you. There's a lot of brush in that area now so it should give you cover as well." Certainly he wouldn't have been able to see the hole if it had been hidden as such. That same area is where he used to play as a cub, so he knew it to be easily defensible.
The serpent seemed to smile as much as a snake could before slithering back into the ground. Taime's smile waned before disappearing entirely. His bleeding heart was going to get him killed one day, that much he was more than sure of now. When Ige was around she would hunt for him, and force feed him. Now he was on his own.
He huffed and picked up his pace again. It was going to be a long walk back and if he planned to make it he was going to have to change his attitude. It wasn't the lack of protein keeping him down, but rather a bad mindset! Good deeds wouldn't go unrewarded, he was sure. The Gods had better plans than that. He just had to push on, that was all. Just keep pushing even though his stomach felt as if it would eat it's way out through his chest.
Bolstering himself up he trudged on. Just put one paw in front of the other. If he was going to show his brethren a better way of living he had to be the example! Taime had spared a life today and that was something to celebrate. He should be happy for that accomplishment, but all he could think about was how good that snake would have tasted.
(WC: 1020)