Kumi ran, three jackals fast on his heels. Normally he wouldn't have, they were smaller after all even if he was outnumbered. But there was something seriously wrong with these beasts in particular. Some sort of disease, it had mangled their coats and made them crazy, but that wasn't really the point. The point was, frankly, he didn't want to catch it. Otherwise, he wouldn't be running.Running was all well and good, until you ran into a dead end.
He hadn't been paying attention, that was the only explanation for it, for the next thing he knew he was trapped with a river right in front of him. No way to cross, a hill too weathered and steep to climb on one side and just more ground on the other. And stopping at the river's edge gave his pursuers time to catch up enough to cut off that last route.
He immediately turned around, a pleasant smile tacked on his face as the jackals slowed down into stalking, snarling and snapping at him.
"Now, now, I'm sure you don't want to eat me. I'm the Doctor, you see, I can help you," he quickly said, which only made one of the others snarl more and snap at one of its comrades. They attacked each other? The smile was gone in an instant, replaced by a concerned and frustrated frown.
"I can help you!" he cried, taking another step back. They back him up any farther and he was going to end up in the water with who knew what else.
A sudden roar caused the mad animals to stop moving, a fatal mistake for one of the trio. A huge lion launched itself from the top of the hill and landed on one of the jackals, crushing the sick animal to death with a horrid snapping sound. The other two immediately turned on him, causing him to jump away and swipe with one heavy paw. It caught one of the jackals on the jaw and sent it flying past Kumi, into the water with a yelp and a splash. The third, the biggest of the two that had remained, stopped and stared with wild eyes at the new lion. Its body quivered, its head shook back and forth as its eyes rolled slightly.
The new lion snarled once.
The jackal threw its head back and let out the howl of a single heartbeat before running away.
"That thing won't be returning," the newcomer said, his voice deep and slightly accented with something locked away deep in Kumi's memory. A lilt he hadn't heard in what seemed like a lifetime. He frowned at the dark male, trying to distinguish his features. There was cloth wrapped around his face, Kumi couldn't see anything but parts of his mane- All of a sudden the dark male moved just enough to show a mark on his shoulder, something Kumi recognized just enough to recall a name, a title."Od-" The dark male lunged with a snarl, slamming him to the ground, a paw pressing to his throat as deep green eyes burned with hatred.
"I am the Guardian to you, you half-breed son of a b***h. Try and say my name again and I'll break your jaw." The male, Oded, or the Guardian to Kumi, shoved him back into the ground hard once and backed away, pulling the cloth down from where it had been wrapped over his muzzle. Kumi couldn't help but growl back. No one insulted his mother like that, she'd done nothing to deserve it, rogue-born or no.
But Guardian's maw curled in a sneer and he rolled his shoulders slightly, clearly ready for a fight.
"Dare you try and fight me, Doctor? I'd gladly accept so I could kill you myself. The gods know that you'll come to a fitting end for what you've done," Guardian said sinisterly. It took some of the bluster out of Kumi. He was a bigger lion, built for strength and fighting. Kumi would have to be clever and sneaky to win against this male, and he felt like neither at the moment. What didn't make sense was Guardian's animosity, or how he was out here. They had grown in the same pride, the same pride Kumi had trapped in their canyon home. Guardian had been just that, a protector of the prideland and most importantly the cubs. Really, he had been one of the glorified baby-sitters of the pride. Still, it had been a high honor for a lion like Oded, because he had been a rogue-cub adopted by a Time Lord, and blessed by the seers.
What would a Guardian be doing out here?
"Guardian, Guardian stop!" A sharp, feminine voice suddenly cracked over the males, Guardian flinching at the sound. A lioness, grown by one standard, but young by theirs walked forward. Kumi's eyes widened, her breast marked with the crest of a family he knew. Family lines carried certain traits... But he didn't know her, he'd never seen her, he'd known the mark and yet he didn't know her. He watched Guardian bow his head slightly, surprised over the huge lion reacting in such a way to such a slip of a female, even a Time Lady. Oded frowned at Maite as she approached him. He hated that she interfered, more so that he bent to her will. Since when had he become such a wet rag?
"He deserves my ire, little one. You should know better than that."
"I know you better than that, Guardian. Please... Stop," the female sighed, placing her paw against the dark male's shoulder. The Doctor glanced between them, but Oded knew his little girl wasn't paying attention to the male. She was far too focused on making sure he didn't do something he regretted. Not that he would ever regret killing the male who had taken everything from them, but he would regret the pain it caused her. She hated it when he killed others. She was such a soft heart and he was forever trying to please her.
Blood ties probably didn't help.
"I know you, how do I know you?" The Doctor finally asked, drawing Maite's attention away from her surrogate father. She glanced away before meeting his steady gaze. It wasn't a surprise to have similar eyes since brown was pretty common, but she saw bits of her mother there.
"You knew my parents, but you don't know me. I wasn't much more than a cub when you closed the valley. Guardian, my Guardian, he saved me, and we ended up outside. He has always saved me." she said, giving Oded an affectionate smile. She missed her mother and father, she probably always would. But if she could have had anyone at her side, to take care of her and help her grow, it was her Guardian.
"I was named to be the Teacher. And you are the Doctor. You knew my mother and father, my mother is... was your second cousin, Innocet." She'd always known she had family out here in the roguelands. Oded hadn't made it a secret that the Doctor was out here, somewhere. On the worst days, he would complain about the lion that trapped them out here, how he hoped to one day take out his anger on the deserving. How would her distant cousin react?
Kumi reeled at the knowledge. He saw the resemblance now, this girl had Innocet's eyes, Torvald's dark mane, the crowned heart of her mother's, his father's family. She was a Time Lady, but more than that, she was family. He had family.
"I didn't... I didn't know."
"You wouldn't have. I wasn't exactly supposed to be where I was," she replied, an apologetic shrug adding to the sincere regret in her tone. It almost sounded like she didn't even blame him, that their being out here was her fault alone.
Maite could see the conflict in his eyes. She was part of his family, his blood even if it was a little distanced. But he was the reason she'd been cut off from her parents and brother at so young an age. And worse, Oded hated him. The Doctor wanted to be near her, to get back some of what he had also lost, but didn't seem to know how or even if he could. Did he think she hated him?
No. There were plenty of things that she missed, some far more than others. Her paw rubbed against a small stone tied to the opposite paw, a habit borne of loss. As much as she would have given anything to take back that day, to be on the other side, she didn't hate him. Oded had said it before, there was doubt that she could truly hate anyone.
"Guardian, please?" Oded flinched at the tone in Maite's voice. He knew what she wanted and it made him sick. She wanted him to just let it go. How could he? He'd been thrown back into a world that had been even more vicious than what he'd heard of the Dal'eks. All he remembered of his cubhood was being taken by slavers. He didn't even remember what his name had been before that. He'd had a happy life, he had a love and he'd been torn away from her because the Doctor thought he knew better.
His eyes squeezed shut.
"You ask so much of me," he growled softly. His eyes opened and he saw Maite step in front of him, placing a paw on his shoulder. She was so small, so strong, and just as lost as he was. She still cried sometimes when she thought he wasn't looking.
"But never more than I know you can give. Please, Uncle. Just try?" Oded's heart ached, just as it always did when she called him that. He'd told her and Jinie both countless times that he wasn't their uncle and they shouldn't call him that. But Innocet had once told him that he was close enough to being family that she and Torvald didn't mind if they called him that. Since she'd grown up, Maite had started calling him more by his name, but every once in a while she reverted back to her old ways.
"Little one..." He sighed and placed a paw to the side of her head, rubbing her cheek a little. Oded glanced up, his eyes narrowing on the Doctor for a heartbeat. "I'll try."
(WC: 1,74 cool