The trio had spent the better part of a week together, relaxing and enjoying the companionship their sudden little family brought each of them. For Gandama, she had spent a very large part of her life alone, and had not had much experience with friends or family. She was older than the two of them, but they had accepted her just as easily as they had each other. She considered herself a sort of mother figure for them now, a hyena taking care of another hyena and a lioness, who were both old enough to be living on their own. They had been, in fact, before fate brought them all together. Miwani was a wanderer, who stayed in one place for long enough to be comfortable, then left when she felt the urge for a change. Bilashi had never been able to settle in one place for long, always worried about her inability to smell and not wanting to let anyone or anything sneak up on her. She had to keep moving, mostly to stay alive. Now, though, with the three of them living as a small unit, things seemed to be looking up. If it could stay this way, they all silently imagined things could be perfect.
Gandama was lounging in the sun, smiling and watching as Miwani and Bilashi bounced around with one another. They were still young, but they were happy and energetic, and it was refreshing to see. The two had become very good friends, following their harrowing adventure with the Goddess that almost killed Miwani. It was nice to see that they were both well over that at this point, and none of them had been hurt. None of them could really ask for anything better.
“Gandama, let’s go explore for a bit! This place is really lovely! There’s a great valley over there where we can hunt! Did you see it? I mean, you live here, I guess so…” Bilashi tilted her head as she padded up, giving the green, older hyena a gentle head butt. Gandama smiled at her and made to get up slowly, stretching out her front paws and letting out a large yawn with a whine attached. She shook her head, the shake moving down her spine all the way into her tail, and she sighed, feeling much better after all that.
“Where is this valley? To be honest, I have not explored much beyond this specific area, you know.”
“Well, it’s not too far, but I can see why you haven’t been over there,” Miwani said, padding up and nudging Gandama in the same way, then giving Bilashi a friendly nudge as well. She was a lioness and much larger than the two hyenas, but she was gentle and had no reason to want to hurt any of them. She was as kind as they could have hoped of a lion, and a much better friend than they ever thought they would have out of someone that was supposed to be their natural rival and a higher predator on the food chain.
“Alright, let’s go see it.”
The three of them set out together, walking in a line, side by side by side. Miwani was in the middle, flanked by the two hyena, who were close in size to each other, though Gandama was older than Bilashi. They walked at the same pace, Miwani slowing herself and the hyena’s trotting quickly to compensate for her longer strides. She bounced sometimes in excitement, but she tried to keep herself in line. They crossed through a small line of trees and soon into another open valley. Bilashi looked around and grinned, recognizing the area, and Miwani bounced forward to run into the middle of it. Gandama looked around in surprise.
“Oh this is much lovelier than I though! It is big, and look, there are places for dens over there. I wonder if anyone lives here?”
It was like an open valley on two sides, a long and wide path through a trail. On either side it was surrounded by woods, and it seemed to originate at a mountain pass. It was a trail that came down and seemed like the only way for herds to pass through to continue out into the open rogue lands. This would make this place an ideal hunting spot, as herds were always moving, this way and that, and this was a road they had to take, regardless of what danger was there. But there did not seem to be any other hunters there, as the area was not huge. The three of them could live there very happily for some time, Gandama felt. And the move from her old den was not exactly a big trek, considering they had only been walking for ten minutes.
“I think we should make dens here. One for each of us, nearby. We can all live here, there’s water running through, a little lake down there at the other end… this place seems perfect.” Maybe she was getting ahead of herself, asking them to live with her, as if they were going to stay forever. She had never asked them if they wanted to, and really, none of them had really thought about it before.
Miwani heard the question and padded back toward them, thinking about it carefully. What would it matter if she moved here? She had been on the move anyway, and was ready for a new home. Now she had this home in front of her and for the first time she had others that she wanted to live with. It seemed like it could be ideal for them, hunting together, supporting one another. She knew that Bilashi needed the help, because she could not smell very well, and hunting alone was not her forte. But with Miwani helping her, the two had become an excellent team.
For Bilashi, this union was a life saver for her. She was in love with these two already, after a week of being with them. Miwani was helping her to be a better hunter despite her disability, and Gandama was basically showing her how to be a hyena. She had never really been a pack animal before, and did not know how to be that. She loved what she was learning about who she was, just from these two strangers, and could not remember a time when she was happier. It was something she had never known she was missing, but now that she had it, she doubted she could live without it for long. A family, a real one: it was amazing, and she felt whole.
“I think we should stay,” Bilashi said, nodding her head.
“I think so too,” said Miwani quickly after, almost on top of the hyena’s words.
“Good! There is plenty of space. Alright. Hey, guys. I am so glad that we are here together. I know it’s weird but that whole Goddess thing… was kind of the best thing that happened to me.” Gandama was not one for gushing, and she looked away as she said it, even starting to pad away from them to go and look at the lake at the other side of the clearing. Miwani and Bilashi watched her go, both smiling and shaking their heads.
“She’s great,” Miwani said, looking at her new best friend with a grin. Bilashi nodded. They had lucked out, meeting her, and not just because Gandama had saved Miwani’s life. She was just an interesting character that they both had needed in their lives, and she was filling various voids for the two of them. They only hoped, in their own ways, that they were doing the same for her in turn.
“Alright, I’m going to go explore over there a bit, take a look at the dens,” Bilashi said, smiling and then bouncing off. Miwani opted to go back to the center of the clearing and look around, take better stock of the hunting area and how much space they really had. This was a piece of paradise, at least for three carnivores, and she could see pockets of herding beasts not too far away from her. They did not seem to mind the three new arrivals, and the peace and quiet nature of the area really made Miwani feel happy. Comfortable. This was going to be her new home, for sure.
Gandama looked back at them, watching Bilashi growing smaller in the distance, and seeing Miwani looking wistful in the center of the clearing. She smiled at her two cubs, the grown young females she decided in that moment were as good as adopted. They were wonderful creatures, and she could not hide the growing fondness she held for them. Her grumpiness had been easily defeated by their combined brightness, and she was ever thankful to them for that. And she was going to do her damn best to make sure that whatever happened from this moment out, they were going to be happy and live like princesses in this ideal little home. She chuckled at the very idea of it, but in her heart she knew that they were of the same mind. It made her happy to know that no one wanted to leave, and this fun would continue, at least for a little while yet.
Word Count: 1,558 in Google Docs
