Donte had been in the pride for a few days, finding it odd adjusting to pridal life once again. It wasn’t that he disliked it, it was just that it was…odd. He wasn’t used to all this hustle and bustle. Mirae had gotten him settled in one of the spare dens, and had been eager to help him settle in but after a few hours of the lioness showing him around, he was honestly just ready to sleep.
He dreamt again. Fragments of images, nothing concrete. It was a restless sleep, so when he awoke he felt more exhausted than rested. Exiting his den, he realised it was still dark outside. The stars were shining above his head, and he blinked recognising a figure in the distance. She was so very pale, it was hard for her not to stick out like a sore thumb. He moved towards her cautiously, realising as he drew closer that she was humming to herself as she watched the stars.
“Mirae?” He asked, and she startled slightly but seemed unconcerned. She smiled as she turned to face him.
“Oh hi Donte, you’re up late! Or early! Whatever,” she murmured, her voice a melodious thrum.
“I could say the same about you,” he pointed out, taking a seat next to her on the grass.
“Oh, I’m always up this late,” she remarked casually. “I just can’t sleep when the stars are out. If it’s overcast, I sleep like a baby but when they’re twinkling away, well I must be up and present.” She said it so matter of factly, as if it was the most acceptable fact in the world.
Donte didn’t question it further though. It wasn’t really his place to question it, really. “How long have you been in the pride?” He asked instead, honestly curious.
“Not very long. My guardian’s and I were in the rogue lands for a while,” she said with a shrug. “Then Ishara visited my guardian’s Uncle and told him about the place. We all came here together, but my guardians moved on. They’re not gifted, you see, so they felt weird about staying here. We don’t discriminate though, so they could have stayed.”
She was very open and upfront about it all, speaking so calmly and almost in a trance as she continued to watch the stars twinkling above them.
“You call them your guardians?” He prodded just a little.
“Oh yes. I don’t know my parents,” she admitted. “I mean I have Shae. She’s my familiar, but she’s sleeping at the moment. She’s horribly tired of my late nights, and she adores sleeping when it’s cool and dark, so I thought I’d let her sleep tonight.”
Donte nodded, surprised but not wanting to push further. She was very generous with her words but he was afraid of pushing her too far with it all.
“You still have questions?” She asked, still not looking at him.
“Did you see that?” He couldn’t help but ask.
She giggled. “Yes I did. On your face.” She slid him a swideways glance, amusement on her face. “You don’t have to be gifted to see that you’re curious, Donte. You’re not exactly an enigma to read.”
He flushed, a bit embarrassed that he had given himself away so quickly.
“There’s just so many things I don’t know,” Donte admitted.
“Well, were you serious when you spoke to Oracle Ishara earlier?” Mirae asked, smiling up at the stars.
“Earlier?”
”When you said you wanted to learn.” She sighed softly. “If you’re surrounded by unanswered questions, the best thing you can do is start learning. Question by question. You’ve come to the right place too.” She beamed. “We love unanswered questions. Sometimes we’re the only ones who can answer the questions.” She hummed softly. “I think you need to speak to Oracle Ishara again. She’s very good at unanswered questions. She’s probably still awake too. She doesn’t sleep much.” Again, It was said so matter of factly.
“Really? Is it a side-affect of the gift?” Were they all destined to be an insomniac?
Mirae smiled. “No, she just usually gets up and has a night time snack around this time.”
Donte flushed. Man he was so ignorant.
“You’ll learn someday, don’t give up!” Mirae encouraged. “Now shoo, since you got here I haven’t seen a single moving star.”
“Oh!” He rose to his paws. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to your watching.” He said but he felt as if his words fell on deaf ears as she had begun to hum and gaze lovingly at the expansive sky above them. He had to admit, the sky was beautiful but he didn’t see the appeal.
Instead, he began to walk back towards the dens. However, true to Mirae’s words, Ishara was sitting by the spring. Her posture sated, as the empty bone sitting beside her belied her midnight snack. He hesitated but walked towards her. She turned as he approached, her gaze relaxed and unafraid. It made him realise that he had not seen any guards. He wasn’t greeted by any when he approached the pride.
“Where are the guards?” He blurted out.
She raised a brow. “We need them?” She asked.
“Well no, I don’t suppose we do, but what if someone attacks?”
“We have Guardian’s, they protect the pride. Our Commander ensures the safety.”
“I haven’t seen them,” he remarked.
“Would you know if you had? They are not marked as guards, Donte’fao. They are simply guarding us. We are not militarised. We are a pride of learners.”
”Shouldn’t you have a guard, being the Oracle and the Monarch?” He asked, slightly baffled.
She smiled, somewhat self-depreciated. “Oh, who would attack me?” She rolled her eyes. “I am not that important. I am simply what I am, and it has fallen on me to lead. That is all.”
“You don’t see yourself as important?” He was stunned. “You lead this pride.”
“Yes, but I am still learning. I am not above anyone here. I am their equal. I have more burdens on my shoulders but I cannot judge anyone else’s burdens as less valuable than mine,” she remarked, staring down at her paws in a somewhat distracted manner. “You never know another’s story until they are willing to tell you; and even then, you will only know fragments.”
He wanted to poke it more, find out what she meant but he had a feeling that perhaps he shouldn’t. “Have you had any other visions?” He asked instead, curious.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Only small ones. Ones of my family. Of my mother. Of my brother and his mate. Nothing ground breaking,” she said with a half smile. “Oh, and of your death.”
“WHAT?”
She laughed, a deep belly-shaking sound that floored him. It was the first time he had heard her laugh.
“Goodnight, Donte’fao,” she said, unable to hide her smile as she rose to her paws. “You should rest. You have a lot to learn still.” She moved past him without another word, moving back to her den with a relaxed stroll that showed her own amusement.
“Sure if you don’t all give me a heart-attack before I get the chance,” he muttered to himself, irritated but unable to deny that he was slightly amused. He began the walk back to his den, sparing a glance back to the pale figure gazing at the stars nearby, still humming to herself in complete bliss.
Oh, to be so happy.
[WC: 1247)