Life in the Mwezi'Johari had been going at a quiet, steady pace over the last months. The shock of the incident with Kamia had slowed the internal rebellion down significantly, not least because the external rebels were now found out because of them (even if their own doings remained secret) or that a new queen had finally been named.
Ota had, for a time, lost her nerve while she helped her friend get through the aftermath of her run-in with Shangyue. It was easy enough, seeing the wrong in the world and planning to fight back.. it was another dealing with the consequences of getting mixed up in it. It was maddening how little the unsavory actions of their king seemed to matter, but if nobody rallied after he murdered his family, it wasn't a surprise that nobody cared what else he did. As far as they had come finding support, they were still a long way from making an impact.. and their goal got farther and farther away the longer they stalled.
Though she had always been a morning person, Ota had adapted to the nocturnal schedule of the pride out of necessity- all activity in the daylight seemed more suspicious now.. but today, she decided to take the risk. She made no effort to hide herself as she made her way to Kamia's den.
Finding her friend sleeping, with her now nearly-grown children nearby, she plopped herself down at Kamia's side, giving her a nudge to wake her up.
In more peaceful times, Kamia was a heavy sleeper. She liked to determine her own schedule and sleep as long as she possibly could before guilt or obligation got her up. Now, though overcoming her anxiety of being permanently connected to Shangyue so intimately, she was a mother and until her girls were home and safe, she would never rest easy. She worried about the boys, too, of course, but their situation was far less troubling than the absent twins.
She woke quietly to the sudden presence of a body beside her, only taking a second to realize who it was. She was about ready to roll over, snuggle up and go back to sleep when, at a second glance, she realized Ota was not here to sleep.
With a bleary-eyed stare, she lifted her head.
"Ota."
Ota tried to smile but her expression remained serious. They had both been avoiding it and now she had come to put a stop to it, even if it meant finally putting herself and anybody who sided with them in danger.
"Kamia," she said in a hushed voice, wary of being overheard, "I know we were trying to work only at night to blend in but it can't wait. We can't wait anymore."
Kamia blinked a few times and shook herself off, needing only to see how serious Ota was to really make her snap out of her sleep. She knew what was coming, they both knew what was going on and that it had to stop. Still, she couldn't help but glance back at her sleeping sons. They were old enough to find their own dens but they didn't. Perhaps now that would prove to be a mistake.
"I know," she said quietly, looking back at Ota, "We can't hide anymore, it didn't work before and it won't work now."
Refusing to follow the worried mother's glance, Ota focused entirely on her friend and waited for her eyes to come back. She worried about them too, but she couldn't let it stop her anymore.
"No, you're right," she agreed, frowning, "We can only gain so much support keeping to the shadows, we have enough to get us started but we need everybody to know that it's OK to oppose the king, that they aren't alone."
Kamia nodded.
"I suppose we missed our chance to take advantage of his abominable actions to produce an illegitimate heir, didn't we?" she smiled sadly, "He's been quiet since marrying, though I suppose he lets the queen do as she likes and she's turned out rather wicked.. but what is our rallying point?"
They had expected to have a recent example of his misdeeds to use as a stepping stone to getting the pride turned on him, they had known it would come.. and they had missed it, not expecting it to be them. What did that leave them?
Ota's frown deepened, privately cursing that they had the power to see so much and that it made manipulation so easy. Taking a deep breath, she found some comfort knowing that the future was not so easy to avoid, as they had learned.
"We don't need it," she said, louder than she first intended, "He's had his time, it's gone on too long. Our peace is an illusion, it's the only reason it has stayed this way. The Royal Guards have convinced everybody we can't speak out, that we can't disagree.. that we can't win. It's easier to stay quiet, but it's not better."
Another deep breath.
"This isn't what the Great Lion wants for us," she continued, "Shangyue works in the dark and manipulates the slaves to do his dirty work because he knows it, too. That should be reason enough."
Kamia nodded. She knew as much but she needed to hear it from Ota, which gave her hope that there were others who only needed that too. She had more than her faith, but she would never underestimate the rest of the pride.
"Where do we start?"
"We'll start slow," Ota said thoughtfully, "Start small. We can't jump right for the finish, we need to build up. We may be able to sneak some resistance past the Royal Guards long enough to encourage more lions than we've already reached."
"We have enough allies to cause some minor disturbances easily," Kamia said hesitantly, struggling with not saying names or speaking too plainly, "We're so low in the ranks, though, it'll be harder for us to get away with it without breaking our own ideals. We can't forget our place, we'll have to pick our battles."
Ota nodded, pausing to think.
"We'll have to work in small teams," she said, "Nobody acts without at least one member of the high class with them, and only when you won't be outnumbered by Royal Guards or known loyalists."
"Outnumbered by the regular bunch," Kamia said with a snort, "I'd say you need at least three if you want to face off with Firaga or Tyfu by themselves, never mind as a team or part of a group."
Ota made a face.
"Maybe we'll try to avoid them for now," she suggested darkly, "Anybody too close to the king will be a huge risk yet. There's a chance blame will be deflected from us onto guards who can't handle the unruly few anymore. I don't think any of them at the top truly trust anybody but each other."
"We'll have to watch out for Tyfu's children, too," Kamia added, sadly thinking of her own sons briefly and how they would certainly be involved from this point.. and how any of this might affect Antara and her safety.
"Vesper is ready to help with the guards, he's not high class but he's close enough," Ota said, boldly deciding to ignore their typical rule of avoiding names since his cover was blown with Kamia's during the heir scandal, "He'll know who to trust and how far they can push it. I can talk to my uncle, but most of my family is with us or lower."
"Mine too," Kamia said, at a loss of who they hadn't approached yet that ought to be, "Are we being foolish to overlook the potential hiding in the low class? Shangyue manipulated so many of them, they have perhaps more reason to be upset.. and it was the king himself who suggested they were actually immune to the consequences of their actions as long as they were on his side. What if they were on the Great Lion's side?"
"Not yet," Ota said instinctively, though feeling guilty for discounting the potential of the slave population, "We can't use them like he did. We need everybody and that will include them.. but not until it's safer."
She lowered her ears.
"Is that awful?"
It was so rare to see Ota doubtful, Kamia didn't know how to reply right away. With a quick shake of her head, she gave her friend an affectionate headbutt.
"It's not, but maybe it's too cautious," she said, "We can't decide for anybody but us. We can try to coordinate to keep higher classes involved but we can't count on it. We can't know everything about how to get to the future we want, we've learned that the hard way."
"Cautious.."
They were lower-middle class but if they were going to try to take the lead in this mess, they had to own it-- and so far, Ota had done so much more hiding than anything else. She wanted to avoid actively involving the low class right away but was there any chance she would not involve herself right away?
"I'm sorry, Kamia," she said, leaning against the darker lioness, "You've been through so much already and we've barely started, but I haven't really done anything. I'm going to change that, and we're going to cause trouble and let the situation get way beyond our control.. but we're going to at least start with better intentions than our king ever had."
Kamia nodded, leaning back against Ota. Her mind was starting to slow back down despite the conversation they were having and the fears she had for what was to come, she really hadn't gotten enough sleep.
"OK," she agreed, "Tonight. We'll handle the hunters, Vesper can handle the guards. We'll start small. The Royal Guards can hunt for themselves or something. The guards can.. guard.. something else, I don't know."
"OK."
Ota sighed and snuggled in.
"It's settled then."
Kamia nodded and said nothing else as Ota fell asleep at her side, clearly feeling better now that they had decided. The darker lioness was less at ease with the declaration, though she knew it was for the best and was long overdue. She stayed awake for a while longer before sleep finally managed to take her into some uneasy dreams- an unfortunate way to prepare for a night of action.
Fin!