The Pride Days (IC): Hurt

Kyra looked between Var and Jali, seeming to ponder the answers, "Well, first, no, tree climbing isn't a sport, it's a way of life, and second, are you insane?" The last part she directed at Jali, "I don't even know you people, and you think I came to ask to join your pride? Sure, I trust Gamba, but how do I know you're not a bunch of raving lunatics? I'm sorry, but unless there's a very tall tree with thick branches to sleep in close by, I'm not staying. I don't plan on sleeping on the ground where every predator in the land can get me. I've been perfectly fine living on my own, and I don't need any help."

Var rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he replied. He glanced over at Jali. "I'm going hunting." The king nodded. Jali then turned to Kyra. "I can assure you we're not lunatics. Though, I guess you don't know that until you meet us. But I find a loving pride with children to feed and caring, loving lions to be very opposite that. I was just wondering if you needed a place to stay, since I'm nice to people like that, and--"

"Jali," Sira cut him off before he said something stubborn. She could tell he was getting into that area. "Come on, we should probably visit Mira and Kal" she said and the two walked off. Var took a glance at Gamba and Layla. "You guys are welcome to come if you like, if you need me I'll be out there," he said and then began walking into the woods.

Layla was silent but then spoke to Kyra. "Don't worry, Kyra. There's not many predators inside our camp. Not many big animals stray into a camp of a very large pride of lions."

Kyra thought for a moment, "Well, I guess I might have been a little harsh..." She said, after awhile, although her tone was almost grudging, as though she hated to say it. "But seriously, your king should be careful who he invites into his camp. I know I'm a bit strange, but there are some real weirdos running around you don't want to deal with. Plus, I wasn't joking about the tree, I really don't like sleeping on the ground." she affirmed. Gamba chose this time to speak. It was revealed that while Layla had spoken to the young lioness, he had walked a short distance and fetched some Coriander, "Kyra, there are plenty of large trees here for you to sleep in, if you choose to stay. There's even a good one next to the lake that I imagine will have a lovely view. If you choose to stay here, I won't let anyone force you to sleep in a den on the ground." He then grabbed her paw before she could protest, and started easing the herbal paste into her cut. "Besides, with all this falling, you have me feeling a bit paranoid for your safety. I want to make sure I can keep a close eye on you."

Kyra didn't snatch her paw away, and thought a bit more, "Well, if it's a good tree, then I'll take you up on the offer. I still get to hunt birds, right?" She asked. Gamba nodded, but did not turn his attention away from cleaning her wound, "Certainly, if you want to hunt birds, who can tell you otherwise? It's not like a lot of lions here would be able to stop you." The grey lioness' tail flicked with pleasure, "I like this idea, okay, then. You're on." Gamba finished cleaning the wound, "Excellent, then." He said.

"Jali probably didn't see you as a threat. But anyways, welcome to our camp. I'm going to go hunting with Var. Do you guys want to come?" Layla asked. She had confirmed that Kyra was not a bad lioness and a friend of Gamba. She had decided long ago that any friend of Gamba's was a friend of hers.

Kyra flexed her paws, "Well, okay, then, land or sky?" She asked, as though Layla would know what she was talking about. In reality, her question was very strange, and Gamba was the only one present who know what she meant. "Land, Kyra." Gamba answered her, before turning to Layla, "Are you sure you're up to it? You're still recovering from yesterday, I don't want you to get hurt." Meanwhile, Kyra had started to fidget, hopping between her paws, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go already! We haven't got all day!" With this, she ran off after Var, leaving Gamba and Layla behind without any second thought, oblivious to what had just happened. Gamba stared after her, "That girl could never hold still." He muttered, before turning back to Layla, waiting for her response.

"I'll be fine, I won't go too fast. Lets go" Layla said as she followed Kyra and Var into the woods, ever so anxious to learn more about this girl who had sparked interest in Layla. She wondered about her origin and her life story. Most people she knew that had a history with Gamba had a story to tell.

Kyra caught up with Var quite easily, so quickly, in fact, that she kept dashing past him and was forced to slow down so everyone else could catch up. Although she wasn't going to say anything, considering they had to be quiet with a hunt, it was obvious she didn't enjoy having to slow down. Whenever she had to wait, she paced between her paws, flicking her tail in an agitated manner. Her behavior reminded most creatures of an excited kudu, as even the small hops on her paws were surprisingly large and energetic, nothing like the usual calm, laid back manner of a lion. Kyra was obviously good at jumping, as the muscles in her body were formed in such a manner that suggested she did it quite often. It was easy to tell why, as even though most lionesses could climb trees, Kyra did it all the time, rather than on rare occasions. She was so used to trees that she slept in them like a leopard, and was repulsed by sleeping on the ground in a den. After awhile, when she was once more waiting ahead of everyone else, she seemed to finally try to make everyone speed up, "Come on, hurry up, people!" She muttered.

"We're coming!" Layla giggled as she tried to catch up without going too fast. She slugged back not far behind Gamba while Var was running up with Kyra. "We should probably wait for them. Layla got in a nasty fight fight last night," Var suggested. He stopped and stretched his massive muscles while he waited. It was always good to stretch before hunting.

"Well, duh, I think I know bite and claw marks when I see them, but I don't really know what happened, so I thought it would be better not to ask and try to ignore them." Kyra said, flicking her tail, "However, as far as I can see, Gamba will keep his pace so she's not left all by herself, and two of us are capable of going ahead and finding something. If someone doesn't hurry up, I'm going to leave all of you in my dust and make the first kill faster than a cheetah running from a hippo. We're burning daylight, here, and this is the first land hunt I've had in a long time. I don't want to mess this up." When she mentioned a land hunt, it was a bit vague at first, but upon pondering her words, it became clear she meant hunting large prey on the ground, rather than birds hiding in the trees.

"Hey guys, we're gonna go on ahead 'Kay?" Var called back.
"Go on! Me and Gamba will go a different place anyways" Layla said. "Come on, this way Gamba" she said making a left turn.

As they trailed along, not yet into the place where prey dwelled, Var worked up small talk. "So, tell me more about yourself Kyra. Where do you come from? What's your life like?"

Var looked over at her. His ears stood up. "Ammon? That white lion that Gamba hates? The one that caught my brother?" he asked. He was interested in Ammon. He didn't like the lion knowing that he was an adversary of Gamba, yet he loved him for catching Barcal before he could run away and make some new pride then come back with an army of animals that had plans to get the Sunset Pride back for stupid things.

"That's... that's terrible. That's the saddest thing I've ever heard, literally. I... I never didn't like Ammon, I actually like him a lot for catching my brother before he could get away and do anything else to Sunset Pride. Barcal deserved what he got. The only thing that's ever made me question Ammon is Gamba's rivalry with him. I've always trusted Gamba's word since I met him. I didn't think that... I just didn't expect that. I'm glad you told me this, it's shaping my opinion of the white lion" Var said looking at the grayish morning sky. A breeze blew through his smooth black mane. His green eyes seemed glossy in the gray sunlight. He looked back at Kyra.

"Nobody should ever have to face something like that. Never. I thought my history was the worst in the area, I was really wrong. My dad was a female killer and a very lustful person. He might have forced his kids to eat his mates when he was done with them, but that's not half as bad as that. Rabies... I've seen it once before. Throughout my life I've been the only one among my brothers that's well... good-spirited I'll say. I didn't like what my father made us to do to people. I had a friend that I met when dad was asleep. His name was Chilar. I don't know what happened that day. But I found him fighting off this hyena. He killed the hyena when I arrived but he was already suffering wounds. He told me it had rabies, he was a bit like Gamba. But he knew about diseases more than herbs. Chilar died. I sat with him as long as I could. When he turned... I had to jump up in a tree and watch him from above. I didn't want to leave him" he said. He scratched an itch on the side of his face. He sighed with a deep and mournful gaze in his eyes.

"Ammon was wise to flee. Rabies is terrible. That's what my father was treated with when Jali caught him. He and Urathi were sent into a bat-filled chasm for the final blow that would end dad's offenses to this pride. Honestly, I couldn't have been happier when I heard my dad was dead. But in another way... I was a little sad, but I don't know why. I've always hated that man... that sick lion. I always suspected he was insane, that he had something wrong with him. I've always wanted to find his parents if they're still alive and see what went wrong" he added. He noticed he was getting sidetracked.

"But Ammon anyways. He seems to good to me now after all. I mean, take away all the bad stuff and he sounds like a pretty good guy. But Kyra, just do me a favor and don't tell that story to Layla. She'll be squalling for weeks" he said getting a sense of amusement mixed into his tone. "Very easily-depressed lioness. Gets on my nerves sometimes."

Var nodded. "You're probably right. If he'd one day join Sunset Pride, everything would change for him. I just got here last night and I already fell like a new person. This pride somehow washes away all of your past terrors. I don't feel like the squabbling son that I once was. I feel like I am appreciated here, loved here, wanted here. And I'm sure Ammon would feel the same" Var said.

Var sighed. "Why can't people just all get along? I don't know. I don't want to put Gamba through that. I want both Ammon and Gamba both to be happy. I respect them both. But I don't want them fighting if it means they both can stay in this pride... I don't know. Maybe we could see Gamba's opinion on this after all of this?" Var asked. "Now the thing with the alpha wolf. Yeah, I heard. Gamba told Layla and she's been crying all morning--just her easy depression. But anyways. I can see why the two of them are the way they are. Their past... it's had such an impact on them. I hate that. I want life to be free, without these events that force your personality to do things it didn't have to do. A personality should form on its own in a calm life, without hands that force it. That cave that my father was taken to... to me it's been a symbol of release, but also a symbol of death and tragedy. If only my father and brother were the only ones taken to that cave... life would be so much better" Var said.

He drank from a shallow creek that they had walked next to. He lapped up the crystal waters and rose back. His chin was wet, a few droplets hit the dirt below him. He whipped his mouth with his paw and looked back at Kyra.

"You seem pretty smart. You'll do good. I hope we all do. For Spirit World's sake, we can't handle any more psychotic lions trying to kill everyone. I'm still wondering if my uncle is going to track me down. I don't know if he's what my father made him sound like, but you never know"

"Sounds like quite the lion. In these times, having a sibling is always I hope Sunset Pride doesn't do anything like that to their lions. But by my Uncle, I didn't mean he's out to get me. In fact I think he's a good person. My father just told us awful stories about him. But then again, he told terrible things about everyone. He said that his parents 'abused and neglected him.' I didn't believe it for a moment. My Uncle Nail has a story behind his name. A few days after he was born, he was captured by humans and was going to be taken to a place where they display animal to other humans. But his dad went after the metal monster that the humans were driving in. He won back the cub. When my uncle was recovered, he had a nail from the wooden box he was in in his mouth. My grandmother decided to name him Nail for it" said Var. He flicked his tail. "Kinda like the way my dad was named. The second day he was born, a huge snake got their den and tried to eat him. But his mother killed it. She named him Snake after that."

"In a way, I've always wondered if my grandparents and my uncle are even still alive. I've always wondered what they'd be like. I hope they'd be better than what I've seen of the family. I hope they're better than my father and my brothers. My brothers... I never liked them. I mean, I had always in a small sense, loved them. But the sense was very, very, very small. I was the oldest. Nithili was the second oldest... Honestly I can say to this day he's the one I hate the most out of the brothers..." Var went on.

"Nithili was always dad's favorite. Nithili was the cruelest among us. He enjoyed killing people while I hated doing it. When our father tried to make us eat females in a creek and become cannibals, I only pretended to eat. I couldn't do it. I was lucky to have gotten away with it. But Nithili... he ate all of the leftovers and drank up all the fallen blood. Nithili always bullied me because I was the most sensitive and I was the kindest--without a doubt. Urathi was always Nithili's "side-kick" and helped him in his taunts at times. But in actuality even he hated Nithili. Barcal wasn't as bad, but he was still equally evil. He wasn't as brutal as Nithili, but he was very snotty and rude. He liked to kill things. He was the youngest" Var said blowing some of his mane out of his face.

"Snake was always proud of Nithili the most. He favored him. I hated them all. I did my best to separate myself from their ways. I wasn't like them, and I still refused to approach their ways of dealing with things. But as each day goes on, I feel like I am becoming more like my father. Every time I look at my reflection, I see my dad's because I look so much like him. It's almost as if he's staring at me, disappointed and angered. Promising me that I'm going to fail in life" Var paused for a long and quiet moment. "But anyways, on a cheerier note. My mother just had another litter of cubs last night. It should distract the pride from the things we experienced last night."

"Zanita?!" Var said looking up at the hyenas. "The one that Gamba's spoke of? You're looking for Gamba? We just split up from them. They're probably not too far behind. He's with Layla. I'm sure she'll want to meet you" he said to her. He shook his head.

"Sorry, I'm Var by the way. I just joined Sunset Pride last night. I'm... the son of Snake, they guy that Jali was trying to evade. But he's dead now, all of my brothers are. Everything's good." He lookd at Kyra. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Sorry" Var said. "Come on, I'll show you."

He padded into a small puddle, getting his paws wet. He glanced over his shoulder in wait for them and becoming curious as to what Zanita's story was. He'd heard a lot about people lately, Ammon and Gamba and Kyra. He had curiosity about Zanita and her clan.
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Jali and Sira sat in the den of Kal and Mira. Mira was nursing the three new cubs while Kal sat next to her admiring them with a soft smile.

"They're adorable!" said Sira. "Two girls and a boy... have you named them yet?"

"No, not yet. We've run out of ideas. We were hoping the rest of the Pride could pitch in and help us, like they did when we first arrived here" Mira said.

"That's an interesting idea. They'll come up with all sorts of things" said Jali flicking his tail. Mira and Kal looked at each other smiling and then returning their eyes to the cubs.

"So Sira, you still haven't told us about your own soon-to-be cubs" She said with a sly grin.

Sira's nose turned bright pink, blushing. Her ears drooped slightly with the same emotions. She looked at Jali he giggled and gave her a pat on the shoulder with his paw.

"How did you know?"
"Well, it's kinda obvious. We can smell it on you. Plus you're both acting a little... different" the motherly lioness replied.

"Oh" Sira said smiling. "I told you" Jali said. She rolled her eyes. She looked at the two parents. Their glances urged her to continue. Jali gave her a nudge with his shoulder.

"Well, I found out I was pregnant... um, maybe a week ago? Was it Jali?" she asked. He thought for a moment. "I think so. When you told me, was that the same day you'd found out?"

"No. I found out three days before I was just too shy to tell you" Sira admitted.
"You can tell me anything, you know that don't you?" Jali said licking Sira's cheek. She smiled and gave a peaceful sigh. "Yes, I know. Well anyways, about a week maybe a week and a half. It was just a few days after the migration."

"Well, three months left" said Kal.
"You're cubs will be the most beautiful the pride's seen in a long time. I can't wait to see our new princes or princesses!" said Mira.

"Oh, Mira" Sira blushed. "Your cubs are the most beautiful in the pride right now, you know that."