Horera

Means; Kitten

First of triplets.
(Kibibi and Ife.)

The 'motherly' one.

Horera. Paw-prints that need not be filled.

When Horera walked into the Njau's kingdom, she was an adolescent. Her head was held high, her jaw clenched as she tried to control the shaking in her limbs. She had spent the last few months with her two identical sisters. The only thing distinguishing her from them; her bright green eyes. A rich color in comparison with their lovely baby blues. In the last few months, Horera had had to grow up. No more was the playful young cub with an eye for mischief, no more was the girl who had not a care in the world. She was the leader of their small family group. The mother if you will. Since the three had fled from their home, she had carried them forward. She had watched her sisters with the attention of a vulture. She had led them through dangerous territories, each time just barely getting them out with their pelts intact. She and her sisters had scars, physical or mental, but somehow, her sisters still had the ability to smile. They could laugh, sing, prance and even play, and Horera envied their childish antics.

Even though she wished so dearly to join in their activities, Horera just simply could not push herself that far. She had seen too much of the world to think of herself as a cub anymore. Her sisters had not seen what she had, and she thanked the world for that.

As they cleared the border, they were greeted by a young fiery male, a smile plastered over his face. He introduced himself as Love, an odd name by Horera's standards, and led them to meet his king. Horera had no idea how her siblings could talk and flirt so easily with the /admittedly/ attractive lion. Her heart was hammering in her chest, making her feel constricted and overly stressed. Sure, he seemed nice, but so had so many other males with very undesirable intentions. She had to fight all of her instincts to continue on, for this is where they had been headed for, wasn't it? She had heard many a story about the pride with the aging king; a safe haven for any lone rogue. She hoped with all her might, that this notorious Njau was all she had hoped for.

Well, he was far from the worst, at least. He hardly even looked at them. Looking rather unhappy, he matched the obviously forced smile of Love at their side, he waved his paw, giving them permission to live in his land and roughly asking them to leave. Rude. Horera held back a growl of disapproval, shoving down her grown-up side and just trying to relish in the moment. They had found a home, at least for the time being, so those red flags popping up in the back of her conscious were shoved out of view, out of mind.

***

As the triplets grew, Horera spent more than half her time apologizing for her sisters. They had begun to drift from her. She 'acted too old', she was 'no fun' and so Horera was left in the dark, used only as a means to clean up their bigger mistakes. Sure, the little cub side of her nagged and fumed, wanting so bad to play a prank on them, to get back at them somehow or even join in, but as always that side of her was shoved down, deep enough where she felt she couldn't hear it anymore. She did not want to lose her only family, and if that meant acting the 'no-fun adult' then so be it.

Each night she would gather the other two up, scold them and trying to shove unheard advice into their thick skulls. Each and every morning they would be gone again, and so would begin Horera's day of tracking and fixing their faults. So was her life.

"Ife!" Horera was running now, hoping that perhaps the quiet one of her sisters may be more open to reasoning. "Ife, wait! Listen to me!" She could see her sister hesitate, lagging behind Kibibi and glancing to her. Hope bubbled up within her, feeding her strength that made the last few yards to her sisters feel effortless. But it only took seconds for that feeling to evaporate, like dew drops amidst a drought.

"Get out of here Horera!" Kibibi stormed over to her sister, taking up position between her and Ife. "Just leave us alone!" Kibibi was hot-headed and full of zest, and though she was fun if you played along, her fuse was shorter than most.

"Kibibi, please, I.. I just want my sisters back." So long it had been since they had spent any real time together. Ever since that fateful day, when they had crossed the line into the Njau's kingdom, their bond had fallen apart at the seams. Now, standing before her sisters, she realized just how much they had all grown. No longer were they adolescents, but the sprouting young lionesses they had always been destined to become.

"Rhinoshit!" Kibibi snarled the curse, her hackles raising. "My name is Ky, and all you want is for us to be 'the perfect little girls' you always dreamed we'd be. You just want us to make your life easier. You're not our mother, Horera!" Whatever sense and sympathy Kibibi would have had for her sister was lost to the wind. "Our mother is dead. You've just got to let her go, and let us live our own lives!"

Horera's mouth gaped, and she stumbled back a few paces. Her mother had always been a sensitive subject for her, although she saw the truth in Kibibi's words. She had automatically begun playing the mother when they were orphaned, and it had just been too hard to let that responsibility go when they found themselves somewhere safe. They no longer needed a mother, they needed a leader, but she had missed that opportunity. In truth, she had abandoned them as a sister, cause she was too busy trying to fill in the gap in her own heart. "Kibi-Ky... I'm sorry.. I just.."

"You just need to leave us alone." Kibibi growled, turning on her heel and leading Ife away.

Horera stifled a sob, biting back tears and turning away from her sisters. She needed to get away, and there was only one place she could think of; Parthenon. The Njau's oldest ally. At least it would provide her some space and time.

***

What she thought would be an hour long visit, turned into days. She ate minimally, and hid within the brush of Parthenon's kingdom, having received his blessing to stay in his kingdom if only to restore her strength. She had expected glares, suspicions, even rejection. What she had not expected was Dominic.

Upon the second day of her settlement within their territory, the subordinate male had approached her with a smile. Perhaps he really did care, or perhaps she had just been meant as a distraction, either way Horera felt.. pleased not to have been forgotten in the dust.

He charmed her with his smiles and jokes, coaxing the smallest of smiles from her maw. Smiles that she cherished as great as treasures, for she had forgotten of that ability long ago. In this handsome male she released her woes and fears, and from him she learned how to laugh. She poured out her soul to him, but no matter how much she tried, he would not return the gesture. He told her his past did not matter, that he was simply here to cheer up the down, to bring happiness to those he saw deserving. Horera suspected that was not the case for she could see the sad glimmer in his eyes, the struggle sometimes for him to get out a real smile, but she did not press him on the matter.

Perhaps it was his smile, or his personality. Most likely it was the fact that no other lion had ever treated her with such kindness. Whatever the reason, Horera fell for Dominic, and she fell hard. Though the humble Horera would not confess her feelings for him, for she thought herself undeserving. No, this was no mere attraction and need. Horera fell in love with Dominic, to the extent that simply being his friend was enough. She could tell just by his body language alone that he would never see in her what she saw in him, but all she really needed or wanted was his acceptance. That was enough to please her, even if it did sting to know he would never love her, it did nothing more than to strengthen the yearning of her heart.

Having spent a little over a week in the company of Parthenon's pride, Horera got the feeling she was beginning to overstay her welcome. Though it pained her thoroughly to have to leave Dominic behind, she still had her family to patch up.

And so with a heavy heart, Horera returned home.

Within moments of returning home, the thought of Dominic was forced to the back of her mind. The pride was in an uproar. Njau and Evangeline were engaged in a heated conversation. The pride itself was in confused turmoil. Some voices were built in volume, trying to display their anger. Others simply sat there, looking lost while a number of lionesses were exclaiming their approval. She had no idea what had happened. Searching the crowd, she found no trace of her siblings. Only one face did she recognize; Love.

"Love! What.. what is going on?" She had to yell simply to be heard over the commotion. Love himself looked shocked, his mouth ever so slightly ajar. He looked at her, but it didn't really seem like he saw her.

When he spoke, she could tell it was a statement, not an answer. "She broke the betrothal..." Then his face lit up, in a wide grin, an ecstatic expression without any of the hidden sadness that had lurked there when she had first met him. Without giving her time to respond, Love had broken away, disappearing into the surrounding foliage. She watched him go, dumbfounded, before turning back to the area and searching for any sign of Kibibi or Ife.

After hours of searching, Horera gave up. The commotion had settled down immensely, the royal couple retreating into the privacy of their cave to dispute and the pride slowly but surely calming and disbanding. Now, as the sun began to touch the tops of the acacia trees, she gave up. All the scents were too muddled, she could make no sense of the mess of a gathering area before her. Instead she retreated to her den, which she suspected had lain vacant for nearly a week now.

What awaited her something she had never thought she would have to deal with, nor was she prepared to deal with it. She slowly padded into her den to find who else but her two sisters, huddled together. Ife turned to look at her, a distraught expression meeting Horera's shocked one. She was cradling Kibibi in her body, wrapped up and around the middle aged of the triplets in an attempt to provide comfort. When Ife broke eye contact, Horera's gaze concentrated now upon Kibibi.

Her shoulders were shaking with what looked like laughter, but Horera knew by the wrenching sobs that filled the area that her sister was not laughing. She was curled tight, and guessing by Ife's reaction, she had been like that for quite some time.

Horera took a few tentative steps forward. "Kibibi? What happened? I-"

"GET OUT!" Within seconds, Ife was tossed to the side, and Kibibi was screaming at Horera, teeth bared and shaky legs holding up a bedraggled lioness. She knew that Kibibi was trying to look angry and ferocious, but it would take a lot more than screaming to make the tear-stained fiery, struggling to hold sobs, to look anything other than pitiful.

"Kibi-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" She could hear the rasps in her sister as her voice struggled to hold any kind of volume. Horera lowered her head, about to retort and refuse when Kibibi fell back to the earth. "Please.. Horera.. just leave me alone.."

It was heart-breaking to see her sister in this way, the strong, independent second-born, with a stinging tongue and strong stance, reduced to this whimpering cub at her Horera moved over to her sister, who didn't even try to move away, and nuzzled her cheek. "I love you, Kibibi." She whispered, ignoring the gut-wrenching feeling in her heart. She had never tried to get close to her sisters, and she realized now that she had ignored them for too long. She had been all discipline, when she should have just been affection. She left then, padding out of her den to go and find a new place to sleep, at least for tonight.

A subtle brush of fur stopped her in her tracks. She glanced over at Ife. Sweet, quiet little Ife, always trying to please yet always surrounded by drama. She ushered her close, lifting a paw to her maw.

Horera was confused. "Ife.. What? Do y-"

Ife shook her paw at her, as if trying to shove her words away and then gestured for her to come close again.

This time Horera consented, leaning over to the youngest triplet and listening to her frantic whispers.

Her eyes widened, mouth dropping and head clicking. It all made sense. She turned to look at Ife, brow furrowed. "You're sure?" Her answer; a quick nod of Ife's head. "Okay.. thanks Ife. I just.. I still need a little breathing room, but believe me... I will be back, and I will make things right between us."

Without waiting for Ife's response, Horera turned away and walked off into the plains.

She had spent so long trying to act the mother, now she had one final chance to act the sister she had been all along.

Her thoughts drifted over to the subordinate male of Parthenon's pride. It was quickly shoved away. No. She didn't have any more time to worry about herself. Too long had she spent trying to fill the hole in her chest, now was the time to to try and repair the growing fracture's in her sister's.

"I'm sorry, Mother, I really am." She spoke aloud, keeping close attention to the path she wandered on. "I tried to help my sister's by filling your paws, now I see I have to help them by being me." She stopped, lifting her head to watch the sun as it dangled over the horizon, mere minutes before it would touch the ground and alight the surrounding plains in a beautiful sunset blaze. "I just hope you're watching over us, where ever you are now." She closed her eyes, lifting her head and sighing as a passing breeze ruffled the fur on her cheeks.

"We need you more than ever."