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Night was trudging through thick snow on a freezing winter midnight. She was chilled to the bone and starving to death. Her pelt was thin and ragged from being emaciated. Her Pride had cast Night out. Now, she could not hunt on her own; she was only a year and four months old. Her mother hadn't had a chance to teach her yet.
The skinny, once-beautiful adolescent kept on walking, not having a clue as to where she was going. Did it even matter? She had no kin, no family anymore. It wasn't her fault that this had happened, either! she remembered the day of her exile, as clear as if she were gazing through the water of a still pond…
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The sun was hot and scorched through her onyx fur to her dark skin underneath. There was hardly any shade around for she was playing in a clearing of short, yellowed grass with the other cubs and adolescents of her Pride. The only thing that kept the young lions cooled off was the small stream that churned its way nearby; banks bursting with icy, crystal water.
Night had taken a break from her game of tag with her crush, a handsome fiery adol named Flame. He was only five months older than her and he was the heir to their Pride. She needed a drink to stop the aching burn in her throat. She had taken a few gulps of water from the stream when a strong force shoved her and made Night lose her balance and fall into the churning liquid.
The icy water hit Night like a blast of lightning and stunned her momentarily. Once Night's survival instincts kicked in, she began to flail her paws through the water, trying to swim. She didn't know which way was up or down, left or right. The strong current made it almost impossible to tell. Finally, her head sliced through the surface of the water and she wasn't too far away from the bank. Steadily, Night swam back to store to find the cubs and adols laughing at her. All except for Flame, who started to groom her pelt to help it dry faster.
Petal, a selfish bully adolescent lioness, trotted over to Night and Flame and laughed in the soaked adol's face. "Ha! guess you were a cat fish after all!"
Then Night knew, it was Petal who had pushed her! She could have drowned because of the bully's prank! "Look here, Petal!" Night snarled, " I could have died because of your carelessness!"
The lilac mean adol just laughed harder. "You think I care?" Petal snorted. " 'Cause I don't! you're just in the way of mine and Flame’s relationship. Butt out!"
Night was horrified. Petal only wanted to be Flame’s Queen when he became King of the Pride and she would kill to get her way.
"No! He's my best friend and you'll just have to deal with me 'cause I'm not leaving him! I won't be bullied by you!"
Petal stopped laughing and bared her fangs. "Oh yes you will!" The lilac female adol lashed out at Night and struck her ear, causing a nick to be cut in it. "Ow!" Night roared and lunged back; shoving Petal with massive force. The lilac adol lost her balance and splashed into the stream. She flailed her paws wildly, but it was no use. The other young lions were too stunned to help her, and Petal went under.
She never came out of the stream.
When the older lions returned from hunting, they heard that Night had pushed Petal into the rushing water. Petal's mother was infuriated. Petal was the only thing that she cared about, besides herself, of course. Petal's mother and her closest Pride mates pushed for Night to be executed. The Pride leader was kinder than that, so he exiled her instead. Night's own mother didn't even offer to go with her daughter. She just stayed at the back of the crowd and didn't look Night in the eye.
From then on, Night had been a loner lion. On her own for six months and she was dying. the onyx-furred adol lay down under a bush that gave little shelter from the frozen winter winds. it was time. Time for her life to end. Night's breathing became shallower and shallower. Her heartbeat became quieter and less frequent...
A gentle tongue was grooming the backs of Night's ears when the onyx adol opened her eyes. She was warm for the first time in a while and comfortable. She looked up and saw a gorgeous prune lioness with blue eyes like deep pools. The rumbling purr resonating from the lioness's throat was comforting.
"You're awake, little one,” purred the prune lioness in a velvet-soft voice. "I am Dusksnow and you are in my den. Here, eat this, my precious." Dusk Snow gently pushed a zebra leg over to Night. the emaciated adol nodded politely before digging in. It took her all of 15 minutes to finish the meal.
“Thank you!" Night purred gratefully. "Can... can I stay here?"
Dusksnow's eyes brightened. "I thought you'd never ask. BraveKing, my leader, told me to ask you once you'd recovered. I will be your new mother, if you don't mind. I... I've never had cubs of my own before..." the pretty lioness looked at her paws and flattened her ears in embarrassment.
Night thought back to her own selfish and uncaring mother. Then, she rubbed her head against Dusksnow's foreleg and purred encouragingly. "I'd be glad to have a mother who cared for me."
"Oh, thank you, little one! Come, let's talk to BraveKing about your name!" With that, Dusksnow dashed out of the cozy den into the winter snow and barged into her leader's den. Night trailed after the excited lioness at a slower pace.
Once she entered, Night gasped. BraveKing was a huge lion! He had strong, muscles that rippled beneath his pelt and a thick, shaggy mane that looked VERY warm.
" I see you've agreed to stay," BraveKing commented to Night. His voice was deep and gruff. It sounded very noble and respectful. Night could only nod. "Well, then, I'll give you a Pride name. From now on, you're name will be Celestialpaw. You will be trained to hunt and fight for this Pride. Once you've aged to two years, I'll give you your warrior name. Dusksnow will mentor you on our Pride’s way of life. "
And so Celestialpaw began a new life in BraveKing's Pride. She loved her new home and once she became two years old, BraveKing gave her the name of Celestialnight, probably because her former name was Night. He may have wanted her to have a little piece of her old self.
Celestialnight was devastated when BraveKing died. The respected leader had been like a father to her. She is coping with his loss well, considering his heir is a very handsome lion. (wink, wink). EmberKing and Celestialnight gets along very well. She has produced cubs to the Pride and nothing could be more perfect.
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