Sandbird

https://www.lioden.com/lion.php?mid=3623

༻Ping List for Pelage Cubs༺
- Oblivion (#183815)
- venna (#15577)

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༻Backstory༺

Aurelia sighed as she began her trek to the tree. She hated this part of her duties. She loved giving the poor cubs a home, but it was always so difficult to leave with only one. Beside her, Kokumo looked uncomfortable. This certainly wasn't her first choice of activity for the day, but Aurelia was grateful her long-time friend was willing to make the journey with her, and she gave her a grateful glance, only to wince a moment later as the high-pitched cries of lonely, scared, hungry cubs reached her ears. The warrior extended one pitch-black wing to touch Aurelia's snowy white feathers comfortingly, unable to speak around the large carcass in her jaws.

- - -

Sandbird sighed as she padded forward with stern eyes. "This isn't enough food for them." She asserted hotly, gesturing with her tail to the scraps of meat that had been placed at her tiny paws only moments before.
The over-sized monkey turned to look at her with dull, uninterested eyes. "What?"
Sandbird flattened her ears and bared her teeth. "I said, this isn't enough food for the cubs." She pressed. "We need more food, please."
The monkey's eyes flashed briefly at her brief display of temper, and he turned his heavy body to face her fully, his strange, long face looming above her, blocking out the light that filtered through the branches. He smiled a very pleased, and unpleasant, smile. "And what are you? The cub representative?"
She felt her face grow warm at the assertion, feeling self-conscious of such a title, but thinking of the hungry eyes that waited for her return in the hollows beneath the tree roots, she stood her ground. "Yes," she said, holding her gaze steady, "I am."
His lip curled. "Well then it would make a hell of an example if I brought the representative up for dinner with the snakes." His harsh yellow eyes glittered with the cruel corruption of power, and he reached one strange, long paw forward to grasp her scruff.
The small cub crouched instinctively, eyes squeezing tightly shut in fear, but suddenly the world beyond her closed lids grew darker and a low snarl emanated from above her. Her paws were still on the ground.
Slowly, hesitantly for fear of what she might see, she opened her eyes. Two dark paws were placed in front of her and the long, muscled body of a lioness was above her head. Far more shockingly, she could see dark wingtips flared on either side of her sudden protector.
"You get off on bullying starving cubs?" The lioness growled. "And I thought you monkeys were supposed to be smart. Don't you know better than to mess with a lion?"
The lioness moved forward, stepping smoothly over Sandbird's head, and she was able to get a better view of her as she stalked forward, forcing the monkey to scramble backwards until he tripped over a root and landed on his back with a heavy thump. She wasn't very large for a lioness— more of a slender, dark creature, with hints of cool tones peering through the night-colored patches that spattered her pelt. Dark, velvety wings extended from her back, the feathers ruffled in a way to make her appear larger.
The lioness did not abate– she pushed forward as he scrabbled backwards, only stopping once his back was pressed against the tree. "Or does she not look like a lion to you? Do you only bully orphans?"
The lioness' voice was low and dangerous, and sent a shiver of fear down Sandbird's spine. She slowly began to back away, fearful of being associated with any sort of crime that might ensue, but her retreat was blocked by a large paw behind her.
"Kokumo." A stern yet gentle voice came from behind her. "That's quite enough. We'll report him to the Givers."
Sandbird turned to identify this newcomer, and her eyes widened. Above her stood what could be no other thing than an angel. With dawn-colored eyes, a gentle, beautiful face, and enormous white wings arching gracefully from her back, Sandbird felt immediately both subdued and protected. She would be safe with this lioness.
The lioness, whose name must be "Kokumo", let out a dissatisfied grumble and backed away from the abuser, turning and purposefully letting her paw fall harshly on his tail as she neatly folded her wings to smack him in the face. "He's scum." She growled, casting a glance at Sandbird that seemed to be both defensive and comforting at the same time, before her eyes flew back to the angel.
The white-winged lioness hummed neutrally, but her soft eyes were sharp with disdain as she looked down at the monkey. "I suggest you ask to leave your shift early." She said in a clipped tone that barely managed to remain polite. "The Givers are lions, as I'm sure you're aware, and I wouldn't expect them to have sympathy for your... plight."
Sandbird heard a noise behind her that she assumed to be the monkey scrambling away, but she couldn't take her eyes off of these two mystical creatures to be sure.
The light-colored one looked down at her with a gentle smile. "Hello, I am Aurelia, Queen of the Snowy Mountain, and this is my queen and mate, Kokumo." She looked at the dark-winged lioness with warmth.
Sandbird took a step back, her legs feeling shaky and unsure. "H-hi. My name's Sandbird." She managed to choke out.
Kokumo flicked an ear back and soon turned her head to follow what had distracted her attention. "You need food, right?" Her voice was blunt in the way of someone who was unused to offering selfless gifts.
Sandbird peered around Aurelia's leg to be shocked into silence for a third time. A huge buffalo carcass rested on the ground behind them. "T-that's enough to feed us for nearly a week!" She gasped softly.
Aurelia looked sad and moved past her, grabbing the leg of the buffalo and exchanging a glance with the other queen before moving deeper into the shade of the tree and out of sight, to where the cave entrances were and the den mother stood guard.
Surprisingly, Kokumo's brow lowered. "A week? There's over a hundred of you. It should be gone within the day."
Sandbird looked down at her paws, feeling guilty. "I know. But food is... short. We eat less than we need to or else not everyone would be able to." She murmured.
Kokumo's eyes scraped over her harsh frame, and Sandbird felt herself wilt under the inspection, knowing how her pelt clung to her ribs and her skin was sucked into hollows beneath her cheekbones.
When the queen spoke, however, her voice was gentle. "And how much do you eat? The same as the rest?"
Sandbird kept her eyes glued to her paws, unsure if she was going to be in trouble, but somewhat comforted by the lioness' softer voice. She shook her head.
"You're coming home with us."
Aurelia's voice came from behind her, and once again the cub whirled around with wide eyes. "What?"
"I hope you don't mind." The queen added, dawn gaze glowing with warmth.
"N-no of course not, that's so... wonderfully kind, but... the others... they need me to... without me the food—"
"—won't be a problem." Interrupted Aurelia. "I've made a rather... sizable donation to the Givers' Organization and now that we are benefactors, I'm sure it won't be much of a struggle to have the Tree employ the lionesses to both hunt and watch over the tree." Aurelia purred with a confident smile.
"You deserve a safe place to sleep." Kokumo spoke, her eyes glimmering with emotion. "You're too young to be making sacrifices." At those words, her eyes shifted to look at Aurelia, her words heavy with meaning that Sandbird did not understand, but she respected anyway. She got the sense that the dark-coated queen was not one to express emotions often.
"Thank you." She murmured, feeling overwhelmingly humbled as she ducked her head.
"Besides," Kokumo added, seeming to shake herself of her brief emotional spell, "our cubs are spoiled rotten. They could do with a strong soul like you to keep them in line." She flashed a sharp smile.
Sandbird gave a hesitant, tiny smile in return, to which Kokumo laughed.
"Yeah, you're definitely an Aurelia-cub." She chuckled, shaking her head. "Unfortunately, you'll be riding home with me. Aurelia's got a busy schedule."
With that, Sandbird was scooped into Kokumo's jaws, barely able to squeal in surprise as Kokumo took a few quick, long strides, wings extending out to either side, before she leaped into the air and caught them on the wind, rising higher by the second.
"Kokumo!" Aurelia's scolding voice came from below them, though, Sandbird soon heard another pair of wings flapping alongside them. "Be gentle."
Sandbird's delicate body vibrated from Kokumo's chuckle, and she found herself relaxing slightly. She didn't love being in the sky, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Besides, Kokumo seemed happier up here than on the ground, and she liked Kokumo, even if Aurelia seemed far more approachable. "I'm okay!" She called back, twisting in her new care-taker's jaws to smile up at Aurelia, who hovered over them with a worried expression.
At the cub's smile, though, the queen relaxed and answered in kind, a light laugh escaping her. "She could be your cub yet, Koko!" She called happily in farewell before arching gracefully through the air to fly upward and away from them.
"Koko?" Sandbird questioned with a faint giggle.
The dark queen let out a half-hearted growl and shook her head enough to rattle the cub gently, a noise sounding very much like a cautionary "nuh-uh" coming from her throat, and Sandbird fell amicably silent, a peaceful smile on her face as they soared towards her new home.