|
Yet another day of hunting, Tia thought to herself as she followed behind Elisabeta and Auroratlas. She swore they'd stalked through these same woods not hours before and had returned back to the pride fruitless. But Auroratlas insisted, they just needed one good hunt to appease Barnabas Avalon, and then they could rest for the day.
Tia didn't want to hunt, or rest. She wanted to explore, like the leader of their pride did every day. She was tired of providing for the rest of the pride without hardly so much as a passing glance or orders from Barnabas to act as an ambassador between her home pride and other, strange prides. Of course, she was very well aware that she wasn't the best candidate for the job, with all of her awkward clumsiness, where she would trip over not only her own tongue, but her own paws very frequently.
Nevertheless, ever since she'd been weaned from her mother, Tia had seen a lot of different prides, and seen how other kings ruled. She'd made wonderful friends in other prides, but having just returned home once more, she was feeling awkward and out of place yet again.
She slowed her trot to a walk as Elisabeta and Auroratlas disappeared into the tall grass just beyond the trees. Even if it was just for a moment, she took a quiet breath in and just enjoyed the fleeting sense of freedom she felt. She caught sight of the tall grass rustling a short distance off and kept an eye on what direction her pride mates were heading in.
"You aren't a very good hunter."
Tia startled at the noise, her gaze snapping back towards the forest. There was nothing there.
She heard a laugh from above her, and took a step back as she realized there was a youth sprawled in one of the top branches much like a leopard.
"This is Barnabas Avalon's territory," Tia said, trying hard to mark the shake in her voice. She wasn't quite sure yet if she was shaking because of fear, or because of anger.
The youth leapt from the tree gracefully and landed at the trunk. "I was just passing through," he promised, before reaching up the trunk to dig his claws deep into the bark. "That's really all I ever do, is just pass through."
"So, what, you don't have a home?" Tia asked, before realizing how obtuse the question was.
The youth shrugged. "Not really," he said. He didn't seem to be put off by the bluntness of her question at all, and Tia relaxed a little.
"Mostly," the youth continued, "I've just been wandering from pride to pride, looking for a place I might make my home. It seems I've had some bad luck, though. All the prides I've run across haven't been the most accepting of outsiders, especially those who look like me."
Tia looked at the youth for a moment, not quite recognizing what he was talking about. She'd seen so many different types of lions, of different sizes, heights, ages, and abnormalities, that nothing stuck out to her.
"You're a lion?" she finally prompted.
The youth was silent for half a second, then laughed. "You're the first lion I've met to be so black and white like that," he said. "Lion, yes. But also primal, which seems to be a sticking point for every home I've tried to make for myself. They think I'm too strong, too scary, too violent."
The youth laid down on the ground and stared up toward the canopy of the trees above them. "But I just want a place I can call home, somewhere I can be at peace, make friends, and finally just feel . . . free."
Tia flexed her claws as she debated her options. She could chase the youth out of the territory; he was an intruder. She could get rid of him herself, and maybe gain respect and admiration from the pride.
"You'll want to convince Barnabas Avalon," she said, surprising herself with the words. She winced.
"The leader of your pride?" the youth asked.
Tia hesitated, then nodded. "Yes," she replied. "He's an older lion now, but I'm sure he'd be willing to accept you as a sub male in our pride."
The youth looked thoughtfully into the forest for a moment before turning his gaze back to Tia. "I don't think I got your name," he said.
"It's Tia, er, Tia Morgana Estrada."
The youth smiled. "A name fit for a queen," he said, before bounding into the forest and vanishing.
Tia realized, as she watched him disappear, that he'd stolen any retort she could have come up with, right from her. . . . and she hoped she would see him again.
|
"
"
