|
Lynx’s Next Heat Belongs To:
https://www.lioden.com/territory.php?id=213612&befriends=213612
Lynx looks up at Marco’v as he roars for attention. She shakes in fear. Marco’v licks her on the head before padding away. Lynx stumbles to her oversized paws and hurries after him, but the king picks her up by the scruff and returns her to the spot he had placed her earlier. “Stay.” He instructed. Lynx looked up at him with wide, scared eyes as he walked away. Stiff with fear, she looks around, nose twitching rapidly. Strange scents surrounded her. Where was her mother, with her warm milky scent? Her sister? She was confused. Was something wrong with her? She knew she and Gerbil had been hidden away from the king of their pride for fear they’d be killed, but was Lynx really the only one in any danger? Shaking her head, stood up and mewled loudly. Her stomach was growling. She’d only recently been weaned and she missed the warm milk from her mother, Okapi. A small barking noise startled her and she whirled around to see a strange creature coming towards her, sniffing the air. It was some sort of canine, she’d seen a few similar creatures in the food piles at home. Though Lynx had never smelled anything like it before, there was a hint of familiarity. Milk. This creature had milk. Mewling loudly, Lynx approached it, she was smaller than the creature but hunger blocked out her fear. “Milk?” She tilted her head and pawed at the creature. It smelled foul but the milky scent still reached her nostrils. She licked her lips. The weird striped creature barked and rushed off in a panic.
“Wait!” Lynx yelped and stumbled after it, tripping over her oversized paws.
“Please I’m just hungry!!” She cried as she desperately tried to keep up with the thing. The thing slowed and turned to her, sniffing her again before gently licking her head. The creature laid down and tucked Lynx into her belly. Startled, Lynx blinked up at the creature before beginning to suckle, and soon she fell asleep. She awoke to an ear splitting shriek. Flinging her eyes open, she registered the metallic scent of blood. The creature who’s belly she’d been suckling at was missing it’s head. She shot to her paws with a yelp. Blood was splattered over her face, dripping into her mouth and nose. A rough tongue licked her face, so strong it knocked her off of her paws. A strangely familiar scent reached her under all the blood. She couldn’t quite decipher what it was, but it wasn’t a kind smell. Blinking open her eyes and spitting out blood, she saw a massive, blood covered lion standing before her. He had decor made of bones wrapped around his chest, markings like shadows creeping up his body, gleaming orange eyes, and bloodstained fur. Lynx began to shake when she noticed the barking creature’s head resting at his paws. The massive lion sniffed her, handling her none too gently.
“You are Okapi’s cub?” He asked, his voice nearly a growl. Lynx nodded shakily. “I thought she had given me a son. You’re a puny dwarf lioness.” Lynx shrunk into her skin. This was her father? The king who sired her and her sister? Okapi hadn’t warned her that he was this scary. Catching a glimpse of her own bloodstained paws, Lynx worried that she might look like her father. She remembered looking into her reflection in a puddle not long ago and realized she had his eyes. His terrible terrible eyes. She shakily rose to meet her father’s gaze. He had expected a son. Lynx knew that her brother was long gone, dead before he could eat solid food.
“Okapi did have a son.” Lynx told him, her voice shaking. The angry lion loomed over her, growling.
“Then where is he? Why would Levi send me this miserable scrap of fur?”
“King Levi killed him.” Lynx tried to sound tough but her voice squeaked at the end of the sentence. She vaguely remembered Levi coming into the den to kill her brother. She and Gerbil had been hastily shoved into the nest of another lioness to hide. She remembered that. Her eyes were barely open but she remembered peeking over the paws of the lioness to see what the King wanted. Okapi had been shaking her head, standing over the scrap of fur that was her brother. He didn’t have dwarfism like she and Gerbil, but he wasn’t very healthy either. Okapi had her claws digging into the nest, teeth bared. With her small figure and stubby legs, Levi was easily able to push her aside. Lynx’s curiosity grew as he approached her brother, but she wasn’t able to see anything else because the lioness watching her and Gerbil realized she was looking and shoved her back into the nest, laying her head overtop of the two tiny dwarf cubs. Lynx remembered her telling them to stay down. She remembered Okapi’s voice yelling out and a tiny squeal from her brother. She remembered Okapi’s sadness and how empty the nest felt afterward.
Her father’s angry reply jerked her from her memories.
“What?! Why would Levi do such a thing?” Lynx’s hope grew at his anger, despite how it scared her. Maybe her father was good. Perhaps he just looked scary, and only wanted what was best for her, perhaps that was why he had killed the creature, maybe he thought it would hurt her. That just be it. Perhaps this king thought poorly of killing cubs and would be so outraged he would go to her pride and get rid of Levi, leaving her with Marco’v and her mother and sister. She puffed up courageously and told her father the story.
“He- Kin-King Levi said my brother was.. weak. He said he was- was too sm-small. Too.. too fragile.” instead of getting angrier like she had hoped, the male simply looked amused.
“My son was weaker than you??” He asked incredulously, clearly referencing Lynx's deformed dwarf body. She puffed up angrily. She wasn’t weak! She had beaten Gerbil in plenty of play-fights, and Okapi told her all the time how brave she was! She opened her mouth and was about to protest before she was cut off.
“Why didn’t Levi come into camp to drop you off? Explain the cub’s death and why I ended up with you instead?” Lynx’s hopes of her father rushing her pride and performing a daring rescue flickered out like a light. He didn’t care about the death of his son. He was just annoyed he’d gotten stuck with a weaker cub. He didn’t even ask Mouse’s name…
“Ki-King Levi-“ she was cut off again as she started to explain. Her father clicked his tongue.
“No need to call him King when you’re not in his pride, little daughter. I am your King now.”
“Oh.. okay Fa-Father. King Lev- Uh uh Levi isn’t the king anymore, he was.. dethroned..” she didn’t know how he would react to this news so she shrunk away from him. He simply nodded.
“Probably the old codger’s mistake for leaving a strong male in the pride is my guess. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. You’ll fetch a pretty beetle price at the trading center I suppose. But no wild animal is going to threaten my cub, no matter how.. small they are. And where there’s one aardwolf, there are more.” Lynx’s ears perked up in curiousity.
“Aardwolf?” She asked, not sure what the word meant. Her new king kicked the head of the barking creature towards her and she cringed away.
“Aardwolf. You stay put, I’m going to find the rest of them and I don’t need you getting hurt.” with that he stalked off. Terrified to be abandoned again, Lynx scurried after her father at a distance so he wouldn’t notice her.
Once he found the aardwolf den, he collapsed a portion of it to make the rest of the aardwolves run out. Lynx’s eyes widened as he grabbed them two at a time and slaughtered them. Then, sniffing the air, he still k one large paw into the partially collapsed den and dragged out some clumps of fur. The scent of milk reached Lynx’s fur, almost smelling like Mouse had, like Gerbil did. They must be aardwolf cubs! Her father plunged his claws into their throats and Lynx yelped, dashing forward. By the time she reached them, there was only one left. Barely smaller than her, but she threw herself over it, looking up at her father with wide, terrified eyes. He growled.
“Get out of the way runt.” Lynx shook her head rapidly.
“Listen you little brat! I saved your life from this nasty pup’s mother. She would have killed you and fed you to this very disgusting creature. And you try to protect it?!” Lynx dug her claws in, remembering how her mother had tried to protect Mouse.
“H-his mom made my belly full. Sh-she let me sleep with her as if I was h-him. P-please Father. Please let- let him be.” Her father snorted angrily.
“Call me King Bone. You’re just like Bunny. Always coddling small things. You can keep the runt, but if it tries anything, it’s dead.” Bone grabbed the aardwolf pup in his mouth and gestured for Lynx to follow him. She did, desperately wishing she had anywhere else to go.
It didn’t take her long to settle into the pride. Bone was a constant looming presence, but he didn’t bother her much. When she’d pictured her father, she’d pictured someone loving and gentle like her mother, but Bone certainly wasn’t loving. An. d he certainly wasn’t gentle. In fact, he’d wanted to get rid of her, sell her off for some pretty silver beetles in the trading center. The pretty dwarf lioness, Bunny, had stopped him. Lynx didn’t know why Bone liked and respected Bunny when he didn’t seem to like that Lynx was a dwarf, but as far as she was aware, he’d known Bunny since he was barely more than a cub, as she’d been in the pride before he became king, which wasn’t something most of the pride members could boast. Bunny was one of Lynx’s favorite lionesses in the pride, because she reminded her of Okapi. She even knew Okapi! Okapi had been in the Pride Of Watchers before she left several months ago. Shortly after Bone came into power, Bone wanted her to go to the pride of one of his friends, and Okapi had been less than two. According to Bunny, Levi and King Bone had been friends when they were younger, and though their relationship was more strained now, they still enjoyed each other’s company and gave each other favors often. Although the lioness officially in charge of Lynx’s care was a broodmother named Cam, the mother of another young cub in the pride, Lynx preferred to spend most of her time with Bunny, listening to her stories about when Okapi was an apprentice, and feeling the familiar presence of a dwarf lioness to curl up to. Bunny had lost her cubs when King Bone gave them to the giving tree, so Bunny was glad for the company the small dwarf provided, and Lynx’s aardwolf got on well with the puppy Bunny had. It had been abandoned by its humans around the time Bunny was nursing her first litter, and she’d convinced Bone to let her raise the poor thing. Her puppy was called Boe, and Lynx decided to name her aardwolf Mouse after her brother.
When Lynx confided that she was afraid of looking like her father and she knew she had his eyes, Bunny came up with a solution. Purring loudly, she had convinced Bone to give her some things to trade and she took Lynx into the trading center. It was scary, but Lynx felt safe at Bunny’s side. Bunny had purchased some dust that she told Lynx was very special. It was called Celestite dust. Bunny had said that she had to be brave because it might sting some, but she rubbed the dust on Lynx’s eyelids and licked it into her eyes gently. It stung for a few moments, but when Lynx saw her reflection in a small puddle, she was overjoyed. Instead of the gleaming eyes of her father, she had pretty purple eyes, sparkling in the light. “Thank you Bunny!!” She’d thrown herself onto the dwarf lioness, purring.
Growing up in The Pride of Watchers wasn’t easy. It wasn’t terrible to navigate as long as you stayed away from Bone, he didn’t bother you much. Bunny made sure Lynx was well trained so that Bone wouldn’t view her as worthless and weak, and Lynx preferred to spend her time on hunts with Bunny and Baby.
The day before Lynx turned 2, her father approached her. They hadn’t spoken one on one since the day she arrived in the pride. She pushed Mouse into her side protectively as she looked up at him.
“You’re two now, correct?” Bone asked her, looking down at her over bloodstained fur. She nodded, gulping.
“Tomorrow.” She said meekly. He nodded.
“I’ve found you a mate.” When the words were out of his mouth she perked her ears.
“A mate?”
“You want cubs don’t you?”
“Of- of course I do! It’s just very soon.” Bone snorted at Lynx’s surprise.
“A handsome male, strong. He will give good cubs. You will meet him tomorrow.” Bone informed her before walking away.
|
