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Written by StygianSunshine
The moon was round and fat as The Afterglow sat beneath it, her chin tipped up as she stared at the midnight tapestry woven with glimmering stars. She had been exiled from her clan after showing interest in one of the lionesses in her old pride. The two had, in some sense of the word, been in love. Though it was young and foolish, The Afterglow knew the feeling deep in her chest was true. When the king of the pride she’d been born into had found out, he’d roared that she was a disgrace and shameful and said that if she didn’t leave his pride, she would be killed.
But The Afterglow had felt no shame as she plodded away from the pride she’d lived in for her entire life, leaving her mother and littermates behind. Even as the sun’s ravaging heat slowed her down and left her panting, she had no regrets in what she had done. The king was old and foolish and though the cruel, hateful words of the king she’d looked up to her entire life stung, there was nothing she could do about who she loved. If she had fallen in love with another lioness, it must have been the will of the spirits.
It had been moons since The Afterglow was exiled from her birth pride and she’d eventually found a home of her own, being accepted in by the queen of a faraway pride. The queen had taken the young adolescent under her wing and, The Afterglow had learned, also had a preference for lionesses. “It was a gift.” the queen had said, her wise voice calm and fond. “A gift that was granted by the spirits to bring a queen closer to the lionesses under her care.” When that queen had grown old, her once-sharp eyes growing dull and glassy, she’d named The Afterglow her heiress.
The Afterglow turned, an ear twitching at the sound of soft pawsteps behind her. It was one of her lionesses, carrying a large chunk of meat in her jaws. She settled beside the queen, gently setting the food down at her paws. “What are you doing?” The lioness asked softly, leaning over to gently press her warm shoulder against The Afterglow’s
The queen turned and tipped her chin upwards once more, feeling warm fondness mixed with the soft, bittersweet feeling of loss twisting in her chest. She let out a quiet sigh, flicking her tufted tail so it curled neatly over her paws. “Just looking at the stars.” She murmured. She thought of the passed queen, the way her eyes had always seemed to glimmer with starlight. The Afterglow couldn’t help but think of her now, now that she had become one with the spirits. Perhaps now she was perched in the stars, her pelt woven with glimmering light. Perhaps tonight she would climb down from her throne amongst the inky sky and press her nose against the forehead of a new cub, eyes still squeezed shut and ears folded closed, passing on the blessing she herself had been given as a newborn cub.
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