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Sadie was born alongside her fraternal sister, Sable, during a horrible storm. The night they were born two spirits of the pride dynasty visited the young sisters, to bestow their wisdom and see to the survival of the pride.
Sadie was visited by a speckled brown lioness named Dana.
Dana was the first brood mother in the pride’s history, and she was known as the best. Her nurturing spirit raised many generations of the pride to be strong and healthy members.
She told stories of the joys of little cubs, just like Sadie, and watched them grow into adulthood under her care.
She promised to always watch over Sadie, and encouraged her to always seek joy from her life and pride.
As a gift to Sadie, Dana tattooed a shamanistic protection spell. She promised that one day Sadie would need this.
Dana glanced behind Sadie, where Sable stood speaking with Brindlepatch. Her lip curled in disgust and she let out a huff. Dana murmured, “Beware of Hyena Canyon, and what you may find there.” before dissipating into thin air.
Sadie quickly forgot this advice, the joyful cub she was. She spent mornings and evenings playing with her cousins, and afternoons sleeping through the heat of the day. It was a good cubhood under the protection of their king, Lilac. They never knew or hunger or sadness. That is, of course, for Sable. Sable spent their cubhood cold, and distant. She would always sit alone, or spar with the subordinate male, Fear. Sadie never understood why she took things so seriously, and spent so much time training.
What she was training for was hard to say. They were expected to be the only trainee’s this year for hunting, and there would be plenty of time for that once they reached adolescence.
…
One fateful day, Sable approached her sister for what felt like the first time. It was definitely the longest time they had ever spoken.
Sable told Sadie if this magical place the male, Fear, had told her about. She seemed excited, which was a first for Sable. Because of this, Sadie went along, happy to finally spend some time with her sister.
When they arrived at their destination, it appeared to be a dark and desolate canyon. Scarce dead grass could be seen at the bottom of the giant crevice, and in the distance a large mountain range could be seen.
Sadie began to turn to her sister, to question why she had been brought here, when long and sharp claws dug into her rear. She roared in pain, and begun to swing around to face her attacker when the ground beneath her caved in.
As she slid down the steep and jagged slope; she could see two figures where her paws once touched solid ground. One was that of her sister, Sable, and the other…. Was the adolescent male, Fear. They calmly watched as she slid to certain death, the bottom jagged and barely visible.
She lost her footing and began to tumble down the cliff side. The last thing she heard was a crack against her skull and then her vision darkened to nothingness.
When Sadie awoke she was greeted by the singing and snarling of hundreds of coyotes. They stood around her in a circle, inching towards their injured prey. Beside her lay a rotting kudu carcass and a wooden fence post. She backed herself up against the wood, and cried for help from her sister and Fear, but they were long gone, having abandoned her to die.
The hyenas steadily inched towards her, mouths drooling with blood from a fresh kill, and drool seeping from the sides of their mouths.
Just as she began to accept her fate, a heron flew overhead and landed on the wooden post.
Sadie stood, frozen in place, too scared to move. She knew there was no escape for her.
Suddenly, beam of light blinded Sadie and she fell to the earth, covering her eyes with her paws. When she reopened her eyes she saw standing before her, Dana, the lioness she had met her first day of life.
Dana cast out rays of light, scaring away the Hyenas back into the cracks of the canyon.
Dana turned to Sadie, and touched her forehead to hers. “Though the spell of protection cannot always keep you safe, it will always show me when you need me.”
…
Sadie padded to the pride den, cut all over from her fall down the steep cliffs. Outside of the den she saw the same heron from before, and blinked slowly in admiration.
Inside, she found her grieving mother and pride. They had believed she died. Her mother gripped her in a fierce embrace, and the cheers of her pride mates could be heard all around her.
But she was unable to bask in this warm welcome. After things had settled down she sulked to her nest in the far corner of the clearing. She was haunted by nightmares of her sister.
The snap of a twig jarred her from sleep, and the fur on her hackles rose. Looking down at her stood her sister, Sable. Her fiery red fur looked almost black under the moonless sky. Her golden irises pierced down into her.
“I hope you learned your lesson”, Sable whispered softly. “I only want to help you, dear sister. You are too weak, and have never known of hardship.” Sable brushed her paw against Sadie’s cheek as she said this, almost maternally. “I knew if you could find the strength in you to survive you would.”
The silence grew between them, as they stared at each other.
“And what if I hadn’t lived?” Sadie whispered, fear in her voice.
Sable chuckled and stood to leave. Her back turned to Sadie, she growled “Then you wouldn’t deserve to live.”
With that parting thought she left, leaving Sadie petrified.
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