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276 by lvl 15 on 26/9/2013
483 by lvl 20 on 16/10/2013
804 by lvl 25 on 6/11/2013
1152 by lvl 30 on 24/11/2013
1617 by lvl 35 on 1/17/2014
1994 By Lvl 40 on 2/6/2014
Name Means Bringer Of Light In Zulu
First Fiery Lion Existing on The Game.
First Lion with Gold Panther on The Game.
First Special to hit 500+, 600+, 700+, 800+, 900+, 1000+, 1100+, 1200+, 1300+, 1400+, 1500+, 1600+ stats, Without Skill.
First Special to hit Lvl 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40.
First Special to have a 900+ stat Cub.
Biography Written OC by Aurielle!
Name Meanings
Rudo: Shona | love
Zuri: Swahili | beautiful
Kirabo: Luganda | gift
Ndidi: Igbo | patience
Lesedi: Tswana | light
Zuberi: Swahili | strong
Baako : Akan | first born child
****
[START | PART ONE]
Khanyisile was born the prized princess in a far-off, prosperous prideland, admired for her unique pelt but also feared for her crimson-red irises. Her pride-sisters had always been unsure of the proper way to act around the young princess, unsure about her possible reactions to certain affectionate gestures and joking remarks. Why, Khan didn't really know, but because of this, she was always a bit of a loner, preferring quiet days to herself, simply taking long walks around the territory rather than socializing with the other lionesses during mealtimes. But that didn't mean she was totally closed off to the idea of love. Far from it, in fact. She craved the idea of love.
Khan's attentions had always been secretly centered on Rudo, her father's vandal-colored, white-eyed sub-male and the upcoming heir to the throne. Strong, masculine, protective, honest, he was everything she had ever wanted in a potential mate. But there was only one thing fundamentally wrong with Rudo, and that "thing" just so happened to be Khan's older sister, Zuri, a pretty white lioness with bright blue eyes and an elegant air all around her. She was going to be the next queen, and everyone -- even Khan -- knew it.
Zuri and Khan had never been close; in fact, they hardly ever interacted. Maybe it was the age difference, maybe it was the fact that Zuri and Rudo were engaged and Khan was secretly in love with her sister's betrothed, but that particular relationship of Khan's had never blossomed into anything even resembling a sisterly bond, and by the time she turned two years of age, Khan had simply accepted it.
Several events happened after Khan's coming-of-age that affected her for the rest of her life, some she'd already known about and some she hadn't even realized until it was much too late to do anything about any of them. One of those events just happened to be the death of her beloved parents, one after the other -- the only true relationships she'd ever had, really -- and the subsequent appointment of Rudo as King and Zuri as Queen. Though Khan pretended like everything was okay -- that she wasn't breaking apart on the inside -- during the days leading up to Rudo's coronation and his marriage ceremony, the building realization that she'd lost both Rudo and her beloved parents in one fell swoop proved to be too much for Khan, and she lashed out, accidentally striking her sister in the face, leaving a long, very obvious scar on her left eye, just a few hours before Zuri's wedding to Rudo.
Khan, deciding there was basically nothing for her to lose now, let the truth about her feelings come forth like a sudden typhoon, unstoppable, unable to hide, and although she wanted to take everything back -- the scar, the truth -- just a few seconds after she'd released that pent up anger and those pent up secrets, she knew she couldn't.
Both Rudo and Zuri -- as well as the rest of the lionesses in the pride -- looked at Khan with undisguised emotions on their face, all ranging from surprise, outrage, sadness. Gone were the days where the other females treated her like she was invisible, unpredictable. Now they were letting their opinions known, most of them saying it was terrible timing of her to drop this on everyone only a few hours before her sister's wedding. Their comments hadn't been a surprise to Khan. She knew she was the lesser-liked of the two siblings. Zuri had always been more sociable, more friendly, while Khan had been more aloof, more picky with who she spoke to.
But Rudo... When Khan looked at him after what seemed like hours of trying to talk herself into it, she was surprised at what she saw. He looked devastated, like he was the one with a fresh new scar on his face, not his betrothed. "Khanyisile..." He would not meet anyone else's eyes but Khan's -- not even Zuri's. "You could've told me," he told her weakly.
Flabbergasted, Khan stepped back, shaking her head with disbelief. "What? How could I? You were -- and always have been -- betrothed to my sister!"
"And you think that was set in stone? Khanyisile, your father would've stolen the moon for you if you'd asked him. I... -- I would've done the same." The other lionesses -- Zuri, especially -- looked at him with pure shock on their faces.
Khanyisile was too busy trying to read his eyes for sincerity to really notice. She hadn't expected this, that he would have feelings for her too; the most she and Rudo had ever interacted had always just been short exchanges about her mother wanting to see her, or her father wanting to see him. But before Khan could really dwell on the whens or the whys or the hows, Zuri spoke, effectively shattering the eye contact Rudo had initiated, and held onto, with her cold, ice-fire voice.
"So will you be marrying her then, Rudo?"
Finally, Rudo looked at the other lioness, contemplating the question. Within a few seconds, Rudo nodded matter-of-factly and replied with a simple, "Yes. I'm king now. I think I'm allowed to choose my own queen for myself."
He then turned his attention to Khan, who was too busy trying to remember how to breathe to realize he was saying something else. "...That is, if she would have me."
Khan blurted, "Of course, Rudo, in a heartbeat," without really thinking about it, proceeding to step forward so she could press her face against his. The other lionesses had been struck speechless for the past few minutes, but now they were once again making their opinions known.
"Rudo, you're making a terrible decision -- "
" -- does she even know how to be queen?"
"Zuri's the one who was trained for this! Khanyisile is just the lazy princess! She knows nothing!"
But they could've been throwing feathers at Rudo for all he cared. At sunset, he and Khanyisile were married, the lionesses grumbling underneath their breath the entire ceremony, and Khan was then appointed queen... with absolutely no idea at all about how to rule.
She shared these fears with him before they went to sleep that night, Rudo shaking off her worries like they were a simple blanket of leaves. "Don't worry about it, Khan, I'm sure Zuri would help you."
Despite her best efforts not to, Khan snorted derisively. "I really doubt she'd happily agree to help me, Rudo. I stole you away from her; I'm sure she won't let go of that for a while."
"If I ask her, she will." But the very next day, Rudo came up to Khan a few hours past sun-high, looking sheepish as he plopped down beside her. "...She defied me. She actually defied me. Said you could learn by yourself."
Khan sighed. "What did I tell you? She is right, though... I'll figure everything out by myself. I usually do." And she did. Obviously she made mistakes -- quite a lot, actually -- but she fixed them as soon as she could. Khan was beginning to feel like she'd started to belong, like she'd started to have a purpose in her life, and she couldn't be happier.
...
When she realized she and Rudo were expecting cubs a few months after she became queen, Khan was pretty sure the both of them were on Cloud Nine. It almost felt like everything was too good to be true, too perfect to be real. And though that thought settled deep in the back of her mind, Khan chose to ignore it, chose to anticipate the birth of her cubs instead. It definitely helped that Rudo's reaction to the news was a combination of wide-eyed shock and a strange hybrid of hyperventilating laughter coming from his mouth.
A few hours before the cubs were born, Rudo was off on a patrol around the territory, willingly succumbing to his old job until he could find a sub-male of his own. One of the youngest adolescents came up to him, breathing hard as she said, "Your Majesty, Queen Khan is delivering right now!"
Without missing a beat, Rudo ran back to their den as fast as he could, arriving just in time to see the birth of his first cub.
Khan was too busy focusing on the labor to really pay much attention to him, but Rudo didn't mind. He understood why, as he usually did, simply relishing in the moment of watching his offspring come into the world.
Finally, a few hours later, as Khan collapsed against the stone floor with her sides heaving and 2 more cubs joining their mewling sibling at her side, Rudo approached cautiously, slightly unsure about what she wanted from him. As she looked up and gave him a look that said all she needed to say though, Rudo collapsed against her and began to clean her face, overjoyed beyond belief.
"Thank you," he told her simply, "for these three."
Later on in her life, when she felt like reminiscing -- an occurrence that would only happen once in a blue moon -- Khanyisile would remember that particular moment, surrounded by her 3 newborn cubs and the best mate she would ever have, as the last moment she'd been really, truly happy.
...
Five months later and the cubs were already starting to develop their own individual personalities. Of course, Rudo had cubs by the other lionesses in the pride, as was expected, but his three from Khanyisile were clearly his favorite. The firstborn, Kirabo, had luckily been a male -- the undisputed future king -- with Khanyisile's distinctive pelt and his father's white eyes, determined to make his father proud, the second-born, Ndidi, a daughter with her father's vandal coloring and mother's red eyes, as prim and proper as her aunt, while the last, Lesedi, and easily the smallest as well as her father's secret favorite, was a carbon copy of her mother with her fiery-orange pelt and crimson-red eyes, innocent and loving.
Khan handled motherhood and her queenly duties with surprising ease, dispatching hunting parties and settling disputes all from the comfort of her own den, the time in between spent teaching her cubs the proper ways of being royalty, just like her parents had done for her.
But one particular day -- it could've been any other day, really -- many, many things went wrong. But it wasn't the worst day of Khan's life, not by far. That would come later.
It all started when the lionesses refused to go out on their hunts, with Khan trying to figure out why they were all acting so defiant and not being able to, much to her frustration. Deciding she could probably stretch her muscles out anyway, Khanyisile went out on a hunt by herself. Mistake number one. She met an angry impala on that lone hunt, ending up with a scar on her side from where the impala had scratched her, trying to protect itself, and no food to bring home. Once she arrived back at the den, she figured Kirabo was with his father. Ndidi and Lesedi were nowhere to be found, however, and Khan was frantic with worry as she searched every inch of the territory.
With a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach, Khan walked up to her sister with angry strides, demanding to know the location of her cubs. But Zuri just lounged there, in the middle of the den space, sunbathing as she dozed on and off. Khan was furious at this point, past the point of being simply worried about her girls. She was about to give her sister another, matching scar when she heard the distinct mewling sounds that only Lesedi made. Without bothering to bid her sister farewell, Khan bounded over to where she'd heard the sound, nearly collapsing to the grass in relief as she found Ndidi and Lesedi huddled together in a rotting log, looking frightened out of their minds.
As she turned to go back to her den, though, Khan sniffed the air on a whim and suddenly whirled around to find a rogue male creeping toward her dozing sister. After a quick command to her daughters, Khan was once again sprinting towards her sister, getting ready to unleash an attack when she stopped dead in her tracks and crept behind a nearby bush to observe as the rogue male and Zuri conversed in hushed tones.
After a few moments of conversation, the male departed, and Khan walked back to where her daughters were waiting, thoughts swirling. Zuri's secret lover, perhaps? Or something completely, totally different?
Before Khan could dwell too much on the whole mystery, Rudo appeared on the edges of their territory, Kirabo following along behind his father, looking very pleased with himself. At Khanyisile's arrival by his side, Rudo turned a white-eyed gaze on her and started to explain, "Kir caught his very first warthog today! By himself!"
Congratulating her son and asking her mate about the other activities the two of them had done that day, Khan pushed all thoughts about Zuri and her lover-boy to the very depths of her mind. Mistake number two.
...
Two months after that, Khan woke to find her pride in an uproar, Rudo and Kirabo nowhere to be found while Ndidi and Lesedi huddled next to her for protection. Waking up in a split second, Khanyisile charged into battle, finding Rudo engaged in a battle of his very own... with Zuri. Once she realized her mate was fighting her sister, Khan immediately veered her course towards the two, crying out for them to stop. For some reason, they did, Zuri looking strangely relaxed as she strode towards her younger sister. Meeting Khanyisile halfway and sitting down, Zuri began to speak: "Leave now, Khanyisile, and bring your daughters with you, or I will get Zuberi over there" -- she flicked her tail to the same rogue male Khan had seen her talking to 2 months prior -- "to slaughter them. Kirabo we need, so he will be spared."
She expected nothing less than obedience from Khan, that much was clear, but Khan... "And what of Rudo? What will happen to him?"
Her sister looked surprised at the thought of Rudo's death, as if she hadn't been nearly trying to kill him just a few minutes ago.
"Why, he lives, of course. He's our king."
"And I'm queen."
"You weren't supposed to be. Father appointed me queen."
"But Rudo chose me."
"Do you really want your daughters' deaths on your paws, dear little sister?"
With a resigned sigh, Khan looked over at Rudo, saw the sadness in his eyes. But she also saw the grave acceptance, the realization that nobody would win in this situation except Zuri.
"We'll leave tonight," she whispered softly.
"No, you will leave right now."
Khanyisile had no other choice but to leave the only home -- the only family -- she'd ever known behind, if only for the chance to keep her daughters alive.
...
As a mother, Khan was even more vigilant about looking out for any threats in front, to the sides, and behind them as they trudged along pride lands that belonged to no one and everyone, compared to how cautious she would've been if she was merely traveling alone.
Lesedi and Ndidi were getting tired; it was obvious in the way their pawsteps were slowing down. Khan sighed with grudging acceptance before she veered off towards the shade of a baobab tree, plopping to the ground and keeping an eye on her approaching daughters as she did so.
It had been almost a month since their banishment, and Khan still didn't know what to think. Ever since their second day of being rogue females, Khan had felt a nagging weight on the part of her chest that she'd always associated with Rudo. She didn't know whether he was still alive, or whether he'd taken on Zuri as his queen -- a possibility that would not have surprised Khanyisile in the least. Zuri always got what she wanted in the end, and what she wanted had always included Khan's rank as queen, as well as her mate.
And Kibaro... her determined, ambitious young son. Would he remember everything she'd taught him, in the short time that Khan had had him? Or would he consider Zuri his mother now that Khan was out of the picture? The thought of Zuri acting as Kibaro's mother hit Khan right in the heart, and as Lesedi and Ndidi walked towards her, Khan felt her control start to slip as she closed her eyes and blotted out the world for the short space of time until her girls' arrival.
"Mother?" Lesedi asked softly, pressing her side against Khan's, their fur mingling until Ndidi didn't know where her mother ended and her sister began. "Are you okay?"
Khan shook her head. "How are we going to survive this?"
Ndidi finally took her place by her mother's opposite side, essentially making a Khanyisile sandwich. "Together, of course."
For maybe the second time in her life -- the first when her cubs had been born -- Khan was glad she wasn't alone.
...
Four months later, Lesedi and Ndidi celebrated their first birthday with hunting practice, all too aware of the missing third that was supposed to be celebrating with them.
The two sisters met their mother at the baobab tree they'd been using as a home for the past week. Khan avoided staying in one place for too long, saying something about not wanting to get too attached to one place, that it was too dangerous to do such a thing.
After a quick lunch from the carcass Lesedi and Ndidi had caught all on their own, the three were on the move again. For some reason, no lion had bothered them at all within the five months they'd journeyed towards an unknown destination. Maybe it was Khan's and Lesedi's unsettling eyes or the fact that the large scar on Khan's side was in clear view. Whatever it was, Khan was glad that she hadn't had to deal with any overconfident, puffed-up rogue males intent on hurting her or her girls. Especially her girls.
Until today, that was.
He was a pure black male, broad and muscular, appearing out of nowhere as he came face to face with Ndidi, who stopped dead in her tracks and glared at him.
Khanyisile's eyes narrowed as she moved swiftly towards her daughter, placing her body in between the two. "What do you want?" she growled, deathly calm in her voice.
The male sat back on his haunches and looked straight into Khan's eyes, seemingly unfazed by the color. "Why, just admiring your beautiful sister..." At Khan's 'are you stupid' look, he backtracked. "Daughter? Really? Wasn't expecting that."
From the corner of Khan's eye, Ndidi visibly relaxed, Lesedi following suit as the two girls looked at the male curiously. He wasn't trying to attack them... In fact, he was being rather polite. But still, Khan kept her protective stance, paws firmly planted on the ground in front of her daughters, teeth bared in a silent snarl.
"And what do you want with her?"
"Just wondering what a beautiful lioness like her was doing without a pride, is all."
"You don't have a pride either, if my eyes are working correctly."
"Ah, but, you see, I'm on my way to take back my throne. Evil brother and all that. But then your pretty daughter over there distracted me, caught my eye."
Khan rolled her own eyes. If Ndidi was really falling for this... On a whim, she looked back and growled when she realized Ndidi was looking at the male like he was everything she'd been looking for, possibly more. For a split second, Khan recognized that same expression as the one she must've blatantly worn on her face around Rudo, the heartache catching Khan off guard before she suppressed it and turned back to face the male, who was looking at Ndidi exactly as the young lioness was looking at him.
Lesedi was glancing between her sister and the strange male multiple times, as if she were trying to make sure she was really seeing what she was seeing. Apparently she did, because Lesedi was suddenly nudging her mother out of the way. That seemed to be the jolt Ndidi needed to stand back up and walk over to the male, affectionately pressing her face against his.
Khanyisile wanted to yowl at her daughter, to tell her that this was a bad idea, a mistake, that she was only going to get hurt. But memories of her time with Rudo came flooding back, and Khan closed her eyes involuntarily as they washed over her -- the subtle presses of his fur against hers as he passed by her, even before he'd become king, the little glances he'd send her way whenever her father was speaking. Khan had been content with staying in the back, merely observing instead of actively participating. She'd noticed those glances, of course, but had always just assumed he was trying to keep track of all the lionesses in the pride, not just her specifically, so they'd never meant much of anything to her..
And then after their feelings for each other had finally been realized, when he would save her the best piece of prey he could find, settling in beside her as they shared stories about their days. Khan usually talked about the other lionesses and how well -- or how poor -- they'd hunted, Rudo about all the grievances he had to listen to that day. Being with him had been simple, comfortable.
Opening her eyes, Khanyisile settled her gaze on Ndidi, who was looking at her mother with apprehension clear on her face.
With a reluctant sigh, she said, "If you're really sure about this, Ndidi... then you may go."
Though she knew the words left her mouth, Khan wanted to take them back as soon as she'd said them. But, as usual, it was too late, and Ndidi was taking full advantage of the situation as she approached Khanyisile.
"Goodbye, Mother," she said softly, pressing her face to Khan's. "Good luck to you and Sedi." After bumping her head against her sister's as well, Ndidi rejoined the rogue, who merely tipped a head towards Khan as a farewell before he stood up and began to walk east with Khanyisile's first born daughter walking right beside him, the two already engaged in conversation.
Lesedi glanced at her mother out of the corner of her eyes, worried. Khan looked like she was tempted to run after Ndidi and drag her back by the ears, but Ndidi was 2 years old. She could make her own decisions for herself; she didn't need Khan anymore. Lesedi figured that was why her mother had suddenly become so quiet, withdrawing into herself. But she understood, and with that understanding came a rush of love for Khan, who had just lost another one of her children, albeit in one of the most common ways possible: because of love, or, at least, what Ndidi assumed to be love.
Pressing her body into Khan's side, Lesedi stayed quiet and simply tried to convey her silent support, waiting for what seemed like hours before Khan finally shook off the loss and stood back up. "Come on, Sedi," she commanded briskly, as if nothing had happened, walking towards the west, "time to keep moving."
...
Another year passed by, giving Khan a few new body scars received as she'd attempted to defend what was rightfully hers -- food, her last remaining daughter, a territory she would call her own for a week or two -- and eventually the pain Khan held in her heart that had Ndidi's name all over it began to recede into the back of her mind. She and Lesedi had become closer than ever, almost like sisters instead of mother and daughter.
A few weeks after her daughter's third birthday, though, Khan hit another road bump. A rather large road bump, really.
It all started while Lesedi was complaining about something sharp -- a thorn, maybe -- wedged in her back right paw, preventing her from walking comfortably, and as they stopped to investigate, Khan forgot to keep her guard up, and that split second lapse was enough to drastically change the course of her life forever. It's funny how that works -- that a single second can make or break your future -- but that's exactly what happened for Khan.
A warning snarl tore from Lesedi's throat a millisecond before Khanyisile whirled around just in time to brace herself for the blow from the hulking slate rogue with eerie white eyes and a mane of ebony razor running straight towards her. He probably wasn't expecting the whip-fast lash of paw that a protective mother was capable of, because as soon as Khan's odd claws struck his face, hard, he was dazed.
He recovered quickly though, and it was obvious that he was mad; a blind turtle could see it. Probably couldn't believe a lioness had just hit him. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed on Khan, body assuming a fighter's stance. Annoyed, Khanyisile mirrored him, teeth bared as a growl escaped from her. She was very aware of Lesedi lying helpless on the grass just a few feet away, and although she wanted to drop everything to lead her daughter to safety, she knew she wouldn't be able to with the rogue male breathing down their necks.
With that mindset, Khan was ruthless in her attacks, but the rogue apparently had a lot of experience with fighting because he was countering her every move, each failed attack leaving her more and more frustrated. But the thing about frustration is that it clouds the mind, and before Khan knew it, the rogue had hit her square in the face, somehow leaving scars on both her nose and left eye.
Khanyisile wasn't exactly a sprightly young lioness anymore; she was pushing 6 years old, and that, combined with the stress of living day to day unsure if she or Lesedi would even make it to the next had taken its toll on her and suddenly she was on the ground, watching helplessly as the rogue marched over to Lesedi. Her daughter's red eyes were wide with fear as the male got closer and closer to her, his expression still dangerously angry.
But Khan was nothing if not stubborn and determined, so even though it hurt, she rose up on her paws again, stalking after the male but moving much too slow for her liking. She was nearly halfway caught up to him before she noticed his paw high in the air, muscles braced as he prepared to strike Lesedi. And even though Khan knew there was nothing she could do about it -- she was much too far -- that knowledge didn't stop her at all as she started to run as fast as she could, a growl tearing from her throat before she could stop it from escaping.
She was much too late though. A few steps in and he brought his paw down hard on the helpless Lesedi. Even at a distance, she could hear the resounding crack of her daughter's skull shattering, and Khan's heart along with it. She stopped in her tracks, wild-eyed, fury driving her forward as she barreled into the male and started lashing out at him with everything she had.
Adrenaline kept her from thinking too hard about the new loss she was suffering, but as the male finally succumbed to her brutal attacks, falling to the grassy floor like Khan had just a few minutes ago, the heartbreak came rushing back in, full force. Growling fiercely in order to keep the pain at bay for a few more moments, Khan placed her face close to the male's, hissed, "She did nothing to you," and proceeded to tear his throat out with her teeth.
After that was over and done with, Khan delicately walked towards Lesedi's broken body, heart breaking all over again as she surveyed the damage. It hit her, then, that she was suddenly alone -- no cubs, no mate, no one at all. This was worse than the self-inflicted seclusion from her earlier years, pre-Rudo. This was unwanted -- the last thing she wanted, to be completely honest. She laid down next to Lesedi, pressing her side to her daughter's as if they were just about to go to sleep for the day. But Khan knew better; she knew her daughter was dead, and that there had been nothing she could do to stop it.
A couple days after, Khan had barely moved from her spot beside Lesedi. She was starving, tired, and obviously distraught to the core, but she refused to leave her daughter out in the open, a prime target for vultures to pick at.
Her muscles protested as she stood up, and Khan stretched to relieve the pain before she glanced down at her daughter, not exactly sure how to go about protecting her body from predators looking for a quick meal. Was it even possible?
Khan couldn't push her into the river to get carried somewhere far away by the current because the river was too far, but she couldn't just leave her here. It seemed like that would be the only possible option though, so Khan, with a heavy heart, dragged her daughter to a nearby tree, using the leaves to try and hide her body as best as possible. But Khan knew that wouldn't be enough. The smell was already too strong to hide.
Not knowing what else to do, Khan turned and started to walk back to where she came from, anger fueling her every step. Every step had Zuri's face plastered to the bottom of her pawpads, to the dirt, to the grass, to the plains. Zuri had caused all this. Zuri had exiled Khan in the first place, had forced her to bring Lesedi and Ndidi with her because the older lioness was threatened by her nieces and their power as the daughters of the king and queen. In Khan's mind, the rogue male hadn't killed Lesedi. Zuri had.
It took her several months to find her way back to her childhood home, but when she crested that hill, it was almost like nothing had changed, like maybe she'd just come back from a hunt and was getting ready to slip into the den beside Rudo, just relaxing in his calming presence before going off to sleep.
As she approached, though, she noticed certain... things... were off, even from a distance. One, that there were absolutely no lionesses lounging around the main gathering area, gossiping or napping in the sun. Two, that the food pile was looking dangerously low, and three, that Zuri, Rudo, or Kirabo were nowhere to be found.
The Zuri problem was solved almost as soon as Khan stepped foot onto the main area, a growl erupting from the den cave she used to share with Rudo.
"Hello, little sister," Zuri greeted calmly, as if she hadn't just been growling at Khan a few seconds ago. Her sister's outline appeared at the entrance to the cave a few moments later, eyes flashing with barely disguised anger as she stared Khan down. "What're you doing back here? I thought I banished you."
"Yeah, well, I'm not one to listen to you for very long, now am I?" Khan sat down and regarded her sister with calm fury in her red eyes, head held high. "Rudo and Kirabo, where are they?"
Zuri strode forward until she was only about seven feet from her sister, sitting down as well. "Rudo? Oh, he's dead. And Kirabo, I'm sure he's on his way. The little brat ran away a year ago looking for you three."
Khan's heart shattered into a million tiny pieces -- if that were even possible at this point; if Khan even had a heart to shatter anymore. She was so distraught, her thoughts reeling, that she could barely register the words as she spoke them; they seemed to be coming from another lioness's mouth, not hers. "R-R... Rudo's dead? Did Zuberi kill him?"
Her older sister shrugged nonchalantly, as if she wasn't talking about her sister's beloved. "Zuberi wanted to be king. Rudo was in the way."
If anything, the blatant disregard for her mate's life made Khan even angrier than she already was.
Without waiting any longer, she was flying through the air and towards Zuri before Zuri could even register Khan's fiery pelt flashing in front of her eyes.
The only mercy Khan would ever show her sister? A quick death.
[END | PART ONE]
....
[START | PART TWO]
Khan left her childhood home for the second time in her life with a heavy heart and broken spirits. She saw nothing to save in this territory, saw nothing worth salvaging. The lionesses were gone; the only ones who'd remained had been loyal to Zuri, and now that Zuri was gone as well, they were homeless, rogues, wanderers. Just like Khan.
But Khan embraced the rogue life for the next year and a half. She stole carcasses from other lions without ever batting an eye, earning her several more scars to add onto the numerous ones she already had. Eventually, the lions began to avoid her, began to flee from the scene if they happened to see the fiery female with the red eyes and battle-scarred body coming their way.
Not like Khan minded; feeding herself was really her first and only priority, and the fact that she had to exert little to no energy doing so made her life easier.
She had just started to get used to being alone -- sleeping when she wanted, eating when she wanted, moving when she wanted -- that when a newcomer came padding into her little "territory," Khan nearly bit her head off.
The lioness, a white female with peculiar markings, approached her hesitantly, ears pressed flat against her head. "Don't eat me," she said softly. "I just need to rest."
With an annoyed sigh, Khanyisile allowed the female to stay for a little while, keeping watch as she napped. She hadn't realized just how lonely she'd been until the lioness woke up, looking much better than she had when she'd arrived. "What's your name?" the newcomer asked, in that same soft voice.
"My name is Khanyisile. And yours?"
"Bestare'. Though you can call me Best, if you'd like."
"Well, nice to meet you, Best, but I'm off."
Startled, Best stood up as Khan did, head tilted to the side. "But you've only been here for a few hours!"
"A few hours is all I need to get tired of a place."
"Well, that's no way to live," Bestare murmured, sitting back on her haunches and regarding Khanyisile with clear green eyes.
"It's what I'm used to," Khan replied briskly, shaking off the dirt and debris before she strode towards the sandy bit of desert she'd had her eye on for the past few days.
"May I come with you?"
Khan didn't have the heart to say no.
...
The desert was farther off than Khan anticipated and it took them nearly a month before they were stepping on warm, grainy sand. In the span of that month, Khan had accepted Bestare' as the sister she hadn't had in Zuri.
Bestare' was a good influence on Khan. She calmed the fiery lioness down whenever they were confronted with a stubborn rogue male who obviously had no idea what he was in for if he managed to receive a blow in the face from Khan's oddly shaped claws. She also told many stories of her travels to lighten the mood, Khan unable to reciprocate because the memory of her daughters hurt too much to speak about.
One particular day, however, they stumbled upon a pride full of lionesses that looked skeptically at the unlikely pair. A mahogany lion approached them with a curious look on his face, but he meant them no harm and even that was a relief to Khan.
She was so, so tired, all she really wanted to do was rest. The years of aimlessly wandering, even with Ndidi and Lesedi, had finally caught up to her, and as she looked into the king's face, she saw relaxation, safety, salvation.
"Hello," the king greeted them merrily, his expression still curious. "May I ask why you are in my lands?"
Bestare' piped up, her default role when it came to greeting strangers. She was a lot friendlier than Khan, that was for sure. "We're here to seek shelter," she said, voice as soft as ever, "and possibly a new pride..." After a quick glance at Khan, who didn't protest, Bestare' made constant eye contact with the male, never breaking it until he nodded his head with quiet acceptance and welcomed them in.
...
They spent about six months with Iqiation before he asked Khan if she wouldn't mind a journey up to the mountains where his younger brother had a pride of his own. "He's in desperate need of lionesses, you see, and I thought you would make the perfect teacher for the younger ones that he has."
Although she loved Iqi's pride and how relaxed and patient he was about everything, Khan knew she was the subject of a lot of gossip and conversation among the lionesses. After all, she was the only one with the pelt clothed in fire, and it wasn't like her pride-sisters went to the trouble of hiding their jealousy from her. They'd always made it perfectly clear she had no place in the pride.
She agreed, of course -- what else could she do? -- but she did have one request to make. "May I take Best with me?"
Iqi really had no choice but to allow Best to accompany her; he knew better than to get on Khanyisile's bad side, even with the little time he'd had with her.
Khan and Best set off the next day, but thankfully it was only a two week journey to Nkanyezi's pridelands. When they arrived though, Nkan and Khan bumped heads like two angry hippos, arguing about hunting strategies on her first day as part of his pride.
For some reason, he didn't kill her on the spot, but as the years passed and Khan had litters with one cub per litter (so she wouldn't have to deal with multiple heartbreaks like she had with her firstborn cubs), she eventually earned Nkan's respect, and he hers.
Khan and Best had seen lionesses come and go, and it did not escape their notice that they were the only ones who managed to avoid being chased off. Why, they weren't exactly sure. Maybe it was because they knew how to handle his moods without angering him even further, or maybe because they'd been gifts from his older brother and he didn't want to offend Iqiation. Either way, Nkanyezi, Best, and Khan became close, often spending their nights lounging around in each other's presence.
For Khan, this life was a far cry better than what she would've had if she'd decided to stay and try to salvage what was left of her birth pride. She had never felt more relaxed in her life, though obviously she still snapped at the younger lionesses when they refused to take her advice about a certain hunting strategy. For a female that had lived a large part of her early years as a rogue, she surprisingly integrated herself well as an important member of the pride.
Bestare' was more suited to teaching cubs the basics though, and because of her gentle, sweet nature, Khan had chosen Best as the trainer for her last litter.
When the day came for the birth of that last litter, Iqiation showed up at the entrance to his brother's mountain cave, hesitating. The other lionesses had left Khan to her privacy, probably fooling around at the base of the mountain instead of hunting like they were supposed to.
"What, come to see the show, Iqi?" Khan was laying on her side, belly swollen as she waited impatiently for the pains to start.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied, amused, while he dropped to the floor, head on his paws. Nkanyezi joined his brother, sitting next to the larger male, while Bestare' took up her position by Khan's head, all three of them talking idly while Khanyisile listened.
A few hours later, Khan was breathing hard and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she was happy. Three cubs were nestled into her side, making soft little noises, and, even without looking at the two males by the entrance to the den, she already knew Iqi and Nkan would keep one each, the third going to the male she chose as her last litter's sire as a gift. It was what they'd wanted; Khan was just glad she'd been able to grant their last, final request.
...
"Retirement" for Khan meant snapping out orders to younger lionesses, her voice purposely biting and sharp so they were more inclined to listen to her. It had worked before; they'd never had such an overflow of carcasses in the pit until now.
But laying around in the sun had never suited Khan; she preferred movement, being useful. Bestare' had actually become more useful to the pride than Khan, a fact that bothered her to no end. She loved Best of course, like the sister she'd never had in Zuri, but Khan's years of loneliness meant she craved a feeling of importance, of duty; she wanted to feel like she had a purpose.
Agitated beyond belief, Khan slipped out of the cave, joints aching. Now that she was 15 years old, everything hurt. Even walking hurt. But she was still as determined as ever, ignoring the pain as she strode down the rocky pathway, heading towards the base of the mountain. She wasn't sure what she was planning on doing, but once her paws touched the lush grass, more welcoming than rocky gravel, Khan looked up at the horizon, red eyes squinting as she spotted a male silhouette in the distance.
It definitely wasn't Nkanyezi -- the other lion was much too small -- and Iqiation had gone back to his desert pride months ago. The lion in the distance must've been an intruder! Finally, something she could do -- and do with ease.
With glee clear on her face, Khan raced towards the offending lion, reveling in the feeling of the wind passing over her. She greeted him with a snarl, claws outstretched towards him as she jumped in the air. He was ready for her though, flipping to his back and easily kicking her up higher into the air so her body landed on the ground with a loud thump.
Growling, Khan climbed back onto her feet, desperately trying to claw the lion anywhere she could. But she wasn't as young as she used to be, and that was fact was obvious as her attacks slowed down, her reflexes practically nonexistent. The lion was determined to win, and he looked like he was about to as he struck her hard in the throat, slicing a large gash into her skin, and causing Khan to lose her breath for a few moments.
She collapsed to the floor like a limp antelope, sides heaving as she glared at the male, their eyes making contact. Something about his face struck her as familiar, though, and when she heard the distinct sound of "Baako! What's happened?" Khan's eyes shifted over to the familiar sight of her firstborn daughter, who looked first at the intruding male and then at the lioness on the ground, her red eyes -- so similar to Khan's very own -- widening with surprise and horror.
"Mother! You're hurt!"
Weakly, Khan greeted her daughter with a low chuckle. "It was bound to happen eventually, Ndidi," she breathed, voice already growing fainter. Ndidi dropped to the ground, pressing her face to Khan's before she pulled back to glare at her son.
"Baako, this is your grandmother!"
"What, Mother, I didn't know! She just attacked me out of nowhere!"
But Ndidi didn't seem to be listening, she was too busy scanning her eyes over Khan's face, eyes betraying her deep sadness. "...And now you've gone and killed her. She won't be able to recover from --"
"-- Khan!" Bestare' and her sweet voice filtered into Khan's weary mind as she greeted her adopted sister with a slight smirk.
"This was bound to happen eventually, Best," Khan repeated, "I always have been too impulsive for my own good."
Bestare' dropped to Khan's other side, and the sudden flashback of Lesedi and Ndidi doing the very same thing after a month of exile came rushing back at Khan, the memory so powerful her head dropped to the ground as she closed her eyes.
She was dimly aware of Bestare' and Ndidi talking softly, their noses pressing into her fur every couple minutes or so, but the memories she'd kept hidden for so long were insistently making themselves known as she remembered each important moment of her life in the blink of an eye.
Her self-inflicted loneliness, Rudo's confession, her few, perfect months with him, the birth of their cubs, Zuri's take-over, the rogue years with Lesedi and Ndidi, where all they'd had was each other, Ndidi leaving them, Lesedi leaving her in the worst way she could ever imagine, her sister's death, a new sister's introduction. And then Iqiation and his charm, Nkanyezi and his aggression, his secret soft spot for cubs and the african wild dog puppy Best had persuaded Nkanyezi to keep. The cubs she'd had over the years -- although there had always been one, just one, until the last litter, she'd fallen in love with them all.
Khan knew the end was near; she could feel it in her bones, to the root of her core. She barely had time to whisper a soft "I love you" to the two lionesses beside her, meaning every word, before she closed her eyes for the last time and found Rudo waiting for her, as patient as ever.
[END | PART TWO]
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