by Katura » May 21st, 2011, 10:46 am
Nala hung her head as she made her way past a few lionesses milling about in front of the den. Furtively, she flitted her eyes back and forth, doing her best not to look conspicuous as she made her way down to a small cave a little ways away from Pride Rock.
".... Little one? I'm back..." She called out softly, rewarded with the sound of little paws drumming a quick tatoo over the rocky floor. A weary, but happy smile drew across her haggard features as a pale blond cub practically crashed into her forelegs, his aquamarine eyes shining with jubilation.
"Mom!" He greeted, his voice brimming with happiness as he rubbed against her legs. "I haven't seen you in FOREVER!"
"Katura, I've only been gone two hours," She chided, bending her head and swiping the fur of his back with her tongue. Katura made a face as she continued to groom him, grunting in discontent as she licked the top of his head.
"Mom! You're messing up my mane!" He protested, looking up in annoyance at his upturned patch of blond hair.
Nala froze at that, feeling her throat get a little tight as she remembered how much the young prince Simba had detested getting groomed... He had said those exact words to Sarabi so many seasons ago... In a different, better time.
"Mom?" Katura implored softly, concerned at her sudden silence. Nala shook herself out of her stupor at the sound of the cub's voice and smiled, settling down on the ground and gathering him into a comforting embrace.
"It's alright my love, I'm fine, I was just thinking..." She said softly, her voice a bit far away.
"About what...?" He asked, genuinely curious.
She smiled and turned her eyes outside to the softening darkness, watching as, for the first time in months, the clouds began to part, revealing the lavender hues of twilight tinged with emerging stars.
"A long time ago, I had a friend... You are so much like him..."
"Where is he now?" Katura implored, sitting up in his mother's forelegs and looking up at her with wide eyes.
"..." A thoughtful look came upon her delicate features and she became quiet for a few moments. She didn't know quite where to begin, Katura was less than a season old, and she hadn't quite gotten around to explaining the truth about the circle of life.
'How do I say this...?' Finding it hard to come up with a suitable explanation, she thought back to when Mufasa had taken the time to gently imbue his wisdom into her and Simba in their cubhood.
Closing her eyes, she smiled as the King's voice rang strong and clear in her memory.
"You see those glittering dots in the sky Katura? Those are stars... The Great Kings of the Past look down at us from those stars and Aiheu, the one who created the world you see around you, watches over them.... My friend is up there now, along with his father and his father's father..." She explained, feeling almost as if Mufasa were speaking through her.
The cub's eyes went wide and he threw his gaze up at the sky, his eyes fixated on the barely visible white pinpricks inlaid into the lavender horizon. It was the first time he had ever seen stars and he quickly decided that he liked them as he grinned from ear to ear.
"So someday I'll get to go up there and play with your friend?"
She sighed through her nose and nuzzled the top of his head. "Hopefully not for a very very long time..."
He smiled at her, seeming to detect how tired she was and so slowly settled down into her paws, resting his cheek against her great foot pads. Nala gazed down at him as his eyes became half-lidded. She took in his pale golden pelt and the silvery, almost ivory colored patch of blond fur on the top his head. Striking indeed, but perhaps her favorite feature was his eyes, the color of the ocean when the sun shone brilliantly upon it.
'You're so beautiful...' Her heart swelled with pride at her little one. He was the spitting image of her. And for that she was glad, so glad... She didn't know what she would have done if he had taken after 'him'.
In fact, the only thing he seemed to have gotten from his father was the fine bone structure in his face and the beginnings of a wispy little beard. She hoped with all her heart that when he grew older he would only bear a passing resemblence to the mad King. Physically and spiritually.
Inwardly, she bore no hatred for the mad King. Not anymore... In fact, more than anything, she pitied him. He truly had no one to keep him company but his demons. But, inexplicably, he had always seemed to favor her above all others, and in his own twisted way, one might venture to say he loved her. Since she was a cub, he was always gentle with her, perhaps grooming her to become his queen... And the night that she had concieved Katura, nightmarish though the situation leading up to it was, led her only to pity the King.
Sighing deeply, she nestled her chin on her cub's back and let her eyes flutter closed as she breathed in the softness of his fur.
'... I love you so much my little one, and someday, I will make this land into the home it should be for you...'
She felt her jangled nerves slowly soothed by Katura's gentle breathing and smiled. Yes, it was here and only here that she could find any amount of peace in this wretched land.
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A cold pair of emerald eyes scanned the horizon of the Pridelands, narrowing in discontent. It seemed even the land itself was turning against him... His frown deepened as the wind whistled through the raven strands of his mane, the spirits whispering their disdain into his ears. He closed his eyes, feeling dread begin to creep into his heart with the realization that dusk was once again upon him.
The King's nights were plagued with visions... Visions of fire and blood. Of Mufasa himself emerging from the flames to exact the wrath of Aiheu upon his murderer's vile soul. The land and its spirits knew of his deception and besieged his dreams with images of his imminent doom. Yes, his time would come soon, and the Circle of Life would come back into balance. As King, even his dark heart possessed this disturbing knowledge... Knowledge that the evil that had overcome him would soon destroy him. The Gods would make sure of it.
His heart twinged somewhat in pain. How had he become so wretched...? There was a time where he wished for nothing more than love and acceptance. The things that his brother took for granted and that poor 'Taka' had had to work so hard to prove himself worthy of... And to add insult to injury, even after his brother was gone, people still refferred to him with reverence and love, whereas the king that took his place recieved nothing but hate and contempt.
Sighing tiredly, he began to make his way down from the promontory, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips as he thought of the one thing that brought a bit of light into his contemptable existance.
'What are you up to, my little queen...?' He thought to himself, thinking of a certain blue-eyed lioness and feeling his stony heart slowly start to beat again.
