(Private for TheWhistlerify)

[UncoordinatedPisces]

The cub began to shake. The laughter surrounded her and before she knew it, the owners of the laugh emerged. There were quite a few of them; too many for her to manage to run away. She cowered on the spot, eyes wide and still with shock and fear. She wanted to call for Dakari. She wanted to call for her mother, but when she opened her maw no sound came out.

Instead, she gave a shaky growl out of self defence, but of course it wouldn't intimidate them. They were so much larger compared to her. What made hyenas more terrifying is that they liked to play around before they killed and ate something. As one of the hyenas took a malicious step forward she backed away into the leg of another hyena. The cub began to cry as she stood, although quite low to the ground in the centre of the circle of hyenas.

[TheWhistlerify]

The first hyena, who appeared to be the group's leader, advanced a single step towards the cub, who backed away right into the leg of one of his friends. This caused him and the rest of the hyenas to burst out with laughter yet again, not at all moved by the way Siri was crying. If anything, it only seemed to amuse them even more. "What's the matter, little girl?" he asked, taunting the helpless lion cub. "Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to wonder off on your own?"

"Look at what you've done!" said another hyena, who was clearly lying. "You made her cry! That's no fun!"

"You're right... Screaming's better." Smiling deviously, he raised a paw to strike her.

~~~

Dakari meanwhile had somehow woken up from his sleep. He didn't know why, but that became unimportant to him the moment he realized that Siri was gone. "Siri?" he asked, looking around. The lack of answer confirmed it; she'd left the den. "Siri!" Without waiting another second he ran out of the den, soon catching onto his little sister's scent and following it. Soon the sound of laughter he immediately identified reached his ears followed by a terrified scream. It could only belong to his little sister. "No!" The young adult ran even faster, hoping more than anything that the hyenas haven't become bored yet.

~~~

The hyenas were clearly enjoying themselves to the maximum. The one who'd struck Siri intended to only cause her pain rather than inflict any serious damage. After all, what fun was there in just killing a lion cub without playing around a little? Before either one of them could attack their helpless pray again, however, their attention was caught by a loud roar. By the time they realized what the meaning of that was Dakari had already leapt out of the tall grass.

Out of instinct, the five hyenas backed away from the lion, disbanding the circle they'd formed around Siri. Dakari roared again, causing them to move even further away which allowed him to run over to the terrified cub. She had a long clawmark on her side, but the cuts were superficial at most and wouldn't even leave any scars. Standing between her and the hyenas, the young adult growled aggressively. He was as enraged as a lion could be. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart!"

Spoiler: show

Both of us should control the hyenas.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

The hyenas, at first, were weary of the young male lion. He was bigger than them. He was more than a match for a couple of them, but there were five. Slowly but surely, the snickering of the hyenas returned. Siri had been frightened by the roars of Dakari at first, and she couldn't move closer to him, she couldn't even make a noise; she was scared to the point where she shook and cried without sound. She knew she was bleeding which of course added to her fear.

The hyena who seemed to be leading them stepped forward again, grinning with malice. "Even if you did rip me apart..." he began, grinning even wider, "The rest of us could rip you apart just as quickly". The hyena was still uncertain whether he should allow himself to get injured for the sake of killing a cub and this male lion. Still, what was being a hyena without a bit of danger? His own growl caused a chorus of growls amongst the others.

Suddenly, another lion leaped into the tall grass and tackled the leader hyena. The hyena yelped at feeling jaws clamp around it's neck, and fought back viciously for a moment. The others were startled, and once the figure let go, the hyenas ran away in the opposite direction to which the lions were staying, fearing there were more lions to come. Hyenas were cowards after all. The lion soon was identified as Mjuvi. He had woken up after hearing Dakari call for Siri.

His face was bleeding and he was still growling. He was just about the same size as a hyena, and was lucky to have pounced it. He had already assumed that Siri had walked off into the night, and he wasn't too impressed. He looked into the cubs wide eyes, but did not bring any comfort. Especially now that he was injured also. "Let's go back" he grumbled, not waiting for a response before stalking his way back through the tall grass. Siri still hadn't moved.

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though any other lion would have realized that the odds weren't in his favor a long time ago, Dakari was simply too furious to worry about the fact that he was standing face to face with five hyenas. Nobody had the right to hurt his little sister. Nobody was going to hurt her or his other siblings as long as he could help it. Their mother hadn't died just so that Siri would be killed by a bunch of hyenas. He continued to growl, not paying attention to the hyena's comment, and was prepared to fight to the death if it meant keeping Siri alive.

Of course, the young adult was quite surprised to see the figure of another lion leap out of the grass and tackle one of the hyenas. Noticing the size of the lion, he quickly realized who it was. Not only were he and Siri in grave danger, now Mjuvi could end up getting badly injured as well. To his relief, however, the four remaining hyenas took off in a fright, leaving the three of them alone.

Before his mind could even begin to comprehend what was happening, Mjuvi was already making his way back towards the den. Realizing that the scent of blood could end up drawing the unwanted attention of things more dangerous than hyenas, he quickly picked Siri by her scruff and followed his younger brother. Hopefully whatever might be drawn to the dead hyena would think that it was the only source and wouldn't end looking for them as well.

On the way back, the two brothers stumbled upon Laini. She'd woken up to the sounds of Dakari and Mjuvi taking off, but had trouble following Mjuvi because he'd disappeared into the tall grass too quickly. "Are you okay?!" she asked, noticing the few clawmarks on Mjuvi's face as well as those that were on her little sister.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Mjuvi was startled by his sister's appearance, but soon began frowning again. He wiped the blood from his cheek fur with his paw. "I'm fine" he growled, in obvious pain but too riled up to care. "Just worry about Siri". He pushed past Laini and walked towards the den. When he reached it he clambered to the back and lay down, facing away from the entrance.

Siri sniffled, having composed herself somewhat, she was still shaking though. This was all her fault. She shouldn't have left the den. She could feel that Mjuvi was angry at her even if he hadn't said anything to her yet. "I'm s-sorry" she said, looking up at Laini from being held by Dakari, voice cracking a little as she teared up again.

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though Mjuvi was claiming to be alright, his sister was still worried because of the blood seeping through the cuts on her brother's cheek. Before she could ask him whether he was sure and take a close look at his wounds, however, he pushed past her and left. She briefly looked at her little sister and then at her older brother, whose expression was unreadable. However Dakari soon walked past her as well, making her sigh in concern before following him.

Upon arriving back into their den Dakari gently placed Siri down on the ground. He began to lick the cuts on her side, knowing that they would heal better if they were clean and also wanting to make sure that the cub had stopped bleeding. His little sister seemed a little uncomfortable with that, but he firmly held her where she was with his paw so that she wouldn't move, and continued to do so until he felt satisfied enough.

Letting the cub go, he looked down at Siri with a stern and angry frown on his face. "Just what did you think you were doing, Siri?" he asked, his voice just as annoyed. "You could have been killed, your brother's hurt and the three of us are all lucky to have made it back here in one piece!" His little sister was clearly not comforted by that approach, which was so untypical of her brother, but Dakari didn't seem to care. He was still just as agitated as he'd been before Mjuvi had arrived a few minutes ago.

Laini looked on with a worried expression as Dakari continued. "Our mother didn't leave us just so that we could throw our lives away! Is this how you want to repay her?!"

"Dakari, that's enough!" said Laini as she lay down next to Siri and pulled her close, trying to calm her down.

Dakari seemed to snap out of his little fit upon hearing his Laini's voice. Was he just taking his anger towards the hyenas out on his little sister? His ears dropping against his head, he bent over and nuzzled the cub. "Siri, I..." What in the world had gone through his mind? She was just a cub! "I'm sorry, I just... I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you..." Feeling himself getting choked up, he walked outside of the den and sat there without saying another word.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Siri wished that Dakari licked her wounds clean a little more gently. She tried to squirm away from his paw; her cuts stung worse than a bee sting. She wanted her mother so badly. She wouldn't have told her off like Dakari was. Her ears flattened against her head as he spoke loudly, scolding her for what she did. At the mention of her mother, Siri winced and began to cry again.

When her older brother lent to nuzzle her, she moved away from him before he did so. She didn't understand why he was so angry. Well, she knew she did wrong. She didn't understand how caring for someone can bring on such emotion. It was too much for her to comprehend. The cub buried her face in Laini's neck. "I w-was trying to catch a m-moth for Mjuvi" she murmured.

Mjuvi just managed to hear. He rose his head to look at his sisters, his expression softened for a moment. He had been just as angry and Dakari, but he remained so to a certain extent. She's an idiot sometimes, he thought to himself. He knew he could be too, but it was different with her. She was too young to know she was being silly and unthinking - and that agitated him. With a grumble of discontent and tiredness, he put his head in his paws.

[TheWhistlerify]

Having Siri cower away from him like that only made Dakari feel worse. They've always been so close, and to see her look so afraid of him made him feel even more ashamed of the way he'd just lost his temper at her. That small act performed by the cub made him wish more than anything that he could take it all back. Unable to sit still any longer, he moved some distance away from the den before coming to a halt once more.

Looking up at the stars, he then realized that he wasn't really angry at Siri or the hyenas. He was mad at himself. Why couldn't he hunt better on his own, making Laini take the risk of getting hurt during hunting alongside him? Why didn't he know better than to keep a close watch on Siri, who was just a cub at the end of the day? Why was he so stupid that he'd lost his temper at her for something she couldn't really be blamed with? Why did he always have to screw everything up? Why was he this good for nothing excuse of a lion?

Dakari wanted more than anything to run back to his little sister and beg for her forgiveness, but he just couldn't. He wouldn't be able to see her look at him in fear like that again. What if the two of them would never be as close as they used to be because of his foolishness? After looking at the stars for a few more seconds, the lion finally collapsed to the ground and broke into tears. His siblings's safety depended on a screwup like him and he may have just driven his ittle sister away from him for good. That, added to the fear that might not be able to keep them everyone, was just too much.

He didn't know that he wasn't as far away from the den as he thought he was...

Laini held Siri close, doing her best to calm her down. She knew that Dakari hadn't meant to act the way he had, so when Siri refused to let him nuzzle her the adoleacent felt her heart sink. The cub had never done that with either one of them before, not even Mjuvi when he was in a really grumpy mood. "It's over now, Siri..." she said softly. The sound of her older brother soon reached her ears, causing her to feel completely helpless. Just what was she supposed to do?

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Mjuvi's ears twitched at the sound of his brother's sobs. He looked up again from where he lay. He caught Laini's eyes and gave her a more worried look before she continued to comfort Siri. Something in him made him want to get up and go comfort his brother. He wasn't sure if he could do it; he would cry if he did. Even if I do go, he thought, I wouldn't be able to help. Mjuvi prayed his brother wasn't going to loose himself. He was the one who kept them together.

Siri took comfort in her sister's soft tone of voice, but when Dakari's sobs reached her ears she gazed into the direction he had left in. Maybe he hadn't meant what he said? Or maybe he didn't mean to be so...loud and angry. "Dakari" she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. She looked up at her sister and frowned a little. "I don't want Dakari to cry" she said. "He never cries".

[TheWhistlerify]

Dakari continued to lie there, feeling completely helpless. Why wasn't his mother there? Or his father? They'd know what to do, and they wouldn't do something as idiotic as intimidating their own daughter. He briefly looked up at the stars again, wondering whether it really was true that those who were gone we up there. At that moment it hit him. It should have been him, not his mother. That made him feel even worse. He and his siblings have been on their own for less than two days and things were falling apart already.

Laini couldn't help but feel somewhat reassured by the fact that Siri was upset because Dakari was crying. Perhaps she'd overreacted in worrying so much because of what had happened just a minute ago? "Do you remember what he said to you this morning, Siri?" she asked quietly, smiling softly at her little sister. "That it's okay to cry and that there's no shame in it?"

As much as she wanted to try and comfort him herself, she knew she couldn't because she was well aware of what he was distressed about the most. "why don't you ask him what's wrong?" she asked after a short silence. Surely Siri remembered how their brother had helped her calm down atter telling her about their mother's passing. If anybody could get Dakari to feel less guilty about his ouburst, it would be the one he'd unintentionally hurt because of it.