It had been days, mere days since the lioness had gained her freedom from the hell that had been Nguvu’Utawala. She had been there so long…So long. Thankfully, blissfully, she had seen no signs of her beloved cubs coming across the pack’s land. Better they should die than become subjected to the degrading slave life style. Smiling pleasantly at any hyena as she did their bidding, appearing not to have a care in the world had made her stomach roll. Appearing not to have any problems with the degrading tasks those vile, obnoxious creatures forced her to perform. It had been like a cancerous rot that had surged through her system every day of her captivity. Everything about the situation was wrong. Everything.
The lioness stared at herself in a stray body of water, unsure of where she was or where her saviors had run off to. She barely recognized herself in the murky little puddle. It had been quite some time since she had actually looked at herself…Her eyes, which were once bright with life and the thrill of a promising future…A future with a loving, wonderful mate. Supportive, gentle, kind, and strong. The perfect mate, really. And bright eyed, curious cubs. Teaching them to hunt, teaching them to track. Teaching them right from wrong, teaching them to love and to respect everything around them. Teaching them to seek out the good in life, even when the worst seemed to knock on your den walls relentlessly.
The good in life.
BAH!
Asherah spat and swiped at her reflection in the puddle, the claws collecting much. She had been a fool. Nothing but a bright eyed, bushy tailed, naïve moron. How could she believe that she would be allowed that happy life with those beautiful cubs and her mate, whose eyes looked like the sea after a storm. So bright. So dark. So conflicted and yet beautifully clear. And her sweet little boy. He had been just like his father. Bullheaded and stubborn. He couldn’t take no for an answer for almost anything. He was always trying to be just like his father…And where had that gotten him? He died, too. Cold and alone, she was sure. His body was food for the worms, the scavengers…Probably those filthy hyenas. They probably came upon the prone corpse and thought they had found some sort of treat. Some sort of boon. Not the body of a dead child. Not worth burying. Only good for consuming. Asherah wondered if the hyenas had ever found her mate, either.
Ah, her beloved. He had insisted his mate stay and take care of the cubs while he provided the food for once. He insisted a litter needed its mother and that it was his job to do everything while she focused on keeping them safe. It was tiring work, though, feeding so many cubs and Asherah had been quick to notice her love’s extended absence.
Frantically, she had commanded the cubs to stay put but she could not go far, knowing that they would not stay long, if at all, in their makeshift den. His scent was on the wind and yet, she could not see him, could not hear him. How long ago his scent had been left she could not tell…But she had to get back to her little babies and soon, night fell. Still, he was not home. Asherah could feel her heart breaking. He never would have been gone for so long.
The lioness took a deep breath and stalked away from the puddle, dropping her body down onto the cold ground and laying her head on her two paws, closing her eyes for just a moment to collect her thoughts. To collect herself.
Her mind flew back to that night. She had awoken to the cries of one of her babies that big brother had vanished. That he had said he was going to look for daddy. Daddy who Asherah had not been able to find. Daddy that the boy had no idea how to begin to track. It was suicide. She had to catch him before he got far.
She left a final command to the rest of the litter to stay put and rushed out into the night, frantic, unable to track properly as she searched for hind or hair of her baby, her lover, her family, her whole world. She had been so crazy that she had gone too far.
While she was torn between continuing to try and track the two missing, she remembered the babies that she had left alone and helpless. Her heart ached, her mind raced, and her paws ached from the running. Her legs trembled with fear. Had she left her babies to die? Had she left her lover to die? Oh god, she didn’t know what to do.
So she did the worst thing she could have.
In a moment of weakness, she had collapsed, hot tears clouding her vision, stinging her eyes. Her mind was broken with panic, fear, loss. She could not act and in her prone state, some vile predators saw the lone lioness and preyed upon her. They were on her before she had sensed them and their teeth sank into her legs, her sides, their bodies slammed against hers and it was not long before the lost lioness was out cold.
By the time she woke up, she was in their territory. Hyena territory. And there were so many of them that there was nothing she could do. She was no longer Asherah, the loving, doting mother. She was Asherah. The lioness slave. The one who had to wear a sweet smile lest she incite the wrath of her new, pathetic overlords.
What had become of her babies? What had happened to her lover?
Her live was now completely upside down. She has lost everything she loved. She lost everything that mattered. She lost herself.
And now, all that was left was the shell of a lioness she had become. Bitter. Angry. Lonely. Alone. Scared.
Asherah opened her eyes, tired of the memories that were threatening to sting her eyes for the first time since her imprisonment.
What was left for her now?
WC: 1033
