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Hero
Prologue
The world had changed. The world had very nearly changed completely over into "civilization," and in the process left an even more dangerous "heathen" world behind. The days of simple prides of lions was coming to a close. They were prides no longer, but kingdoms that ruled over groups of animals. The herds had almost entirely stopped the practice of migration, instead staying in one place, the royal family ensuring that a balance of nature was kept so that there was constantly food for all.
The kingdoms had first begun to appear with the ancient councils, where lions were generally given the title of leader of the council. The lions had continued to be respected as the world evolved, becoming the de facto leaders of the animal world, being asked more and more for advice and assistance from the other animals.
But the kingdoms even then were only prides, with lions not being all that respected in terms of royalty. The first "kings" were crowned, and their pride was ruled the same as before. But some kings began to question the practice of pushing their sons out into the world. They loved their cubs, and didn't want to push any of them out into the cruel wild. They began to keep their sons, and have them inherit the kingdom.
Of course, the reason that sons were pushed out into the wild was not forgotten. Without new blood, there was fear of stagnation in the bloodline, the fear of interbreeding. Interbreeding did occur to a degree, but much less than was expected. Lions were not allowed to mate with direct relatives, instead being forced to give cubs only to lionesses whose blood was relatively different. There were prides that did mate inside their bloodline, but they died out quickly though miscarriages and genetic diseases, though there were rumors of prides such as that still existing.
Due to the practice of keeping sons, prides became larger. The males stayed in the pride, and more and more lionesses' cubs grew up due to the fact that the males of a pride now stood as one to defeat any rogues that might attempt to assert dominance over the pride. There were some prides that swelled to over one hundred lions, but they were the rarity. The kings wouldn't allow the pride to become too large; to do so would be to shift the delicate balance of nature they held in the kingdom.
Kings began to keep their sons, and fewer and fewer lions were cast out into the wild. Rogues became almost nonexistent, as all sons were kept inside their kingdoms. Instead, the wild became a place to put all of the kingdoms' refuse, the criminals, the filth. Instead of being a place almost every animal ventured out into at least once in their life, the wild was a place of fear. The animals who lived there were considered hostile and dangerous, and were even more feared than the rogues of old.
The wild was considered a place that no animal should be allowed to live, and that the ones that did live weren't even really animals, but things that carried on in life with no purpose and no hope.
oOo
Such a wonderful day, thought Wakati. She was exhausted. But that was to be expected after giving birth to four cubs. She looked down at the cubs in between her forelegs, pausing from cleaning them to smile. Three baby girls and a beautiful baby boy. She licked them all in turn, trying to clean the fluids off them.
She reflected it would have been easier if she had other lionesses with her. There was only one other lioness in the entire pride, Umo. But she wasn't in the den now; she was out with her mate, Cheko, along with Wakati's mate, Urumu. The kingdom advisor had come to the den, saying that something needed the king's attention immediately.
The king. Wakati still had trouble believing it. She was queen. She had left her home by Urumu's side, Urumu a complete disgrace. She boiled with anger when she thought of the circumstances of the exile. All because Urumu was honest, refusing to become corrupt as the rest of the family had.
And the two of them had met Umo and Cheko, right here, in this den, the four of them looking for shelter from the rain. And they had made a pride, that night, deciding to stay together. They needed a home, and they needed others. And over just a few days, they had become as close as family. Closer.
And she had become queen. The entire land didn't have a lion in it. After three days their presence had been made know through the land. The animals had come to them, paying respects to the "royalty." None of them knew the slightest thing about ruling. But Umo and Cheko had both agreed that Wakati and Urumu were much more qualified to rule. It had been a challenge, ruling. But now, after a year and a half, every animal bowed to them, whether they had done so when the lions first arrived or not, and also regardless of the number of times Urumu loudly pointed out that he hated the act.
And now they had cubs. The prince, the heir, and three beautiful princesses. They were no longer a pride of four. And soon, hopefully, Umo would be with cub, and the prince would have a mate, or Umo's boy a choice from three lovely girls. Wakati smiled. The cubs didn't even fuss. She liked them tenderly, the sun setting in the distance. She finally stopped cleaning and moved her weary body so the cubs had access to her teats. It took all the strength she had to move. Birthing four cubs had spent her.
She was about to reach for a cub to draw it closer when she head a thud outside the den. She looked up and gasped. Mild-mannered Cheko lay on the ground, bleeding from gashes on his body. A long cut ran down the side of his face. He didn't have the strength to move. "Cheko!" gasped Wakati.
"Milady," he whispered, "I'm so sorry."
Another thud was heard as another animal fell from the top of the den, barely missing Cheko. It was the leopard, the majordomo that had come to the den asking for the king. The leopard didn't move. A lion landed on his feet outside the den. His black main, not Urumu's brown one as Wakati had hoped, was visible as he lifted his head. "R'laka!" he called. "Now!"
Another lion jumped down, accompanied by another, and a lioness that nearly stumbled and fell. The first lion started toward her anxiously, but the lioness waved him off. The second lion dropped a few leaves on the ground. The first lion took a leaf and pressed it down on one of Cheko's wounds.
"Well?" asked the second lion.
"Take half back up there. You'll have to reuse."
The second lion took half of the leaves and sprinted out of Wakati's sight. Wakati wasn't paying attention to the second lion, anyway. She was watching the third lion escorting the lioness into the den. "Luker," the lioness said, her voice strained.
"How long?" the lion asked.
"They're here," groaned the lioness. She sank to the floor. Wakati noticed how her stomach bulged. A contraction rippled across it. The lioness groaned in pain.
"What have you done to Cheko?" demanded Wakati. The lioness moaned again. "What did you do?"
The lion turned and hit her across her face. "Silence," he snarled. His eyes widened as he saw a cub attempting to grab hold of one of Wakati's teats. He snatched it away from her, but gently.
"Better be careful with that, Luker," said the lion, looking into the den for a moment before grabbing another leaf. "Or you'll need more care than this one."
"I know what I'm doing," snarled Luker.
"Give me back my cub," begged Wakati. She tried to push herself up but collapsed, exhausted.
"That's why we're here," said the lioness. Her face contorted in pain.
Luker began to turn the cubs over, checking their anatomy. The second cub he turned was the boy. "What are you doing?" demanded Wakati. "What did you do to Cheko? Where's Urumu and Umo?"
Luker shifted his gaze up to her, annoyance showing. "Easy, Luker," warned the lion outside. He had moved on to the leopard. "Want her alive." He looked up at the lioness. "As for your lion friend here, he should be fine. Not sure about the leopard. Lot of bleeding."
"We don't need to save him," said Luker.
"Is that what she said?"
"She's in no state to make decisions."
"She's always in that state and you know it."
"Luker," the lioness gasped, another contraction seizing her.
"Altir, get your ass in here," Luker snarled to the other lion.
"Alright, alright, keep your mane on." Altir left the leopard and walked over to the lioness, yet another contraction hitting her. "Luker, take one of those leaves and press it down on the biggest hole you can find on that leopard." Luker started for the leopard.
"The cubs," gasped the lioness. She groaned in pain. Luker stopped and turned for the cubs on the floor of the small den. He took one away from Wakati.
"No! My cubs!" said Wakati. She lunged feebly for Luker, only to have his claws rake across her face. She cried out in pain.
"The next ones will be deep enough to scar, lioness," Luker warned. He took the two leftover girls and out them next to the first he had taken, Wakati watching helplessly. Luker shoved the boy against her stomach, near the teats the cub had been trying to reach. "Enjoy him." Luker walked out to the leopard.
Wakati turned her head to Altir, who was standing over the lioness, the lioness's face contorted in pain. "Good, good," Altir said. "Push."
"I am pushing!" protested the lioness.
"Just a reminder. Good."
"Where's Urumu?" asked Wakati.
"What, the other lion?" Altir asked. "He's up there. With the other lioness. Gave me a heck of a time. Push."
"You didn't—kill him?" whispered Wakati.
"No, I—good, god, it's coming. Push. I've got it. Now the others." The lioness, who had her teeth gritted, opened them in a cry of pain as another contraction rippled across her stomach. Altir turned to Wakati for a second. "Sorry, what was that question again? Right. No, I didn't kill him. Hurried me, though. If he's lucky, he'll live. Lioness is fine, though."
Wakati was afraid. They had cut down her mate. This lion in front of her had done it himself. They would undoubtedly maim her as well. There was no reason for this madness. And they had taken her cubs away from her, all but one. She looked down at the cub, which had attached himself to her, drinking from her. The lioness gave birth to another cub, Wakati watching on. She had no idea what they planned.
She finally decided to take a chance on how nice Altir seemed and said, "I want my cubs back." He didn't answer, the lioness groaning as Wakati had spoken. She thought he may not have heard her. "I want my cubs—"
"No, lioness," said Altir. "Don't ask again. I know you're confused. Push. But I push can't explain right now. Come on, one more good one." The lioness groaned again with an intensity that had only been reached two other times. Another cub emerged, hidden to Wakati by Altir's body. "Good." The lioness breathed heavily, just as Wakati remembered doing. It was over.
"I want my cubs!" Altir placed one of the lioness's cubs in front of Wakati. "My cubs!"
"Theses are your cubs," said the lioness, her head on the ground. Altir placed another cub in front of Wakati.
"They aren't!"
"But don't you remember just giving birth to them?" asked the lioness with a slight smile, still panting from fatigue. "You should clean them."
"Please," begged Wakati. "I want my cubs."
The lioness lifted her head up to stare at Wakati. Wakati got her first good look at the lioness's face and gasped. The lioness's eyes had a normal black pupil. Her iris was pure white. The whites of the lioness's eyes were black, as black as her pupil. "You don't deserve your cubs," the lioness said. "I don't deserve your cubs. No one does. You have no idea what power they possess. You can't. But I do. And I'll shape them into something your mind wouldn't believe possible."
"I don't care what you think they can do. They're mine. I love them. You can't just take them away."
"I have to. Or else they'll be lost again. And I won't live long enough to live through another cycle. I promise you, me and my friends will give them the best care possible. Take min, and love them as your own. As repayment for your loss."
"I want my cubs!"
"Altir walked out of the den. "Luker! Bring Zao back down here. We're finished here." Luker disappeared out of sight.
"I can't give them to you," said the lioness. "You will see them again. I promise. She will have all the respect for you that is possible."
Wakati tried to get up, falling back down after a moment. "I'm begging you," she said. "I love them. Please, give them back."
The lioness shook here head as she slowly stood up, her legs shaking from the effort. "No. But they will come back to you. You may not recognize them, but they will come back. I swear."
Altir headed back into the den. Luker entered a few seconds later, followed by a third lion. Luker and the third lion each gently picked up one of Wakati's cubs by the scruff of the neck. "Please," said Wakati. "You have no right to do this." Altir lied down in front of the lioness. "They're the princesses at least. The kingdom needs them," Wakati said desperately.
"These are the princesses now," said the lioness, nodding to her cubs next to Wakati. "They are the only cubs you ever had." She placed herself over Altir, then collapsed onto his back. Altir stood up, the lioness suspended on top of him. It was the only way she could make the journey, exhausted as she was. Altir picked up Wakati's last cub. The other lions exited out of the den.
"No," pleaded Wakati. Tears began to stream down her face, her sorrow breaking through her shock. "Please, I need them. They're my cubs. I love them."
Altir stopped and set down Wakati's cub. Her heart lifted with hope that was shattered as she realized he did it so he could speak. "You have her three cubs. Please, love them. I'm asking this of you personally. Please. And remember, at least you have your son."
Altir picked up her cub again and followed Luker and the other lion, walking past Cheko and the leopard's still, unconscious bodies. The lioness's tears flooded down her face as she watched her cubs being carried away in the moths of total strangers. Altir's tail swept out of sight. The lioness let out an anguished cry and lowered her head to the ground, weeping.