Ch 8
Triton spent the next few days with his best friend, who was quickly becoming his first love, as she had done with him when he lost his eye. He'd walk with her, just outside of pride rock but no further than a few feet, let her lean on him to rest, and walk her back. He found himself curling protectively around her every night, and keeping his paw to her chest to make sure she was breathing even though she was long past such hardships.
As he found a new life in taking care of the first girl to ever kiss him like that, whom had even more love to give him as time moved on, he watched his little cousin grow, day by day, being taught by her father to be the next princess. He thought she was growing up to be a fine queen, if the land survived Armageddon.
Two weeks after the battle the guard had been replenished with new, eager, recruits, and Tatter came to him with a proposition as Price comfortably waded in the watering hole.
"No, I mean, it's an honor uncle, but I'm no leader."
The king laughed, his voice had deepened tremendously since Triton had been such a young kid, and that grey strand of hair over his scar wasn't the only grey hair he sported these days ,"but once upon a time you where so set on being king."
Triton looked away, "I was a stupid jealous child," he watched his love move through the waters, as deep as she could manage, she wasn't yet up to swimming yet. "I am no leader, I'm definitely no fighter." He pawed at his eye where the little unnatural jagged black slit was the home to an ancient mystical crystal, "and then there's this. We've seen what it does when I become angry. I can't be a leader of the guard if I go all super psycho in the middle of battle."
Tatter sighed, "yeah, good point. Just thought I'd offer. How are you and Jesse getting along?"
"Hakuna Matata Uncle."
"Don't you Hakuna Matata me young man," the king grinned.
Triton grinned back as he watched Price rise out of the water and saunter over to them, her gait was becoming more natural, he thought it'd be ok if she returned to her family tonight, not that he wanted her too. "We're fine. It's all in my past, I don't seek such power, I don't need such power. I harbor no ill will towards my cousin."
Tatter eyed him, still smiling but with unsure eyes, "you positive?"
Triton had to look away from him, unsure himself, still imagining what it'd mean to be on the throne one day, rule the lands, with Price by his side, "positive uncle, jeez."
The king laughed and left the two lovebirds, Price rubbed up against him wetting his fur, "Hey!"
"Just sharing" she giggled, then she looked back at the pool she had climbed from, her face saddening a little, "it's time."
Triton frowned, "time?"
"I have to get back to my family."
The young lion closed his eyes, "can't you live with us?"
She giggled again and nuzzled him affectionately, "slow down speedy. We are barely in our teens, we'll have plenty of time for each-other."
"But I'll miss you." He wined, rising to follow her.
"I doubt as much as I'll be hanging out with you. Come on," she started off away from pride rock towards her home, "my mother has a family to take care of and my father's as much as an incapable goof as you are."
"Hey," he said pressing up against her as she walked, "who are you calling, whoa" she fell sideways into the dust, laughing, "I'm sorry!" She just kept laughing, "oh crap I think I broke something." He smirked and helped her up by shouldering her.
"Incapable," she laughed again, he bumped her, nearly sending her over again, before running off towards her home, slow enough to allow her to give chase.
By the time they reached the cave both where panting with exhaustion. Price's home was a cave, but from the outside it looked barely more than a slit in the ground under a hill, in front of it sat her father and one of her many younger brothers. Price had been born of a littler of two, her new brothers and sisters were born, about a year ago, of litter of a twelve.
He raised his brow at the duo as they came up, his daughter rubbed affectionately against the albino, gave him a small lick, and headed past him into the cave. "Triton." He said.
Triton nodded, "Evening sir."
"I appreciate that you took care of my little girl. Would you like to come in for diner?"
Triton smiled, blushing a little, "no thank you sir, seems you kind of have a full house. I'll leave Price to relax."
The old lion nodded, "take care then my child."
Triton nodded again before turning to leave, he liked her dad. Many of his friends fathers had taken it upon them when he was younger to lend him a fatherly paw, Price's father included, showing pity on the young fatherless lion cub, especially after the king became caught up with raising his own child.
His walk back was peaceful, a light wind blew across the plains that ruffled his young main and played with his sense of smell. He could smell rain somewhere far away, despite the clear day, bugs, something that stank like a warthog, and lions. In fact he could smell quite a few lions.
He decided to follow that scent, and came upon a sight that at first instilled fear into his heart, a group of the robed tigers gathered around the tree his grandfather had met his grandmother at once upon a time, and wed under. They said the tree had mystical properties from being bathed by the mystic stone he and his uncle had possessed for a short time. The young sapling that had once sprouted had actually over taken the elder tree, sapping i's life from it in the process, but the new tree was grander, and flowered every season.
He crouched low behind a nearby rock, hoping it hid most of him and hoping as well that they were too busy to notice the scent of another lion.
"We are pretty much done for our first meeting," said a familiar voice "you have to remember to hide everything for everyone, even your families cannot know. Hide your cloaks well."
He turned, and it was obvious from the golden glisten of his Mane that brae was under the cloak, the ligers cloak no doubt. His uncle glanced straight at him, then closed his eyes.
"Little Triton, white does not blend in with green and brown as well as you'd hope," His great uncle called to him, "at best we'd assume you where a rabbit and it comes awful close to diner time."
Triton rose and came towards the group, cautiously, "what's going on here uncle Brae?"
"Holding a meeting."
"Of magic users? Do you think that wise?"
Brae grimaced, "It's necessary. First off if you think the tigers that we defeated where the last of them, if we are to assume that, then we are to let our guard down. The liger who was our ally is no more, so who is to protect us?" He looked about the robed figures, "but this group isn't even really about that. We will probably never grasp magic as they did, maybe our descendants will as we raise them with such knowledge." He glanced back at Triton, his eyes shiny in the moonlight, "this meeting is about you."
Triton took a step back, reading himself for a fight, but trying to calm himself as well, to keep the crystal from activating his powers.
Brae chuckled, "we are not here to harm you, show yourselves."
Each member of the group lowered their hoods, and Triton knew them, they where all the father's or elder siblings of his friends. The ones that acted as surrogate fathers, all except Price's father. "I don't understand."
Sai's father, a lion as big and round as his son, whose short main seemed to suffer from his overweight, trotted over to him, "we are learning magic to watch and protect you."
Triton shook his head and Brae took him under his arm, rubbing a fist into his forhead, "Hey!"
"Triton, you've been given a special, and awful, gift."
Triton pawed at his eye, "my crystal?"
The entire group nodded, "you used it twice within hours of receiving it and wielded a god like power that could have killed everyone and might have never been stopped, until possibly it drained you, if it could even do that." His uncle tossed him a round ball, "we each have one of these, according to my nephew it deactivates your crystal somehow. I could only imagine the power you would wield now weeks after you last used it, but we are here to watch you, take care of you, make sure you cannot hurt yourself or others."
Triton tossed him back the crystal, "that's all well appreciated but I don't think it's necessary."
"I do" a deep voice said behind him, he turned to note Price's father, he too was decked in a Tiger's robe, "listen little lion, it's obvious that you and price are⦠something. Either way you hang out with her, with Sai, many of our children, our families. It's not only about you, how would you feel if you went off, if something set you off, and you hurt, or even killed my little girl."
Triton didn't know what to say, he knew he'd feel terrible but his emotions connected with any of his friends, especially Price these days, where something he kept within himself and wasn't about to bare to the world. He suddenly couldn't meet anyone's eyes, "so what, you're going to follow me around till the end of my days?"
Braye scoffed, "as if we aren't all too busy for that. No little one, we each have a crystal like this, the tigers each had one, probably meant to shut you down so they could kidnap you, control you. They react to crystals, depending on a crystals power they react differently. I assume, and hope I am correct, that with a power like yours, the moment it starts, we will know, and it will lead us to you, as it did the tigers, and we will come in time to stop you."
Triton pawed at his eye, "and if you can't"
Brae just shook his head, "we just have to hope we can." Then he removed a little sliver of a crystal from his pocket, it was gold and he grimaced at it, "but we have a back up plan as a last resort that will probably leave none of us alive."
