Chapter 12: Tempest's Feelings
Tempest awoke in the middle of the night from an uncomfortable feeling. To her left slept Ciara, and on her right slept Jai. She knew her other friends were also nearby. Tempest has been such a stranger to these lions, and yet, they had taken her in and become friends. But in this moment of this dark night, she felt like she didn't belong. It wasn't because she was the only one awake at this hour, but because he was the only one who wasn't home.
The light pale colored lioness stood quietly. She silently moved around her friends, and exited the den. She left Pride rock with a few nimble bounds. She passed several lionesses who were sleeping outside, passed the trees, passed the bushes, passed all the fields of tall grass until she arrived at the edge of the waterhole. Even though the moon was high and bright in the sky, the water seemed dark and gloomy, a reflection of Tempest's mind. She lowered herself to the grass and put her head in her paws.
She had felt comfortable in the Pride Lands, and she had come to love her new friends. She considered the King and his pride her family. But there was something missing. Tempest missed her brothers and sisters. She missed her father's strong wisdom, and most of all she missed her mother. Tempest always tried to be like her mom: quick to wit, smart and cunning. Her mother was strict, but so loving. Tempest wished she never wandered so far from home.
"I feel like an idiot..." She murmured to herself with her brow furrowed. "I'm too old to have wondered off and gotten lost like that. How am I ever going to find them? Are they even looking for me...?"
Tempest pressed her paw over her eyes, as if to block her mind from darker thoughts. She knew her real family was miles and miles away, what if they never saw each other again? Suddenly a warm night breeze pushed itself over Tempest. She instantly took comfort in its soft caress that seemed to hug her, and tell her everything was alright. Tempest lowered her heavy eyelids, and went to sleep.
Tempest awoke late in the morning, feeling too warm and sweaty from the sun. She stood and shook her damp fur.
"How long is this drought going to last?" she asked no one as she stretched her legs in front of her. She stopped suddenly as something on the ground caught her eye. Lying in front of her was a small yellow flower, the same one that had appeared once before. Who could have left it here? She wondered. After gazing at the flower for a moment, she gently took it into her lips and carried it back to Pride Rock.
As she approached the large rock, she noticed the pride was gathered outside of the cave. Many looked excited, but some looked bored. Tempest trotted up to the nearest lioness. It was Kanai, who looked nervous and happy.
"What's going on?" Tempest asked after gently placing her flower on the ground.
"Oh, Tempest, you missed it. Tali left for her huntress test just a minute ago."
"Really? I'm sorry I missed it. I fell asleep by the water whole last night... I couldn't sleep well in the den."
"Is that so? I'm sorry to hear that," suddenly the older lioness's eyes dropped to Tempest's paws. "What's this?" She said, gesturing at the flower with her paw.
Tempest picked her flower up in her lips to give Kanai a closer look.
"How pretty," Kanai said. "I've never seen such a flower."
Tempest smiled around the flower. Suddenly a lioness called Kanai over, and after nodding a quick "good bye" to Tempest, the older lioness briskly took off. Other lionesses started to disperse, so Tempest did as well. She looked around for Kivu and the others. She only had to look for a few moments when she spotted Mani. She approached the brown lion and gently put her flower on by her paws.
"Hi, Mani. Where are the others?"
"Hey. Tali is out on her test. But you probably knew that by now" Tempest nodded, then Mani continued. "Kivu is out training with his dad, and I think Jai and Ciara are with their mother."
"So don't you train or anything?" Tempest asked.
"I've done lots of training." Mani said. "I've got nothing more to learn." he boasted.
This caused Tempest to grin. "You're a ham." she said playfully.
"Yeah, yeah. But what training have you done?"
"I've had training too! My father taught me a little about fighting, and I've watched my mother hunt many times... But I'll probably end up needing more training..."
"Probably?" Mani teased, and Tempest smirked.
"Well, okay, most definitely," she said while glancing at her shoulder that showcased her large scab and bruise from an almost prey's horn. The two started walking to the water hold, and Tempest remembered exactly what had happened the day she received that injury. She remembered her feet slipping from beneath her, and in midair, the antelope thrashed its head in Tempest's direction, tearing quickly and painfully into her shoulder. In a cloud of dust, Tempest fell to her side. The antelope finished making his escape with a triumphant bleat, and its hooves beat hard into the ground as it ran.
Luckily, the horn's tip only grazed her skin, damaging little muscle, but still causing a lot of blood. She remembered trying to stand up, to pursue the antelope more, but felt the sharp pain of failure as her shoulder gave her a shock wave of pain that kept her from putting weight on it. When she looked at the wound, it looked bad. Dirt had taken home around and in the wound. Failure looked ugly...
"Tempest?"
The light lioness broke from her reverie, and noticed she and Mani had arrived at the waterhole. She shook her ears.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about how I got this..." she said, and looked at her shoulder wound. "It was pretty humiliating."
Mani looked at her with sincere eyes. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Mistakes happen all the time. No lion can take down an antelope when they're inexperienced, tired, and hungry. And even the most experienced lion misses their prey every once in a while." He then smiled with encouragement. "Besides, I'm just glad you weren't hurt more. Fortunately, it's healed rather nicely without permanent damage. You wouldn't be much fun as a vegetable, you know."
Tempest laughed. "Then I'm glad too. Thank you, Mani."
Tempest thought about her adoptive family. They all cared about her, just like her real family. She felt lucky to have stumbled upon this pride as she was lost and wounded. Who knows where she would be if she hadn't found this pride when she did?
"I'm fortunate to have found your pride. You all have been like my new family. You, Kivu and the others have become my best friends. Back home, I only had my brother and sisters, but of course we all needed our space sometimes... Our pride is small; only one other lioness joined us. I had no one my age to be friends with."
"If I were in your pride, I would have been your friend." Mani said softly. Tempest smiled.
After a moment, the young lioness lay upon the grass and yawned. "The heat makes me sleepy." She lowered her head to her paws with her eyes closed. Mani did the same.
"I was thinking the same. It sure has been hot for a while."
"Mmhmm." Tempest agreed.
"But at least there are clouds for shade. Maybe they'll give us some rain. Wouldn't that be great right about now?" he turned to look at Tempest, but she seemed to already be drifting off to sleep. Mani stared only for a moment, then put his own head down and drifted to sleep too.
Around an hour later, Tempest sleepily opened her eyes, and looked at the brown lion beside her. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly ajar. He breathed quietly in and out as he slept peacefully. Tempest smiled. He's cute when he's sleeping, she thought. She had the unbelievable urge to crawl closer to him and curl up against his warm body. Instead, she decided against it, and eventually went back to sleep
