It had been weeks since the three of them left the city, and miraculously enough trouncing around rural New York State hadn't been as horrible as she recalled. Even though it was late August now and the heat of summer was at its final peak, she barely felt it. Sure it was hot but the humidity was not as much a force to be reckoned with as it would have been if they had traveled further south. Pennsylvania might not have been too terrible, but once you hit the mason Dixon line its as if Mother Nature kicks up the heater and you start dying. So, staying a bit north this time seemed to be working out in their favor.
'They' meaning Old-Cat, Holly not-mother, and the lioness herself.
Ever since Old-Cat had found her at the beginning of July, she had immediately been brought into his broken little family. They were still missing a son-Wilhaname was his name? She only heard his name if Holly whispered it at night, for her and Old-Cat seemed to speak little of him for now. Kali did not know the story, only that he was caged somewhere and that in due time he would be free and the family would become whole again. Kali could not fill the void that the son had left, but she was family enough for them. Old-Cat considered her his cub even though there was no blood relation; he was not her father, brother, or uncle by family ties in no way. Yet in spirit, she considered him a father figure as best she could. No soul could replace her very human father holed up back home in Virginia, but here in the now Old-Cat would do. Holly would do. Kali appreciated it and she tried to let them know that when she could. It did not come in words, but actions; doing the hunting, keeping watch without needing to be asked. She wanted to pull her weight.
It would make her feel like she belonged.
There was maybe a part of her that still felt out of place maybe; like she was a lone puzzle piece, and no matter how hard they tried to fit her into final spot she just could not fit. That spot was meant for the son, not for the adoptive daughter. This weight buried her at one point. She ran away one night, feeling as Holly called it, 'lost like a tumbling weed'. She felt, in many senses of the word, lost. So much had changed in such a short amount of time and maybe she was having trouble adjusting. Maybe that was why she ran; just removing herself from everything for a little while would have maybe helped her get her bearings. So in the dark of night sometime in July, she snuck away from their den and to somewhere she knew well where she could think.
She sat by a creek; legs tucked up against her while she perched onto a flat rock and stared up into the dark sky. She desperately searched for stars, but here in the city they were very hard to come by. Impossible at times, even. The waning crescent moon was the only constant in the dark, empty sky. That and maybe if she looked hard enough and past the flying planes she would find Polaris; the North Star. Otherwise, the sky was devoid of any other constellations. No Orion, no Ursa Major, no big dipper. Everything was drowned out by the light of the city, and it made her heart sink. The stars were the only thing she truly missed about being out in the wild; the stars could not even top freedom...for one could always be free for a little while if they could just get lost in the stars.
She often looked to the sky for answers, yet being here in the concrete jungle it was rare to find answers. With the constellations blanched out by the artificial light of civilization there was nothing for her to search and nothing to guide her. So yes, she was lost. Hopelessly, hopelessly lost.
She'd been lost ever since she'd been deserted. Grumpy dog and Pup packed up without a word and simply dissipated from existence falling through her fingers like sand. It made her question if they were ever really there; were they just figments of her imagination? No. She wouldn't have had a collar around her neck right now if they were. But considering how easily they disappeared it certainly felt that way. As her search for clues turned up empty time after time her heart sank deeper and deeper each time until it was anchored deep in the ocean. The changing tides could not move it, no matter how they tried.
It was still something she could not understand. How could one moment be considered nothing more than pure joy at seeing her alive and never wanting to part with her again, to this? Blown away by the wind into nothing. Not even a trace was left behind. Was it all a game, this some large and elaborate plan by her captors to put a collar on her and keep an eye on her for her past transgressions? Her naiveté might have told her yes, and she could have moved on. Knowing Kyle and how he was submissive enough to follow orders from his alphas, she might have believed that he was going through with all of this begrudgingly so.
Yet, the pain that she remembered seeping into his eyes as his 'orders' forced him to collar her seemed to tell her that the scenario was less than likely. He might not have had the confidence of an alpha, but that meant he also did not possess that same coldness. If he wanted to leave the city, he would have told her. He would have asked her to come with them so that they could be away from the chaos. They could be somewhere safe. He wouldn't have left her behind. They were ohana; ohana never left anyone behind.
She never even noticed Old-Cat coming up behind her; that is until he started yelling at her. He was just so angry with her for leaving the den alone and without a word. Did he not trust her that could have taken care of herself if things went bad? By how thunderous and almost enraged he sounded, she thought not and that hurt her. He was treating her like a cub, not as an adult. He didn't understand that it had been years since he last saw her, the not quite an adult lioness holed up in the mountains. She was grown now, and he didn't seem to understand that. She wanted to rebel, to tell him that he should have just gone back to the den and forgotten about her. She didn't belong there anyway. Yet somehow, he herded her back anyway and she found herself huddled in her small makeshift bedroom crying and whimpering in her sleep.
Holly tried to console her; Old-Cat was merely terrified to lose another cub. He'd already lost one, he couldn't bear to lose another and she tried to explain that Old-Cat turned to anger first when dealing with anything he cared about. Kali did not understand fully, but just knowing that she was truly and dearly wanted calmed her for a while. So her need to run was quieted for a time.
So now, in late August, the three of them were acting as nomads setting up camps in different places every couple of days or so. Less if things didn't feel safe, more if things felt quiet. Everyone carried merely what was theirs and no less; the three of them together had enough survival knowledge that got them through camp building without the need of anything fancy from the store. No tents, no sleeping bags. Their belongings consisted of just some water, a little bit of food, and maybe a couple of pairs of clothes. Kali did not seem to carry as much; she chose to travel on all fours most of the time anyway. Though, before they left she chose to purchase a bow, a quiver and some arrows. Hunting on all fours sometimes wasn't ideal so having an extra weapon certainly wouldn't hurt. Besides, it was kind of fun shooting down rabbits instead of trying to pounce on them or trying to shove a knife through their skulls. Not to mention it was more instant gratification than setting traps.
She would not make a good two-legged hunter. She had the patience of a two-year old when it came to these things.
It was early morning, and the three of them had set up camp only last night so the area was still pretty new to them. But new also meant good hunting, which excited the lioness.
"I'm going to go out and see what I can catch, I'll try to be back by late afternoon," she said, and surprisingly enough she did not get a protest from the still groggy and waking Old-Cat. He merely rubbed his face and jostled his mate awake, sitting up and watching the already prepared cub of his start to walk away already. He grumbled a little, but thought it best to give her a little more slack. Maybe he'd finally begun to trust her more. "Just don't stray too far. I'll keep my ears out just in case," he replied, and that was all she needed from him. Just a little bit of acknowledgement and with that she'd bounded off away from the clearing of their camp and into the dense cover of the trees.