VI

Leader Stress

The pride's cubs all slept in the main den from then on, each always nestled into their mother's warm coat. It was Ashuma who always laid at the enterance, and for the mostpart, was found only half-asleep.

Rumors spread about the two rogues, as well as others who kept an eye on the pride, just waiting for Ashuma to lose his guard. But no one ever struck...yet. The thing was, each day this lion grew older, as did the offspring. If someone didn't challange soon, then the cubs would grow and become an addition to the pride. Which some would find appealing, as that would mean more mates, yet others found more threatening, for if they decided to break the White-Feather law, that could also mean more protection for their leader.

Yes, every lioness in the pride knew it was to happen soon. The tension had increasingly grown, seeming to choke everyone in an ongoing sentiment, whether that be fear, or perhaps anger. Even the cubs stirred at the unseen emotions of their parents as they pondered to each other. Older lionesses had seen it happen in their life, if not once, more. It was to happen again. Some silently grieved and even feared what was to come, while others yearned for it to get over with. Still, others felt that it was the right thing to do, for those were the lionesses nearing the age of reproduction, and they did not want to mate with their own father, fearing the results of inbreeding.

Ashuma growled to himself. He continued to age, and the fear of losing the pride climbed higher for him as it began to flow through his veins. Soon, wrinkles below his eyes took place as his fur and ears became tattered, always twitching, always perked. Streaks of gray barely began to show through his mane, caused both by the decrease of youth, and the stress. Sometimes he would be found muttering to himself, about how this was always his pride. At night, he rarely caught sleep, and when he did, he was usually half-awake. Any time he got it fully, the lion dreamt of the days he had conquered the last leader of this pride; Tambi. More often than not, he snarled and growled, kicked and twitched in his rare sleep.

The present leader soon became so paranoid, that he did not talk to anyone, just watched them atop the Great Knoll in the heart of his territory, which he went on to marking every day. More than once he did so, and in the same places. He stalked the borders, the grounds and the plains, the hills and much more, leaving his scent and scaring off any near animal, even if it was wandering and easy-to-catch prey. Every time anyone went off to the water hole, Ashuma followed. He would always glance behind his back, to stalk forward once more, warn muscles rippling beneath his thin coat. Now, he sat on the Great Knoll, watching, waiting for anything and anyone. His physical image appeared wary and old, even when he attempted to seem strong. Ashuma never allowed anyone to wander, always keeping every lioness in his sight.

Before long, he neglected the cubs, though. If one came to play with their father, he would either pad away or bat them off, even if his cuffing was hard enough to make them bleed. Soon, the White-Feather Pride feared for their daughters and sons, always watching their leader stalk back and forth in the same place, or sitting upon the hill, following a lioness, scaring off a vulnurable antelope, marking the territory not once, twice, but at least three times in the same spots.

It was when a little cub named Gatu, snuck over to him playfully, and pounce his father, did the lionesses' fear shoot up. The results of Gatu's motion, had led him to be without his left eye. Ashuma had just hissed at him, and walked off, ignoring his son's cries of agony.

After that, Ashuma was not allowed near the nersery.

"If this goes on, then Ashuma will just leave us himself, he's that insane," growled one of the lionesses.

"If he doesn't, and no one else takes over, then we'll chase him off." Tanda replied, haughtly.

"What are those rogues waiting for?" questioned another, who was grooming her sleeping litter.

The pride - all except Ashuma, who was out marking the territory for the fifth time that day - was in the main den, while the night took over. Their cubs slept, curled up by their mother's stomach, or resting in their forepaws as the lionesses discussed the pride life.

"He's just distressed," Bayna said, finishing up cleaning Pashi and Lusala.

"He's just crazy!" Tanda went on.

Bayna shook her head. "Put yourself in his paws; he's about to lose his family."

"But we can't go on like this," said someone.

Another exclaimed, "But if someone else takes over, then our cubs are dead!"

"With the way it's been going, I wouldn't be surprised if our cubs die if Ashuma stays," said a dominant lioness called Helalu.

This surprised everyone, as she was the closest to Ashuma, due to her dominant ways. They all looked at her for a moment, and then the debate went on.

"I don't think Ashuma would do anything to our cubs...perposely that is." said the young, naive Chusuka, curled around her sleeping Toga.

"But remember the Night-Myst Pride in the far east?" Tanda aburptly brought up.

They all perked their ears and listened intently. No one knew, but Meersha peeked out of one eye, before quickly shutting it as she eavesdropped. The female cub laid between her brothers, right at her mother's right side.

"What about them?" Kinara asked, curiously, after no one said anything.

"Well," Tanda continued. "They were a nice pride like us. Their leader was a great lion, but one day, a rogue tried to take over his pride. He didn't allow it. He couldn't. As ignorant as lions are...Anyway, they faught almost every day. Finally the rogue decided to stop, and sneak up on him later, when he was most vulnerable. This is when the present leader began to go crazy, some said. Others in the pride didn't like the idea of it, and so pushed it out of their minds, until one day, the leader became as paronoid as Ashuma is now. Soon, he was so eager to keep his rank and status, that he began killing off the cubs to get his females to mate again."

The cave was instently filled with a rush of gasps. Meersha had even joined in, but kept convincingly still when her mother had blinked down at her.

"I heard it was just a myth," Helalu quickly said.

Tanda shrugged. "It's what I've heard from wandering animals."

Kinara continued to look down fearfully at her little ones, and licked them all. In fact, the whole pride did it, nervously keeping an eyes on their cubs and each other.

"Shashi," a lioness then exclaimed, and they all looked up at the older lion with questioning faces. "What should we do?"

Shashi stayed on the flat rock she had been laying upon as her old eyes fell on everyone in the cave. She seemed so calm, and even yawned once. Shashi was old, and had seen many days. Because of her intellegince, born from her experience, some even thought of her as a mandrill or shaman.

"Ashuma has been our leader for some years now," she explained, sitting up stiffly, due to arthritis and cramped muscles. "And ever since he joined, we made a comitment to be loyal to him."

"But look what he's done to my little Gatu!" cried a lioness, nuzzling her little one.

When people began to argue, Shashi hissed, and they all fell silent once.

"Please, think of the cubs. You'll wake them up." a lioness pleaded.

"Now, anyone else feel like arguing, or do you want to hear what I have to say?" Still, there was silence. Shashi took a deep breath, before going on. "We keep our word and vow. After all, he gave us our cubs."

"And he's going to soon take them away!" Tanda blurted, only to feel a sence of regret as the shaman glared at her, and her ears drooped as she looked like a naught cub right then.

Shashi nodded to herself and said, "In letting him be our leader and cub-giver, we made a deal. Now, his time is soon to end, which is the most important time for us to be with him and encourage him. He was, after all, a great leader in his prime. Ashuma has given us three great litters. Now, as the leaders before him, we are to be a loyal pride. As we were to Tambi, Dashu, and all the others."

Everyone looked up to Shashi, listening to her carefully, for she had seen the severl leaders in the White-Feather Pride, having even born into it. It was a wonder how she was still alive. In fact, no one knew how old she really was.

"I agree," Kinara then said, and all eyes turned to her. Meersha shifted uncomfortably at the feeling of all stares, even if they weren't looking at her, and she could not see them anyway as her eyes kept closed. She ended up burying her head into her mother's fur, still trying to act asleep as Kinara continued. "Ashuma has been a great leader. He's just nervous, and taking his end to our pride very seriously. Which is what we wanted for a leader: a serious one. Right? This just proves how important we are to him."

"I don't think clawing out the eye of a cub is the way to show it," snarled Gatu's mother's sister.

"Look, you don't have to like it. Even protect your cubs from him if you wish - heck I'm doing that! But still, he does not have very many suns left with us anyway," Kinara exclaimed.

"Who?" asked someone.

Everyone gasped in surprise, turning their heads to see Ashuma entering the den. All the lioness curled protectively around their cubs, but Ashuma didn't crawl very deep in. Instead, as he had been doing for about a month now, continuing to lay at the enterence, gazing out into the distance of the night. "They're coming," he whispered to himself, before resting his giant cranium on his massive forepaws.

All that night, he muttered to himself, his presence causing the lionesses to stay up as well.

In the morning, Ashuma was gone.

"Mama," said a small voice, and Kinara looked down to smile at her daughter.

She licked her. "Yes?"

"Is Daddy OK?"

Kinara blinked in surprise, then sighed. "I...I think he just needs time to himself, Meersha."

"How come he took Gatu's eye?"

Kinara nuzzled Meersha, but did not answer as Banjija and Kasha both awoke. Half of the pride was outside, and the rest was still sleeping, their cubs at their sides.

"C'mon. I'll take you three to the nersery. Then you can have your breakfast there. The party caught a wildebeast lastnight." she exclaimed.

The boys jumped up in excitment.

"My favorite!" Banjija said.

Kinara led them outside into the bright morning, yawning and stretching in the warmth of the bathin sunlight, before dropping them off with Bayna, Tanda and a couple other lionesses at the nersery.

Banjija and Kasha scrambled over to the cubs, growling and whatnot, before pouncing at the remains of a wildebeast carcass. But Meersha sat down at the edge of the sunken land, watching her mother pad out into the grasslands. She glanced at Bayna and the others curiously, before climbing out of the nersery and crawling on her tummy through the crisp grass. Meersha blended right in, but was quickly caught as she accidently hit her head at a lioness's back left paw. The lioness jumped and turned around, staring down at the cub.

"Sis!" cried Chusuka.

"Hiya, sissy," Meersha said innocently, sitting up.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Uh...well..."

"Meesha, did you sneak from the nersery? You know you're not supposed to be out here." her older sibling stated firmly.

Meersha grinned cheekily, but Chusuka picked her up and began carrying her back. "Have you even had breakfast?" she asked, muffled, with a mouthfull. She nodded in responce, only to have the lioness hault in her tracks immediatley set her down and lightly paw at her. "Don't lie, I can smell your hunger."

The little one just rolled over and pawed up at Chusuka. "Chusuka, what is wrong with Daddy?" she quiered before her older sister would have time to scold.

Chusuka blinked, having the same expression as their mom, having not excpected this question. "Well, uh..."

Meersha continued to peer up at her, lying on her back still.

"Well...You need your breakfast, Meersha."

"But I wanna know!"

"Don't worry about it. Now, go have some of that wildebeast."

Chusuka nosed her sister back into the nersery and turned around, walking away.

Meersha huffed.