The Coming of Meersha
By Baby Fire Wolf
This is the tale of one lioness. Just one, who brought forth a greater part in the royal pride. An anecdote, taking place under King Ahadi's reign, but joined in the royal pride beneath the Kingdom ruled by Mufasa.
Part II: The Adolescent
Right, well so far I've been writing "Part III: The Adult" and editing and revising "Part II: The Adolescent" at the same time. Now I've decided to put up Part II just because. I know there are a lot of mistakes still in it and it still needs to be rewritten in many parts, you will see for yourself, since I haven't finished. When I get my computer working properly, though, I'll end up updating Part II because then I will be able to have Microsoft Word helping me out with spelling and whatnot. For now, you'll just have to read the partly edited Part II or wait for the updated version which probably won't be for awhile. This one's still good to me, though, so enjoy!
Parts
I The Cub
Chapters
1. New Ones
2. Meersha's Name
3. Lions
5. Mud and Trouble
5. Benighted Water
6. Leader Stress
7. First Carcass
8. One Eyed-Freak
9. The Rogues' Revelation
10. Fleeing
II The Adolescent
Chapters
11. Deformed Elephants
12. A Cheetah's Weakness
13. The Dawn of Adolescence
14. Cubs Once More
15. A Free Ride
16. Because of Study
17. An Old Face
18. A New Journey to Start
19. Captured
20. Izegbe
21. Two of the Drie-Leeu
22. The Deal
23. A Hunt
24. What was Left
25. Killing the Killer
III The Adult
Chapters
26. A New Meersha
27. Only Two Now
28. The Ceremony
29. Unexpected Bloodshed
30. Her Dying Wish
31. Dibi
32. By the River
33. Gatu's Quest
34. Strangers
35. Heavy Sentiments
36. A Fight in the Rain
37. The New Pride
38. Cubs, Establishments and Travels
39. Same Blood
40. (Still being written)
My Characters
Meersha (Daughter of Kinara and Ashuma, litter-sister of Kasha, Banjija, half-sister -younger- of Chusuka)
Kasha (Son of Kinara and Ashuma, litter-brother of Banjija and Kasha, half-brother -younger- of Chusuka)
Banjija (Son of Kinara and Ashuma, litter-brother of Kasha and Meersha, half-brother -younger- of Chusuka)
Kinara (Lioness of White-Feather Pride, mother of Meersha, Kasha, Banjija and Chusuka)
Ashuma (Leader of the White-Feather Pride)
Bayna (Lioness of White-Feather Pride, mother of Lusala and Pashi)
Lusala (Daughter of Bayna and Ashuma, sister of Pashi)
Pashi (Daughter of Bayna and Ashuma, sister of Lusala)
Chusuka (Lioness of White-Feather Pride, daughter of Kinara and Tambi, mother of Toga)
Toga (Son of Chusuka and Ashuma)
Dashu (Once leader of White-Feather Pride, father of Kinara)
Tambi (Once leader of White-Feather Pride, father of Chusuka)
Shashi (Lioness-shaman of White-Feather Pride)
Kuda (Lioness of White-Feather Pride)
Tanda (Lioness of White-Feather Pride)
Helalu (Lioness of White-Feather Pride)
Gatu (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Tokto (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Shap (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Daba (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Naynana (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Bondu (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Kiku (Lion cub in White-Feather Pride)
Chaska (Rouge lion)
My New Characters
Gali (Female hippo)
Unaro (Rouge lion)
Natira (Wild shaman, grandmother of Unaro)
Ahadgna (Leader of the Broken-Claw)
Yawnda (Lioness of the Broken-Claw)
Chioke (Son -adopted- of Ahadgna)
Kumba (Rogue lion)
Gonra (Lioness of the Broken-Claw)
Bahashi (Lioness of the Broken-Claw)
Ignu (Lioness of the Broken-Claw)
Uhawku (Son -adopted- of Ahadgna, part of the Drie-Leeu)
Hawkna (Son -adopted- of Ahadgna, part of the Drie-Leeu)
Kikaru, Zarazu (Son -adopted- of Ahadgna, part of the Drie-Leeu)
Rombu (Son -adopted- of Meersha and Zarazu)
Izegbe (Meersha's Broken-Claw name)
Part II:
The Adolescent
X
Deformed Elephants
The sun, the air, the atmophere itself seemed to grow thicker with heat each and every minute. Even the cubs' dreams were filled with a vervid sensation. The three of them would be found on a short plain, lying near each other with limbs sprawled out while they each twitched, as if trying to get out of a fake reality. It was when a bird with five eyes stared at Meersha did she finally let the dreams come. For, if she woke up, she knew something was going to make her upset. Something wasn't right in her real life and world. It - whatever it was - lie right outside of her dreams' reach, as well as her memory's. The cub hadn't a clue what it was that made her stay asleep and not wake up...yet. Then, her memory came back in a painful flash.
Meersha, Banjija and Gatu were hurrying away, off into an unknown world of the night, leaving the life they had always known, behind. Their family and friends and home weren't meant ever to be seen again by them.
Roars and the sounds of a lion brawl were mixted with chirping crickets as the cubs frantically scampered into the savannah, through the long, yellow grass. Their mother - at least Meersha and Banjija's - was back near the borders they had just left. She was fighting a lion called Chaska. She was saving their lives.
Meersha had looked up to the stars as she had run between her brother and Gatu, her now blue-green eyes beginning to water once more. Her mother had said that Kasha - her other brother - and her father Ashuma, as well as the other cubs were now up in the stars. But they looked as faraway as ever.
They ran for what seemed like hours, stopping every now and then to catch their breath and reflect on what had just happened. Finally, they had curled up on that open plain, too shocked and dazed to have remembered its exposure was dangerous. But, when sleep came, the day did, too, and they soon rolled from each other as the sun's warmth became too much to bear while mixed with body heat.
Ow, Meersha thought to herself in her sleep. Something had pulled at her skin and fur. But how could it hurt? It was just a dream, and Kinara had always told her she couldn't get hurt in dreams...Meersha laid down in the green grass. Green. She had seen it only once before in real life, and now she had miles of it in her dream, surrounding her. She rolled over, trying to enjoy herself and push the flashbacks away, when suddenly the same thing happened. "Ow," she said aloud in her dream that time. But as she looked around, nothing was there but the great blades of the grass. She huffed at nothing when it happened once more. "Ow! Stop!" she cried, for this time it had gotten her face, and a sharp pain raced through her nerves as she flinched.
"Wake up!" someone finally yelled, and Meersha did just that, instantly.
She sat up, and growled, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light. Finally, her pupils, small, she looked around, seeing all the vulchers about them. They were pecking at the cubs. Meersha jumped up and gave a little roar, only to have the birds hop back and forth, but continuing to peck at her and her brother, who had been the one to wake her.
"They won't go away," Banjija desperately hissed.
"Gatu," Meersha said, dodging the sharp beak of one of the scavangers. She put her paw on his side and his right eye opened.
"M-meersha. W-where are we?" he asked.
Meersha shook her head. "I don't know," she answered.
"But we have t' get away from these creeps," Banjija then snarled, motioning to the vulchers. "Hurry and get up!"
The three cubs darted off to take cover in the long grass. The birds only followed in the air, soaring around above them.
"We're not dead!" Banjija called up to them.
Some had left, but two were still keeping an eye on the cubs, just waiting for either of them to drop down and rot.
"C'mon, let's get some shade," suggested Meersha.
They hurriedly scrambled under a near tree, atop a small hill and looked around, curiously.
"So this is what it's like outside of the territory," exclaimed Banjija, laying down and frowning. "I always thought it would be fun out here, on an adventure...but it's not."
"W-well at le-least we have ea-each o-other," Gatu meowed.
Banjija turned to glare at him. "We're hungry, thirsty, lost, getting pecked at by vulchers, alone without the pride, and that's all you have t' say? Oh, wait...you have my sister!"
Gatu tilted his head and Meersha hissed at her brother, batting at him. "That's not it, Banjija!"
"What about lastnight? Before the rogues came, I saw him jump on you!" Banjija replied, sitting up again.
"Yeah, he did, but if anything, he saved me!"
"He did?" Banjija asked at the same time Gatu said, "I did?"
Meersha nodded. "Remember, Banjija, that one time I wandered off when we were younger?" He nodded. "Well I was telling the truth about that water. It, like...swirled around and showed me a picture of the night."
"The night?"
"Yeah. And there was this creature in it, coming t' get me!"
"Now you're just acting like a cub," Banjija said, rolling his eyes and facing away.
"I told you you wouldn't believe me!" Meersha snapped.
"I believe you," Gatu said, quietly.
"Oh shut it," Banjija growled.
"No. It's true! It happened once, and Mom saved me. The second time Gatu did, right before that creature almost pounced me!"
Her brother turned to her. "So," he said. "Creature, eh? What kind of creature?"
Meersha shook her head and sighed. "I don't know...It was all black and so blended in with the night...I couldn't tell...but it's eyes were the color of blood..."
"Now it's a tale for a cub!" Banjija said, smirking.
"Ugh," Meersha grumbled, knowing she'd never convince her brother unless he saw it.
Then, the female looked up, seeing nothing but grasslands of gold, yellow, red and even a couple patches of green here and there. "We have to find something to eat," she stated at Gatu's growling stomach.
"H-how? We've ne-never hunted by our-ourselves before?" asked Gatu as they began down the hill.
Banjija shook his head, rolling his eyes. "So? I have!"
"You have?" the others both replied at the same time, voices blanketed in curiousity.
"Yeah," he answered proudly, snickering. "I'll have you know I caught a bird once."
Meersha giggled and Gatu couldn't help a small chuckle.
Banjija turned sharply to them. "It's harder than it seems! They have wings, ya know!"
"Hey! What are those?" Meersha suddenly asked.
The cubs all gasped, and they ran closer to what looked like a herd of small, deformed elephants without trunks. Gatu tilted his head as Meersha laid on her tummy and began to sneak up to them.
"We're not supposed to hunt elephants," hissed Banjija, whiched surprised both Meersha and Gatu at him for following what was once the rules.
"I'm not. I'm just gonna ask them for help," replied the cub as she stalked closer.
Banjija snarled and pounced on her. "We can't just ask someone for help! We don't have Mom or Dad or the pride...we're alone! On our own!"
Meersha pushed him off and ignorantly bound off, over to the creatures. Both the other cubs gasped again and quickly followed. Suddenly, one of the great animals swirved her head to them. She looked like a younger one due to her small structure.
"Hey," she said, making Meersha stop abruptly, which caused her brother and Gatu to run into her. A strange sound, like low grunting would emit from behind the creature's lips. "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh...was wondering if you could help us hunt...?" suggested Meersha, taking a couple steps back.
The animal made another laughing noise as she stepped forward towards the cubs. "Hunt? We don't hunt. Now get away! Mom and Dad are gonna be furious if they see lions are around."
"B-but we're just c-cubs!" Gatu cried.
"Is that so? Then where's your family? They're bound to be around here, and then you'll really get in trouble with Dad," she exclaimed.
Meersha shook her head sadly. "We haven't a family anymore."
"Really?" asked the animal, raising a brow.
"Yeah, they chased us off!" yelled Banjija. "They didn't want us so they threw us out like a couple of old carcasses!"
"That's not true!" Meersha hissed, batting at her brother's face. "Anyway," she said, turning to the weird "elephant". "We're really sorry for intruding like this, but we're also really hungry. Do you know how to hunt?"
"I don't hunt," she snorted. "None of us do...Sometimes if a carcass is lying around Dad might go try some of the meat out, but that's about it."
"Scavangers!" hissed Gatu, fearfully. "A-and big ones! Let's g-get out of here!"
He started to backup uneasily, before Banjija smacked him with a paw and said, "Elephants aren't scavangers, ya dork!"
The low laughing started up again, and Gatu gasped, leaping behind a rock.
"We're not elephants," the creature replied.
"You're not?" asked Banjija, frowning.
She shook her head. "We're hippos!"
"Hippos?" asked Meersha and her brother at the same time.
Just then, Gatu climbed out from behind the rock and crawled forward again. "M-my m-mother sa-said hippos were sw-swimming ani-animals," he mewed like a frightened cub, staring up at the she-hippo.
"Yeah, we do swim a lot," she adviced with a nod. "But not all the time. The vast migration has started,"
"The mi-migration?"
"Yup."
"M-mom never said hi-hippos mi-migrated."
"We don't." she stated. "But the wildebeest, antelopes and zebras do. We wanted to get out of their way so they don't trample us. See, they travel through our waters."
"Why let some prey push you out of your home? You're big and strong creatures, kill 'em!" Banjija suggested.
She made another laugh-like grunt. "Oh no! There's way too many of them. Thousands! Besides, I told you, we don't hunt."
Banjija finally sighed. "This is getting us no where."
"No wait," said Meersha, before looking up at the hippo again. "Um, Miss...hippo...?"
"My name is Gali," she chuckled.
"Right. Gali. Um," Meersha started. "D' you know where the antelope and the other migrating animals are going?"
"Dad says they travel to find better places to graze, each year. But I don't know where those places are. Why?"
"I was just thinking," and she turned to smirk at the other cubs, who tilted their heads in a confused responce. She sighed and shook her head. "If we follow them, then it's like following food!"
"Right!" Banjija said, happily as he pounced in front of his sister, now getting it. "Sis, you're a genius!"
"No, there's way too many. I don't think you cubs would be able to handle that. I mean, not even we can!"
"I mean when they settled down, though, in their new grazing lands." Meersha said.
Gatu nodded.
"Well you could try. But who knows how long that would take?" exclaimed Gali.
"Yeah. We n-need food n-now," Gatu then aggreed.
Meersha nodded with another sigh. "All right...where are we gonna get it then?"
After a moment of careful thought, Gali said, "I could ask Dad to go to the water hole and grab you a carcass."
"No way! I'm not turning into a scavanger!" hissed Banjija with no further thought.
"OK." said Meersha to Gali. "You would do that for us?"
She nodded, before turning away and trotting to a large male hippo, blanketed in what seemed beads of blood.
"Meersha, I don't want to be a vulcher," complained Banjija.
"We're not. Remember what Mother said? Sometimes we have to take what nature gives us. Sometimes we have to be temporary scavangers."
"So we are." he stated.
Suddenly, there was the sound of thunder as the huge hippo came racing to the cubs. They screamed and turned to run, but the hippo was right on their tails as he snorted. He dipped his head and neck slightly to open his massive mouth, four feet wide with what seemed like long, razor-sharp tusks. Luckily, Meersha, Banjija and Gatu had gotten up a steep hill. The hippo stopped and snorted, trotting around the base of it as they watched fearfully atop the knoll. Ge made a deep grunt and snort, just as Gali had, only it seemed deeper, and the laughter seemed more like laughter than anything. Finally, he turned around and trotted back to his pod.
"What was that all about?" Banjija suddenly and franticly asked, and he couldn't help himself from shaking.
"Guess he d-doesn't want us around h-his family," Gatu said as they turned and began to walk away, tails, heads and ears.
"No one does." Meersha gravely muttered.