The Rising Sun

Adhra awoke to the sun peering through their cave, and she saw with delight that it was dawn. The gentle, light purple colour mixed with a rich pink accompanied by the orange glow of the sun was a sight to behold, but this was of no interest to Adhra. She looked up with excitement and pushed herself onto her steady feet, her eyes moving straight to where her mother had slept the night before. They did not sleep beside their mother, but rather near enough that she could protect them, or they could cower behind her - either, either. Much to the cubs disappointment, her mother had already abandoned them to their own devices and she felt that same wave of disappointment crash over her. Dizzy, she fell to the ground and let out an annoyed growl at her stupid mother. She didn't love them, she barely even looked at them, and when she did she'd pull her eyes away immediately as if she was frightened of them. This was ridiculous to Adhra, as what had they ever done to their mother? And as of yet, they knew nothing of their father. Where was he? Oh, how Adhra wished he would come and take them away from their wretched mother who was scared to even look at them. They were a burden to the other lionesses, the cubs without a mother she'd heard them whisper.

"I have a mother," she growled to the cave that only held her sleeping brother, Akili. "But she does not love me," she continued in a quiet tone as she clawed at the cave floor. She ran at the wall, leapt up and scratched her claws into it, dragging them down and making a horrible sound as she did so. "Wake up, Akili, its a beautiful day outside." She said as she arrived at her brothers side. She leapt right over him and ran at the other wall, scratching at this one also with wild flails as tears blurred her vision. She longed to have a mother, and it made her angry that she really didn't. "I have a mother!" She cried at her own thoughts, crumpling in a heap on the ground. It was several minutes filled with silence that she drew herself back up one more, over her little outburst, and plodded to the outskirts of the cave. She sat and let her eyes fall shut as the wind ruffled her feel. "Feel like playing today, Akili?" She asked, not knowing if her brother was awake or not.

Akili was still sound asleep when Adhra woke with the morning's light, still caught up in a nightmare about being swept away in a sandstorm. The desert was a hostile environment for any life, and the cubs were already growing tough as stone because of their homelands. When the female cub called his name, the pale son of Vumbi woke, though it seemed impossible to open his dark blue eyes. The first sight of the day was that of his sister tearing into a den wall in frustration and tears. Random outbursts were nothing new. Akili yawned lazily as Adhra's form drooped to the ground and became silent, crying only to herself, and he did not interrupt. A light frown appeared, sapphire orbs watching as Adhra then padded to the hole of the cave that provided shelter to the rest of the sleeping pride. The cub stretched for a moment before sliding to a seat beside Adhra, who now seemed more calm. Silently, the male took in the expression on his sibling's features, the way her shoulders hunched forward as if defeated.

Illia did not have a mother at all, so it did not seem terribly unusual to young Akili that his situation was a bad one. For all he knew, all cubs had one parent, or none at all, if they were really unlucky. Still, the pale cub failed to understand just why their mother avoided the pair of them. Often, the young male daydreamed of his sire, the father he would never meet. He imagined the lion was strong, smart, and brave, and no one had ever breathed a word of the mysterious lion to convince Akili otherwise. In his mind's eye, his father was a great lion, and his mother had been very much in love with him before... What? Was his father now dead, lost to some horrible tragedy his mother could not bear to speak of? This seemed a logical reason for the neglect he and Adhra suffered as each morning, they found themselves abandoned once again, left to the care of the rest of the desert pride.

No matter, thought the male cub. It only meant there would be no one to see them disappear for a day of fun. Finally, after a long moment's silence, Akili offered a lopsided grin, pretending that he had not seen Adhra's despair only moments before in hopes to distract her from the troubles they shared. "We could go exploring.” The borders were always a tempting option for adventures, despite Quanna's warnings about the dangers. Akili was naturally curious, and even nightmares of being blinded in a desert storm would not deter him from exploring his world. "I believe the real fun is out there, beyond the sand." With that said, the cub stood and made his way out of the cave, expecting his sister to come along.

Adhra let her eyes snap open once more as she stared outside at the sand. The sun was slowly beginning to rise, delighting the world with it's warm glow. The sand was stirred lightly by the wind, drifting along. The edges of her vision were wavy due to the intense heat that was already beginning to settle in on the desert. It often amazed Adhra how the nights could be so cold, yet the days be so hot. It was almost as if the temperatures in these lands were temperamental themselves, always extremely hot or extremely cold. Never in-between. This did not bother Adhra that much, for she knew nothing besides these extreme temperatures that would irritate any other cub that was not adjusted to them. The only thing that managed to irritate Adhra was her mother's abandonment. She grit her teeth as her rage began to bubble again. Her mother, she did not even deserve that title! Adhra decided to refer to her as 'Vumbi' in her mind from now on, for she was not worthy of such a high title as mother.

Adhra felt herself wondering - as she often did - why Vumbi was so bitter. And why she took it out on herself and Akili, or rather, ignored them. It was highly un-fair and rude, for she had never done anything to Vumbi. It seemed that ever since she was born, Vumbi had completely abandoned her and her brother and given up all attempts to be kind to them. Even now, as she sat here, she could not recall a time when Vumbi had ever been kind to her. It was always stony, tense silence before Vumbi would sweep off to lands un-known to the small cub.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when her previous question was answered by her only now awoken brother. She frowned at her brothers grin. Though she loved him dearly, his optimism sometimes annoyed her to no end. The frown quickly morphed into her signature, devious smirk as her eyes lit up with the prospects of mischief that they could achieve in that day. She longed to venture past the borders and into different lands - despite their Queen's warnings - and see what else was out there. Her curiosity simply had to be sated, and she felt that today was the perfect day to do it. Adhra nodded her head eagerly in agreement, standing up and looking out to the edges of the sand. She desperately wanted to know what else was out there. "I agree. I simply must know what else is out there!" Adhra exclaimed eagerly.

Akili noted that no matter how deep the despair, Adhra seemed to bounce back quickly. In spite of her sadness, she was up and ready to go exploring when her brother suggested it, and Akili was pleased. There was no better way to forget one's troubles than to go out and find distractions, he had learned. Even if their mother did not notice or care that they had disappeared, perhaps Quanna would scold or even punish them upon their return. Negative attention was better than nothing, but mostly Akili was bored. Boredom often leads to trouble, but what cub didn't revel in the mischief he created?

So the two cubs left the safe area of the caves in search of something more to brighten their dull, unwanted lives. Once they were beyond earshot, Akili mused aloud: "What do you suppose will happen to the pride if the queen never has cubs of her own?" This was a tender subject amongst the desert pride, who both loved Quanna and feared for their own futures. The pride was not a large one by any means, but it seemed to shrink faster than it was growing. There was still no king, and without a mate it was unlikely the queen would produce a litter. "Maybe she will give the throne to one of us." The cub paused to allow his words to settle into his sister's brain, glancing over as he walked to gauge her reaction.

This idea of ruling was not appealing to Akili, though he was the one who brought it up. He was uncertain what a king should do, but he preferred a life of freedom and wandering with his sister. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have an entire pride of lions looking up to him and adoring him. Unconditional love was yet a foreign concept, but he knew what love was, and where it was lacking in his life. Despite his mother's inattentiveness, Akili was surprisingly sociabable and caring. True, he had never met anyone outside of his own pride, but he held no fear of strangers. So the male cub trotted along in the direction of the savanna, which he had only heard about but never seen.

Adhra knew she was a strange lion, but it did not seem to faze her. Even in the midst of her despairing, angst filled thoughts she was able to jump free and become happy instead of her previous emotions. She loved to explore, there was a feeling of freedom in doing so that she enjoyed immensely. The wind, lightly ruffling her fur as she ran, the feeling of sand beneath her paws, endless lands to explore, she was free when she was out exploring with her brother. Though they may hope otherwise, the entirety of the Pride knew that as soon as Adhra was old enough, she would be gone off as a rogue, or to collaborate with another Pride. The desert just held no interest to Adhra.

It never crossed Adhra's mind that wandering away from the safety of the caves was a ridiculous idea that was filled with danger, she didn't even acknowledge that it was dangerous. She only saw it as fun. "Why would you ask such a thing, Akili?" Adhra responded, though now that he had suggested it she bowed her head in thought. If their Queen was never to have cubs, who would she pass the throne onto? Perhaps a trusted friend, though this friend would be as elderly as the Queen and would need heir's of her own. At the idea that the throne would be handed to one of them, Adhra looked appalled and she stopped in her tracks, staring at Akili with horror clear on her features. "I certainly hope not!" She cried out with indigence, slashing her claws through the sand.

Never in her life would Adhra ever want to be the Queen of any land, let alone the Desertlands! Her plan was to escape this place as soon as possible, and if Quanna tried to thrust the throne upon her she would refuse with most outrage. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and lifted her head high, trotting on ahead of her brother, rather disgruntled by the idea. After a while, she stopped and stretched her paws out as far in front of her as she could, digging her claws into the sand and dragging them back to her. She straightened up and looked over her shoulder at Akili. "How far will we go today?" Adhra inquired. She wanted to reach the border of their lands and go beyond, for she was sick and tired of being stuck in the desert. She hated it.

Akili had no strong feelings either way about the desert at his young age, as apparently Adhra did. He felt some sense of duty toward the pride and toward Quanna, since they had managed to keep the pair of unloved cubs alive thus far. But as Akili aged, his wanderlust would also grow. Would he leave with his sister, his only friend and closest friend? Or would he surprise the rest of the Desertlanders and stay loyal to them? Only time would tell. For now, he was content with straying and exploring with Adhra, and returning before the sun disappeared for the day. At least they had each other for now.

As expected, Adhra was downright disturbed by the very notion of being the queen. The male cub couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know, it was just a thought. What's so awful about that? I was thinking, you know, what if our dad is a king? Maybe he's the ruler of a whole pride, far away from here." But it was wishful thinking, nothing more. The real sire of the two desert didn't possess a single drop of royal blood, nor did Korofi hold any ambitions to ever become a king. He was a rogue, with no home and no friends, and that was exactly what Korofi wanted from life. The elder lion didn't care if he had cubs and would make no effort to seek them out. Akili couldn't help but wonder though, and the absence of facts left room for many wild, fanciful guesses that were far from the truth.

He watched his sister for a moment before suddenly hopping towards her, flicking his grayish tipped tail in her face as he darted past. "Let's go far," was the only vague reply that Akili offered as he picked up his pace until he was running. "Bet I can run faster than you!" His paws pushed through the sinking sand skillfully, with grace acquired from a lifestime spent on the unstable ground surface. Away from the dens he ran, never considering the dangers. Already, the day was growing hot, but Akili could ignore that. His tongue lolled from the side of his mouth as he ran, with no one to stop him. He felt free, but he was too young to understand what freedom meant. It was both a blessing and a threat.

Where Akili may not have had any strong opinions or feelings towards the desert, rather just a feeling of duty to the Queen who had raised them as much as she could within her duties, Adhra had very strong feelings indeed towards her desert homeland. She despised the desert, she hated the sand and how the water always seemed to be filled with chunks of it that you accidentally swallowed when taking a sip. She hated the burning heat and the days spent there, trapped like a prisoner. She had devised a plan to leave the moment she was old enough to take care of herself. She wasn't afraid of the lions that Quanna had warned her about, the ones that hunted down pretty lionesses, for she was certain that she would be able to fight them off.

It would be a piece of cake in her mind, and indeed as she grew Adhra's build would become lithe, flexible, athletic, and very strong. The amount of hours spent running through the desert and battling her brother would help build her strength. She was freakishly fast too, like her brother and her father before her. Un-like her poor mother, who hadn't been fast enough. Adhra glared at her brother for his god awful suggestion and shook her head, looking away from him in disdain. She was not Queen material, and she would never accept the throne. She didn't want to remain in the desertlands as the years wore on, she wanted to escape. She wanted to live her own life, free as the wind within the savannah where she would not be forced to drink water with sand. She had heard tales of lands where vegetation grew plentiful and there was food for everyone to eat. There was no hunger in those lands, and she longed to go there. She longed to be away from this place where she was held captive from day to day.

Adhra was a free spirit verging on insane, so being stuck somewhere wasn't really very appealing to her. "Well it's a stupid thought, what do you want to be King or something? I don't think you're King material, Akili, no offence but you'd be better as a rogue or something. Like me. Being a King means you're stuck in one place to rule there forever, urgh how boring." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. She let out a short laugh at the suggestion their dad was a King. "Well I suppose he could've been, but where is he now, then? Not a very good King is he if mum won't even TALK about him." She wasn't the nicest cub, and though she often spoke to her brother in a condescending nature, she did love him. She grinned as he challenged her. "No way! I'm way faster than you!" She charged after him, easily catching up and matching his pace as she breathed heavily through her nose, pushing herself as hard as she could.

Akili knew there were other territories out there, perhaps ones better suited for inhabitance than the desert. But the lingering loyalty was still there, for the time being anyway. He didn’t know that his sister was already plotting her great escape, for that was apparently the one thing she kept to herself. Of course, he knew her feelings about their homeland. He was accustomed to her hostility, as he was with the harsh desert winds. The young male said nothing as his suggestion was openly mocked, ears folding back as Adhra’s words processed through his brain. Akili wasn’t entirely certain what constituted kingly material, since he had only ever seen a feminine reign, but he didn’t doubt that his sister was correct, albeit a little tactless. He knew that Adhra had a sharp tongue. Akili’s mind was equally quick, but he was more inclined to keep his thoughts to himself. Such a feat seemed utterly impossible to Adhra, however. ”No, I guess it isn’t something I want. It would be a lot of work, and so stressful. It was only a thought. The Queen won’t live forever, and I don’t know what will happen to us then if she doesn’t have an heir. It’s just something I think about.”

He wasn’t offended when Adhra had exclaimed he would be better suited to a life of wandering. Akili didn’t know much about rogues, except that as cubs, they were made to fear them, for they were said to be wild, dangerous, and violent; all qualities that Akili did not possess, despite the genetic issue of his father. But Akili wasn’t really worried for himself. It was Adhra’s future that concerned him. A life without a pride was expected of males, but for the lionesses, it was more difficult. They had all been told the cautionary tales about what might happen to a female if she strayed too far and there was danger lurking nearby; indeed, this was exactly how the siblings had been conceived, but they still did not know the fact. Would they ever learn the truth about their father? They would never hear it from their mother, who would soon be gone from their lives forever, inexplicably.

It was beyond young Akili’s control, just as Adhra’s life was something he could not dictact. Every aspect of his own life was beyond his control, really; something that occurred to him in that very moment as he sped away from his sister. Akili wondered what would happen if the sibling pair never stopped racing that day, how far they would make it before they turned around. Or what if they never returned? But Akili knew that they would before the sun set that day. They didn’t have what it takes to survive without a pride just yet, though they were learning every day. Adhra would be the only family he had left by the time his mane grew in thick, but Akili knew even her presence was not a certainty. Their adventures were usually a duo but Adhra had the mind of one who was destined to live a lonely life devoid of a pride, much like their unknown father. Even at a young age, Akili wondered how long it would all last as he ran, hearing Adhra’s breath as she caught up. But Akili was fast, and he stayed just a few steps ahead of the female cub, still lost to his worried thoughts.


[[I thought we could wrap this one up, since it's an old thread and they're older now!]]