When The Cat's Away

Kiasi had been warned many times against wandering into the Pridelands but he'd found it hard to curb his curiosity. Eventually it had gotten the better of him and he'd wandered onto the fringes of the forbidden land, it wasn't as barren as his home was but it was starting to be, there was sparse vegetation besides the dry and brittle yellow grasses of the plain that he was currently in. Most of the trees were twisted broken things, no leaves offered shade and the best he could do was slink through the tall grass that brushed around his shoulders offering him protection from prying eyes.

Blazing eyes peered up at an equally blazing sun and the cub smacked his lips dryly but didn't turn around. So far his foray into the territory had yielded nothing but a momentary reprieve from his boredom and satisfaction in knowing that he was successfully proving he could take care of himself. He lowered his nose for a moment when he thought he smelled something, prey of some sort, it had been a while since he'd eaten and he felt his stomach give a rumble that he wasn't about to ignore. He crouched lower in the grass when he spotted the form of a small mammal ahead of him, he wasn't sure exactly what it was but it was big enough to provide him a snack.

He flexed his shoulders shifting his growing mane, the dark patches contrasting sharply with his dull goldenrod coat. When he was confident he wouldn't miss he pounced from his hiding place and ambushed the poor creature, it didn't have any time to react before it was lifeless in his teeth and he ate his snack with a satisfied smile on his maw. Licking his lips when he was done and cautiously looking around before smirking again, so much for these scary Pridelanders he'd heard so much about. Or their hyenas. Speaking of hyenas, he ducked his head just in case of his fathers friendly spies were around, the last thing he needed was getting tattled on by one of those poachers.

Heshima had been oblivious to the ongoing drama that was enfolding at the waterhole, her maternal instincts had not kicked in, the roars had not been heard. Heshima had no idea that she was about to lose her eldest daughter. But what Heshima did know was that something didn't feel right in the Pridelands. The female couldn't push it off and left her son in her new found den, away from the pride. Ever since her talk with Tasa, Heshima had grown more hatred for her king than previous and she had taken to moving her entire family away from the pride. Sarabi had noticed, so had Nala and the rest of the remaining females, but they didn't judge her. Only the fact that Heshima's scar reminded them of what Scar could actually do in a fit of blind-rage made them judge her. The pride wondered why she didn't stop at Sarabi's name, why she had to use Mufasa's, but for Heshima it was the hurt. Hormones and maternal instincts were not a good mix in any species, but for the lioness it seemed too much to handle. Soon though, Heshima would take the final push that would send her out of the Pridelands for good, but at the cost of her daughter's life would it be. She would regret not fleeing with her children for the rest of her life, and soon she would be faced with a dreadful reality. Alas, Heshima wandered far away from the rest of the pride and the direction of the waterhole to clear her head.

The pale lioness stumbled upon Zingela Plain, the preferred hunting grounds before the drought happened. A strange smell filled the air, was there a rogue around? Heshima had no idea that who she would stumble upon would be of her own flesh and blood, and soon enough the shock would set in. An omen for what was about to come perhaps? The female moved swiftly over the lands, even if she was part of the royal family by her cubs, there still wasn't enough food for her or anyone for that matter. Her belly had sunken in, her ribs were starting to show, but she didn't care anymore. As long as she could spend enough time with her children before she died, she didn't care when or where it happened. Scar would doom them all, she had decided that quickly after Giza had disappeared, but the russet lion who three of her four children shared their coat with wouldn't listen to anything that anyone had said. By now, the strange scent had become stronger and more irritating, but she couldn't smell exactly what it was. That is, until a flash of tawny flew in front of her. Heshima's eyes widened, her heart was stricken with fear, she had seen that shade of tawny before, but- no, it couldn't be. Could it? The lioness hid in the grasses -or what was left of them- and motioned to get a better look at the cub. A black mane tuft sprouted from his head, his body healthier than her own cubs. Undeniable sideburns swarmed down his cheeks.

And then there was the final sign, blazing orange eyes. Everything clicked in Heshima's head now and she snarled at her fate. Standing right in front of her was her son that she had cast away more than a year before. He was growing strong and large, just like his demon of a father, and he had every bit of his father's traits in him. From the eyes, to the mane, to the striking sideburns that ran down his form, this was none other than Kiasi. And now, the cub was snacking on a mammal that he had so excellently hunted, a skill most likely gained from whoever was raising him. How he grew to be that size without his biological mother was unnerving, especially since she knew there was almost no lioness in the Shadowlands who could feed two cubs. Had the king recruited someone from a different pride? It wasn't unlikely. By now Heshima had had enough and she walked forward with a snarl on her face, her eyes narrowing down at the cub. "What do you think you're doing? Stealing our food? You're lucky I don't rip you to shreds right here. But, I couldn't, I know the pain of losing a cub, I don't wish for your mother to have to go through with it," The term mother was almost said sarcastically, but Heshima had to keep it cool. He could not find out that he was her son, Kiasi could never know the truth. Not if Heshima had anything to do about it.

Kiasi was proud of himself, smirking and licking his pawn when he heard a fearsome snarl that pinned his ears flat against his head. He turned quickly to see a pale lioness with jewel bright purple eyes coming towards him, her eyes were similar to those of his own brother but hers were cold and she held a snarl on her face. Kiasi had always put on the front of being brave but the way the lioness spoke to him made him think she wouldn't hesitate to really tear him to pieces and the scar on her nose only made her more intimidating.

He wavered between tucking his tail between his legs or snapping back, he'd been taught to be respectful to adults but the way the woman said mother made him go on the defensive and he stood straight up puffing his chest out though his ears were still pinned. "My mother wouldn't stand for it, she loves me too much!" he snapped back at the cream female and his tail lashed behind him for a moment with anger. He wasn't sure why but he got a feeling that this lioness hated him, it was likely just her prejudice against anyone not in her pride and though he disliked her for it he took pity on her.

She looked underfed and he studied her over with a hard look before turning his head to pick up the half eaten rodent and tossed it towards her feet. He looked away from her and stared hard at the ground, "I didn't mean to steal it, I was just hungry, but...you look like you need it. You can have it" he was trying to remind himself that he had to be more like his father. A good King always put others first and was always kind, no matter what others acted like towards him a King didn't lash out without over the line provocation. Not that it was hard to follow all those rules and he frequently slipped up, it wasn't like he could help getting into scuffles sometimes.

Heshima scoffed at the cub when he said that his mother wouldn't stand for her ripping him to pieces, this child had no idea who his true mother was. But all in all, Heshima didn't care. But to know that her demon scum had a mother that loved him was surprising, then again, no one knew that this was the cub that was made of an attack. But all of Heshima's cubs were not created out of love, and the lioness wondered if that was even in her future. Scar, Kuzimu, all had ripped her very soul from her body in their own ways. But the lioness rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine, but next time you might not be so lucky. Who do you think you are? Running around these lands like you own them? You're just lucky that I found you and not anyone else," The goldenrod colored cub stared into the violet eyes of the female and every inch of her body felt violated. Those eyes, those orange, demonized eyes, they stared right into her soul. Heshima could feel Kuzimu laughing at her, telling her that he would be back to reclaim his sons and to kill her. But there was no way the demon male could do that. His body was long gone, not a scrap of dust remained of the large, dastardly male that once roamed the lands as a rogue. Nothing was found of him, the hyenas had eaten him all. They feasted on a demon, and they loved every moment of it.

But what surprised Heshima the most was when Kiasi threw the half eaten rodent at her, saying that she should have it. The lioness shook her head and growled, "No, you already had your turn at it, you might as well finish it," Heshima narrowed her eyes at her son and pressed her paws into the earth to try to calm her anger down. "Hasn't your mother ever told you not to stumble into other's lands? Hasn't she told you to always ask first? If you were my cub you'd be severely punished by now," If he were her cub, Kiasi would be dead right now. Heshima had been nice, granting him a second chance at life when most others in the pride would have let Scar kill them. But she thought she was done with them, away from the last spawn of Kuzimu that there ever was. But this boy didn't seem to be like his father, he seemed nicer, more genuine and kind. No, there was no need to get attached, Heshima hated this interaction, but she somehow found it necessary in a way. As if to scare Kiasi from ever coming near her again. But how would he know the madness behind his unknown mother's ways? The pale lioness studied the cub, a blurred memory of what his brother looked like flashed through her mind. At least Kiasi resembled her slightly, Makosa looked just like his father in her memory. Dark, devilish, but there was something that Heshima would never know and would hate to know; the color of his eyes.

Playing it as if she had never seen the cub before in her life, Heshima narrowed her eyes and questioned the cub, distaste in her voice, "What is your name boy? Who do you and your family lie loyal to?" The Shadowlanders of course, Heshima knew that well. But was she told that her two boys were now princes of the lands? No, she thought someone would just take them in and raise them, not that the future king of the lands would adopt them. Kiasi and Makosa, unwanted by one but loved by another. If they ever found out the truth, they were in for a world of hurt. Heshima didn't want any contact with her two devil spawn ever again, so she wouldn't be the one to spoil anything. Especially with what was to come in Heshima's life just moments after this encounter ended.

Kiasi scratched a claw through the dirt ashamed, frowning at his feet, some Prince he was getting yelled at by a female that wasn't even his mother or part of his Pride. Had he known this female was his real mother he likely would have felt different but at the moment to him she was just another female with a scar on her nose and harsh violet eyes. The female growled at him when he offered her the food and he looked up surprised and pinned his ears back against his head, she was rude, or maybe he had been rude? He wasn't sure but these Pridelanders were weird and just as mean as he had heard, he could see why his father had warned him away.

He gritted his teeth hard when the lioness kept bringing up his mother and he suddenly narrowed his eyes and glared up at her. "It's not my mothers fault, she's told me! I just..." he trailed off but was clearly frustrated and upset with himself, this wasn't his mothers fault and he didn't want anyone to blame it on her. Abuto was a great mother, she had taught him everything right and so had his father but here he was misbehaving and making them look bad, was that really what he wanted? No of course not. He huffed and his ears stayed pinned back in indignation at the females continued scolding of him, she just didn't let up.

He grumbled softly but he knew the female could probably just find out where he came from if she wanted to. It was almost obvious by how close he was to the Shadowlands, besides he looked like his father, well his pelt did in a way the way his brothers looked like his mothers minus the spots. "I'm Kiasi from the Shadowlands," sudden desperation took hold of him and he looked up and his eyes were pleading, "Please don't tell my father, he doesn't need any stress, I promise I'll never come here again. I give you my word, cross my heart" he said and crossed his heart with a claw to show he was telling the truth. He tried a sheepish smile on the lioness and made sure to look sincere and sorry, he wouldn't be coming back here again though if she let him go and promised not to tell his father.

Ni had enough on his plate without a misbehaving son, he didn't need a lioness from the Pridelands having her King come to tell him that his son had been breaching their borders. He couldn't have fathomed that Heshima speaking to Ni would have caused many more problems for the lioness than himself or Ni or that she'd never do that because of the aforementioned problems. He was only doing what he thought was best for his parents as a good Prince and son, he had a feeling that finding out he was a Prince wouldn't be a good thing but rather make him get in even deeper trouble with the lioness. He was glad he hadn't brought Makosa along for this.

Heshima's eyes rolled as Kiasi revealed that he had been breaking the rules and abandoning everything his "mother" had told him. He was just like his father, breaking the rules and stumbling into the lands that didn't want him. Well, that's what Kuzimu told her as he was violently attacking her, how he was such a bad child and he knew that all of his children were the same way. "That is the worst mistake you can make cub, trust me if you don't listen to your mother it can end up getting you killed one of these days," If not by Heshima, than most likely Scar would bring the end of this cub's life soon enough if he kept wandering around the Pridelands like nobody's business. Heshima wondered who was mothering her cub, but in all honesty she really didn't care. It irked her that her son was alive, looking so much like her and his father, Kiasi was seemingly the perfect mix between the two. However, someone in the Shadowlands must look something like the cubs in order to pass them off as their own. Heshima smirked when Kiasi talked about how he was from the Shadowlands and how his father had enough on his plate already to worry about him. He begged and pleaded for Heshima not to tell his father about his misbehaving. The female scoffed to herself, it wasn't like she could leave or anything to do go tell his father. She'd be killed on sight if she left the Pridelands, but unknown to her she would flee anyways.

"Look kid, I'm not going to tell your dad. A war between the prides is something I don't want to instigate. But if you value your life don't come back here, the Pridelands are dangerous I'll tell you that much," Mainly Heshima didn't want her biological unwanted son nor his brother to return to the Pridelands, but later today Heshima would be sure that she would never see them again. But that was always a possibility to see her children again, besides, she was going to soon meet one child that she never thought she would see again. Her little Giza, the one whom ran away, the one who seemed to bring Tasa and her mother closer together but at the same time keep them apart. However Heshima stared at the cub in front of her, everything save his appearance and rule breaking telling him he wasn't his father's son. Was it a wise choice to give up these cubs to be on Scar's good side, only to still fall short on freedom? That question would pester Heshima until the day she died, but for now she was happy that she didn't have Kuzimu's scum walking around in her life. Well, except for right at this moment. But soon enough, there were vultures starting to hover in the distance along with a distressed roar. Something had happened, and Heshima had a gut feeling to go investigate whatever was the issue.

Turning to her forgotten son, Heshima snarled and shook her head, "Get out of here kid, trust me you're better off doing that. I'll let you live, today, but next time you might not be so lucky," And with that, Heshima turned her back on her tawny son and started to pad away. For the moment she was rid of Kuzimu and all his doings until they seemed to find her again. Kiasi would run back to the Shadowlands, never to return for a short time. Hopefully Makosa wouldn't make the same mistake. Even though she hated her little brats, Heshima still felt somehow responsible for them. She had just kept Kiasi safe, and she would feel horrible if they died by the hands of Scar. But then, she really didn't mind if they ended up getting killed in the end, these weren't her sons anymore. Heshima only had one son, and soon, only one daughter left in her grasp.