The Long Lost

She was like a bloodstain on the verdant scenery of the jungle. Her russet coat was a sharp contrast from the green all around her, the trees and the vines she had grown used to over the last two years spent there. Giza had been only a cub when she vanished from the Pridelands, where at least one other russet pelted lion still reigned supreme. Now she was an adolescent, and she was barely the same lioness she had once been, thanks to the influence of the Lowlanders. Her sights were set on Malkia Pass, which she understood would lead her to the charred lands that her mother now called home. Features were hardened with resolve as she began the hard climb up the hillside.

As she traveled alone, she thought of her brother, whom she and Tasa had dubbed Fufu, and the teasing and torturing he had endured. Just over the mountaintop and he would be there, too. In her mind’s eye, he was still tiny and weak, and so it came as no surprise that of all of them, it was Kifu that remained at his mother’s side. But what of Ari? What had become of Tasa, who had been the last Pridelander to see Giza there in the dark kingdom of their father? And so Giza had finally made the decision to travel in search of Heshima. She would confront her mother, once and for all, and speak her mind. Giza had so many questions and Heshima was the only one who could answer them. She would demand to know why she had been abandoned at the border, left for dead.

The higher she climbed, the more Giza began to second guess herself. What if her mother didn’t want to see her? Giza was a visual reminder of her father, for anyone who had had the misfortune of meeting the tyrant king. Every time she stooped to drink from the river, she would see her father staring back at her, though the eyes were not same. Finally, she found herself at the crest of the pass gazing down into the ashy kingdom, and she stopped, just looking. It wasn’t the same as the Lowlands, though perhaps once it had been a jungle similar to the home she had adopted. It was ugly, really, and Giza’s nose wrinkled in distaste for what she saw. But then, in the distance, she saw a pale leonine figure practically glowing against the dready gray backdrop. Giza froze, still as stone, for she knew instantly that it was Heshima.

There was no turning back now. Today, Giza would have to face her past.

Today was the day that Heshima would venture out into the Lowlands in order to talk peace with the dual queens of the jungle paradise. The morning went smooth as Heshima awoke with her son at her side. She nuzzled him softly and told him of her departure, reminding him to stay safe and close to Nako in case anything would occur. She then turned to Nako and said her goodbyes to the king that had kept her and her son safe from everything that might harm them in the future. And with that, Heshima was off on her journey to the Lowlands. But who would have been able to guess that on this day Heshima would come face to face with the one lion who she thought she would never see again; Giza. The pale female made her way down the long decline from Half-Peak that kept the den and its residents safe from the raging fires below that the female had yet to see. The female thought back to her now growing pride, and the two members that Heshima had met in the past couple of days. There was Baset, a former Pridelander like herself who had left before Heshima's first litter was born, and was she a sight for sore eyes. And then the new arrival of Zivia, a young lioness whose pelt was paler than Heshima's was, almost bordering a white color. She had seemingly become close with Kifu, since they were almost the same age, with Zivia being a tad bit older though, and Heshima wondered if they possibly could become a couple in the future.

The thought of her little Kifu growing up and one day having a mate sent shivers down Heshima's spine, but she knew her son was nothing like his father and he would be kind to whoever he picked to be his mate. And by what Heshima had seen before, Zivia would be a fine lioness for her son. The thought of her first litter now growing old enough to almost be ready to become full adults made her feel old, and the thought that one day soon she might have grandchildren? It made her feel even older. But as those thoughts were now pushed to the back of her mind, the female made her way through the lands that she now ruled alongside Nako. To many, including her russet daughter, the lands probably looked ugly. But to her, they were beautiful, and even though they were prone to fires maybe one day they would stop and a small jungle would grow here as well as next door. At the thought of the next door kingdom, Heshima looked up to the top of the pass, remembering the hard trek up that side of the pass was. But maybe one day soon the pass would smooth out to be like the Ashland side of it, less dangerous for one to cross. Although both kingdoms were safety nets for a lion, the Ashlands seemed more of the refuge from the elements than the Lowlands did. Mainly because of who lived here and the stories of their past lives in other prides. Would the Ashland pride grow to be the refuge for all and gain more members than the Lowlands? Time would tell.

But when Heshima looked up at the top of the pass, seeing as she was now relatively close to the base, a flash of russet was seen on the top and it made Heshima freeze. There was no mane on the body and Heshima breathed a small sigh of relief, but this wasn't the ghost of her deceased violet-eyed daughter like she thought it was. And as the figure made it's way down the path, memories of the long lost princess of the Pridelands graced her mind. As the memories cleared, Heshima was now staring at the adolescent figure of her long lost daughter. Tears rushed to her eyes, and the pale female padded forward until she saw fully what her daughter now looked like. Her eyes ventured to the scar that graced her nose and muzzle, mirroring hers exactly. Violet eyes met cerulean and the queen of the Ashlands stood tall and proud. Her dark princess, her lost lost little girl, was alive and well. "G-Giza," Not letting anything hold her back, Heshima rushed forward and embraced her daughter, holding her in a way that there should be no retaliation. Tears flowed steadily now, but they still didn't mess with her speech, "Oh my daughter, I have missed you so much. There wasn't a day that went by that I wanted you back with me," Heshima pulled away and placed her paw upon her daughter's cheek, rubbing it softly before placing it back down upon the ground. "Giza your face... Your beautiful face..."

But a small chuckle was combined with a large yet soft grin, "You're alive!" Yes, Giza was alive, and Heshima couldn't be happier.

As her mother approached, Giza’s mind reeled. She staggered backwards, but Heshima was before her quickly. The younger lioness was too overcome to fight her mother’s affection. She seemed stunned at first, and she spoke with the uncertainty and fear of a lost cub, voice wavering. ”Momma?” But then Giza remembered. Two years had gone by. She was no longer a little girl. When Heshima allowed her to pull away, Giza backed up slowly. ”Mother…” And finally, it occurred to Giza that in those two years, she had been an orphan. Her features hardened and she stopped a few feet away, still facing the lioness who had once meant the world to her. All would not be forgotten in an instant. ”Heshima.”

There. That seemed most appropriate, Giza thought to herself, awaiting the reaction her callousness would cause in the other. Giza and her mother shared few physical characteristics. As far as appearances went, Giza favored her father in most ways. Tasa looked like Heshima, but Giza had only one thing in common with their mother: a facial scar across the bridge of their noses, mirroring each other. Giza found herself staring at Heshima’s scar, and without asking she knew that somehow, it was her father’s doing. Her sky blue eyes, inherited from some unknown ancestor, narrowed as she focused on the pink mark.

But before she addressed the scar and all the other questions plaguing her after such a long absence, Giza had to know what had become of her sisters. Their fate was even more important that knowing why Heshima had failed to fetch her missing child two years prior. Already, she knew Kifu was nearby, and she would seek him out that day as well. She stared at the scar instead of her mother’s soft violet eyes; Ari’s eyes. ”Where are the others? I know you have Kifu. What about Tasa? And Ari?” Finally, her eyes flickered upwards to meet her mother’s. ”Where are my sisters?” She was terrified to know, sensing that the news would be unpleasant, but even Giza could not imagine that her gentle sister was now deceased. She breathed heavily, suddenly aware of how exhausting her journey had been in the trembling of her legs, but they didn't fail her now and she remained standing, demanding.

When Giza called her momma, Heshima held her closer than before. But then came the change from momma, to mother, to finally Heshima. None of her children had called her by her first name and it was quite the shock to the mother of now three. Heshima's eyes strained slightly and she had a questioning look on her face. A whispered, "Giza?" came out of her mouth in almost disbelief. Was she denying the fact that they shared the bond that only a mother and daughter could? The female stood tall and a sense of regalness washed over her. She was the queen of these lands and even though she had just found her long lost daughter she couldn't be weak anymore. The two stood in silence for a while, their eyes searching another's body. The mirroring scar was something that shocked Heshima, and she felt that it was given to her daughter by the same lion who gave her hers. But unlike herself, Giza's was gained elsewhere and not by the paw of her father. The queen shook her head at the thought of Scar truly being the one to exile her daughter seeing as he was always the one that loved his possessions. But then again, he did end up exiling Tasa, his own flesh and blood. No, what Tasa said was true, she had fallen and was trapped. She had dissapeared before Tasa came back to find her and that was that. Scar had nothing to do with it no matter how much Heshima wanted it to be true.

And then the russet daughter of the Ashland queen asked about what had happened to her sisters. Thoughts and memories flushed into Heshima's mind and her legs began to shake as emotions tried to push their way out of her yet again. This must have been what Sarabi felt when Mufasa and Simba had died, and Heshima now understood fully why the former queen was so distraught in life now. The violet-eyed female sighed and bowed her head, trying so much to avoid the subject at hand but knew that Giza would only find out sooner or later. Her eyes remained closed as she began to speak, "Tasa was exiled moments before I got there Giza, the hyenas separated her from me and your brother. I couldn't go back and look for her, the hyenas were hot on our tail and didn't stop chasing us until we reached the middle of the savannah. As for Ari?" Heshima paused and finally her eyes snapped open to meet her daughter's cerulean that were gained from an unknown ancestor, "She's dead, she the reason we were all exiled. He killed her as far as I'm concerned, he was the one that angered the water buffalo that killed her," Heshima raised her head in silence to pay respects to her daughter before meeting her daughter's eyes once more. "I attacked him, stole Kifu away, we ran to the Lowlands, the kingdom of my mother and Queen Nyota directed me and your brother here," Heshima sighed and padded closer to her daughter, placing her paw upon hers.

"Giza my love, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I got there too late to save Ari, to save Tasa. I'm sorry for everything that has happened to us, this is all my fault," The scarred female stood in silence as she knew her daughter would be mourning the loss of her sister, and yet she couldn't shed anymore tears. She already had in the days and week prior to today and her tears seemed to be all dried up. The queen of the Ashlands felt quite uncomfortable, seeing as it had been almost two years since her daughter had vanished. Where was she living now? Would she come back to live with her and Kifu? Would she go out searching for Tasa? Whatever the case, Heshima would stand by her daughter's decision, but for right now the mother of three was worried about the reaction Giza might have to Ari's death. Would she hate her for it? Her mind was reeling with so many possibilities, but the pale female would only have to wait and see. She wanted to pull her youngest daughter close, to have her cuddle up to her in the ash just like when she was a cub. But this Giza was a different lioness than when she was a cub, she had grown up on her own without her mother or father's influence for the past two years. Who had she been raised by, was that the reason why she called her mother by her first name? Had she found another mother that had cared for her more than Heshima could have? Or, was this just because she had been gone for so long? Only time would tell.

For almost two years, the pain had lingered within Giza. Certainly, she had grown, both physically and mentally. But emotionally, she was all messed up. Before her disappearance, Giza had loved to secretly cause trouble around the den, getting her siblings into mischief and playing innocent. Part of her wanted to be close to her mother again the way life had been when she was a cub, but there were nearly two years of separation filling the gap. And it pleased Giza to see the hurt in her mother's face when she called her by her first name for the first time. Her expression remained harsh though, and her eyes narrowed into slits when she learned of Tasa's fate. This was not terribly surprising, but that didn't detract from how annoyed it made Giza feel. Why had Tasa stayed that long, only to be exiled? But then Heshima continued. The russet daughter of Scar felt her lgs begin to buckle beneath her when the news of Ari hit her. She swayed unsteadily, but caught herself before tumbling to the ashy ground. "Ari. No." In a horrible twist of fate, the gentle sister had been killed. Ari had died for her father's misdeeds, and she had likely died never knowing how awful the lion truly was.

And while Heshima held Scar responsible for Ari's loss, Giza immediately blamed her mother. Once the shock had subsided, something inside of her snapped. "Where were you? How could you let this happen?" Her lip curled back in an unconscious growl, which was directed towards Heshima now. "Didn't you see how bad it was? Why didn't you leave sooner? I left, why couldn't you?" Her words began to slur as the tears threatened to fall, but Giza didn't want to cry. She would mourn later, on her own, but her anger was increasing every moment. She was mad at Scar, of course, and her mother. She was mad at Ari for getting involved in the incident that would end her life. She was mad at herself, even, for not being there to stop it, though she knew it was beyond her control. Her head shook violently, shaking away the sadness, disagreeing vehemently with her mother's apologies. Sorry wouldn't bring Ari back. It wouldn't heal almost two years of perceived abandonment.

"You don't know what I've gone through. I waited and waited for rescue." She took a staggering deep breath and exhaled with a frustrated sigh. "But no one ever came but the vultures overhead. I found my way out. If it weren't for the Lowlanders, I'd have been dead a long time ago. You never even tried to find me, did you? Did you?" Trembling with rage, it took all of her self-control to keep from crying, lashing out, or just simply turning tail and running all the way back to the jungle and back to Upendo. Now she wished he was there with her, to help keep calm, keep her on her best behavior. But this was something that Giza had to do on her own.

Her daughters words sunk into her heart and destroyed the mother of three. A soft growl was given in response to her daughter's, "Do you think I wanted this to happen Giza? Do you think I wanted my daughter to die? I was defending the borders while her and Tasa were out on a walk, and then this happened. I could do nothing, but Scar stood there and did nothing to stop it, he watched her die, he killed her," Heshima was submissive no more, she wasn't the same quivering mother that had attempted to raise her and her siblings in the light of things. She was now queen of the Ashlands, and Giza would have to accept that sooner or later, that was when they got to that point in the conversation. Giza then accused her of being the one that ultimately killed Ari, how she hadn't fled with her children when she had the chance. The queen's eyes narrowed and looked hard at her scarred daughter, "I couldn't leave, I was trapped. Scar had the hyenas holding me as a prisoner for two years Giza. Two years, I could barely leave the dens until just recently when they finally got sick of watching me," She had left, why couldn't she? Those words played in her mind over and over again. She had left? Everything that Tasa had told her, was that a lie? Or was that just anger that had been built up in her daughter for having fallen and seeing a chance to escape? Soon enough, Heshima had her answer.

Giza fired off at her mother, telling her how she waited for rescue which make Heshima's anger flare. Scar hadn't even sent the hyenas as he said he might to look for her, he disrespected Heshima and her children once again, and this time right under her nose. You never even tried to find me, did you? Did you? Heshima sighed and bowed her head, softening her eyes and staring at her paws for a moment before meeting her daughter's searing angry eyes once more. "Giza how do you think I got this scar? I tried to look for you, Tasa ran to me and begged me to help. The hyenas attacked me for trying to look, then I tried to talk to Scar. He wouldn't listen, he declared you dead in that moment and forbid any searching by the lions, saying the hyenas would search. I screamed the old king's name, telling him that he would never be a king as he was. Giza I went to go look for you, but Scar attacked and scarred me. The hyenas were sentenced to watch me like a vulture, and I never had any peace. I cried every night, I tried every day to try to come find you, but I couldn't. Tasa even went back to look for you, but she didn't find you and she assumed the worst. I knew you were alive, a mother's instinct never lies," The female stood tall and looked down upon her growing teenage daughter, trying to find the kindness in her heart that she knew she was born with. She may have been nicknamed at birth the Dark Princess, but Giza was anything but in Heshima's mind.

Heshima shuddered and voiced almost forgotten fears that no one knew about, "Every night I thought Scar would come and kill me even though he was holding me prisoner. Every night I threw a fit just because my little girl was gone. I thought he had exiled you Giza, I thought he was lying to me, I thought he had killed you," The female paused and sighed, "To think that I would never see you again, it destroyed me. And these accusations that you're making? Giza they're killing me," Apologies didn't seem to be working, so she refrained from muttering the word sorry again, but she stood tall and took a more royal tone to her voice. "As the queen of these lands Giza, I need you to know that everything I tell you is the truth. Never have I lied to you, nor will I lie to you ever again. Hopefully, you'll be able to see that," The lioness thought back to what her daughter had said, how the Lowlanders were responsible for keeping her safe, she would have to thank Queen Nyota once she visited her after her talk with Giza. Now that Heshima knew that her daughter was alive, she wanted to run back and get Kifu, but right now Giza needed to face her mother and get out all the anger that had built up in her russet body and mind over the past two years. It was hard, Heshima knew that, but at least now her little girl would know the truth. Even if she didn't want to believe any of it, she would at least know the truth.

A smile appeared when Heshima growled at her russet daughter. "I never said you wanted this. But you allowed it to happen. You were supposed to take care of us. If I ever had cubs..." But Giza stopped right there. Such a thought had never entered her brain before, and she was surprised by it. She shook her head and continued. "We shouldn't even exist. We were all just characters in a game." But of course, Heshima had figured that out for himself by now. Giza felt a sick satisfaction when her mother glared back at her, explaining that she had been a prisoner. This fact made sense to Giza, she didn't put it past Scar to hold his own subjects hostage, but she would't admit it. She was too stubborn to admit aloud that maybe there was a good reason Heshima had never come.

Because at the end of the fateful day that had ended Giza's life as a Pridelander, Heshima hadn't come, and Giza just couldn't forget so easily. It would take time to heal, but at least the conversation had begun. She glared blankly ahead, focused on the scar that her mother claimed had been gained the same day. Of course, if she had been rescued, it was very possible that Giza would still be in her father's kingdom, lazing about and dying slowly. "The best parts of my life, I found far away from you and the Pridelands and my so-called family. None of the lionesses in the jungle wanted me either, though. They took care of me, fed me. But they never loved me. How could they?" How could anyone that knew Scar love someone who looked just like the devil? How could Heshima look past her appearance herself? Giza loathed her russet coat.

Then Heshima claimed a title that Giza never imagined her mother would possess. She still remembered her mother as being submissive and weak. An eyebrow arched questioningly. "Queen," she repeated coldly. "What do I care about titles? My father was the king. A lot of good that did me." Finally, Giza broke her glare, turning away from her mother. Her pale eyes locked onto the trail that had brought her into her mother's newly claimed territory, the one that would bring her back to Upendo and the comforts of the jungle. "And what will happen if he comes looking? None of us are safe while Scar is still alive. Not you, not your precious Kifu." Because deep down, Giza knew that if given the option, Scar would rather have a dead family than a disobedient one. He could allow one worthless daughter to slip free of his grasp, but to lose all four of his cubs and the formerly submissive lioness who had produced them.. Giza knew, because her mind was not unsimilar to her father's, that he wouldn't be able to stand knowing that Heshima and Kifu and Tasa were all still alive and well, doing just fine without him.

Giza didn't understand, she just didn't understand. She had lived the past two years of her life in a paradise while her mother and siblings lived at death's doorstep back home in the once beautiful Pridelands. But her comment about her having cubs made Heshima step back an inch. Her children were really growing up fast that the thought of cubs even crossed their minds. It then hit her that her daughter was now calling her mother out on bad parenting and the queen of the ashen lands hung her head low. Heshima conceived young, by trickery and deceit, and here was her own daughter by that litter telling her that she did a horrible job. In the end Heshima could of done nothing except either submit to Scar or be exiled on the day Giza had vanished. Ari most likely still would have died, Tasa exiled as well, but then her little Kifu would of been left in the clutches of his father to be warped into a ruthless killing tyrant just as he was. As Giza noted that they shouldn't exist, the lioness felt even more guilty. All she wanted was the best for her cubs, but it seems that in trying to give them the best Heshima turned the majority of them against her. She had admitted this fact to Tasa months prior to Giza saying this, but Heshima brought up the courage to tell her daughter what was on her mind. "His game, you shouldn't exist because of him. But I wanted you, I wanted all of you even if you can't see that,"

It hurt the Ashland queen when her daughter said that the best parts of her life were away from the Pridelands and her, it was almost as if Giza blamed everything on her. She didn't want to blame her father for anything, finding it easier to push her blame onto the mother that was once submissive and held back. But now Heshima stood her ground, she had changed just as much -if not more- than her daughter had in the past two years. She mentioned how the jungle pride had took her in, fed her and cared for her. But yet, they could never love her. Was it because of her appearance? Was it because of her attitude or homeland? Or was it just because Giza was someone else's cub and not theirs? The pale lioness didn't second guess that anyone but her could love her little girl, no one could do a mother's job. But it seemed that even though she had been absent most of her daughter's life, nothing could break the love that a mother had for her daughter. When the female announced her new title, Giza seemed to scoff at her mother and reminded her that she was once the princess of a dying land, and that her father's title didn't help her at all at the end of the day. Heshima wanted nothing more than to just lash out at her daughter, to prove her wrong in every aspect of the conversation that the two were in. But yet, Heshima held back. It had been two years since they last saw each other and wounds would need time to heal. Some wounds more than others.

But then Giza questioned about what would happen if Scar came looking, how none of them would be safe. In the back of Heshima's mind she knew that to be true, but that was what the alliance between the ashen and jungle kingdoms would hopefully prevent. However Giza made a verbal attack on her mother by calling her brother the favorite, deeming him precious. With that Heshima snapped briefly. "Do you not remember the story I told you of your uncle? How he died because no one watched us when we were cubs? Giza he is the runt of your litter, he needed more attention that all of you at the time. And along with Ari he seemed to be the only one that even wanted to be near me," But the female stopped there and sighed, walking forward and staring Giza down, "I know we never had quality time together, and today was the first time we've ever talked one-on-one. I regret not having that time with you Giza, and I want nothing more to spend that time with you now. But I know you need time to think, to figure out what you're going to do in your life now that you know we're so close," Heshima made a risky move and held her daughter once more, nuzzling her softly before pulling away, "I love you Giza, I always have. I'm so sorry I couldn't fight back when you needed me most," The queen now took a step forward, her body now behind her daughter's, "I must go speak with your queens, I have much to discuss with them,"

Violet eyes turned to meet her daughter's once more, "Your brother's awake, he should be running around the hills if Nako hasn't kept him back to go on patrols with him. You should go talk to him Giza, your little Fufu needs his older sister," Placing the nickname that she and Tasa gave their little brother when they were just old enough to step out of the den on their own, Heshima padded forward once more before stopping one last time. "I hope you can forgive me darling. Maybe one day you'll want to spend a lazy day with your mother again. But until then? I'm happy knowing that you're alive and safe," And with that Heshima was off, leaving her daughter in the ashen lands standing alone. She had to go talk with Nyota, there was much that was needed to be discussed. But most of all, a thank you would be given for the one who had kept her daughter safe for the past two years. Hopefully mother and daughter would be able to reconcile once more. Hopefully Giza would forgive her mother for everything that she had done in the past. Maybe one day that would happen. Maybe.