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The Quiet Before the Storm part 4

"Hakimu, I think he's waking up."

A deeper voice. "Thank the Great Kings. Bushara, go alert the King. Tell him his son's going to make it."

Ahadi's eyelids fluttered. His chest ached, and his sight wavered and slid in and out of focus. "Whu... What happened?" He winced as his neck and chest tightened in pain. Talking hurt.

A fuzzy gray blob approached him. As his sight gradually focused he realized it was Hakimu. The baboon looked tired but relieved. "You were nearly killed, young Prince. We were worried you wouldn't make it."

Suddenly it came back to him. The attack. Asili. The bird's screech. The Prince struggled to get to his paws. "I have to warn Dad... Asili..." His aching chest made coherent speaking difficult.

Hakimu gently pushed the cub back to the ground. "Don't worry, King Mohatu knows what Asili has done." His gaze darkened. "A young Yellow-Billed Hornbill named Zuzu saw you being attacked by Asili and came to your rescue. She kept your Aunt distracted while your screams summoned the whole pride. Asili is being held to await her sentence."

Ahadi tensed up in fear. "Why is she still here? Why haven't you sent her away yet?" He tried to crane his neck to look at his aching chest, but that stung too much. "And what happened to my chest?"

"Asili's punishment depended on whether you would recover or not," the old baboon explained tightly. "Now that you're going to be okay, her punishment will be decided. And between you and me it will almost certainly include banishment."

The cub sensed that the baboon was dodging his question. "And my chest?"

Hakimu sighed. "You were badly wounded when Asili attacked you. There's a couple of long clawmarks running down your neck to your chest." He hesitated before adding, "They will probably scar permanently."

The Prince froze in horror. Scar? Ignoring Hakimu's protests, the cub got painfully to his paws and limped stiffly to a nearby puddle of water. His reflection shone back at him, showing him four ugly scars snaking their way down his neck and onto his chest. The cub's eyes filled with tears. "There's nothing you can do?" He asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I'm afraid not," the baboon said gravely.

Ahadi stared at the ugly mark, the permanent reminder of Asili's betrayal. Of the hatred blazing in her ice-blue eyes as she tried to murder him. Tears burned in his eyes but he held them back. He turned away from his reflection and padded away a few steps before sitting miserably.

Hakimu put his arm around the young cub. "I'm sorry little one. But things will get better now. Now that your aunt has broken the laws of the land, her son's claim on the throne has been overturned. You have your inheritance back, and you will be safe from Asili here. Things will get better."

Ahadi tried to believe the monkey but his fear remained. He knew that he'd carry the memory of Asili trying to kill him forever.

A couple days passed before Asili's sentence was finally decided. The lioness was to receive a lifelong banishment from the PrideLands, with her name stripped from all of the land's records and her line forever disinherited from the Royal Family. To Ahadi's dismay, Chache was also to be banished. He had tried reasoning with his parents, but they were convinced that Ahadi was better off without the bad influence of Asili's child. Besides, they felt Asili would be less inclined to come back and try to seem revenge if they allowed her to take her child with her.

As Ahadi watched his best friend walk away, led away by his would-be murderer, he felt the first seeds of bitterness in his heart.

The former Princess of the RockLands was faring pretty well as a rogue. She wasn't any good at hunting yet, but she was good at getting other rogues to share with her. She shared gossip with any rogues she met. The cub happened upon a former member of the HighLands, a recently banished male.

The lion said that a Princess Masilahi had arrived in the pride as promised. The cub realized that her father must have sent a lioness of the pride in her stead, the clever bastard. By the rogue's description it was Siri, an older teenager. Masilahi - Uru now - had known Siri pretty well, and she knew the lioness would fare well in that pride. She was tough.

She was still a long way away from the PrideLands though. It would take a few months of steady travel to reach them. Masilahi hoped that she would make it there before the dry season started. Right now there was plenty of prey and the rogues she'd met were fairly generous. But if she was still on her own when the dry season arrived, things would become much harder. She might not make it through the dry season as a rogue.

The scruffy cub missed her brother and mother, but the pain of carrying the memories of them grew into a familiar ache that she learned to live with. Johari was safe in the RockLands, and Quuen Tamu walked now with the Great Kings of the Past, with her own star in the sky.

Masilahi remembered the nights that she and her mother used to spend gazing at the stars. Tamu used to point out that certain clusters of stars seemed to show pictures in the sky. Their favorite had always been the Yawning King. The stars seemed to show a lion king stretching out for a yawn. "Look, Masilahi," her mother would say, "Those stars there are the arch of his back, and there is his head." The story of the Yawning King had always been heartwarming to the cub. The Yawning King was a kind and noble king. Maybe that's why Tamu had always looked up to him do much. Because he was nothing like Hodari.

Masilahi had grown up knowing exactly how that constellation looked. But after her mother died there had been a change. There was a new star there now, right where the Yawning King's eye would be be. Masilahi knew in her heart that it was her mother's star, right in her favorite place in the sky. Every time she slept under the open night sky she knew that her mother was watching over her, always there for her. Always.

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Poor Ahadi is to be scarred for life. I have yet to figure out how the scars will look when his mane grows in, but I'll worry about that when I get there. I'm really happy with how his pose came out, although it was reffed.

And we find out that even though Masilahi changed her name to Uru for safety purposes, she will always think of herself as Masilahi. It must have hurt for her son to choose a name other than his given one and prefer it to his real name, as opposed to her preffering her real name. The constilation she calls the Yawning King is actually composed of the real life constilations Draco and Ursa Minor.

Description
Prologue: [link]
Previous: [link]
Next: [link]

The Quiet Before the Storm part 4

"Hakimu, I think he's waking up."

A deeper voice. "Thank the Great Kings. Bushara, go alert the King. Tell him his son's going to make it."

Ahadi's eyelids fluttered. His chest ached, and his sight wavered and slid in and out of focus. "Whu... What happened?" He winced as his neck and chest tightened in pain. Talking hurt.

A fuzzy gray blob approached him. As his sight gradually focused he realized it was Hakimu. The baboon looked tired but relieved. "You were nearly killed, young Prince. We were worried you wouldn't make it."

Suddenly it came back to him. The attack. Asili. The bird's screech. The Prince struggled to get to his paws. "I have to warn Dad... Asili..." His aching chest made coherent speaking difficult.

Hakimu gently pushed the cub back to the ground. "Don't worry, King Mohatu knows what Asili has done." His gaze darkened. "A young Yellow-Billed Hornbill named Zuzu saw you being attacked by Asili and came to your rescue. She kept your Aunt distracted while your screams summoned the whole pride. Asili is being held to await her sentence."

Ahadi tensed up in fear. "Why is she still here? Why haven't you sent her away yet?" He tried to crane his neck to look at his aching chest, but that stung too much. "And what happened to my chest?"

"Asili's punishment depended on whether you would recover or not," the old baboon explained tightly. "Now that you're going to be okay, her punishment will be decided. And between you and me it will almost certainly include banishment."

The cub sensed that the baboon was dodging his question. "And my chest?"

Hakimu sighed. "You were badly wounded when Asili attacked you. There's a couple of long clawmarks running down your neck to your chest." He hesitated before adding, "They will probably scar permanently."

The Prince froze in horror. Scar? Ignoring Hakimu's protests, the cub got painfully to his paws and limped stiffly to a nearby puddle of water. His reflection shone back at him, showing him four ugly scars snaking their way down his neck and onto his chest. The cub's eyes filled with tears. "There's nothing you can do?" He asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I'm afraid not," the baboon said gravely.

Ahadi stared at the ugly mark, the permanent reminder of Asili's betrayal. Of the hatred blazing in her ice-blue eyes as she tried to murder him. Tears burned in his eyes but he held them back. He turned away from his reflection and padded away a few steps before sitting miserably.

Hakimu put his arm around the young cub. "I'm sorry little one. But things will get better now. Now that your aunt has broken the laws of the land, her son's claim on the throne has been overturned. You have your inheritance back, and you will be safe from Asili here. Things will get better."

Ahadi tried to believe the monkey but his fear remained. He knew that he'd carry the memory of Asili trying to kill him forever.

A couple days passed before Asili's sentence was finally decided. The lioness was to receive a lifelong banishment from the PrideLands, with her name stripped from all of the land's records and her line forever disinherited from the Royal Family. To Ahadi's dismay, Chache was also to be banished. He had tried reasoning with his parents, but they were convinced that Ahadi was better off without the bad influence of Asili's child. Besides, they felt Asili would be less inclined to come back and try to seem revenge if they allowed her to take her child with her.

As Ahadi watched his best friend walk away, led away by his would-be murderer, he felt the first seeds of bitterness in his heart.

The former Princess of the RockLands was faring pretty well as a rogue. She wasn't any good at hunting yet, but she was good at getting other rogues to share with her. She shared gossip with any rogues she met. The cub happened upon a former member of the HighLands, a recently banished male.

The lion said that a Princess Masilahi had arrived in the pride as promised. The cub realized that her father must have sent a lioness of the pride in her stead, the clever bastard. By the rogue's description it was Siri, an older teenager. Masilahi - Uru now - had known Siri pretty well, and she knew the lioness would fare well in that pride. She was tough.

She was still a long way away from the PrideLands though. It would take a few months of steady travel to reach them. Masilahi hoped that she would make it there before the dry season started. Right now there was plenty of prey and the rogues she'd met were fairly generous. But if she was still on her own when the dry season arrived, things would become much harder. She might not make it through the dry season as a rogue.

The scruffy cub missed her brother and mother, but the pain of carrying the memories of them grew into a familiar ache that she learned to live with. Johari was safe in the RockLands, and Quuen Tamu walked now with the Great Kings of the Past, with her own star in the sky.

Masilahi remembered the nights that she and her mother used to spend gazing at the stars. Tamu used to point out that certain clusters of stars seemed to show pictures in the sky. Their favorite had always been the Yawning King. The stars seemed to show a lion king stretching out for a yawn. "Look, Masilahi," her mother would say, "Those stars there are the arch of his back, and there is his head." The story of the Yawning King had always been heartwarming to the cub. The Yawning King was a kind and noble king. Maybe that's why Tamu had always looked up to him do much. Because he was nothing like Hodari.

Masilahi had grown up knowing exactly how that constellation looked. But after her mother died there had been a change. There was a new star there now, right where the Yawning King's eye would be be. Masilahi knew in her heart that it was her mother's star, right in her favorite place in the sky. Every time she slept under the open night sky she knew that her mother was watching over her, always there for her. Always.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poor Ahadi is to be scarred for life. I have yet to figure out how the scars will look when his mane grows in, but I'll worry about that when I get there. I'm really happy with how his pose came out, although it was reffed.

And we find out that even though Masilahi changed her name to Uru for safety purposes, she will always think of herself as Masilahi. It must have hurt for her son to choose a name other than his given one and prefer it to his real name, as opposed to her preffering her real name. The constilation she calls the Yawning King is actually composed of the real life constilations Draco and Ursa Minor.