[FIN] Befuddled Bullies (Ezinothuzi and Safura)

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Ezino was a simple lioness. She was plain, she always looked as though she was coated in a layer of dust and she was happy to spend her days sitting in one spot, observing the goings on of those around her. She was especially fond of watching cubs and had seen many beautiful cubs grow up into lovely lionesses and handsome lions. Of course, the lions never seemed to stay around long, which saddened her a bit, but she supposed that that was simply the way of things. Why question what had to be? She often thought to herself and no more thought was ever given on the matter.

A lioness of very little brain and what little she had was used to make others feel good, it was perhaps inevitable that at one point or another in her lifetime, Ezino would become the target of a bully. It was only a matter of time, though she did not realize it herself. She did not think it within anyone's power to be cruel, except for the lions of the pride and that was only when they needed to protect the pride, so it came from a loving place. Perhaps she was naive, seeing the world through rose-shaded eyes, or maybe she only saw the the good in others. Whatever the case, it didn't change the truth: Ezino was an easy target, whether she knew it or not.

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Safura was an opportunist and as such, she felt it was her right to take chances that were presented in front of her. Even if she happened to assume that most things in front of her were opportunities (when they most definitely weren't.) She saw things like an eligible lion to breed with when no one else wanted to, because it was in the middle of a drought. Others thought she was insane to court him in such a dry season, thinking that the cubs she had would surely perish, but ah! The rains came again and she knew her future cubs that she had secured with Kuhasa would flourish in the greenery.

She had known to convince her sister to join the Bonelands with her, but while her darker coated sister (with black stripes to her gold) chose to meander about the pride, Safura took strides to ensure that she and the cubs she bore became infamous within the bonelands lionesses social circle, one way or another.

And now, she had found a glorious opportunity for something that the lioness had been seeking for some time: An outlet for her frustrations. Nothing physical, for Safura never liked to dirty her paws, but someone she could yell at for hours about, well, about how things weren't going exactly how she wanted them to, which was unfair, because Safura ought to get everything she wanted. That should just be the way of things.

She had spent ages looking for the perfect lioness, when who should come into the bonelands, but another Busisa, one called Ezinothuzi. A fitting name for someone who looked like they'd rolled in the mud all day and then sat herself out to dry. Tsk. Still, the lioness never spoke back and so she possessed the one quality that Safura desired most in a companion. It took her some time to decide if she actually needed to abuse the poor creature, but that day she actually approached the dear, coming to shoo her away from the more prying eyes and ears of the other lionesses.

"Ezino, dear." She purred to the brown lioness. "Would you care to join me on a walk this afternoon? I feel as though we Busisa should band together and spend more time, getting to know one another. What do you say?" Safura inquired, ears perked as she displayed her most charming smile.

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It had been a relaxing day thus far. Ezino had been spending her day quietly, doing her best to keep out of the way of others who may be on the busier side of things. It was to her understanding that others would be hunting more frequently than they had during the hot weather, for now the grass was back and so would the natural grazers be too.

She didn't come to this conclusion without a little help from those around her, but her understanding of how the world worked had improved since this information was explained to her and she was happy for it. She did like to learn, even if she rarely seemed to change her simple attitude about life.

When the golden striped lioness approached Ezino, the first thing that the brown lioness thought was that she was beautiful, the second was that her eyes were not as friendly as her smile. Ezino was not a very insightful lioness on most accounts, but she wasn't a fool either. She had lived on her gut instincts from her life as a rogue and while she hadn't had cause to use them in such a kind place as was this, she was happy to have noticed the way that this lioness was gazing at her now, as though Ezino herself was some sort of prey beast.

But she was not a rude lioness, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and gave the pretty lioness the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the other was just worried that Ezino would've said no.
"Alright." Replied Ezino, getting to her paws and looking at the other expectantly, waiting for her to pick the direction they were to walk in.

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Safura was pleased when the brown lioness agreed to come with her and smiled at her companion.
"Excellent." She said, before stalking off away from where others may overhear. Wouldn't that be stupidly nosy of others (though something that Safura may have done herself, if positions were reversed.) She went on walking, well, strutting really, until she came to a tree a distance away from the main camp. She sat beneath the tree's shade and then lay herself down and sighed.

"Ezino, dear, do come here." She called to the lioness and once the other was near enough, she began. "I hear you are slow, Ezino. I hear that that is why you only sit with cubs, because you know nothing about the ways of the world, nor how to hunt or provide for yourself. Is that true? Can you really not hunt? Is that why you didn't have any family with you when you joined? Because they abandoned you?" Her questions were meant to wound, to sting, to bother. Safura took great relief in lashing out at others to relieve her own inner turmoil. Ezino was just such easy prey, since Safura doubted that she understood at all what she was saying. It was just the reason she had chose the slow-witted Ezinothuzi, rather than another Busisa like the gazelle-patterned Nomvula, who was kind-hearted, but ended up having the capabilities of fighting back. Tsk, what a waste of breath that experience had been. "Come to think of it, you didn't have a name when you came to us, either, did you? Someone in the pride named you. Well, they named you well, considering the constant state of your coat. Dusty, indeed." She sneered, glancing over her shoulder at the brown lioness, gauging her reaction to Safura's words, which were spoken in such a casual tone, an eavesdropper (not that there were any) could have mistaken Safura for speaking about the weather.

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Ezino wasn't quite sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. She couldn't keep up with the flood of words that poured from the other lioness' maw, but the tone struck her as one that conveyed the effect that Ezino knew she should be hurt and insulted.

Her tail came to wrap around her paws defensively as she listened, to the best of her ability, to the other lioness. She ducked her head and stifled a low growl, a reaction to the hurt she felt, but she found she was also feeling an overwhelming emotion that covered the hurt and made it go away.

Ezinothuzi was feeling pity for the striped lioness. She raised her eyes to meet the blue ones staring back at her, taunting her into some form of reply, but all Ezino had to say was.
"I'm sorry." Which was closely followed by. "I'm sorry that you're hurting so much. Is... Is there anything I can do?"

It must be incredibly painful to deal with all of this negativity the lioness felt. She obviously had to talk about it to someone and if Ezino was the one she had chose for it, then Ezino would be there for her. She only wanted to see her pride flourish, after all.

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Safura was mighty pleased with herself when she saw Ezinothuzi shift uncomfortably. She was opening her mouth to lash into the lioness more, to make her feel worse and to make Safura feel better, when she the other spoke first. It was in her slow, lazy speech sort of way and it made Safura cringe to hear it. Her words, however, made Safura growl outright.

"Excuse me?" She snarled, suddenly. "I do not need your help. I am so much more of a capable lioness than you ever will be. I can hunt, I can attract the eyes of others and I will show you and every other lioness in this pride that I am meant to be the lioness worthy of holding the Umama rank. So there!"

But on Ezino looked and it was pity that Safura saw in the other's gaze. Pity that made Safura very very angry.
"Stop looking at me like that! I should be the one feeling sorry for you-and I do, in fact! You're nothing! You're stupid, you're slow! You'll never attract the attention of another male, you have no family, for goodness sake! At least I have a sister who-" Safura was shaking, her teeth bared and her claws digging into the dirt. She was standing, though she didn't know how she got there and she felt bile in her mouth. She spat. She hissed. And then, she deflated.

All of the anger that had suddenly possessed her was gone and she slumped over, exhausted and feeling very, very empty.
"My sister isn't here anymore." She said, hollowly. "We joined together. We were everything that the other wasn't. She was my other half and now I don't have any notion to where she went." She sniffled. "I'm the one that has nothing, not you, Ezino." She draped a paw over her muzzle and closed her eyes. She was a mess, wasn't she?

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Ezinothuzi was an old soul, despite her years. She knew that the sudden outburst would pass and that it would leave the other feeling tired. She saw similar tantrums in cubs that she watched over and this lioness was no different. At the confession of a lost sister, an other half, Ezino's eyes widened in understanding. No wonder this lioness felt so much pain.

She went to lay beside the other, resting her chin on the back of the striped beauty's neck.
"There, there." She cooed softly. "All is well, all is right."

She turned her eyes to the grass around her and then to the sky.
"Hardships are suffered badly, bad times are taken hard; yet we as a pride lean on one another and so we continue on." It was probably the most intelligent thing that she had ever said, but Ezinothuzi just wanted it to comfort her companion. When her sister was done crying, they would go back to the pride with their other sisters and all would be right with the world again.

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Safura wasn't sure how it all came to this. She had prepared to slice and dice this lioness with her words as a way of expressing her feelings. She would have used Ezino as her metaphorical punching bag, something that couldn't fight or talk back. But Ezino had talked back and her words and pitying look had been all it took to unravel Safura's resolve to be nasty. Well, nastier than usual.

So, she gave up. She cried and cried until her voice was hoarse. She felt Ezinothuzi beside her. She heard her words that spoke of wisdom beyond her years. She felt stupid and childish for trying to be so mean to someone who was so full of kindness, just because of the slower speech pattern the dusty lioness possessed.

"I wonder..." She snuffled. "I wonder if my sister left me here on purpose." She whispered. "I wonder if my pride sisters will grow tired of me too. I wonder if the cubs I bear within me now will turn on me... Ezino, I need others to love me, to replace the emptiness my sister left within me when she disappeared. I need others to love me, to worship me, to think I'm the best--like she did. Or... I'm nothing." She couldn't handle living that way. She needed to feel needed, otherwise what was the point of living at all?

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Wanna wrap this up?

 

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Ezino listened at first to the sobs. She listened to the way they became more hoarse and then became more and more quiet, before they stopped altogether. She listened to what her companion had to say and she wrapped her tail around the poor lioness'.

"Worry not, for you are loved." Was all she had to say. This lioness may not know it, but in being apart of the pride, she was loved. Ezinothuzi loved her, of course, because they were pride sisters. Surely others must feel the same for the pale beauty? And if it was as the lioness said and she was expecting, then Ezino was certain those cubs would love her too. All cubs loved their mothers, even if conflict arose. These cubs would love her too.

"Come." Ezinothuzi said, getting to her paws. "Let us return to our sisters." She said, helping the other to her paws before starting to head back in the direction of the other lionesses.

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Sure, if you wanna end it with your next post that's fine! heart

 

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Safura did a fair bit of sniffling, before she the kind words of Ezinothuzi swept over her. It seemed to put her at a momentary ease and she was able to sit up.

"Oh, I can't go back to my sisters looking like this." She said, for she was certain they would know she had been crying. A few licks to her front paws and she leaned back on her haunches, a little unevenly. She smoothed the fur around her cheeks and took deep breaths, before feeling ready to follow the brown lioness.

"Ezino?" She said before they got within hearing distance of the others. "I'm sorry for being so cruel... And, and thank you." She said, feeling more than a little befuddled from this encounter, yet still immensely relieved that she was going back with a sister who didn't hate her for her actions, like others surely would have.

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Fin~~