"No FAIR," the young lion whined, wriggling in the pale yellow lioness's maw. "Mama said I could go watch the birds, I swear!"

Esta sighed. This wasn't what she had signed up for when she said that she would help Gaspard and Evren when the three of them departed the Burkuteshti. Even when they were in the pride, Esta would gladly volunteer to spar, patrol, or hell even go into combat than take on babysitting duty. It really wasn't for her.

"Lesan sim Gaspard," she snapped, looking the lion in the eye. Her scolding voice was getting very motherly. It was disconcerting. Esta had dropped the brown lion and he gave a solid 'oof' when he hit the ground. "We both know that that's a lie. And you'd better cut this out soon. You're getting too big to carry."

Lesan grumbled under his breath. Esta was no fun. She didn't go easy on them when dad had them spar, and she was always breathing down their necks. "Fiiiinee," he grumbled melodramatically. Lesan moved back towards the den, guided by the lioness but pointedly dragging his paws as he moved. Home was boring.

"Get moving," Esta grumbled. "I told your mother I'd have you home before the sun went down."

"Yeah yeah, I got it, I just-OOFH"

Lesan was cut off when he rounded a corner too quickly and bumped straight into a firm object. Something that wasn't there before. He blinked away the confusion, then stared up at the strange lion.

"…Esta?"

"Ahlaq?" Esta's voice was different than Ahlaq had ever heard. She sounded… shocked. And she was. It had been moons since she had seen the sandy lion. "I… I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same…"

There was a silence between them. For a long moment, they only watched each other. Memories flooded them both. Esta had always been nostalgic of their home. It was a feeling that seeing the Burkuteshti's Bey only amplified.

The silence lingered for a moment, then was broken by Lesan's attempt at a ferocious growl. He had been taught, after all, to be cautious of strangers. What his parents meant by 'cautious,' though, probably didn't include charging at the stranger. It made sense to the young lion, though. Intimidate early. Get an edge.

"I am Lesan sim Gaspard! You are invading my family's turf!" The young lion called, lunging at this new stranger's legs.

Esta's nostalgia was broken and she sighed, stepping between them and gently smushing the young lion into the ground, "Lesan, no. This isn't an enemy. It's… well. It's your cousin."

Ahlaq had been caught off guard and was floored by the new information. The loss of the Burkuteshti was still fresh in his mind. It was a weight on his shoulders. And now, seeing a former comrade who he believed dead. It was almost more than he could handle. But… wait, what did that little lion say?

"Lesan… sim Gaspard?" He repeated thoughtfully, furrowing his brow then looking to Evren with a look that was almost accusatory, "Esta, did you?"

"No, no," Esta could feel her cheeks flush as she shook her head. She considered Gaspard a close friend. But even then. "Never. He's Gaspard and Evren's."

"Ah." Ahlaq continued, looking down the lion once more. It made sense. Even before he had become Bey, there had been a bit of a spark between Gaspard and Evren. The teacher and the student. It intrigued him that a kind and young lioness would go for something gruff and gumpy like his uncle, but he didn't think about it much. "Lesan," he murmured, leaning down to the cub. "I am Ahlaq sim Sungus."

Lesan's eyes widened and his jaw slacked. "Ahlaq sim Sungus," he repeated, looking up with his father's olive eyes. "The Bey."

Ahlaq winced at the word, and Esta saw it. There was responsibility that came with the title. Responsibility for victories. Responsibility for the eventual and final defeat. It cut him deep. Even now, he wondered what it was that he might have done differently. Wondered if there was a way that he could have made things work. Surely there was a strategy that would have led to the pride's survival. They could have moved. Avoided the plague. Stayed intact. Instead it was like this. Pride members scattered to the wind.

"Gaspard," Esta started with a distant murmur, looking down to Lesan. "He's been teaching them their history."

"What for?" Ahlaq responded bitterly. He didn't have to continue his thought any further. His intention was clear: there was no Burkuteshti anymore. There was no need to learn its history.

Esta clicked her tongue in a frustrated noise. She wanted to smack him upside the head. Wrestle him to the ground. something to get this out of him. "Oh quit the self-pitying bullshit," she spat. "When did you get to be so hopeless? And what do you expect to come of it?"

Ahlaq was almost taken aback. He had always known Esta to be a passionate lioness. He supposed he had just been away from it all for too long. Wasn't expecting it. Still, he shook his head. All the while, he kept his eyes on Lesan. Had things gone differently, the young lion would have been the future generation. Perhaps the one that would have seen the end of the Qyrhyeshti. All this felt like a rock in his stomach. He gave her no response.

The lioness sighed, shaking her head. She placed a paw on the back of the young lion's back and gave him a nudge. "Go home, Lesan."

Lesan, still looking up to Ahlaq with twinkling eyes, gave an "Uh… uhuh" before bolting back towards the den. He couldn't wait to tell his family! He'd met the Bey!

"And won't wander. I'll Know" she called after him. She shook her head again, then looked back to Ahlaq.

"Look at me. A goddamn babysitter," Esta muttered, then sighed again. "Look, Ahlaq. I can't pretend I know how you feel. But we've all lost home. Gaspard and Evren, they have each other. Even though they don't know where they'll go, at least they're moving forward." Her eyes narrowed and she looked him in the eye. "The Burkuteshti was all I had. That war was all I know. But there's no point in lingering. You have to move on."

Ahlaq paused, then looked away. She was right. He knew that. But it just… it just wasn't that easy.

"Stay with us," Esta continued. "Gaspard and Evren. They'd be happy to find you. And I'm sure we could find others. And we could find another home out there somewhere and-"

"No," The sandy lion cut her off with a grunt. "I can't stay with you. It's too…" A pained breath left his maw. "I just can't." He couldn't have constant reminders of what could have been. He was angry and self-pitying. He just wanted to take it out on something. Not live some happy lie of a life.

And Esta understood. He couldn't stay. And she couldn't follow. She narrowed her eyes, then looked to the horizon. The sun was setting. "So," she said after a silence that seemed to last an eternity. "Where will you go."

Ahlaq shrugged. Perhaps he would find a pride out there. Or perhaps he would just stay a rogue. Perhaps he would find a cause to fight for. Or, he dreamed, a band of Qyrhyeshti to fight one last time. Someone to go out in a blaze of glory with. "I don't know," he responded.

"Well," Esta continued. "If you find something. If we cross paths again." She moved to where he was in his view. She made him make eye contact with her. "You are my Bey. If you find something. If you need me. I am with you."

(WC: 1308 )