(backlog)

Oni could not remember a time when the world was quieter. Lately it felt like every moment in her life was thunderous and explosive. Now that it was quiet all she wanted was to hear someone, anyone. When it was this quiet, all she could think about were the screams of the family she left behind.

The small lioness curled herself in a ball, hidden from view in the tall grass. She was not sure where she was and it really did not matter to her. There was no one around when she got there and so she assumed she was not trespassing on someone else’s land. And even if she was what were they going to do about it? Kick a starving, sleep deprived lioness while she’s down?

She closed her eyes and wished for sleep to come, to ignore her past choices and take a break from running. That’s all she wanted. However a few moments after the closed her eyes she heard voices and knew that she would not get her much needed rest.


Tsura was born in Okuphelele. While growing up and becoming a strong huntress she got to see the breath taking moment of two pack members becoming whole. There was nothing more inspiring then seeing it. Even after her unlucky streak of not finding a partner, she knew that someday the right wild dog would show up to be her partner. When that happened everyone would acknowledge her and her partner as great hunters.

Until then she was stuck hunting along or with other unpartner pack members. Like today being stuck with the wild dog Inhliziyo Iculo. Inhliziyo was not the worst huntress, but she was definitely not Tsura’s first choice. The wild dog did not take hunting seriously, or really anything. Even though she was struggling to find a partner, she knew she could never compromise her ideals. Her patience would be rewarded and she would get her perfect partner.

For now though, she would go on hunting trips with anyone who wanted to go with her and keep her skills sharp.


When ever someone in the pack asked her to go hunting near the boarder, Inhliziyo did her best to come up with some sort of excuse. Usually it was something like ‘I am too tired or so and so would be a much better hunting companion,’ but for once Inhliziyo felt like she needed to get away from the pack and figure out exactly what she wanted.

She had joined Okuphelele with Tlanextli purely out of convince. It had been a surprise when Tlanextli became the pack leader. The event made Inhliziyo feel like she needed to stay around to support her friend. For now she decided to wait and see.

“How far are you planning on going Tsura? At this rate we’re going to end up leaving the pack lands.” Inhliziyo muttered.

Tsura shrugged at the question. She set out with a goal of brining home a good catch regardless of how far she had to go to get it. As she walked, she noticed something pale in the grass. She stopped and turned to Inhliziyo.

“Do you see that?” she whispered, not wanting to alert who ever was in the grass. Potentially it would be worth hunting.


Inhliziyo stopped as well and stared at the grass. Then she saw the pale fur. The fur was dirty and clumped up. It seemed whoever it was had not had the chance to clean up in a long time. The wild dog walked toward the pale creature and gave it a gentle push with her paw.

“What the hell are you doing?” Tsura hissed, but Inhliziyo was quick to shush her. The head of the pale creature popped up and Tsura and Inhliziyo saw that they were staring at a lioness.


Oni shifted her body when she felt the paw on her back. She looked over and saw a pink dog and brown lioness staring down at her. Why or why did she ever think that they would just ignore her and move on? She wiggled away from them, hoping that they would get the hint and move on. However it just made the brown lioness walk closer to her.


The moment Tsura saw that the creature was a lioness, she felt both relieved and disappointed. It would have been nice if they had just stumbled upon their prey instead of having to travel out to get it. Though an outsider was a rarer occurrence.

“Are you lost?” Tsura asked bluntly, approaching the pale lioness quicker then she could get away.


“Tsura, you and your mean face is scaring her away. You need to learn how to be kinder to our guest.” Inhliziyo said as she approached the lioness. She stopped in front of Tsura and faced the pale lioness. “I am Inhliziyo and this is my friend Tsura. This is our pack’s land.”


Oni stopped. They did not seem to be mean, or have ill intention. Though she knew that others could be two faced. She looked from the wild dog to the lioness. It was strange to see a pair working together? In her travels she was used to seeing species travel within their own. It did make her trust them just a little more, especially since the wild dog seemed to be friendly.

“I am Oni.” She said once she sat up. “I am sorry that I am on your land. But please, just let me rest for a little bit and then I’ll be on my way. For a while I have been doing nothing but traveling and I could really use a break.”


Tsura walked around Oni, examining her from head to tail. As she did so, Oni stood still, wondering what was going on. When she was done, she stood next to Inhliziyo.

“You need much more then just rest. I haven’t seen someone in this bad of a shape in a long time. If you stay near the boarder, there is a chance someone else might come here wanting to pick a fight and you will be easy pickings for them. What you should do is some with Inhliziyo and I. We will find a cave for you to rest in and make sure you get some food.” Tsura said.


Inhliziyo nodded her head. “Yea, even if you get a good rest out here, you are in no condition to continue to travel. We can take care of you, even if it is for just a little bit. There are pack members who can take a look at you and get you heal up.” She explained. The pack helped her and Tlanextli back before they joined. She was certain that they would help Oni as well.


“We don’t get a lot of outsiders that aren’t prey.” Tsura added. New blood was always something that they wanted in the pack. Their numbers were small so there was always a desire for worthy outsiders to join. At this time it was hard to tell if the pale lioness would be a good fit for the pack, but Tsura guessed that only time would tell. “The choice is yours though. If you wish to stay here we will leave you be and we will continue our hunt. But if you want a proper meal then we can take you to our dens.”


It was a lot to think about. The two brought up some good points. She had not thought about how difficult it would be to continue traveling after a rest. Food was on the bottom of her priority list. Getting sleep and not getting caught was all she could think about over the last few days.

She thought about sleeping around others. Even if she did not trust them, having others near by felt like it would be nice. She would not have to think about the past, just about the present company. The only thing she would really have to worry about was if they were secretly monsters just wanting to fatten her up and devour her the moment they could.

It was a sickly thought and when she was younger she would have never thought that way. But now things were different and she was a much different lioness. Paranoia seemed second nature.


Inhliziyo watched Oni carefully as the lioness thought about her options. It did not seem fair to make her pick between the two. She couldn’t imagine what the lioness was going through, traveling alone, having no one to have your back. When she was traveling, she had Tlanextli. If it wasn’t for her, Inhliziyo wasn’t sure she would have survived alone.

“If you feel safer, you could stay here and I can bring you some food. Maybe then it wouldn’t bee too much for you all at once?” Inhliziyo suggested.


Tsura looked at Inhliziyo and frowned. She wasn’t sure what the wild dog was thinking. This was a chance to bring someone new to the pack and show her how wonderful their home was. She went to argue, but then she saw Oni’s face. There was gratitude in her eyes as she looked at Inhliziyo. The two had some sort of understanding.

“I guess if you feel safer here then that is the best option. Inhliziyo, if you would like you can stay here with Oni and make sure she stays safe. I can bring back some food for us.” Tsura offered. “Then we can sleep here and the two of us can keep you safe for now. Is that alright Oni?”


Oni nodded her head. She had been thankful that Inhliziyo had given her an out. Making quick decisions had never been her strong suit. It always seemed to back fire on her. This seemed like a good compromise. She would get some time to get to know the pair and get a feel for what their pack was like.

“Thank you.” She said to them.


Tsura left back toward the mountains she called home while Inhliziyo and Oni laid down. Inhliziyo decided that it was best to stay quiet and let Oni steer the conversation. However the pale lioness did not seem to want to chat. She would close her eyes for a little bit, then open them and look around.

Inhliziyo wondered what happened to Oni to make her so on edge. It did not take long for Tsura to get back with some meat. It wasn’t a lot, but Oni ate slowly, appreciating each bite.

After the three of them at they laid down to rest with Tsura and Inhliziyo taking turns to keep watch. For the first time in a long time, Oni felt like she could actually sleep peacefully.


WC: 1,794