Jasi had watched over her precious gift as he had grown. The fever that had taken hold of him the night she brought him to the Mava'Bunda had destroyed his memory. She was thrilled; it lessened any risk of his resistance, and made it easy to manipulate him to believing that he had always lived here.
It helped that the slave Laanfa had given birth in these lands, further proving Jasi's point. He was quite complicit, and rewarded with decent meals and constant strength training. Masuko treated him like her crown jewel in slave potential, and was expecting her pack to strengthen themselves as well. Conflict was a constant aspect of life, and the weak would die in any attack from the outside.
Ruslam was currently accompanying Jasi on her scouting duties; something she did as often as she could. For some reason she was rather attached to the ugly lion. Perhaps because it gave Jasi great praise from Masuko, as well as a way to hold herself above others in the pack. Or perhaps because she had caught him and helped nursed him back to help; the first time she had taken the time to get to know anyone other than her adoptive mother.
As much as she hated to admit it, that was probably why. It made her stomach twist. She even had her own brood, grown and healthy, but nothing was quite different than the first creature she had shown a minimum level of care for.
She snarled as Ruslam stopped, irritationg growing from her thoughless feelings on top of him interrupting her task. "What is it?" she barked, snapping at his forepaw.
"There," Ruslam gestured with his paw, ignoring the snap at him. He was snapped at quite often, and the bites normally caused him to bleed. The bone setters always made sure the bites never lead to infection, and he knew that he deserved them. He was still striving to be a better asset to his pack.
Standing just inside the border was the red hyena that Jasi was wary of. He had piercing yellow eyes that seemed to know too much. Masuko seemed to trust him for some reason, though Jasi felt he never showed true loyalty. He would disappear for long amounts of time, as well as never giving a straight answer when asked where he went. He was given too much power, and the pink-maned hyena did her best to stay away from him.
Those harsh yellow eyes were staring straight at her, and a sickeningly sweet grin grew across his face. She felt her bones chill, but she kept her ground as the red hyena approached them.
Dath was amused. He was enjoying these manipulations of the pack, although it was more out of boredom than deciding to do anything too malicious. To see part of the mighty Pridelands quake in fear over some hyenas made him laugh. He was intent on seeing how far he could push these hyenas to the edge, and if any would take the plunge into true chaos. Even more amusing if Masuko pushed her pack over the edge and they became actual ruthless lion-hunters.
"You rest on your laurels," Dath commented to Jasi. He glanced over at the obedient dark lion, mindfully keeping to himself. "Sure, you obtained quite the prize for your alpha, but what if you could make it grow into a more substantial gift?" He tapped a fore paw on the ground, keeping Jasi's attention on him. He didn't want her to guess what he was hinting at; he wanted to tell her, make he feel a fool and then foolishly rush to fulfill her desires.
Jasi's purple eyes warily looked at Dath's yellow ones, unsure of the point that he was getting. He tried to use his title of bone reader to speak in riddles, to dance around points before smacking you in the face with them. It angered her, and she only wished to rip that grin off his face. She had an uneasy feeling that he was going to say something about Ruslam. Dath had always seemed too comfortable around lions, talking about lions, and it was another reason why she was so distrustful of him. It wouldn't surprise her if he was mingling with lions on those long stretches of time he disappeared.
"What." she said sternly, her voice dropping to a deeper octave. There would be no friendly conversation here; she wanted to get to the point the hyena was getting at.
Ruslam had an unsettled gut reaction to this red hyena; his eyes never seemed the same as everyone else's, as if he was harboring some secret that everyone should have already figured out. He was actually pleasant to his master, though, so he was never too alarmed when he was speaking with Masuko. However, in this moment, he was feeling mildly...defensive? He felt like if something happened between the two hyenas, he would intervene and try to protect Jasi. No real loyalty other than knowing Masuko would pick Jasi over just about anyone within this pack.
Dath snorted. "Foolish girl. It is the only way to gain more strength. Breed him!"
"That is something for Masuko to decide, not you!" Jasi was fed up, and chased after the red hyena. Dath ran off with Jasi on his heels, his laughter filling the air between Jasi's angry barks.
A chill ran down Ruslam's spine. It wasn't something that sat well within his stomach. He watched as the two hyenas ran off, his mind filled with a strange sensation. He had no control over his life, sure, but he wasn't sure how he felt on this proposition. He had never had the urge to do anything but serve the pack, and didn't want to do anything other than that.
Jasi returned quickly, swearing up a storm. "I don't understand how that b*****d can just disappear into thin air." She had followed him into the more messier parts of the graveyard, and lost his trail soon after. The collectors didn't keep this place organized enough, and she turned her ire towards them instead of that stupid red hyena. So focused on her irritation that she nearly ran right into Ruslam.
"And you! Don't let your head fill itself with his words. The Alpha will decide on your life, and you'll put your faith in her making the best decisions." She snapped at the lion again, breaking the hold of Dath's words in his head.
"Yes," he replied quietly, doing just as the scout ordered. He didn't like to over-think anything, and would rather just do as he was told. He didn't enjoy that spine-chilling sensation that had come over him, and hoped it would never return.
"Good. Come on, let's get this stupid shift over with so I can go kill something." She was furious, and was intent to go find some stupid prey beast to kill afterwards. Ruslam would return to Masuko, and hope that this conversation would be forgotten. As long as the red hyena didn't say anything, it would be.
(1,185 words)