Dark Future

At the tippy top of Pride Rock, where one can watch the sunrise over the Pridelands, was a lone cub, trying her hardest to escape the world. It was mid-afternoon, and her siblings were all supposed to be practicing their pouncing as their mother enjoyed a rare moment to herself somewhere near the base of the stone monument which they all called home. Giza was not an energetic cub. She wasn't playful. She preferred to laze in the shadows. That day, she had snuck off to be alone as well.

She was resting on her belly, the warm stone below her made her feel calm. It had been only minutes since she had left her litter inside the den, and she knew her solitude was bound to be cut short soon, so she was determined to make the most of it. Rolling over, the mahogany cub then laid on her back, sky blue eyes fixed on a cluster of puffy white clouds directly overhead. In the cloud's shape, the imagination cub saw what looked like a lioness running... Running away, she figured, and she giggled to herself, pleased with the imagery. As the minutes passed, the cloud contorted in the breeze, eventually wiping away to a few wisps before fading away all together.

A long, noisy sigh escaped Giza's tiny maw now that she was alone with her thoughts. A little blue bird caught her attention overhead, and she observed as it zipped to and fro freely in the air. "Dumb bird," she muttered to herself. It had the chance to go anywhere that it wanted, and it made it look so easy. Blue wings caught a light breeze and the bird was sent soaring high above, so high that it looked like a little ant in the clear blue.

Though she was supposedly a princess, little Giza daydreamed of the day she too would fly away, like that blue bird. Perhaps if she wished long enough, a pair of wings would sprout from her own back, and she would join all the songbirds, vultures, and majordomos in the sky... Away from all the troubles that lurked on the dying land. Closing her eyes now, Giza pictures herself as a winged cub, soaring from baobab trees to unknown territories she figured she would never see otherwise.

[Bump... Thread still open, if someone needs something to do!]

Her ears folded back at the sound of the other cub's voice, but she tried to pretend as if she was asleep until Uma persisted. With a long, drawn out sigh, Giza flipped from her side to her back to glare up at her younger sibling. There was no doubt the two were related, if only halfway. They looked similar, both taking after their dark father, but with minor differences between the two. Despite the fact that Giza was older, the two were about the same size, since Giza and her litter mates were all smaller than average.

Finally, Giza rolled over onto her stomach and then pushed herself up into a sitting position, looking at Uma with a curious expression. "What do you want?" Giza neither liked nor disliked the younger russet cub. Uma wasn't as annoying to her as her own litter mates, but she really hadn't spent much time with her yet. "I wasn't really sleeping, for your information. I was thinking of what it would be like..." But here she stopped. Giza was not the type who willingly shared information about herself or her thoughts and feelings. After a second though, she decided it was safe to share this particlar idea with Uma, for whatever reason. "I was thinking of what it must be like to be a bird. They can go anywhere, really."

((Sorry, this post was terrible x.x))

Giza's eyebrow arched in a questioning manner, surprised that Uma was attempting to get the pair into some random mischief that day. But where could they possibly go? Neither of the russet cubs had ever really ventured away from Pride Rock, and lazy Giza had no desire to wind up lost with dinner fast approaching. Still, it would be entertaining to see Uma get into trouble. The younger cub was normally so quiet, much like Giza herself, and had never given the grown-ups any reason to dislike her. It had been Uma's idea to sneak away, so perhaps Giza hadn't given her half-sister enough credit. Maybe Uma would prove to be fun, unlike the others; Ari hated to break the rules, Kifu was irritating, and Tasa was often doing her own thing. Not that Giza had any comprehension of the word 'fun'...

"Where is somewhere? Do you know something that I don't know?" Her piercing blue eyes strayed to observe their father's kingdom again. It was a large, expansive territory, Giza knew that, but being naturally uncurious, she hadn't put much thought into what could be out there that was worth leaving the comfort of the den at Pride Rock. "I'll bet you've never even left Pride Rock, little Uma," she said, her voice taunting her younger sibling... Even though Giza herself had seldom strayed, and was also rather small.

The water hole did not sound immediately appealing, but if there was one hobby that the russet cub enjoyed, it was seeing her brothers and sisters get themselves into trouble. Giza herself had seldom strayed from Pride Rock, but it seemed Uma was more independent-minded and mischievous than Giza, who preferred to laze around and wait for her next meal to be killed. It was true: no one had noticed Giza's absence, and she had been missing from within the den for a while now. No doubt her mother was distracted by some other cub, more than likely Kifu. As the only male under Heshima's care, she devoted much of her attention (and extra food) to her runty son, hoping that it would somehow make him into the strong heir that Scar desired. It only made Giza resent her brother that much more, for his perceived favored status among his sisters.

Giza was pleased to see she had annoyed her barely younger sister, and merely grinned cheekily when Uma sprang to her feet to defend herself. "You're right, no one is watching. I'll bet they wouldn't even know if we disappeared for a while, don't you think? But the water hole is boring, I've been there plenty of times." Then, an idea came to Giza. There was a place that few cared to visit, though the cub couldn't guess why. "I'll bet you've never been to the gorge before! We should go there and see what the big deal is." It would certainly lead to trouble for Giza, as well, if the two were caught, but it was a chance she was willing to take.

As the russet female followed Uma, dark thoughts were ruminating in Giza's mind: how she knew the punishment for leaving the den without permission (which was never granted) would be missing out on the next meal, how she was already hungry enough without being deprived of more to come. If Uma was in trouble and not allowed to partake in the next kill, that meant there would be more for Giza. And for Giza, more food was worth getting her half-sister into a bit of mischief on her own. Uma was barely younger, and more feisty than some of their other siblings. Certainly capable of handling herself if her sister were to suddenly disappear behind her...

The dried grass swayed as Uma entered, but Giza made a sudden dash to the left, behind a pile of rocks large enough to hide behind. Ducking down under the stone to try to hide, a sinister smile played the cub's features. She imagined Uma would continue on without noticing Giza's departure, and then... Would she be scared? Angry? The former would be more entertaining, and it dawned on the cub that this was not such a good idea, unless she wanted to make an enemy that day. But she remained hidden there for a moment, smirking, listening for Uma's cries for help that were bound to resonate soon.

Then, to make the matter even worse, Giza decided that simply hiding wasn't enough. There was still a chance she could be caught away from the den and still be punished, though they had not yet wandered too far from their home. She would only be safe once she returned to Pride Rock, feigning innocence. Pressing low to the ground, Giza hurried away, using rocks and grass to conceal her whereabouts -- or so she thought.

((I'm not sure you want to go on with this since Giza is away from Pride Rock, but it's up to you!))

Giza's plan seemed to work pretty well, as Uma soon realized she was no longer being followed, and she snickered to herself from her hiding place. But rather than becoming frightened, or panicking, the other russet daughter of Scar got a strange look on her face, grinning like she was up to no good. Giza could tell she was ready to run right back home and get one or both of them into serious trouble, and for a second she was annoyed - until she remembered that she had been plotting to do the same thing. In that instant, Giza realized just how much Uma was like her, despite the fact that they were only half-sisters. Ari would have been worried, while Tasa would be fuming if Giza pulled such a stunt on her. But Uma was different, and it seemed her mind was as dark as her older sister's.

So rather than allowing Uma to tattle, Giza sprinted from behind her hiding place. She barreled right into her sister and knocked her onto the ground, pinning her to the cracked earth with a glare. But she didn't try to hurt Uma, she just laughed, her tone low. "I won't tell if you don't." Without another word, Giza bounded away from her sister, back towards the safety of Pride Rock. With any luck, Heshima would not have noticed the absence of the two russet cubs, and if she did, well... Giza would quickly conjure up a false story that protected both of them.


[[I think this is a good place to end it! That way they're not really friends, nor are they enemies, so they can sort of how they feel about each other when they're older and reuniting.]]

((I agree! This is a good place to end it, and that sounds like a plan to me!))