Pride At Midnight - The First Arc

Chapter 1 - Running and Seeking

Sorry its not a good chapter name, I'm a young author without braincells because algebra sucks. Warning: There will be triggering stuff, blood, violence, angst, sensitive topics, fluff, and ships. You have been warned. If you want to tell me anything or whatever, just know that I'm bisexual and I go by the pronouns she/her or they/them. That's all. Enjoy.

    "Long ago, there were no prides. Lions lived in harmony. There were forces of nature that kept watch over them.

    Skry, was the watcher of the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, and the sky.

    Freathra was the watcher of the wind, rain, the weather, and all non living things.

    Regal was the watcher of all living things, plants, and lions. Legend said that she had once been a lioness like any normal animal, but she had accomplished a great feat, and somehow became a watcher as well. No one knew what the feat was or how she even became a watcher.

    But the other watchers weren't too happy. They were supposed to watch over mortals, and now one of them was a watcher as well. They thought she was ignorant and wanted to be the high ruler, when she just wanted to do good for her land.

    So they handed over all their power to her, and she couldn't contain it. Regal vanished, and the universe might have too, but not before she was able to spread out the land and make it so lions and all animals could live.

    Regal left a message for her descendants. 'I am not truly gone. There is one who can free me, who can stop the watchers from going to war. But we haven't much time. There is only so long I can hold them off, from my stuck position.

    Find that lioness. She will know how to find me. And only then, will our land be saved. You have 1,000 years. I do not know when she will come, but she will come before the 1,000 years are over. Now go, quickly. I am counting on you.'"

    Is what Midnight told the unnamed cub. She was a female, and she was very smart and kind. She was the daughter of the pride leader, Brave. Midnight was watching her while Brave and Golden napped and the lionesses were out hunting.

    Midnight lived in Bravepride, led by Brave himself. Her mother, Cautious, was the best hunter, but was the lowest ranked of all the huntresses. Whenever Golden, Brave's mate, didn't go on a hunt, she was secretly the leader of the hunt.

    "Again, again!" the unnamed cub pleaded. Midnight laughed. "No, lioness-cub. Not now, I've told you the story three times."

    "Aww...what can we do instead?" Midnight hunched her shoulders. "I don't know. Whatever you want, as long as it doesn't bother Brave-sire or Golden."

    "Can you show me how to hunt? Oh! Oh! When will I get my Name?" Midnight smiled a little sadly. "I'm not supposed to show you how to hunt, that's Golden's job."

    "But Midnight, Mom is mean. She always gets mad when I can't do something. I want you, or Cautious to teach me!" Midnight sighed. "I know, I know. I want to teach you too. But I can't, not if Brave won't let me. That'd be against pride law."

    "But I can tell you you'll get your name at 6 months. Lioness-cub whined. "But I'm only 4 months. That's so long to wait. How did you do it?"

    "Well, I passed the time by secretly practicing hunting with my mother, or trying to see what I could do with my blindness."

    The huntresses came back, Cautious last as usual, with a small kill in her jaws, but Midnight knew that she had gotten the best kill as usual.

    Brave woke up. "Oh, you're back." He grunted a little. "Cautious, do better." Cautious just dipped her head. "Yes, sire."

    She was always cautious at what she said and what she did. Although that sometimes made her uncertain or a little slow, being cautious made her an excellent hunter.

    Just then, a roar was heard in the distance. It was the roar of a challenging lion. Brave stood up quickly, as did Golden. "My daughter, come here," she called.

    The lioness-cub nuzzled Midnight's shoulder before hurrying over to her mother.

    "Who are you?" Brave growled. "Why are you in my territory? If you've come to fight for leadership of my pride, be prepared." He growled low in his throat, most likely getting into a fighting stance.

    The unknown lion just laughed. "I didn't come to fight you. I came to slaughter."

    "What-" Brave began. And then he was dead. Golden shrieked and roared in fury, leaping at the unknown lion. He roared and there was a sharp piercing sound. Golden went down. She wasn't dead, Midnight could hear her breathing. But she wouldn't survive.

    Midnight found her mother's scent in the chaos. Cautious was growly softly at some lions who must have been trying to corner her. Midnight leaped at one, finding his arteries easily and severing them, rendering him dead. Blood pooled around her and got on her claws. She licked her lips clean.

    The other Cautious killed with ease, most likely scraping at his underbelly and flank until she could slash his lungs. Midnight heard a yelp. The lioness-cub!

    Midnight ran over, grabbing the scruff of the small cub in her jaws. Cautious ran after her. "Midnight, where are you going?!"

    "Away from here," she said in a muffled voice. "We won't live if we try and fight them. We can at least run and live, or try and find a pride.

    Cautious sighed softly. She knew her daughter was right. But where would they go? Could they even find a pride? And if they did, would they be accepted? Or killed on the spot?

A few days later...

   
    It had been 5 days since Cautious and Midnight had ran away with the lioness-cub. They were able to find food, but barely enough. This couldn't continue on forever. They had to find a pride.

    "Mom." Midnight stood up. "Yes, Midnight?" The lioness-cub was sleeping against her, so she kept her voice down. "We need to find a pride. We can't keep living like this, not with the lioness-cub."

    Cautious took a breath. "You're right, but can we even find one? And if we do, will they let us in or kill us?"

    "If it was just the two of us, they might kill us. But we have a lioness-cub. Lions can be ruthless, but no one in their right mind would kill a cub. We might not be her parents, but they would think that. Anyone who kills a cub without a name is considered an outcast and no longer wears the name of a lion or a lioness."

    Cautious was silent for a moment. "Alright. We can leave soon. Around sunset. It'll be harder to see us, but we can find a pride quite easily in the dark. Get some rest, I don't know how long we'll be traveling for."

    Midnight nodded, curling up beside her mother. "Alright." She yawned before closing her eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

   
    So that was the first chapter. I know it looks long but I can write a lot more when I feel like it. Short is anything under 1,000 words. Normal sized is 1,000-1,999 words. Long would be 2,000+

Let me know what you think, I'm curious to hear people's opinons. The next chapter will be about them finding a pride (spoiler alert!) We'll see how it goes!