Power of Lions

Counting Stars

Soft whines woke her up. Assaggi opens her eyes and peers down at her chest. Her child was awake and crying. And through the cries, she could hear the rumbles of Nyah's stomach.

"Shh. Hush sweetie." Assaggi whispered softly. She pushes down her fur skin to show her breasts. Softly, she directs Nyah's mouth to her breast. Once Nyah touched her nipple, she became to drink.

Assaggi laughs softly at the feeling. It was highly ticklish.

"She's a greedy little thing, isn't she?" Nile asked sleepily. He was sitting up and watching his child drink. "You should watch lion cubs drink. It's like a mini stampede." Assaggi joked, silently laughing at how her siblings chased after their mothers.

A low sounding but power roar suddenly erupted into the air. The sound was of a mourning loss. Assaggi looked toward the direction of The Rock. Worry was in her grass green eyes. She was about to stand up but remembered the baby in her arms.

"Assaggi?" Nile spoke worried. He touches her shoulder. "That roar was from a mourner. Someone lost something close." Assaggi said sadly. She runs her fingers over Nyah's fuzzy head. "I have to see what it is." she stated suddenly.

Before she could stand up, Nile stopped her by grabbing her wrist. "Assaggi, you are still resting from giving birth. You can't leave now. It's too soon." 

"Nile, that was a lion from my pride. I have to see what is wrong!" Assaggi insisted.

The grip on her wrist tightened even more. "Assaggi, the lions and tigers have banded together. They can take care of one another." Nile assured her. He urges Assaggi to lay down.

Sighing, Assaggi lays back down. "I will see them tomorrow then." she said before closing her eyes.

It barely felt like a moment when she woke up at dawn. The faint light of the peaking sun came through the window. Assaggi looks at the outside, and then to her family. Nyah had settled in Nile's arms during sometime at night. It was adorable to look at she admitted. Smiling softly, Assaggi bent forward and kisses Nile's cheek and Nyah's forehead. "I'll be back." she whispered.

She steps out of the hut. Some villagers were already awake for early chores. Assaggi grabs her knife that was wrapped in alligator skin. It was light weight despite the length of the knife. She stuffs her knife into her fur pelt and fastened it. Then she ran.

Pain was rupturing her stomach as she ran. It compelled her to stop but she refused to. She just upped her pace.

The sun slowly began to rise over the mountains. Animals began to awake.

Sweat was beginning to run down her face. Heavy huffs of air was what she could manage to take in. Assaggi let out a fierce roar of frustration and ran even faster. Pain shot through her legs the harder she ran. Before her pregnancy, she could run the speed of a cheetah. Now she had to built that ability once again.

She finally reaches The Rock. Her strong hearing could hear high activity above her. Many voices she hadn't heard in a very long time. It brought a smile to her scarred face. She climbs up the many rocks on all fours, feeling the familiarity of climbing them.

When Assaggi got the the flat, she finds something surprising. Tigers and Lions were resting together. The cubs were either tigers, lions, or mixed together. They all played together as one.

"Assaggi!" called out her Aunt Ada, the older sister of her lion mother.

"Ada!" Assaggi cried happily. She walks to her aunt on all fours. The way she moved hurt her stomach but she plainly ignored it. She rubs heads with her Ada in a sign of greeting. "It has been long since I have last seen you. I have heard you have given birth." Ada said happily. She looks at Assaggi's flat but bruised stomach. "Did you give birth of a litter of two?" she asked curiously.

Laughter came out of Assaggi. "No, I gave birth of one." Assaggi replied. "And a very beautiful one at that." she spoke dreamily. A small smile appearing on her face at the thought of Nyah. She looks over at all of the many cubs and tigers. "When did tigers and lions started banding together?" she asked confused. "A full moon after the battle." Ada replied. She lays down and watched the cubs. "That's kind of Ekon." Assaggi thought aloud.

There was sudden tension in Ada. She went completely rigid at Ekon's name. Assaggi looked at her in question. "Ada? Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly. She noticed how Ada fidgeted nervously.

In her mind, many clues have went through her mind. 1. The painful roar in the night. 2. The reaction to Ekon's name.

Something happened to Ekon!

"What happened to my father!?" Assaggi demanded but more like pleaded. Fear was bubbling up inside of her. Ada sighed and looks away. "He's dying as we speak." she said mournfully.

It felt like her entire world shattered. Horror could be seen in her eyes. Her heart felt like it was being compressed by an elephant's foot. "No! It can't be!" Assaggi denied. She runs pass her aunt and to the cave. Few lionesses and tigers tried to stop her, but she didn't listen.

When she took a step into the cave, she smelt it. . .

The darkness hid what she needed to see. The copper smell of blood filled her nostrils. She recognized the scent as her father's blood.

Beginning to walk slowly into the cave. She jumped about a foot in the air when her foot landed in a smear of blood. It was still warm but dried. Assaggi stared at the blood before she continued walking. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness as she walked farther. At the end of the cave, she can see the bed of furs. She could see the outlines of two figures glowing through the dark.

Ekon lied on the bed of furs barely moving. His breaths were ragged. Assaggi could see a deep wound on his side. The fur was gone and exposed the under skin. Blood was all over the bed of furs. Sanyu lied there next to him, comforting him.

"Father!" Assaggi cried. She runs to her parents and fell on her knees. The ground skinned her knees but she didn't care. She presses her hands on Ekon's wound and winced at the blood that gushed between her fingers. "What happened?!" she demanded in a plea.

"Assaggi," Sanyu started slowly. "Poachers from another village across the valley attacked. Ekon barely made it." she finished with a choked sob.

The sadness in Assaggi changed to fury. Her muscles flexed as anger began to boil up. "What! How dare they?!" she screamed. "They will pay for what have done!" she growled.

"Assaggi . . ." Ekon spoke. It stopped Assaggi's thoughts of revenge immediately. She runs her fingers through Ekon's mane. "Just know that I will watch you from above. I want you to take care of the pride." he said.

Tears started to run down her face. "Don't talk like that! You'll survive! I want you to watch Nyah grow up!" Assaggi cried. She buried her face into Ekon's mane. "Please don't die." she begged.

"I love you both." Ekon said softly before he set his head down and took his final breath.

"NO!" Assaggi roared.