Momentum (Completed)

Chapter Eight: Interruptions

(Nephele) 

Immature, childish, irrational and completely insane were all phrases that came to mind the second I thought of Lyra. She'd been gone almost two days now; no one had heard from Dolosus, and I was sure she was doing it on purpose just to make me feel worse. 

I hadn't meant to touch her tattoo, let alone prod at it, and I'd said sorry as many times as I could before she ran off. Maybe I should have followed after her? Maybe I should have kept my cool? Maybe I should have.. .Ah, who was I kidding? I completely believed that I made the right choice by keeping the letter from her and no matter how hard I tried to convince myself to see her side of the story, I just couldn't. 

Keeping that letter from her was the right thing to do. I knew it and she knew it, but she just didn't want to admit it, I was sure. As for the rest of the camp, I didn't go into detail; I just told them Lyra felt stressed out and wanted to go on a hunting trip to let some of the tension out. No one really questioned it; after all, hunting trip,; depending on how far we went could take up to four days. Felix was the only one who looked a little surprised but I chose to ignore him. 

As the sun rose on the third day Lyra was gone, I knew today was going to be a bad day. Why? Because now the guilt of screaming at Lyra and the worry that she hadn't returned was starting to eat away at me.  Not only that, but today Imara had to say goodbye to his cubs. Granted, they hadn't played a huge role in my life but they had for Imara. These were his first cubs, the first two he'd been able to produce and have survive the night. 

'Rya is leaving soon,' he said to me, his voice heavy with upset. 

"Let's go find her then," I said, rubbing his head softly, "you deserve a goodbye." 

I said nothing else as we made our way out of my little house and out onto the paved street. Everyone was going about their daily business, not really taking much notice of us. After all, as far as they were concerned, I was just a second in command. They had no business with me; if they had something to ask, they would just wait for Lyra to get back.  In the distance I could see Rya with her two little cubs running around behind her. She looked upset but grateful when she saw Imara walk her way. 

I hung back a little whilst Imara ran over to them. No words were said between them, just purring and nuzzling each other as they said their silent goodbyes. As a pair, they approached the cubs and Imara used his huge head to rub against their tiny bodies, giving little roars every now and then. Soon it was time for them to part ways and the pain in his eyes was almost unbearable; he would never see his cubs again and he would never know what became of them as they grew. Who even knew if they'd survive? It was unlikely. Ligers were very rare, even though their numbers were steadily increasing.  I looked away as Imara had his last intimate moment with his family and a few moments later I felt him nuzzle against me. 

'They're gone,' he said. 

I threw my arms around him and pulled him close. "I wish there was away you could go with them and stay with me," I replied.

Much to my surprise, Imara chuckled, 'Don't be silly cub. Even though its sad for me I should feel grateful that my cubs survived and that Rya stuck around for this long; normally I would have nothing to do with my offspring.' 

"I know," I sighed. 

All of a sudden Torus came up behind me. "Nephele," he said. 

Da?" I said, confused as to what he possibly could want. 

"We're running low on food and supplies again." 

I frowned. "Okay...?" 

Torus sighed, "I can't find Lyra anywhere and you're second-in-command so I'm asking you what we're going to do about it."