The Circle of Life (a Percy Jackson AU)

Dreams of my Father

Despite their ominous words, I was not hacked to pieces. Instead, Reyna and Jason beckoned me with their tails and told me to follow them back to camp. "Father will want to know why you were on our land," Jason said.
"He's going to punish me for saving you?" I asked. "I thought Smelly Gabe was harsh."
Reyna purred. "He'll probably chastise you quite a lot," she said, "But I doubt he'll punish you for saving his son and his daughter."
"You're siblings?" I asked.
"We have different mothers," Reyna said, "But Jupiter is the only breeding male in our group."
I nodded, thinking of how my father had not kept all the lionesses for himself, but instead allowed them to mate with whoever they desired. I reckoned things were different in their pride. For one, it sounded stricter and less fun. It made the ache in my chest harden and my paws tingled with a longing.
When we arrived at the camp, I caught sight of the largest lion I had ever laid my eyes upon. He was massive with the thickest mane I had ever seen and eyes that looked thunderous. When I realized that his paws were as massive as my head, I felt smaller than ever.
    Jason and Reyna darted away from me, butting heads against the large male, rumbling purrs emitting from their throats. "Father!" Jason said happily. "We almost died!"
      The lion's eyes seemed to widen and he got off of his haunches and stood up, shaking with fury. I felt myself shrink within myself and quake slightly. This was not a lion to be messed with. "How?" he asked, his voice crackling with fury.
     The cubs sensed his anger and both looked at their paws. After a few tense moments, Reyna spoke up. "We left camp without permission," she said apologetically.
      "It was my idea," Jason stammered. "Don't punish Reyna."
      "No, I forced you to go along," Reyna protested.
     "I don't care which of you came up with that idea!" the lion growled. "I am Jupiter and I must be respected. You both disobeyed me. For that, you are confined to camp for three days."
      The cubs looked at him glumly, but neither of them dared to protest. "What happened exactly?" Jupiter asked.
    The two cubs shifted from paw to paw like nervous egrets. "A hyena was stalking us," Jason mumbled, "and this cub saved us."
     He pointed his tail at me and I felt my chest collapse as Jupiter's stormy gaze flicked towards me. "Why were you on my land?" He asked, his voice practically a roar.
        I closed my eyes, for his roar make the air itself seem to tremble. "I was lost," I said in a small voice that made me doubt my own courage. "My pride was taken over and I had to leave."
      I didn't tell him that my father was dead. It was too painful to speak of. "I didn't know it was your land," I finished lamely.
      "You didn't smell the scent markers that I marked myself?" Jupiter roared.
     I trembled and dug my claws into the earth. Before I could retort something sarcastic, Jason spoke up. "He saved us!" he said. "Father, it would be unwise to thank him by killing him."
      "You dare say that I am unwise?" Jupiter asked, his voice power now, but no less deadly.
     "He is too scared from our encounter with the hyena to think straight!" Reyna said quickly.
      "Fine, I'll test this cub and see if he's fit to join our pride," Jupiter retorted.
     I felt a flash of resentment. I hated being entertainment for others. "You there," Jupiter said, pointing his tail at me, "go fight Reyna."
My fur was bristling and before I even thought things through I blurted our something really dumb. "I'd rather fight you," I said sarcastically.
Unfortunately, Jupiter was not keen at detecting sarcasm. "Fight you?" he snorted. "That would be be beneath me."
He tilted his massive head to one side and lazily opened his mouth, revealing his sharp fangs. "I have another idea," he said. "Why don't you fight Octavian?"
      He made Octavian sound like a full-grown lion who are hyenas for breakfast, so when I saw the underfed cub, I almost burst out into a purr. Luckily, I didn't. "Ready to fight, vulture-breathe?" he snarled.
      "Ready to lose?" I asked.
       He stiffened and leapt at me, claws extended. He landed on me and clawed my belly, causing me to yelp in pain. While his claws were unsheathed in the midst of the fight, I kept mine sheathed as to not draw blood. It was harder fighting that way, but it was the right thing to do.
     Octavian had his paws planted firmly on my chest and I thrashed furiously, kicking out my hind paws. One of my paws connected with his chin and sent him crashing to the ground beside me. I got to my paws and scrambled over to him. I placed one paw firmly on his neck and another on his vulnerable underbelly. I looked up at Jupiter, whose eyes were like bolts of lightning during the rainy season that threatened to cause fires. "Percy has won," he conceded, though he looked displeased, "But I will not hesitate to exile or other punish you if you are found to be guilty."
     I nodded. It felt strange to be in s group after all that had happened. Now that the anger that had taken over me in the heat of the fight had evaporated, I was left weary. When Reyna showed me a shallow dip in the earth to sleep in, I fell asleep quickly.
     I dreamed of my father. He was dying right before my eyes-again. I tried to leap forward in the dream, but Eddie pinned me down and forced me to watch him die, along with everyone in my pride.
     Then, my dream changed. I saw my father again, but his form was only a faint outline and his massive roar was barely more than a whisper of a breathe. When he opened his mouth, I didn't hear his voice, but rather the words of Rachel's prophecy. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the stars blazing in the night sky. "I would give anything for you to be here with me," I whispered, but I heard no response.