- Username: QueenOfWyrms
100+ words on Territory: [209]
A young lioness, hardly past her maturity, keened as she lay next to an aged lion. With her paws on his shaking chest she begged him to live as he took each ragged, hollow breath. „Papa, please don’t go!“ She wailed; her fur lay dull and flat, her ears and tail pressed down.
The lion‘s eyes floated vaguely in her direction, glazed with pain and age. “Heartchild, what is it you fear that my death should bring about?”
The lioness turned away momentarily. “I fear that my cousin, the strongest of those wandering the prideland, should take over and ruin us all—he has always held the traditional views of pride hierarchy.”
Age showing in his teeth as he bared them, the lion growled. “As you should fear such a future. No, I will lend you the strength of my days with my death and you must lead the pride. You must keep the peace your mother and I made.” With that, the aged lion breathed his last and the color faded from him.
Just as her father had said, the lioness grew in strength—and wisdom—from his death. She fought her cousin tooth and claw, and in the end, with the help of her beloved, she ended her cousin’s life.
Maned or not maned: not maned
Inspiration/preferences/design prompt: um... night/stars/moonlight I guess