Winter's Bane Pride

||Prompt B7 :: 300exp||

Write a short story about how your founder discovered and claimed their territory. 400 word minimum

NPC(s): Carter + Iva + Kukhanya + unnamed lions + Ifu + Foglia + Azure + Thindel

(1317 Words)

"Have you heard?" came a frightened voice from up ahead,"Our King took in another pride!"

"I heard they were so badly injured, some of them even died," the second snarky voice spoke up,"What weaklings are they that they can get beaten so easily?"

"Iva! Don't speak like that about fellow lions," came a stern voice,"And Kukhanya, it's all going to be okay. Carter is a good and wise King."

"Why are they here, Umama?"asked the first voice, Kukhanya, less frightened.

Iva just huffed and looked away, seeming disinterested but listening with her full attention.

Umama sighed,"It's a depressing and terrifying story that the guest pride told our King," she hesitated,"I'm not sure I should be telling you this..."

Winter's Bane yawned and stretched, making his way over to the trio with gracious steps,"Now come, Umama, you just peaked my interested or rather you've peaked all of ours,"he spoke with his velvety yet gruff voice as he stopped by the three lioness'. Many other lions had also begun to gather around. All bright and curious gazes settled on the old lioness.

"Erm well," Umama shuffled her fore paws nervously, the crowd around her pleading for her to tell the story. Bane lay down, settling himself for he knew her heart was too kind to say no. Sighing the old lioness spoke in defeat,"Oh, alright. I will tell you the story to the best of my memory."

The crowd immediately went silent, watching Umama.

"The patrol found them by the scent of blood and sickness. They had wondered into our borders and settled down next to the Rose River, no lions stood on guard. All of them were resting their broken, battered bodies on the cold, hard ground. Our patrol immediately knew something terrible had happened, most of the lions were to injured to move so Ifu, being the fastest, ran back to camp like the wind to fetch our King and the healers. Once they returned, sadly two of the lions had already passed away due to their injuries but Foglia was able to treat the rest of them," Umama paused. Sad murmurs passed through the crowd at the news of the deaths.

 "One lion had enough strength left to speak to our King and he told a grave tale." the old lioness looked down but the lions remained quiet, anticipating her next words.

 "The pride's home was to the South, a cold and harsh land. Times had been good, plenty of prey and excellent health but then something happened. Jealousy. The lion didn't know the complete truth, it could have been as their King had said or a nasty trick from Asinus. He couldn't know for sure for everything he loved went crashing down too fast for him to make sense of all the small details. But he did know how it started...the King was convinced that his lead hunter and his Queen were having an affair. It started subtly at first but after a time she would spend less and less time with the King. Some days he wouldn't so much as glimpse her. Then disaster. The Queen was pregnant. Which would usually be cause for celebration but not this time. Those cubs, weren't the Kings," gasps rang out and lions muttered in shock. Bane simply flicked his tail, he had a bad feeling about this.

"The King slew his lead hunter in a fit of rage, causing grief and anger to ripple through his pride. The King did not stop there, he turned to kill his Queen but found she had already fled with the help of her friends as soon as the news had reached her. The once great King turned to madness. Lashing out in angry fits and going days without eating a single morsel, the pride's beloved King was gone...replaced by this empty shell. When it looked like things couldn't get any worse, prey became less and sickness spread through the pride. Not to mention the King had began to mutter to himself, speaking and roaring at some other being no beast else could see," She paused again looking at the faces of the lions gazing at her intently.

"Then one day he was normal again, back to his kind self. The pride was relieved and joyful, regrettably so. They should have known better, seen the signs. For that night was when the demons came. The dark creatures came screeching into their camp, killing and attacking everything that moved, and in the center of it all stood their King laughing. At his feet the body of their dead Queen," Umama sighed sadly,"The few pride members that made it out alive fled to the North until we found them."

Silence greeted the end of her story. Every lion present was in shock at the devastating events. They all were surprised when Bane stood up and walked away, he could hear a few angry muttering behind his back. Let them gossip, he didn't care.

He made his way through the camp to the King, who was standing speaking to Foglia.

"-know yet, but Azure seems to be making a full recovery. The cub doesn't have anything serious, just the common cough so he will be healthy again in a few days. Thindel had-" Foglia cut of her sentence when she saw Bane approach. She glanced at the King and he gestured for her to leave.  Foglia smiled at Bane as she left, making her way back to the healer's den.

Bane nodded his greeting to her before turning his attention to the King. Before Carter could speak Bane spoke up,"I want permission to travel South."

Carter chuckled, "As direct as ever I see. I assume then Umama told the pride the story?"

Bane nodded and Carter sighed,"I am curious myself if this story holds any merit. But I fear for your safety if you do venture forth."

"I'll be fine, but the prides need to know if there is a real threat. There could be demons sneaking up from the South as we speak," Bane cocked his head to the side,"I am willing to go investigate."

Carter trusted Bane with his life, the lion had proven himself time and time again it was a pity some of the pride still viewed him as an outsider,"You will leave at first light tomorrow so go get some rest,"the King made up his mind.

Bane nodded and started to walk away when the King's voice called out to him,"Oh, and Bane. Do remember to say goodbye before you leave!" chuckled the King. Bane smiled and made his way to his favorite sleeping spot.

That was a week ago.

Bane growled softly, a strange scent hung in the air. The eerie silence was unnerving and the cold crunch of snow underpaw was strange. The freezing wind picked up again, playing with his dark fur. His paws felt heavy and sore so he decided to rest in a nearby cave, he didn't mean to fall asleep.

He was awoken by an unearthly wail, making him jump up his fur standing on end. Fear crept into his being as he forced his limbs to move forward and into the darkness of the night. There it was. A demon. Terror froze him in place, luckly the creature hadn't noticed him yet. He still had a chance to run, maybe if he- 

SNAP! 

The twig snapping under his retreating paws echoed into the still night. The demon swung it's head and snarled, leaping at Bane. His body moved from years on instinct, claws and fangs tearing into the creature. The fight as long and painful but ended as Bane stood over the twisted corpse. His body aching and bleeding all over. He had to get back. He had to warn them.

Two weeks passed since then.

Now Bane and his tribe stood as protectors of the land. Defending the land from Demons.