The Dreamcatchers / Night Watch

It was dawn, the first rays of the sun were only beginning to appear on the horizon. Akumu decided to venture out on patrol alone. Her captain preferred to send them out in groups for safety, but she managed to convince him to let her go by herself. It wasn’t hard. She snickered, thinking about it. It was so easy to intimidate him, he stood no chance. Besides, she was strong enough to defend herself. Definitely stronger than any dork that would accompany her. She’d probably end up having to save their life. It was easier this way. She made her way through a sandy savannah with dry grass, scares dead bushes and rare trees.

The land was flat, greyish-brown. Rays of pink and gold licked it from the horizon. As she walked towards the rising sun she started to feel uneasy. Her senses were telling her that something unusual was in the area, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. The territory, the sand, large rock formations on both sides of her - they all looked the same. She couldn’t hear anything either, but that could only mean that whatever was out there was a good hunter. Her heart didn’t falter. She was ready for a fight.

She pretended not to notice anything and continued her walk, peering her eyes and ears out. Finally, she heard it. Or maybe felt it, it was so quiet. The tiniest bit of movement behind her. They wanted to ambush her from behind? Oh, they were in for a surprise. She steadied her breath, focused and with one fell swoop turned on the spot and launched at the unknown beast.

Her drawn sharp fangs stopped just inches from the soft fur of a small cub. Not what she expected, but it did explain why the sound she heard were so quiet.

To her amazement the cub didn’t immediately scurry off. After an initial jolt of fear it snooped from behind her muzzle and greeted her with a smile.

Akumu backed off, a little taken aback.

“Who are you? Where are your parents? What do you want from me?” Aku barked the questions all at once, her intense glare at the cub.

It explained that it’s lost and alone and just wanted to play. In response the lioness growled not to bother her and went back to patrolling, leaving the cub behind.

Or so she hoped. Knowing what sound to listen to now, she could hear the child following her, but every time she looked behind to growl at it, it darted off to hide behind a rock or a bush and giggled, apparently having lots of fun.

It annoyed her. She wasn’t a playmate or a nanny. She was a soldier. A brave, proud and strong lioness. No cub will mess up her day.

She pounced over a rock, hear eyes level with the cub’s. “If you take one more step I. Will. EAT YOU.” She roared and for the first time saw genuine fear in the little kitten. It stayed behind, shaking slightly.

She managed to walk quite a distance, but unwanted thoughts kept pestering her. Maybe she shouldn’t have scared it so much. As part of the Dreamcatchers, she should be helping other lions, but she always preferred to focus on the eradicating nightmares bit of her job. Anyway, not her cub, not her problem.

She spotted a small group of hyenas going the opposite way. Whatever. She had no argument with them and they wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack an adult lion, even if there was just one. They would attack a cub though. They were heading it’s way. She felt her heart begin pounding, her breathing quickened. She hadn’t felt like that in years, not since she was chased out of her pride as a young lioness. She was frightened.

She ran at full speed, past the hyenas, over the footsteps she left in the sand. She searched and her heart stopped racing only after she saw the cub. It was perfectly fine and trying to hunt a beetle.

She regained her composure and with a voice void of emotion said a single word: “Come”.

The cub followed happily, running between her paws and being an adorable bundle of joy that she could describe with only one word: ‘annoying’. When her encouraging growling didn’t help, she ended up carrying the cub the rest of the way.

She had plenty of time coming back to think of what to do with the cub. She was no material for a mother. She wasn’t even a good aunt to Lasan, the captain’s child. She loved to play pranks on it and had at least once made it cry. She would just have to give it to someone else and forget about it. Whatever she was feeling deep within her chest, she wasn’t going to let it have a say in this matter. When she arrived home the siblings Moe and Turu were the first she saw. Moe’s eyes started sparking immediately at the sight of the cub. Still with it’s skin between her teeth she groaned and placed the cub in front of Turu.

“It followed me home”, she said even though they clearly saw her carrying it. “Take it or leave it, it’s not my problem anymore.”

And with those words she left, gritting her teeth when she heard the cub call out to her, but get stopped from running after her by the other two. It’ll be better this way, she told herself.