Kibuka
Cub || 3 Months || Female || Mentions: Crixus, Inyoni, Kijakazi, Svarog
Indirectly Mentions: Acantha, Gazini, Kumar, Kinyana (NPC)
Kibuka missed her friends. She missed life before they took over. She missed Kinyana, her best friend, who she had seen being gnawed on by the one called Gazini. The one who had killed her while Kibuka hid, too afraid to do anything. She even heard the snap..
Shutting her eyes, she shook her head, trying to get rid of the image, but she couldn't. It haunted her. The thing is, Kibuka tried. She truly did. She made sure to be in front of Kinyana when the male came, but he skipped over her. She didn't know why, but he did. He targeted Kinyana and left her, even when he was done with her body. She still remembered her widened eyes staring back. Sometimes, Kibuka went to her lifeless body, simply watching her. She wasn't sure if it was because she wanted to see Kinyana again, or to simply pay respect. Sometimes, she even spoke to her as if she were alive, giving her small updates.
Snapping her eyes open, she glanced around, her breathes quickening before slowing once more. She had met the gaze of Kijakazi, a lioness who she called an aunt. Kinyana was her daughter, so it was only respectful to give her that title, even if there was no blood relation. If Kibuka hurt, how would Kijakazi feel? Did she despise her now because she lived, and her cubs didn't?
"I want to bury her," she suddenly whispered to her father. "I don't want to see Kinyana anymore." It hurt. She didn't like how bad it made her feel inside. She would need help. Perhaps she'd ask Aunt Kijakazi. Her paws were bigger and she had more strength to bury her. "Will they let me cover her?" Surely even they weren't that cruel. Surely they wouldn't deny her the burial of her friend. They stripped her of life, they wouldn't strip her of respect, would they?
If they did, she'd ask her mother. Her mother still had a say.
Feeling her head being bumped by her father, she lay pressed near him and her sister, Inyoni. Kibuka was grateful nothing had at least happened to her. If her sister was killed..
The mere thought made her not so much sad, but angry. She found herself wishing that she was larger and stronger so she could beat the males. She wished that she was ten feet tall with the power of a hundred lions. Then, she'd show them. She'd avenge all of her friends and those that they hurt. But those were simply fantasies, and imagination didn't help, not in this situation.
Instead, she focused upon her father's words, letting them repeat in her mind.
"It's ok to not be okay."
He was right, and she knew that he and their mother wouldn't let anything harm them. "I know," she spoke. She knew that they would protect them. Glancing up, her eyes met her sister's, who had poked out from their father's mane before being nudged towards her. They were then nuzzled, an action that Kibuka always enjoyed. She felt safe in her mother and father's arms, and even found herself closing her eyes to relish the feeling. It was the only time that she didn't feel afraid.
Before, she would have asked Inyoni to explore, but Kibuka was afraid to even move or speak, so she simply remained still, staring at her father's wounds. She tried not to show any emotions when looking at them, but the blood soon made the cub express an angry and disgusted face, especially at the wound on his neck. The males treated her father like a chew toy. She had seen it happen, and it only angered her.
"I wish I was bigger and stronger. I would claw them all," she muttered darkly, staring at the males for a moment before her small act of boldness vanished and she shrunk back down. One of them passed before pausing near them, staring at her. What if he heard her? What if he was about to kill her? Would he chew on her body as well or-
Relieved, Kibuka watched the now Second Male simply nod, not to her, but her father before walking off. Why didn't he react? She could have swore that he heard her. Was he going to the others to tell him? Watching, Kibuka stared at the males with fear, but they none looked her way, so that meant the male didn't speak of the words she said. Why not?
Scowling, she wondered why the lionesses couldn't attack them. Why were they forced to listen to them? Kibuka was told that it was the law, or nature, or something along those lines, but she thought it was stupid. The pride outnumbered those behemoths.
Frowning for a moment, she turned to find her father peering at herself and Inyoni. Nestling closer to her sister, she listened to their father's words, allowing a small smile to form simply to please him. "We know, don't we, Inyoni?" Pausing, her eyes lowered. "I wish I could say the same for you."
Kibuka was truly useless. She couldn't defend anyone nor protect anybody. If she could, she would have. She would have thrown herself onto the lion who harmed Kinyana and her father. She didn't care if it was disrespectful to Shomari, who had died defending the pride. She didn't care if it wasn't how things were done. Kibuka would have still done it.
She still wanted to.