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The Plains

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Stories are often told of the Lion God Ehyva and his wisdom, usually in teaching young cubs about the history of their ancestry, heritage, and just for knowledge purposes. Ehyva is the symbol of strength and courage, not to be mistaken for foolhardyness.

It is believed Ehyva had a large mane resembling the same shade of brown and yellow that coated his large, muscular form. He is known as a caring and compassionate leader, once at the head of a pride of one hundred lions, claiming his position as king through battle as is the custom for leadership in a pride. He overpowered his opponent, known as Cormac who seeked revenge upon failure.

Cormac threatened Ehyva while in private, stating, "You won't be king for long. Watch your back."

Through Ehyva's strong heart did he let Cormac walk away after such a threat. Cormac never did challenge him again but there are stories explaining how Cormac plotted and conspired, trying to gain followers to attack Ehyva, but the attack never got carried out. Many don't believe this sub-story of Cormac.

Hundreds of years later, maybe even thousands, no one is sure of the days of Ehyva's reign... But here is the story of a pride, in the lands which Ehyva once lead; a pride of twenty lions, consisting of two males and eighteen females.

The once large pride has split up overtime with the birth of males going their own separate way in search of a mate and to start their own pride. The widespread land which is known to be the home of sixteen prides is called Khyva's Pride, the land which all lions were once united under one ruler.

There are five large notable prides which all hold a truce with each other as there has been much conflict over the years of who gets the best hunting territory, water holes and shaded areas. As of late, two of those large prides have been at verbal conflict, threatening one of the other of invasion for food and water has been growing scarce.

It all starts at the beginning...

"Alkosh, wake up." Yazmine, the mother of Alkosh nuzzed into his small head, giving him a long lick on his face before giggling a little afterwards. Yazmine is a beautiful lioness, mate to the current pride leader, Vazari. Her golden fur and bright yellow eyes made her stand out over all the other lionesses in the pride, which originally caught the eyes of Vazari, who was lucky enough to win her over the other interested male lions from other prides.

Most other prides contain only around five to ten lions. Any more than fifteen is considered a large pride. Vazari earned his leadership of the pride of females through his father's leadership that he inherited once he passed away. Vazari wasn't the biggest lion, but he was fast and agile and his looks were also much noticable to searching females.

"Mmm. Come on, mom. That's embarrassing!" Alkosh rolled onto his other side away from his mother, trying to avoid her licks while others were around.

Being so small compared to his mother, it wasn't too hard for her to grab him and pull her against her belly which he nuzzled and purred against after he realized there was no escape.

"You are so handsome, Alkosh. Ehyva blessed us with you." She continued to hold him close to her, smiling down to her son who she was so proud of. "You're father wishes to see you Alkosh. He should be around the big tree where you normally play with your friends." She let him go and gave him a nudge with her nose.

"All right, mom. Love you!" Alkosh ran off out of the little cave his pride lives in and went to the big tree which he was sent to.

The cave they lived in was not very impressive. It was a cave dug into the side of a mountain which was man-made years ago before the lions occupied it. Vazari's Pride was the westernmost pride of Khyva's Pridelands, making the mountains the border. Being so close to the mountains, there wasn't the widest range of prey for the lions, but they manged and rationed what they could and got lots of shade on the hottest of days.

"Good morning, son." Vazari greeted his son with his softer voice, matching his smaller and more slender body than the usual male.

"Good morning, dad." Alkosh pranced forward and nuzzles into his mane before taking a step back and sitting down, giving his father is undivided attention.

"Look out there, Alkosh. Take a look around you. Inhale the air, observe the pride and all the creatures within and tell me what you think." Vazari looked down his son after observing the pride himself to show Alkosh what he meant.

Alkosh strugged with the answer but took his time to review his surroundings to determine an answer. "I see... a quiet but well collected pride living happily and resting out under the trees and what shade we have."

"That is a good observation, especially for your age son. To lead a pride, you need to observe and pay attention all day and all night. It is your duty to protect those around you and maintain our territory." He stopped a moment and sighed. "Son?"

"Yes father?" Alkosh turned his head back to Vazari and noticed he had a troubled look about him which set Alkosh on edge a bit.

"You may have noticed how food around here has gone a little more scarce than usual?" Alkosh nodded and let his father continue. "I will not lie son... I have failed my pride. Our opposing brothers and sisters have entered our territory and are hunting our antelope. By doing this, the antelope have left and are now far away. Right now, our pride is hunting stragglers and what prey we can find ourselves. You and your friends-- you are priority and get first meal."

"Why are you telling me this?" Alkosh asked with a worried look, wondering why his father has opened up like this so suddenly.

"Because son. One day, you are going to be walking in my footsteps and you will be leading this pride. You already know this son but now I think is the time for you to know what is going on at all times, to prepare you for the future. This is a good thing, Alkosh. My father didn't do the same with me. He trained me well how to be a leader and what to do and when to do it as well as great teachings about our god, Ehyva but the one mistake he made, was that he never told me anything that was happening with the pride and left me with unknown responsibilities. Even with everything I knew. Everything I had at my disposal, it wasn't enough and I was a poor leader for a long time. Only until a few ago did I become a good leader and lead this pride well. And now, I want to make you what I could never be." Vazari smiled down to he son, giving him a gentle push with his right paw, almost knocking his son over.

"Hey!" Alkosh growled and and threw his paw, trying to hit his father's. Playfully of course.

"Haha!" Vazari laughed and nudged his son with his head, actually knocking him over this time. "I thought you were strong, Alkosh?" He winked, taunting his son in a playful manner.

Alkosh pounced at him, hitting his chest with his head and only managing to fall back down to the ground. He shook his head and grinned back to his father. "Just wait till I am bigger!"

"Oh, I know Alkosh! What will ever do with such a brave and strong son! I won't be able to wrestle him and win like now!" Vazari laughed and ruffled the tiny mane on his head with his paw. "You go along and play with your friends now, Alkosh. I'll see you at dinner, all right?"

"Yes father! Thank-you!." Alkosh smiled and his father walked off, doing his rounds and daily routine while his son ran off in the other direction to find Kaisha, his female friend of the same age who share a lot of common and is his best friend.

While looking around for Kaisha, Alkosh couldn't help but really think about what his father was telling him. He may be still young but he understands that there are resonsibilities and he will not fail his pride. He stood tall, puffing his chest, allowing a determined look to fill his expression. His thoughts eventually switched over to Ehyva and all his teachings of the lion god. He was facinated with such stories and often used them to motivate him to do what is right and to take his training seriously.

Off a little distance, a young lioness around the age of Alkosh sat in the grass, watching Alkosh strut on by with his chest out, looking tough. She couldn't help but giggle how Alkosh never noticed her, obviously lost in his own train-of-thought.

"Not even going to say hi?" The young lioness said as Alkosh passed on by, his head raised high till he heard the familiar voice of a lioness he is very fond of.

"Kaisha! I was just... I was..." He blushed and lowered his head a bit, realizing how rediculous he must have looked just then.

"Just showing off?" She smiled and walked up to him, nuzzling into his shoulder and up to his head.

"Showing off what?" He smiled back, giving her forehead a little lick.

"That strong chest of yours and that walk that definitely looks like it has been rehearsed." She looked into his eyes, trying to get him lost in them.

He shook his head and snapped out of it. "Hey! Don't do that! And that wasn't rehearsed. It was just..." Alkosh was at a loss for words, unable to keep up with Kaisha's forwardness. In one way, he liked Kaisha for this but he always feels like she is challenging him.

"I am just teasing, Alkosh. You need to loosen up a little. "She swiped him with his tail, walking ahead of him. "So Alkosh... was your father giving you more lessons?"

"Yes. I will admit though, being leader eventually makes me a little nervous." He said, opening up to his female companion.

"We are still young, Alkosh. I understand how you feel and it is all right. You still have a long time before you have worry about that. Loosen up and have fun!" She jumped and started running. Alkosh listened and smiled, chasing her as she ran, gaining up on her and wanting to go for the pounce.

Kaisha was a pretty, young lioness, well maintained and the smartest cub of the four in the pride, including Alkosh. As for Alkosh, he was indeed very intellectual but often lacked sense in some situations, finding it difficult to determine solutions when put on the spot. Kaisha was very logical and can deal with situations better than Alkosh can. She is considered the smarter of two and many adults of the pride see the two becoming mates when they come of age.

"I got'cha!" He grinned and pounced at her. She noticed this and jumped out of the way, resulting in Alkosh falling to the ground with Kaisha turning around and pouncing onto him.

"Oh my. You still have lots of training before you can pounce correctly." She had him held down and he struggled to get her off, eventually succeeding and pinning her onto her back.

"And you still haven't learned your lesson from being complacent!" Alkosh grinned, feeling accomplished for being able to pin her.

"I will go easy on you and let you win this time since it is really cute to watch you feel so powerful after winning something, including the simplist non-challenging things." She winked, loving to embarrass Alkosh whenever given the chance.

They continued to mingle for the afternoon, walking back and forth to the water hole and the big tree where they met up with the other cubs. Alkosh got his mind off of his father's earlier talk and replaced it with fun which every cub needs at the adolecent months. Alkosh was only four months old, as well as one other cub. Kaisha was five months and the other was three months. They kept close to each other always under the protection of the pride. One lioness volunteered to always keep an eye on the cubs, making sure they don't get into much mischief and to keep them safe. Her name was Kazri, she was a young lioness, a little over a year old. She often joined her fellow lioness on hunting parties, learning and more and more each time they went for a hunt. She was very much trusted for keeping an eye on the cubs and was very respected among the others for taking such a big responsibility-- being in charge of four young cubs can be quite the responsibility.

The fun and games lasted a long while for the cubs until evening came. That's when it was time for the pride to gather for dinner. Everyone gathered at the normal feasting spot, save for the five lionesses that went on the hunt.

Vazari sat at the head of pride, waiting for their meal. He often didn't go on hunts unless he was needed. Alkosh kept close and nuzzled into his mane, purring softly with his mother on the other side, waiting paitently along with the many others.

"Vazari!" A lioness yelled from the distance, coming to the group of lions waiting patiently.

Vazari stood and immediately stopped. "What's wrong, Mhasha?" Vazari asked in a worried but serious tone.

"It's Jakk'al. A few of his hunters are in our territory and are trying to take our kill. I left the others to come and tell you." The lioness panted, her legs shaking and her voice obviously terrified.

"Yazmine, Reanda, Rasha and Sansre, you all come with me. Kazri, take the cubs back to the den." Vazari gave his orders and left with five lionesses in haste