Denied Love
Denied Love
By
Donkey
As Lora is out hunting for some food to bring back to her pride she spots a zebra stallion out on the plains tending his field of grasses, or whatever it is those tasty things eat. As she stood there watching him she thinks about what a good meal he would be for the pride. Lora slowly starts to sneak up on the zebra to get within range to use her spear. Every few feet she stops to be sure he does not spot her. The last thing she needs is for him to realize he is being hunted. Chasing zebras down is not easy, they run quite fast, not to mention that sharp hooves hurt quite a bit.
Dran is totally preoccupied with his own troubles; he is quite unaware of the lioness' presence. Being one of the lowest ranking stallions he does not have the right to breed with any of the mares. Breeding with Roeen is his fondest dream but Frassen has that right. He is could never win a fight with Frassen. He has tried many times to win a chance to breed, but he is just too small and timid to win. Dran is frustrated to see most of the other stallions having mates while he is denied. He knows that he will never be allowed to breed. As the lioness silently prepares her spear Dran wonders, "What is the point of living as an outcast within the herd?" The next thing he knows there is a very sharp pain in his side.
Lora is extremely upset with herself. The zebra was standing perfectly still yet her spear barely hit it. Oddly, he is just standing there staring at his wounded side. She starts running at the stallion with her knife to finish the job.
Dran sees some movement and looks up to see the lioness charging at him with a threatening knife. He does the worst possible thing and freezes watching the lioness charge at him. Things go weird for him and time seems to slow down. He watches as the lioness comes up and stabs him in the shoulder in slow motion. She knocks him to the ground. Dran does not know what is really happening, its like he is watching the lioness attack another zebra and he is just watching it. He can only watch what is happening and do nothing. He looks at his wounded shoulder, then at the bloody knife the lioness just pulled out of it. He sees her getting ready to stab him again. As he looks into her eyes she suddenly the lioness gets a strange look on her face. She starts stare back at him. Their eyes seem locked together.
As Lora prepared for a second blow with her knife to finish off the stallion she looks into his eyes and freezes in mid attack with confusion. He is lying there calmly, staring at her with an odd look. It was as if he did not understand what was happening at all. Lora does not know what to think. Yes, he is just a zebra; zebras are just food. But for some reason looking him in the eyes she can't think of him as just food anymore. As Lora looks into the eyes of the zebra she sees a look of curiosity. For a long moment the two of them look deeply into each other's eyes.
Dran can't believe what he sees in the lioness' eyes, he no longer sees a dangerous predator but a fellow anthro creature. He sees something more in her than just her species. He is totally oblivious of the fact that he is slowly bleeding to death. He doesn't know how long they stayed like that but finally she looks away.
Lora breaks away from the stallion's gaze and tries to clear her head of the odd thoughts she is having. At a glance over his wounds she can tell that if the bleeding was to be stopped he should recover fully. Should she do it? Her logic is saying, finish him off and drag his carcass back to the pride. But something in his eyes tells her that if she does that she will miss out on something important. She is really torn about what to do. Before she realizes it, she starts trying to stop the bleeding. She found herself cutting the plants the stallion was tending and holding them against his wounded shoulder. It took a little time but the bleeding stopped.
Dran does not understand why the lioness is trying to stop the bleeding that she had just caused. But at this point, since it will prevent him from dying, he does not want to make waves. He watches her use the cut grass to make a temporary bandage. As she stops the bleeding he begins to wonder what the lioness plans to do with him. He knows he should try to escape from her but he also knows he has very little chance of getting away. His herd mates never let him forget he is the slowest of all of them.
Lora is seeing the stallion a new light. He is very handsome, for a zebra. She can't believe she would think such a thing, it is just not done, not allowed even. Lioness can only be with lions, not a stallion. If it was found out that she had such thoughts she could be put to death. She looks into the stallion's eyes again and suddenly she knows she has found something she has always been looking for but never found in the males of her pride.
Dran sees the lioness looking at him oddly. He knows that look. He has seen it before in Roeen's eyes. Dran can't believe it. A lioness is having feelings for him? At first he is shocked, but as he thinks about it, he is denied a mare so why not a lioness? He knows what will happen if the rest of the herd found out what he was thinking. The idea scares him. But there is nothing for him in the herd. He will die no more than a pseudo stallion.
Lora looks down at the stallion. She slowly leans over him bending towards his muzzle. She watches him slowly close his eyes not in repulsion but in quiet anticipation. She is surprised at how very attractive his muzzle looks. She does not know why but at this point she really does not care. She starts to get close to his muzzle with her lips. She lightly touches his lips with hers. He pushes his lips into hers as she starts to kiss him. They passionately kiss for some time. As they separate from their kiss they stare at each other wordlessly. Finally, Lora says, "This can't work between us. My Lion will kill you and possibly me as as well. My pride will not tolerate such a relationship."
Dran looks into his lioness' eyes with loving passion, "I know my love. It's no different with my herd. I don't know how long we will be allowed our lives if they were to find out. But, until they send us to The Great Savanna we will have are love."
Lora and Dran decide together that they need to run as far from the Pride and Herd territories as they can. During the long journey they learn about each other and their love grows stronger. They doubt that running away will protect them from what they know what will happen but at least it will extend the time that they will have together. What they didn't see was Sirna, Lora's youngest hunting sister, watching them from the tall grass in shock as the pair made their escape.
*******
One morning Lora wakes up with her neck fur bristling. She does not know quite what it is but there is defiantly something wrong. Dran asks what is bothering her. She tells him that she does not know but that they need to get moving, fast. As they travel Lora gets more nervous. It's not long before she spots signs that they are being shadowed. She tells Dran that the end is upon them, they have been found. They knew that this day would most likely come so they had made plans to try to escape that fate.
Uran and his two brothers have finally caught up to the two abominations. Long months of tracking since Sirna brought him the shocking news have finally paid off. They have cornered the lioness and pray animal at the edge of a cliff in the high mountains. The two would never survive the fall. Not even a feline, anthro or not, could survive from such a height. Uran is sure of his kill. He has planned for this during the long months. First, he will kill and eat the pray animal in front of the traitorous lioness. He might even make her eat part of her pray animal lover. Even after all this time the idea of a lioness living with, let alone breading with some pray animal still sickens him. Uran and his brothers surround their pray and start closing in on them. He knows that the accursed zebra will be within his claws soon. As the lions tighten the circle on their pray the lioness and zebra try to escape. Every time the lovers think they have an escape route they are cut off. The male lions are too fast for them. They have been backed to the cliff edge, spears and feline teeth and claws inches away. Uran levels his spear at the zebra. "Lora, you are at an end. There is nowhere left for you to run. If you kill... that thing... and give us its carcass to feast on, you might be allowed to return to the Pride and live. If we are forced to kill it ourselves, it will be your carcass that we carry back to the Pride."
Lora knows her choices. They could jump, but she knows that the fall to the river below is extremely dangerous, there is very little hope of surviving the plunge, and at best Dran's fragile legs would be broken. She could kill Dran quickly so he would know little pain. She could let the hunting party attack her and Dran, she may survive but they would take pleasure in prolonging Dran's suffering, and making her watch. Or, she could attack the hunting party herself and hope to keep them busy long enough for Dran to run. She makes her decision. Lora glances at Dran then glares at Uran with a look of determination in her eyes, "Uran, you leave me no other choice. There is no hope in any other action." Lora turns to Dran, "I wish there was something else I could do. But, this is the only choice left to me." Lora offers Dran her paw; she looks deeply into his eyes. "I love you," she says softly, and then she acts.