Golden Plains: Layisha *finished, but I'll be adding the chapters a couple at a time* Chapter 28 & Epilogue added!

Yayness! =D

Added!

OMG. That was cool.

Awesome! =D

Ooh! New chappies. I'll go read.

Ooh. Who's Ariyah??? It's really good though!

Thankerz! I'll add more in a minute.

I like this one too Ratty.

Thankiez.

Added!

I love it!

Thanks!

Swelcome!

HA! I knew it!

xD That was awesome.

Thankerz, Kat.

Chapter 12
“Excuse me,” I mumbled, pushing past him. I ran through of the camp and out onto the savannah, feeling like I was going to be sick.
The combination of Ariyeh’s past and Liu’s tale combined to create a flood of memories from before I’d joined the Makuu.
I remembered being a cub, maybe two moons old, and stumbling out with my sister at my side to hide in the bushes while our mother talked to a lion we’d never seen before. He’d left, and that’s when she’d given up on life.
Everything made sense, and I couldn’t stand it.
I didn’t know why I was so against Liu being my father. I just... hated it. Hated it with every fiber of my being.
I huddled beneath the shading canopy of a large acacia tree, feeling small and insignificant.
After a while, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, standing up and stretching my cramped muscles. The sun was halfway to the horizon, giving me plenty of time before dark, and I decided to hunt to take my mind off of Liu.
I closed my eyes, tasting the breeze. It carried with it a strong scent of zebra and I opened my eyes, beginning to lope towards it at a steady pace.
The scent grew stronger as I traveled and finally I crouched on a small hillock above the herd, watching them through the clump of tall grass that hid me.
“Need any help?”
I jumped and spun around, miraculously not scaring away the herd.
“Have you been following me?” I snapped.
“No, of course not,” Liu said calmly, gazing at me. “You didn’t come back and I was worried, so I came to find you.”
“You have no need to,” I hissed. “I’ve taken care of myself before you showed up, and I can take care of myself now.”
The slightest glimmer of hurt showed in his eyes. “In case you don’t recall, when I met you you weren’t exactly doing so well. And I know pride hunting techniques usually involve hunting as a group, so I’ll ask you again: Do you need help?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Besides, lions don’t hunt.”
“Oh really? How do you suppose I survived all those moons on my own?”
“Then you can go hunt them yourself,” I said coldly, turning and sprinting down the hillock.

Chapter 13
“Ow,” I mumbled, pulling my paw out of the meerkat burrow I’d twisted it in. One of the annoying little creatures chattered at me and then dove down another hole.
I held my paw off the ground for a moment, and then set it down gingerly, continuing with a slight limp back to camp.
As I neared it, a low wail carried across the savannah. Ignoring the pain in my paw, I sprinted the rest of the way there to find everyone gathered tightly near one of the nursery dens. Another wail sounded from the middle of the crowd as the scent of a lot of blood found its way into my nose.
I pushed myself through, scared of what I would find when I managed to make it to the front.
Jette was lying on her side, her swollen black flank rising and falling rapidly as she tried to birth her cubs. Ponya hovered over her, trying to help, while Jette’s mate, Winter, crouched by her side, whispering words of encouragement, though his white fur was bristling in alarm, and her parents, Chifu and Ti, watched nervously. Beside them stood Jette’s siblings, Neiv and Taye, and Taye’s mate, Autumn, murmured a few words of comfort before shepherding her confused cubs back to their den. She cast one worried glance back to her mate and his family before disappearing inside after them.
“Everyone who doesn’t need to be here, back off,” Ponya ordered sharply. “She needs space.”
The pride obeyed, drifting away, but many hovering at the edges to watch.
Feeling worn out, I padded into Ariyeh’s den only to find her sightless eyes wide with alarm.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her ears pricking as I came in. “I smell blood!”
“Jette’s having her cubs, but something's gone wrong,” I said quietly. Ariyeh didn’t have anything to say to that.

Chapter 14
The next moon was more or less uneventful. Jette survived, but she lost both her cubs. Liu was accepted easily into the pride, teaching the males some fighting moves he’d developed on his own.
Both Ruka and Ariyeh’s wounds had mostly healed and Ruka had started some of her normal duties again. Nobody was really sure what Ariyeh was going to do; because of her blindness she’d learned styles of hunting that were unfamiliar to us. She’d tried to teach a few of us, but it wasn’t easy and I didn’t know how she’d done it.
We’d grown closer, but one thing still kept us a little apart: Liu fascinated her, and I still despised him.
Alir and I had been around each other more as well, and I now considered him one of my closest friends.
But my past still haunted me, and sometimes I didn’t feel like I belonged in the pride at all. Nearly every night I found it difficult to sleep and I wandered out to the moonlit savannah.
One day when my loneliness was particularly bad, all I wanted was to creep into a dark corner and hide, but I was a terrible liar, and Ariyeh kept at me till I finally gave in and told her.
“You know I have the same parents,” she reminded me gently. “It doesn’t bother me. And he is our father.”
“And that’s supposed to make me love him? Besides, it’s not the same,” I complained, frustrated that she didn’t get it. “I can’t remember anything from before joining the pride. All I knew before all this was that I came to the pride starved and half-dead. I was accepted and that was that. You’ve never known what it’s like to belong to something and then suddenly to feel left out and different-”
I broke off, wishing instantly that I could take the words back. Her cloudy brown eyes bored into me, the pain and anger in them plain for me to see.
“Do you really think that?” she asked, her voice rough and cold. “You know nothing about me. Nothing.”
She turned around and padded slowly away.

Chapter 15
I couldn’t stand this. I needed to get out of camp right now. I sprinted past my surprised pridemates, almost not noticing when I knocked a few of them over.
I ran and ran until I finally curled up into a ball, sobbing, between the roots of an acacia.
Jalai.
I raised my head, but as far as I could tell through tear-blurred eyes, there was nobody around.
My imagination?
Jalai.
No, someone had just spoken in my head. Spoken my name, my old name, the one I never used.
My Jalai.
“Mother?” I whispered.
A shimmering image stepped out from the tree trunk, a graceful lioness who looked almost exactly like Ariyeh - and me.
“Mother,” I repeated, no longer a question.
She smiled at me, her eyes soft and gentle.
You must remember that what you feel is all in your head. The pride thinks no differently of you for knowing your past.
“But I-”
You are no different, she interrupted. You do belong in the pride.
I dipped my head, speechless.
I am sad that we were together for so short a time. But remember that no matter how much you may dislike Liu, he is your father. Be kind to him. And Ariyeh has gone through things you could only imagine. Let her be, at least until she decides to tell you.
A faint voice called over the savannah, and I could just make out my name.
I must go, Ronya told me, gazing at me with love and pride. But know that I will always walk with you. She stepped forward to touch her nose to mine, and as we touched her image wavered and disappeared.
I stared at the place where she’d vanished, my paws frozen to the dry ground, until I heard a voice from just behind me.
“Layisha?”
I spun around, squinting to make out Alir’s face in the darkness and suddenly realizing that it was nighttime.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently, taking a step forward, and I realized I didn’t know the answer.
Then suddenly my face was buried in his fur as I sobbed, sobbed for the mother I never really knew and the father who I hated when I didn’t even really know why and the sister who had obviously experienced something terrible she didn’t want to share and just... everything.
Alir didn’t pull away, just tried to calm me down, and when it was clear that it wasn’t going to work simply waited patiently for me to cry myself out.
When I had, when I knew I had no more tears inside me, I shivered despite the warmth of his fur and he pressed himself closer. When I looked up I could see the concern in his eyes.
“I love you,” I realized suddenly, the words springing unbidden to my tongue.
He smiled at me, and the happiness in his eyes was all I needed to tell me that he loved me too.

Chapter 16
I padded up to Liu, who was sitting alone beside a small boulder, only about as large as him. He looked up as I approached, slight wariness showing in his eyes.
I dipped my head to him respectfully, and before I turned away I saw the corner of his mouth twitch in just a hint of a smile.
I’d decided that I would do my best not to hate him. Now, he was nothing special to me, just another member of the pride. But he was my father, whether I liked it or not, and I would respect that.
I padded away, searching the camp for Ariyeh to find her sitting in her little den - she never did adjust to sleeping with other lions - and staring blankly at the wall, though she couldn’t see it.
She jumped up as I approached and she must have identified me by smell, because her eyes were cold and unfriendly.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, before she could get any words out. “I know I don’t have any idea what it was like or what happened to you or anything, and I had no right to say what I did and I-”
I broke off as she flicked her tail and her eyes softened.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I overreacted.”
I smiled a little. “You did.”
She rolled her eyes and padded out of the den, and after a few moments I padded out after her, heading straight for the dark brown lion waiting on the other side of camp.
“Everything taken care of?” Alir asked, touching his muzzle to my ear affectionately in greeting.
“Everything’s done,” I agreed, twining our tails, and I hoped it would stay that way for all the moons to come.
I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Chapter 17
A few days later, I uncurled from my nest, glancing around at the surprisingly empty den. I stood up, stretching, and padded out, realizing when I saw a crowd around the Roarstone that I must have just missed Chifu’s roar. I sped up, stopping and sitting down next to Alir.
He smiled absently at me, distracted by what Chifu was saying, and I turned my attention up to the Roarstone as well.
“Two of other prides, the Fahari and the Brei, have formed an alliance,” he said, his eyes full of quiet anger. “They are planning to drive us out to get our territory. And if we won’t leave... they’ll try to kill us all.”
Frightened murmurs spread through the pride until one voice rose above the rest.
“How do we know about it?” Summer called. The rest of the pride quieted down, anxious to hear the answer.
“They sent us a message via one of their lions,” Chifu answered. “The exact words were, ‘Leave or die.’”
The murmuring began again.
“What are we going to do?” a golden lioness called Lora asked, her voice raised to be heard.
“We will fight,” Chifu said determinedly. “We will be ready for them when they come for us, and we will do what it takes to remain in our home!”
The pride yowled its agreement until Chifu flicked his tail, signaling silence.
“I want four lions to go and take our reply to the other prides. Two to the Fahari, two to the Brei.”
“I’ll go,” Alir volunteered quickly, standing up. I looked up at him with worry stamped all over my features. “I’ll be fine,” he added in a whisper, giving me a small smile.
“I’ll go as well,” Liu offered. “But not to the Fahari,” he added quickly.
Chifu nodded in agreement. “And the other two?”
“I’ll do it,” Winter called.
“Me too,” Morl, one of the learners, offered.
Chifu shook his head. “I’m sorry, Morl, this is a job for adults. If a fight breaks out you need to be able to fully defend yourself.”
Morl sat back down, looking disappointed, and I saw Ruka touch her tail to his shoulder and murmur a few words into his ear.
“I’ll go with Winter,” a lion named Naire said finally.
“Fine,” Chifu said. “Alir and Liu will go to the Brei, and Winter and Naire will go to the Fahari.”
He jumped down off the Roarstone, dismissing the meeting.
I looked at Alir again and opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.
“I’ll be fine,” he promised again. “There’s nothing to worry about, you’ll see.”

Chapter 18
The two little patrols were just getting ready to leave.
“Just they try to drive us out,” Pegg, one of Autumn’s cubs, boasted to his mother and sister, flexing his claws. “I’ll give them something to remember me by.”
Autumn smiled indulgently. “I’m sure you will.”
Lin gazed in obvious admiration at her brother, then turned to Autumn. “Why can’t lionesses fight?” she squeaked indignantly. “It’s not fair!”
“That’s just the way it is,” the russet lioness answered, glancing anxiously at her brother and then herding the cubs away.
I stared at them, stricken. The sight of Pegg’s tiny claws had brought back memories of the dream I’d had the night before. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough.
The reek of blood, raking claws, a flash of teeth, searing pain, and then nothing.
I gazed at Alir, already loping away across the savannah, and it was all I could do to stop myself from letting out a cry of alarm.
“He’ll be okay,” someone murmured from beside me, and I turned to see Ruka staring after him as well, her eyes dark with worry. “This is what he’s trained for, after all.”
I shook my head, my voice not rising above a whisper. “What if it’s not enough?”

~~

The story continues on page 9.

Thanks!

I might add more today, and if not, tomorrow.

Haha, I knew you were gonna say that. XD Okay, fine, I'll add some more. XD

I don't know what sounds meerkats actually make, but whatev. XD

Yay! That was awesome.