Janja and his crew has successfully caught an antelope, with full bellies and satisfied looks on their faces they headed on home.
Two hours has already past. It was abnormally windy in the Outlands tonight, some of the wind has even made it into the volcano despite the natural warmth in it.
Kilio slightly shivered at the slight chill the breeze carried. Everybody was asleep except for her, it's not that the breeze is bothering her, no, it was the dreams she saw whenever she closed her eyes.
Two streams of drying tears are on each side of her face while she tried her hardest to get some shut-eye only to wake up from a sad memory.
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"She's dead you moron, just give it up." Her older brother said. "She wasn't a very good grandma anyway."
Kilio turned to her brother with a furious and sad look.
"How could you say that? You never even spent time with her!" Kilio yelled. Her brother rolled his eyes and turned to the exit of the memorial cave. "She was a great grandmother, you just never cared."
"Whatever." He scoffed and left.
Kilio turned her attention back to her deceased grandmother who was placed along with the rest of their deceased relatives who are all but bones now.
"Why did you have to go.... You promised you'll stay with me." She asked with teary eyes.
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Kilio woke up from the re-playing memory, fresh tears rolled down her face while she breathes in shaking breaths. She wiped her tears away with her paw, it wasn't that it's anything new as every now and again she would have the same dream, but it doesn't make it any less of an impact on her.
Back at the South only her grandmother has ever truly cared for her, and before she met her grandmother she thought nobody would ever treat her the way everybody treats her brother, the star of the clan.
The Southern clan acted more like a kingdom of their own, often times the lead couple would have one cub and that cub would be pampered as they are almost worshipped for being born first and strong; however, sometimes two cubs will be born.
The first cub born are always stronger than the second, because of this they are seen more fit to lead the clan while the runts are left to die.
Kilio is the runt of the Southern clan as of today, she couldve died on the same day she was born if her grandmother hasn't stopped by to see her grandchildren and saw her deprived from milk, it took her grandmother's wrath to get her mother to let her nurse and a threat from the aged hyena to let her keep nursing until she grew stronger.
Her mother did..... for a little while, she stopped letting her nurse when she was 4 moons old, there was barely anything of her between skin and bones before her grandmother paid a visit from across the Outlands and found her the way she was.
Without her mother's milk she experienced stunted growth, her younger cousin was even bigger than her and he was younger than her by two moons. But her grandmother's concern is wether she'll make it or not.
Her grandmother is not a Southern Hyena so she didn't follow what the Southerns called normal, her grandmother is actually from a neighbouring clan of the Northern hyenas but doesn't directly live right next to them, it also means her mother isn't a Southern Hyena but has followed their ways because she felt more dominant by being that way and enjoyed it.
Her grandmother did everything to feed her, with the death of her mate a year ago and with no other offspring other than Kilio's mother and with no relatives she had to practically raise Kilio on her own.
That's why the death of Kilio's grandmother affected the cub's life so much, she was the missing figure in Kilio's life that Kilio never realised she needed.
"You promised you wouldn't leave me." Kilio said, facing the sky outside the den.
