Chapter Text
The sleep this time wasn’t like the peaceful induced darkness from getting smashed into a tree. Wemmbu tossed and turned fitfully, sweat beading on his brow.
The blackness this time seemed suffocating, pressing down on him from all sides, slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs. Whimpering, Wemmbu turned on his side, grasping the pendant tightly in one hand.
Unfortunately, all this spasming had caused a riot of noise, and unbeknownst to him, someone had spotted him.
It slunk closer, their steps silent with predatory grace. Wemmbu, oblivious, was still deep in his dream paralysis.
It reached out with clawed hands, wrapping them around his tiny, frail body and lifting him up.
In that exact moment, Wemmbu’s eyes snapped open, only to find himself dangling in the air and a face only inches away from his own. He yelped, writhing.
“Yo chill! Calm down- OW!” The person winced as Wemmbu bit down, his tiny fangs sinking into skin. “Stop!”
That only made him bite down harder, the metallic tang of blood flooding his mouth.
Eventually, the person dropped him, and he immediately sprang up, his tail bristling.
The figure was huge, broad shoulders wrapped in a thick traveling cloak and rimmed with fur. A pair of ears sat atop gold-highlighted blonde dreads, and somewhere behind him, a fluffy tail swished in annoyance. A blindfold was wrapped around his eyes, but Wemmbu could still see his expression of pain just fine.
“Jesus, what are you, a cat?” the person muttered, examining the puncture marks on his hand.
Wemmbu didn’t say anything, just kept glaring at him. After deeming that the wounds weren’t deep, he knelt down, reaching another hand out. Immediately, Wemmbu jumped back, covering his face.
“Please don’t eat me!” It came out in a squeaky voice, and he immediately clamped his mouth shut.
The lion hybrid paused, before his eyebrows scrunched up. Was he… offended?
“Eat you, why would I do that?” Yup, he was definitely offended.
“I uh…” Wemmbu stuttered, his face warming.
“Seriously, why would I eat you? Do I look like I could eat you?” The hybrid’s ears twitched unhappily.
Yea, I really won’t think someone will eat me if they’re three times my size; Wemmbu was tempted to say, instead, he kept his mouth shut, his ears reddening.
The lion sighed, “I’m Manepear, what about you?”
Manepear? What type of parents just jams two random things together and calls it a name?
He tilted his head, and Manepear must’ve mistaken that as confusion, because he smiled and said something else, pronouncing each syllable like he was talking to a toddler.
“I’m Ma-ane Pe-ar. My na-me.” He pointed to himself.
God, what was he, stupid? Wemmbu could speak, and very well, if he said so himself. He had started babbling words since he was about ten months old, according to Techno.
But Manepear didn’t know that. “Yo-u ca-n ca-ll me Ma-ane.”
GOD.
“I can speak.” Wemmbu snapped, crossing his arms. ”I’m not a baby dawg.”
Mane stopped abruptly, staring at the miniscule child in front of him.
“I’m seven.” He added, pouting.
In Mane’s defense, the child in front of him was so small he looked five.
“Well, I’m Mane, um. What’s your name?”
“Wemmbu.” He muttered, still glaring at the six foot something hybrid.
“Well, Wemmbu, you’re coming home with me.”
What?
Wemmbu was so confused that his face lost its frown, instead creasing into an incredulous look.
“Coming home with you? You mean your house?” He backed away.
“Yea, so I can adopt you.” Yo, what? He gazed incredulously at the lion, his tail had stopped swishing in shock. Seriously? This hybrid stumbles across a person in the forest and immediately decides to adopt him?
Before Wemmbu could react, Mane scooped him up and proceeded to carry him through the jungle, with a very confused Wemmbu in his arms.
Maybe it was because of yesterday, maybe it was because of fatigue, but somehow it took him two full minutes to comprehend what was going on.
But when he did, he immediately started thrashing around.
“Yo DAWG! YOU CANNOT JUST PICK UP A CHILD AND ADOPT THEM! I’M A MINOR!” Wemmbu beat his fists on Mane’s shoulder, but his blows may have just been a fly.
“Stop moving, I’m gonna drop you!” Mane just adjusted his grip, continuing to trudge through the jungle.
“DID YOU EVEN HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID!?” The boy asked.
“Well, why can’t I adopt you? You’re all alone in the middle of an uninhabited jungle, and you’re cute, so I don’t see why not?” Dawg, this guy was crazy.
CRAZY.
They continued yelling at each other, but, the events from yesterday must’ve caught up to him and Wemmbu eventually stopped fighting.
It wasn’t so bad, Mane was warm, and the fur of his coat was nice and soft compared to the hard ground he’d been sleeping on.
Wemmbu nestled deeper in, sinking into the fuzzy warmth, his eyes half-lidded. He let himself relax, playing idly with the strands tickling his face.
Ok, maybe in his unknown heritage, there was a cat or some sort of feline mixed in there because he felt a purr rise in his throat.
~
Mane stared down at the small purple child in his arms, playing with the fur of his cloak.
He grinned, a purr of his own rumbling through his chest.
He had been wandering around, looking for some food to spear when he stumbled across Wemmbu.
He had heard some rustling nearby, and his ears had pricked up.
Thinking it was prey, he’d stalked closer, only to find him.
The kid had been sleeping under a jungle tree, curled around the roots. He had a couple leaves dusting his hair and shoulders and he was shivering, like deathly cold shivering.
Mane's instincts had immediately been triggered. His instincts had always been triggered by anything cute or vulnerable, and that child was definitely both.
He had tried to pick him up, but at that moment, Wemmbu woke up, and decided that Mane was an actual lion.
Even now, he could still see the red marks on his hand.
Ow.
But glancing at the half-asleep child in his arms, he felt a new rush of affection. He hugged him closer, nuzzling his head against Wemmbu’s.
__________
It was almost night when they got back home, the sky bruising red and purple.
The large jungle tree he called home towered over the rest of them, its branches arcing out into the air.
Winding stairs were carved around the edges and a large door rested at the end of the path.
The lanterns lining the path cast a warm glow, filling the air with a pleasant, honeyed atmosphere.
Mane made his way down, boots crunching under the small pebbles. When he reached the large oak door, he awkwardly shifted his arms around so Wemmbu was still cradled in one arm. Hoping he didn’t wake him up, and a certain other feisty animal, he pushed the door open as quietly as he could.
“MANE.” He winced at the sound. Guess the idea of sneaking in home unnoticed when out the window. He sighed, and prepared himself to face the fiery wrath, literally.
Flame stormed into the room, arms crossed, tail lit on fire flickering behind him.
Mane sighed at his thirteen year old brother.
“You said you’d be back before sunset. It’s after sunset.” His younger sibling always had a thing with rules, and sticking to them, to a varying degree.
His red and orange tipped black dreads fell over his face covered in a fabric blindfold. A pair of striped ears adorned his head as well as a pair of now-glowing horns.
“Flame, Flame, please before you get mad, hear me out. I was out hunting, but I had.. A… little detour.” He reached his arms out, displaying the child hidden under the folds of their cloak.
Flame’s eyes widened as he stared at the child, now snoring peacefully.
“You brought a kid home!?”