All things come to an end, Ari learnt, the wet season gave way to the dry season, new wilderbeast calves grew up and then fell prey to lions in the great 'Circle of Life' that her father had taught all his cubs about and, eventually, young males left their birth pride to wander the savannah.

And so it soon enough was Kayode and Jiro's turn to leave.

Ari hated to be parted from her older brother, although she was the source of endless annoyance to her brother, she would miss him the most. Kayode had been there all her life and so it would be painful to part with him and know that she may never see or her of him again.

Although Kayode and Jiro weren't the first cubs to leave the pride. Ari's elder half-sister, Zuri, had disappeared many months before and no one had heard from her since. Secretly, no one was really sad that she had left, save for their father and her mother Baako.

Yet Kayode and Jiro's departure was full of both sadness and hope for the young males' futures.

Ari was easily one of the most depressed, next to Jalena, about them leaving. She approached Kayode just before he and Jiro left for good with a watery smile and tears in her sapphire eyes.

"Oh big brother." she called although her voice wavered slightly. Kayode cringed as he normally did when she uttered that phrase and turned to face her.

"Hi Ari." he replied in his customary tone of annoyannce but Ari knew this time he didn't mean it. They both stood silent for a moment, the memories of cubhood racing through their minds before Ari spoke.

"I'm going to miss you, Kayode." she managed, the lump in her throat growing larger "P-Promise me you'll stay safe." Kayode gave her a small smile and gave her a one-armed hug as the tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She didn't want to let him go. She wanted to follow him like she always did but she knew that this time she couldn't follow. She had her duty to the pride and Kayode had to go with Jiro and find his own.

"Don't worry, sis, I'll be fine. I promise as soon as I find a pride you can come and join."

"Promise?" she asked pulling away so she could look him in the eye.

"Yeah. I promise. Now don't look so sad. Go find someone else to bother." the last part was their usual parting phrase, usually uttered through a tone of annoyance but this time it had a bittersweet quality to it.

Kayode turned away from them all and left the pride with Jiro. It would be the last time that Ari saw him.

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Thunder rumbled in the sky, dark storm clouds gathered and there was a general feeling of unease in Judas's pride. No one quite knew what was causing it but young and old alike felt it and dreaded whatever was causing it.

Ari's sapphire eyes focused on the distant horizon where the dark grey clouds were coming from, a storm was coming.

And come it did.

Late in the afternoon a shout went up as a figure was spotted approaching. Everyone immediately readied themselves, under the impression it was a rogue looking to take over the pride. Yet as the figure approached it became clear that it wasn't a male but a female, a very familiar female. Zuri.

At first there was joy at her arrival, many of them had assumed she had perished on the savannah...then they noticed the dried blood on her fur and the crazed look in her eyes.

"Zuri?" Baako stepped forward to greet her daughter, although no one blamed her for the note of caution in her voice and step.

"Mother, so nice to see you." Zuri returned the greeting, not noticing or choosing to ignore the fear in her family "I come bearing the best news."

Fear was momentarily replaced with intrigue.

"My brother, Kayode, is dead."

Silence as everyone absorbed the news. Then Zuri spoke again.

"It was truly pathetic." she mused "He went down so easily, I really expected him to put up much more of a fight. Such a shame. I would have thought he would have been a much better fighter. Pity. It made killing him so much faster. I would have prefered he fought back more."

Silence was ended with shouts of shock and anger. Insults  were spat at her whilst others was still absorbing Zuri's statements. Zuri had killed Kayode. She had murdered her own brother.

"You see now, father." Zuri shouted over the ruckus at Judas "You see how Kayode was weak! You see how I am so much better than him? Do you? I killed Kayode. That miserable excuse for a lion deserved--"

Smack.

Zuri hadn't expected the attack and so was thrown to the ground. Crazed eyes found the culprit. Ari, standing glaring down at her.

"Murderer." she spat "How could you? How could you murder Kayode? He was our brother! Your brother, Zuri! How could you?"

"Ooh, touch a nerve did I, Sissy?"

Sissy, the mocking childhood nickname that Zuri often called her. It only served to increase the fury that was building in Ari's chest. She raised her paw again and slashed Zuri's cheek. Blood dribbled down and Zuri grinned manaically at her.

"A bit old for slapping your siblings, aren't you Sissy? C'mon Ari, fight like a real lioness."

Zuri lunged at Ari, knocking the younger lioness off her feet, Ari growled and kicked at Zuri's stomach. The older lioness was flung over Ari's head allowing her to get up and lunge. She tackled Zuri, claws slashing and teeth clamping down on any available body part. Zuri flung her off eventually and soon it was Ari's turn to recieve a beating.

"Pathetic." Zuri's smile sent a shivver of fear down Ari "You're almost as weak as he was. Goodbye Sissy, say hi to Kayode for won't you?"

Ari shut her eyes but instead of having Zuri's jaws clamped around her throat, there was several roars and a yell of

"Not my daughter you witch!"

Ari opened her eyes to find most of the pride were now attacking Zuri, save for Enu who was still standing shocked and Jalena. Ari pushed herself to her paws again and soon joined the fray. No one knew how Zuri managed to become such a good fighter but she was soon showing her skill, beating off Baako, Tamu and Neema with ease. Zuri snarled and slashed at anyone within arms reach of her, Then her crazed eyes honed in on Jalena.

No one knew what Zuri was about to do until she had sprung. Thankfully the timely arrival of Jiro and a lioness no one knew stopped her and distracted Zuri long enough for Ari to sneak up behind her.

Ari pounced with a roar, slamming Zuri to the ground and clamping her jaws over the insane lioness's throat. Ari didn't let go until Zuri had stopped moving. And so another thing came to an end.

--------------------

It wasn't long before Ari left the pride for good. It just wasn't home anymore to her. She needed to find her own path.

Eventually she met a group of lions and lionesses, travelling to find lands of their own and they readily accepted her. She quickly found a new home amongst them. After a long time travelling they found unoccupied lands, lush and green with many great herds.

A new pride was born.

Ari learnt then that an ending often signalled the beginning of something new.