It is a perfect day to die.
The morning was bright in that grey-ish, Oceanside way, the air was crisp but not cold, and the breeze was brisk and just strong enough to ruffle the gold and crimson fur of the lioness that stalked confidently across the dirt and stone. Only her smile and the occasional twitch of an ear belied the excitement hidden beneath a purposeful gait. And Sunna was excited.
Her future began today.
When she was a cub, Sunna had become completely enthralled by a skilled - albeit, slightly eccentric - lioness in the pride and taken almost every opportunity to watch her as she worked. That lioness had been one of the pride's Priestesses, and from that moment on Sunna knew what she wanted her future to be. She, of course, had been required to wait until she was old enough to be apprenticed. Then, she had to wait some more, until she wasn't the only aspirant ready for schooling. She understood, but Gods she hated it, and today the waiting was finally over. She was headed to the temple now to meet with the priestesses and the other hopefuls; headed to initiation.
From the word that was going around the pride - never whispered directly to her, being one of the subjects and all - Sunna had gathered that there were three lionesses aside from herself that were being evaluated. Word also had it that at least two of them were already expected to fail; after all, there could only be so many Priestesses in the pride. Sunna had been told that one of the current Priestesses was getting on in age and her body and mind weren't serving her as well as she'd like, so she was preparing to relinquish her position, but the wheat-colored lioness wasn't sure what other slots were open among the ranks. Normally, Sunna was a confident creature and would have disregarded the rumor entirely; however, not knowing the other lionesses she was up against or how many openings there were admittedly had her a little on edge. Still, she strode forward with poise, her destination in sight - a small outcrop of stone that formed a stepped wall, high enough at the top to have to look up but still within jumping range, and shaped similarly to a crescent moon, thus creating a little half-stadium of sorts. She was sure this was the place the Priestesses had told her to come to.
Be under the moon when the sun is at its highest, three days from now. The message they had all been given to decipher in order to find the meeting place. If they couldn't figure it out or didn't receive some sign as to the answer, clearly they needn't bother coming. Sunna herself had had a dream about this place two nights before and had spent the following day trying to locate it, led only by the landmarks from her dream and a strange feeling in her chest telling her she whether she was headed the right way. The stone wall was within the pride's lands, but near to the edge of the sheer cliffs that dropped into the ocean, and so not a place that Sunna - or, she suspected, many of her pridemates - had ever visited.
Sunna was the second to arrive. The Priestesses were nowhere in sight - undoubtedly watching, but waiting until the precise moment they had told the aspirants to be present to make an appearance. The other lioness was one Sunna had seen around the pride, a slim-built wisp, all white but for a red face that made her permanently look as though she had just made a very messy kill. Sunna believed her name was Hroka, and she was full of enough hot air to unbalance an elephant, surely one of the most pompous beasts in existence, though she'd never been known to actually lift a paw and prove her apparent worth. Most of the males did everything for her, so she never saw the need, and it seemed she had all the ferocity but none of the desire to mar her pretty face. The pale lioness groaned inwardly, praying to every God there was that this was one of the students that didn't pass the test.
Sunna sat down calmly, wrapping her tail around her paws, and looked to the sun. It was almost time for the Priestesses to arrive. As she looked down, Sunna caught sight of the next lioness to turn up. This one, she had never seen before, but she wasn't surprised about that at all - she practically slithered up on her belly, she was cowering so low, her muddied grey and brown coat making her almost disappear into the landscape. Sunna lifted one eyebrow in a slightly surprised and definitely unimpressed expression and turned away, not bothering to pay any mind to a whimpering creature like that. Lions with temperaments such as her's were fit to be nothing more than Thralls.
"I guess no one told you - flower-bloods don't make it very far in the Stromborn." Hroka simpered on her other side. Sunna shot her a glare, revolted and bewildered. Sure, you needed to be strong to hold any sort of standing in this pride, and sure, this one was not. But that didn't mean picking on her was necessary.
"Oh, shut it, Hroka." Sunna spat with her teeth bared. She lashed her tail once and settled to the side, revealing her extended claws and the blunt intention to use them should Hroka push too far.
Just as expected, Hroka didn't want to start a fight. But being one who always had to have the last word, she shot Sunna a disdainful stare and growled, "Whatever. Little flower-blood isn't worth this."
The bone-marked lioness shook her head and turned her attention back to the top of the bluff. She watched with eyes narrowed against the sun, waiting for the Priestesses to show up. She didn't have to wait long - three priestesses padded to the edge of the outcrop, emanating power and grace, one in front of each aspirant and staring down at them. The Priestess in the middle, a white and grey patched lioness with enrapturing golden eyes, spoke in a voice that commanded attention.
"You three have found this place, and therefore must be worthy of being tested. The supposed fourth clearly was not. Let's begin."
The Priestess in front of the cowering lioness, a contrastingly bright blue lioness with bold black markings, stepped forward. She fixed her eyes on her pupil, gentle and pitying but stern. "Initiate. Your training begins today. You will need to show me you have the courage and power needed to continue past sundown. Let's go." The sapphire lioness leaped down and stopped in front of her apprentice, waiting for her to rise before padding off with her timid student in tow.
Next was the Priestess in front of Hroka, a lioness as black as night with eyes as dark as her coat and a voice like rolling thunder. She stared down at her pupil with obvious distaste. "Initiate. Your training begins today. You must learn respect if you are to succeed and avoid angering the Gods. Try and show me you can have humility." She seemed to glide down the wall, like a shadow flowing across the rocks, and strode past Hroka without even a glance.
Finally, the white and grey lioness looked upon Sunna, her expression revealing nothing of her thoughts or feelings. "Initiate. Your training begins today. You must learn to accept your heritage as part of you, or else let go of it, to truly be a part of this pride. Follow me."
Sunna flinched at the words, but nevertheless rose and accompanied her mentor as she walked past. She had struggled her entire life with being half-rogue. Her father was the son of a God and a Reaver in the pride, and her mother was his Thrall. While she was claimed by a Reaver and therefore seen as Freeborn, there were those that still shamed her for her maternal half and it stung her. She had wished she could be full-blooded. Now she must learn to either be at peace with her rogue-blood or pretend it wasn't there - neither of which would be an easy task. On top of that, she needed to learn to be a Priestess. She strolled after her silent mentor as the pale lioness led the way to her test, thinking hard about which path she would take and how she would manage it. By the time they arrived, she'd decided.
Sunna was half-rogue, and no one would ever make her feel shame for her heritage again.