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It’s been a few weeks since Wemmbu recovered from his illness and things have gone back to normal. Mostly.
For Mane, the last few weeks had been a major change, at least training wise. Although the way he trained Flame hadn’t changed, Mane had completely flipped how he trained Wemmbu. While Wemmbu was recovering, Mane had gone through every book on training humans in combat that he could get his hands on. He actually studied the limitations of a human body and reworked his training plans around it. He managed his expectations to something that was more reachable for Wemmbu, while still pushing him to improve.
And when he put that plan into action, he found himself very impressed. Wemmbu was fast, even for a human. He had hybrid-like reflexes and his physical strength was nothing to scoff at. What Mane found out was that Wemmbu’s biggest strength is how quickly he can learn new things.
Mane should have expected it, really. When he first started teaching Wemmbu how to speak, it only took a few weeks for him to start saying simple words, even when all the books said it could take anywhere between a few months to a year to start speaking. Mane had thought it was because Wemmbu was determined to stop being called ‘Lilac’, but it might just be a skill of his.
Wemmbu showed to be really good with a sword and axe, while being proficient with a bow. He seems to be having fun with the crossbow, shooting it at trees and giggling. Flame had given him some fireworks (while Mane’s back was turned, the little shit) and after he showed his younger brother how to load them into the crossbow, Flame ran inside to take cover as Wemmbu ran around cackling. Mane chased after the youngest in panic, internally reminding himself to scold Flame later for causing the chaos.
Mane had finally grabbed hold of the back of Wemmbu’s shirt, picking him up as if scruffing a kitten (and Mane’s instincts were enjoying that a bit too much). After confiscating the crossbow and fireworks, the eldest brother decided that it was lunch time and dragged the whining Wemmbu inside while calling for Flame.
Mane watched as his younger brothers argued over random things while they ate lunch when a sudden thought came to his mind from when Wemmbu was delirious with a fever.
‘I’m happy you didn’t eat me that day.’
Right, Mane was extremely confused when his brother said that. As far as he knew, he never planned to eat his brother.
“Lilac?” Mane hummed, catching both of his brother’s attention.
Wemmbu and Flame tilted their heads in unison, “Yeah?”
“What did you mean that day you were sick?”
Wemmbu’s eyes furrowed, “What did I say?”
“Oh!” Flame sat up in his chair, “I remember! You said ‘I’m happy you didn't eat me that day’!”
“Ah…” Wemmbu nodded, “Yes, I’m very happy to not be eaten.”
Mane’s eyebrow raised, “And when were you going to be eaten?”
“When we met!” Wemmbu smiled.
Flame snickered as Mane’s eyes widened, “What? By who?”
“By you?”
Flame wheezed, “Oh my god…!”
“WHAT?!” Mane laughed in disbelief, “I was never going to eat you? I don’t eat people!”
“Yes you were? That’s why you originally picked me up, isn’t it?”
“No????”
Flame wheezed harder, “He thought you were going to eat him!!!”
“Well, why else did you pick me up?” Wemmbu was so confused.
Mane huffed, “Because I wanted another brother!”
“What?!” Wemmbu gasped, “You wanted another brother so you just picked up a random child?!”
“Yes!” Mane thought that it was perfectly reasonable.
Flame fell from his chair as Wemmbu’s jaw dropped, “You can’t just take a random child?! What if I had a family?!”
“You didn’t…” Mane trailed off as he heard how strange that sounded out loud, before deciding to just go with it, “You didn’t end up having one so it’s all good!”
Wemmbu was genuinely concerned for Flame’s health as he continued to wheeze on the ground, “What would you have done if I did end up having a family? Give me back to them?”
Mane remained quiet for a moment before replying, “Finders, keepers.”
Flame’s wheezing stopped just long enough to inhale a deep breath before he cackled again, “No way! No fucking way! MANE!!!!!”
Wemmbu’s jaw dropped, “MANE! THAT’S CALLED KIDNAPPING!”
Mane shrugged without a care in the world, “If they left you like that, then they didn’t deserve you.”
That was actually kind of sweet, though Wemmbu may have gotten his older brothers fucked up morals, “Mane…” he sighed, defeated.
Flame - after finally calming down - picked himself up off the floor and spoke up through his heaving breaths, “Can we go back to Wemmbu thinking you were going to eat him?”
Wemmbu winced, having hoped they forgot about that bit, “A large lion man came out from nowhere and randomly picked me up! What else was I supposed to think?!”
“I wasn’t going to eat you…” Mane pouted, genuinely offended that someone would think that of him.
Wemmbu sighed as his eldest brother pulled him close, “I know that now.”
Flame giggled again, “What, did you think he was going to cook you too?”
Wemmbu was silent as a bead of sweat fell from his brow.
…
“OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!” Flame fell to the floor once again, the wheezing coming back full force.
“Lilac…” Mane sounded like he was about to cry.
Wemmbu groaned, “I WAS 8!!!!!!!”
Despite Wemmbu’s protests, Flame continued to wheeze himself half to suffocation as Mane continued to pout in offence. Wemmbu sighed, but inwardly smiled as Mane rubbed their heads together while whining about how he’d never even resort to cannibalism, let alone cannibalising his own brother.
His older brothers may be stupid, but he loves them all the same. He’s glad that Mane found him that day, he’s even more happy that Mane decided to keep him. Wemmbu wonders what his life would be like if he had never been found that day. Would he still have survived? Would he still know his brothers? What would their relationship be in this hypothetical life?
Brothers again? Friends? Acquaintances? Enemies?
~
“You’re a lost cause.”