Makosa motioned for Ishara to follow him, which the young cub did trustingly after a quick glance at her mother to get her permission. Sukanya seemed happy though, sitting with Tega and the avian and simply chatting. She looked more relaxed than she had in a long time, Ishara noted with a small look of confusion. Still, she followed her ‘brother’ obediently, curious. “How do you like the Koti, Ishara?” Makosa asked, smiling.
“It’s ok,” Ishara said, rather unconcerned with lying. “It’s a bit boring.” It all seemed…really dull. Maybe that was just because she was born a rogue, so staying in one place seemed rea`lly dull to her. Weird, perhaps, but she liked how Sukanya lived her life. Free and always moving. How did Makosa not get bored?
“It’s not boring,” Makosa protested lightly. “It’s safe which may sound boring to you now, but when you grow up…trust me, you’ll crave it.”
Ishara snorted. “Doubt it,” she muttered under her breath. Makosa heard but didn’t push it, knowing he might have to pick his battles with the sassy young feline that shared a similar DNA to him now.
“Mother tells me you have been having bad dreams,” Makosa didn’t know how else to bring it up so he took the direct approach. Ishara blinked and shrugged.
“Well yeah, why would she tell you that?” She frowned. Everyone had bad dreams, didn’t they?
“Because I used to have bad dreams when I was your age, but they weren’t just ordinary bad dreams,” he explained patiently. He had taken her near the waters, and motioned for her to jump onto the rock by the edge so that he could speak with her more easily. She was tiny and craning his neck down was starting to hurt. He was going to have to get used to it, for whenever he and Tega had their own offspring, but for now, she was just too short to talk to.
Ishara jumped up, a bit awkwardly as she was still not used to her paws and being a hybrid, she was all sorts of gangly and uncomfortable. Makosa hid a smile, seeing a lot of himself in the young hybrid.
“What was extraordinary about your dreams?” Ishara asked, suspicious. Was he just trying to make himself sound more interesting? That was probably what it was.
“Because they started coming true,” Makosa said, wondering if she would take it seriously or if she would laugh.
“Well duh, that’s what dreams do,” Ishara rolled her eyes as she spoke. “Everyone’s dreams come true.” Like that time she dreamt about the hare that had died and they found it the next day. “That’s not that special.”
Makosa blinked in surprise. “Uh, no that’s kinda the opposite, Ishara. Hardly anyone has their dreams come true.” Wow that sounded depressing. “I mean, they don’t see things that then come true. What you can do, and what I can do, it’s special. It’s different.”
“You mean no one else sees bad things that come true?” Ishara looked confused.
“Well, some people do, others like us. We’re seers,” Makosa explained. “I got my powers from my father, who is a God, however sometimes, more rarely, people are born with the ability to see things, past present or future. You gained that gift when you were born, and your mother is concerned about you.”
“Why is she concerned?” She frowned. “The visions don’t hurt me. Sometimes they’re scary but I know they can’t hurt me…”
“Do you? When I was a cub, sometimes the lines blurred and I was afraid. Like, really afraid. I would call out to her and cry, but be unable to wake up.”
Ishara shifted. “Sometimes they’re scary,” she admitted quietly. “But I know Momma will protect me and us.”
“But they don’t scare you too much?” He fussed a little, abit concerned. He wasn’t really sure what his mother was expecting him to do, he dind’t know how to explain it all away nor teach her how to handle her visions. All he could do is make sure that she knew she wass’t alone, but she was special.
“No, I’m strong. I’ll be ok!” She assured, puffing out her chest like she was a warrior but when in reality she was a tiny cub perched on a rock almost triple her size. Makosa smiled.
“Ok...Mum was thinking that maybe when you’re older, you could come live here with me and Tega for a while; you could tell me about your visions and we can see if you can control them.” He smiled, a bit cautious to offer. She looked contemplative for a moment, staring at the water.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad,” she agreed almost reluctantly. The pride was so boring…what was she even going to do here when she was older? Be bored? She knew her mother was worried but really, she was ok. Sometimes she cried because of the visions, but that was because they were sad, not because they hurt her. She was stronger than Sukanya thought she was, clearly.
“Ok, well, first you got some growing to do,” Makosa encouraged with a grin. “Let’s go back and see everyone else.” He hesitated. “Unless there’s anything else you want to tell me?” He was really concerned he was screwing this up. He wasn’t sure what his mother really wanted of him, but Ishara seemed ok. Really. Maybe the little leopon was stronger than everyone else was giving her credit for.
“I do have one thing,” Ishara said kinda sheepishly and Makosa looked concerned.
“Anything, Ishara, you can tell me anything,” he rushed to assure her, incase she was feeling nervous about saying something.
“Can you help me down off the rock? I’m afraid I’ll fall,” Ishara admitted nervously, staring down at the ground. MAkosa couldn’t help it, he laughed. He laughed a belly-deep laugh he hadn’t laughed in ages.
“Of course little Ishara,” he assured her, kneeling so she could climb onto his back. Instead of letting her down straight away, he walked back to the family with her upon his back. As he locked eyes with his mate, Tega, Makosa smiled. Maybe they could handle this whole ‘having a family thing’ after all.