[FIN] Growl (Ua & Mittere)

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The pink lioness was lying outside of her (their) den. Despite the fact that she was quite visible and an important member of the pride, there was a wide ring of silence and emptiness all around her. It had been growing for weeks...just like the bulge of her belly.

With her already infamously bad temper, no one wanted to go anywhere near a pregnant Mittere unless if they absolutely had to. No one except her own family.

And that was, frankly, the way she preferred it. She was pissed, of course, but mostly at herself for getting into this damned situation. Not to mention the fact that this whole pregnancy thing made her miss Tarafa far more than she had in months. The blue lioness had been so happy to be pregnant, had spoken of her plans for the cubs, all of that. When they'd been born, Mittere had been so upset at losing her mate that she'd refused to have them anywhere near her (their) den. She'd insisted that Moto'nafsi do his job as the father and raise them. The pink lioness knew it wasn't what Tarafa would have wanted, but damnit, how could she help raise the kids who had killed her mate?

That was the other reason why Mittere preferred solitude at this point. She was getting near to term, and she had to admit, if only to herself, that she was afraid. Nyesha had never been too strong and while she'd seemed to be getting better, the strain of giving birth had been too much. Tarafa had seemed fine until late in her second pregnancy. And Mittere was, like Nyesha, diseased. She was strong enough that it didn't often make a huge impact on her life, but that didn't mean the Master Warrior wasn't aware of her own mortality. Far from it. And she was afraid that, like her mate and their daughter, she'd abandon these cubs after their first breath.

Mittere feared failure above all other things.  

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The lioness winced inwardly and wished she could close her ears to the overly cheerful sounding voice of her grandson. One of her two remaining grandsons. Some days she wondered why she stayed in this pride of death, which had taken so much that she loved. Then reason reasserted itself and reminded her that, if she'd had her way, she wouldn't be stuck here at all. But this was how it had been from the beginning.

Mittere simply hadn't realized, those years ago, what it would mean for her. She'd understood not being able to leave for fear of spreading the disease. She hadn't understood the loss that was a part of everyday life in the Kitwana'antara. And that made her angry all over again.

"What is it, Ua," the pink lioness growled once she had her emotions under control, for the moment.  

[mouselet]

This was the problem with offspring being Healers. They thought they had the right to invade your privacy and "make sure you're doing all right" and crap like that. Mittere had had more than enough of nosy Healers without adding kids into the mix. They always wanted to know how she was doing, how bad the disease was today, if things had gotten worse.

Not that she'd tell them anything. Not unless if she wanted it to be common knowledge.

Mittere was fully aware that most of the pride knew intellectually that she had the disease. But in her experience, many of them forgot when they actually saw her and were trained by her. There was a kind of mindset, that said someone with the plague couldn't possibly be as tough as the Master Warrior.

They were right. It had gotten worse over the years, though the pink lioness was able to conceal that fact with the ease of long practice ignoring injuries. Still, the aches and pains, not to mention even older wounds, long healed but still scarred, did add up.

But again, she wasn't about to tell that to anybody, let alone her own grandson.

So..."Hmph," was Mittere's only response to the boy.  

[mouselet]

He was still there. Still standing there. Not going away. Though Mittere and Ua were both perfectly aware that she'd told him to "go away" at least twice now, even if she hadn't used those words. The pink lioness was considering allowing herself to slip into sleep in order to encourage his departure when he came up and sat down nearer to her. She hadn't been facing that direction and had no intention of doing so...

...when he opened his mouth again.

The lioness swung her head around, blue eyes narrowed and blazing at her grandson's impetuosity. He wanted to know about...about baby names!? Mittere's fur bristled and her claws flicked out as she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.

The idiot was attempting to make small talk, even though he knew well that she did not do small talk, nor did she approve of it. There was no reason to even think of eviscerating her grandson.

"There is," she answered stiffly, "no way of knowing how many cubs will be born." There was also no way of telling if any of them were likely to survive more than a few minutes. And why name a kid that barely lived?  

[mouselet]

Don't kill the idiot kid. Don't kill Nyesha's idiot kid. Don't kill Tarafa's idiot grandkid.

If she didn't keep reminding herself, Mittere might forget herself and do serious, lasting damage. The pink lioness had no idea why the boy was so...foolish...but he was not going to get away with it. The pregnant female heaved herself to her feet, looming over the boy beside her.

"What I do with these cubs is none of your concern," she informed Ua icily. "But I will not name them after myself. That is overly prideful and idiotic."

With that, she turned on her paws and left. There were many other places she could nap without having to deal with idiot offspring. The ones she was carrying were enough for now.