Cubs. Cubs. Cubs.
There were cubs.
Tahari had felt like she had lost her mind. It felt like her life was even more over now. She remembered hearing that they would be coming, but it couldn't be true. No, there was still the fact that Ishida was being played along, that he had to do this. Something would happen, something that would make him turn back to her, and finally they would be together.
SHe knew that her grandmother hadn't been comfortable around her lately. Why? It was so perfect in her mind, her and Ishida together, doing what they needed to do. Being together, having a family, growing old together. Yes, this is what needed to happen.
Kweu was worried about her granddaughter. Something was wrong, and something had triggered this wrongness. Korongo on the other had didn't care, but then he never cared about his daughters. A useless lot, the both of them, including all their little brats. What a waste of his bloodline. If he wasn't so crippled he would have taken care of them a long time ago. It was only luck that let Barafu win their battle, and only more luck that she had managed to take him so completely out. He would wait, and he would get a chance for his revenge.
Kweu was such a calm old lioness, and though she knew that her mat ehad done terrible things, she had done moreso than him, turning cheek to the problems that she knew she might have been able to prevent. SHe felt that she could redeem herslef by being a great and loving grandmother while still taking car eof her mate, but things had gotten quite choppy when Barafu's chubby little cubs were born. It had been a hard delivery, as Barafu was a late-time first mother. Everything had gone well, and the smaller number of children was common in their family. More strength for the cubs when they grew.
Tahari was a different case. Everyone in the family knew how she was so focused on Ishida. They had been able to keep it to themselves in the family, as it wasn't something that everyone needed to know. At this point, it was starting to get more difficult. Tahari was limited to not leaving the save, and this only made things more hard for her. It was as if she was going mad.
Zuri knew what was wrong. Or, she had a very strong suspicion. She had a hunch that something was different with that male she had laid with before they were born. Nothing bad, no, but something wasn't quite right. Zuri had heard of many times where a latent ability could suddenly be triggered by something. Tahari's anger had gotten the best of her, and she could only decide that it was because Tahari had the abilities of a seer. Zuri always pretended that she had these, but the sheer fact that her daughter was going through it scared her. What was she going to do?
Tahari could feel herself going through another fantasy. Another one that would just be perfect. They were together, walking together side by side, all smiles, talking about their future. A storm swpet in out of no where, water rushing up. Tahari could feel the cold water around her, her fur soaked as she tried to get to Ishida. No, no, she could feel herself yelling out, but she didn't get any reply. He was whisked away from her, and Tahari could feel herself screaming as she began to drown.
While Tahari was standing still, she suddenly begame to scream, her muscles tightening as she was lost within the vision. Korongo didn't care, but the pleading of Kweu forced him to do something. He merely knocked her over, but it didn't do any good. She struggled now, flailing her limbs about as she continued to scream. There weren't any words to it, just a high pitched scream that made your stomache drop.
Kweu tried to get her to relax, speaking to her, but it seemed that Tahari couldn't hear anything. She struggled against the waves that no one else could see, screaming for an Ishida that was not there. Zuri tried a different approach, leaping on top of her daughter to pull her out of the vision. It only startled the lioness, and she flailed around, trying to get this attacker off of her so she could rescue him. It didn't manage to do anything, and Zuri only received scratch marks for her attempt to help her daughter. They left her there, trying to keep her from hurting herself, waiting for the vision to pass.
---
Finally, after some time had passed, more than they thought would be needed, the pale blue lionedd began to calm down. Her muscles began to relax, and her limbs became limp from exhaustion. Her breathing slowed, her screaming fading until she said nothing. She didn't awaken, though, and she continued to lay there, what the others assumed was her being asleep. The effort and stress that the vision had put her under knocked her out, and peace was finally replaced in the cave.
Korongo grumbled. "We should just kill her," he said, as he always grumbled when he didn't like how something was going. "You're her damn mother, act like it and fix her!"
Zuri held her tongue. He was never a father to anyone, only an abusive male that thought he showed enough 'compassion' to be considered a father. Right. Holding her life above her head, he had ordered to go out and bring her sister, Bara, back just so he could kill her. Beast. He didn't know why Bara showed him any true compassion by letting him live.
Kweu sighed. She was a passive lioness, being helpful but not getting herself into opinions or sides. By default there were too many times she took her mate's side, though by some stretch of reason her daughters still loved her. That was why Korongo was still breathing, if useless.
"We won't kill her," Zuri snapped, trying to keep her voice down so her daughter would sleep. "She doesn't deserve to die. She deserves to know how to control what's happening to her."
"Oh, and like you can fix that," Korongo sneered, hating how much Tahari hung around their cave, and just wanting the little annoying brat gone. "You haven't done a single thing yet."
Zuri snapped. "I'm trying, you b*****d," she hissed, warning him to back down. He was useless in fights, and while Zuri had never been a fighter, she wasn't going to back down from this. She had been such a terrible mother when Tahari was growing up, and she wasn't going to continue that now.
Kweu raised her head, silencing the other two. "We will find something," she said quietly, as she always had the power to do. "For now, just let the child sleep. We will see how she is when she awakens. If she is hard to handle again, we may have to ask for more help."
As no one in the family wanted their history to be exposed, they all fell silent, staring at the pale blue lioness, wondering how she would be when she woke up.
Tahari stirred, though didn't awaken. She felt herself still drawn to Ishida, but something wasn't right. Something...different was going to happen. She whined, pushing those dreams away until there was nothing. She relaxed, and truly fell asleep.
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