Safura'nafsi = Gray
Theluji'lesani = Light Blue

Theluji yawned and stretched, taking advantage of the moment to himself. It had been a long day, but he preferred being busy to being idle. Idle minds wandered and idle paws grew weak. Now he was headed back into the heart of the pride, satisfied that in a couple of months, there would be cubs to bring into the pride...playmates for Kizuka's young ones and the introduction of fresh blood. He hoped Kizuka and Fasihi wouldn't be too annoyed with him being gone for a night. He'd had the pride's best interests in mind.

Safura'nafsi had spent most of her time that day playing alone. She had found herself having what her mother called 'visions' today, all being about some fuzzy little balls of fur she had never met before. It confused her and made her very unhappy, because she looked as if she was happy playing with them, but she didn't know them, and like with her Grandpa Zurvan, she wanted to know who exactly they were.

"How am I going to get down?" Safura whined, looking down the tree she had spent the majority of the day trying to get up. Granted, she hadn't gotten up very far in the tree, but it was high enough where she was frightened of getting back down and wanted someone to come get her down somehow.

She looked around impatiently. No one had passed by in the last hour and she was beginning to think she'd be stuck in the tree for eternity. The little white cub with the swirly little marks started to cry, wishing that her mom or aunt would come fetch her out of the tree and save her.

"MMOMMMMYYYYYYYYY," She cried frantically, "MMMOMMMYYYYYY."


Theluji winced as a high-pitched cry reached his ears, said appendages going down flat in an attempt to make the noise go away. He frowned and trotted towards the source, since it wasn't stopping. He wasn't entirely surprised that it was a cub. Stuck in a tree. However...he was a bit disappointed by WHICH cub it was. He sighed.

"Safura. What are you doing up there?" He spoke in the near-monotone he used with most creatures, a brow raised.


When Safura noticed that the creature that managed to respond to her call was not her mother and was instead Theluji, she felt every hair on her back stand on end. Oh no! He had found her! And stuck in a tree! This was bad; incredibly bad. If it was her mother who had found her, Safura wouldn't feel half as disappointed in herself for not being able to get back down as she would now. Kizuka was her mother, and she would get a free skate from her, but this was Theluji. Her mother's mate, and she had a reputation to uphold for his sake.

"I....I...." Safura started, her little lips quivering as she bit back a sob, "I wanted to touch the sun! And I...I climbed up and.... I.... UJI I CAN'T GET BACK DOWN."

The little white juvenile sat on the branch she had reached shaking. She wanted down so badly. She would never go up another tree this far again until someone gave her wings, if it were even possible. If she asked the gods, she might get them, but she had to be a good girl and this was not being a good girl.


Theluji wasn't used to cub antics, having been a rather serious cub growing up. He especially wasn't used to the volumes and pitches they could reach. He winced slightly, and shook his head.

"I see. One moment." The cub obviously didn't plan on doing it again, and he wasn't about to leave her up there when she'd learned her lesson. The male started up the tree, a bit awkward as most lions were when climbing. "Don't climb things if you don't think you can get back down, Safura."


Safura nodded with a slight whimper as Theluji started his way up the tree to get her. Her mom would be so mad that she made Theluji go out of his way to save her from the situation she put herself in. She could hear the chiding now. Even worse was that Auntie Fasihi would also be mad at her for it, and brother Bagrat would be displeased. She was supposed to set a good example for everyone and here she was causing trouble.

"I didn't mean to get stuck up here," Safura cried, little tears running down her face, "I just wanted to be alone when the visions came. I don't like it when people see me get them... They always stare."

Everyone was so happy that she had the sight at such a young age, and while she had seen some things that had helped her and brought members of her family to her, she also felt like a giant leper. The adults were to busy to help her understand what was going on and the children looked at her like a fragile oddity. Like she was going to grow up like the females who the pride took care of. The ones who couldn't function well because of their visions. She didn't want to be like that.

"I thought.... I thought if I got up the tree, I could see everywhere and I could try and find the cubs I kept seeing..." She muttered.


Theluji got to her level, and was curious now. "Cubs? What sort of cubs, Safura?" She was a seer...perhaps she saw her future almost-siblings? He reached over and carefully took the scruff of her neck in his mouth, so he could safely carry her down. And then started down the tree, careful to keep his claws dug in until he brought a paw down, so he wouldn't slip. Such a fall wouldn't hurt him, but Safura was still small and fragile.

"Fluffy cubs," Safura mumbled as she was picked up by her scruff by Theluji.

The feeling of being picked up by her scruff always made her feel awkward. She could move in it, but at the same time she felt Theluji's teeth digging in and it felt like dulled pain. Like when she hit her head in her sleep and than woke up. Sometimes she wondered whether or not she would one day fall out of her skin, but thinking about that always gave her nightmares she actually would fall out of her skin.

"And I was playing with them, and we were happy. Kinda like when I get my visions about Mr. Kosoko," She prattled, looking up at Theluji as he carried her down from the tree. This was a weird vantage point for sure. "When I have visions about him, I'm very happy in them and we're playing in the river and stuff."


Theluji listened carefully to Safura. Perhaps it was his future cubs she was seeing. The thought that they would be happy, at least with Safura, reassured a part of him he hadn't known was nervous. Once her touched the ground, he carefully put the juvenile down.

"Perhaps there will be more cubs around your age soon, for you to play with." He didn't mention they would be his, as he wasn't sure how she might take that. Especially since he hadn't talked with Kizuka and Fasihi yet.


"Ooo. Other cubs to play with? I would like that," Safura said with a small smile as she was placed back down on the ground. Oh sweet, sweet ground. She would kiss it if she didn't think that'd be more embarrassing to her family than what had happened right now.

Looking up to Theluji, Safura's ears flattened against her head apologetically, "I'm sorry you had to get me down from the tree, Uji... I... I didn't mean to get stuck. I really didn't.... I'm sorry."

She didn't mean to be a burden to him. She only hoped he'd forgive her for her mistake and maybe not tell her mom she went and climbed up a tree and got stuck there for the better part of a day. That would be splendid.


Theluji actually smiled slightly at her, a large fluffy paw coming up to pat her gently on the head. "I know you didn't mean it." Some of the gentleness he showed towards Kizuka and Fasihi crept into his voice. "You're young. You'll make mistakes. But you learn from them." That was one of the advantages to being young, he supposed. You were expected to make mistakes. You were expected to get bumps and bruises and scraped paws.

"Now...why don't we go to the den? I'm sure your mother and aunt are worried about you, if you've been stuck up there a while."


Safura felt the heavy paw a top her head and nodded quietly to Theluji’s words. It was true she was young and some of the instances she got herself into were expected of her. She would never deny it, but it didn’t mean she didn’t feel bad when it happened, especially considering her mother and aunt’s positions in the pride. She wanted to do them proud, after all.

“Brother Bagrat is probably looking for me already,” She said quietly. It was close to suppertime right now, and if they weren’t already eating, they would be soon. If she wasn’t there they’d all be worried, and Bagrat would take it upon himself to find her and make things easier for their mother.

Safura kept close to Theluji as they headed back home. She didn’t want to get into another situation that would force Theluji to come rescue her again. Once was plenty for her for the day.


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