Tahari was going through one of her fits again. The others were so tired of these, as they seemed to happen more and more frequently. She continued to mention a large white lion, setting of Zuri to have anxiety attacks of her own. Only after that fling had occured did she realize that she had slept with a god. And not a good god, either. She didn't know how she got out of that situation intact, and also with how her children seemed to stay sane. Even after losing Ruki....
"No!" Tahari screamed, bringing Zuri back to the present. Kweu was trying to sooth her, but the blue lioness wouldn't have it. Korongo still just wanted to kill the girl, but then he wanted to kill both of his children, even if that meant there would be no one to carry on his 'legacy'. He had already decided that they had ruined that enough.
"Please, dear, you're fine, just let yourself calm down," Kweu cooed, reaching out to groom her granddaughter's fur. "You've let yourself get too caught up in these silly dreams of yours." Tahari still resisted, though there was a certain charm that Kweu possessed. It was how she had stayed strong, even when her life had continued to be turned upside down. Korongo knew what was wrong, but he didn't mention it. Let them deal with it themselves; he wouldn't, and couldn't, do anything about it. Bara had crippled him a while ago, and the most he could do was lay around and move a bit. The b***h had robbed him of everything, even if he was getting old.
Tahari snarled. "They are not lies. They tell me what should be the truth!" SHe resisted Kweu further, wanting to get away from this. She was going to kill those brats, those things that pretended to be Ishida's children. Even knowing that they were the truth, she continued to deny everything about them. Ishida was her's, her's, he had to be. Why could he still not see that?
-----
Zuri had stepped out of the cave. THey had done their best to hide Tahari's problems, but it was getting to the point that she didn't think they would be able to hide it any longer. She was getting to be too much of a handful for the few of them, and Bara had given up a long time ago. Zuri couldn't blame her, as Tahari had lunged for her throat. They had shrugged it off as insanity, but Zuri was really wondering what to do with her. If they weren't going to be able to cure her of this, what were they going to do? What if she really did something to someone else in the pride? It wouldn't be something that they could ignore.
Her paws guided her endlessly, wondering what to do. She didn't notice the handosme young male that was eyeing her with a twinkle in his eye.
"Ma'am?" He attempted to gain her attention, if politely. "I think I can help you." He wandered a bit closer to her, his black mane a stark contrast against his primarily white coat.
Zuri blinked owlishly. Had she been projecting her thoughts out loud? She didn't recall saying anything, and instead narrowed her eyes at him.
He laughed, though a bit shyly, hoping to not irritate her. "Well, I don't want to sound presumtuoius, but I've Seen what your problem is. And I'm saying that I think I can help you with your daughter."
Zuri froze. Okay, so was he one of them too? But obviously not insane, either. She eyed him in a different view, and could see the muscles beneath that frame, but a sense of calm and peace with that strength as well.
As she was scrutinizing him, he explained a bit more. "I'm the child of a god, same as your daughter. I've seen this in a vision, though it wasn't too clear cut. I half came here because of it, and half because my sister lives within this pride as well." He chuckled. "Well, your daughter is the child of a god, but my mother was a goddess."
Zuri paused, still debating within herself. "Okay," she replied. "You know my secrets better than me, I guess," she mumbled, shaking her head. "It took me a long time to realize that huge lion was really a god in disguise. Come, let me lead you to her. She is becoming too much for us to handle."
-----
Tahari didn't like the male that her mother had brought in with her. He seemed wrong, something to ruin her life. It was ruined already, though, wasn't it? Confusion flickered across her face, and she wondered what these conflicting emotions were. She saw flickers of something, and it was about him. Something that she didn't want to see, not with how torn apart her heart was. So sore, and raw. Vulnerable.
She lunged at the visitor, wanting him to go away. She heard the cries of her mother and grandmother, the crude laughter of her grandfather. She didn't care. She blocked it out, only wanting to drive this stranger away.
Valerius dodged her move easily. He wasn't a warrior, but he had trained enough to not be an idiot in a fight. This pretty blue lioness, however, had no idea what she was doing. He let her fall, and that triggered another vision within Tahari. The strength of her powers was something Zuri had never heard of before, and the lioness was terrified for her daughter. She huddled next to her won mother, crying into her side as Kweu tried to calm her daughter down. Korongo wasn't helping anything whatsoever, but he was ready to just see his family crash and burn, so he didn't care. Kweu only sent glares at him.
Val jumped on the lioness. It wasn't that hard, since though Tahari was big (through genetics), she had no idea what she was doing, and Val was big in his own right. He pinned her down, the lioness struggling to escape. He kept her down, though she certainly had strength in those thin limbs of her's. "Calm down," he whispered into her ear. It wasn't working, and so he continued to tell her to relax. Tahari was furious that a stranger could do this to her. Humiliate her! She continued to struggle with no chance of winning her freedom.
Eventually, she did calm down, but it was more so because she ran out of energy than wanting to relax. Valerius looked into her eyes after releasing her, his deep violet eyes a stark contrast to her equaly deep green ones.
"They're not real," he said flatly, like an order. "Stop beliving in them so much."
Tahari stared, his words coming through her mind hazily. She couldn't quite tell what was going on. She only felt angry, but too tired to use that anger to fight. Instead, she felt her eyes flutter, and passed out.
Kweu and Zuri rushed towards her while Valerius backed off. He hadn't really done anything yet, but he could tell that this was going to take a long time.
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