Safura'nafsi = Dark Gray
Zurvan = Green
Kizuka'nafsi = Gray
Safura'nafsi was anxious, as little cubs often were. Waiting patiently was not something that, at this moment in her life, she could reasonably succeed at doing, not with all the energy coursing through her chubby cubby body. She tried her best though, trying to stay as silent and straight as she could while she waited for the moment to arrive, the moment she had seen in a day-dream, or was it while she was awake? She wasn't certain anymore, but it didn't matter.
She had taken off from her mother's side as she met up with some of the other mothers within their pride to bring their cubs together and watch them as a crush, as many prides dids. They wouldn't notice her gone for some time, her being one of the more quiet of Kizuka's children.
The ghostly looking cub looked up to the sky, wondering where the sun was. It was starting to head west from directly overhead, just like in her day-dream. It was almost time, and as she gave one last nervous shift in place, she sat her pretty white bum down on the ground and sat silently, waiting for the form in which she saw to cross her path. The lion who resembled her eerily, if only in markings.
Zurvan wasn't quite sure what had led him to this place. He was far from where he normally found himself, but he'd almost felt drawn here in some odd way. He grew weary of wandering aimlessly, wandering without a companion or someone to talk to. He did not find it easy to mingle with strangers. The life of a solo lion was weary, and not one that he had come to appreciate just yet.
Shaking himself from his reverie, Zurvan gave a small sigh before his eyes alighted on a wisp of a cub, ghostly and silvery, but so heartwrenchingly familiar that Zurvan lost his footing and stumbled. Remaining on the ground he merely looked at her, eyes searching. Zurvan could have wept at the sight of the little cub, one so achingly familiar that he wasn't sure she was real.
The leg markings, the sweet little heart on her hip.. who was she? The tail markings, the wing.. it was all too jarring for Zurvan and he could only sit and stare at the girl, mouth dry and eyes wet.
Oh, well this wasn't exactly how she thought things would go. Safura was a little disturbed by the starring of the male lion. She was prepared for that reaction, granted she didn't see in her day-dream what happened after he appeared, as she had woken up by that time. The little ghostly looking cub took a deep breath and decided to take a small trot towards the dark lion.
"Hello!" She squeaked, as she decided that she had walked close enough to the big male lion, and promptly plopped her little bottom back onto the ground. She gave him a smile, hoping he'd smile back to her. Whenever she smiled to someone in the pride, they always smiled back to her and told her hello, and figured it was the same outside the pride.
"I'm Safura'nafsi!" She explained, her little bottom wiggling in the grass as she began to feel a little excited with her mini-adventure as was apparent by her now mile-a-minute manner of talking, "I saw you! In my dream, and so I thought I'd come here and say hello and introduce myself because I'm supposed to know you, aren't I? I think I am. Maybe you already know me. Do you know me? Maybe you know Mommy and Daddy, too. Do you know Mommy and Daddy?"
Zurv blinked rapidly at the hauntingly adorable little cub, making a vain attempt at regaining his composure. Instead of rising to his feet he lowered himself to the ground, keeping at her level so as not to frighten her off. He felt as if he was in some sort of wild dream, and he bit his tongue sharply to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. It stang, assuring him that this was no dream, this was real, and he was looking at a cub that eerily resembled his firstborn cub and his beloved lifemate.
"H-hello," Zurvan stuttered, unsure of how to proceed. A strange smile curved his muzzle, if it could be considered a smile, and he continued to introduce himself.
"I'm Zurvan," he murmured, dazed. "I don't believe I've ever met your mother, nor have I met your father. What are their names?"
Safura made a face as Zurvan asked her the names of her parents. She had to remember her mother's name, as she only heard it when Auntie Fasihi was talking to her. Everyone else just addressed her by the title she carried, and all her brothers and sister's, including herself, just knew her as Mommy. Maybe she'd remember mommy's name later, for now she's just tell him her dad's name.
"Mommy says Daddy's name is Spenta. I haven't met him yet, though, but Mommy said that if Daddy could be with us he would, but he can't." Safura explained, her mother's name finally popping up into her pretty little head, "KIZUKA! Mommy's name is Kizuka. My Auntie's name is Fasihi."
Still feeling the rush of energy in her from this adventurous meeting, Safura got up from her spot and walked up to Zurvan, circling around him and looking at his tail, poking it with her paw, "How'd you get my tail markings?"
Zurvan had to make sure he'd heard the little cub correctly. "Spenta?" It couldn't be, could it? This was just random happenstance, that was it. That had to be it. This was not the way he thought his afternoon would've gone.
Spenta was the name he and his lifemate had chosen for their firstborn son. They'd shared the name with a few close friends, but.. did this mean that his sons were alive?
They'd survived?!
"Your tail markings?" he parroted, tail merely flicking the slightest at her prodding. "Where did you get your tail markings from? From your father?"
He wasn't sure what to think. His sons couldn't be alive. Not unless someone had happened upon them, still curled against their mother's lifeless form. Zurvan thought for a moment he was going mad.
"Tell me about your father, Safura."
Safura nodded, both to the name of her father and to the fact that her father had given her her tail markings. In fact, he father had given her practically all her markings, except for the little heart on her face, that was a special little gift from her mother.
"All I know about Daddy is what Mommy told me," She explained to him. Kizuka had made sure to keep anything that she told Safura about her father, or her father's brother, who she had refused to mention by name except for "that mean guy", was very PG, to keep her pretty little head as innocent as possible.
"Mommy said she met Daddy one day when she was walking around outside the pride. And they started talking, and she instantly knew she loved him, like in the fairy tales, and so he walked her back to the pride, and he stayed with her like a sleepover party, but several days later he said he had to leave," She began, having picked up a story teller's voice from one of the local pride members, "Mommy didn't want him to leave, but he said that if he didn't than the Mean Guy would find them and hurt Mommy, so he went away. Mommy said he was the nicest person she ever met, and that he had pretty white fur like her and me, and that I got ALL my markings from him except for the one on my cheek. Mommy says I have her colors though, all my siblings have Daddy's colors."
Zurvan had to chuckle at this adorable cub. She was so enthusiastic and that charmed Zurv. He was reminded of his mate and how she could light up the sky with her enthusiasm. Bright as the sun, she was.
"And what color is your daddy, Safura? You haven't a speck of color on you, do you? I bet your coat can be hard to keep clean."
And who was the Mean Guy? Zurv would ask her if she knew, but not before she answered him. If his son was in peril, Zurvan had to know, but he didn't want to frighten the cub.
Possibly... his grand-daughter.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and patiently waited for the little one to answer his questions.
"Mommy bathes use twice a day because we get dirt and mud in it all the time," She smiled, a little giggle escaping her tiny muzzle. What was her Daddy's colors? Well...Mommy and Auntie Fasihi were both shades of purple and blue. Mommy also had a bit of a bluey-green color on her, but none of her siblings got that color, it must have been a color they didn't want. Mommy said her one sister looked like Daddy, except with her markings, so she guessed those were Daddy's colors.
"Mommy says Sini looks like Daddy, except with her swirl markings and hearts, so I guess Daddy's coat has blue and yellow on it. And he has red eyes, because Sini has red eyes. I have Mommy's eyes," She said, looking up at him, making her eyes wide so he could see them better if he wanted to.
She was convincing him, though innocently, that his firstborn son was still alive. His heart thudded in his ears, his stomach churned, but he felt oddly at peace. Had he known all along? No, but perhaps now he could stop wandering. He could find his peace.
"And who is the Mean Guy, Safura?" He hoped that she knew, and if she didn't then perhaps he could persuade her to lead him to Kizuka. Maybe then he could get some answers, he could find his peace. He could find his sons, should they both be alive.
He hoped they'd stuck together and helped one another throughout their lives. The regret that Zurvan carried with him shamed the older lion each and every moment he was alive, but this little lioness had given him hope that perhaps he could repent to his sons and beg their forgiveness.
"Mommy won't say," She said, a tiny scowl on her face. It was not the answer he had wanted, and she was sure of it, otherwise he would have never asked. All she knew is that he was the Mean Guy, and the Mean Guy was the reason that Mommy and Daddy could not be together. So she was obviously mean.
"She only calls him the Mean Guy. I asked once and she said if she told me he'd show up because he can hear when you say his name, because he's just that mean," She explained, obviously Kizuka's excuse for not wanting to expose her daughter to any details about Angra in the off chance he'd find his way back to her home, not that he could get in. Best part about being Queen, your pre-assaigned mate would kill people for you.
"I have two other sisters and three brothers, you know. We play with the other cubs from Umbikezeli Alaia," She smiled.
"Do you know what I would love, Safura?" He felt a little bad, but it couldn't be helped. Zurvan had to know if his sons were alive, and the way he figured, Kizuka was the only one who could tell him.
"I would love to meet your family." He didn't want to press too hard; after all, it wouldn't be too difficult to follow the adorable cub from a distance back to her mother. "I bet you're the prettiest of them all," he plied her with sweet words, feeling awful about it but feeling an ache in his chest. If her father was his son, then these cubs were his grandchildren.
He wanted to see them, to get to know them. To let them know they had a grandfather.
Perhaps Kizuka would know where he could find Spenta.
"I don't know...," Safura said, biting on her lower lip and making a slight face, "Mommy is gonna be mad at me. She doesn't know I'm out here."
The little pale cub got up from her place examining his markings and paced about him as if deep in contemplation, which she really wasn't. She just didn't want to get in trouble with her mother, but he was a nice man and the pride could always use more members, and wasn't it her duty as the Queen's daughter to recruit as many members as felinely possible?
"Ok!" She said, with a little hop in her step, "I will bring you back with me, except you gotta wait at the entrance until Mommy comes down and meets you, because the guards might not like that I brought you back and we don't want you to get hurt, ok?"
"That's a fair deal," he smiled, rising to his feet. "A very fair deal. I don't want to get hurt, either, Safura." He hoped that the guards wouldn't kill him on sight. So many questions that Zurvan needed answered, and Kizuka, this cubs mother, seemed to hold the answer to many of them.
Had the Spenta in question told her of his mother's death? Could he even remember such a thing? It had been so long ago, and the boys were only newly born. Was it possible?
"Lead the way whenever you are ready, silver-eyes. And while we walk, let me ask you a question: have you ever seen a falling star?"
Safura lead Zurvan along, passing through open plains and rocky outcroppings until a wooded area came into view. As they walked, Safura looked up to the sky as Zurvan asked her whether or not she had seen a falling star. Truth be told, she hadn't. She knew what stars were, the pretty lights in the sky that Safura saw on occasion, but she had never seen them fall.
"If the stars fell, wouldn't they get hurt? Like when you fall off a rock?" Safura asked, peking up at him as she lead him through the forested area. With so many trees around it was hard to tell where one was truly going. The only indicator that you weren't going in circles was the steady incline they were walking on.
"Have you ever seen a God before?" Safura asked, figuring that since he had been asking so many questions, that it was her turn to do so.
Zurvan chuckled gently, shaking his head. "No, little one. Stars don't get hurt when they fall. You are supposed to make a wish if you see one." He shook his head and continued following the pale little lioness, still smiling.
"I haven't seen a God yet, myself," he continued thoughtfully. "Or maybe I have, and I just didn't know it, hmm? I imagine Gods stay hidden when they have the desire to keep their presence a secret."
Zurvan couldn't tell where they were going and he hoped that Safura knew the way home.
"That's true..." Safura said, her little pale head nodding in agreement to Zurvan's comment. Her mother had told her stories of Gods appearing in mortal form because they didn't want everyone to know who they are, being curious about what an ungodly life was like. She thought t was weird, Gods wanting to live the life of mortals but she herself was only a mortal and had no room to question their motive.
It didn't take Safura and Zurvan long to reach a large oddly shaped rock, marked up and down by obvious claw marks and the heavy scent of lions. They had reached the boarder of the pride and Safura stopped, turning to Zurvan, "You gotta wait here now while I go get mommy. I'll be back as quickly as I can!"
Safura gave Zurvan a sweet little smile as she turned and started bounding up a clear dirt trail into the pride, a little hop in her step at her own accomplishment. The little pale cub was a silly little girl at heart with the best intentions there were. She only hoped her mommy wouldn't be too mad at her for having wandered off from her.
Zurvan waited until the little cub had disappeared from sight before he began pacing. Left, turn, right, turn. Repeat. Had he made a mistake? Surely the cubs he'd left so long ago couldn't have survived. He'd made a mistake, there was no denying it. He would merely wait for Kizuka to appear, apologize profusely and be on his way.
But.. what if there was no mistake? What if his sons survived? What had they become? Families of their own? Was he a grandfather now?
Unsheathing his claws he dug them into the soft dirt that made up the pathway into Safura's pridal lands. Restlessly he rocked back on his haunches, tail lashing about furiously. And then, he did the only thing he could do.
He waited.
It seemed like forever before the rustling sound of paws could be heard on the path. Safura had brought her mother, Kizuka, back with her, though her mother was not pleased by this whole mini-adventure that Safura had taken. It could be heard along with the footsteps that grew closer to Zurvan.
"You gave me the biggest heart attack I had ever felt, Safura'nafsi. You should have told me BEFOREHAND what was going on! I'm your mother, and I would have believed you, or at the very least escorted you," Kizuka huffed, her fur rustled and her nerves on edge because of the ordeal her tiny daughter had just put her through. She wasn't mad per say, as the fact that Safura had told her mother she had a vision and the vision came true absolutely elated her. Her daughter was a Seer and so strong for being so young. she might end up being the next Kabaila'umbikezeli! Still, she could have gotten hurt all the same.
Safura's sweet little voice squeaked with apologies as she lead her mother to the spot she left Zurvan in. It was only a matter of minutes before Safura's pale coat could be seen, and quickly after her mother's equally pale coat, which held trace amounts of color and little swirls and hearts.
"See! I told you Mommy!" Safura chirped as she went to go join Zurvan once more.
As Kizuka rounded the corner after her daughter, she swore she almost jumped out of her fur. She must have looked like a startled hare with the expression that had swept over her face. The colors and the markings on the male lion before her resembled those of a certain pair of brother's she knew and she felt like she was in some sort of dazed dream.
Kizuka attempted to compose herself and introduce herself, but she couldn't even begin to try, the only words escaping the poor lioness's mouth happened to be, " Dear Gods there's a third."
Zurvan heard the duo approach before he saw them, and he waited, still and patient, as the two came into view. Safura hadn't lied when she said that the only similarity that she shared with her mother had been the single heart that graced her cheek.
Gathering his resolve, Zurvan rose to his feet and bowed his head in greeting. "I am Zurvan," he said, at a loss as to what to say next. "Your, ah, daughter is a charming little one.. and, ah.." He fell silent, faltering. What could he say? She seemed to recognize him, and, well, he wasn't sure how to continue.
"She gets that from her father," Kizuka replied, trying her best to suppress wanting to interrogate him and find out what he wanted, how he was related to Spenta and Angra and which had sent him. Granted she didn't think Angra would send anyone to check up on her, as Angra was far too busy with his terrible children, or at least she assumed they were terrible.
Safura simply smiled looking back and forth between Kizuka and Zurvan, figuring her Mommy knew this man by the way she had reacted to him. Her tail wiggled a little bit through the silence before speaking up with a happy little chirp, "Zurvan wanted to ask you questions about Daddy, Mommy!"
Kizuka looked to Zurvan with confusion in her eyes. He looked like them, so it was obvious that they were in some way related. Wouldn't he already know about Spenta? With a twitch of her tail, she sat down quickly, addressing him, "What do you want to know about Spenta Mainyu?"
With a hefty sigh, Zurvan seated himself before Kizuka. How did one tell such a story? Such a terrible story, at that. Desperate for answers, Zurvan decided to cut to the chase and just tell the lioness the entire truth as he knew it.
"Many years ago I had a mate. She was a lovely lioness, full of laughter and love. I would have done anything for her." He choked a bit, his composure slipping before he desperately regained it. "We had plans to start a family where we could have cubs of our own."
"My love died giving birth to my second son. She gave her life in order to give life to my secondborn." His jaw tightened and he shot her a steely look. "My first son was white, pale as the moon. He had on his legs markings nearly identical to those of your lovely daughter. A blue mane, facial markings like myself, and our tails are identical. And wing markings, feathered ones."
He cleared his throat, continuing. "My second son, identical to the first except for his colors. Red, he was, with green and yellow. Different wing markings.. demonic, almost."
Zurvan paused, meeting Kizuka's gaze. "I left them there that night, alone with their mother's corpse. I could not care for them. I did not want to care for them. Do I have regrets about this? No. But now.. here you are, with your cubs, Kizuka. And I must know.. are my sons alive?"
"My daughter and her cousin are proof both are alive," Kizuka commented, bringing Safura over to her with a paw and nuzzling her daughter with a sigh and giving her a quick lick. The lion before her was Spenta's father, and while Kizuka could see Zurvan's outlook on the situation when his sons were but cubs, it didn't mean that it didn't rub Kizuka wrong slightly.
"Both Mainyu brother's live," She said quietly, placing her paws over Safura's little ears to block out the words she was saying. Her daughter merely looked up at her confused as to why her mother was holding her ears down, but did not but watching as her mother's mouth formed words to the man named Zurvan.
"Demonic is a good word for Angra, Zurvan," Kizuka said coldly, not hiding her contempt for the red colored beast. "He is truly everything you'd imagine a demon to be. He's the reason Spenta can't be with his children right now..."
Zurvan was floored. He wasn't truly expecting to hear such news; part of him was hoping that he'd stumbled upon a case of mistaken identity, but it didn't sound that way. He wasn't sure how his sons had survived, or how they'd come up with names for themselves. But both of his sons lived, and he was a grandfather, indeed.
"Where can I find Spenta," he asked hurriedly, suddenly agitated. "I knew that Angra was going to be a curse. It was he who killed my beloved; it wasn't a difficult birth, Kizuka; it was almost as if he drained the life from her."
"Where is Spenta," he asked again. "I must speak to him, I must let him know I live. Does he come here? Perhaps I can just wait for him to come back here?"
"...I haven't seen Spenta since before I gave birth," Kizuka said sadly, uncovering her daughter's ears and giving the confused little Safura a couple licks to reassure her. "I've...tried looking for him myself, with no luck. He's around, I've met people he's met. I just can't seem to bump into him myself."
Kizuka gave off a sigh and smiled down at her daughter faintly, "Safura, sweety. Can you go back to the den and tell Auntie that Mommy is going to be awhile?"
Safura blinked and nodded her head with a pleasant smile, "Ok Mommy!"
Kizuka gave Safura a pat on the bum to hurry her along and remained silent until she was sure her daughter was out of earshot. She looked back to Zurvan and sighed heavily, "You can understand I don't want my daughter to hear anything that may taint the view on her father, her cousin, or you, as her Grandfather."
Zurvan took a deep, cleansing breath and waited until his granddaughter had disappeared before speaking again. "I understand completely, Kizuka, and please believe me when I say that I would never, ever do anything to harm you or my family." It was obvious in his eyes that he spoke the truth; where ever Angra had gotten his his sadistic and twisted mentality from, it hadn't been Zurvan.
"Tell me more about my sons. My oldest boy, Spenta, he is a good lion? I was such a proud papa when I saw him." His voice was wistful and distant, eyes cloudy with memories. "And Angra, he is the opposite of his brother, I presume?" A sad look crept across his features. "Would either of them turned out different if they had had the guidance of a father, I wonder?" It wasn't really a question posed to anyone in particular, merely the thoughts of the older lion spoken aloud.
"Spenta is the sweetest lion I ever met," Kizuka said plainly, sighing heavily as she spoke of him. She couldn't help the sadness that came to her when she thought of Spenta. He was her love, and she missed him so much sometimes, despite the fact she was tied to another by her position.
"I wanted him to stay with me, but because of Angra he didn't want to. He was afraid Angra would find me and hurt me, not that it helped any," Kizuka commented, "Angra did end up finding me, while I was so fat with cubs I would waddle around. Spenta found out he was going to be a father through Angra..."
Kizuka made a face as she talked about it, not liking to reminisce about the days where she was forced to interact with Angra do to his obsession with making Spenta's life hell, "Angra... Angra is a terror on everyone he comes in contact with. You have grandchildren by him too. He took on a mistress by force and 6 little demonlets were spawned. One lives with me, Bagrat. I convinced his mother to give him to me. I thought if at least one could be saved from turning into their father, a good thing was done. He's got an attitude, but he's a good boy."
Zurvan shook his head sadly, listening to her speak of his sons. It burdened him terribly; though he had been in no position to be a father to them just after the love of his life had passed away, he couldn't help but wonder if he had been at fault. Though he had no regrets in leaving the helpless cubs with their mother's corpse, at this moment in time after listening to Kizuka speak of his boys, he couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself. He knew his love would have been disappointed, as well.
"I need to speak to Spenta. I need to tell him that I am alive, and that I am filled with a sorrow that is soul-deep when I think of what Angra has become. I knew from the moment I saw him that he was trouble. From the moment his mother birthed him, gasping her last breath in order to do so, I knew, Kizuka."
He shook his head and fell silent. There really wasn't anything more he could say. Except...
"Thank you, Kizuka, for loving my son. Spenta.. well, he's got much of his mother in him, from hearing you talk about him. This.. has all come as such a shock to me.."
"You should stay here," Kizuka suggested, insistence in her voice as she spoke, "For a little while. Meet your grandchildren, spend a little time with them before you go looking for Spenta. He... he'll probably be a little difficult to find."
It was probably an odd request for Zurvan to hear, but Kizuka could tell he was up in age and that this meeting, this moment, was not a coincidence. Safura had seen him, waited for him, he was meant to meet her and Kizuka. He was sent here by the Gods to meet his grandchildren and learn of his sons from her. She would hate it terribly if he wouldn't stay, if only for a few days to see his grandchildren.
"It'd be no issue at all, I assure you," Kizuka stated.
Zurvan weighed his options. He was tired, mentally and physically. She was right, it would be a great thing for him to meet his grandchildren. He'd never dreamed of ever being able to call himself a grandfather; the thought brought a tiny smile to his face.
He nodded at her offer, "I'd like that, Kizuka." Rising to his feet he bowed to her, a smile breaking across his graying muzzle. "You know, I believe I was supposed to be here at this moment in time. I came up the path and there was your daughter, looking at me as if expecting me. It was unnerving, to say the very least." He waited for her to lead the way into her pridelands, excited at the thought of meeting all the grandchildren that lived within the protective borders of the land.
"She said to me that she saw you there in a dream," Kizuka replied to him as she lead him up the dirt trail into the mountainous pride, "It was a moment that was meant to be."
Zurvan would be able to meet 7 out of the 12 grandchildren he had once they arrived in the pride's main lands. He'd get a den to sleep in, undisturbed, and free reign of the lands as long as he stayed, provided to him by the pride's leader, the mother of his Grandchildren, Kizuka.
