Kibaazi hummed as she worked, her tune off-key and definitely not that musical, but it filled in the silence while she was hunting down herbs. She was getting more confident in her other senses, now that she was without her sight and that meant that finding her herbs was so much easier. Of course, she still occasionally plucked the wrong herb, but thankfully none of them were overly dangerous. She'd had an upset stomach for a few hours last time she'd grabbed the wrong plant though, and she was not eager to do so again.
Kibaazi appreciated her independence, though she liked her independence. Being blind and independent was hard and she'd only recently begun looking like she wasn't just a skeleton with fur. She liked looking and feeling normal again. She'd almost forgotten what it felt like.
“K-Kibaazi,” a reedy voice called out to her, startling the blind female as she had been caught up in her own thoughts and hadn't realised anyone was approaching.
Ah! She recognized that voice. She'd heard it several times before, when the female had approached her to help her with herbs, or just out of sheer boredom. Her brother apparently lived nearby, which was why Kibaazi saw the cheetah so often – or rather, why Kibaazi spent so much time with her.
“Ghasia,” Kibaazi returned the greeting, a warm expression her face even though she was not sure if she was looking in the right direction. She paused, however, when a groan of pain reached her ears. “Ghasia? Are you okay?” She asked, sounding faintly panicked. Already, she was thinking of herbs to stem blood flow, and to heal wounds.
“My stomach hurts,” Ghasia gasped, stumbling forward and crashing against the frail lioness. They tumbled to the ground together, and Kibaazi winced as Ghasia fell on her. She was heavy for a cheetah, Kibaazi thought grumpily but her mind refocused quickly on the stomach ache her friend had.
“Have you eaten anything bad?” Kibaazi aked, a rather obvious question but it tended to be the most sensible when it came to stomach aches. She wiggled out from under her friend and pressed a paw onto a rounded belly. Wow, her friend had put on some weight! She thought, a confused expression on her face. Ghasia had always been a tiny creature, so she couldn't understand the sudden weight gain.
“I've been eating a lot,” Ghasia said, wincing as her friend pressed against her stomach. She barely held back a whimper of pain, squeezing her eyes shut. “So I-I might h-have eaten something b-bad.” She hissed as a spasm of pain tore through her body.
“Eating a lot?” Kibaazi repeated, frowning. “That doesn't sound like you!”
“I know,” Ghasia agreed, nodding although her friend would not see. “But I've been really hungry recently.”
“Anything in particular?” Kibaazi asked, brushing her paws across the swollen stomach, pressing tentatively to see where it hurt the most. From the way her friend gasped, everything hurt.
“Anything,” Ghasia whimpered. “Everything is tastey.”
”Any ideas why?” Kibaazi continued to probe lightly, trying to think of some herbs to relieve the pain and bloated feeling – which she figured that was all it was.
“Felt sad,” Ghasia admitted, almost mumbling. “Since Shambe...you know...left.” Ghasia had admitted her brief stay with Shambe to Kibaazi before, using her friend as a confident when she was feeling really lonely without the male.
Oh! Kibaazi froze. She had forgotten her naïve friend's fling with the male. Oh no. She hesitated, before gently asking. “How long has this pain been happening?”
“Few hours,” Ghasia admitted.
“Does it come in waves?”
“Yes!” Ghasia agreed hastily, wincing as another wave tore through her body. “Do you know what's causing it?”
Kibaazi almost laughed, but sighed instead. “Yes, I do. And trust me, the pain won't leave for a while yet.”
That did not reassure Ghasia, not in the slightest.
“Stay here, I'll get some herbs to relieve the pain a little. They won't do a lot, but they'll help” Kibaazi commanded, before hurrying away to find the herb for a friend. This was going to take a while.
-
A few hours later, when Ghasia laid exhausted, there was a new gift, and that was the cubs nestled against her stomach, absolutely tiny.
Ghasia sniffled, staring at one of the boys, who looked so much like his father. “Oh Kibaazi,” she whimpered, and was surprised to find her friend laid down beside Ghasia, giving her someone to lean on. “They're beautiful. “
So she hadn't just been fat, Ghasia thought inwardly, staring at her babies. She didn't even hear what her friend said in response, but she soon giggled.
“So small,” she mused, and noticed Kibaazi's confused look. “You told me eight,” she reminded, continuing to giggle.
Kibaazi laughed too. “I said eight if you ate the herb! You did not, so you got less!” She huffed, as if Ghasia should have eaten the mixture and had more babies.
Ghasia giggled. “I am thankful for just them! More then thankful.” Her giggles faded quickly, and a sad look flittered across her face. She lent down to nuzzle them, sniffling a little. “Thank you, Shambe,” she whispered, and Kibaazi pretended not to hear the thanks to the male who had abandoned her friend.
“When it's safe to move them, I'll help you return them to your brother,” Kibaazi offered, nuzzling her friend's cheek affectionately. “He'll know what to do from there on.”
Ghasia sniffled and nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed and moved closer to her friend. “Thank you, Kibaazi,” she told the female. “For being here.”
Kibaazi wanted to point out that Ghasia had sought her out, not the other way around but she nodded instead and said nothing, letting her friend bask in silence. There was joy and sadness with these births. She knew that Ghasia would have wanted Shambe there, not Kibaazi but that was not possible.
Kibaazi heaved a sigh, and rested her cheek atop her friend's head, wishing for the first time in a while, that she could see, do that she could see the lives she'd helped bring into the world.
“Do you think he would have been happy?” Ghasia asked suddenly, startling Kibaazi.
“What?” Kibaazi prompted, though she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she knew what the question asked.
“Shambe. Do you think...he would have been happy...that we'd made cubs?” Ghasia asked, gazing at her babies who were so tiny, so fragile, and yet so beautiful and perfect. She was a mother. That was a terrifying, and exhilarating thought.
“He would love them,” Kibaazi assured, though she knew no such thing. Shambe might have hated cubs, might have never wanted babies, or maybe...maybe he would have been happy. It wasn't really her place to say, but from the way Ghasia continued to sniffle, she knew her friend needed support and if that came from a bittersweet lie, then Kibaazi was prepared to do that.
“Thanks 'Zi,” Ghasia whispered, and the pair fell silent, only the sounds of the occasional whimpering cub broke their silence.
So her friend had babies now, Kibaazi thought, careful not to shift so as to disturb the slumbering family, as Ghasia began to doze against her. That was new. Kibaazi almost felt bad about moving on soon. She had to leave to find Majaliwa and that meant that she would leave her friend behind, though she would have to come back to visit. She was only grateful that Ghasia had Mauja, her brother, and his family. They would take care of her, else things would just be...bad for the naïve cheetah slash now single mother.
Kibaazi hefted a tired sigh, resting against her friend gently. Things would work out, she decided, trying to remain optimistic. Ghasia would be fine and her cubs would grow up perfectly. Kibaazi would find Majaliwa and they would all be happy and healthy and safe and...Kibaazi winced. She couldn't quite believe that it would all happen that way.
But she really hoped it would.
(WC: 1,359)
